11 Questions With Answers To Know Before Starting A New Blog

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Starting a blog is exciting. You get to share your story, talk about issues you care about and connect with others who feel the same way.

However, there are important questions that you must ask before starting. Remember, the answers can guide you through the process.

There was no one to ask questions like these to get me on the right step when I started.

And that’s why I want to share with you 11 vital questions you should ask yourself before starting your blog.

Having this information gives you the direction to go in the future and how you want to make money from your hard work.

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11 Vital Things To Know Before Starting Your Blog

Starting a blog can be daunting, exciting, and potentially profitable. However, the preparation and research required to start can be equally time-consuming and confusing.

The following 11 questions will assist you in defining your blog, content, and how to monetize it.

What Is A Blog Exactly?

A blog is a website or web page on the Internet where an individual or a group of users regularly record opinions, information, etc.

They are often arranged in chronological order, with the most recent post appearing first.

Many free blogging platforms are available on the Internet to begin your own blog for free.

The most popular ones include WordPress, Blogger, Medium, and Tumblr.

2. Why Start A Blog?

There are several reasons why people choose to start a blog.

While some do it for the love of writing, being able to express themselves and their opinions, or having an outlet for their creativity.

Others choose to make a career out of blogging as it is one of the most fun jobs in the world.

Here are some of the reasons why you may want to start a blog

Work from anywhere

There is nothing like being able to work from home, set your own hours, write about topics that interest you, get paid for your opinion and creativity, and have an audience that loves what you have to say.

A Great Way To Share Information

There are so many things that you can share online through a blog.

For example, you can share information about your hobby or even things that happen daily in your life.

Sharing such information is an excellent way of expressing yourself. It also allows people to get to know more about you.

Blogging is an excellent way for people to express themselves and connect with others who might be interested in knowing more about them.

If you have always wanted to share something with others, starting a blog is the best way to do it.

Connect with your audience

Your blog is the most important way to communicate with your readers and build your online presence if you have a website.

It gives you space to talk about industry trends, your business philosophy, or whatever else you think will interest readers.

Blogging helps people find you online.

It boosts your search engine optimization (SEO). The more high-quality content you post to your blog, the better chance people will find it through Google and other search engines.

Establish authority in your industry

People will trust you and turn to you for reliable information when they see that you are an established source of knowledge.

Blogging is a great side hustle.

You can do it at your own pace, anywhere you want. Though not a quick and easy way to make money, there are many ways to make money side hustling while blogging.

For example, you can sell advertising, become an affiliate for other people’s products, sell your own online product, etc.

3. Is Starting A Blog Worth It Anymore in 2022?

Yes, Absolutely.

Hard work indeed comes from blogging: you have to build it from scratch, create content regularly, promote it everywhere, and gain SEO ranking and traffic.

However, choosing a profitable niche that provides value to your readers when starting a blog is the most important thing.

Starting your own blog will help.

Build trust and credibility for your business
Establish you as an authority and create a good image for you
Earn extra income through ads, reviews, affiliate marketing, and even selling your own products.
Boost your business growth and revenue.

Remember, it doesn’t matter the field you choose, as long as you enjoy what you do and help others solve their problem.

Here are some of the popular niches you may choose from

Health and wellness
Lifestyle
Finance
Business & marketing
Fashion and beauty
Travel

4. How do I Start A Successful Blog?

Step 1: Choose a topic for your blog
Step 2: Pick a blogging platform
Step 3: Get a domain name
Step 4: Set up web hosting
Step 5: Install WordPress on your site
Step 6: Create your blog content and pages
Step 7: Customize your blog design
Step 8: Publish great content – Start using SEO best practices to increase traffic to your blog.
Step 9: Build an email list of subscribers you can nurture and engage with overtime
Step 10: Promote your blog on social media

Blogging is a fantastic way to market your brand, grow your audience and create a community of people who love what you’re doing.

However, starting a good blog that people want to read and that can generate income is not relatively as easy. But here are steps to help you get off on the right foot:

Research before you start blogging

If you’re starting a blog with the hopes of turning it into a business, it’s essential to research before you jump in.

One of the best ways to know if there’s a market for your idea is by researching keywords.

There are many tools to help you with keyword research, such as Google Keyword Planner, KWFinder, Jaaxy, and Semrush.

These tools will give you an idea of how many searches per month for each keyword to determine if people are searching for what you have to offer.

Choose your niche carefully.

Your niche is the topic you’ll write about, and it’s the most important decision you’ll make.

It should be something you’re passionate about. But even more important, it should be something other people are interested in reading about and something they’re willing to pay for.

So, make sure you’ve researched your niche thoroughly before committing to it.

Some niches are very crowded and competitive (like personal finance). Others are a little too obscure.

However, don’t force yourself into any field just because it sounds good. Some of those famous blogs started as generalists and managed to carve out a space for themselves.

Remember, your blog doesn’t have to be about one topic. There is a variety of blogs you can have that cover a range of subjects:

Start with what you know

Start writing about something familiar if you don’t know where you want to take your blog.

Start with something you know well if you don’t have a particular topic you want to blog about. This could be your day job, hobbies, or anything else that comes naturally to you.

After all, it’s more fun writing about stuff that interests you, and you’ll add more value if your audience can tell that you know what you’re talking about.

Choose an appropriate domain name.

The domain name is the web address of your site, for example, www.exampleblog.com.

Once you have done this, you need to create content around those keywords. I recommend starting at least 10 – 20 pieces of content before launching your blog. This way, people will have something to read when they land on your site.

To get your blog in the right direction, you will need to promote it on social media and forums where people talk about your topic.

5. Where is the best place to start a blog?

You can get started with a humble blog on a website like Blogger, Wix, or WordPress.com, which are free and easy to use and don’t require technical expertise.

However, free blogging platforms have their advantages and disadvantages.

WordPress.com

Pros

Free to use; you don’t have to worry about managing a site, including security issues and updates.
Create different categories of content (blog posts or static pages).
Customize your design with themes and upload media files like videos and images.

Cons

There are strict guidelines on what you can and can’t do on your website. For example, if you’re using the free WordPress.com service, then you won’t be able to monetize your website with ads or sell any products on your website.
Limitations on how much you can customize your site.
Your domain name will be a subdomain (such as domainame.wordpress.com).
You won’t be able to add plugins or upload custom themes, which means that your website will be limited in terms of functionality and design freedom.
You don’t own your site — they do, which means they could shut it down any time they want for any reason, and all your hard work would be gone with it (this is more important if you’re going to sell products).

But, if you want to take blogging as a business, you’ll need more advanced tools and content than these services offer.

WordPress.org is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) available because it’s easy to use, adds new features, and customize.

As a result, WordPress is an excellent choice for many different business websites.

Reasons to use WordPress.org

It’s easy to learn and use

You don’t need to be a computer expert to use WordPress. You can quickly get started with a template and the help of your hosting provider or web designer — or even by using one of the thousands of free WordPress themes available online.

WordPress is versatile

There are tons of functions built into the core of WordPress that allow you to customize your site in many ways.

For example, it’s relatively easy to add widgets, create custom menus and set up other features to make your site unique.

Great support

WordPress has strong support from thousands of third-party developers.

Flexibility

It’s also an excellent platform for eCommerce sites because you can add your own custom code to edit product listings and menu navigation.

In addition, you can use the themes to turn a simple text-based website into something visually appealing with photos, graphics, and other design elements.

6. Can I Start A Blog With No Money?

Yes, you can, and here are essential steps to consider before starting:

Determine the purpose of your blog

With so many blogs already online, you need to find a way to make yours unique.

What will set it apart from all the others?
Will it be your sense of humor?
Or the depth of your knowledge on a particular topic

Determining what sets your blog apart will help you decide what to write about. It will also help readers determine if your blog is right for them.

Choose between various blogging platforms.

Blogger, WordPress, Wix, Weebly, and Tumblr are just a few options available for someone looking to start blogging for free.

Each has advantages and disadvantages, but they all have one thing: they’re free.

Blogger is a free blog publishing platform from Google to share your thoughts with the world. It offers simple editing tools and hosting and provides you with a subdomain (youblogname.blogspot.com).

WordPress is a hosted blogging platform that offers you a wide variety of tools to personalize your blog. It’s a highly customizable and most popular blogging platform used by over 40% of websites.

WordPress.org is still the best I suggest you use because of its flexibility. It’s easy to use, and they have lots of free resources to help you get started.

In addition, it offers essential editing tools and the ability to upload images and videos to your posts. And, you can associate your own domain name with your WordPress site.

And, remember that if you’re starting with a free blogging service, you’ll have limited options for monetizing your site.

Now, choose one of the blogging platforms and take some time to get comfortable with how it works before starting your first blog post.

Customize Your Blog’s Design and Layout

This is where you can flex your creative muscles. So, personalize the look of your blog so that it reflects who you are and what you want to say.

Though you can get started with a free blogging platform (like Blogger or WordPress.com), the best option is to migrate it to your domain later.

Where is the best place to start a blog?

You can start with free blogging sites like Wix, Weebly, Blogger, Tumblr, etc. However, if you can afford to buy your own domain and pay for hosting, the best place is WordPress.org

7. How do I make money from my blog?

It happened to me too. You start a blog and wonder how long it will take before making any money.

We’re overly optimistic about how we will grow our audience and what kind of revenue we can generate most of the time, so we forget these important steps.

Step 1: Choose A Profitable Niche

The best way to make money blogging is to have a focused goal. So start a blog around a topic that interests you, and there’s a market for it.

It could be money, fitness, fashion, food, travel, or even self-improvement.

Step 2: Determine the purpose of your blog and your end goal

Decide what you want to get out of your blog before starting one.

Do you like to share your ideas with the world?
Do you want to earn from it?
What is it exactly that you want?

Step 3: Choose a name for your blog

The name of your blog should reflect the purpose of your blog.

For example, suppose you are blogging about making money online. In that case, your domain name should contain “make money online” or something similar.

Some people choose to include their names in their blogs, but I don’t recommend this because if you decide to sell your website in the future, people won’t buy sites with personal names on them.

Step 4: Create helpful and informative content consistently

Step 5: Optimize your blog content for search engines

Step 6: Start email marketing

Step 7: Promote your blog

8. What are the best ways to monetize my blog?

The best ways to monetize your blog include:

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing means promoting other people’s products and getting paid for them. For example, suppose you have a blog about weight loss, and you’re an affiliate for Green Coffee Bean Extract Well.

In that instance, you could write an article promoting either of these products and include your unique affiliate link in the article.

Then, when someone clicks on that link and makes a purchase through your link, you get paid a commission.

Sell Your Products

You can also market your own products through your blog. It’s an effective way to make money because you get paid directly for your products.

Instead of relying on third-party advertisers who pay you based on clicks or views, you just need people to buy your products. This can include ebooks, courses, physical products, coaching, etc.

Newsletter sponsorships

This is a process where you send an email promoting a company or product in exchange for money.

Get paid to write reviews.

Companies are looking for people to write reviews for categories of products. You get to test them and write your experience using them.

Start a paid membership site.

You can create some premium courses, videos, and ebooks. Then, share with members for a fee.

9. How much do bloggers make in a month?

A blogger’s income varies wildly, depending on the niche and how much time and effort they devote to their blog.

Blogging income reports from top bloggers have shown some successful bloggers earning between $10000 and $100000 per month.

Pat Flynn – Smart Passive Income
John Lee Dumas – Fire Nation
Alex and Lauren – Create and go
Lindsey Ostrom – Creator of cuteness
Darren Rowse – Problogger
Harsh Agarwal – Shoutmeloud
Michelle Gardener – Making sense of cents

These bloggers make money mainly from their online courses, affiliate marketing, and ads.

10. How much traffic do I need to make money blogging?

The first thing to know is that there’s no magic number of visitors you need to hit to make money blogging.

Instead, many factors come into play, including how much traffic you’re getting, what kinds of content you’re creating, and your business model.

Here are just some of the variables:

Your traffic sources: If you’re getting much traffic from search engines, people find your content after doing an online search.

This type of “cold” traffic usually has lower conversion rates than targeted traffic; people who know you and like your content.

And at the same time, if your target audience is searching for something, they may be more likely to convert than someone who stumbled upon your site by accident.

The traffic you’re getting: Some sites have high visitor numbers because they get many random social media visits or clicks from other areas.

On the other hand, if your visitors are coming from highly targeted sources where they’ve heard about your content, those people are more likely to return and engage with you.

11. What are the best Business and Marketing websites to follow?

Here are top blogs to follow for online business and marketing advice:

HubSpot
WordPress.org
Convince & convert
Unbounce
BigCommerce
Copyblogger
Semrush
Kissmetrics
Ahrefs
Social Media Examiner
Duct tape marketing
Buffer Blog
ProBlogger

Wrapping It Up

So really, starting a blog can be challenging because you don’t even know where to start.

But if it’s done right, it can also be lots of fun. So hopefully, the answer to these questions will help you get your new blog off on the right foot.

So regardless of how your blog turns out, keep at it, don’t give up, but move forward.

And don’t be afraid to ask for help or take advice from those who are farther along in the process than you are.

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment below.

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