#1) Choose Your Domain Name Wisely
Many beginners rush through the process of registering a domain name simply because they want to get started NOW. But the domain name is the heart and soul of your blog, which is why it’s important to choose a meaningful and appropriate name. Think about what you hope to accomplish with your blog, the niche, and your target audience. Choose a domain name that’s relevant to all of these elements. Ideally, it should be a brandable dot com name with no hyphens or numbers.
#2) Your Content Management System Matters
Yes, you can technically build a blog using Notepad, Microsoft Word, or a standard HTML editing program like DreamWeaver. However, doing so will burn through your time and energy, and it really doesn’t make sense given all of the content management systems (CMS) available. If you are planning to start a blog, research some of the leading CMS platforms like WordPress, Blogger, Joomla and Drupal to determine which one is right for you. And when in doubt, you really can’t go wrong with WordPress.
#3) You Can Schedule Your Posts
We all know the importance of publishing new blog posts regularly. When bloggers fail to create new content, their blogs grow stagnant, at which point human visitors and search engines may neglect to return. With that said, you don’t necessarily have to log into your blog every other day to publish new content. Assuming you use a CMS like WordPress or Blogger, you can schedule your posts to be published at a later date. This is great when you plan on going away for business or taking a long vacation, as your blog will remain relevant and updated with new content, even while you are away. Or if you have some extra time, write the next few weeks’ worth of posts, and schedule them.
#4) Make Your Posts Appealing
Text alone isn’t going to make your blog posts appealing to visitors. Sure, it may convey the topic’s message, but unless visitors enjoy seeing and reading it, your posts will ultimately fail to gain any real traction. So, how do you make your blog posts more appealing? There are several different steps you can take, one of which is to include images in your posts. Notice how we have at least one image in each of our blog posts? Studies have shown that images, when used in web content, improve visitor engagement and social shares.
#5) Your Blog Won’t Become Popular Overnight
Wouldn’t it be great if hundreds or thousands of people immediately started following your blog after it was launched? Unfortunately, it rarely happens like this. Creating a successful, popular blog requires time, patience and dedication, and lots of it. You must constantly craft new content while gradually building up the number of followers your blog has. If you stick it with it, though, you’ll develop a strong following of loyal readers.
Have any other blogging tips that you would like to share with our readers? Let us know in the comments section below!
Image attribution: https://www.flickr.com/photos/inf/
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience:-)
– Sincerely, A Beginner
I wish someone would’ve told me about the domain name before I learned the hard way. I suppose we live and learn.
My recommendation is to (1) set goals; and (2) never sacrifice quality.