Starting a blog may seem easy. Writing a few posts, adding a couple aesthetic images.. what else is there to do? Well if you think it is as easy as that, you have been fooled my friend.
Blogging ( to make money ) requires a lot of effort from new content to write about to keyword research to SEO to marketing them to converting cold traffic into hot traffic, there a lot of things you need to know before you start a blog! and the list goes on… Wheew!! now that’s a hassle isn’t it?
With millions of blogs being created everyday and billions of articles talking about the same topics, it is easy to get lost in this sea of articles.
You might wonder if all that you thought blogging was going to be ( few posts, adding a couple aesthetic images and money$$..) Is it even worth it? So, let me make it clear once and for all.
Blogging is not a cakewalk. It is not easy to maintain a blog and be successful ( I’m talking making $100,000/month successful ) with little to no effort put from your side.
Also, if you are someone who has started blogging but is not really putting in as much effort or if you have no connection to blogging at all but want to know about the non-glamorous part, this is for you! Blogging takes time. A lot of time. So be patient and work consistently.
If you came here from my How to start a blog post, you would know that setting up a blog itself is such a hassle. But that is just the beginning. After spewing out content, what’s the next step? Well, it really depends on you!
If you want to make it a full-time thing or just a side hustle. I hope I haven’t scared you too much!! My point here was not to scare you away from the idea of blogging but to make it clear that you should not enter this world with unrealistic expectations.
If you are wondering what are the things you should know prior to starting a blog, read on!!
P.S. there’s a bonus tip which changed my life at the end 😉
Things To Know Before Starting A Blog
These are the things I think are really important and should be taken seriously since day 1.
1. Treat your Blog like a Business
This is the most important thing everyone should know. Treat your blog as a business from day 1 itself.
I say this because you certainly have invested in blogging by purchasing a domain (or not, that’s fine too). It doesn’t end at opting for a self-hosted website.
You have to dedicate a lot of time to creating and optimizing the content you want to put up.
I keep stressing on ‘lot of time and effort ‘ all the time because it is that important.
Fit blogging into your life. Make it your lifestyle. Organize your blog timings, schedule your posts and pins, freebies and other things.
Decide how many times you want to write per week and stick with it. Give your readers something tangible. Something to wait for. If your post comes out on every Tuesday then so be it.
They will be really excited when Tuesdays roll around. Please take it seriously from day 1 🙂
2. Marketing Strategy
No, your Instagram or twitter is not enough! Your target audience should be your main priority.
Most people go on Instagram or Twitter to catch up on their friends’ lives and news.
If you want to get massive traffic and convert the cold traffic into hot traffic, target search engines!
By cold traffic I mean someone who found a link to one of your posts, read and left without checking other posts.
Whereas, hot traffic is when someone checks your blog regularly. It is the hot traffic that you can build a strong connection with and help them.
Search engines like Google have heavy competition and it takes at least a year to start getting consistent traffic from there. Meanwhile you write and focus on your Pinterest marketing strategy.
Pinterest is SO IMPORTANT among the other things you need to know before you start a blog!!
Hence, you have to make it a priority to invest time in creating pins and be sure to pin at least 5-10 pins a day.
Pinning is a whole another world. You not only have to create pins for each of your blog post, you have to make sure you pin them onto your boards everyday.
If you pin all of them at once, Pinterest will consider your account to be spam and this is not something you want!!
And to add to that, you have to ensure your pinning at the right time. This is because your viewers might be living in the other side of the world. You don’t want your pins to go unnoticed.
This is why I recommend using a scheduler like Tailwind where you not only schedule all your pins in one go, but also get suggestions on the best times to schedule them.
But never shy away from teasing your blog posts on your Instagram especially if you are an e-commerce site.
3. Email Marketing Strategy
Most beginners don’t bother to do this when they start a blog. Building an email list from the beginning.
Don’t worry if you haven’t decided on what you want your readers to be notified with. But make sure you always ask them to take action i.e, subscribe to your email list.
Some of you might be wondering why would you want to build an email list when platforms like Instagram and Facebook are popping.
Well, this is where you are wrong. Always remember that these followers could be easily lost if your account gets hacked or the app itself isn’t popping anymore (remember we think long term here).
Building an email list from the beginning itself therefore becomes a necessity. Read Use this Email Marketing Strategy to Build an Email List to learn more!
This will help you connect with your readers on another level. You can directly ask what they would want to see from you and also help them.
4. It’s not about you
Keep in mind when you start off that it’s not about you, it’s about your readers and their problems that you can solve. Hard pill to swallow. This is the number one thing you need to remember before you start a blog.
Nobody who is on the internet looking for a cake recipe wants to hear how you got that Himalayan salt! Just stick to the information and don’t include yourself in it.
Once you become a successful blogger, people might actually want to know how you got that salt. Until then, stick to the recipe lmao. This is why it is so important for newbie bloggers to write about something that solves people’s problems.
But how do you get to know what they are looking for? This is where SEO comes into the picture. Read SEO For Beginners to know more about SEO and how to take full advantage of it!!
5. Quality over Quantity
There’s a reason why Google no longer supports/considers insane number of articles for SEO ranking. There was a time when the more articles you wrote, the higher the possibility was for your website to get noticed by Google.
Then people starting pouring in a ton of articles with no quality in them and Google had to hammer ban them. Now there are chances of Google considering your account to be spam if you post a ton of articles at once.
Always prefer quality over quantity. You rather have two great articles with value than 10 articles that are average. Planning is key here.
Make sure you brainstorm and keep in mind at least 10-15 topics you could write about. You don’t have to write all of them. This just helps with your creative flow.
Amazing that you made it to the end!! Now that you know about all the things you need to know before you start a blog, lets get to the bonus tip!
BONUS TIP
Create freebies. I suggest it to be something digital or printable like a planner, custom art or courses. I don’t know it could be anything you want!!
This gives your readers something tangible. This asks them to take action. Don’t worry if you don’t have a product yet. Just ask them to share your post or comment!
Having said that, I totally forgot about the most important part of this post!! Leave a comment if you liked it and make sure you subscribe to get instant blogging updates and tips.
Very informative and helpful for beginners.