How to Start a Blog: Blogging Essentials for Beginners!

 
The origins of Blogging can be traced back to the early 1990s when a college undergrad named Justin Hall curated a unique site called links.net to share his writing online. The world of Blogging has evolved since then and has gone through many stages. Various newsgroups and other informal groups like- rec.humor.funny on netfunny.com (Yes! Boomer humor has been a thing since 1990s and is still out there!) have become inactive since the advent of social media and other websites. The virtual communities and libraries have made any information easily accessible at our fingertips. So, much to the presence of irony here, read this blog on how to start a blog to know about the essentials of blogging for beginners!
Did you know: Blogs have been rated as the 5th most trusted source for accurate online information! [Source: Optinmonster]
Career as a Youtuber

THIS BLOG INCLUDES:

1. What is a Blog?
2. Why should you start a blog?
3. How to Choose a Blog Topic & Name
4. Steps by Step Guide to Start a Blog
   1. Step 1: Explore Your Interests
   2. Step 2: Select a Blogging Platform
   3. Step 3: Fill the Blog with Aesthetic Themes and Design
   4. Step 4: Boost your Audience
   5. Step 5: Know the Right Keywords!
5. [Bonus] Famous Bloggers to Look Up to!

What is a Blog?

A blog is a type of website which is centred on written content. These can be read and written as well. Often, blogs are written from a personal perspective which allows readers and writers to communicate directly. Blogging itself has various forms like vlogging, social media blogs, podcasts, etc. The internet has undoubtedly given millions of people a platform to voice their thoughts and lives. Whether you have got a knack for writing or want to spread your amazing ideas, a blog is a perfect way, to begin with! 
Source: Website Learners

Why should you start a blog?

Following are some of the reasons why you should start a blog:

1. Tell your Story: Blogs can be used to share the story that you want to tell. These blogs provide you with a voice and the platform to be heard. One of the most common usages for blogs is as a diary. Bloggers write about their daily experiences so that their audience can be a part of their lives. 
2. Work from Home: Blogging can be a very giving career if done properly. Top bloggers of the world are able to earn a lot of money through them. This can be taken up as a passive income or part-time job, which can eventually be turned into a full-time profession.
3. Build a Community: The audience that your content is aimed at will become your very own community. This is a good way of connecting with people who have the same interests as you. Your voice can reach people from all over the world once you start blogging. 

How to Choose a Blog Topic & Name

Following are some of the ideas which can be used when selecting the niche of your blogs:

1. Life Experiences
2. Personal Journaling
3. Hobbies 
4. Passions
5. Art and Poetry

Steps by Step Guide to Start a Blog

Step 1: Explore Your Interests

Explore your interests

“Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers.” — Brian Clark

We’re fairly sure that you already have a spark in your mind that made you click on ‘how to start a blog. Hold on to that spark and follow it. Think about your passion or whatever makes you want to write. Think about what you want the world to know about you. Trust us, there are plenty of people who can relate and want to know more! Here are some prominent factors you can consider while selecting the best theme and topic for your own blog:

• Delve deeper into writing down the ideas you are excited about. It could be movie character sketches, your field of expertise, cooking, or even simply narrating incidents about your life. Another important point to remember is to keep in mind, ‘What are the people looking for?’ or ‘What is the world reading mostly?’ Try to instil those points in your topics for a larger audience.
• List down all the topics you want to write about in your blog. Shortlist them according to the most common themes and then think of a unique name to give your blog. 
• Naming your blog is essential because it should be appealing, unique and easily understood. Your blog’s name will carve its own identity in the blogging world so choose one that defines your ideas and also the theme you are going for. (You can use this Blog Name generator to brainstorm some amazing blog names)
• After setting up the basic beginner ideas for your blog, the next step is to find the right platform to publish your writing rendezvous!

(Fact: Emotional headlines get shared more. -OkDork)

Step 2: Select a Blogging Platform

Courtesy: A Labour of Life

“Blogging is just writing — writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology.” — Simon Dumenco 

Now that you have figured out the theme and name of the blog, you can move towards finding the right platform for your blogs. WordPress is one of the popular and preferred blogging platforms and is so famous that people use it synonymously with blogging. However, it has over 80 million users, thus you have to stand out with your content, themes and headings. What’s even better is that WordPress also gives you countless plugins and add-ons for you to design your blog. If you are not fond of WordPress, then you can explore other blogging platforms like Blogger.com, Tumblr, Wix, etc. to start a blog. Instagram has also become a sought-after platform for blogs but it’s more useful for popularizing your blogs and putting them out there on social media then using it as a writing platform. 

After finding a platform, you have to opt for a host for starting your blog to start with! Many blogging sites let you choose a free blog or you can also take a paid version to avail premium features. Free blogs have a lot of limitations and you cannot own your domain name (yourcreativeblog.com). If you’re pretty sincere about starting a blog, it’s advisable to select a host and pay for your blogs. Once you pay for it, you can access millions of themes and even monetize from your blog (something which is again limited when you don’t pay for your blog).

Step 3: Fill the Blog with Aesthetic Themes and Design

Once you have sorted out the technical aspects to start a blog, you can work on curating a unique visual theme and design for your blog website. If you have a blog on WordPress, you can click on the dashboard, then click on “Appearance” tab -> “Themes”. WordPress.org offers you 3000+ free themes. Read the descriptions, preview them and check the ratings then choose accordingly. It is important to select the theme that syncs with your topics/description. Your audience will certainly look at your theme first, that’s where you need to captivate their attention. Another very important point you need to keep in mind while learning how to start a blog is the design of your content. Use engaging pictures and visual content to go along with your writing. Further, if you need to brush up on your writing skills, you can take up various creative writing courses to understand the essentials of writing online.
(Color Psychology helps people understand the links between a certain concept and the colours associated with it. According to your topic, browse a few colours that match them. Often companies create logos based on colours for efficient marketing. For e.g: the colour red means ‘Active, Passionate, Exciting’ and a few brands that use the colour red are Coca Cola, Kelloggs, RedBull, etc. to indicate the same)

Step 4: Boost your Audience

Boost your Audience

“There are tons of different factors that go into ranking well, but the biggest is high-quality content.” — David Sinick

An essential aspect of blogging for beginners is broadening their reader base. While high-quality content is the premise of starting your blog, once you have begun publishing the content you need to share it with your friends and on social media to create your own audience. You can also make Instagram and Facebook pages for your blog and make sure to choose the same name for your blog domain and social media handle. It will make it easier for people to recognize and approach you! Another beneficial strategy is to form collaborations. This not only helps you monetize but also increases your audience and extends your reach.

Step 5: Know the Right Keywords!

Along with sharing blogs on social media, you can also learn SEO and digital marketing which will help you find the best SEO-oriented approach to broaden your blog’s audience and earn money while blogging. You can opt for online digital marketing courses such as Google Digital Marketing courses or a Diploma in Digital Marketing to learn about the basics and how you can incorporate them into your blog marketing. SEO and content marketing should definitely be on your to-do list for learning how to start a blog. Knowing the correct SEO keywords helps you build a bridge between your blog and the people who are searching for similar content to read. They will help you find the topics people are searching for in your domain and what is in vogue. Every content has some primary words which are relatable to what people search for. The keywords you use can direct traffic to your site and help you reach more people. 
“Our brand started as a blog. It was really challenging at the beginning because when you start a brand all you have is a belief and passion and passion for something – you don’t actually know if that ‘something’ will materialise into anything.” Huda Kattan (American makeup artist, beauty blogger, and entrepreneur.)

[Bonus] Famous Bloggers to Look Up to!

Now that you are aware of the essential process of how to start a blog, it’s time to explore inspirational bloggers who’ve made a name through scintillating ideas. The world of bloggers has certainly caught the eye of the mainstream media. To uplift bloggers, brands have also come up with awards to recognize and reward potential bloggers. (Cosmo India Blogger Awards, World bloggers Award) Listed below are a few known Indian bloggers who have advanced with their niche and created their mark:

• Amit Agarwal (Tech Blogger)
• Shivya Nath (Food Blogger)
• Aashna Shroff (Fashion Blogger)
• Sherry Shroff (Beauty Blogger)
• Harsh Agarwal
• Faisal Farooqui
• Shradha Sharma
• Varun Krishnan

“Successful blogging is not about one time hits. It’s about building a loyal following over time.” — David Aston

Learning how to start a blog requires not only the aforementioned steps but you also need to be patient and consistent with your writing and learning the technical aspects of blogging, content marketing and social media marketing. We hope that our blog on the essentials of blogging for beginners helped you understand the key ideas you need to ensure before kickstarting your blog! Want to learn digital marketing? Get in touch with our Leverage Edu experts and we will help you find the best course and university which can equip you with the skills and knowledge to thrive in this emerging field!