How to set up your blog correctly

Do you like to write what you think and read the thoughts and opinions of others online? Would you be interested in blogging? If you answered yes, continue reading the guide prepared by Tips9ja to learn how to create a blog in easy steps.

What is a blog?

Before entering the world of blogging, it is necessary to know the meaning of terms that you will come across if you wish to engage in it. A ‘blog’ is an online diary. The term comes from the words ‘web’ and ‘blog’ ‘Blogger’ is the person who writes the articles.

Rob Palmer made the first post in blogging history. It was in 1993 when Palmer, who was working for a company in London, decided to post a text about her on its website. The business thought of continuing to publish a text every three months and offering it to the site’s readers as a ‘free online magazine’. In 1997, American Jorn Barger coined the term ‘weblog’. Open Diary was created in 1998 and was a digital platform that allowed people to share thoughts and ideas.

Today, a blog regularly publishes new content to attract avid readers. Its content can be photos, videos or texts, and posts are made in chronological order. The variety of subject matter is great and there are different types of blogs. The most famous are the following:

• Personal Blog: In these, people record their thoughts, stories, ideas, etc.
• Business Blog: It is created by a business owner in order to increase customers. The topics posted in it are related to the products or services offered by the company. For example, a company selling cosmetics may publish an article on the topic: ‘the ideal make-up for summer’.
• Special blogs: The topics in these blogs are more specialized and indicate the love of their owner on a specific topic. For example, this category includes blogs about movies, literature, mental health, music, fitness, nutrition, etc.

How do you create a blog?

It is easy to create a blog, as long as you want it and spend a few hours or even days until you see the final result. First, think about what you want to write. Find the topic you will deal with through your blog. It must be something you love so much that you feel good every time you post a new text.

Next, you need to decide on the name of your blog. To be considered successful, the blog’s domain name should be simple, short, sonorous, without hyphens and relevant to its content. Later, choose the platform that will host your blog. The two biggest free blogging platforms are blogger.com and WordPress.

How to set up a blog properly

After choosing the platform and the technical configuration of your blog, start writing your articles. As you write, think about who you are writing for. These will be your ideal readers and you will think of them every time you ask yourself ‘what to write’. For example, if you want to write about subjects related to schools, studies and student life, your texts will be read by students. Adapt your style to match their interests and preferences.

Be sure to write originals. In the vast world of the internet, there are countless blogs with similar themes. Think about what you can do to make your content stand out. Add value and creativity to it so readers will love it too. Also, try to write compelling headlines to grab readers’ attention.

Also, try to make interesting posts and be consistent with them. It is essential to post at least once a week if you want to gain a rabid readership. To connect with your audience, you need to use social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok) to promote the blog. Do enough research on the topic you are going to deal with before writing a text. Don’t forget to add a photo or image to each post because it improves its appearance. A program that can be very useful for you with images is Canva. Check it out and find out what you can create to upgrade your blog.

What are the most common mistakes in a blog?

A number of mistakes can lead a blog to failure. Try to avoid the most common mistakes that beginner bloggers make:

• They give up too soon: A blog needs time to find its audience and love it. But new content writers don’t have enough patience and stop trying in the first month. Blogging takes patience and time.
• Poor content: A good blog needs texts with quality and useful content for the reader. It is forbidden to copy texts from other sites or blogs.
• There is no good relationship between creators and readers: Readers to keep following a blog need to know the person behind it. Having comments at the end of every post helps build a good relationship between the creator and the reader.
• Slow-loading blog: If a blog page takes a long time to load, the chances of its readers leaving also increase.
• There is no specific topic: A blog can hardly cover many topics and this is perceived by the reader. It is preferable to have texts only around one topic.
• No photos and videos: Photos and videos attract more readers. They are also preferred by search engines, as they rank higher in articles that have even one image in the body of the text.

How you can earn money through blogging

Content creators can earn an income from their blog articles. This can be done through advertising. If thousands of readers visit your blog every day, it’s easy for someone to want to advertise their products through it, giving you some money too.

You can also get paid with CPC ads. These ads appear in some posts and you get paid an amount every time a reader ‘clicks’ on them. Through blogging, you can sell various products. For example, if you have a blog about cosmetics, you could sell cosmetics that you make yourself.

To recap, creating a blog is beneficial as it will improve your communication and writing skills which are especially important in the job market. In addition, through this occupation, you will manage to meet new people and your self-confidence will increase.