How do blog

This is a trick that many writers learn in workshops. It might seem a bit weird, but force yourself to read your post aloud to check for wordy bottlenecks or contrived sentences. Find yourself struggling with the flow of a sentence?

Rework it until it rolls off your tongue. This is crucial for inexperienced or casual bloggers. Ideally, ask someone with editing experience to proof your work. Do your points come across well? Is your position on a contentious topic clear? Does the piece prompt the reader to think or challenge an existing belief? These are all questions that having another set of eyes read your work can help answer. Nothing will intimidate or outright anger a reader faster than huge walls of text.

Sentences should be as short as possible. Shorter sentences also reduce the likelihood of going off on tangents. For example, I recently came across a sentence in an opinion piece in Wired that had no fewer than seven subordinate clauses, an editorial sin of almost unimaginable magnitude.

Paragraphs should also be short and sweet. The shorter the paragraph, the more likely your readers are to keep going. I am saying, however, that even the best blog posts could always be better, but time is always against us.

You may have forgotten, but I originally included a section in the example outline for this post that dealt with optimizing blog posts for SEO. I fully intended to write this section, but when I looked at how my first draft was shaping up, I realized this was too substantial a topic to tackle in an already lengthy post.

As a result, I made the decision to cut this section from the post altogether. Remember — an outline is a guide, not an immutable series of commandments. Be ruthless with your work. Blogging is one of those jobs that seems easy until you have to do it. Originally from the U. Home Blog. Last updated: May 17, Content Marketing. Dan Shewan. Sign up to get our top tips and tricks weekly! With a clear final objective you can grow a blog that satisfies these goals in the long term.

What should my blog be about? Answer these questions: What are you passionate about? What do you think about daily? What topic do you annoy all of your friends, family, and co-workers with on a regular basis? What do you find yourself dreaming about? What do you find yourself constantly researching? What do you read about?

If there is a common denominator in your answers to these questions — THAT is what your blog should be about. And once you begin to build your blog, no matter what the subject material, you will find a community of people who are interested in what you have to say. How do I find a profitable niche for my blog?

If you know the general topic for your blog, a simple way of making your niche more profitable is by narrowing the niche to eliminate competition. Making the topic of your blog more specific will help to eliminate a lot of competition and elevate your blog results in search engines for more specific queries. How do I name my blog?

This can ultimately be a fun exercise. Now start putting words together, introduce new words, and keep playing around until you come up with a name you like! If you are still struggling you can always try using a blog name generator for additional ideas. If the domain name you want is taken and the full web address is your trademarked business name, you can assert your trademark rights and privileges and eventually get this domain handed over to you.

It is a lengthy process that will involve lawyers and hefty fees, but as long as the name is trademarked by you, you would likely win the domain name. Trying searching for it in the browser. You may be able to buy the domain for the right price from the current owner. If the domain is parked, you may also attempt to purchase the domain. Where is the best place to create a blog?

You can begin blogging as soon as your account is set up. You can easily customize your self-hosted WordPress blog just by following the steps in the tutorial on this page. How much does it cost to start a blog? You can make a blog for absolutely nothing. But the best way to start your blog is through one of the many web hosting companies. These are your main costs associated with starting a successful blog.

Of course, you may incur other costs with additional services such as email marketing. As with any business, the biggest expenditure is often advertising, but this would be a cost incurred later on down the road if you choose to go that route. Do bloggers make money? Bloggers have the ability to make a full-time income from blogging alone. Some bloggers make hundreds of thousands of dollars. As with any business, it takes a lot of hard work and plenty of time.

Many bloggers give up on their project after just a few months. Those who make money online are the ones who stick with it. Bloggers are most commonly paid by advertisers. How the blogger is paid varies depending on what type of ads are used. When it comes time to choose a blogging platform, the pros turn to WordPress.

And even though WordPress is used by millions of smaller blogs, it also powers many of the biggest sites on the internet. And there are many reasons why:. A self-hosted WordPress blog is a open-source, which is completely free. Choosing between them is one of the most crucial decisions you will make.

Because you need your own web hosting plan, this option is known as a self-hosted WordPress blog. While it does technically let you blog for free, if you would like to enable some basic options, or have your own domain, you will have to upgrade your account to a paid plan.

How often should I blog? Blogging can be casual if your goal is solely for personal pleasure. While frequency is important, it should not come at the expense of quality.

Not every piece of content needs be 2, words, but all of your posts should be informative and of value to your audience. This is no easy feat. As with anything else, the more you do it — the more skilled at it you become. Blogging weekly also helps improve your traffic from search engines, which you can track in your Google Analytics account.

When you first begin blogging your latest posts will take time to show up on search engines. As you continue to post regularly you will naturally have more blog posts showing up in the search results, which means more traffic to your blog. Why do blogs fail? Almost any blog has the potential to become a success, yet most blogs fail.

And there are many reasons why. Here are the most common reasons why a blog fails:. Hi Scott. Thanks for the valuable information. Can we use creative commons images in our blogs if we are unable to take the photos ourselves? Yes, I would suggest only using images with a Creative Commons license to avoid any copyright issues. You can easily search for images at search.

Your tutorials have been really helpful so far in getting my blog up and running. WordPress is tricky without someone to walk you through it. Thanks so much! Your guide is really informative and has given me the confidence to give it a go. Hi Scott, Thanks for the great info on starting a blog. I am about to set up a blog that will be mostly political commentary.

I also have numerous papers and presentations I have written over the years that I would like to post and make accessible to visitors, apart from my periodic blogging. Do you have advice as to how I can upload them on separate pages? If you have them in PDF format, then I would suggest embedding them into your posts.

I just found you on the right time. This is all I needed to start a blog. The very best informative tutorial I have found. Thank you Scott. Thank you for such helpful content. Number one for me in a new blog host is if it has autosave. I currently have a wordpress. Do you know of any blog hosts other than wordpress. Thanks, Susan. The process I show in the tutorial on this page will help you start a blog that is self-hosted with BlueHost.

It has an autosave feature enabled by default. Thanks so much for this info. How do I make sure I am doing everything legal? You will want to make sure you include a Privacy Policy page on your blog.

WordPress provides a Privacy Policy generator by default, so it is very easy to add when starting your blog. Beyond that, just make sure you are being transparent with your visitors if you are collecting any information about them. You may have specific legal issues depending on the topic you are writing about, but for most people just adding a privacy policy page is enough. This is wonderful! I am going to try to do my first blog! Hey Scott. I always wanted to start a blog but never had a clear idea how to do it.

After reading this content, I feel so confident that I would want to start writing now. Thanks a lot. So far Bluehost is good. My friends told me to use them as well. I used another web host before, but now I see that Bluehost is much better than the web hosting I had before. I just barely created my blog and I would like to make it organize by categories.

How do I add that to my blog page? Ex: Place one category , Family one category , Home one category etc.? When you are in the post editor screen of the WordPress dashboard you will see an option on the right-hand side to choose a category for the post you are writing. You can also create a new category for your post in that same place. I had a suggestion from my vascular surgeon, believe it or not to start a blog.

I imagine a bio theme 70 years. How would I protect the privacy of those I mention? The simplest way would be to change their names and remove any other personally identifiable information. I am not a writer but when I do especially on my social platforms, people frequently comment that they wished I did it more. Excited to follow theses steps and give it a try. I appreciate your willingness to be available to those of us ready to give it a GO!

This is an excellent and very comprehensive tutorial, Scott. Unfortunately I have a few very simple questions that you possibly can answer in a second but I need to ask them because of my lack of knowledge.

I live in Japan and my blog is meant for Japanese and Europeans and Americans and for everyone really and I will probably be doing some translation at the same time so my question is this.

If you have any answers for me please let me know. Yours truly, Yves Gagnon. Domain registration applies worldwide. For example, the domain name for this site theblogstarter.

No matter where you are in the world, when you go to theblogstarter. I hope that answers your question. Thank you so much for your blog. I found your explanations particularly clear, concise, and helpful.

Should I be concerned that the expiration for my basic web hosting is 12 months? Is there any way to alleviate the issue? You will have the option to renew before it expires. You can also extend your package for a longer duration at any time from your BlueHost account. Hi Can you have multiple people belong to one blog And post at any time or is it restricted to a single blogger only, thank you. You can create multiple users for your blog.

From here you can add new users. You can also give each user different permissions if you so choose. For example, you could be the only administrator of the blog, while still giving other users the permission to write new content. Yes, you can easily blog from any internet-connected device. For your phone, I would suggest using the WordPress. Do I need a privacy policy on my blog if I am just a personal blogger?

If so How do I go about doing that? This will take you to the privacy page generator and help you add it to your blog. Very easy indeed. Thanks Scott. As a web designer, I often get asked how to start a blog. I would like to thank you for the information on your site. You have included a wealth if helpful information. This is my first search for how to start a blog, I have learned a lot from your presentation. I am 75 years young, and have never met, or talked with anyone who have experienced a lifetime such as I.

I would like to get my story out there for entertainment, and comments from others who may be able to relate. Thank You for your very informative information. I assure you that I will come back to your site if I decide a blog would fit my purpose.

Thank you very much for the great education you have served me. A blog sounds the perfect medium for what you want to do. You can easily write your story and have others comment on it. Thank you for this very informative blog. When setting up the comments section of my blog, is it necessary to ask for a piece of personal info such as the email of the address of the person making the comment?

If I let people comment anonymously, this may encourage more people to comment. You can set it up either way. Fantastic, and very help. Thank you for such a great help and guidance. You made something impossible possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thanks for sharing. Very informative post. I am grad student thinking strongly about starting a blog and wanted to know if you could speak to a respectful posting frequency and how many posts are enough before launching?

Can you point me to some form of blog management information? I am trying to determine if this is something I can commit to. When first starting out I suggest posting once or twice a week.

After you have built up a solid readership then you can decrease the posting frequency. Some really popular blogs only post every couple of months. When you first start a blog I recommend launching it as soon as you finish your first post. This gets you started on growing your readership from day one. Yes, the easiest way to do this is to categorize each post. Your post will then automatically go to the correct category page on your blog.

Hi Scott, This is some great help! But I have a question…. How would I report my income? You can do it either way. Most people just start with it as a side hustle, and then as it grows you can consider setting up a business. It would be best to talk to a tax accountant once you get to that point though. Yes, you will pay up front for the full length of your plan. So if you do a 12 month plan then you pay for 12 months up front.

You can cancel at anytime and get a pro-rated refund for the unused months on your plan. Thank you for all of this information. I am confident that things will go smoothly with all the info that you provided. I am so grateful for this enlightening information you have given to me here. I now know how to set up my own blog. But I have a question. Which method of payment does bluehost support when you are paying for the hosting service?

And can you choose to pay monthly, or must it be paid yearly? A plugin we recommend for every blogger is Yoast SEO. This free WordPress plugin allows deep customization of your on-page SEO, but, more impressive, it provides automated content analysis. This helps guide you to improve and optimize your content for better readability and improved reach in search engines. Following proper SEO practices can be a differentiating factor in reaching new people.

WordPress is extremely robust and customizable. But what happens as your new blog grows? Since WordPress provides you with complete ownership of the platform, it also provides a designer with the freedom to build and create your blog design without restriction. Nothing is off limits. How do I become a blogger? The answer is in the question: the only way to become a blogger is to start a blog. The barrier to entry is gone, so start blogging if you want to become a blogger.

It really is that simple. While the lines have blurred over the years, the simplest way to put it is that a blog is a type of website, one that catalogues, over time, the personal or professional thoughts and beliefs of a person or organization.

As your thoughts, beliefs, and ideas change, so will your blog. As a matter of fact, our blog has grown every year since and now boasts more than 3. Millions of people read our blog every year-and our audience continues to grow because, thanks to our blog, new people find our work every day.

Blogs are popular all over the world, and they are the simplest way to publish content without middlemen or gatekeepers. Blogging is the opposite of a waste of time. Our blog is simultaneously our practice space-where we share new ideas and writings with the world-as well as an announcement board that keeps our audience abreast of any new developments in the world of minimalism.

Yes, starting a blog is arguably more important than ever. Whether you want to publish your writing, build an audience, open a business, or start a podcast , your blog is the home for your creative projects. If they fall out of relevance, then so do you remember MySpace. Because you own your blog, it stays with you no matter where the culture sways.

The best time to start a blog was a decade ago. The second best time is now. If you have an idea you want to share, get started! While new forms of media continue to enter the picture-podcasts, newsletters, social media-nothing replaces having a home for your creative work. The Minimalists have a podcast, an email newsletter, and several social media accounts, but none of them could ever supplant our blog. Instead, we use our blog to point to these additional resources.

If so, write about that! A blog is used for two things: to express and to communicate. A good blog is able to marry communicative writing and expressive writing to create blog posts that are informative and entertaining. When considering how you want to use your blog to communicate and express yourself, ask these questions:. The good news is that starting a blog is free with WordPress.

All you need to pay for is hosting, as outlined in the step-by-step instructions above. When talking to my writing students, I recommend writing every day and publishing a blog post at least once a week. We usually publish two blog posts per week on this blog. Seth Godin blogs every single day. Whatever you decide, we recommend you stay consistent.

Avoid grandiosity. Avoid throat clearing. Instead, find one thing that interests you today and write about that. For reference, you can read the first blog post on this blog, circa Be on the Mountain. Tweet to theminimalists with your question and a link to this essay. Ask Your Question. The Minimalists. Download our free ebook: 16 Rules for Living with Less. Start your blog by adding WordPress.

Pick a simple theme to make your blog your own. Add two key blogging plugins to find your readers and track stats. Write compelling content to create a blog that your readers love. Do you want to start a blog fast?

This is a long essay and you may want to start your blog without learning all the details. This is the first how to quickly start a blog guidepost. To start a blog fast simply: Look for these boxes. Follow the brief steps. Click the link to jump to the next box. Because The Minimalists are a Bluehost affiliate partner i. Blogging Quick Start — Step 1 In this first step you will choose your blog name domain name and buy your blog hosting.

Go to Bluehost and click the Get Started Now button. Select the Basic plan. Pick your domain name and enter it into the New Domain box. Create your Bluehost account.

Learn how we started our successful blog using this free ebook. Click the Log In button. Click Skip This Step on the Pick a theme screen. WordPress is now installed, click Start Building to go to your dashboard. Go to BYLT. Purchase the theme that fits your style we use the tru Theme. Click Upload and then Upload Theme. Click Choose File , select your theme. Click Activate. Search for Yoast SEO. Click Install Now followed by Activate.

Click the Add New button to add one more plugin. Click the Launch the Wizard! Facebook Share. Twitter Tweet. Email a Friend Email a Friend.

Free Ebook Minimalist Rulebook Download our 16 rules for living with less in this beautifully designed ebook.