Starting a blog can sometimes be overwhelming because of all that’s involved in blogging. To help get you newbies started, we’ve created a list of ten important things to do when starting your blogging journey. A free printable checklist is included at the end of the post with a new blog to-do list to help you track your progress and note important information.
1. Set Goals
Setting goals is mentioned first because it’s one of the most important things you need to do as a blogger. Setting goals will help you grow your blog and will help you stay focused on the things that will help you achieve those goals.
It’s important to set yearly goals and then break them down into monthly and daily goals. Knowing that each of your achievable daily goals is helping you progress towards your monthly and yearly goals will give you purpose as you work each day.
Some good beginning goals to set are things like:
- how many blog posts do you want to have in place before you launch your blog
- the key topics you want your blog to focus on, and how often you plan to post about each topic
- how many Instagram/Twitter/Facebook, etc followers do you want to have by the end of the first month
- the number of page views you want to have by the end of your first month
- etc.
Our Ultimate Blog Planner has a collection of goal-setting pages to help you define and plan your goals.
2. Get a Blog Planner
A blog planner is a must when it comes to blogging. Blog planners help keep you organized and focused on achieving your blogging goals.
Our Ultimate Blog Planner has been designed for driven bloggers who are determined to increase blog income and traffic. The full 36-page planner will help you brainstorm post ideas, plan your weekly posts, set yearly & monthly goals, track yearly & monthly stats, keep track of affiliates, Facebook advertising, social media posts, newsletter campaigns, finances, usernames & passwords, giveaways, etc. You name it, and our blog planner kit has you covered.
There’s no better way to grow your blog than by strategic goal setting and regularly tracking your progress towards reaching your blogging goals. Using The Ultimate Blog Planner is key to blog organization and blogging success!
3. Decide on a name for your blog
Now that you have a blog plan and goals, it’s time to create your blog. First, decide on a name for your blog. Try to pick something short and easy to remember. For example, instead of calling it: ‘Amy’s Recipes From Around The World’ call it ‘Amy Food World’ this way it will be easier to remember and use as your blog address.
Many hosting providers like Bluehost (check the next step to learn more) are offering free domains if you buy a specific hosting plan so make sure to check that before purchasing the domain separately.
4. Purchase hosting
Once you have a name for your blog, it’s time to grab a piece of real estate online. If you plan to use the WordPress platform (we highly recommend this) you can follow our How to Start a Blog tutorial which will walk you through the process of purchasing hosting and getting WordPress installed.
To set up a Blogger blog, simply go here and follow the steps.
If you need help deciding which platform to use, be sure to check out our Blogger vs WordPress comparison.
5. Create social media accounts
Next is to set up social media accounts so you can start promoting your blog. Social media is one of the most powerful tools for growing your blog. If getting accounts set up on all social media outlets feels overwhelming, then just pick 1-3 of your favorites and just focus on those.
Having social media sites for your blog will help drive traffic to your blog, so this step is key.
If you are looking for inspiration, visit our Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest pages.
6. Create a mailing list
To grow your business or blog, you must make building your email list your top priority. Email is less competitive than social media, which means you’ll have a greater chance of reaching people through email. In order to optimize your email campaigns, you should create a mailing list and deploy an email management tool provided by companies such as Simplelists (www.simplelists.com/). The creation of a mailing list at the beginning of your blogging journey can lead to huge profits in the future. It is no wonder that bloggers and businesses are expressing a strong interest in building mailing lists, considering the benefits it provides.
This tutorial will help you get your mailing list set up: How to Create a Mailing List and Add Opt-ins to Your Site.
7. Configure blog settings
Once you have your blog in place, reviewing your blog settings is important to ensure things are set up properly. Log into your blog and ensure you have added your blog title in the settings. Make sure your comments are on. Don’t be afraid to play around with your settings to learn what things do. This would also be a good time to add some content to your sidebar.
If you are on Blogger, look here for our Blogger tutorials. If you’re on WordPress, check out those WordPress tutorials for tips on getting things set up on your blog.
8. Install Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that gives you insights into how your readers are finding your site and how they are using your site. This can help you learn what your readers like so you know how to keep them coming back. It also tracks page views and how many visitors you get each day/week/month/year.
9. Purchase a Theme
We like to refer to your blog content as a cake. Your blog design is the beautiful icing on the cake that entices your visitors to want to delve more deeply into your content. Here at Designer Blogs, we work hard to design beautiful blog designs that will help your blog attract readers.
We invite you to check out our huge collections of Blogger templates and WordPress themes. Here’s a sampling of some of the gorgeous designs we have available:
If you would like something custom created, we can do that too! Visit our custom design service page for more info.
10. Publish your first post
It’s best to get a few well-written blog posts on your blog before you announce it to the world. So spend some time creating some amazing content so your visitors will have a taste of what they’ll have to look forward to. If you are on Blogger, you can follow this post for help: How to Create a New Post in Blogger. If you are on WordPress, this tutorial will help you: How to Create a Post in WordPress.
Remember to visit our WordPress tutorials, Blogger tutorials, and blogging tips pages for additional info and tips on how to start and grow a blog.
New blog to-do list
For a hard-copy list of these steps to ensure you don’t forget anything, you can download and print off our free Blog Setup Checklist. Enjoy!
For Personal Use Only.
We hope this new blog to-do list will help you create an awesome site!
The post 10 things you need to do when starting a blog appeared first on Designer Blogs.
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Author: Kate
