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How to create a personal blog
Looking for how to create a blog? You’ve read the right article. Until now, blogs or weblogs are still one of the most popular topics on the Internet. This online journal accommodates various professions, ranging from those who just write to those who make it their main livelihood. You may have been interested, or even want to start a blog right away.
In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to do to create a blog. From choosing a niche, to the factors that determine its success, it’s all here. After reading this article, you will also know how to create a blog that can bring consistent traffic, appear on Google organic searches, and make money.
Video Tutorials
No time to read? Don’t worry, we have a video tutorial that will guide you through this topic in much easier language and dialogue. Here’s the video:
If you want to know more details, please continue reading this article which will discuss the ins and outs in more detail. Happy reading!
What is a Blog, anyway?
According to Wikipedia, weblogs are one type of website that contains articles on various topics. Usually, posts (what we call posts) are displayed in reverse chronology. The weblog will display the most recent posts, which are then followed by the old posts.
They also take various forms, such as digital magazines, personal notes, online exhibitions, and even learning sites. Usually, weblogs consist of text, images, videos, and other important pages. Audiences can write comments and communicate virtually with the owner or author of this e-journal.
If you still need further explanation, please read our article which discusses what a blog is about in more detail.
What is the difference between a blog and a website?
The first thing that distinguishes a blog and a website is the comment column. As already mentioned, weblogs have a comment field where the audience and blogger can communicate. The communication that exists is two-way communication. Meanwhile, the website does not have a comment field at all.
Then, blogs are dynamic because their content is always updated, while websites are static because the pages in them are rarely updated. For example, product pages, service information, and About Us.
Other differentiators are the author’s name, post date, and category. On weblogs, these three elements are clearly visible at the top of the post. Meanwhile, you cannot find these three elements on the website.
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WordPress Hosting
How to Create a Personal and Professional Blog
In this section, we will cover a guide to creating a blog, from choosing a hosting provider to installing a blog management platform. Not only that, we will also provide various tips for creating a blog so that in the future you can be successful.
Easy, here’s how to create a blog that makes money:
Define a niche
Choose the right web hosting
Register a domain name
Install blog management platform
Publish content and grow blog
Promote blog
Start making money through blog
Next, below we will explain the above points in more detail. How to create a blog that we describe here you can do to create a personal or business blog for your company or expertise.
1. Define a niche
What are niches? Niche is a topic or area that is the main focus of your blog. Yes, one way to create an interesting personal or professional blog is to review the topics you like. For example, you work as a musician, you can choose a niche blog about music. However, because the topic of music is very broad, look for specific areas to determine the right niche. For example, you can review songs that are hip-hop or pop genre.
If you are currently running a project or building an online business, you can also share information about the company’s services, products, and vision and mission through a blog. Readers who are interested in the discussion presented will stop at your blog. You can also acquire new users easily. Win-win solution, right?
Choosing a niche blog does take a long time. However, by following the steps below, choosing a niche can become easier. Here’s how to choose a blog niche:
Make a list of things you enjoy or are good at. It could be about work, daily activities, or gardening activities.
Find and research blogs with the same niche. Check the target market to find out whether the chosen niche can be dug deeper or not. Take note of the content reviewed on each blog, such as a glossary, tutorial, or specific project.
Define a more specific niche. For example, gardening is a very broad topic. Surely there are many blogs that cover this topic. So, narrow the topic down by discussing how to grow vegetables for beginners or how to turn gardening into a fun activity for kids.
Find out which niches are ‘selling’. Are there any selling products in the selected niche? Does the product use AdWords? And do competitors’ blogs offer ad space or put up banners? Check all of these things to determine your next steps.
Choose a niche that you are good at. Every reader wants to get complete information and satisfy their curiosity. If you only ‘merely’ write posts, blog readers will also get ‘medium’ information. So, leave the topics you don’t like and find a niche that you really understand.
Often see blogs with the same niche. Something that is overlooked by competitor blogs can be an interesting niche to cover.
2. Choose the right web hosting
After determining the blog niche, the next step is to choose web hosting. This web hosting allows you to get your website online so that people can visit your blog.
However, before deciding to choose a web hosting platform, try asking yourself the following questions:
Do you want to create a blog that will bring in high traffic?
Is the setup process easy?
Is there customer assistance or Customer Support?
Are there features available to create a functional and professional blog?
How much does the subscription cost?
After finding the answer, please choose the right type of hosting for your blog. There are several types of hosting available for blogging, which we’ll explain below.
Shared Hosting
If you want to start a blog for beginners, you can subscribe to shared hosting.
This type of hosting hosts multiple websites on the same physical server. All resources (such as disk space, RAM, and bandwidth) are shared between each website.
Shared hosting servers are always optimized and monitored so that every website has the same power.
Here are the advantages and disadvantages of shared hosting.
Excess:
It is cheap and easy to use.
Uptime and server updates are managed by the hosting provider.
24/7 customer support.
It has a 1-click installer tool to install a blog management platform.
Lack:
Share server resources with other users.
Limited configuration options.
No root access.
Shared Hosting
Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is aimed at online business owners and large-scale website owners. This service combines the sophistication of servers and the simplicity of shared hosting.
Even though it is bigger than shared hosting, cloud hosting is still the right platform to learn how to blog. You will get more resources and don’t have to worry if the traffic that comes in starts to increase.
Unlike shared hosting, all available resources will be entirely yours. With cloud hosting, your blog has more room to grow.
Excess:
Dedicated resources and IP address.
24/7 customer support.
Resources only for you.
It has a 1-click installer tool to install a blog management platform.
Allows account upgrades from shared hosting.
Lack:
Compared to shared hosting, the monthly subscription fee is higher.
Limited configuration options.
No root access.
Cloud Hosting
VPS Hosting
A virtual private server, or VPS for short, is a hosting service that gives its users more freedom and control. However, the operation is quite difficult, especially for those of you who are not familiar with server management.
If you just want to try out how to create your own blog, we recommend choosing another hosting instead of this VPS hosting.
However, if you really want to create a project that is bigger than a blog, this virtual server is the most appropriate choice.
Excess:
Give root access to the user.
Dedicated IP address and resources.
Users have complete freedom and control over the environment and the website.
Users can change the settings from the server side.
Lack:
Require users to understand technical knowledge.
Requires the user to have server management capabilities.
Unmanaged nature.
More difficult operation than other hosting types.
VPS Hosting
If you have decided on web hosting, you can proceed to how to create a personal or professional blog below.
3. Register a domain name
A domain name is a unique URL address that is owned by each website. Since the domain name determines the success of your blog, there are many things to consider. In addition, do not rush to register it. Do it carefully. If necessary, use the domain name generator tool to obtain potential domain names.
If there is already a prospective domain, check its availability with the domain check tool. This tool will display the domain name combined with various extensions. Choose the extension that you think fits best.
If you are still confused about the terms domain and extension, please check the tutorial on what is a domain.
You can also read our guide on how to buy a domain on Hostinger for more details.
4. Install the blog management platform
A Content Management System (CMS) is the perfect platform if you want to try out how to create a new blog. With a CMS, you can:
Create a blog without having to learn coding and other programming languages first.
Publish content and create new content.
Dedicate yourself completely to writing content, without having to worry about the technical aspects.
Adding new features with the help of plugins and modules.
Set the appearance of the blog by applying the free themes in the CMS library.
Our recommended best platform for blogging is WordPress, because of its ease of management and all the great features it offers. Actually there is another platform that you can use for how to create a free blog, namely Blogspot. However, the features it provides are not as complete as WordPress. For more details, please read our tutorial on how to create Blogspot.
How to Create a Blog Using WordPress
This platform is the one we recommend the most if you want to get started on how to create a personal blog. Because, WordPress provides easy blog management through its intuitive dashboard. We are also WordPress users because we use this CMS as a blog management platform for Hostinger tutorials.
After choosing a web hosting platform and a domain name, proceed to the following ways to create a blog.
Login to your cPanel. For Hostinger, you can go to https://hpanel.hostinger.com/
Look for the option to install WordPress. If using Hostinger, installation can be done by selecting Automatic Installation under Website.
Select WordPress. A new window will appear.
Fill in the requested details. The information includes the things below.
Check if your domain name is correct.
Fill in the Administrator Username, Password, and Administrator Email. This login information will be used to access your WordPress dashboard or admin area.
Enter your Website Title. The name of your blog is usually written here. This name can be changed later from the Site Identity settings in the WordPress dashboard.
Select your preferred language.
Select Always update to the latest version to get the latest features and security patches.
Select Install, wait for it to finish.
Admin Area access to manage blogs. To do this, type [yourdomain.com]/wp-admin in the browser.
Choose a theme for your blog. To do so, click Appearance to see a collection of free WordPress themes. Select the theme you want. Or, read our article on free WordPress themes to Beautify Your Website.
Install the required plugins. Click Plugins to view a collection of free plugins. Plugins will enhance the functionality of your blog.
Here are three must-have plugins for every type of blog:
Yoast SEO – optimizes posts to be SEO-friendly.
Akismet Anti-Spam – secures comments from spam.
Jetpack – offers a set of features for system security, performance, statistics and much more.
How to Write a Blog in WordPress
Click Pages and create a new page. You can create an About Us page, Contact Us, etc.
Click Posts to see a list of blog posts. Select Add New to create a new post.
Finished! You have successfully completed how to create a personal or professional blog using WordPress.
Once this step is complete, it’s time to write and publish content, and implement strategies to grow your blog.
5. Publish content and grow blog
To start developing a blog, you need to create posts and some important pages that should be on your blog. Below, we will discuss some blog development methods and strategies so that your blog is crowded with visitors.
1. How to Write an Interesting Blog
Before starting the steps below, you must first do keyword research according to the topic you are going to write about. Later, these keywords are useful for optimizing your blog in search engines so that traffic is crowded. Please read our article to find out how to do effective keyword research.
Here’s how to write an interesting blog:
Prepare the outline of the writing first.
You can start how to create blog articles by creating an outline first. Start by listing the main discussion points of your post. You can start building headings first, outlining the structure from H1 to H5 and putting keywords in them.
Write informative and useful articles.
After writing the main points, how to make the next blog article is to develop your writing. When writing posts, think about your target audience. Never publish content that you don’t master or you don’t have time to explore further.
Add eye-catching visuals.
As a blogger, of course you hope that readers will continue to visit your blog. Apart from ensuring quality content, you also have to be creative. To make it interesting, add photos, graphics, or other visual media that match your writing style to the content or posts.
Avoid seasonal words or phrases.
Seasonal words or phrases here include certain non-recurring dates, months, years, or seasonal trends (e.g. “Eid 2021”). Do not add these words or phrases to the post URL as it will make your post out of date. If you want to add it, place it in an area that is easy to change, for example in the body of the content or the title of the post.
Check the spelling and readability of the article.
This step is also important in how to write interesting blog articles. Reread your writing through the preview and position yourself as a reader or a layman. Is the writing easy to read? Easy to understand? Not spinning around? Try asking yourself this. Apart from that, you can also check spelling and grammar using online tools.
Add CTA (Call-to-actions).
CTA or call-to-actions can be in the form of any text, for example inviting readers to subscribe to a newsletter, reading related posts, buying products, upgrading services, etc. Every blog post must have at least one CTA even if it is simple, such as inviting readers to leave comments in the provided column.
Activate the comment field on each post.
Thus, visitors can communicate virtually with you. Ask for opinions or suggestions and criticism about posts or what they want to read later on your blog.
Do not immediately expect your blog will be crowded.
A post takes a long time to appear on the start page of a search engine like Google. However, this should not dampen your spirits. Keep making quality posts. Little by little, build a blog that offers solutions for its readers.
2. Create Important Pages on Your Blog
To make your blog more attractive and invite more visitors, you should create some important pages below:
About us (about us). On this page, add information about who you are and why this blog was created. Write the purpose of the blog, whether focused on business matters, hobbies, or personal stories.
Contact (contact). On this page, you can display your email address, social media account, email to subscribe, or other contact address that makes it easier for readers to communicate with you.
Sidebars/Menu. Columns or bars at the top of the screen, such as blog categories, ads, other static pages, etc.
3. Create a Strategy to Develop a Blog
Here’s a quick guide to creating a good strategy:
Set goals. Is there something you want to achieve by blogging? Try to be more specific. For example, say you want to bring 3000 readers to your blog at the end of the month or optimize two posts to appear on the first page of Google within two weeks.
Do audience research. Who is the target of your blog? Find out what kind of content they like, the problems they often encounter, and the social media platforms they use.
List potential topics and keywords. As we discussed earlier, every post must have keywords. Determine the target keywords that can bring your post to the first page of Google. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, and SEMrush Keyword Research. The keywords used must match the niche.
Create a regular posting schedule. To keep you consistent and productive, set a schedule for when to blog and when to publish.
After that, you can move on to the next way to create a blog, which is promoting blogs.
6. Promote blog
Because the appearance of posts on the front page of Google takes a long time, the existence of your blog becomes difficult to know. One way to get your blog known to many people and reach the right audience is to promote it. Spread blog content to social media, create mailing lists, and run backlinks. Find out how your blog is performing on Google Analytics.
Here’s how to make your blog famous and many visitors:
Word of mouth promotion.
Tell the people closest to you that you now have your own blog. Ask for their help to spread it through social media. If necessary, add them to the mailing list so you don’t miss the latest content.
Add blogs to search engines.
Your blog will be indexed. That means your blog will be added to the list of search engine sites. Create an account on Google and select Submit URL in Webmaster Tools. Apart from Google, you can also add your blog to Bing and other search engines.
Be an active blogger.
Check out blogs, social media, forums, and other media relevant to your niche. Join related communities to build relationships not only with bloggers but also with their audience.
Be active on social networks.
In order for your blog to get more visits, the first step you have to do is to follow other blogs in your niche. Write comments on posts and make connections.
Create guest blogs.
Offer services to write posts on other websites or blogs. Make sure the chosen blog has a good reputation and uses the same niche.
Compile a mailing list.
Send emails to readers with the latest articles or upcoming offers. The more people who await the arrival of a blog post, the better the response will be.
Add paid ads or traffic.
Advertising is seen as one of the best marketing strategies. You can promote your blog by placing ads on Facebook or Google AdWords. Use this option only if you really already have a budget that is allocated for advertising.
7. Start making money through blogs
In addition to being a place to channel opinions and share information, blogs can also be a main or side source of income. Yes, you can try how to get money from the internet through blogs. Approximately, how, yes, how to make a blog that makes money?
Place ads on blogs.
Choose ads that are specific and relevant to the target audience or according to the topic being written. You can start this strategy using Google Adsense.
Join the affiliate program.
Through this program, you will work closely with businesses to promote their products and services. Later you will get a commission. To join this program, your blog must have high and credible traffic. As an affiliate, you will be given an affiliate link to post or include on the blog.
Sell products and services.
You can sell your own products and services on a blog. Install an eCommerce plugin, such as WooCommerce, and make it easy for your audience to search for the desired product, add it to their cart, and make payments.
Create sponsored posts.
If the blog is already crowded, the opportunity for other parties to place ads on your blog is wide open. The purpose of placing ads on high-traffic blogs is to increase exposure. Payment will be based on how many times the post was clicked, number of visits, or transactions.
Turn your blog into an online portfolio.
Have good writing skills? Turn your blog into a site that provides writing services. You can also run online workshops on writing or volunteer to be a freelance writer.
If you want to read more, please read our article on how to make money blogging.
What is the Best Platform to Create a Blog?
There are a number of factors to consider when choosing a platform. Ask yourself, how much technical ability do you have? Do you have enough time if you want to start how to create your own blog and manage it?
Also make sure the blog platform that you are looking at really has features that match your concept and goals. At least you are free to create content, add media, and do other creations so that posts look interesting. Finally, calculate your budget, especially if you don’t want to use a free blog forever and plan to expand it.
1. WordPress.org
If you are familiar with the technical stuff and set aside some budget to create a blog, choose a content management system like WordPress.org. This CMS has been widely used for both blogs and websites. The use is free. It’s just that, to run it, you need a custom domain and web hosting.
The level of difficulty to learn its use is quite high. You need time, even have to ask questions or look for sources that can simplify the operation of this type of WordPress. Fortunately, on the internet, there are many tutorials, tips and tricks, and articles about WordPress. You can rely on online sources to understand this most popular CMS.
WordPress comes with a live editor. You can change and modify the appearance of your blog using a variety of free and paid themes. For blog posts and pages, the Gutenberg version of the WordPress block editor offers many options and features that are worth checking out.
WordPress also provides plugins to add features and tools, such as SEO tools, security systems, and blog management. After perfecting your blog, you can, you know, make money on the internet. What’s more you have complete control over your blog, right?
2. WordPress.com
This platform is different from WordPress.org. According to Wikipedia, WordPress.com is a free blogging service site that uses the WordPress engine, which provides everything for you. No need to look for a web hosting provider, subscribe to a package, and create a domain. You can immediately use the free plan which is equipped with sufficient resources, including one subdomain.
How to create a free blog with this platform is much easier. WordPress.com has a library of responsive themes that can be set and customized. With a live and intuitive block editor, you can start a blog in less than a day and without applying any coding or other technical skills.
Blog management can also be done through the WordPress application which is available on iOS and Android devices.
If you want to get more storage space, activate your own domain, maximize your blog as a source of income, and get help via email and chat, the free plan must be upgraded to a paid plan. The personal plan has a yearly payment system although the subscription fee is calculated at 4 USD/month. If you want to install a plugin, the package you choose is Business with a subscription fee of 25 USD/month.
3. Medium
Medium is intended for those of you who just want to write and don’t really care about the blog creation and design aspects. You can write on a variety of topics that nearly 100 million registered readers will read.
There is no fee charged to the author, and its use is also quite easy. You can write and publish content right away. Its neat and minimalistic design will focus the attention of visitors to read your content. The opportunity to be on the first page of search engines is also quite high because Medium has a domain authority of 96.
Besides being read by millions of subscribers, the content you write can also be monetized through the Medium Partner Program. Later the article is recommended to readers who have subscribed. But keep in mind, the article must first pass a quality check carried out by the Medium editorial team. Payment for your articles is based on the number of readers and will be sent monthly.
4. Tumblr
Tumblr is a blog management platform that is very popular among young people. The content is interactive and the system is almost similar to social media. People can follow each other’s blogs. The niches or topics covered are varied so that the communities in them are more varied.
Creating a free blog is one of the advantages of Tumblr. You just create an account and use the subdomain that has been provided, unless you already have your own domain. For those who are using Tumblr for the first time, they may be a little confused when operating the dashboard section because this area also functions as a feed.
There are seven types of posts on Tumblr, namely text, quotes, links, chats, photos, videos, and audio. Readers can leave comments, like, reblog, and even share posts. Another feature of Tumblr is that users can add hashtags to their content.
Tumblr has a library that contains a wide collection of themes to choose from and manage. However, there is a limit to how many changes the user can make.
5. Bloggers
Blogger is often targeted by people who want to know how to create a personal blog. This can not be separated from the simplicity of the system provided and also there is no need to subscribe to hosting. You are only required to have a Gmail account in order to run this free platform. One subdomain will also be provided at the time of registration and account creation.
The Blogger Dashboard is designed as easy as possible so that new users can get started right away on how to create their own blog. Starting from installing templates, adding widgets, uploading media files, to publishing posts. Even better, Blogger has integrated Google AdSense so you can immediately earn money through your blog. To share content, use Google+ services and the built-in sharing buttons. If you want to know the blog’s performance, there is a statistics report feature that shows the data.
Blogging Tips for Beginners to Successfully Create a Blog
If you want to be successful, you have to make careful planning. In addition to providing more efficient results, having clear goals and views will make it easier for you to complete each job.
Likewise with the blog that is owned today. You can’t just stop at the search for how to create a great blog. However, you also have to understand how it works. Each post generates organic traffic and brings new readers to the blog. That’s why, you must have a goal of wanting to present content like what is worthy of reading blog visitors.
Here are some of the best blogging guides and tips:
1. Learn the basics about SEO
Search engine optimization is one of the skills that you must have if you want your blog to appear on the front page of Google. By understanding SEO, you can compete fairly with other bloggers. You also know how to write or create SEO-friendly content while staying focused on the niche.
Here are three tutorials that can be used as resources to learn SEO:
What is SEO and SEO Ways to Increase Traffic
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide by Google
How to learn the latest SEO practices (and stay sane)
2. Do research on competitors
As a new blogger, you must know who your competitors are in the same niche. In addition to being more aware, researching competitors also provides ideas and ideas for creating new content.
To do this, make a list of 5-10 blogs that rank well. Then, use a special tool, such as SimilarWeb, to generate a performance report.
Although the free version provides limited statistical data, you can still view data for 5 organic and paid keywords. From this report, you can determine what kind of content should be published on the blog.
3. Plan content creation
Create a spreadsheet and add potential ideas to it. Start with a general topic, then narrow it down by elaborating on more specific topics. If there is a specific topic that you really master, you can use it as the main content.
After publishing it, don’t immediately expect that the post will bring in a lot of new readers. So, you have to be patient while still posting quality content. Activate the schedule feature to publish articles automatically and monitor the progress of your blog.
4. Check the loading time of the blog
Not only determines the ranking of blogs in search engines, loading time also affects visitor behavior. If the blog page takes longer to load, readers don’t hesitate to click the exit or exit button.
To check the loading speed of blog pages or content, use a tool, such as Pingdom or GTmetrix.
Meanwhile, to optimize the page to speed up loading, check the image size, install a caching plugin, or subscribe to a web hosting that offers server speed.
5. Do blog maintenance
Suppose there are two types of blogs. Blog A contains good content but errors occur in some areas and the installed plugins don’t work at all. Meanwhile, blog B has a good performance from all sides. What do you think the readers will choose? Certainly blog B, right?
Maintain blog by updating CMS software, plugins and themes. Make a schedule to back up the site and check for broken links in previous posts. Optimize the database and complete articles with the latest valid data and information.
6. Audit content regularly
The way to make your personal or professional blog even cooler is by auditing the content. Check blog posts regularly and update any information. Provide up-to-date articles to readers.
If there are two posts discussing the same topic, combine the two topics. On the other hand, if there are posts that you think are no longer relevant, you are free to delete them. Create a 301 error page to redirect readers from deleted posts to recent posts. Finally, remove all broken links.
7. Create social media accounts
Building an online persona is not an easy matter. Fortunately, in this online era, social media already exists. This platform makes it easy for anyone who wants to perfect their online persona on the internet.
Having a social media account means opening up wider opportunities for user engagement. You can share new articles, plans for future articles, and articles that have been updated with the latest information.
Facebook and Twitter are examples of social media with very large followers. In addition to building friendships with blog readers, you can also ask for feedback from them. This way, you will also know what they are really experiencing and feeling.
Social media is also a powerful marketing strategy because it can attract new readers or visitors. If your content is useful, they will not hesitate to share it through social media channels. Gradually, the blog will grow and the opportunity to make money is also wide open.
8. Write a guest post
Named guest post or guest blogging because you write articles on other websites and include one or two links that point to your blog. By making guest posts, you have the opportunity to introduce your blog to a wider audience. In addition, guest posting is also a strategy to get external links or links from other websites.
Then, how can you write guest posts on other websites or blogs?
Do some research. Look for blogs and bloggers who have a good reputation in your current niche and industry. See how they write the content. Consider style, voice, or tone to achieve uniformity. After that, read the conditions set for the guest post.
Make a connection. Write comments, share content, subscribe to their newsletter and follow their social media accounts. Dare yourself to join the community and convey that you have the same values or views.
Request approval to write guest posts. Submit draft articles and wait for their response.
Create quality content. If they agree, create informative content. Include two internet links, one to your blog and the other to another online resource. Add a short sentence that invites readers to write suggestions and criticisms in the comments column.
Follow up. Check articles frequently after they are published. Answer questions in the comments column or maybe make a new guest post. Keep in touch with the blog owner.
9. Use Google Analytics
One way to make a blog more successful and able to compete with competitors is to check the amount of traffic that comes.
Traffic seems to tell what the audience is looking for and wants. You can use these results to create content.
The best tool for checking visitor numbers, their behavior, and other social metrics is Google Analytics.
Google Analytics
There is no fee to be paid to run this software. Every blogger and website owner can record everything related to the audience.
If what you’re looking for is how to create a blog with WordPress, this guide to adding Google Analytics to your CMS platform is worth reading.
10. Add new content to Google
Every day thousands of new websites are created and millions of blog articles are published. No wonder it takes time for Google and other search engines to index new content. Luckily, there are ‘shortcuts’ to get your content indexed.
Adding a content page or blog to Google Search Console will make it easier for you to:
Monitor blog performance.
Receive alerts in case something goes wrong on your blog.
Using various testing tools.
Get more insights and learning materials.
This strategy will also ‘force’ Google to crawl your blog or content.
Fetch content to Google Console
11. Take advantage of backlinks
In addition to including keywords, strengthening the blog’s profile by building backlinks is also important. Even backlinks are one of the factors that influence Google in ranking a website or blog.
Publishing a lot of content at once or updating posts with quality information is not enough. If you want your blog to appear on Google search pages, at least you have to get links from other websites (backlinks).
12. Don’t give up quickly and stay consistent
How to create a personal or professional blog until it is visited by many readers takes a lot of time. It’s no wonder that for some people, a blog is a long-term investment
Blogs don’t necessarily appear in Google’s SERPs, especially when they’re new. According to some SEO specialists, there is a period of time where your content is ‘buried’ and eventually ‘realised’ by Google (also known as the Google Sandbox).
So, don’t immediately think that the blog has not yet surfaced. Wait a few moments, and see how the blog performs on Google.
Tool for Blog Optimization
Whether it’s how to create a personal or professional blog, you need the essential tools to manage each post. Especially if you plan to add images, or edit content, or publish scheduled posts.
1. Image Optimization
In addition to making the blog more attractive, the use of images also increases the SEO-friendly factor.
Here are our recommendations:
Unsplash (Free). This site provides millions of high resolution images. You can download it for free and use it for your personal or commercial blog.
Pixabay (Free). You can choose various images for the blog.
Life of Pix (Free). This site also provides a wide collection of interesting images for your blog.
Death to Stock (Paid). If you want a unique and off-the-shelf image, turn to the premium images provided by this website.
2. Blog Design and Display
An attractive appearance and blog design will amaze blog visitors. If you don’t have design skills or are unsure if you can produce an elegant look, use the best design tools below.
Here are our recommended blog design tools:
Canva.
The free version includes 1 GB of storage, thousands of templates, photos, and graphics. You can also export designs in PDF, PNG, and JPG formats. Canva also allows collaboration between team members.
Vism.
Use this tool to add infographics, blog banners, social media graphics, charts, videos, and more. With the free plan, you can create up to 5 designs with a capacity of 100 MB. Premium plans are available for 14 USD to 25 USD/month paid annually.
The Noun Project.
One way to make your blog more interesting is to add icons. With this platform, you can create icons. The icons provided in the free version have the inscription Creative Commons. A premium version of the icon without Creative Commons writing is available for 2.99 USD.
Pixlr.
You can use this tool to remove the background and other elements that you don’t want. The Premium plan is available for 3.99 USD/month. With this package, you will get a variety of advanced features and without ads.
PicMonkey.
Apart from being a premium photo editor, PicMonkey also functions as a design tool. With this tool, you can improve image quality, add text, and apply filters or effects. The platform is available in a mobile version on iOS and Android. This tool can be tried free for seven days. After that, you have to pay 72 USD/year to access 1 GB of cloud storage, a top-tier library of fonts, premium effects, tools, and templates.
3. Online Community for Learning Blog
It is very important for a blogger to build communication with his readers and followers. Create an online community on the blog and open discussions with visitors.
Facebook Group
The number of Facebook users is predicted to increase to 1.69 billion. With Facebook Groups enabled, it’s more likely that your posts will appear in other users’ feeds.
The way to make a blog so that it has a lot of visitors is to introduce it through a community or group on LinkedIn. Although not as big as Facebook, LinkedIn has 690 million users.
The number of monthly visits on Reddit is over a billion. With this fantastic number, your blog posts can bring in high traffic.
3. Blog Promotion Tool
One way to make a blog more known to people is to promote it through social media platforms. If you have multiple social media accounts, the following tools will help you make it easier to publish blog posts.
Hootsuite
You can schedule and publish posts on social media according to a predetermined time. The free version of Hootsuite allows you to manage 3 (three) social media accounts, schedule up to 30 posts, and integrate them with the basic application. Premium version is available for 19 USD/month. With the premium version, the number of posts you can publish is unlimited, and you can display performance metrics as insights on your blog.
buffer
An alternative to how to make your personal or professional blog come alive is with Buffer. Set the schedule on each social media account, and check the timeline through the calendar. The basic plan is available for 12 USD/month and is paid annually. Later you can manage eight social media accounts and set a publication schedule for up to 100 posts.
Frequently Asked Questions About Blog
Below we’ve rounded up answers to some frequently asked questions about blogging.
What are the advantages of being a blogger?
There are a number of reasons why until now there are still many people who type the keyword how to create a blog in search engines. One of them is that blogs are known as platforms to hone writing skills and other creativity.
Although blogs are closely related to writing activities, some of the reasons below can be the basis why you should have a blog from now on.
Here are the advantages of being a blogger:
For self development. In general, bloggers use blogs as a place to express opinions and deepen their knowledge in a field. Even if managed properly, a blog can be a weapon to showcase your portfolio when you are looking for a full-time or freelance job.
Increase brand awareness. Not only pursuing profit and profit, business people must also be able to increase brand awareness. By having a blog, you can share information with your audience, even take your business to a higher level and reach a wider reach.
Acquire users. Many premium channels require you to pay a subscription fee (for example, GoogleAds) to attract attention and acquire new users. If you create a blog, you don’t have to spend money all the time. Although it takes time to generate a lot of traffic, a blog can be a platform that will create new sales and increase conversions.
Easier to track on search engines. To get more organic search (organic search), having a blog is one solution. The key is to maintain stable traffic.
Opportunity to become an influencer. Let’s just say you’ve mastered one area well. By having a blog, you can channel this ability and share it with your readers. Managing a blog will build an online persona, establish new relationships, and even introduce ideas and ideas they have.
Do we have to understand coding for how to create a blog?
The answer is No.
How to create a blog does not have to involve coding and other programming languages. A website builder, like Zyro, will make it easier for you to create the website you want. The tool is equipped with a user-friendly dashboard, a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor, and drag-and-drop functionality. With a collection of customizable templates, you don’t have to create a blog from scratch
Another option for beginners is to try how to create a blog in WordPress. This content management system has a slightly more complicated interface and features than free platforms like blogspot. However, with many websites covering WordPress as well as tutorials, forums, and articles, you can easily learn about the platform.
For those who want to apply how to create a free personal blog, you can choose Medium. On this platform, you don’t need to subscribe to web hosting and activate a domain. Content creation and publication is the primary focus of Medium.
Can the blog name be changed?
The answer is Yes, it can.
You are free to replace the old blog name with the new blog name. However, this replacement will have a number of consequences. So, when creating a blog name, we recommend careful consideration.
You are allowed to change the blog name if you are in a situation like this:
The current blog name is not original or confuses readers.
The blog name and URL do not match.
The blog niche is changed.
Consequences if you change the blog name:
Confusing readers who often visit your blog, the online persona that is built will feel useless.
External links from other sites pointing to your blog will be affected.
You have to create a 301 redirect page.
How to create a professional email from the blog name?
If you want to make money blogging, you must have a professional email that includes the name of your blog. To make it, you already have to subscribe to web hosting and have your own domain.
Later you will use the blog’s domain name in the email instead of the email platform name. For example, yourname@yourblogname.com instead of yourname@gmail.com. This way, your email will not end up in the spam box of readers.
Hostinger offers Email Hosting services which consist of a variety of attractive packages. The price is affordable, starting from Rp. 14,129/month. This service is separate from the general hosting package because it is intended for users whose blogs have been online at other providers.
For those who subscribe to hosting at Hostinger, please check the tutorial for creating a business email or follow the three steps below to create an email:
Log in to hPanel, scroll to the Email section and select Email Accounts.
On the Create a New Email Account page, enter a name and password.
Click Create.
How much traffic is needed to get sponsored?
Unfortunately there is no specific answer. If the blog has received a visit of at least 1000 readers, you can apply for cooperation. Blogs should be constantly updated and maintained, showing sponsors that you are serious about this.
Here are some tips for getting blog sponsors:
Create a media kit. Include a brief introduction about yourself, your blog and its mission. Add contact information, social media accounts, number of unique visits, pageviews, page-rank, and reader analytics.
Proactively seek sponsors. If the blog traffic is still low, don’t hesitate to look for sponsors. Show your intention to advertise through blog posts.
Make a list of partnerships or collaborations. Do your research and look for potential sponsors to work with you.
Join the sponsored post network. Acorn and TapInfluence are two examples of networks you can join. Complete your profile data and you will be paired with companies that are interested in working with you.
Why isn’t my blog getting a lot of traffic yet?
There are many factors that cause a blog to fail, including:
Lack of passion. You feel stuck and have no more reason to run a blog.
Choose the wrong niche. There are very few topics you can write about and blog management will be more difficult.
Just focus on writing. As we explained earlier, visual elements are also important for your online journal.
Not implementing SEO practices. And you also don’t seem to ‘care’ whether the content is able to drive more traffic or not.
Poor quality content. The information submitted is completely useless and of no value. So, why do readers return to your blog?
Promotion of content in the wrong way. It could be that the target audience is not right or the content is not created for the current readers of the blog.
Blogs are not mobile-friendly. A total of 51.98% of internet traffic comes from mobile device users.
At the end of 2020, the number of bloggers in the United States reached up to 31.7 million people. What’s more, in the midst of this global pandemic, almost everyone is spending time at home.
Well, in a situation like this, there are lots of possibilities for the emergence of new blogs, along with their readers. So, if there are no differentiating factors that make it unique, your blog will fail. Remember to apply the blogging steps that we describe here to make your weblog successful.
Conclusion
Now you know how to create a blog and what it takes to make your weblog successful in attracting readers and increasing the amount of traffic.
If you still have questions about how to create a personal or professional blog or just want to share criticism and suggestions, please leave a comment in the column below. Thanks for reading!