How to Start a Blog in 7 Easy Steps

Are you interested in starting a blog but not sure where to start? In this blog post, I will show you how to start a blog, through the 7 easy steps you need to take to get your blog up, running, and growing. I will also provide tips on how to make your blog stand out from the competition. Whether you’re a complete beginner or just need a refresher course, keep reading for all the information you need to get started today!

How to Start a Blog.

Over the years, I’ve worked with a lot of clients, and when the idea of starting a blog is raised there are sometimes a lot of misconceptions – Here are the two most common ones:

1. Blogging is difficult: This is actually not true at all! Starting a blog is very easy, and you can have your blog up and running in just a few minutes (often in 20-30 minutes or less).
2. You need to be a technical expert: Again, this is not true! You don’t need to be a technical expert to start a blog. In fact, you don’t even need to know how to code!

All you need is a desire to write and share your thoughts with the world. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s move on to the actual steps you need to take to start a blog.

The first thing you need to do is choose a blogging platform. WordPress.org and Blogger are two of the most popular platforms, and they’re both free to use. I personally prefer WordPress.org because it gives you more control over your blog and allows you to use custom themes and plugins.

Whenever I start a blog, I always use WordPress, because I can customize it to my needs, and add features – Easily!

I’ve based this post on using WordPress. You can get the simple 5 minute installation package from here: WordPress.org – But… Most good web hosting providers (more on that below), should do this for you (so wait up on this until you’ve reviewed the rest of this post).

What is a Blog.

A blog is viewed by visitors on the internet, where you write down information and share it with other people. A long time ago, people used to mainly use blogs to share news about what was happening in the world.

Today, people use blogs to write about anything they want. You can start a blog about your favorite hobby, or you can start a blog to share your thoughts on the news.

You can also have your blog sell services and products, it can be used for event booking, memberships and so much more.

History: The word “blog” was created in 1999 by Peter Merholz, who used a shortened form of the name “weblog” (created by Jorn Barger on 1997). The word “blog” caught on and soon everyone was using it to describe their personal websites.

Blogs are different from websites because they are usually updated more often. Websites tend to have static content that doesn’t change very much. Blogs usually have new content added at least once a week. This makes blogs more like a living website, that regularly has new, fresh content added.

Many people start blogs because they want to share their thoughts with the world. But you can also start a blog to make money. You can do this by selling advertising space on your blog, or by selling products and services through your blog.

Why Should You Start a Blog?

There are many reasons why you should start a blog, but here are just a few of the benefits:

• Blogging can help you improve your writing skills: By writing blog posts on a regular basis, you will get better at writing and be able to produce high-quality content faster.
• Blogging helps you build a brand and grow your business: If you have a business, starting a blog is a great way to connect with your customers and create loyalty among your target audience. It also can help you build your own recognition.
• Blogging can help you make money: As I mentioned above, you can start a blog to sell advertising space, products, or services.
• Blogging can be a lead generator for you: When you start a blog, you can also use your blog to generate leads for your business
• Blogging helps you with list building: Your blog can help you build an opt-in email list, so that you can directly communicate or market to your blog’s subscribers. When you start a blog, start building your list.
• Blogging can help build a community: Your blog is a tool best used to focus on a niche. In turn, that niche can grow to be a vibrant community – Online and offline!

Now that we’ve gone over some of the benefits of blogging, let’s move on to how you can start a blog.

Start a Blog !

Starting a blog is a great way to share your thoughts, connect with customers, and make money. In order to help make the process simpler (so you don’t have to spend hours researching), I’ve broken this post down into the following 7 steps:

1. Getting Your Blog Name / Domain Name.
2. Getting Your Blog Online / Web Hosting.
3. Customizing Your Blog / Theme.
4. Writing and Publish Posts.
5. Promoting Your Blog to Get Readers.
6. Make Money With Your Blog.
7. How to Branch Out Your Blog Offerings.

STEP 1: Start a Blog – Getting Your Blog Name / Domain Name.

When you start a blog, the first thing you need is a domain name. A domain name is the web address of your blog – for example, www.your-blog-name.com. Your domain name is what people will use to find your blog on the internet.

There are many different ways to get a domain name for your blog, but one that I recommend is Namecheap.

Namecheap is a domain name registrar. Domain name registrars are companies that help you register domain names for your website. They make it easy to find and purchase a domain name for you to use.

Personally I find that Namecheap has a superior domain name registration service (and it’s much easier to use). Their support is stellar, and if you need help, it’s easier to get.

Choosing Your Domain Name

When you start a blog, it’s important to choose a good domain name because it’s how people will find you on the internet. It’s also important to choose a domain name that’s easy to remember and spell.

Here are some tips for choosing a good domain name:

• Keep it short, sweet, and simple.
• Make it easy to spell and pronounce.
• Avoid using hyphens or numbers.
• Make it relevant and descriptive of your blog niche.
• Brainstorm with friends, family, and fellow bloggers.
• Check to see if the domain name is available on Namecheap.

Start a Blog: Step One Checklist:

1. Go to Namecheap.com
2. Enter in a few different domain name options that you’ve come up with.
3. Check to see if the domain name is available.
4. If it’s available, add it to your cart and proceed to checkout.
5. If it’s not available, try a different domain name option.
6. Once you’ve found an available domain name that you like, add it to your cart and proceed to checkout.
7. Enter the requested checkout information and purchase your domain name.

Okay… At this stage you should have purchased a domain name – Congratulations!

Now we’re going to move onto step #2 and get your domain name to work (so when people type it into their web browser, they will be able to see your blog).

STEP 2: Start a Blog – Getting Your Blog Online / Web Hosting.

When you start a blog, you’ll need web hosting is a service that allows you to put your blog on the internet. In other words, it’s what makes your blog accessible to people all over the world.

There are many different web hosting providers to choose from, but I provide a “human” run service – Real people, that are working to ensure your blog is running, and that you can easily reach out to when you need help.

Because this is a truly personal service, no “canned” responses, or overly technical replies to your request for help (unless you want them).

Why?

So you can focus on building and promoting your blog, while we take care of all the technical stuff behind the stage.

Here’s the deal, I provide an excellent blog hosting service, where WordPress is installed (the right way), integrated with Cloudflare (for improved speed and security), and backups of your blog are created every 24 hours.

Normally something like this is super expensive, but because of the volume and partnerships I leverage, I’m able to offer an exclusive blog starter hosting service for the equivalent of 65¢ per day – That’s less than a cup of coffee!

STEP 3: Start a Blog – Customize Your Blog Layout.

When you start a blog, your blog’s design is what will set it apart from all the other blogs out there, and it’s also what will make your blog look professional. That’s why it’s important to spend some time customizing the look and feel of your blog, so it reflects you and your brand.

There are many different ways to customize the appearance of your WordPress blog, when and after you start a blog. You can do it yourself, or hire a professional designer to do it for you.

When determining your blog design, it’s important to consider implementing solutions that improve visitor UX (user experience). Commonly these would include things like:

• Using a simple, clean layout that is easy to navigate.
• Using fonts and colors that are easy on the eyes.
• Using images and graphics to break up the text and add visual interest.
• Make sure the layout is responsive and looks good on all devices.
• Using a descriptive headline and an expressive featured image.
• Use social media buttons to help people share your content.
• Use breadcrumbs.
• Make use of the FAQ schema.
• Provide a search feature.
• Ensure fast page loading.

If you’re not sure where to start, check out some of these resources to help you start a blog:

WordPress Themes:

1. GeneratePress – This is arguably the most professional, fastest loading WordPress theme.
2. Divi from Elegant Themes – A good theme if you’re looking for a design feature rich editor, all the bells – Super easy to use.

Hire a Professional Website Designer:

• Sasha Zibreg at LaLa Media Inc.
• Raymond Gill at Amalgam Graphics

STEP 4: Start a Blog – Write & Publish Your First Group of Blog Posts.

Now it’s time to start publishing your first blog posts! Try aiming for 10-20 posts ready to publish when you launch the blog. This is where the fun begins.

Normally, I’d advise to already have your content strategy planned out, and the first set of blog posts already written.

Writing a blog post is easy, but it’s important to keep a few things in mind:

• Write for your audience first, and search engines second.
• Keep your posts focused on one main topic.
• Write in a natural, easy to read style.
• Use images, infographics and videos to break up your text and make your posts more visually appealing.
• Use helpful plugins to improve the functionality of your blog as well as making it easier for people to share your content.
• Write with search intent in mind.

Once you’ve written your initial posts, it’s time to start publishing them on your blog! To do this, login to your WordPress dashboard, and go to the “Posts” section. From here, you can add a new post, and start publishing your content.

You can also use the “Categories” section to organize your posts into different categories. This will help keep your blog organized and make it easier for people to find the content they’re looking for.

One thing… When you start a blog, make sure your categories are relevant to search intent, contain related posts, and that you’ve created a useful category hierarchy created. Consider using a “silo” approach.

Start a Blog: Standard Content that Should be on Your Blog.

When you start a blog, remember… Every website should have a number of standard webpages, including an about page, contact page, and privacy policy. These pages help to inform visitors about the website, and ensure that they can get in touch with the site owner if needed. They also help to protect the privacy of visitors by informing them about how their data will be used.

Contact.

The contact page provides a way for people to get in touch with the website owner. It can include information like the site’s postal address, email address, and phone number. It’s a good idea to also include a contact form on the page, so people don’t have to type out their contact information manually. It provides a degree of engagement – And trust (that you’re open to visitors). When you start a blog, you must have this page (and the following pages).

About.

The about page is important because it gives people a chance to learn more about the website and the people behind it. It can include information like the site’s mission statement, the team behind it, and what inspired the website’s creation.The benefit of this page is that it helps build trust with visitors and encourages them to stay longer. It ads context to your blog’s purpose.

Privacy.

The privacy page creates some needed transparency for your blog, this keeps visitors engaged as they will know how you treat their private data, and what they can do if they have privacy concerns. This page is mandatory.

Terms.

The terms page is important because it helps protect the website owner from liability. It can include information like the site’s terms of use, return policy, and copyright information. By including this information on the website, the owner can help reduce the risk of legal action for something that happened on the site.

Disclosure.

An affiliate disclosure or advertising disclosure is a statement on a website that discloses the business relationships between the site owner and any third-party advertisers or sponsors. This page helps to ensure that visitors are aware of any financial relationships that exist between the site and its advertisers. It also helps to protect the site owner from any potential legal action that may arise from these relationships.

This page is important because it helps build trust with visitors and ensures that they are aware of any potential conflicts of interest that may exist on the site. It’s a good idea to include an affiliate disclosure on any website that earns money through advertising or sponsorship’s.

These are just a few examples of standard pages that you should not miss posting on your blog. By including these pages, you can help ensure that your website is complete, informative, and engaging for visitors.

Start a Blog: How to Write Great Content.

After you start a blog, content growth is critical! When it comes to writing blog posts, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Firstly, make sure your posts are well-written and well-formatted. This means using correct grammar and spelling, and formatting your posts using a standard template.

Secondly, make sure your content is relevant to your audience. This means tailoring your content to their needs and interests.

Start a Blog: Define the Content.

The definition of content can be quite broad, but at its core, it refers to the information or material on a website. This information can be in the form of text, images, videos, or any other type of media.

Why is content important?

Well, it’s the key to keeping visitors engaged on your website. If you don’t have any content, then there’s nothing for people to consume on your site. And without people consuming your content, you won’t be able to achieve your website’s goals.

As you start a blog, be aware that content is also important for search engine optimization (SEO). This is because search engines like Google use the content on a website to determine what the site is about and how it should be ranked in the search results.

There are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to creating good content when you start a blog:

• Make sure your posts are well-written and well-formatted. This means using correct grammar and spelling, and formatting your posts using a standard template.
• Make sure your content is relevant to your audience. This means tailoring your content to their needs and interests.
• Make sure your content is keyword-rich. This means including relevant keywords throughout your content so that it can be found by people who are searching for those terms.
• Make sure your content is original. This means avoiding plagiarism and copying existing content from other sources.

Start a Blog: Create Indepth Posts in Small Chunks.

When you break your content down into small chunks, it becomes easier for readers to consume. This is because they can take in one small chunk of information at a time rather than trying to digest a large block of text.

By writing in-depth posts in small chunks, you also make it easier for people to share your content on social media. This is because each small chunk can be shared as its own individual post, which makes it more likely that people will see and share it.

A key content understanding when you start a blog… In-depth posts also tend to rank better in search engines because they show that you’re an expert on a particular topic. When people see that you have in-depth knowledge about something, they’re more likely to trust your website and visit it again in the future.

To write in-depth posts in small chunks, start by brainstorming a list of topics that you want to cover. Then, create an outline for each topic. Once you have your outlines, start writing one section at a time.

As you write, keep each section focused on a single topic. This will help you stay on track and keep your readers engaged.

Once you’ve written all of the sections, go back and edit them to make sure they’re clear and concise. Then, put all of the sections together to create your final post.

Start a Blog: Engage Your Blog Audience.

When writing great content, it is important to engage the reader by keeping them interested in what you have to say. This can be done by formatting your posts correctly, tailoring your content to their needs and interests, including relevant keywords, and making sure your content is original.

Some tools that your blog content can use to motivate reader interaction include:

• Asking questions at the end of your posts.
• Including images and videos.
• Using social media plugins.
• Including excerpts from other blog posts.
• Using lists.
• Including a call to action.
• Removing elements that don’t compliment the content.

Start a Blog: Provide Original Content

One of the most important reasons to provide original blog content is to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is when you copy someone else’s work and present it as your own. This can get you in trouble with your website’s hosting company, as well as with the people who created the original content.

Another reason to provide original content is that it helps you build trust with your readers. When people see that you’re providing fresh, unique content, they’re more likely to visit your website again in the future.

Finally, original content is important for SEO purposes. This is because search engines like Google use the content on a website to determine how the site should be ranked in search results. If you’re copying content from other sources, you’re not giving the search engines anything to work with, and as a result, your website is less likely to rank well.

To write original content, start by brainstorming ideas that are relevant to your niche. Once you have some ideas, do some research to make sure you’re providing accurate information. Then, start writing your post and be sure to include your own voice and style.

If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, try looking at other blogs in your niche and see what they’re talking about. You can also use social media to see what people are saying about topics that are relevant to your niche.

STEP 5: Start a Blog – Promoting / Advertising Your Blog.

If you want your blog to be successful, it’s important to promote it. This can be done in a number of ways, including using social media, submitting articles to directories, and guest blogging.

Begin Your Blog Promotion Strategy.

A blog promotion strategy is a plan that you put into place to help get more people to visit your website. There are a number of different ways to promote your blog, and the ones that you choose will depend on your niche and the type of blog you have.

Start a Blog: Reach Out to Your Contacts.

One way to promote your blog is to reach out to your contacts and let them know about it. You can do this by email, social media, or even in person.

If you have a blog post that you think your contacts will be interested in, send them a link to it. You can also tell them about the topics you’re blogging about and ask them to share your posts with their own networks.

Start a Blog: Submit Your Blog to Search Engines and Directories.

Another way to promote your blog is to submit it to search engines and directories. This will help people find your blog when they’re searching for information on the web.

To submit your blog to search engines, start by adding your website to Google Search Console. Once you’ve done that, you can submit your sitemap, which is a file that contains all of the URLs on your website.

You can also submit your blog to directories – In SEJ (Search Engine Journal) a leading, premier SEO blog as a post about this: 21 Web Directories You’ll Still Want To Use. This will help people find your blog when they’re looking for information on a specific topic.

To submit your blog to directories, start by finding ones that are relevant to your niche. Once you’ve found some directories, create an account and submit your blog’s URL.

Start a Blog: Leverage Social Media

One of the best ways to promote your blog is to use social media. This includes things like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Each social media platform has its own set of features, and you’ll want to use them all to help promote your blog.

This naturally begs the question… Which social media platform is best for which niche?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the social media platforms that work best for a given blog will depend on the niche. However, there are a few general practises that you can follow.

For example, if you have a lifestyle blog, you’ll want to use platforms like Instagram and Pinterest to share pictures and stories.

If you have a business blog, you’ll want to use LinkedIn to connect with other professionals.

When your blog is focused on latest breaking news, or time sensitive content, Twitter may work well.

No matter what type of blog you have, though, it’s important to be active on social media and to interact with your audience.

Start a Blog: Use Email Marketing.

As you know, when you start a blog, you need an audience. Another one of the best ways to do this is through email marketing.

Email marketing allows you to reach a large audience with your message, and it’s a great way to promote your blog.

To start using email marketing, you’ll need to create a list of email subscribers. You can do this by offering something for free in exchange for people’s email addresses, such as an ebook or a course.

Once you have a list of email subscribers, you can start sending them regular updates about your blog. You can also use email marketing to send people special offers and discounts.

Email marketing has some significant benefits when promoting your blog:

• Reach a large audience, directly, with your message.
• Great way to promote blog.
• Can send people special offers and discounts.
• Can connect with people on a personal level.

Start a Blog: Do Some Guest Blogging.

Guest blogging is when you write a blog post for another person’s website. This is a great way to get your name and your blog out there, and it can also help you attract new readers.

When you’re guest blogging, make sure that you’re writing quality content that is relevant to the website’s audience. You should also make sure to include a link back to your own blog in your guest post.

Guest posting is one aspect of collaborating with other’s in your community. There are a 4 main reasons why it’s important to collaborate with other bloggers:

1. It’s a great way to get your name and your blog out there.

2. It can help you attract new readers.

3. It can help you build relationships with other bloggers.

4. It can help you generate new ideas.

Some other ways that you can collaborate with other bloggers when starting your own blog include:

• Commenting on other people’s blogs.
• Creating joint ventures with other bloggers.
• Sharing content with other bloggers.
• Cross-promoting each others blog content.

Start a Blog: Make Sure You Regularly Create Posts on Schedule.

If you want your blog to be successful, it’s important to post content on a regular basis. This helps keep your readers engaged, and it also helps you attract new readers.

If you’re unable to post new content on a regular basis, consider hiring a freelance writer to help you out. This way, you can still post new content on a regular basis without having to do all the work yourself.

To make sure that you’re regularly creating posts on schedule, consider using a content calendar. This will help you keep track of when you need to post new content, and it will also help you stay organized.

A content calendar is especially helpful if you’re working with a team of writers. This way, everyone will know when new content is due, and they can start working on it in advance.

Optimize For Search Engines.

Optimizing for search engines means using specific tactics to help your blog rank higher search engine results pages (SERPs).

When you optimize your blog for search engines, you can improve your website’s visibility and attract more visitors.

There are a number of things you can do to optimize your blog for search engines, including:

• Use keyword-rich titles.
• Use keywords throughout your blog posts.
• Optimize your images for SEO.
• Link to other websites and blogs.

By using these tactics, you can help your blog rank higher in search engine results pages and attract more visitors. Just remember to focus on quality over quantity, and don’t try to stuff your blog full of keywords.

Start a Blog: Blog Loading Speed.

If you want your blog to be successful, it’s important to make sure that your content loads quickly. This is because people are less likely to stick around if your website takes a long time to load. Also, search engines can impose a negative score if your blog pages are loading too slowly.

You can use the following two tools to test your content, and find where you need to improve your blog loading speed:

1. GTMetrix
2. PageSpeed Insights

There are a number of things you can do to improve the loading speed of your blog, including:

• Using a fast web host.
• Optimizing your images.
• Using a caching plugin, and minifying your code.

By improving the loading speed of your blog, you can improve your website’s visibility and attract more visitors.

Start a Blog: Use Social Media To Promote Your Blog.

Social media is a great way to promote your blog and attract new readers. There are a number of

Google.

To help you improve your blog, be sure to leverage two tools offered by Google:

• Google Analytics.
• Google Search Console.

I think the sign up process is pretty straight forward.

Google Analytics is a free tool that helps you track the traffic on your website. It provides detailed information about where your website visitors are coming from, and it also helps you track how they interact with your website. This information can help you improve the design and content of your website, and it can also help you attract more visitors.

Google Search Console is a free tool that helps you track the visibility of your website in Google search results. It also provides information about how your website is performing in Google search results, and it helps you identify any errors that may be preventing your website from ranking higher. You can also use it to submit your sitemap (so that Google can better crawl your content).

Bing.

One reason why you should submit your website to Bing is because it can help you improve your website’s visibility in Bing search results. When you submit your website to Bing, it helps them better crawl your content, and this can help your website rank higher in their search results pages.

Bing provides the following tool:

Bing Webmaster Tools.

One thing I like about Bing, is you can configure their crawler / bot to visit your website during slower times, so loading speed is not impacted during peak traffic periods.

Start a Blog: Improve Blog Loading Speed.

I’ve touched on this earlier, but it’s such an important thing to ensure! One thing I suggest is leveraging the Cloudflare network (which you can start for free).

Cloudflare is a free global CDN (Content Delivery Network) that helps improve the loading speed of your website. It does this by caching your website’s content and delivering it from servers located closer to your website’s visitors. This can help reduce the loading time of your website, and it can also help improve your website’s visibility and SEO.

To start using Cloudflare, you can sign up for a free account and then add your website. Once you’ve added your website, you’ll need to configure your DNS settings (which can be done through your web host or domain registrar). After that, you can start using Cloudflare’s CDN to improve the loading speed of your website.

For those using my exclusive blog starter hosting Cloudflare integration is done for you. This way you can avoid a learning curve, and avoid any troubleshooting.

Remember, the faster and quicker your blog responds to web browser requests, the better to improvement in your SEO.

Start a Blog: Blog Permalinks.

A blog permalink is the unique web address for a blog post. It’s typically a long, random string of letters and numbers that identifies the post and allows it to be accessed online. Permalinks are important because they help ensure that readers can easily find and access your blog posts. They also help improve your website’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

But here’s the thing… A long random string of letter and numbers is meaningless to use – And does not provide search engines with valuable information. As a result that’s not too great for SEO.

The best permalink to use for good SEO is a URL that includes the post’s title. This will help ensure that search engines can easily crawl and index your blog posts, and it will also help improve your website’s SEO. And provide a more meaningful URL to people.

To change your blog’s permalink, you can go to your blog’s Settings and then click on the Permalinks tab. From there, you can select the “Post name” option, which will use the post title in the URL.

If you’re using my exclusive blog starter hosting – You don’t need to worry about this, as the post name permalink is set by default.

Start a Blog: Blog Categories.

A blog category is a way to group related blog posts together. This can help your readers easily find related posts, and it can also help improve your website’s SEO.

To create a blog category, you can go to your blog’s Settings and then click on the Categories tab. From there, you can add a new category and then start adding blog posts to it.

When creating a new category, make sure to give it a name that accurately describes the content of the blog posts that will be added to it. And make sure to use keywords in the category name that will help people find it in search engines.

You can also add subcategories to your main categories, which can help further organize your blog posts.

Blog categories can help improve your website’s SEO in a couple of ways.

First, by including keywords in the category name, you can help ensure that search engines will index and rank your blog posts for those keywords.

Second, by organizing your blog posts into related categories, you can help make it easier for readers to find and access your content. This can also help improve your website’s SEO.

STEP 6: Start a Blog – Monetizing a Blog.

There are three main reasons why it’s important to monetize your blog.

1. Monetizing your blog can help you generate revenue and offset some of the costs of running your blog. This can help you maintain and improve your blog, and it can also help you grow your blog’s audience.
2. Monetizing your blog can help you build brand awareness and create connections with potential customers. When you start to monetize your blog, you’ll start to attract the attention of businesses and brands who may want to work with you. This can help you grow your business and/or brand, and it can also help you connect with new customers.
3. Monetizing your blog can help you establish yourself as an expert in your field. When you start to monetize your blog, you’ll start to get noticed by other bloggers, journalists, and industry leaders. This can help increase your influence and credibility, and it can also help you build relationships with key people in your industry.

There are a number of ways to monetize your blog. Some of the most common methods include displaying ads, selling digital products or services, and affiliate marketing.

Displaying Ads.

One way to monetize your blog is by displaying ads. You can sell ad space on your blog to businesses and brands, or you can use a service like Google AdSense to automatically serve ads on your blog.

Selling Digital Products or Services.

Another way to monetize your blog is by selling digital products or services. This could include things like ebooks, online courses, or software products. You could also offer consulting services or run webinars.

Affiliate Marketing.

In affiliate marketing, you promote other people’s products or services and earn a commission when someone buys them through your link.

Engage Sponsorship’s.

Another way to make money from your blog is by getting sponsorship’s from businesses or brands. This could involve them paying you to write a post about their product, or it could involve them paying you to include a banner ad on your blog.

While this is one option, it’s an option I’m only adding to this post, so that I can explain why it may not be good for the success of your blog.

Caveat: Be VERY careful with sponsorship’s. Search engines, like Google, are sensitive to purchased (paid) links and may take action against your blog, and the website you’re linking to. It’s critical to be extremely transparent with your blog visitors (if you must engage in paid sponsorship).

Unless there is some compelling, powerful, reason for sponsorship’s; personally I avoid them for the following reasons:

• If readers see that you’re regularly only promoting products or services for pay, they may start to distrust your recommendations.
• As a blogger, you should be focused on providing valuable content that helps your readers solve their problems. Sponsored links can sometimes interrupt the flow of your content and distract readers from the message you’re trying to send.
• When you start accepting sponsored links, it can be difficult to say no to future offers. This can lead to a loss of editorial control over your blog and the type of content you publish.

STEP 7: Start a Blog – How to Branch Out Your Blog Offerings.

As your blog grows and matures, you may start to think about expanding the things you offer on your blog. This could include things like creating new content types, authoring books, or outsourcing.

Introducing New Content Types.

When you blog reaches a higher degree or engagement, with a large growing audience, it’s a good idea to consider adding the following, which will enhance engagement:

• Case studies.
• Vlog (video blogging).
• Podcasting.
• Online courses.

Outsourcing Content Creation.

If you find that your blog is becoming too time-consuming, or if you simply want to focus on other aspects of your business, you may want to start outsourcing some of the work. You can outsource things like:

• Writing articles.
• Creating graphics.
• Managing social media accounts.
• Doing research.

You can also hire people to help you with the business side of things, like bookkeeping, marketing, or website development.

Writing Your First Book.

Starting a blog is the perfect way to start writing your first book. You can use your blog as a platform to share your ideas, get feedback from readers, and build an audience for your work. Plus, blogging can help you refine your writing skills, and move forward to learn about the publishing process.

Start a Blog: Blog FAQ.

Conclusion.

Starting a blog is easier than you think. In this article, we detailed seven easy steps to help you get started. Just remember, the most important thing is to start and to keep blogging consistently. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your blog content or design in order to find what works best for you and your audience. What are you waiting for? Start your own blog today!

You can learn much more about how to start a blog, by visiting our Blogs and Blogging posts. As well as find out further about starting a blog in particular.