Tips for Starting Your Own Blog

Blogging. It is something that has really helped me, something which I am proud to say has changed my life in so many ways. So I thought I’d share with you some tips for starting your own blog from my point of view. 

I am personally no expert when it comes to blogging. I think day in day out, I realise there is more I could learn. Things in the blogging world are constantly changing and evolving which makes it really exciting to be a part of but also means there’s a lot to keep up with.

Having said that, I have officially been blogging here on Life in a Break Down for eight years now and I have certainly learnt a thing or two in that time.

If you’re wanting to create a blog, you’ve come to the right place. Here are some tips for starting your own blog.

Research

Up first on my list of tips for starting your own blog is research. Research is your best friend when it comes to starting a blog.

Before you start, you want to look into the different web hosting platforms on offer to help you build a blog.

Personally, I use Lyrical Host (affiliate link) as a company that offers really good value managed blog hosting plans. Which, for someone who isn’t completely tech-savvy like me and panics when anything goes wrong, is a must-have. If you choose to go self-hosted you might choose WordPress as your blogging platform. If you do this, you’ll need to choose a WordPress theme which makes it really easy for you to customise and design your blog, without the need for a professional web developer.

You may wish to start out on a platform like Blogger where you don’t need to worry about hosting. Starting out on a platform like Blogger can offer you a chance to try your hand at blogging for very little and offer chances to move to a self-hosted site pretty easily later on. You can start out with a free domain, before switching to a paid one once you know that you’ll stick with it.

You’re also going to need to decide on a name for your blog. Check to see whether someone else using similar before you decide for sure so that you don’t need to change it before you even get properly started. Getting mixed up with another blogger isn’t fun and you want to stand out and be unique and memorable.

Researching what you want to blog about is a good idea too. It’s usually best to blog about something that you’re passionate about. If you love beauty, travel or fashion and decide to blog about that topic, your passion will shine through and you’ll also find it easier to keep writing.

These days a lot of people write a bit of content before they officially launch, whereas ten years ago I just launched and hoped. Why not get a few posts together before you start promoting them on your social media channels?

While you’re writing blog posts, you’ll want to do some SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) research to ensure that your blog posts appear high on search engines. There’s a lot to learn here and it’s constantly changing, but some initial research should get you off to a good start. 

Keywords are the first thing that you’ll want to look at – what terms are people searching for? A good tool to help you here is Google’s Keyword Planner. Just pop some ideas into the search bar and it will tell you how many people are searching for that term as well as suggesting similar terms. There are some great WordPress plug-ins to help you with SEO too – my favourite is Yoast SEO.

If you are planning on monetising your content as well, signing up for a service like QuickBooks to keep on top of your incomings and outgoings can really help when it comes to tax time.

Planning your content.

Often my best-performing blog content comes when it has been well planned out. Put together an editorial calendar of the content that you want to share on your blog and social networks. 

Set up Google Analytics for your blog. This will help you to see how many visits your blog has had, where the visits have come from and which posts are performing well. This should inform your future content plan and ensure that you’re creating great content that people want to read.

Niches are Good but Not Essential.

Honestly, if you have something different to offer, a space which you can slot into, you may find blogging easier.

I think it is obvious that some niche bloggers have taken off virally this year.

However, I just can’t stick to a niche. I tried it and I failed.

So I would say while, yes, niches are good and they can really help, they aren’t everything. If you want to do a bit of this and a bit of that, do it, try it, see what happens and maybe take into account your target audience and what they’d like to read too.

How will you promote your blog?

Now that you’ve launched your blog you’re going to have to get people to read it! You’ll need to create some social media profiles, join Facebook blogger groups and consider email marketing and building an email list to boost your blog traffic.

The most successful bloggers are the ones who are promoting their blogs everywhere they can to drive traffic to them.

You’ll also need to think about whether you want to start monetising your blog or if you’d prefer to keep it as a hobby. If you do want to start making money from your blog, you could take paid guest posts, sign up for Google AdSense to show advertising on your blog or sign up for some affiliate programs.

Insurance. Do You Need It?

If you are a business owner you will know that one thing you really need is insurance.

There are many different types of insurance out there and it is great to know that companies such as PolicyBee (affiliate link) a company which offers insurance, especially for bloggers.

Scratching your head yet? Yup, me too!

It can definitely be quite a minefield to decipher what you do or do not need.

What about when it comes to blogging? Well, it isn’t quite so black and white (and it wasn’t very clear to begin with) but yes you may need it. However, it is pretty much on a case-by-case basis.

Blogging itself is pretty new as a job and it is only now that specialist insurance is slowly hitting the market.

Personally, I feel like every blogger should look into how insurance may fit into what they are offering, even if they decide not to buy, they will at least know for themselves.

A Group of Blogging Buddies.

If you are blogging you most definitely need to make sure you have some friends in the same boat.

Successful blogging can be hard at times, especially if you are doing it as a job. It can also be lonely. So having someone who knows how this feels as well is a must.

But blogging friends are helpful in other ways too – you can support each other on social media by sharing each other’s posts on Facebook and Twitter, and swap blog comments, amplifying your posts and getting them seen by more people. Focus on building a network of blogging buddies who you can rely on to promote your blog and vice versa.

So there you have a few hints and tips I’ve learnt over the years. Of course, there are so many more things you need to do and will learn along the way.

However, if you feel like starting to blog, I say go for it. You never know where it may lead you, after all it is totally possible to start making money in your first year.

If you have some free time check out this great list of blog jobs to help get yourself ahead and if you need even more tips for starting your own blog, here’s a helpful video.

Build a Media Kit

For those already into blogging then one thing you should think about is building is a media kit. These share insight into you and your blog and quickly convey information to brands who want to work with you. 

Things to include on this important bit of blog kit includes things like: 
An introduction to you and your blog.
Unique monthly views.
Average dwell time.
Audience breakdown of gender / age / location. 
Follower count and links to social media. 

You could also think about including a reference from someone you have worked with, and names of some brands you have collaborated with. 

Some people choose to also include a rate card with their media kit. 

So how do you build one? Well, there are many simple ways. Design Bundles and Canva, for instance, offer a range of templates to help you put together a simple setup. While Canva offers a simple and easy platform to edit and make that kit your own. 

Personally, I find my media kit is great to add to any emails where people are asking for more information, as it helps give a bit more depth and insight. Once you have made your media kit, remember to keep it up to date. 

If you are a blogger what are your best tips for starting your own blog?

This post contains an affiliate link – if you buy via this link I will receive a small amount from the company.

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