How To Start a Successful Blog Tips to Create Make Waves!

How To Start a Successful Blog Tips to Create Make Waves! .elementor-19992 .elementor-element.elementor-element-19992{text-align:center}Last Updated on February 21, 2020So, you want to know how to start a successful blog?You’re not alone. According to WordPress.com, the website platform’s users produce about 64.3 million new blog posts each month. Blog popularity continues to grow, even ten years after everyone learned what a blog was. Disclosure As an independent review site, we get compensated if you purchase through the referral links or coupon codes on this page â€" at no additional cost to you. Dismiss alert Starting a successful blog can provide huge business opportunities, both for amateur at-home writers, and established businesses. It can also serve as an outlet to share your most inner thoughts (and fears) or your expertise on a particular topic. If you have a great deal of knowledge about health and fitness, for example, learning about start a blog about fitness isn’t hard. Figuring out how to start a successful blog, tha t’s a challenge. (Hint: it’s not by starting a on ay of the sites that provide a domain name for nothing!)Assuming you have asked yourself the question should I bother to start a blog? and the answer is a resounding yes for all the right reasons, in this article, we’ll provide you with the tips you need to start off on the right foot. We’ve even put them in order for you, like a step-by-step guide.You might also like: How is a blog created Table of Contents Here’s how to start a successful blog1. Start by blogging about what you are passionate about2. Determine if you can realize success in your niche3. Set up your blog for success4. Write in-depth, value-added content5. Develop a signature writing style6. Utilize different post types in your blogging7. Publish your blog posts on a schedule8. Engage readers, but don’t babysit your blog comments9. Promotion is essential to starting a successful blog10. Monetize to successfully profit11. Final tip: just do it (like a r eal blogger)Here’s how to start a successful blogThe goal of your blog content should be to make it addictive to your readers; to always leave them wanting more. To do that, you need to put your own unique twist on the topic, and that’s hard to do if you aren’t passionate about it. Join the FREE TrainingDo You Want To Learn How To Build 6 Figures Authority Sites?Join This Free Training To...Finally have a proven method to finding profitable nichesGet access to a foolproof keyword research methodLearn how to outsource quality contentLearn how to build white hat links to your site without headaches 2. Determine if you can realize success in your nicheSometimes, though, being passionate isn’t enough.One of the most important tips for successful blogging that you’ll get is this: research your niche before you start. If the niche you selected has the potential to be successful, a quick Google search should provide dozens of blogs just like the one you want to start.According to Matt Woodward from the No Nonsense SEO and Affiliate Marketing blog, a good rule of thumb for determining if you’ve picked a good niche is to find five blogs in that niche that have 10,000 followers. If you can’t find five blogs that meet that requirement, you may want to re-think your niche.A common mistake that many people make when they discover that their niche has a lot of competition is to say, “Oh, well, this topic has been covered already; there isn’t anything new that I can bring to the table.”Banish those thoughts from your mind.Competition is a good thing. It is what drives people to work harder and create new solutions to problems (hello, auto makers!) Competition is what will force you to create completely new things to bring to the table. Think of competition as your friend and motivator.The blogging community is full of groups that network with and help one another. They use one another to bounce ideas off of and to help promote their own blogs. You migh t be surprised to find that you make friends with your “competition”. 3. Set up your blog for success Here are a few other things to keep in mind when you’re setting up your blog platform and design. This advice is based on tips that popular bloggers share on how to start a successful blog:Select a full-featured blog platform. There are lots of platforms that you can choose from, and most are user-friendly (so you don’t need to know how to code or be a design expert.) Some are more feature-rich than others, though. Look for a platform with the best WordPress options for SEO, email newsletter sign-up options, easy image uploading, content tags, and the ability to schedule your posts in advance.Sketch it out before you start. People often underestimate the importance of thinking through their site design before they start actually tinkering with all the bells and whistles. A professional-looking, easy-to-read design is important, and you don’t want to waste time going back to rearrange pages and categories later.Add your blogs About page with your photo. Readers like to see whose words they’re reading. They also want to know what makes you an authority on the topic you’re writing about. An About page is a key way in which you can connect with new readers right off the bat. Check out this our about me article from the search option for tips on what to include in your about page.Include a Start Here page. Similar to your About page, a Start Here page is an opportunity for you to highlight what your blog is about, as well as links to some of your most popular posts, downloadable PDFs, and e-courses. Put the Start Here page at the top of every page on your blog so that new visitors who enter your site through specific blog posts (not the home page) can find it easily.4. Write in-depth, value-added contentIf you’re worried that publishing on a schedule will put pressure on you sometimes, you’re right. It will. It’s quite possible (and likely) th at’ll you’ll occasionally find yourself polishing the language of a post into the wee hours of the morning, just to make your post deadline.On the flip-side, following a schedule can turn your blog-related activities into a well-oiled machine. The deadlines will keep you accountable. The social media promotion will be predictable. When you’re feeling really creative, you can dash off a few posts at a time, and schedule them to publish in advance. Blogging should be fun, and maintaining a blogging schedule can help keep it that way.8. Engage readers, but don’t babysit your blog commentsTo ensure that your blog posts are hitting the right nerve with your readers, you need to engage with them. Sure, you could sit back and silently read the comments or count the Likes and Shares, but actively engaging with readers will give you insight into their thoughts, fears, hopes, dreams, likes, and dislikes. If you’re lucky, followers will start engaging with one another.Responding to r eader comments on a post, or via social media, provides value beyond the content that you’re publishing. Readers feel listened to and heard. They feel flattered that you took the time to respond to them, and they like you more for it. You can take these exchanges and turn them into new post ideas.Don’t just expect readers to start commenting, though. Take the lead and start the discussion. Encourage them to share their thoughts about a post, or pose a question at the end of the post. Make it clear that you want to hear from them and take the post to another level of exploration.To ensure that the discussion can happen freely, make sure that you aren’t making it difficult or time-consuming to comment. If you require readers to register on your site in order to post a question or comment, you’ll stop them from quickly writing what comes to mind.Even worse is when you require approval before a reader post can go live. Bloggers tend to approve comments in batches, instead of as they come in (which is time-consuming and distracting), so followers can’t read and respond to comments as they come in. By the time you approve the content, they will have moved onto another topic.While it might seem safer to moderate discussion and comments on your site (let’s face it, some people can be downright mean), doing so slows the natural flow of conversation that readers are looking to have. This is a great article about why you shouldn’t limit customer interaction on your blog.Turn off the restrictions on comments and keep an eye on the discussion. If you have to, enlist the help of a friend or family member to be your eyes and ears in the comments section. Block the bad eggs, and delete any harassing or truly offensive content.9. Promotion is essential to starting a successful blogIf you ask a professional blogger how to create a successful blog, they’ll tell you that promotion is absolutely necessary to attract new readers to your site.Think about the pages an d pages of Google search results that you get when you are looking for information online. Even if you select a niche that is wildly popular, you can’t expect your target audience to stumble upon your blog and suddenly become an avid follower.Over the last few years, bloggers have taken their promotion and cross-platform exposure to new levels. Today, some of the most common methods for promoting a blog are:E-newsletter / mailing listsGuest bloggingE-courses e-booksConnecting to blog feedsSome of these methods are more involved and best tackled after you have several months or a year of blogging under your belt (if you’re really ambitious, don’t let us stop you!) Some cost a lot of money, and others require only an investment of time. Each comes with its own pros and cons, which you’ll have to weigh for yourself.The point is, you’ve got to get your brand out there for people to find.Not to sound like a broken record, but it bears repeating: check out how your competition is promoting itself. Subscribe to their newsletters and social media feeds. Find inspiration in their promotion, or reach out and ask them how they do it. There are tried and true methods for promoting blogs; use them.10. Monetize to successfully profitMaking money from a blog used to be limited to affiliate marketing links and banner ad sales.My, how things have changed.These days, successful blogs incorporate a variety of methods and products with which they can make money. Readers are often willing to pay for:PDFs with expert tips and tricksE-books written by bloggersOnline courses developed by bloggersAccess to special communities for blog readersPodcast episodesEach of the above methods to monetize a blog has its own learning curve. Do your research and understand the nuances of each, then implement one at a time. Be sure to analyze the results of each on a regular basis, and adjust as necessary to get the most money for your effort.Truth be told, a well-respected blogger with a massive following can sell just about anything to their readers because their readers trust them. It’s important to maintain your brand and value-add when promoting your blog; don’t sell out to just any advertiser or affiliate to make a buck.11. Final tip: just do it (like a real blogger) It’s not too late to jump on the bandwagon and learn how to make a successful blog. Use the tips in this article as a starting point to get you in the game. Tap into your passion and get going. How to start a fitness blog Free WordPress blog