ProBlogger's Free Ultimate Guide to Starting a Blog

Are you wondering whether or not blogging is a good fit for you?

Before launching further into How to Start a Blog I would like to take a step back and ask potential bloggers some questions to ponder before leaping into blogging. It may be that after analyzing your needs, personality, hopes, experiences and style that you find blogging does fit well for your purposes – but it may also be other web applications fit better with where you’re at.

Please note that these questions are in essence a list of qualities of successful bloggers that I’ve come across over the years. If you don’t have some of these qualities it’s not the end of your blogging dreams.

In the video I take you through a number of questions that you might want to ponder before leaping into blogging. We’ve also condensed these questions into a Questionnaire Worksheet for your own self-assessment (attached in resources). You might like to print out this questionnaire and complete it as you watch the video.

Please note that these questions are in essence a list of qualities of successful bloggers that I’ve come across over the last few years. If you don’t have some of these qualities it’s not the end of your blogging dreams.

Let's tap into your purpose for blogging: What is your 'Why'? Getting clear on your 'Why' will help sustain your motivation, focus your efforts and influence your blogging strategy.

I started ProBlogger to help bloggers make the world a better place and to build businesses around blogging.

Watch the video above and complete the What is Your Why Worksheet attached as a resource. You could even work through the sheet while watching.

Defining what your blog is about is well worth doing particularly when you are starting out with your blog.

Most successful blogs do have a niche or a topic. Some also have a variety of topics they cover but with some sort of theme or angle to give them focus. This focus could come from the reader (the blog’s demographic) and their linked interests. Having a niche topic for your blog helps you focus but it also helps new readers find you and current readers to understand more easily what you and your blog are about.

In the video above and downloadable worksheet (resource) I share 15 questions that you can ask yourself that will help you work out possible themes for your blog and choose a niche to focus on.

What is Your Blog Going to be About?

• Can you define your blog as fitting or creating a niche?

• Does it appeal to a particular demographic?

• Are you picking a fight?

• Is your blog going to be one or a combination of these, or even all of them?

Download and complete the worksheet (attached resource) to Define Your Blogging Niche.

Choosing a name (and domain name) for your blog might not be quite as important a decision as naming your firstborn child but it is something to consider carefully.

Having your own domain name is desirable for many bloggers for numerous reasons.

Watch the video to learn about 4 key factors to consider when choosing your domain name then move on to the topics covering Keywords and Phrases before deciding on a Domain Name.

It’s time to bring your blog to life!

In this step we will guide you through registering your domain name (if you haven’t already), hosting your website and installing WordPress to manage the content on your blog. It's really very simple, which you will see from the downloadable 1 page guide in resources. Just click on the resource link for web hosting and follow along with the video tutorial.

In the resources for this module, I link you to the number 1 hosting service I recommend for beginner bloggers. With 1-click WordPress installation, 24/7 support, and a super-affordable rate, they are a great option for building your first blog. Click on the website hosting link in resources to receive the special discount offer for ProBlogger students.

Right now I'm going to leave you in the capable hands of Laney Galligan who is my General Manager for ProBlogger and Digital Photography School. Laney will take you through the next few steps which will cover the technical aspects of setting up your blog, starting with obtaining web hosting, registering your free domain name and installing WordPress.

I will see you back again to check off the final steps to Launching Your Blog.

This video takes you through some of the key considerations when choosing a WordPress theme. This is a key design factor that visitors to and readers of your blog will definitely notice - not just how it looks the first time they see it, but how it works when they return

StudioPress Premium Themes

For us StudioPress Themes tick all the boxes and we have recommended them for a long time. There are about 50 beautiful StudioPress Themes for you to choose from. All StudioPress Themes are built on an industry standard design framework called Genesis that has some added benefits:

The Genesis Framework makes WordPress easier:

• enhances your site’s search engine optimization

• ensures your site looks and works well across different web browsers and mobile

• helps if you’re planning on using video or audio on your site

• improves website security

• makes updating easier so you’re less likely to get hacked

• makes customizing your site easier without slowing down your loading speed.

So do yourself a favour and check out StudioPress Themes.

In the video, Laney takes you through WordPress theme installation and customization using a StudioPress theme as the example. However, the mechanics of these processes within WordPress will be very similar regardless of which theme provider you go with and what specific theme you choose.

Laney covers:

• Site Title and Tagline

• Color options - like the background

• Header Image - like your logo

• Or a background image…

• Theme options from the Appearance menu; header; site layout; and some other little tweaks depending on your theme

Remember to save your updates and preview your changes. Much of this process is about experimentation, trial and error and making little tweaks as you go. It doesn’t have to be ‘perfect’ from the start.

One thing to keep in mind is that your theme is not going to look like much until you have some content on your site to showcase.

I want to give you some starting points, some things to aim for, before your blog goes live. This is what I would aim for – an ideal launch scenario. Bear in mind that this may differ from reality of the excitement that builds up when you are creating a new blog.

Have a look at the Bonus Lessons on Email and Social Media. Decide when you will tackle these important areas - I recommend you have them in place before launching or soon thereafter.

Try not to rush. Use the Blog Launch Checklist (downloadable resource) to help successfully launch your blog and ensure your first days blogging are calm and under control in order to free you up to focus on welcoming your first readers.

Like any web page, someone could take a look at your blog, find it interesting, then leave the page never to return despite their initial interest. Relying on visitors to bookmark a page or re-visit is not the most effective way to build a readership.

Alternately, you can easily add a signup form to your blog, allowing visitors to sign up for your mailing list. Once you start building a list, you can update them automatically when you publish a new blog post.

Readers who sign up to receive email newsletters from you are giving you their permission to send them emails. This is the start of building a relationship with your readers that, if fostered, can grow more attached to you and your blog, engage with your content and maybe even trust your recommendations and buy products from you. When all of that happens – relationship building, customer nurturing and business growing – that's email marketing.

Growing your email list is one of the best things you can do for your building your blog and vital if you want to monetise it. That’s because, unlike other communication channels, you own your email list, just like you own your self-hosted blog.

Building an audience on a platform like Facebook or Twitter is a lot like renting a space from landlords who can change the access rules at any time. Your email list, however, is your asset, with subscribers who opted in to your list because they want to hear from you.

4 Reasons I think Email is so Important

1. It drives traffic with intent

2. Email is very important for building engagement on our sites - we use it to drive people to community and to areas of engagement

3. Email really is the ultimate source of sales of our own products, affiliate promotions and even sponsored content if that’s the way that you monetize your site. Email is so important if you want to monetize what you’re doing

4. For me, it’s also just great at building a brand. Email is probably the most regular touchpoint for many of our readers, particularly those of our readers who aren’t as social media savvy