While starting a blog for the first time, one goes through a roller coaster ride of excitement and the fear of unknown. Everyone planning to start a blog wish to perform everything precisely, abstaining from all major obstacles, to make their blog a success. All this while bloggers have come a long while committing numerous mistakes and even learning from these mistakes.

If you are a newbie in the blogging industry then you might be going through a rush of different emotions. Besides excitement one also faces the fear of unknown. You certainly wish to do everything in the best possible manner to avoid major pitfalls if any and make your blog successful. In over a decade blogging has undergone a number of changes and it is no shock that we have made countless mistakes and even learned from them. In today’s article, we will share the “expert tips” that one ought to know before starting a blog.

1. Selecting the appropriate platform

Several people begin blogging from the popular platforms that are available for free, such as Blogger, Medium, or WordPress.com. However, these are limited platforms for blogging, so one should definitely invest his/her time wisely.

Initially, you will be asked to strictly abide by every term and condition laid down by the platform. Not only this, but they also enjoy the right to close down the blog without any prior notice. Unlike other free blogging platforms, WordPress.org gives you the complete access and authority of your blog. Subsequently, you can add up features, mint money and do whatever you feel like.

2. Choosing the right domain name

It is very crucial to pick the right domain name. You can search the internet for various blog names available and can also draw an idea from your competitors’ blog. So, before choosing a domain name, you should certainly consider the below-mentioned points:

• Cling on the idea of putting a .com extension.
• Also, pick the name that is simple I pronunciation and short in length.
• Do not forget to use keywords and brand name in the domain name.

3. Picking right hosting

Since web hosting is one place where all your files are stored, so choosing the right web hosting is the most important step to be taken while starting a blog. Also, one should not commit the mistake of opting free web hosting. This is because, on free web hosting, the websites can be shut down without any notice, making you unable to restore it. This is the major reason why one should opt for a reputed hosting company. Below given are a few factors that one should take into account while booking a hosting:

• You can choose your plan from the variety available such as shared hosting, managed hosting, VPS and many other plans.
• Draw a comparison between different hosting companies.

For those who are a novice, are recommended to use Bluehost since they are the official hosting provider by WordPress.

4. Maintain a regular backup

There are a number of companies that offer limited backups. But the worst part is that their backups are not even guaranteed and can fail anytime, ending up in the loss of data. Therefore, backups should be the first thing on your list before commencing a blog. This will shield you against data theft and hacking, as backups serve as the initial step towards the improvement of the WordPress security making the website safe and secure.

5. Setting up Google Analytics

Without knowledge of how people discover and use your website, it is almost impossible to enhance your website. Therefore, here comes the importance of web analytics. Google Analytics is considered to be the topmost analytics software that is employed by a number of website owners. It enables you to gain insight into the most trending content and many other essential things. It also helps you keep a tab on user engagement throughout the website which further aids in the improvement of the business.

6. Create a professional email id

If you are planning to take your blog to the next level, then it is very important to create a professional email id. This further helps in sealing the deals with an advertiser as they take it to be a legit operation.

7. Be cautious of using images that are protected

 

Mostly the beginners tend to merely cut copy and paste the images from the internet. Further, this keeps on adding the liability as the site grows. So be careful while picking up the images from the Google or any other search engine for that matter. Rather you can find images that are of high quality and have no copyrights attached to them. Also, you can create your own images for your website through graphic designing or Canva, if you are a newbie.

8. On-Page SEO Optimization

If looked after right from the start, On-page optimization of the blog can get your blog a great success. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which enables your blog to attract a large number of visitors. There are two types of SEO: on-page optimization and off-page optimization. By on-page optimization, it means modifying the onsite SEO of the website, so as to help it rank high. For instance installation of YOAST SEO, a plugin for WordPress enables you the creation and submission of sitemaps to search engines. Further, this makes your site visible in the search results.

9. Important task- finding keywords

Drafting great posts without infusing keywords is the prime reason for a blog that does not rank. Many newbies come up with their own wild guesses for the blog posts, but now the game has changed. Why waste time in guessing the keywords, when you can them by using a different tool. Once discovered the keywords, you can employ these into your blog posts to volumize the traffic.

Moreover, you can use free tools such as AnswerThePublic, to know what the users are looking for. Later you can use the same idea to answer the questions in your blog, so as to get large traffic.

10. Eye-catchy Headlines

As we all know that people judge a book by its cover, and it is nothing strange that they judge a blog by its headline. If you desire a good engagement on your blog, then ensure that the headline you give to your blog should be eye catchy and convincing. Moreover, Google employs CTR (click-through rate)  as one of the factors that it considers while ranking any block. Therefore, you should ensure that the headlines used are actionable and drives more click on them.

11. Repurposing of the content

The best part about repurposing a blog is that you are not asked to search for new ideas for the blogs. It is one of the characteristic features of the expert bloggers; they repurpose their content into images, videos, articles and so on. Besides repurposing the existing article, you can also apply the same technique to the ebooks, audio files or even Youtube videos. By repurposing, we mean reusing your content.

12. Using Videos

One of the most engaging contents on the internet these days are videos. Since users are already attracted towards and constantly looks for video content, Youtube has become the second-largest search engine in the world. By using videos in the blog, one is enabled to keep the users glued to the sites and making them look for more content.

13. Resharing of old posts

The blogs posted, appears in a reverse chronological order (i.e. the newest posts appear first). This implies that the older the posts are the less discoverable they are. One of the most practiced and trusted ways of solving this issue is by sharing your older posts once again on social media. However several new bloggers carry a myth that recycling the old content is not at all okay, but the fact is that even the expert bloggers do it at times.

14. Broaden your monetizing streams

If you are creating a blog in order to make money then displaying of Google Ads is one of the best ways to do that. Though Google Adsense is considered to be the best stream to monetize, there are a number of other streams too. Some of the ways to make money out of your blog are through affiliate marketing, selling online courses and many more. Yet another way to grow your business is by monitoring who all are advertising on your website and you can direct your reach to the manufacturer, by removing the middle-man.

15. Consistent approach

It is not important to post something every day rather you should stay consistent in your posting schedule. You can decide upon the frequency, according to which you will be updating or publishing your posts. For instance, if you are a beginner then you can stick to 3 posts per week, following which you can amplify your pace. This keeps you motivated and focused upon your goals.

16. Curate an order to store blog posting ideas

Several tools are available these days to register your blogging ideas. This is because when you become a professional blogger, you ought to find the ideas within the daily conversations or any other task for that matter. Therefore it becomes highly important to retain those ideas before you lose a grip of them. For this purpose, you can use various online tools like Evernote, EditFlow and many more where you can easily plan out a strategy and manage your content. This is highly advisable because as a blogger there might come a time when you will fall short of ideas. Having access to the bank of ideas will keep you consistent according to your scheduling approach.

17. Hub your passwords in a single place

Passwords are the most important key to your WordPress website and even your online accounts. Not only this they are also considered to be the most common way to hack the accounts. But you don’t have to worry about all these things. You can keep your passwords in one place, yet keep them safe. This is possible with outstanding password managers such as LastPass, 1Password and many more, which allows you to store your passwords at a place and also auto-fill feature is available that can be used to generate strong passwords for you automatically.

18. Build Networks by commenting on other blogs

One of the fastest-growing social platforms are the blogs that enable people to comment and engage with the content available on the site. Therefore in order to grow your brand, you are supposed to employ this feature by indulging in the commenting process of other blogs that are relevant to your topic. However, make sure that you work only on relevant blogs and Facebook groups to enhance your brand and give it a wider reach. This increases the visibility of your blog, increasing its chances to grow and get noticed by the users.

19. Social Media is Crucial but always remember it is owned by someone else

Do you still remember some old social media platforms, like Orkut or MySpace? There are a number of social platforms that made their debut but could not hold their position. Although social channels are one of the greatest sources to steer the traffic towards the blog, you should always concentrate on the things that are controllable (such as blogs, newsletters, push notifications).

20. Amplify the website speed

Slow websites are nobody’s pick in today’s time. Some of the major search engines such as Google provides an SEO advantage that speeds up the websites. Therefore as a blogger, you should make it a point to accelerate the speed of your website. Because the faster it will load, the more likely the footfall will be.

If wondering, where to find them faster-loading websites, then WordPress is one such hosting. It is very important to pick the right hosting if chosen wrongly it might lead to slowing down of the website irrespective of how much hard work you put into it.

Final Thought – Consider Before Starting A Blog

Finally to wrap up, beginning a blog is something that seems simple at the inception but there is a huge difference between just doing it for the sake of it and doing it in the best possible manner. There are so many things that keep changing and are very important to mend before starting a blog. Such as WordPress, which includes writing, editing, formatting of content, SEO, hosting, backlink establishment, social media sharing, email marketing, networking and many more.

I hope these aforementioned tips and tricks of starting a blog will help you in being cautious right from the start.