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Updated September 24, 2023
Subtitle
The benefits of setting up a blog can be very rewarding
Synopsis
There is a learning curve to successful blogging. It will take several months to thoroughly learn most aspects of blogging and how to do it successfully. But the benefits that you and your business might gain can be enormous. Here are ten essential basic steps that you must take to set up your blog correctly.
What You Will Learn
1. You will learn the most critical and essential steps to setting up your blog.
2. You will learn concrete tips for making your blog look professional.
3. You will learn how and why these steps can help your readers appreciate and trust your blog.
Introduction
You must get your blog up and running as quickly as possible. Start writing when you realize what specific topic or niche you want to write about. This decision will help you build a body of work showing the world that you are an expert in your niche.
But if you already have expertise in a particular topic and have built up a body of work that you have previously written, you need to break that work down into a blog-friendly format.
Here Are Ten Essential Steps You Must Take to Correctly Set Up Your Blog and Quickly Get It Running Smoothly:
Step # 1. Create a WordPress Blog
Do not waste your time on any of the other blogging websites. As a beginner, you should go directly to WordPress. This one is by far considered the best and most user-friendly available. It is straightforward to use and has many free add-ons, called widgets, available.
Most bloggers use this site, so plenty of help and advice is available online. But basically, WordPress.org gives you total control of your blog. WordPress.com allows you less power. But search online to learn more about the differences and the costs involved.
Step # 2. Write Your Profile and Add a Headshot
Start by using your LinkedIn profile to help you write this. You must put a lot of thought into creating your profile. Give some specific information about yourself, but DO NOT exaggerate. And DO NOT oversell yourself by being boastful or arrogant.
Write several sentences giving the essential but relevant information that a reader might need to determine your relevant experience to write about your blog’s topic. Include an excellent photograph of your face.
Step # 3. Write Your Blog Posts
Write your blog posts about anything you want to write about. Write some like a formal essay. Some will be a one-paragraph quick tip. But always remember that each post must support your niche. Any information you post on your blog must benefit your readers and followers. Write your posts in an appropriate and respectful style.
Do not exaggerate, talk down to the readers, or talk over their heads. Write to them in a way that shows you have respect for the subject matter and the readers. I don’t care if you are a big-university intellectual or a wealthy big-shot celebrity. Your job as a blogger is to help the readers by sharing your expertise and experiences in a particular topic.
They won’t mind you tooting your own horn occasionally. But helping the readers should be the main reason you have a blog in the first place. Your need to show the world that you are an expert should come second. Remembering this is the key to producing a great blog.
Step # 4. Keep Your Posts Short
Each post should be about one specific topic. A typical everyday post should generally be at least 400 words, typically not more than 2,000 words. If your article is longer than this, you can try to break it down into two separate posts. But do not name them Part 1 and Part 2.
Step # 5. Add One Image to Each Post
Add an image to each post to help them be visually appealing. The image’s topic doesn’t necessarily need to relate directly to the post’s topic. But at the very least, it should be visually attractive or eye-catching.
Step # 6. Use Bullet Points
Sentence by sentence and paragraph by paragraph. You must make your posts easy to follow and easy to read. No matter how serious a topic you write about, you must take the reader by the hand and guide them through your article. Not only is this a common courtesy, but essential if you expect your readers to continue to read your postings.
By having a blog, you are putting yourself out into the world and telling people you want to share information with them and hopefully help them solve their problems. Show them how much you care about them by genuinely helping them understand what you are writing about by making your postings easy to follow and read.
Step # 7. Add Header Tags and Bold Text to Each Important Heading
This formatting will tell the search engines what is important in your article. When a search engine searches your site (crawling and indexing), it will prioritize the headings and bolded text of each section of your writing. It will simply be a matter of highlighting each paragraph’s header text and then clicking on the header button or the bold button.
Step # 8. Add Google AdSense Advertisements
This addition is easy to accomplish and a way to make a few extra bucks from your blog. It is a hands-off way to help offset some of the expenses of maintaining your blog. But don’t expect to make much money from this.
It will be a minimal amount of income, especially when you first get started. So, for this reason, it might not be worth your time and energy to add to your blog and then maintain it. But, if you decide to do it, keep the number of Google advertisements down to just one or two max.
Step # 9. Promote Your Blog
You must always be open to finding new ways to promote your blog. This promotion can be as simple as listing your blog with a “blog listing service.” Or linking your blog to your “Amazon Author Page.” So far, I have found twenty-five legitimate places to promote my blog.
This promotion does not include the websites where I have added comments (but only do this on websites and blogs that allow a link back to your blog). Ensuring you provide high-quality, relevant content on your site is the best way to improve your search engine rankings.
Step # 10. Improve Your Blog
This chore is a never-ending process. Your readers will be scrutinizing every word you write. You must constantly strive to make your blog look and sound like you know what you are talking about. This strategy also includes making any corrections to your past postings.
Be quick to admit that you made a mistake about something you wrote about, tell them why you made that mistake, fix it right away, and then thank them for correcting you. The readers want to trust you and learn from you. Make sure that you give them plenty of reasons to do this.
Conclusion
I am dumbfounded at the number of my business associates and clients who avoid blogging to promote their businesses and share their expertise with people worldwide, especially when no steps to setting up a blog are difficult or costly.
Although, there is a learning curve to successful blogging. It will take several months to thoroughly learn most aspects of blogging and how to do it successfully. However, the benefits you gain can be personally, professionally, and financially rewarding. You just need to take that first step.
Questions to Think About
1. What stops you from starting if you don’t already have a blog?
2. If you already have a blog, what benefits have you, your business, and your book gained?
