What exactly blogging means?
Blogging
What exactly blogging means
Blogging is writing, photography and any other media that can be self-published online. Although blogging started out as a way for people to keep a journal, it’s now incorporated into many websites. Blogs are known for their frequent updates, informal language and the opportunity to have a conversation with readers.
Here are some tips to help you start your blog.
How to start a blog in 2022
Table of Content
- Online Storytelling: Introduction
- Select a domain name
- Select a web host
- Select a WordPress theme
- Design Tips for Customization
- Make Content
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Introduction
Your Story Online
There are many stories you want to share. You’re hesitant about starting a blog because you don’t know the right steps.
It can be daunting to set up your blog, choose the right host, create content and learn SEO.
Once you understand the process, it’s easy to follow. There are millions upon millions of blogs around the globe, with many active bloggers posting at most once per month.
Blogs are easy to make and update, but they all compete for limited attention. To stand out, you’ll need to make a blog that is beautiful and has insightful content.
People are attracted to the most recent and relevant blog posts.
You can grow your audience quickly and share valuable content with the world by following the steps step-by-step.
Select a domain name
Before you can design a great blog, you must choose a domain name and find a location to host it. The domain name is what visitors type in the address bar to reach your website. It is the home base of your entire brand.
They aren’t the most flashy or funny domain names. Instead, they are those that are easy to remember. Google can also identify your blog’s purpose with good domain names.
To illustrate, “ToddTalksThaiFood”, which is a blog about Thai food, is better than “SawasdeeFromSiam”. Although the second domain name is more compatible with local languages and is “clever”, it is not as easy to spell sawasdee.
Bluehost allows you to both make the web your own and use their web hosting services.
Select a web host
After you have chosen your domain name, you will need someone to host it. There are many hosting providers out there. However, WordPress is the most popular platform for blogging.
WordPress is supported by a large user community. This means that you can directly benefit from the tireless work of its loyal followers.
You have thousands of options for free themes and plugins. These templates provide a framework and all the tools that you need to make sure your blog aligns with your brand and content.
WordPress isn’t just for bloggers who work from home. WordPress is powerful enough to power some of the largest corporations in the world, so it will likely have enough power to keep your blog running smoothly.
Bluehost offers a variety of WordPress hosting plans, starting with a basic plan for new bloggers to fully managed hosting plans for those who plan on building a blog business.
Select a WordPress theme
The first step in designing a blog is to choose the right theme.
Your website’s theme defines the overall design, feel, and style. This includes the color scheme, layout, as well as style elements. Your website theme is, in essence, a representation of your brand. It has an impact on the user experience.
There are thousands of themes available, making it difficult to pick the right theme for you blog. You can narrow your search with the WordPress feature filter.
You can filter themes by subject, which will allow you to choose a theme for your blog.
These include, but are not limited to:
- BuddyPress
- Custom Background
- Custom logo
- Flexible Header
- Front Page Posting
- Formats for Post
- Sticky Post
- Translation ready
Once you have found the right theme for your blog it is time to customize it so that it stands out as yours.
Design Tips for Customization
You will want to make your blog more functional by using various WordPress plugins. In the end, however, it will be a benefit to you to follow some design guidelines.
To reduce clutter, increase white space
Web design has advanced a lot since the beginning. Do you remember the flashing buttons or cluttered websites? This is not the way to design or start a blog.
It is not a good idea to have a website that takes viewers away from the core of your content. White space is the best way to keep your readers focused on what you are saying on your blog.
White spaces are those spaces that surround your copy and images. They will help keep your website design simple, effective, and clean.
Stock photos are more harmful than good.
Stock photos won’t help your blog in the long-term. While you want to add media to your posts with text, using images from someone else doesn’t make your blog unique.
Professionally-taken images are a great option if you have the funds or the skills. This can be costly.
Your phone can now capture images that will complement your blog posts. This is the best solution for when you are just starting a blog or deciding what posts to make.
Consistency with Icons
Details are the devil. Although your average visitor won’t notice, if you choose your social icons from different places, unconsciously it will affect how professional they feel your blog is.
Not only will you want your icons to use the same font and design, but all fonts throughout the website should be the same — with a few exceptions.
Strong Colors
While you should rely on white space a lot, you shouldn’t use any colors that aren’t highly contrasting. It is easy to share a blog that has been well designed.
Contrasting colors can increase readability and retention.
Do not go crazy with design
When you are starting a blog, there are some basic design principles that you should follow. Your website shouldn’t be so quirky and unusual that it fails to meet the basic functional requirements of users.
These are the basic guidelines of web design. There’s still plenty of room for creativity. When you are just starting out, it is best to stick within the “box” rather than trying to think outside of it.
These are some of the most common blog conventions you can use:
- Headers
- Footers
- Seach bars
- Sidebars
- Social media shares
- Author attribution
- Subscribe to our newsletter
Make Content
It’s now time to share content!
There will be others who have similar blogs to yours, regardless of what it is (except if it’s for family-only). Although they won’t have your voice and insights, they will likely be discussing similar topics and targeting the same audience.
This is why you must create compelling content that grabs attention and keeps readers coming back for more.
These are some ways you can stand out.
- Make compelling headlines that make people click.
- To keep them reading, use attention-grabbing introductions
- To draw them back, share meaningful advice
- For easy scanning, include sub-headers or bullet points
Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
You now have a beautiful blog with great content hosted on top-flight services. Now, all you need is for people to find it.
Organic searches will drive the majority of traffic to your website, barring any viral posts on social media. This is especially true for blogs that don’t intend to spend money on paid advertising.
It is therefore crucial to implement an SEO strategy on your blog. SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s what makes your blog appear when someone searches relevant topics online.
Good SEO means that your blog posts rank well in search engine result pages (SERPs). These pages appear after you have searched a query on Google.
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