A Step-by-Step Guide for Writers And Bloggers

So you want to start a blog?

So you want to start a blog?

If you are a writer, it makes perfect sense: you can use a blog as a platform to serve your authoring, marketing, or finding new independent editorial clients.

But where to start? Even if you reduce the writing part, the rest of the process can be overwhelming. Accommodation, themes and all other technical things can be disturbed for many years.

Well, today is the day ends. We are here to help you through every step, start a blog in, has decided your domain name with publishing your first release.

Here is how to start a blog as a writer:

1. Select a domain name

First: Where do people come online? As a writer, you are your brand, so we recommend using some variations of your name. To check the availability, visit Bluehost and click on "new area".

Or look for the patch name field practice!

If no obvious options are available, try to attach a "writer" at the end of your name, as described in susanshainwriter.com. You can also use a domain ".net" or ".biz", but remember that most people automatically think in the ".com" before about other surfaces.

You can, of course, opt for a name of the creative blog, but remember that your interests and your target group have changed over the years. When I started blogging in 2012, I just focused on adventure travel and I named my blog travel Junkette. Since then, I have expanded my niche and I susanshain.com recently changed - because my name does not change no matter what I blog. I wish I had started using my name as a domain and I would advise you not to make the same mistake.

Once you have installed on your domain (or domains if you are how many authors!) Do not wait to buy it. Even if you are not ready to start a blog now, you do not want to risk losing the desired area.

Before you click "Buy", you can read the next step; We tell you how to get your domain for free.

2. Purchase a hosting package

Now that you have chosen your domain name, it's time to choose a web host. Your hosting company makes the technical magic to ensure that your website actually appears when people come into your browser. In other words, this is very important.

We use Mediatemple to host this blog, but it is usually best for blogs with lots of traffic so you probably do not need this when you start. In a new blog, Bluehost is trying. It is used by top bloggers all over the world and is known for its customer service and reliability. The Bluehost simple accommodation plan costs $ 3.95 a month and as a bonus, the company will start your domain name for free when you sign up.

Make sure you put the purchase (and all purchases mentioned in this publication) on a commercial credit card and keep these receipts; These are investments in your company and are therefore tax-deductible.

3. Install Wordpress

We are almost to hear the technical things, we promise! They have many different options for platform blogs, but we prefer Wordpress. Not only is it completely free, but it is easy to learn, offers a great variety of topics and has an online community and many plugins that make the blogging accessible to everyone.

You can read the complete guide for installing WordPress on your new blog here. Once you are done, you can officially log in to your blog and start looking.

Still too technical for you? Try WordPress.com (unlike WordPress.org). It is very easy to set up, but do not allow you to control the design and functionality of your website. If you can access this street, you can skip steps one and two of this publication. Visit WordPress.com and click "Create a website". Although the standard wordpress.com inserts in your area (susanshain.wordpress.com), you can pay your own domain to use (susanshain.com).

4. Place a "under construction"

While working on the look of your blog, you can receive a sign "under construction" or "come" in place to welcome the visitors. You do not want customers or prospective readers to find your Google name and a semi-finished website. (And you might think that your blog will be ready tomorrow - but we all know how the authors argue if there are no imminent deadlines)

To create a small character that says "under construction", load the plugin. You could even have a link to your Twitter page or Facebook so that visitors can be a different way to get in touch with you. If you share your blog with the world, you can simply disable it and remove the plugin.

5. Select a topic

Now we come to the fun part! Your topic determines what your blog is, and you have many choices to choose from. Yes, there are a variety of free subjects, but if you are seriously offered about the blogging, customization and support of applications, you can correct it.

Here in Write Life we ​​use Genesis, which is one of the most popular premium themes available. Another popular subject is flexible and the thesis. For my personal website, I use the elegant themes that offer a wide range of beautiful themes at a reasonable price. All of these topics have unlimited support - important when you start a blog.

6. Create a header

If you want your website to be professional, it is worth having a custom header. You can ask your favorite designer or create something with Canva.

My favorite option? Order on Fiverr. I was very happy to have developed the header and other graphics on this online marketplace, where thousands of people offer their services for $ 5 per concert.

7. Write your pages

Even if you start a blog and not a static web page, you will always want a few pages that do not change. (The "pages" are different from "publications" that publish daily input / weekly / monthly you publish to your blog.)

Here are some pages that you want to create:

on

The proposed site is often considered one of the most visited websites in blogs, so they did not know. Add a photo and a short biography and why blogging and why should the reader be cautious. What makes you an expert? How can I help you?

Do not be afraid to let your personality shine - blogging is a personal affair!

Contact

Would you like to contact your readers with you, is not it? Then you will need a contact page.

It must not be reasonable enough; Let your readers the best way to reach you. Avoid putting your full email address here because spambots might benefit. To get around this, you can use a plugin we use below or just write something like "your name on your DOT com site."

portfolio

It's your blog, then specify that you! Show your potential customers and readers that you deserve their time and attention with examples of your past and present work. Here you can see examples of large portfolios of authors; I personally like Saras Frandina.

resources

Do you have a list of the most popular writing tools? Or perhaps the books that inspire you? Readers love the pages of resources and bloggers, they can also make a way to earn the revenue from affiliate sales. See page of the writing-life resources for inspiration.

Start here

You probably do not need it, but a "start here" page is wise if you have a good amount of content. This is a great opportunity to express your mission and highlight the best work so that readers can see the value of your blog without demo months or years of publications.

Joanna Penn has a good job of choosing his own drive to download e-book and promote a topic that interests them.

Work with me

If you use your new blog to sell your writing services, this site is crucial. Be clear about how to help people and how they connect you. You could even make the list of packages from various services, such as Sarah Von Bargen's website.

8. The plug-in

The plugins are perfect for everyone but they are especially useful for those of us who are less comfortable with the technical side of things but have managed to create a hosted blog. Consider it as apps for your blog; These are free tools that you can install to do various things.

Although many plugins can affect the functionality and security of your blog, there are several in which we recommend:

Best Tweet Click: stimulates their content to share by clicking on a field, including the tweet in your message; This plugin makes it easy.


Contact Form 7: If you want to avoid putting your email address on your contact page, use this form of plugins that is updated regularly and gets good reviews.

QuickieBar: Do you have readers who wish to register your free newsletter? Or would you like to publish your new book? This plugin allows you to create a banner for the top of your blog.

Mashshare: These buttons are shared "Mashable-style" are like the ones you see here on writing. Another popular option is Digg. No matter which plugin you choose; It is important that you facilitate social sharing for your readers.

WP Google Analytics plugin that keeps track of visitors to your site so you can see what people are interested in and how they find you.

WP Super Cache: another plugin that is not sexy, but it is important. Caching allows a website to be loaded faster - both your readers and Google.

Yoast SEO: SEO The all-in-one plugin helps you to optimize your message from search engine organic traffic.

9. Install widgets

If your blog is a sidebar, you can add some widgets that are small boxes with different features.

Here are some ideas:

About Box

You've probably seen on many blogs; This is a top right field that welcomes you to the site. Visit Jessica Lawlor's blog for a simple but good example. Icons of social media

Make your readers follow you in social networks, including links to your profiles in the sidebar. Here is a basic tutorial for adding individual icons of social media. Popular Posts

After surfing for a while, you can highlight your favorite messages in the sidebar, you can do it with a text widget. We do live here on the desk, so you can find the content most popular quick and easy.

10. Buy a backup software

Do not just ignore this important step because you have no content! It is best to install the software at the beginning of the blog and can not remember until it is too late.

Free options exist, but I've never been lucky with them - and for something as important as my blog, I do not mind paying a little more. (This is a business strike, remember?) Popular options include BackupVaultPress, Backup, and blogVault.

11. Start your e-mail list

I know I know you have not even started blogging, and I'd like to create an email list for you. Believe me; You'll be so glad you did it.

Alexis Grant, founder of the writing life, agrees. "If I could go back and do something else for my business, he would start a newsletter earlier," she wrote. "My email list is important to my company, which brings traffic to my website, my products and buying opportunities I never expected."

Even if you send nothing, send e-mail addresses. The best way to encourage people is to register by offering an e-books or a free resource. Showing good examples, the Techwise if your first paying customers or the checklist of social media grant strategy atterrisz.

Our newsletter platform prefers e-mail is MailChimp. It is intuitive, fun and free for up to 2,000 attendees. However, there are many other tools that you can choose; Here are more options to create your e-mail list.

Once you've created your list, encourage your readers to subscribe by adding a sidebar subscription box, and maybe it's how to install PopupAlly over a plugin.

12. Write!

If you really want to start a blog, you should ... start blogging.

We recommend creating an editorial calendar - even if you do not blog. It should not be about whether the imagination is; It can even be scribbled in a notebook.


Important is that you plan your messages in advance so that you can follow your ideas and a calendar. It is also an opportunity to evaluate and modify your content strategy. What are you writing? How will you attract readers?


Remember that you should write for the web, so your style should be different from the one you can write for printing. Keep your tinted conversation phrases with "you" that guides the player and break the text with bullets and subtitles. Keep SEO in your head, but do not make the object of your writing.

13. Promoting 

They are almost there! Now that you have started writing, it is time for the readers to get. And I hate the bearers of bad news, but for many writers, this is a surprisingly boring aspects of blogging. While it's good to write (that's what we do, is not it?) It's nice to have people who actually read your work.

One of the best ways to attract new readers is the guest blog on popular blogs. To help, here are seven blogs that want to receive your messages and seven others. (And do not forget to write the guests for TWL!)

It is also important to interact with other bloggers. Share content with your community, make a comment on their publications and support them whenever you can. Hopefully, they will take revenge!

Social media is another great way to add more traffic to your new blog. In addition, sharing publications and network with other bloggers, make sure that you are constantly trying to develop your author in the social media.