The thought of starting your own website can be exciting. It’s something I wanted to do for years before I actually pulled my finger out and start my own blog. I just didn’t know what I wanted my website to be about.
Eventually, I took the plunge. You know the thing I regret the most? Not starting my blog sooner.
So if you are thinking of creating your own little place on the web, let’s get planning and get it done!
Pick your niche.
So you want to start a blog? If you already know what you want to blog about, that’s great. If not think about the following things:
- What are you passionate about?
- What do you know a lot about?
- What knowledge can you share with others?
Niching down is a great way to stand out amongst the crowd. There’s the usual type of blogs:
- Lifestyle
- Fashion
- Health
- Beauty
If you can get real specific it makes you more unique:
- Cruelty-free beauty
- High-end fashion
- Vegan lifestyle
- Weight loss for women over 30.
The more specific you get, the better. Of course, if you are totally unsure which direction you want to go in, it’s okay to start with a broader niche and decide later on!
Select your name.
Your name may depend on the above. If you are sure of your niche, it’s a good idea to make your name relevant to it as it can help with your branding and also help you rank higher in Google.
If you feel you might switch your niche about, then avoid this. There’s no point having a blog called ‘Lipstick Beauty Blog’ if 6 months down the line you don’t want to blog about lipstick or beauty at all!
Set up your socials.
Once you have your name, go and grab you socials accounts!
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are the main ones to get.
Ensure you use the same username, profile picture, bio and header across all platforms so people can identify you easily.
Create some content.
Creating content takes time and you might find yourself shocked how long one post can take. You don’t just sit down and write for 15 minutes then hit publish. There’s more than it to that. You have to think about:
- taking photos
- editing photos
- creating graphics
- finding stock images
- research facts
- insert links
- edit and proofread
Aim to have 4 or 5 pieces of content ready to publish when you start your blog. This means you can then spend some time on promoting yourself and networking on social media once your blog is live.
Writing posts will become quicker and easier with experience!
Plan your content schedule.
Yes, you can post when you want whenever you feel like it. It is your blog. But that’s not advisable.
The best thing you can do is have a set schedule when you post. Whether that is once a week, three times a week, more or less. Do what works to you, but ensure you stick to it.
While it might be tempting to blog every day when you first get started as you have lots of ideas, stick to a schedule that works long term. A schedule is important as it keeps your readers in the loop in regards to when your next posts will be. It’s also good for SEO as Google favours websites that are regularly updated, rather than a site that is inconsistent.
You can always draft posts out and schedule them for a later date if you’ve got loads of ideas now!
Brainstorm future content.
Have a plan of what content you will post in the future. You can create draft posts and bulletproof headings or ideas inside or use a separate notebook or word document.
Set up Google tools.
Set up your Google Analytics account and Google Search Console account so you are ready to start tracking your stats and data from day one!
Create a social media strategy.
Social media can be overwhelming. You can find yourself spending loads of time on it, sometimes too much time, sometimes not being all that productive.
Stick to the big 4: Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook. Focus on only one or two of the networks to start with and then expand once you have built yourself a platform up.
For more information about how to use social media, check out my course: The complete guide to social media.
Create some hype.
While you are planning your blog, start using social media. Interact with other bloggers and count down to your launch date. Read other blogs, retweet blog posts you think are valuable and get a few eyes on your profile ready for launch.
Colours
Use a website like Coolors to generate your colour theme. It’s a great way to find 5 key colours that you can use in your branding and theme. This is important is it will make you easy to identify – if you use the same colours in graphics across all social, people who follow you will instantly know it’s you.
Plugins
If you have decided to go self-hosted and use WordPress – plugins can seem a bit confusing. Which ones do you need to get? Check out the ones I use the most in this post in yesterdays post.
Graphics
Canva is a great program for creating graphics if you don’t have access to Adobe software. You can pay a premium, but I use the free version and it works for me.
Make sure you add your branding colours to your colour pallet so you can easily add them to all your graphics!
If you’re already a blogger, what advice would you give to someone just starting out?
