FinancesOnline reports that there were about 31.7 million bloggers in America in 2020. You’ve undoubtedly heard about blogging and how profitable it can be if done right. However, chances are you have no clue how to start and run a successful blog, just like any newbie. The good news is that starting your new blog isn’t as challenging as you might think. You just need to get a few essential things right as a solid foundation for long-term success. That said, here are some tips to help you start your blog this year.
- Decide on a blog idea
Before starting a blog, you need a great idea, whether you are launching an online business or simply inspiring your audience. This idea determines the type of content that will feature on your blog and what audience you will attract. Thankfully, there’s an audience out there for just about any topic you can think of. But it’s important to find one that appeals to a large audience and you because some topics perform better than others. You can select the perfect blog niche by considering your talents, expertise, and career. After all, it will be difficult to churn out content about a topic you have no interest in. On the other hand, consider writing about what others are interested in. You can achieve this by taking your interests and crafting universal content that appeals to others.
- Pick a great web host
Web hosting is vital to your blog’s success, so your final choice is crucial. Your web hosting provider gives server space to host your blog. You can think of this space as where your blog “lives” on the internet. Anyone who visits your blog will do so through this server, so a bad host can be costly. For instance, if you generate leads or sell items through your blog, a bad host can cause you to lose money when your site unexpectedly goes down. Similarly, a lousy host’s poor security measures can cause your site to lose all its data. Therefore, selecting good options like AWS WordPress hosting is essential when setting up your blog.
- Find the perfect domain name
Choosing your blog’s name is undoubtedly the fun part of setting it up. However, the bad news is most of the best domain names are unavailable because someone else has beaten you to it. Fortunately, you can still find the perfect domain name with a little persistence. This name should ideally be short and easy to spell and pronounce. Also, leave out any numbers and hyphens when picking a name because they look stuffy in the URL. In addition, search until you find the perfect domain by using synonyms and phrases that might be available. You can also consider buying a domain name from someone who has it. As a last resort, consider using your name. It’s highly unlikely that your name will be taken as a domain name, making it an ideal choice for a personal blog.