6 tips for starting a blog
After blogging for three years, I get asked more frequently about how to start a blog and if it’s even worth starting one these days. The answer is yes!
People still love to read blogs, and you can still reach a large audience with a blog and make money from it. If you’re thinking about starting a blog, just do it! These are my 6 tips for starting a blog:
1. Pick a niche
A niche that is focused on one area will help you to grow faster and establish yourself as an authority on that topic. Whether that’s a mommy blogger, fitness blogger, fashion blogger, food blogger or home decor.
Write about content that is important to you and that your audience cares to hear about. You need to love your niche because otherwise you won’t stick to writing your blog! As you gain popularity in your niche, then you can expand your blog to other topics your audience may love.
2. Hosting site
A lot of people start a blog using a free website, and there’s nothing wrong with that! However if you’re wanting to take this seriously, I highly recommend getting a self-hosted website.
The difference between a free site and a hosted site is you own the domain name so instead of www.wordpress.com/yourblogname it’s www.yourblogname.com. Hosting and domain packages are fairly inexpensive and worth the investment to have your own site!
WordPress, Wix and Squarespace are all great blogging platforms to start with.
The benefit to having a website is that you own it. You do not own your social platforms. If social media were to disappear tomorrow, all your content would be gone. This is another key reason why owning your own blog is so important.
3. Avoid being somebody you aren’t
Don’t try to be like other people, be authentic and be your unique self! That’s what’s going to set you apart from other bloggers.
Don’t write about things that don’t interest you because you think it’s popular everywhere else – write about your passion and your audience will follow.
4. Pick one-three social platforms to be on as vehicles towards your blog
You will want to promote your blog on other social media platforms to drive traffic back to your blog. For me it’s Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. I’m not on Twitter, LinkedIn, or TikTok.
You don’t have to be an expert at all platforms and spread yourself too thin with content. Ask yourself who is your target audience and what platforms are they hanging out on. They should be a combination of platforms you enjoy and that your audience is on!
5. Make your links available so that people can connect with you
I’ve been personally using Linktree for a while and you can create a free link in bio landing page. Linktree allows you to have multiple links people can click on instead of just one. That way when somebody goes to my Instagram and clicks on my URL link, they can easily go to what they’re looking for and head to my blog.
6. Sprinkle paid content with organic content
Nobody likes to see every single post as an ad or paid partnership. When done right as as a sponsored post, paid partnership or ad, it should effortlessly flow as organic content. When you’re ready to start monetizing your blog, reach out to companies and brands that are a natural fit for your blog and that you know your audience would enjoy seeing content about.
Start your own blog!
My best advice is to just start a blog if you’ve been thinking about it – I’m so grateful I started blogging because it has allowed me to have a creative outlet, meet amazing people, and work with awesome brands!
Let me know if this post has inspired you to start a blog!
-Jenna xoxo