Beginners guide to blogging: How to build a blog – Episode 1

In my few years of blogging I have often been asked how can one build a successful blog from scratch? Building a successful blog is not really difficult only if you know what it takes to build one. Blogging is not all about writing but if you have good writing skills then you are sure to succeed as a blogger, many of us are already active in social media like Twitter and Facebook. All you need to start a blog is simply my “Beginners guide to blogging: How to build a blog”.

In my Beginners guide to blogging series I intend to teach you all you need to succeed as a blogger even if you do not know how to write or design a website. So if you are really interested in blogging, then you will have to follow all the episodes of this series.

Beginners guide to blogging:

But first we have to talk about the reasons why you want to build a blog so I can set some things straight so you will know exactly what to expect before you decide if you want to build a blog or not.  There have been a lot of misconceptions about blogging and I intend to set them straight here for you so you will know beforehand what you are getting into and what to expect.

Why do you want to build a blog?

Different people get into blogging for different reasons especially for the money $$$$, there is nothing wrong about coming into blogging for the money; I don’t see anything wrong in one earning good income from his intellectual prowess. In fact the number one reason many people start blogging is to earn money but you need the best approach to this so you won’t mess up your hard work with your quest to make money through it because at a time your personality will also be at stake.

I know a lot of people will tell you it is wrong to start a blog just because you want to make money out of it, I am telling you otherwise, and there is nothing wrong about it provided you do not do it in a fashion where it will hurt your audience. I am personally earning money through this blog, have I done anything wrong in providing the web with rich contents and in return earn money from my hard work? Same applies to you, you can earn money from your blog, just ensure to follow the rules I will give in this guide so you can do it right and earn good money out of it.

So for whatever reasons why you may want to build a blog, you will find the “Beginners guide to blogging” very interesting.  Next will be the qualities you will need to succeed as a blogger.

Qualities you will need to succeed as a blogger:

I want to give you the secret mathematical formula of a successful blogging, I call it the 3P’s of blogging.

Passion+Patience+Persistence = Successful blogging.

To succeed as a blogger, you will need the above mentioned qualities. Blogging is not a make-money-quick scheme; in fact you need a lot of PATIENCE to succeed as a blogger. It took me 3 months of blogging to earn my first $100, some say it took them 6 months others a year or more. But maybe you got lucky especially after reading my “Beginners guide to blogging: how to build a blog”, yours may not take that long because I will share all my challenges here and how I overcame them all so you won’t have to suffer same.

Another quality that can help you succeed as a blogger is only if you have the PASSION to blog; there is no shortcut to doing this. Forget all you read about blackhat methods to succeed as a blogger, it will only land you in trouble because Google is working hard day and night to punish those lazy people who won’t work hard to succeed but rather are looking for shortcuts to succeeding as a blogger.

Then PERSISTENCE is yet another quality you must possess to succeed as a blogger. You must be persistent in your publications and promotions; you must be persistent to succeed. Blogging is a serious thing so you must be serious with it, you don’t publish an article today and publish another in 3months time and expect to succeed as a blogger. You have to do it regularly to earn both your visitor’s trust and that of search engines.

If you are sure you have the right drive to start a blog, then you have some decisions to make about what you will be blogging about and what platform you will use to blog. You also have to decide on your blog design and web hosting. You will have to consider the costs and your capabilities.

How to choose a Niche:

A niche is like the area or topics your blog will cover. To find the best niche that will best suit your blog for a successful blogging carrier, you have to choose a niche that best matches your natural life passion. Build a blog on a niche you are passionate about and you are half way to success already. Blog on topics you are an authority in, that way you can never run out of ideas to write about. So whether it is sports, entertainment, education, health etc, choose only a niche you are passionate about.

Another thing you will have to consider is if the niche is competitive; remember traffic is the life blood of any successful blog, so you must choose a niche that has good monthly global searches. So you need to research the potential traffic of the niche you are choosing. As a starter I will advise you choose a niche that is not too competitive with good amount of traffic and one that is profitable with good CPC so you can also earn good money from it.

Always remember good blog + good traffic = good money. 

When you have decided your niche, you can also decide to break it further down to micro-niche, else you have to move on to the next thing on list which is to choose your blog name or simply domain name for your blog.

How to choose the right domain name:

The right domain name is the first step to building a successful blog, so you have to ensure you make the right choice here. Don’t worry “Beginner’s guide to blogging: How to build a blog” will teach you all you need to know to choosing the right domain name for your blog. Simply read an article I published earlier titled “Choosing the right domain names” for all the tips you will need in choosing the right domain name for your blog.

After you have decided on the domain name you will want to use for your blog, the next thing to do will be to check for its availability then place an order for it to secure it, but wait a minute so you can do it together with the hosting plan as most registrars give free domain name for their hosting packages.

How to choose a web host:

Before choosing a web host there are some factors you will have to consider so as to be able to choose the right web host. I have discussed the “Basic factors to consider before choosing the best web host” in this blog, check it out.

I personally use Arvixe for my blog and the support team has been awesome in solving whatever problems I may have. If you want cheap and reliable webhost for your blog, check out Arvixe. Others include Godaddy, Namecheap, Hostgator etc.

After you have placed your order successfully, your domain and webhosting details will be emailed to you, this is where you begin your work. I know not everyone is a web designer, but if you have a good knowledge of html you can be able to customize your blog to look good. Now let’s see how we can build our blog from scratch.

Install WordPress:

There are definitely other platforms for blogging but I will always favor WordPress for several reasons. WordPress was built for blogging ad so it has a lot of search engine optimization SEO advantages over other blogging platforms. WordPress is so easy that even a newbie can quickly get a hang of it in no time and build a professional website just like I did some years ago.

Simply login to your cPanel dashboard, look for Fantastico and install WordPress on your root folder (www folder). This is the first step to building a blog, and a lot of people find it difficult to pass through this stage, so I have decided to help you all, yes I want to help you all install your WordPress sites on your hosting server.

All you need to do to earn my help and install WordPress on your server is for you to buy your webhosting package from any of these recommended hosting solutions.

Arvixe

 Godaddy

Namecheap

Hostgator

In return I can offer you this service at no additional cost, and guide you in the right direction in the process. Once you complete your sign up with any of the hosting companies above, click here to send me an email and I will follow up with you asap to setup your blog and get you live! I hope you take advantage of my offer to get your blog started in no time.

Customize your WordPress:

After installing WordPress the next thing will be to customize your WordPress blog, make it uniquely different and nice, give it an appealing look that will give a first time visitor a good impression and get him to return again.

You can do this by installing themes and plugins, there are free themes out there but from experience I have discovered that premium themes perform better, so depending on your budget you can either decide to use a free WordPress theme or you can purchase a premium theme. But before you choose any theme, I will recommend you read a post I published earlier on this blog titled “What to consider while choosing a WordPress theme for your site”.

Same goes for Plugins, you need to secure your WordPress site from hackers so I recommend you check out “Necessary WordPress Security Plugins every blog should have” and “Some important WordPress Plugins for your WordPress blog”. You will also learn how to install and activate a plugin there, so check them out.

This is the end of the first episode of this series, I will continue with the rest tomorrow. I hope you find it interesting to share your views and contribute to it. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me via the comments or better yet via the contact page.

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