Are you blogging? You should.
Learn the tools needed to help you get started on a blog. I’ll go over effective and best practices for growing, monetizing, and launching your blog.
In an increasingly digital world, we all yearn to stay connected through different communication tools such as social media, video conferencing, text messaging, and other mediums.
Blogging provides leverage and helps boost your digital presence while enhancing your brand identity or providing a space for people with similar interests to share ideas about particular topics.
Whether you’re hoping to showcase your writing skills, connect with a community of bloggers, or share industry knowledge — starting a blog is a must!
Starting a blog can seem like a nervewracking ordeal in the era of information overload. Let’s break down what a blog is.
Essentially, a blog is an informational resource hub or a platform to share your expertise or knowledge about a particular topic or theme.
According to Lynda.com, the official textbook definition for a blog is the following: “a web site on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis.”
Blogs help communicate thoughts and opinions and give audiences the opportunity to learn new information or gain valuable insight that can prompt them to take action or subscribe to your page. You can grow your audience by creating blog posts that are conversational, engaging, and thought-provoking.
A marketer, writer, or business owner might want to create a blog for various reasons. You might want to create a blog to network, gain more visibility, and better market your company and promote brand awareness for your business, for instance.
A blog can also simply be a cathartic or creative outlet to express your thoughts in an online journal or community platform where other bloggers can comment, “like,” or share your content. Blogs provide a sense of authority and can help build a brand reputation or serve as a place to showcase your own individual identity through your thoughts and ideas.
In essence, a blog conveys information in an easy-to-read and digestible way that might offer a new perspective or inspire a call-to-action.
What topics should you cover in your blog?
Before starting your blog, it’s a good idea to find your niche and think about the following questions:
“What is it that you’d like to cover?”
“What topics interest you the most?”
“What’s my target audience?”
“What’s the end result? What am I hoping to achieve with this blog?”
Once you’ve done a little bit of self-reflection and brainstorming, it’s important to do some research and read other blogs that are out there for inspiration.
As with any content writing project, it’s important to research and read up on similar topics to get a feel for what has already been written and what’s out there. Make a list of your favorite bloggers and read through some of their blog posts to get a feel for their brand voice.
You’ll find your own brand identity when the moment hits.
A key ingredient to writing a successful blog is to write what you know. Figure out what you’re an expert on, and use that to your advantage. Are you a cooking aficionado? Do you know how to install air conditioners? Are you a poet who can break down stanzas and other terms?
The best blog writing doesn’t read like an essay or long research paper — instead, it reads as if you’re talking to a friend or having a casual conversation about a topic.
The reader doesn’t want to read a lengthy blog about something you’re not passionate about. The lack of zest and excitement about your content will come across in your blog, so be sure to invest in a topic that you are fully interested in writing.
Here are just a few blog topics to consider to get you started:
- New tech trends
- Cooking on a budget
- Business Features/Updates on Company Happenings
- Health/Wellness
- Millennial budgeting/Finance
- Teaching/Education Resources
- Thrifting and the Eco-conscious consumer
- Advocacy
- Ecommerce and digital marketing
What type of writing style or format should you follow for a blog post?
Readers want to read and visit a blog that is valuable and gets the point across. It’s important to follow a format that makes your readers stay engaged.
Before starting the writing process, make sure you create an outline for the structure of your blog post. Think of the outline as a loose check-list. You don’t have to strictly adhere to it, but you can use it as a planning board to go off of.
Your blog post should have an enticing headline that is optimized for SEO but also covers the crux of what you’d like to discuss. Avoid keyword stuffing, because it’ll be obvious. Write content that serves a clear purpose — whether that’s updating your customers on your new exciting product line or a more newsworthy piece that lists famous landmarks to visit in California.
The body of your blog post should essentially introduce the topic, cover or highlight case studies or light stats, and provide examples by hyperlinking to other resources.
Be sure to add subheadings to break up the long text. You can also add bullet points, italics whenever you want to emphasize a certain point. Don’t be afraid to use a pull quote too. Prominently featuring a pull quote can also break up the monotony of the text and provide more emphasis on the point you’re making.
Remember that blogging isn’t just tied to text-based content. Many users are likely to click on content that is interactive and has a good balance of audio or video content to supplement the text. Consider adding a short audio bit or a segment from your podcast or linking to a relevant YouTube video that can supplement your blog. Don’t forget the opportunity to include multimedia elements to enhance your blog.
How I started my blog
Launching my blog, Morningswithmoni.com, required a lot of trial and error. In fact, I conceptualized and brainstormed the idea for several months before signing up a domain and committing to a blogging platform and theme. I had the idea for several months, but never fully committed to it until a friend encouraged me to run with the idea.
Anyone can start a blog and learn the tools needed to create relevant content. Don’t underestimate your skills or feel as though you have to be a professional blogger or writer to have a blog.
We all have to start somewhere, and blogging can provide creativity and a much-needed community platform to showcase your talents, offer a service, or inform and educate others about a topic.
For me, I had an itch to start a blog after leaving my career as a digital journalist. I was ready to start writing a blog without thinking of monetizing off of the writing at first. I just wanted to put my content out there.
My goal was to create a blog featuring and highlighting the stories of women entrepreneurs, mental health coaches, and all-around amazing women that seek to inspire and encourage others. I wanted to create a space where people could go to for positive, uplifting stories and feel less alone.
Morningswithmoni.com was launched out of an immense amount of love and passion for documenting inspiring stories with an emphasis on spotlighting women entrepreneurs. The blog became a general resource and inspiring storytelling platform featuring profiles on teen confidence coaches, indie bookstore owners, artists, and more.
I launched my blog on Wordpress.com over a year ago and used a minimalist theme without adding too many complicated widgets to distract the reader. Instead of having the reader scroll down a rather lengthy landing page, I decided to cap the blog posts and make sure that their excerpts would show up on the landing page. If they were interested in reading more, they could click the hyperlinked headline tab for more.
I eventually made some passive income by running Wordpress ads on my blog and paying attention to analytics and page views. The blogging platform has a certain requirement where you have to hit the $100 mark to receive payment. Right now, my blog has made about $9 so far, but hey, that’s $9 more than I had before. It’s a start, right?
I also started blogging on Medium.com and even published a few excerpts and samples of my upcoming unpublished memoir as a way to get more eyes on my content and potentially pique the interest of a potential literary agent.
My highest-performing blog post was a very personal look at how I met my “bagel” — aka my boyfriend, on “Coffee Meets Bagel” after years of bad luck and disillusionment on dating apps. That piece seemed to resonate with viewers and earned me almost $10 for that post (enough to maybe buy two coffees, maybe). I even had a lot of people reach out to me via social media because I cross-promoted that blog post and added a link to my Instagram bio.
When you’re taking the time to write and publish blog posts, don’t forget to cross-promote that content or republish elsewhere so that you can continue to grow your audiences across platforms.
Are there any recommended beginner blogging platforms to use?
These days, there are several great blogging platforms that are easy to use with little or no manual coding required. For my blog, I used Wordpress.com to create a simple, streamlined theme that would best support my blog identity.
Of course, if you’re looking to add eCommerce features or other premium or business features, there will be added fees. But for the most part, choosing a simple or beginner themed blog is typically free. Be sure to check with your blogging platform service provider to see what options are available to you.
Here are a few great blogging platforms to use:
- Wordpress — Great for beginners, this blogging platform was the first one I used to start my blogging journey. You can manage multiple blogging sites and use a streamlined block editor to create beautiful and informative blogs.
- Medium — This is one of my favorite online community blogs. You can link your Twitter account and begin to write content and categorize it by theme. You can also monetize your content and sign up for the Medium Partner Program so your content can be shared internally, to Medium members.
- Tumblr — You can utilize images, content, and hashtags to make your blogging experience fun and enjoyable. It’s a social media and online blogging platform duo. I started using Tumblr back in 2009, but I’ll admit I haven’t used it in a while since my college days scrolling through an endless feed of gifs and inspirational quotes during Lit Journalism class.
- Squarespace — This blogging platform is a bit more advanced, but once you get the hang of it — you’ll be happy you chose it. I love using Squarespace because it allows me to best showcase my writing portfolio and samples of the ad copy and journalism features I’ve written over the years.
Remember — no blog is written in stone. Get feedback and constructive criticism from trusted colleagues and friends who are there to support you. Find ways to improve the content or stick to a routine or schedule to help improve your blog’s ranking or visibility. And remember, “focus on quality, not quantity.”
How to monetize your blog
Launching your blog can open up a lot of possibilities and potential for both active and passive income. Don’t be afraid to sign up for member programs or include ads on your blog as a way to generate a side income.
Make sure you continue to update your blog to gain steady readership. Don’t just throw in text and rush to constantly schedule posts that get lost in the clutter of other blogs.
Make sure your content is relevant, unique, and authentic. Readers will often come back to your site if the content you offer provides value and a reason for returning. It’s important to read other popular blogs to gain insight and inspiration for ways to grow your blog.
There are also online training and courses available to help you learn effective strategies on how to monetize your blog. Here are some courses that you might want to consider:
-The Ultimate Build Your Blog Bundle
-Everything you need to know in order to monetize a blog (without being a computer expert)
There are also other ways to make money off your blog: 1.) Affiliate Marketing 2.) Ads 3.) Sponsored posts and relationships with brands 4.) Digital Products and Services (ebooks, etc). 5.) Donation-based content
- Digital Products and Services — If you consider yourself an expert or well-versed on a particular topic, why not monetize off that and share your knowledge with others? Add an ecommerce shop feature on your blogging site and sell digital products in the form of informational videos, ebooks, or other services that have no overhead cost. The best part is that your digital product doesn’t have to be replicated or restocked. It can stay up there in your shop while you go work on other ways to generate income.
- Affiliate Marketing — essentially a marketing concept that allows bloggers or influencers the ability to monetize or earn a certain percentage of commission or credit for directing their readers or followers to specific links, sales, or other ads. The goal is to encourage users to take a specific action or make a potential purchase. These affiliate links track the progress of the marketing strategy.
- Ads — You can turn ads on in Wordpress to make passive money off your content. These ads can appear at the bottom, top, or side of your Wordpress or other blogs. You can also consider utilizing Google Adsense or other forms of advertising to generate income.
- Donation-based content — Create impactful content that resonates with readers. Once you’ve gained a steady following, you might want to consider providing unique offerings (art, poems, etc) and adding an option for accepting donations or starting a Patreon account.
How to grow your blogging audience
The best way to grow your blogging audience is by providing timely, relevant information. You don’t want your last post to have been written a year ago, and you also don’t want to inundate your users with too much information.
Blogging is a balancing act. Make sure you provide quality posts, update when necessary, and provide a reason for your audience to stick around and consume your content.
- Find a blogging niche. Focus on enhancing content that is geared towards a specific niche. You want to publish content that provides value to your readers. Do some research and figure out what topics your target audience might want to read. When you’re able to narrow down the search and focus on a niche or specialty, audiences will more likely visit your blog.
- Make it personal. Build a connection with your blogging audience by introducing yourself/your story or creating a newsletter to share your top blog posts. You can also build a close-knit community on social media and cross-link your blog posts there.
- Engage. Utilize the comments section and regularly respond and engage with your subscribers to make it more personal.
- Content that resonates. Focus on producing quality content that resonates with audiences and provides a reason for them to build a connection with your blog. This might include posting regularly and establishing yourself as a trusted educational resource and online hub for information about a specific topic.
- Stay Relevant and on Trend. Find out what others are talking about and then educate yourself on the concepts. Tie in newsworthy content and create your own content that stands out.
- Crowdsource. Make your blog interactive by building and nurturing partnerships or relationships with other guest bloggers. Post an inquiry on social media and ask if anyone would like to contribute a blog post or do a podcast collaboration to supplement the blog. Feel free to think outside the blogging bubble.
- Cross-post. Remember that you aren’t just tied down to your blog. You can resurface your content and cross-post on other platforms, too.
Why blog?
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, writer, business owner, or marketer — blogs provide an essential resource for the online community. As a business owner, blogging about your products and services can help provide more visibility. As a writer, blogging can serve as a creative outlet or way to network with other writers or literary agents if you are hoping to get published.
Anyone can benefit from blogging, which is why it’s important to update, stay relevant, and curate impactful content that provides value.
-Written by Monica Luhar
