What Is A Blog?
According to Wikipedia:
A blog is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries.
So a blog is a website that has regularly updated content that you can use to communicate information.
What Blogging Software Should I Use?
There are a lot of popular options when it comes to blogging software. Some options:
- WordPress.org
- Wordpress.com
- Blogspot.com
- Tumblr.com
For my money WordPress.org is the best blogging software available. But to use it you'll need to buy web hosting.
Buy Web Hosting For Your Site
When you decide to use WordPress.org for your blogging software, you'll need to find a website host where you can install WordPress, and from where it will be served to the general public. If you're just starting out a cheap shared host will most likely be your best bet. Many of these hosting packages can cost anywhere from $5-10/month.
If you're more ambitious and hope to be making money in the long run you may want to start out on a more expensive hosting package, even purchasing a dedicated virtual server at one host or another. Do your research to find out which hosts are the ones that people are currently most happy with.
Choosing A Niche And A Name For Your Blog
Before you install and setup WordPress on your new host, you'll want to figure out what niche you want to blog in. First figure out a few topics that you're passionate about and that you think you could blog daily about. Next do some Google searches for keywords on the topic, and see how many search results come up (to see how much competition you'll have). Also see what kind of search volume those keywords have - to see if it is worth your while. Once you've found a niche, you may want to try and set yourself apart by choosing a sub-niche, so that you'll still generate good traffic from your topic, but also find some targeted users from your specialty.
Once you've figured out your niche, pick a name for your blog by choosing a name that has good keywords (which will help with SEO.). If you're blogging about quilting for example, try to get the word quilting - or a related keyword - into the title.
Once you've chosen a domain name, run it by a few friends to make sure it isn't strange or hard to remember. When you've confirmed that it isn't, purchase your domain name with a recognized and good domain registrar like godaddy.com.
Setting Up WordPress On Your New Host
Now that you've bought your domain and purchased hosting, it's time to set up WordPress. Set it up using the 1 click install at your webhost. If that option isn't available, you can upload the necessary files via FTP as well. Full instructions can be found at WordPress.org.
Install A Custom WordPress Theme And Plugins Plugins
Once you've installed WordPress you'll want to install a customized theme and install plugins to help extend functionality. Make sure to install plugins for SEO, a contact form, spam comment filter, sitemaps plugin, database backups, and a caching plugin if you're using a shared host.
Write A Lot Of Content
This point can't be stressed enough. Write a LOT of content. Get on a schedule of writing 4-5 days a week, and stick to it.
Write your content so that it is tailored towards the search engines. Write titles how people search for things in Google so that your article comes up. Do keyword research using online tools, and figure out what keywords pay well, and which ones have high search volume. Target them.
Promote Your Content
Now that you're writing daily you also need to promote your content. Places to promote:
- Social Media
- Blog Carnivals
- Guest Posting
- Forums surrounding your topic
- Commenting on other blogs
- Networking with others in your niche.
Make Money On Your Site
The fun part of blogging is often making the money that goes along with it. Some ways you can make money:
- Google AdSense
- Chitika
- Text Link Ads
- CPM Ads
- Private ad sales
- Sell e-books that you've written
- Affiliate sales through Amazon Associates, CJ.com and other networks.
Wash Rinse Repeat
There is no magic wand that can create a new site for you and have it instantly generating income. It all comes down to the hard work of generating original content, doing SEO and keyword research, and coming up with advertising and sales relationships that will benefit you in the long run. If you stick to it though, you can have a nice side income entering your bank account within 6 months to a year. Good luck!
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