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One of the benefits of running a site like this, is that I get contacted by lots of different people from around the world on a daily basis. Some people contact me to submit their own guest post to this site, some are interested in advertising opportunities, some even want to hire me to help them with their own site. That said, one of the most popular types of message I get are from people who are totally new to blogging and want to know how they can get started themselves. That’s why I thought I’d write this guide to blogging for beginners!
So, this post is all about taking it back to basics. We’ll be looking at what exactly is a blog and how do you build your own site, as well as tips on writing content, getting traffic and making money blogging online. I’ve also included lots of links to other useful content that will help you to learn more about a subject in more detail. So, lets get started…
Guide To Blogging For Beginners
What Is A Blog
I thought I’d begin by talking about what exactly is a blog, as I do get asked this quite a bit.
The dictionary definition of a blog is:
‘A website on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis.‘
So, a blog is a site where you can write about what you want, on a wide variety of different subjects. A lot of people run their own personal blog where they write about their own personal experiences and day-to-day activities. It can be a great way to express your opinions or keep friends and family updated on what’s happening in your life. For example, someone may write a blog whilst they travel the world on a gap year. This type of personal site is what I like to call the ‘amateur’ blog.
There is another type of blog that exists online and that is (what I like to call) the ‘professional’ blog. This type of site focuses more on specific topics and subjects that people are interested in. On it, information, news, events, opinions, interviews, etc. are shared focusing on a specific niche to encourage people to visit the site. These types of ‘professional’ sites operate in the same way a business would and they look at ways to make money on their site. For example, a site that focuses on ‘Health & Fitness’ could publish regular posts on diet plans, healthy food, exercise regimes, etc. and display targeted advertising on related products, such as local gym memberships.
There are literally millions of blogs online, but all of them can be classed as either an ‘amateur’ or ‘professional’ blog. Many people start their own ‘amateur’ site, which over time can turn into a ‘professional’ type of blog, it all depends on the individual.
Creating Your Own Blog
It’s really easy to start your own blog nowadays. No longer do you need to learn all about HTML and CSS coding to get started. You just need to use the right tools, which is where I introduce you to WordPress! WordPress is the leading blog publishing application in the world, used by millions of people.
There are two different types of WordPress application that you can use;
- WordPress.com – This lets you set up a free blog that is hosted by WordPress. This is perfect for ‘amateur’ blog sites.
- WordPress.org – This allows you to create a blog on a proper hosting provider. This is perfect for ‘professional’ blog sites.
Picking the right option for you is an important decision, so to help, you may want to read ‘Should I Start A Free Hosted Blog Or A Self Hosted Blog?‘. Also, to learn in more detail about blogging for beginners and setting up your own blog, check out my step-by-step guide on how to ‘Start A Blog Today!‘
Blog Content
The most important part of any blog is it’s content! This after all is what people visiting your site will be looking for. Blog content can include anything from the posts that you write, tutorial videos, pictures, interviews, infographics, etc.
Whatever type of blog content you are using, you want it to be of a high quality. Only good quality content will attract visitors, as lets face it, people are only one click away from navigating away from your site and finding better information. This is why you need to produce the best content that you can, to keep people on your site and reading/viewing your content.
Here are some blogging for beginners links to posts that will help you produce better quality content for your blog.
Blog Writing Tips – Use Traditional Story Telling Techniques
How To Keep Writing Quality Blog Posts
How To Use Fonts In Website Design To Improve Readability
The Advantages Of Writing Online Blog Interviews
How Long Should A Blog Post Be?
Content Schedule – How Often Should I Post On My Blog?
How to Write Great Blog Post Introductions
How To Use Images In Your Blog Posts!
8 Ways To Improve Your Blog Writing
How To Build Solid Foundations For Your Blog
6 Unique Website Content Ideas
20 Pages Every Blog Should Include
How To Make Outstanding Content For Your Website
10 Steps to Write Amazing Content!
Driving Traffic
Now, like we’ve discussed, it’s important to produce high quality content for your blog, but at the end of the day you want people to see it. This is where you want to look at and implement ways of driving traffic to your site.
There are many different ways of driving traffic to a site. This including; social media, SEO techniques, guest blogging, link baiting and many more. I would estimate, based on my own experiences, that driving traffic takes up about 50% of my time, with the other 50% working on producing content. It takes time and a lot of work to get visitors to your site and even then it’s a continual process to keep them coming back for more.
Here are some blogging for beginners links to posts that will help you to drive traffic to your blog.
Why Bloggers Should Be Using Pinterest
How To Get More Views On YouTube
Why Backlinks Are A Blogger’s Best Friend
5 Blogging Tips That Help Drive Traffic To Your Site
Need More Blogging Traffic? Look At McDonald’s For Inspiration
To Become A Top Earning Blog, You Need To Build A Community!
How To Use Google Alerts To Drive Traffic & More!!!
How To Submit Your Website And Get Listed On Google, Bing & Yahoo
5 Great Traffic Sources For Your Website
How To Drive Traffic With Targeted Google Keywords
15 Great Off-Page SEO Techniques
8 Great On-Page SEO Techniques
How To Drive Traffic To Your Blog
Are You Using Google Plus For Your Blog Yet?
9 Ways To Build Your Business With LinkedIn
10 Twitter Tips To Drive Traffic To Your Site
6 Tips To Create a Profitable Facebook Fan Page For Your Website
Use Email Marketing to Increase Traffic with Return Visitors!
4 Ways to Build Traffic to Your Website!
Monetizing Your Blog
Image by ‘401k’
Now, you’ve got quality content and you are driving traffic to your site, now you can look at ways of monetizing your blog and making money from it.
There are lots of different ways for you to monetize a site and it can be fun to try out some of the different methods to see what works and what doesn’t. The good thing about running your own site is that you have little expenses, so anything that you earn via your site is almost all profit!
Here are some blogging for beginners links to posts that will help you to monetize your blog.
How to Set Up A Blog With Google AdSense
15 Small Strategies That Will Improve Your Website’s Conversion Rate
How to Use Affiliate Marketing Without Affecting Readability
How to Run a Successful E-Commerce Business from Start to Finish
Why You Should Have A ‘Hire Me’ Page On Your Website
How To Make Money Online With Your Own Massive Content Site
Make Money While Playing: Video Games Aren’t Only For Fun!
7 Top Tips For Making Money Online
5 Great Ways To Ensuring Your Blog Is Profitable
Online Business Ideas For Stay-at-Home Moms
6 Quick Ways For Young Entrepreneurs To Make Money Online
How To Make Money By Writing An eBook!
3 Profitable Niche Blog Topics – How To Select A Blog Topic That Makes the Most Money?
10 Tips For Using Affiliate Programs On Your Website
Passive Income For Your Website!
30 Ways Your Website Can Earn You Money!
Blogging Tips
Image by ‘Michael Kwan (Freelancer)’
There are of course many other aspects to blogging that you’ll need to learn about eventually. I wouldn’t say that these are more important that the previous three categories, as they should be your priority, but these tips will help you to improve your site further.
Finally, here are some blogging for beginners links to posts that look at different blogging tips that you will find useful for your blog.
Become A Rockstar Blogger By Building A Popular Blog
3 Vital Tips For Creating A Successful Blog
Learn To Communicate With Your Blog Readers
Getting Started With A/B Testing (Split Testing)
The Importance of Planning Your Online Business
7 Ways To Build An Online Business Identity
The Blogging Strategy That Helps You Create A Successful Blog
12 Blogging Myths That Bloggers Should Avoid!
Your Blog Sucks! – Top 5 Ways To Help Fix Your Blog
How To Get More Blog Comments?
How To Prepare For Taking A Blogging Break
Summary
Well, that’s certainly a lot of information to digest, hopefully you won’t try to go through and read everything in one sitting. The aim of this post is to act as a universal guide that both new and existing bloggers can come and read through at their own leisure.
Now, like I say, this may appear to be a lot of information to learn, but if you concentrate on individual sections at a time, it really isn’t that much over a long period of time. I myself didn’t know about 80-90% of this stuff when I started this very website just less that 12 months ago. In fact, OnlineIncomeTeacher.com be celebrating it’s very first birthday very soon, so make sure that you watch out for a very special post that I’ll be publishing in the next few weeks looking back at our first 12 months online!
I hope you found this ‘Ultimate Guide To Blogging For Beginners’ useful. Feel free to leave your comments and questions below and I’ll try to answer them for you.
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