With a rise in Instagram bloggers and influencers across different blogging platforms, digital media has turned into the latest buzz. From regular sponsors to starting their own brands, blogging is a full-time job. So if you’ve been considering taking to the digital space and beginning a career in the same, here are some easy steps that will guide you as you start a blog.
Importance Of Blogging
Types Of Blogs
Things To Keep In Mind
Start A Blog On Different Platforms
FAQs
Why Should You Start A Blog?
Starting a blog is a great way to promote yourself or your business. If you’re looking to start something new, a fashion line, a stationary store or even a new career like the styling or graphic designing, blogging provides you with a platform to let the world know of your capabilities. However, there is an entire section of people (including me) who blog to express themselves as it provides them with a platform to share their thoughts and talent. It also creates opportunities because the internet provides them with a safe space to connect with people from around the world.
A blog also serves as a great portfolio if you are looking for a job or freelance projects as it is an online database with public reactions – your followers, likes, comments, everything is recorded and available for public viewing. Plus, if you do end up with a hefty amount of followers, you can always collaborate with brands and causes, which will help you earn money from your account.
However, according to the type of outcome you are expecting out of the blog, there are a variety of types that you can pick from. A personal blog, a business blog or just a platform to expand your hobby.
Also Read How To Start A Blog in Hindi
Which Type Of Blog Can You Start?
Now that you have decided to start a blog, your next step is to pick the right kind of blog to work on building. Here is a list of options that will serve your purpose.
Expand Your Hobby
Have a hobby you’d love to share with the world? You could be a fashion enthusiast, a photographer, a writer or a graphic designer who wants a blog that will provide a platform which will put your hobby on the map, and provide you with opportunities in the long run. The blog will be an extension of your daily projects. From sharing your DIY videos or a tutorial to Photoshop, as long as you have something to share.
Personal Blog
If you are someone who has already made a career out of your hobby, then a personal blog will help your followers humanise you. In simple terms, if you are a stylist, a writer or someone who has already made a mark on social media through your work, this blog will serve as a way for your followers to get to know you personally. Behind-the-scenes images, videos of you vacationing with your friends, things that you would like your audience to be a part of, but you cannot post on your work feed.
Business Blog
This one is for all you working woman out there. It’s time to pull up your socks and put your brand out there. If you have just begun a new venture and want to create a buzz about the same, then starting a blog will help you get the word out there. Most brands prefer social media platforms with ‘buy links’ when it comes to expanding the brand and building customers.
Things To Keep In Mind When You Start Your Own Blog
Before you jump head-first into the world of blogging, here are a few things you should keep in mind. It could be WordPress, Instagram or Facebook, but the concept behind a blog remains the same and these pointers apply to them all. These points will give you direction as to what you are looking for in a blog and what should form the foundation of this new venture that you are about to begin.
It Takes Time & Effort
Before you become a serious blogger, keep in mind that it is a time-consuming task. You will be required to dedicate yourself to your stories and feed. So even if you have a day job apart from blogging, be prepared to invest in this venture.
It Isn’t Necessarily Free
As you begin blogging, you will be required to invest time and money into the task at hand. You should be ready to run ads on social media websites like Instagram and Facebook, especially if your blog is for a brand. Apart from that, you will be required from time to time, to buy images, vectors and strategies, so don’t consider this a 100% free platform.
Identify Your Audience
Before you begin designing or writing your posts, it is important to know who you are going to be writing for. The age group you are aiming to draw likes, comments and business from. And the kind of cities your focus is at. It plays a huge role when it comes to the language, hashtags and colour combinations you use on your blog. Determining your target audience will give you a clearer picture of what you’re trying to achieve.
Your Content Should Be Clean
Your writing style needs to be clean, precise and engaging, without the fluff. When you begin banking content for your blog, keep in mind that your images and content is clean and easy to understand, no matter where your reader comes from. Do not beat around the bush, and always provide necessary images when you’re referring to a product, situation or place.
Learn Basics Of SEO & HTML
If you are serious about continuing your blog in the long run, it is a good idea to learn the basics of HTML which will help you code the blog and customize it to your needs.
SEO, on the other hand, is Search Engine Optimization that will help search engines like Google to pick up your article when the necessary keywords are searched on the internet. It plays a huge role in increasing the online visibility of your blog and gathering traffic for your page. SEO will increase the organic and unpaid views your blog receives, so reading up online or taking a short course in the same can be beneficial for your venture.
Keep Copyright In Mind
If you are outsourcing the information on your blog then you are subjected to copyright issues. Make sure that you take the permission from the photographer, writer or designer whose work you are using. Unless the work is labeled free for use, in which case you should give the artist credit on your blog whenever you pick up anything from their social media profiles or otherwise. Every artist spends hours perfecting their skill, which is why you owe them the credit due. This also applies to data and stats that you pick up from other websites, mention their names whenever you do so.
Be Yourself
Everything on your blog should represent you and the brand that you are trying to create. I often find people copying the websites they love or the blogs they admire and losing out on the originality and uniqueness of their own personality. You can get inspired by the blogs that you look up to, but make sure that you include your personal style and distinct individuality in the product that you are creating.
Invest In Design
Unless you have a degree in design, do not try to wing your blog. Hire a graphic designer and a website designer, especially if you want to take your blog to the next level with a brand. If this is to be your day-job and you have a serious inclination towards turning it into a business, then invest time and money into the designing of the blog. Because visuals are what attract the reader and words retain attention. So your first step should always be to get the reader’s attention, with appropriate and aesthetic visuals.
How To Start A Blog On Different Platforms
Picking the right platform to share your content is the first step to deciding your audience. There are visually-driven blogs, text-driven and then blogs which require video integration. Once you have decided the nature of your blog, you can work towards starting one on any of three platforms, each of which will serve a particular purpose.
How To Start A Blog On Facebook
Starting a blog or page on Facebook is recommended for people who have another page alongside. You cannot just have a page on Facebook since it doesn’t give you aesthetic and design options to customise the page. However, you can link your existing blog to your Facebook page and use it to market and boost the views you get.
Recommended For:
Creating a page is recommended for people who have an existing blog on WordPress. However, it is a visual platform, so if you are a YouTuber or create vlogs, then Facebook will help you in keeping your followers informed and updated. Since you can only update videos on YouTube, Facebook will help you integrate other formats such as text and photographs when you communicate with your followers.
How To Start A Blog On Instagram
Since Instagram has created quite a buzz over the past few years, many bloggers have moved to this social media app. From fashion influencers to poets, food bloggers and fitness experts, everyone has the audience they need on Instagram. Since Instagram focuses on visuals and yet gives you the freedom to write lengthy captions (unlike Twitter), it is the ideal choice. If you are looking to start a blog on Instagram, here are a few steps to get you started.
- Pick A Good Username
Picking a username or a name for your blog is the first step towards attracting readers. Your username should give the person who comes across your account an idea of what it stands for. If you have a fitness blog then a name like @fitnessfirst or @myfitblog is more likely to grab the attention of the audience you are looking for and direct them to your page. - Decide Your Target Audience
Developing a niche is a very important aspect of setting up a blog. Because before you begin a blog, you should bank a few posts so you never lag behind with your daily updates. In which case, you need to plan in advance, who your audience is going to be. If you are targeting a specific age group who likes photography, then your language and posts will change accordingly. Your aim is to specialize in a specific field, so the narrower your niche, the better your content and the higher your chances of popularity. - Provide A Service
You should provide a service for your reader, educate them about a specific topic. If you aren’t of any service, then you will not have any recurring followers. So if you are a photographer, you can provide tutorials or wallpapers that can be used for their phones and desktops. Either way, your blog should have a purpose that will help your followers. - Use Good Hashtags
Hashtags are basically the search engines of Instagram. So if a person is looking for fitness tips they will search the #fitnesstips on the app and you need to make sure you turn up in the results, so your blog can be discovered. Your aim is to use as many hashtags as possible, related to the service you provide and the post you have made. Using the right hashtags will land you in all the right places. An easy way to figure out what hashtags to use, is by looking at already famous blogs with a major following on the app and incorporating those hashtags into your posts.![07 how to start a blog-hashtag]()
- Always Tag Places And People
If you are posting pictures from a city or a cafe, tagging the place and providing a location will help your readers redirect to it. It also increases your chances of repost from the place. If anyone on Instagram searches by location, then your post is likely to turn up on the feed. - Engage With Other Instagrammers
Tag other Instagram accounts that specialise in your field of work. For example, if you post a cute picture of your cat, tagging the account – @PetsofInstagram is a good habit. As it will increase your chances of a repost from the account which has over 50K followers. Regular tagging will result in your images being shown on the explore feed of people who follow these accounts as well.
Regular collaborations with other Instagram accounts will redirect their followers and help you build a network on the app. So if you have the chance to participate in challenges and friends who have active Instagram blogs, don’t miss out on those. - Utilize Insta Stories
The feature of Instagram stories can be utilised to a full extent, you can use it to redirect your followers to a specific post. You can also use it to promote and repost other accounts, which will help you gain goodwill in the community. - Post Regularly
Out of sight and out of mind is something that happens often on Instagram. You might be someone’s favourite account, but if you just stop posting, or post only on weekends, your audience is likely to forget about you. You need to stay in constant touch with your followers and post on a daily basis to increase your chances of gaining popularity. - Look Up But Don’t Plagiarize
It is normal to look up to successful blogs but a terrible idea to copy them. Original content can be easily spotted and if you are ever caught copying from famous Instagrammers, it is a possibility that the community will turn away from you. Not to mention that someone put a lot of time and effort into creating their content, copying it is a strict no-no. Draw inspiration! And if you are posting a similar picture or quote, mention the account in the caption or tag them, to let them know that they had a positive impact on you.
If you’re all set to be an Insta-blogger, have a look at our Blogger Hoon Main tote bag that will definitely grab some eyes!
How To Start A Blog On WordPress
WordPress is a great blogging platform for writers, designer, and even brands, anyone who wants something similar to a website and has a lot of content to share, should pick this platform. Making a blog on WordPress is free, at least for the initial step. However, if you wish to customise your blog further and unlock other features that it offers, you can always buy it from the blogging platform. Here are steps to follow to start a blog on WordPress.
- Choose A Domain Name
WordPress offers you a subdomain for free. A subdomain usually looks like fitnessfirst.wordpress.com – and not fitnessfirst.com. Which is a fair choice if you are just starting out and aren’t sure if this is what you want to do in the long run. But if you are a 100% sure about making this your full-time job, then you can purchase a domain from WordPress in a few easy steps. You can choose from the plans they offer and continue with these easy steps. - Set Up WordPress
Once you have decided what the name of your blog and specialisation is going to be, you can start building the blog by signing up on WordPress. You will need to add introduction text and other specifications, which will give the reader an idea of what your blog stands for. From the footer text to the sub-headings, you can customize it all according to your liking. - Choose You Design & Layout
You can pick from a wide range of ready templates that WordPress provides their users with. However, if you want your blog to stand out, you cannot stick to the free templates that are available. Since you aren’t coding or making a domain, it is important that your subdomain has a spark that will attract readers. Ideally, you should hire a designer and get a domain made but if you are doing this yourself, then you should invest in a good layout that will set you apart from the million other blogs that exist on WordPress. - Start Posting
Once you’ve previewed the blog and it looks exactly the way you want it to, begin posting! Make sure that your blog posts have the necessary links, images and videos to keep the readers engaged. Your priority should be to make understanding the blog easier for your followers, the simplers and descriptive, the better.
FAQs
Can I Start a Blog For Free?
You can definitely start a blog for free on platforms like Blogger and WordPress. But free blogs have subdomains and might not gather you traffic like owning your own domain will. So you can start with a free blog but invest in it in the long run if you want to earn money off the same.
How Do I Pick a Name For My Blog?
The name of your blog should stand for everything the blog does. For example, if your blog is meant for movie buffs, calling it Cinema Prescription makes it simpler for people to understand what your blog stands for. So even if they come across it at random, they will be curious to check it out.
Once you’re done setting up your blog, buy our Blogger Hoon Main Notebook to jot down your daily notes!
Should I Start a Blog Alone or With Someone?
You can pick either, depends on how much time you can give the blog. If you are someone with a hectic schedule and can’t give 3-4 hours a day to your blog, then partnering with someone will help split the load. You can take turns with your partner and prioritise accordingly. Also, it means you’ll have double the amount of fun creating content and sharing ideas.
How Do I Pick The Right Platform For My Blog?
The first step is to decide what you want from your blog, will it be visually driven or text driven, or will it have videos. Because each platform provides a different solution according to your needs. If you want a blog that is image and text driven, then Instagram is your best bet. If your blog is primarily video driven, then you should post on YouTube and advertise on Facebook. And if you want a mix of it all, then WordPress is your solution for the same.
Time to start blogging, ladies!
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Images – Shutterstock
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This story was updated in January 2019.
