In case you have perused a blog entry, it is likely that you have gained information from a knowledgeable individual in their field who is considered as a leading thinker. Assuming that the blog entry was composed in a convincing manner, there is a good possibility that you gained valuable insights and formed a favorable opinion towards the writer or brand behind the content.
Blogging offers numerous advantages such as increased organic traffic from search engines, promotional material for social media, and an opportunity to gain recognition from a previously untapped audience, making it accessible to anyone who wants to connect with their audience.
If you are new to blogging and uncertain about how to begin, the days of making excuses are gone. You can develop a blog that enhances SEO, and we will guide you on how to compose and administer your company’s blog. Additionally, we offer convenient templates to facilitate your blogging operations.
We should initiate with a significant inquiry.
Let’s start with a definition of blogging, which can have varying interpretations depending on your specific area of focus.
What is a blog post?
A piece of content that appears in the blog section of a website is referred to as a blog post. These posts are typically informative and focus on a particular subject or question. They can range in length from 600 to over 2,000 words and often include various multimedia elements like images, videos, interactive charts, and infographics.
Writing blog posts on any topic can enable you and your business to disseminate ideas, opinions, and narratives on your website, ultimately enhancing brand recognition, trustworthiness, sales, and revenue. Significantly, they can also facilitate website traffic generation.
Before you can start creating blog posts, you need to first learn how to create a blog. Without further ado, let’s get started.
How to Start a Blog
1. Understand your audience.
To ensure that you have a thorough comprehension of your intended readership, follow these actions before commencing your blog post.
Ask yourself exploratory questions.
To identify your audience, inquire about their characteristics such as their demographic information, whether they share similarities with you or someone you know, as well as their areas of interest and what will appeal to them.
Take notes either in a notepad or a document while brainstorming audience attributes from scratch. It’s essential to consider your audience’s age, background, goals, and challenges, no matter how unusual they may seem.
2. Check out your competition.
There’s no better method to gather ideas than to examine your established rivals.
Examining popular blogs that have garnered high ratings is valuable because it is their tactics and implementation that have elevated their reputations. The aim is not to replicate their techniques, but to obtain a stronger understanding of the aspects that audience members value in a superior blog.
3. Determine what topics you’ll cover.
Select a topic before you begin writing. The subject matter may initially be broad as you seek out a niche that suits your blog.
4. Identify your unique angle.
In what way do you possess a distinct point of view that sets you apart from others? This plays a crucial role in shaping the future direction of your blog, and there are numerous ways to explore this aspect.
5. Name your blog.
Now is your chance to use your creativity and come up with a name that hints at the content of your blog. Consider the following suggestions for selecting an appropriate name for your blog:
Keep your blog name easy to say and spell.
You don’t have to make your name complex, despite the vast number of blogs available. Although having an original name is crucial, it should also be easy for readers to remember and recall as an URL for the next stage.
Link your blog name to your brand message.
For optimal results, select a blog name that is closely tied to the subjects you discuss. Take DIY MFA as an example, which focuses on authors pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in writing independently. The brand’s objective is to encourage writers to enhance their craft without requiring a formal education. When naming your blog, aim to encapsulate its message, unique selling proposition, and areas of interest in a single phrase.
6. Create your blog domain.
A domain name is a component of a website’s address that individuals can utilize to locate your webpage or a specific page on your website on the internet.
The domain for your blog will appear as www.yourblog.com, and you have the freedom to choose the name between the two periods, so long as it is not already in use on the internet.
Are you interested in setting up a subdomain for your blog? If you already possess a cooking establishment at www.yourcompany.com, you could design a blog with the URL blog.yourcompany.com. This means that your blog’s subdomain will exist as a distinct section on yourcompany.com.
Certain CMS platforms provide a complimentary subdomain service that allows your blog to exist on the CMS rather than your corporate website. An illustration of this would be: yourblog.contentmanagementsystem.com. Nevertheless, if you intend to establish a subdomain that belongs directly to your company’s website, you must register the subdomain with a website host.
It is common for hosting companies to charge a small fee for the maintenance of an individual domain; for just $3 per month, you can sign up for a 36-month contract to keep costs low.
A helpful hint is that you have the option to attach your personalized domain to free hosting by utilizing HubSpot’s complimentary CMS or by upgrading to the premium editions of CMS Hub. As part of this service, you will gain entry to integrated security functions and a content delivery network.
7. Choose a CMS and set up your blog.
A content management system (CMS) is a type of software that enables individuals to design and keep up a website without the need to manually program it from the beginning. CMS platforms can regulate both primary domains (where a website is established) and subdomains (where a page is built that is interlinked to an existing website).
CMS Hub is used by HubSpot clients to host their web content, while a common alternative is self-hosting a WordPress website on a hosting platform like WP Engine. Once you’ve decided on a CMS, whether it’s for a domain or a subdomain, selecting a web hosting service is necessary.
An expert advice is to utilize HubSpot’s free blog maker which provides all the necessary features such as hosting, a visual editor, and a wide range of free and paid themes to choose from, for your initial set-up, without any monetary expenditure.
8. Customize the look of your blog.
After setting up your domain name, tailor the appearance of your blog to align with the subject matter you intend to produce and your brand.
9. Write your first blog post.
After setting up your blog, the only essential missing component is the content. Although design and layout are imperative and enjoyable, it is the content that attracts and retains your audience.
98 Creative Blog Post Ideas That Will Delight Your Audience
This is an extensive inventory of innovative blog post concepts to help you break free from boredom.
- Content Marketing Blog Post Ideas For Brands
- How’d You Get Started In Your Career? How Did You Get To Where You Are Today?
- List & Embed Videos That Deal With Your Niche
- Compile A List Of Posts & Links On One Topic
- What Marketing Tips Didn’t Work For You?
- Write Out A List Of FAQs
- Take An Unrelated Topic & Tie It Into Your Field
- Pitch An Influencer To A Guest Post On Their Blog
- What Sets Your Blog/Business Apart From Your Competitors?
- What Is The Most Creative Way Someone Has Used Your Product?
- Profile Readers & Customers
- How Do You Use Your Social Media For Growing Traffic & Sales?
- Create An Ultimate Guide
- What Is The Best Part Of What You Do?
- Do A Q&A With Your Team
- How’d You Come To The Decision To Hire New Employees?
- Write A Manifesto
- Write A Blog Post That Breaks Down Reviews Of Your Product Or Services
- Why Do Customers Choose Your Product? How Do They Use It?
- Write A Blog Post To Rank For A Search Keyword
- Write A Case Study About A Recent Project That Went Well & What You Learned From It
- Write A Series Of Blog Posts As Chapters Of A Future E-Book
- Creative Blog Post Ideas
- Do A (Number) By A (Certain Age) Post
- Put Together A GIF-Filled Post
- Write A Parody
- What Would You Love To Learn How To Do?
- Set Up A Contest On Your Blog
- Use Questions On Forums As Blog Posts
- Find The Best Jokes In Your Niche
- What Adventures Does Someone In Your Career Experience?
- Pick A Movie & Tie It To Your Industry
- What Are Your Top Distractions? How Do You Deal With Them?
- If Three People Who Inspire You Collaborated To Make A Product, What Would That Be?
- What Scares You The Most? Why?
- What Is Your First Memory?
- List Of Hacks
- Use 5 Words To Describe Yourself, Your Blog, Or Your Business
- Host A Blog Hop
- What Movies, Shows, Or Documentaries Feature Your Industry?
- Do You Have Opinions On Hot Political Or Economic Topics?
- What Are Your Favorite Vacation Spots?
- Wishes & Goals
- How Do You Plan To Achieve Your Current Goals?
- What Will You Give Up This Month/Year?
- What Does The Road To Success Look Like?
- What Are Your Goals For The Next 5 To 10 Years?
- Share Your Gifts
- Do You Have A Reading List For The Year?
- Do You Donate To Charity?
- What Is Your Dream Job?
- What Inspires You?
- What’s On Your Bucket List?
- What’s Your Life Motto?
- Who Is Your Mascot?
- How Do Your Schedule Your Work Week?
- Celebrate Your Blog’s Birthday
- Ideas To Change Your Perspective
- How Do You Work While Traveling?
- Rant About Something That Bothers You
- What Bothers You About Your Niche Or Industry?
- What Excites You About Your Niche Or Industry?
- What Can Your Readers Learn From Your Upbringing?
- What Events Have Shaped Your Life?
- Share Travel Experiences
- What’s A Current Frustration You Have?
- What Are Your Traditions?
- What Advice Has Stuck With You For A Long Time? Who Gave That Advice?
- What Is The Next Vacation You’d Like To Take?
- If You Could Go Anywhere In The World With Anyone, Where Would You Go & Why? Why Did You Choose That Person?
- If You Could Invite Any 3 People To Dinner, Who Would You Invite? Why? What Would You Talk About?
- If You Could Have Witnessed An Event In History, Which Would You Choose? Why?
- Glimpse Into Your Life
- What Do You Want To Improve Upon?
- How Do You Stay Healthy In Your Niche?
- If You Were Told You Will Die On Friday, & Today Is Monday, What Would You Do?
- Who Is The One Person You Couldn’t Live Without? Why?
- Ideas On Creating Content That Provides Valuable Advice
- Spoken Anywhere Recently (e.g., Conference, Speech, or Lesson)?
- Interview An Influencer
- Day In The Life As A _________ (Insert Your Career)
- Book Recommendations In Your Industry
- What Are Your Go-To Industry Podcasts?
- Which Skills Are Needed To Be Successful In Your Career?
- What Are The 10 Commandments Of Your Career?
- What Are The 5 Deadly Sins Of Your Career?
- Truth vs. Lie
- How’d You Start Your Business, Blog, Or Freelance Career?
- What Lessons Could Someone Learn From What You Do?
- What Is The Toughest Part Of Being A ______ (Your Job Title)?
- Blog Post Ideas To Share Your Favorite Things
- What Are Your Favorite Blogs?
- Who Is Your Favorite Fictional Character? What Qualities Do You Share?
- If Your Favorite Book Hasn’t Been Made Into A Movie, Who Would You Cast As The Characters?
- What Are Your Go-To Apps?
- What Are Your Favorite Blog Plug-ins?
- What Is Your Favorite Memory?
- What Is The Best Gift You’ve Ever Received?
- Your Favorite Blog Posts Each Month
- What Are The Best Events You Went To In The Last Year?
- What’s On Your Current Playlist?
- Create A Roundup Of The Best ______ (Topic) Posts Of The Past Week
- What Is Your Favorite Way To Spend Your Day Off?
- Best ________ (Fill In The Blank) Tutorials