What Should a Blog About?

You can blog about almost anything. However, you won’t be succeeding on it if you are not staying true to yourself. Don’t create any blog about something which you’re not passionate about. Don’t make blog about something you are not enough knowledgeable about. You must have some level of knowledge and an unstoppable level of passion. That’s just how it works if you want to succeed in Blogging.

The truth is that success through blogging will take time like any other profession. It clearly doesn’t happen within overnight time. So if you’re not passionate about it, you will be finally sucked. You’ll give up when the things are going tough. That’s Plain and simple. So you have to absolutely love what you’re doing and write strongly about it.

When you truly do that, it comes across to your audience. They will know whether you’re being real or fake. It will resonate with them. They’ll relate with you and would become a firm believer in your cause or your journey. If you’re not being honest or real, your audience will understand quickly. As a result Google ranking will getting worse. Therefore, passion and truth are really very important.

When your content resonates with people, it naturally gets shared more and engaged with more, which search engines like Google pay a lot of attention to it. The point? Love what you’re going to blog about or don’t waste your time doing it. You won’t have fun and you won’t make money if you don’t follow that one guiding principle.

So where do you go from here? If you’re absolutely ready to start your blog and be on the road to making money over time (not overnight) then here are the steps you need to take.

#1 — Decide On A Niche

The first step in building a blog is to decide on a niche. What do you want to write about? What area are you an expert in? Now, you don’t actually need to be an expert, but you do need some level of knowledge or a willingness to learn all that you can and eventually convey that knowledge.

You should also note that certain niches are far more competitive than others. So if you plan to generate steady income from your blog, you’re going to need to rank your posts competitively on Google’s search engine results pages. That’s not just about understanding of SEO. That’s also about ensuring that you’re not in a fiercely competitive niche.

For example, if you plan to start a blog about making money online, passive income and things of that nature, which is extremely competitive, then it’s going to take you considerably more time to start generating money from your activities. You can’t simply expect to prop up a blog, make a few posts and become a millionaire within overnight. It doesn’t work in that way what you are thinking .

Although most internet marketers (IMs) will try to convince you otherwise, there is no “secret success formula” that will help you build a mass fortune quickly on the web. There is no “newly-discovered blueprint” that will give you the tools for success. No, it’s all about, how you are ready to grind inside a wheel. That’s Plain and simple. However, the niches that involve more competitive transactional searches, such as the online money-making niche, are going to be harder to make progress in at the outset.

#2 — Purchase A Domain Name

The next step in building a blog that will actually make you money somewhere down the road is to purchase a domain name. If you’ve decided what you’ll blog about, then you need to find a domain name that’s going to be harmonious with that. Pick a name that’s short enough to be easily remembered, but also keyword-rich enough to be applicable to your content.

Keep in mind that you’re not just building a blog, you’re going to be building a business and a brand. The more memorable you make your domain name, the more likely you’ll be to succeed with your blog. If it’s catchy and people can remember it, they might just come back to it over and over again as long as the content is great. But it all starts with a domain name.

So, how and where do you get a domain name? While there are numerous sources for getting a domain, it’s quite simple to purchase one while you buy your hosting account (explained in the next step). Or, if you already have a domain that you intend on using, you could simply port that over to your new blog.

Your Domain Is Your Online Home

This is going to be your virtual home, so put some careful consideration into choosing the right domain name. You wouldn’t just purchase the physical home that you live in on a whim, would you? Of course not. So choose wisely. Take time to scour and analyze domain names to find the right one. Here are some pointers when searching:

· Limit the domain name to not more than three keywords such as passionfire.whatever or professionalresumeservices.whatever or bigmarketingschool.whatever. Tripadviser.whatever. wondertravels.whatever  Get the point? Don’t go over three keywords because it becomes too cumbersome, burdensome and difficult to remember for visitors.

·      Pick a domain name that contains a keyword related to your niche so you can get a leg up on being found relevantly in online searches. That’s not to say you’re going to rank right away. You definitely won’t. But that keyword will help you down the line to build your brand within that niche.

·      Try to avoid using hyphens if you can. Although many of the best domain names are taken, you can still find good, relevant domains without having to insert hyphens. While it might be unavoidable depending on the niche that you’re entering, try to purchase your domain name without it.

·    Where possible, select a domain name that ends in .com rather than any other extension. As appealing as it might seem to select a domain name with a different extension, you’ll find the dot com extension to be the most assuming type when people are trying to locate your blog.

#3 — Purchase A Hosting Account

Okay, so you’ve made the decision to start your blog and you’ve done your due diligence on what you’ll blog about. Your next step is to take some action and register that blog by purchasing a hosting account. A hosting account is simply a computer attached to the internet where your blog will live. It’s always on and it’s always connected.

When you purchase a hosting account, you’re actually just renting space on a server. Either you’re sharing that space with others, or the server is yours and yours alone to use. When you first start out, it will likely be the former. Your hosting account will be what’s called a shared hosting account, likely on what’s called a virtual private server (VPS).

Without getting to technical, a VPS is simply a configuration of web software that helps you manage everything that lives on your server. From your files to the database and applications that live there, you get unfettered access, in realtime, to managing all of that on your hosting account. But you have some virtual roommates, so to speak.

When you’re ready to get started, head over to BlueHost / Hostinger / HostGator etc. which powers over millions websites worldwide, and are possibly the most popular hosting companies in the world. At their homepage, simply click on the “Get Started Now” link and you’ll be forwarded to a page where you can select your account type.

The best part? If you’re not happy with their service, you’ll get a full refund within 30 days. If you’re outside of 30 days, you can get back a prorated refund. Their refund policy applies to their hosting only and not their add-on services, so you couldn’t get a refund for any domains you potentially purchased, so just keep that in mind.

Currently, there are three account types there:

·        Basic Hosting Account: Less than your morning latte, this is definitely one of the least expensive hosting accounts out there. You can host a single website with up to 50GB of space, which is more than plenty by the way, unmetered bandwidth, so you’ll never be charged overaged and 100MB of email storage.

·        Plus Hosting Account: The next tier up is the Plus account, which includes unlimited space and an unlimited number of domains, just in case you want to host more than one website. You also receive unmetered bandwidth and unlimited email storage for not much more than the Basic account.

·        Prime Hosting Account: This account is their best value. Not only do you get everything that you get with the Plus account, but you also get website backup, which can come in very handy by the way, and private domain registration. They’re also throwing in $80 per year worth of extras here.

Once you’ve selected the right account, you’ll move to the next page where you can actually purchase your domain. Either you already have a domain, which you can easily port over to their service, or you’ll buy a new domain name. If you’ve already done the research on your domain, this step should be fairly straightforward. If you haven’t, don’t rush this step and take enough time selecting the perfect domain.

#3 — Install WordPress

Once you’re up and running with your hosting account, your next step is to install WordPress, the most popular blogging platform, onto your newly-minted blog. This is a rather straightforward process, so don’t be alarmed here. In your Bluehost control panel, you’ll find a simple one-click logo icon with the description “Install WordPress,” that will help guide you along in the process.

All you have to do is select a few key details such as your site name, admin username, password and email address, and you’ll be well on your way to being up and running very quickly. Simply look for the WordPress icon towards the bottom of your hosting control panel screen once you’ve setup your account.

Also, keep in mind that for security purposes, you should choose a difficult username and password for your blog admin when going through the setup process. Don’t use the username “admin” and don’t choose an easy-to-crack password. You’ll be doing yourself a disservice by doing that.

When WordPress has been properly installed, you’ll need to configure your settings. One of the important settings that you’ll need to address is called permalinks, which is located in the settings > permalinks section of your WordPress administration.

Navigate to that page and pick the “Post Name” option so that your page titles are translated into nice semantic URLs, which is crucial for higher visibility. Remember, every little advantage will count in the beginning!

#4 — Write Like the Wind

Okay, so there are a ton of other considerations. For the sake of brevity, I’ll have to skip over all the little nuances that are involved with configuring things properly and optimizing for things like search engine optimization and installing plugins and so on. If you want to learn about SEO, I would recommend checking out popular courses on Udemy  on the topic.

However, the biggest point that needs to be made here about succeeding with your blog and eventually making any semblance of a respectable amount of cash, is to write like the wind. Consistency is critical if you’re going to succeed, which is the problem that almost everyone has with blogging.

If you’re not a self-motivating individual, you might find this to be extremely difficult. The truth is that it takes years to build a solid blog audience. It won’t happen overnight. However, once it does happen, this is by far one of the most lucrative passive-income generating activities that you can engage in.

#5 — Build a Platform

The hardest part about making money from your blog is actually building a platform. Your platform is your brand. And brands are built by building trust over time. Not overnight. Over time. This requires consistency, integrity and honesty. It doesn’t happen quickly or easily whatsoever.

However, building a platform isn’t just about that. Building a platform involves ensuring that you’re always doing the most amount of work for the least initial return. Sound crazy? Okay, it might be a little bit crazy. But it’s true. You have to go out of your way for your readers. Because, believe me, they pay attention and remember what you do for them.

If you’re solely interested in extracting money from your readers at the outset, you won’t succeed over time. You’ll fail. However, if you do things honestly and with integrity, ensuring that you’re being consistent and truthful in your advice and your prose, people will pay attention.

#6 — Get Social

Finally, in order to build a blog that actually makes money, you need to get social. You need to collaborate with others. Communicate with leaders in your niche. Reach out and share other bloggers’ content. Acknowledge their work and give them positive feedback. Don’t be pushy about it and don’t look for anything in return. It doesn’t quite work that way.

The problem is that in order to build your audience and increase the size of your platform, you need visibility. But in order to be visible, you need great content. However, if people can’t discover your great content, how are you supposed to build your audience? If you know anything about SEO, then you know that it’s the proverbial Catch-22 at the outset.

The truth is that people won’t discover your blog. You will see that shirt more times than people will see your blog. It’s painful in the beginning. If that doesn’t dissuade most would-be wild-eyed bloggers, then just about nothing will. But it doesn’t stay that way. Clearly, things change gradually over time as long as you don’t give up.