 |
| How to Start Blogging for Beginners |
Introduction: Why Read This Blogging Guide?
I founded Web Hosting Secrets Revealed (WHSR) back in 2008 and thanks in part to the great welcome from the blog community, we've grown stronger. Since then, WHSR has grown into one of the leading web hosting advice sites on the internet and I have attracted some of the strongest voices in contemporary blogging from the brand - all of them have contributed to this book and the website it's the go-to place for anyone who who embark on the self-hosted blogging route. With this no-nonsense guide, I am offering you some of the fastest, most understandable, and most importantly, most effective solutions to your blogging problems - from personal experience and from the minds of people who enjoy what they do. "I" in the blogging sceneMy Author Profile Page at Problogger.net - I posted on the site regularly between 2014 and 2017. Presentation at the WordPress Meetup Kuala Lumpur, 2019. So ... is blogging still worth it in 2021?The phrase "it's worth it" can be very subjective. Blogging is very versatile, and potentially useful for making money, promoting business, or just spending your time. To be completely honest, the real value of blogging depends on the individual. 1. Make money onlineThere are many ways for blogs to make money and today ( more on this in my point # 6 ) the opportunities are even greater for the able. Consumers these days increasingly see influencers as a source of trustworthy information. Companies have also recognized this. Brands have shown their willingness to work closely with well-known bloggers. For example, Somersby's last marketing campaign worked with Polish bloggers . The result was a success for both the brand and the bloggers. As another example of this WPX hosting, Matthew Woodward has been named the "official mascot" for product promotion by SEO Bloggers. Your chances lie in the niche you choose as well as the strength of your audience. 2. Business PromotionMany companies make the mistake of believing that a good looking official website is enough for a digital presence. However, it has been shown that companies that blog have an average of 55% more visitors and 434% more pages indexed in search engines . More pages indexed means a higher chance of ranking well on search, which leads to more traffic. Usually, the more visitors you have, the higher your conversion volume. In fact, many B2B marketers believe that blogging is the most important type of content online. 3. Just for funEveryone needs a hobby and if you don't take things too seriously, blogging is basically free. There are a number of decent free web hosting providers out there, many of which even offer a free subdomain. Even if you want something that does a little better, it can be done for less than $ 100 a year. Not only can you get information out to a wide audience, but there's a good chance you'll acquire supporting skills - photo editing, SEO, and more. Now that we've set up the stage, let's get started! Chapter 1. Setting up a blog from scratchTo start a self-hosted blog, you first need a domain name and web hosting account. Your domain is the name of your blog. It is not something physical that can be touched or seen. just a string of characters that gives your website an identity - like the title of a book or a place. Your domain tells your visitors what type of blog they are visiting. Web hosting, on the other hand, is where you store your blog content - words, blog topics, pictures, videos, etc. Domain names - where to register?You can select and register your domain names through a domain registrar. Los Papa and NameCheap are two of the most popular registrars out there. Note that it is important to separate domain registration from your web host. Just because your web host is offering a free domain doesn't mean you should let the hosting company control your domain registration. Personally, I use NameCheap to manage my domain registrations. But all other reputable domain registrars should be fine. This way I can change my domain DNS at any time and avoid getting banned with a specific web host. I strongly recommend that you do the same for your own protection. Web hosting - where do you want your blog to be hosted?For starters, I recommend starting small with a shared web host. With Shared Hosting - Although the hosting resources are smaller compared to others (VPS, Cloud etc), you will need less budget (often <$ 5 / month to sign up) and technical knowledge to start with. When To Choose A Web Host For Your Blog These Are The Five Factors:
Recommended blog hosting for newbiesHostingerHostinger plans start at $ 1.39 / month for single site hosting and $ 2.59 / month for unlimited site hosting. Visit the website: https://www.hostinger.com/ Hostinger is one of the cheapest web hosts in the world, especially during your honeymoon. While Hostinger is a budget hosting company, it offers tons of premium hosting features that are great for bloggers. A2 HostingA2 hosting starts at $ 2.99 / month. Visit the website: https://www.a2hosting.com/ A2 hosting is fast, reliable and cheap. There are three types of shared hosting: Lite, Swift and Turbo. Lite - the plan I recommend to new bloggers, allows users to host 1 website, 5 databases, and 25 email accounts. Point domain DNS to your web hostNext, you'll need to update the DNS record at the domain registrar (where you registered your domain in Step 1) to point to your web host's servers (InMotion Hosting, Hostinger, or SiteGround). DNS stands for Domain Name System and is used to direct every incoming user to the IP address of the server. When a user types "WebHostingSecretRevealed.net" the DNS records will get my web host's IP address and serve my website to the user. Example: Pointing a website to InMotion Hosting nameservers on GoDaddy. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to update your blog DNS at Los Papa or Namecheap . Install WordPress on your web hostTo start blogging with WordPress, you need to first install the system on your web host. This can be done manually or automatically with a one-click installation app. Both of these methods are pretty straightforward and easy to do. WordPress manual installationAt a glance, here are the steps you need to do:
WordPress One-Click-InstallationMost bloggers these days no longer install WordPress manually. With the support of one-click installation services like Softaculous and Mojo Marketplace (depends on which web host you are using), the installation process is very simple and can be done with just a few clicks. For your reference, the following figures show where the auto-install feature is located on your Hostinger dashboard. To install WordPress, just click the circled icon and follow the instructions for dummy protection. Your WordPress system should be up and running in less than 5 minutes. Example: With Hostinger Auto Installer you can install WordPress on your web host with just a few clicks ( visit Hostinger here ). Things might look different for different web hosts, but the process is basically the same. So if you are not using any of these hosts that I am showing here, don't worry. Why WordPress?Personally, I think WordPress is the best blogging platform for newbies. Based on stats from Built With, over 95% of blogs in the US are created using WordPress . Worldwide there are almost 27 billion blogs running on WordPress . Find your WordPress administration page and log inOnce you've installed your WordPress system, you will be given a URL that you can use to log into your WordPress admin page. In most cases the url will be something like this (depending on the folder where you installed WordPress): http://www.exampleblog.com/wp-admin Go to this url and log in with your preset username and password. From there, you are now in the back-end (dashboard) of your WordPress site - this is the part of the blog that only you as the administrator can access. Creating a new blog post in the new WordPress Gutenberg. The latest version of WordPress at the time of writing is version 5.3.2 - by default you are using WordPress Gutenberg as your text editor. Gutenberg brings a lot of flexibility to the WordPress platform. This is especially useful for beginners as many things like setting background colors and more no longer require coding. The block system also helps manage the item layout. To write and post a new post, simply navigate to the left sidebar, click "Posts"> "Add New" and you will be taken to the writing screen. Click Preview to preview things (what your readers will see) in the front end. Once the post is complete, click Publish. Hi! You have now published your first blog post. Pro Tip : It's a good idea to bookmark your WordPress wp-admin login url as you will be stopping by here very often. Chapter 2. Designing Your Blog Look and FeelNow that we've got the bare WordPress done, it's time to take a deeper dive. Like any CMS, a WordPress blog is made up of 3 main elements:
To design or customize a blog outlook, all we need to do is customize a number of PHP and CSS files, which are usually located in the / wp-content / themes / directory. These files are separate from the WordPress core systems and can be changed as often as you like. Most individual bloggers don't create their own blog topics from scratch. Rather, most of us pick a ready-made (or raw) theme and tailor it to our needs. There are an infinite number of beautiful WordPress themes related to the internet - a simple search on Google will bring you to millions. The first time you're creating a WordPress blog, you should start with a pre-made theme and tweak it along the way. Here you can get ready-made WordPress designs:
We'll look at each of the following options. Offizielles WordPress Theme DirectoryVisit: WordPress Themes Directory Get all of the free WordPress themes here. The designs listed in this directory follow very strict standards provided by the WordPress developers. So, in my opinion, this is the best place to get free, error-free designs. Paid WordPress Themes ClubAnother way to get high quality paid themes is to subscribe to WordPress theme clubs. If this is your first time hearing about themed clubs, here's how it works: you pay a fixed fee to join the club and you get different designs that are on sale in the clubs. The themes offered in the Theme Club are usually professionally designed and regularly updated. Elegant Themes , Studio Press, and Artisan Themes are three WordPress themes that I recommend. There are a lot more others out there - some clubs even cater to a specific industry, e.g. B. Brokers or schools. However, only three are covered in this article. Recommended WordPress Themes Clubs for newbiesElegant ThemesElegant Themes Samples - 80+ premium WordPress themes, click here to view the latest theme demos . Visit: ElegantThemes.com . Price: $ 89 / year or $ 249 / lifetime Elegant Themes is arguably the most popular WordPress theme club in the industry. With over 500,000 satisfied customers, the theme page has over 87 beautiful and breathtaking themes to choose from. Also, you can download premium plugins that will charge your online business. The subscription to Elegant Theme is affordable enough. You can access all of the topics on unlimited websites for $ 69 per year. If you want to use the plugins too, you'll have to pay $ 89 / year. If you love sleek designs, the Lifetime Schedule can be purchased for a one-time payment of $ 249. My overall experience with Elegant Themes has been positive and I have no problem recommending them. It's affordable and easy to use, and the customization options are nearly endless. Whether you are the casual blogger or a seasoned businessman, Elegant Themes not only allows you to improve the aesthetics of your website, but it also makes your website more navigable and more user-friendly and boost business. StudiopressWordPress themes at Studio Press. Visit: StudioPress.com . Price: $ 129.95 / subject or $ 499.95 / lifetime If you've been a long-time WordPress user, you've probably heard of StudioPress. It's popular for its Genesis Framework , the minimalist and SEO-friendly WordPress framework for all StudioPress themes. StudioPress offers flexible pricing based on your needs. The Genesis framework with a child theme is available for a one-time payment of $ 59.99. The premium theme, which includes the Genesis Framework, is $ 99 each. If you want access to all of the themes, you can pay $ 499. Craftsman themesReady made websites offered by Artisan Themes. Visit: ArtisanThemes.io . Price: $ 129- $ 389 / subject Artisan Themes is no ordinary WordPress theme club. Instead of downloading themes with ready-made layouts, you can create a theme from scratch in this theme club with over 20 themes, modules (calls to action, tiled displays, portfolio elements, etc.). You can share modules for his subjects. Two of its most functional and contemporary themes are indigo blue and modules . Unlike other WordPress theme sites, you can only buy the themes individually for $ 129 each. Ready made websites are great for people who don't want to customize a WordPress theme. Just select the theme that best describes your business so you can get it up and running in minutes. You can only use the finished sites if you have installed the design from the shop as stated. WordPress Themes MarketplaceThe WordPress Themes Marketplace allows you to choose and buy professionally designed themes from multiple providers. Because WordPress has such a large user base, there are actually a number of great marketplaces (and thousands of vendors and developers) to choose from. For example, my personal favorite - Envato Market has a large collection of premium WordPress themes organized by theme, date of addition, user ratings and price. Envato Marketplace (formerly known as Theme Forest) has tens of thousands of professionally developed WordPress themes ( continue to ). Chapter 3. Adding functionality with pluginsWhat is the WordPress plugin?A plugin is an add-on application that runs on top of WordPress and adds new features to a WordPress blog. There are more than 55,000 plugins in WordPress.org's Official Plugins Directory at the moment, and tens of thousands more available in other markets. Bloggers use the plugin to add all sorts of features to their WordPress blog. For example you can:
In case this is your first time using WordPress, here are some essential (and free) plugins to start with: Plugins for security and spam protectionFor security and spam protection - Akismet , Vault Presse , WordFence and iThemes Security are the plugins I recommend. Akismet is one of the oldest plugins that come standard with your WordPress. This plugin allows you to check all your comments against their service to see if they are spam. It collects all spam messages and allows you to review them in the "Comments" administration screen of your blog. Vault Press, on the other hand, is a real-time backup and security scan service developed by Automattic. With this plugin you can backup and synchronize all your posts, comments, media files, revisions and dashboard settings on the servers. WordFence and iThemes Security are plugins that combine all the necessary security functions of WordPress. The main function of this plugin is to increase the security of a blog without worrying about conflicting features or missing elements on your website or blog. Learn More: Here are a number of other simple things you can do to protect your WordPress blog Plugins for better blog performanceWhen it comes to optimizing blog performance, W3 Total Cache and Fast Performance are the most popular options. The other two performance plugins that you should also investigate are: Cloudflare and WP Super Cache . Cloud Flare is a free plug-in from the CDN company Cloud Flare. While WP Super Cache is being developed by Donncha and Automattic, the company that WordPress now develops and operates. A cache plugin is a must in the modern blogging world. It greatly improves the user experience by increasing server performance, reducing download time, and increasing page load speed. If your blog has a lot of images in it, consider adding EWWW Image Optimizer . It's a one-click image optimizer that you can use to optimize the image files in your library. It also has the auto image compression feature to reduce the size of the images when you upload them. Optimizing images can reduce page loading times and improve website performance. Learn More: 8 Actionable Tips to Speed Up Your Website Search engine optimization pluginsAlthough WordPress is an SEO friendly blogging platform, there is still a lot more you can do to improve your basic SEO results on site with the help of plugins. WordPress SEO developed by Yoast and All In One SEO-Pack developed by Michael Torbert are two very good additions to your list of plugins. Learn More: SEO 101 For First Time Bloggers Plugin for Gutenberg blocksWith the introduction of the Gutenberg editor in WordPress 5.0, bloggers can now create content using a block-based editor. By default, WordPress offers a number of basic content blocks such as paragraphs, images, calls-to-action, shortcodes, etc. By adding Gutenberg block plugins, you can add more engaging elements to your blog (e.g. FAQ, accordion, author profile, carousel, click-to-tweets, GIF blocks, etc.). Stackable , Ultimate Blocks, and CoBlocks There are three simple and free Gutenberg block plugins to try out. Chapter 4. Finding a Niche and Creating ContentThis is how a newbie typically starts a blog: They write about their work on Monday, hobbies on Tuesday, movies they saw on Wednesday, and political views on the weekends. In short, these people just write on a variety of topics with no main focus. Yes, these blogs would garner a steady following among their friends and families. but that was it. It is very difficult to have a large number of loyal readers when you happen to be blogging because people do not know if you are a film critic, a reviewer, or a book critic. Advertisers are also reluctant to advertise with you as they don't know what you are about. To build a successful blog, you have to find a niche. In order to find the right blogging niche, here are the key points to keep in mind. 1. Meet a needIf you've ever thought, "I wish someone blogged about it," this is the a-ha moment. If it's a topic you'd like to learn more about, then it's probably something other people want to know about. What is your unique knowledge? How can you offer something unique to the subject that no one else can? It could even be through an interview with an expert. Example: Gina's blog, Hugging Imperfect, focuses on helping mothers raise children with special needs. 2. Something that you are passionate aboutRemember that for the next few years you will be writing, reading, and talking about your topic every day. If you are not interested in your blog topic, it would be very difficult to stay constant. You are also happy to write about these topics. 3rd Topic That Has Perseverance (Evergreen Content)While the controversy is great, it doesn't ensure your topic is here next week. For example, if you are very interested in Vine and you start a blog on the subject, you will be ripped from its content when it is no longer. It's a good idea to focus on a more general topic, such as "Social Media Trends" or "Image Apps That Rock". So when a fad goes out of style, your blog can always keep an eye out to see what replaces it. 4. ProfitableYour blog needs to be in a make money niche . Ask yourself if this is a topic that will attract readers and generate income - whether through advertising or sales. If you're blogging to support your existing business, is the blog bringing in new customers? Is there any way to monetize your custom blog if you're blogging just out of passion for the subject? I use SpyFu , a pay per click advertising tool that is sometimes used to estimate the profitability of a niche. My logic behind this: If advertisers pay thousands of dollars to Google AdWords, then money has to be made in this area. Here are two examples I found: Example # 1: These are the advertising stats for a sportswear manufacturer (think sports brands like Adidas or New Balance, but smaller). According to Spyfu, this company was spending more than $ 100,000 a month on Adwords. Example # 2: This is the ad stats for an IT solutions provider. There were about 20 other big players in that niche. In particular, this company has bought ads on 3,846 keywords on Google and spent about $ 60,000 per month. Learn More: Gina and I discussed at length how to find the right blogging niche for you in this article - give it a try if you need more help. How to consistently write good contentI remember before I started blogging professionally that most successful bloggers and writers out there have to do a magic trick that gets them to say amazing words every day. I figured bloggers, writers, journalists, and novelists just need to have a brain that's wired up like that. I couldn't have been further from the truth. I've found that content isn't just about a good idea, fact, or topic. It's about what you do with it and how you present it.
Below are three fresh ideas that are great ways to talk about the topic of your blog.
These simple phrases are designed to get your brain jogging and get your creative juices flowing. When you have no ideas, you can turn to these prompts and come up with something to write about. For the prompts above, accept the title and fill in the blank field. This will serve as your idea for a new article. There are hundreds of ways to exit any command prompt. Even if you don't have new ideas, these prompts will never expose you to this problem again. Learn More: How to Write at least one great piece of content a week on a regular basis Chapter 5. Grow Your Blog ReadershipThe sad truth for a lot of bloggers out there is that it took them too much time building their readership. It can take months to get the first 1,000 pageviews, and some very specialized blogs never seem to get there. Here are five basic strategies you can use to keep your blog running up to 1,000 page views from day 1. Write something that people want to readPeople are drowning in social media updates, news feeds, emails, and all kinds of promos. It's getting harder and harder to get people to read your content. But you can still do it well if you know who your ideal audience is and what they're looking for. Think about the void in your niche, what type of content is missing, and how you can add more value to your audience. Here are things that can help you with your research:
Connect with your community"Shared and Done" is no longer the name of the game. You have to share your posts over and over again. If you're invited to a group Pinterest forum that fits your niche, log in and comment often. If you join a list of like-minded bloggers, the chances are that the bloggers will share on a regular basis - weekly or daily. This will help increase your readership and engagement. Consistently find your tribe - reward and connect with other members in it. Help out on Twitter parties. Comment on other members' posts. Share articles in your newsletters. Round off your favorite blogs and reward them by posting them every week or every month. Ask how you can help someone with a guest post or guest post. Sell their products, use the links to your partners, advertise their links on your social media and tag them. As there is an opportunity to recruit bloggers, those bloggers will remember your help and invite you to participate. Make sure your blog is easy to readI get frustrated when I find a blog with a title. I'm totally excited to find just the content with a large block of text, a few paragraphs, no headings or bullets, and tiny fonts. That drives me away. In addition to what I experienced above, your blog shouldn't be burdening readers with pop-ups and click-throughs. Instead, present the content skillfully to your readers. Know your readers' time constraints and what makes them stay on your website. Here are some things you can do to make your blog easier to read:
Comment on the blogFirst and foremost, commenting on blogs is probably the most overlooked method of building blog traffic - especially since people are bad at having high quality, meaningful conversations with strangers (myself included). However, commenting on blogs is a high quality method of generating traffic that happens to be free too - I can't argue about that! There are two golden rules for commenting on blogs:
When you leave a link, you are not only including your blog's url, but also another rule (possibly not a golden rule). Instead, link to your own relevant post that adds value to the original post and discussion. Relevance is the key here. Q & A-PlattformenForums and Q&A platforms are great places to put yourself in front of your relevant, interested audience. The trick is to monitor ongoing conversations in your niche so you can tune in when you have something helpful to say (and no, not every post is going to be an opportunity - but some will). You need a good feed reader like Feedly for this to work. Can't find an exact fit or not enough current options? Create custom content relevant to a particularly hot conversation. For example, if asked how to do something with .htaccess code, you could write a tutorial and post it on your blog. Then, in the "Questions and Answers" section of the website, respond to the requester with a teaser and link it to your blog for the full codes and demos. If one person asks the question, others are likely to have the same question - and your forum reply and link will also advise them in due course. Regarding the Q&A platforms to use, I recommend
Learn more: The growth of your blog is a broad topic - I have a written manual for enhancing your blog with 6,000 words , read it when you have learned the basics. Chapter 6. Make Money BloggingI'm sure you've heard of some blogger success stories by now - people who started a blog and made it rich a few years later. Peter Cashmore, founder of Mashable, makes about $ 7.2 million a year and TechCrunch's Michael Arrington makes about $ 10 million a year. Pat Flynn, blogger at Smart Passive Income, makes hundreds of thousands a month. Pinch of Yum's Lindsay and Bjork had sales of more than $ 85,000 in one month. While you won't become Daddy Warbucks overnight, you can definitely monetize your blog and start making some cash. The first step in monetizing your blog is deciding what your limits are.
Be careful because if website visitors and search engines see your website as spam, you will get a ranking hit. Once you've established some guidelines for the types and numbers of ads you'll accept, it's time to consider some ways to monetize your blog. Also Read: Find More Ways To Monetize Your Blog And Read Kevin Muldoon's Case Study On Selling BloggingTips.com For $ 60,000 . 1. Direct mailDirect mail may be the fastest way to get the income from your blog. Simply put; You provide space on your blog for outside companies to advertise a monthly, quarterly, or annual fee. You can choose which companies to advertise, where the ads will appear, and how much space they will take up on your blog. The following requirements apply to your blog in order to attract advertisers to your website:
How do i startFirst, you'll create a media kit, a one-page informational guide that potential advertisers can use to get to know your blog at a glance. It should include measuring all of your social media numbers (followers, engagement rates, etc), blog page views and unique visitors, and information about your target audience and niche. There are a variety of standard ad sizes for the web. The bigger the ad, the more you should be charging. Usually advertisements are sold month to month. Find sizes that will work for your blog. You don't want to immediately commit yourself to a large ranking at the top of your blog and then find that visitors are being chased away. The most common ad sizes (in pixels) are 125 x 125 px, 150 x 150 px or 300 x 300 px. There are many other options, however. Think about how much real estate you want to give up on your blog, ad position, and run time. Standard sizes for banner advertising. 2. Affiliate-MarketingAffiliate marketing is a performance driven business where companies pay people to advertise their products - these people are known as affiliates. Most affiliates pay affiliates through cost per action (CPA). This means that the partner earns money with every action. This usually takes the form of a sale (when someone buys something) or a lead (when someone signs up for something, e.g. newsletter, free trial, registration, etc.). Also Read - How To Start Affiliate Marketing How do i startAs a new blogger, the best way to get into affiliate marketing is by joining affiliate networks. Sites like CJ Partner or Shareasale represent a range of products from multiple vendors. They also provide useful tools for new bloggers to use to track sales and act as an intermediary to ensure fair pay. Which partner product should be advertised?Choosing which affiliate product to advertise is just a question of "chicken or egg". It depends on which direction you prefer to go. Many bloggers often create content on topics they are passionate about - and look for related partner products to aid in content creation. Alternatively, you can also target a specific niche that you think is a good fit for you and target your content around those products. Note that different types of products often have very different commissions for affiliates. Retail products tend to be very low in commission and your earnings depend heavily on being able to push large quantities of these products. Large ticket commissions are usually incurred for services or digital goods such as subscriptions and software. To get a better idea of how well some products work, you can use your partner network data as a guide. Alternatively, an estimate of interest can also be obtained from web tools such as Google Trends . Example: Merchant details - including the average 30 day sales and commission paid - are published on Shareasale . 3. Selling Premium ContentIf you don't like selling other people's products, consider creating your own products that you can sell. Whether it's new software to help a business owner, cooking utensils, or tutorial, there are many different items you can create and display on your website. Digital downloadsThe most common articles are e-books and instructional videos. These articles are based solely on your knowledge of your niche area. They go a little deeper than short blog posts or offer very specific information. It's easy to get e-books through platforms like Amazon Kindle Publishing and SmashWords . Membership PagesTip: Check Out Nexcess WPQuickStart Powered by LiquidWeb - Nexcess WPQuickStart offers an all-in solution that covers everything from hosting to marketing your member site business for one very affordable price. Try a 30-day free trial version with a money-back guarantee Speaking of technical information, some blog owners choose to have a separate, membership-based area where the best articles or videos are posted. Those who are a member can access this information. You can entice people to sign up for membership by offering a brief excerpt to entice the reader to subscribe. There are a few keys that will help make your member area more successful:
Members are created by Copyblogger, in which readers have to register in order to access premium content ( see example ). Chapter 7. Using Free Blogging ToolsAlthough useful free tools and web services are available online, the problem is finding them among all the other junk and / or outdated tools. As a parting gift for reading my guide so far, I'll provide you with a list of free tools that we at WHSR use all the time. Good luck and I wish you every success on your blogging journey. To write
image editing
Free Stock Photos & Images
References & research
Social Media, Marketing and SEO
Web Analytics & Productivity
Website speed test
Frequently asked questions about blogging1. How much does it cost to start a blog? The estimated cost of starting a blog that includes a domain name and web hosting is under $ 100 per year (less than $ 10 per month). These costs are based on a self-hosted blog (using WordPress). The breakdown of the cost would be: $ 15 per year for a .com domain name and about $ 60 per year for the web hosting fee. 2. How are bloggers paid? To get a better picture of how bloggers are paid, I've divided them into two types: one, you work directly with customers or advertisers, and the other, you participate in a program offered by a company or network. When you deal with customers or advertisers directly, you have more control over pricing. You can make money by using premium content (member site), direct mail, selling your product and selling more . 3. How do I start a free blog? There are numerous platforms on which you can create a free blog today, including WordPress.com, Tumblr, or Blogger. To create a free blog, all you have to do is sign up and start posting your content. 4. What's the catch behind a free blogging platform? Nothing is free in our world. A free blogging platform has a number of disadvantages. For every platform there are rules that you need to be aware of. Your blog's domain name appears to be a subdomain like "myblogname.wordpress.com" or "myblogname.tumblr.com". There are limited features, plugins, and topic choices that you can make for your blog. Last but not least, free platforms limit the ability to monetize your blog, so I highly recommend starting your blog with a self-hosted WordPress.org (as described in this guide). In addition to overcoming the limitations of free blogging, the potential growth of your blog is unlimited. Introduction: Why Read This Blogging Guide?I founded Web Hosting Secrets Revealed (WHSR) back in 2008 and thanks in part to the great welcome from the blog community, we've grown stronger. Since then, WHSR has grown into one of the leading web hosting advice sites on the internet and I have attracted some of the strongest voices in contemporary blogging from the brand - all of them have contributed to this book and the website it's the go-to place for anyone who who embark on the self-hosted blogging route. With this no-nonsense guide, I am offering you some of the fastest, most understandable, and most importantly, most effective solutions to your blogging problems - from personal experience and from the minds of people who enjoy what they do. "I" in the blogging sceneMy Author Profile Page at Problogger.net - I posted on the site regularly between 2014 and 2017. Presentation at the WordPress Meetup Kuala Lumpur, 2019. So ... is blogging still worth it in 2021?The phrase "it's worth it" can be very subjective. Blogging is very versatile, and potentially useful for making money, promoting business, or just spending your time. To be completely honest, the real value of blogging depends on the individual. 1. Make money onlineThere are many ways for blogs to make money and today ( more on this in my point # 6 ) the opportunities are even greater for the able. Consumers these days increasingly see influencers as a source of trustworthy information. Companies have also recognized this. Brands have shown their willingness to work closely with well-known bloggers. For example, Somersby's last marketing campaign worked with Polish bloggers . The result was a success for both the brand and the bloggers. As another example of this WPX hosting, Matthew Woodward has been named the "official mascot" for product promotion by SEO Bloggers. Your chances lie in the niche you choose as well as the strength of your audience. 2. Business PromotionMany companies make the mistake of believing that a good looking official website is enough for a digital presence. However, it has been shown that companies that blog have an average of 55% more visitors and 434% more pages indexed in search engines . More pages indexed means a higher chance of ranking well on search, which leads to more traffic. Usually, the more visitors you have, the higher your conversion volume. In fact, many B2B marketers believe that blogging is the most important type of content online. 3. Just for funEveryone needs a hobby and if you don't take things too seriously, blogging is basically free. There are a number of decent free web hosting providers out there, many of which even offer a free subdomain. Even if you want something that does a little better, it can be done for less than $ 100 a year. Not only can you get information out to a wide audience, but there's a good chance you'll acquire supporting skills - photo editing, SEO, and more. Now that we've set up the stage, let's get started! Chapter 1. Setting up a blog from scratchTo start a self-hosted blog, you first need a domain name and web hosting account. Your domain is the name of your blog. It is not something physical that can be touched or seen. just a string of characters that gives your website an identity - like the title of a book or a place. Your domain tells your visitors what type of blog they are visiting. Web hosting, on the other hand, is where you store your blog content - words, blog topics, pictures, videos, etc. Domain names - where to register?You can select and register your domain names through a domain registrar. Los Papa and NameCheap are two of the most popular registrars out there. Note that it is important to separate domain registration from your web host. Just because your web host is offering a free domain doesn't mean you should let the hosting company control your domain registration. Personally, I use NameCheap to manage my domain registrations. But all other reputable domain registrars should be fine. This way I can change my domain DNS at any time and avoid getting banned with a specific web host. I strongly recommend that you do the same for your own protection. Web hosting - where do you want your blog to be hosted?For starters, I recommend starting small with a shared web host. With Shared Hosting - Although the hosting resources are smaller compared to others (VPS, Cloud etc), you will need less budget (often <$ 5 / month to sign up) and technical knowledge to start with. When To Choose A Web Host For Your Blog These Are The Five Factors:
Recommended blog hosting for newbiesHostingerHostinger plans start at $ 1.39 / month for single site hosting and $ 2.59 / month for unlimited site hosting.Visit the website: https://www.hostinger.com/ Hostinger is one of the cheapest web hosts in the world, especially during your honeymoon. While Hostinger is a budget hosting company, it offers tons of premium hosting features that are great for bloggers. A2 HostingA2 hosting starts at $ 2.99 / month. Visit the website: https://www.a2hosting.com/ A2 hosting is fast, reliable and cheap. There are three types of shared hosting: Lite, Swift and Turbo. Lite - the plan I recommend to new bloggers, allows users to host 1 website, 5 databases, and 25 email accounts. Point domain DNS to your web hostNext, you'll need to update the DNS record at the domain registrar (where you registered your domain in Step 1) to point to your web host's servers (InMotion Hosting, Hostinger, or SiteGround). DNS stands for Domain Name System and is used to direct every incoming user to the IP address of the server. When a user types "WebHostingSecretRevealed.net" the DNS records will get my web host's IP address and serve my website to the user. Example: Pointing a website to InMotion Hosting name servers on GoDaddy. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to update your blog DNS at Los Papa or Namecheap . Install WordPress on your web hostTo start blogging with WordPress, you need to first install the system on your web host. This can be done manually or automatically with a one-click installation app. Both of these methods are pretty straightforward and easy to do. WordPress manual installationAt a glance, here are the steps you need to do:
WordPress One-Click-InstallationMost bloggers these days no longer install WordPress manually. With the support of one-click installation services like Softaculous and Mojo Marketplace (depending on which web host you are using), the installation process is very simple and can be done with just a few clicks. For your reference, the following figures show where the auto-install feature is located on your Hostinger dashboard. To install WordPress, just click the circled icon and follow the instructions for dummy protection. Your WordPress system should be up and running in less than 5 minutes. Example: With Hostinger Auto Installer you can install WordPress on your web host with just a few clicks ( visit Hostinger here ). Things might look different for different web hosts, but the process is basically the same. So if you are not using any of these hosts that I am showing here, don't worry. Why WordPress?Personally, I think WordPress is the best blogging platform for newbies. Based on stats from Built With, over 95% of blogs in the US are created using WordPress . Worldwide there are almost 27 billion blogs running on WordPress . Find your WordPress administration page and log inOnce you've installed your WordPress system, you will be given a URL that you can use to log into your WordPress admin page. In most cases the url will be something like this (depending on the folder where you installed WordPress): http://www.exampleblog.com/wp-admin Go to this url and log in with your preset username and password. From there, you are now in the back-end (dashboard) of your WordPress site - this is the part of the blog that only you as the administrator can access. Creating a new blog post in the new WordPress Gutenberg. The latest version of WordPress at the time of writing is version 5.3.2 - by default you are using WordPress Gutenberg as your text editor. Gutenberg brings a lot of flexibility to the WordPress platform. This is especially useful for beginners as many things like setting background colors and more no longer require coding. The block system also helps manage the item layout. To write and post a new post, simply navigate to the left sidebar, click "Posts"> "Add New" and you will be taken to the writing screen. Click Preview to preview things (what your readers will see) in the front end. Once the post is complete, click Publish. Hi! You have now published your first blog post. Pro Tip : It's a good idea to bookmark your WordPress wp-admin login url as you will be stopping by here very often. Chapter 2. Designing Your Blog Look and FeelNow that we've got the bare WordPress done, it's time to take a deeper dive. Like any CMS, a WordPress blog is made up of 3 main elements:
To design or customize a blog outlook, all we need to do is customize a number of PHP and CSS files, which are usually located in the / wp-content / themes / directory. These files are separate from the WordPress core systems and can be changed as often as you like. Most individual bloggers don't create their own blog topics from scratch. Rather, most of us pick a ready-made (or raw) theme and tailor it to our needs. There are an infinite number of beautiful WordPress themes related to the internet - a simple search on Google will bring you to millions. The first time you're creating a WordPress blog, you should start with a pre-made theme and tweak it along the way. Here you can get ready-made WordPress designs:
We'll look at each of the following options. Offizielles WordPress Theme DirectoryVisit: WordPress Themes Directory Get all of the free WordPress themes here. The designs listed in this directory follow very strict standards provided by the WordPress developers. So, in my opinion, this is the best place to get free, error-free designs. Paid WordPress Themes ClubAnother way to get high quality paid themes is to subscribe to WordPress theme clubs. If this is your first time hearing about themed clubs, here's how it works: you pay a fixed fee to join the club and you get different designs that are on sale in the clubs. The themes offered in the Theme Club are usually professionally designed and regularly updated. Elegant Themes , Studio Press, and Artisan Themes are three WordPress themes that I recommend. There are a lot more others out there - some clubs even cater to a specific industry, e.g. B. Brokers or schools. However, only three are covered in this article. Recommended WordPress Themes Clubs for newbiesElegant ThemesElegant Themes Samples - 80+ premium WordPress themes, click here to view the latest theme demos . Visit: ElegantThemes.com . Price: $ 89 / year or $ 249 / lifetime Elegant Themes is arguably the most popular WordPress theme club in the industry. With over 500,000 satisfied customers, the theme page has over 87 beautiful and breathtaking themes to choose from. Also, you can download premium plugins that will charge your online business. The subscription to Elegant Theme is affordable enough. You can access all of the topics on unlimited websites for $ 69 per year. If you want to use the plugins too, you'll have to pay $ 89 / year. If you love sleek designs, the Lifetime Schedule can be purchased for a one-time payment of $ 249. My overall experience with Elegant Themes has been positive and I have no problem recommending them. It's affordable and easy to use, and the customization options are nearly endless. Whether you are the casual blogger or a seasoned businessman, Elegant Themes not only allows you to improve the aesthetics of your website, but it also makes your website more navigable and more user-friendly and boost business. StudiopressWordPress themes at Studio Press. Visit: StudioPress.com . Price: $ 129.95 / subject or $ 499.95 / lifetime If you've been a long-time WordPress user, you've probably heard of StudioPress. It's popular for its Genesis Framework , the minimalist and SEO-friendly WordPress framework for all StudioPress themes. StudioPress offers flexible pricing based on your needs. The Genesis framework with a child theme is available for a one-time payment of $ 59.99. The premium theme, which includes the Genesis Framework, is $ 99 each. If you want access to all of the themes, you can pay $ 499. Craftsman themesReady made websites offered by Artisan Themes. Visit: ArtisanThemes.io . Price: $ 129- $ 389 / subject Artisan Themes is no ordinary WordPress theme club. Instead of downloading themes with ready-made layouts, you can create a theme from scratch in this theme club with over 20 themes, modules (calls to action, tiled displays, portfolio elements, etc.). You can share modules for his subjects. Two of its most functional and contemporary themes are indigo blue and modules . Unlike other WordPress theme sites, you can only buy the themes individually for $ 129 each. Ready made websites is great for people who don't want to customize a WordPress theme. Just select the theme that best describes your business so you can get it up and running in minutes. You can only use the finished sites if you have installed the design from the shop as stated. WordPress Themes MarketplaceThe WordPress Themes Marketplace allows you to choose and buy professionally designed themes from multiple providers. Because WordPress has such a large user base, there are actually a number of great marketplaces (and thousands of vendors and developers) to choose from. For example, my personal favorite - Envato Market has a large collection of premium WordPress themes organized by theme, date of addition, user ratings and price. Envato Marketplace (formerly known as Theme Forest) has tens of thousands of professionally developed WordPress themes ( continue to ). Chapter 3. Adding functionality with pluginsWhat is the WordPress plugin?A plugin is an add-on application that runs on top of WordPress and adds new features to a WordPress blog. There are more than 55,000 plugins in WordPress.org's Official Plugins Directory at the moment, and tens of thousands more available in other markets. Bloggers use the plugin to add all sorts of features to their WordPress blog. For example you can:
In case this is your first time using WordPress, here are some essential (and free) plugins to start with: Plugins for security and spam protectionFor security and spam protection - Akismet , Vault Presse , WordFence and iThemes Security are the plugins I recommend. Akismet is one of the oldest plugins that come standard with your WordPress. This plugin allows you to check all your comments against their service to see if they are spam. It collects all spam messages and allows you to review them in the "Comments" administration screen of your blog. Vault Press, on the other hand, is a real-time backup and security scan service developed by Automattic. With this plugin you can backup and synchronize all your posts, comments, media files, revisions and dashboard settings on the servers. WordFence and iThemes Security are plugins that combine all the necessary security functions of WordPress. The main function of this plugin is to increase the security of a blog without worrying about conflicting features or missing elements on your website or blog. Learn More: Here are a number of other simple things you can do to protect your WordPress blog Plugins for better blog performanceWhen it comes to optimizing blog performance, W3 Total Cache and Fast Performance are the most popular options. The other two performance plugins that you should also investigate are: Cloudflare and WP Super Cache . Cloud Flare is a free plug-in from the CDN company Cloud Flare. While WP Super Cache is being developed by Donncha and Automattic, the company that WordPress now develops and operates. A cache plugin is a must in the modern blogging world. It greatly improves the user experience by increasing server performance, reducing download time, and increasing page load speed. If your blog has a lot of images in it, consider adding EWWW Image Optimizer . It's a one-click image optimizer that you can use to optimize the image files in your library. It also has the auto image compression feature to reduce the size of the images when you upload them. Optimizing images can reduce page loading times and improve website performance. Learn More: 8 Actionable Tips to Speed Up Your Website Search engine optimization pluginsAlthough WordPress is an SEO friendly blogging platform, there is still a lot more you can do to improve your basic SEO results on site with the help of plugins. WordPress SEO developed by Yoast and All In One SEO-Pack developed by Michael Torbert are two very good additions to your list of plugins. Learn More: SEO 101 For First Time Bloggers Plugin for Gutenberg blocksWith the introduction of the Gutenberg editor in WordPress 5.0, bloggers can now create content using a block-based editor. By default, WordPress offers a number of basic content blocks such as paragraphs, images, calls-to-action, shortcodes, etc. By adding Gutenberg block plugins, you can add more engaging elements to your blog (e.g. FAQ, accordion, author profile, carousel, click-to-tweets, GIF blocks, etc.). Stackable , Ultimate Blocks, and CoBlocks There are three simple and free Gutenberg block plugins to try out. Chapter 4. Finding a Niche and Creating ContentThis is how a newbie typically starts a blog: They write about their work on Monday, hobbies on Tuesday, movies they saw on Wednesday, and political views on the weekends. In short, these people just write on a variety of topics with no main focus. Yes, these blogs would garner a steady following among their friends and families. but that was it. It is very difficult to have a large number of loyal readers when you happen to be blogging because people do not know if you are a film critic, a reviewer, or a book critic. Advertisers are also reluctant to advertise with you as they don't know what you are about. To build a successful blog, you have to find a niche. In order to find the right blogging niche, here are the key points to keep in mind. 1. Meet a needIf you've ever thought, "I wish someone blogged about it," this is the a-ha moment. If it's a topic you'd like to learn more about, then it's probably something other people want to know about. What is your unique knowledge? How can you offer something unique to the subject that no one else can? It could even be through an interview with an expert. Example: Gina's blog, Hugging Imperfect, focuses on helping mothers raise children with special needs. 2. Something that you are passionate aboutRemember that for the next few years you will be writing, reading, and talking about your topic every day. If you are not interested in your blog topic, it would be very difficult to stay constant. You are also happy to write about these topics. 3rd Topic That Has Perseverance (Evergreen Content)While the controversy is great, it doesn't ensure your topic is here next week. For example, if you are very interested in Vine and you start a blog on the subject, you will be ripped from its content when it is no longer. It's a good idea to focus on a more general topic, such as "Social Media Trends" or "Image Apps That Rock". So when a fad goes out of style, your blog can always keep an eye out to see what replaces it. 4. ProfitableYour blog needs to be in a make money niche . Ask yourself if this is a topic that will attract readers and generate income - whether through advertising or sales. If you're blogging to support your existing business, is the blog bringing in new customers? Is there any way to monetize your custom blog if you're blogging just out of passion for the subject? I use SpyFu , a pay per click advertising tool that is sometimes used to estimate the profitability of a niche. My logic behind this: If advertisers pay thousands of dollars to Google AdWords, then money has to be made in this area. Here are two examples I found: Example # 1: These are the advertising stats for a sportswear manufacturer (think sports brands like Adidas or New Balance, but smaller). According to Spyfu, this company was spending more than $ 100,000 a month on Adwords. Example # 2: This is the ad stats for an IT solutions provider. There were about 20 other big players in that niche. In particular, this company has bought ads on 3,846 keywords on Google and spent about $ 60,000 per month. Learn More: Gina and I discussed at length how to find the right blogging niche for you in this article - give it a try if you need more help. How to consistently write good contentI remember before I started blogging professionally that most successful bloggers and writers out there have to do a magic trick that gets them to say amazing words every day. I figured bloggers, writers, journalists, and novelists just need to have a brain that's wired up like that. I couldn't have been further from the truth. I've found that content isn't just about a good idea, fact, or topic. It's about what you do with it and how you present it.
Below are three fresh ideas that are great ways to talk about the topic of your blog.
These simple phrases are designed to get your brain jogging and get your creative juices flowing. When you have no ideas, you can turn to these prompts and come up with something to write about. For the prompts above, accept the title and fill in the blank field. This will serve as your idea for a new article. There are hundreds of ways to exit any command prompt. Even if you don't have new ideas, these prompts will never expose you to this problem again. Learn More: How to Write at least one great piece of content a week on a regular basis Chapter 5. Grow Your Blog ReadershipThe sad truth for a lot of bloggers out there is that it took them too much time building their readership. It can take months to get the first 1,000 pageviews, and some very specialized blogs never seem to get there. Here are five basic strategies you can use to keep your blog running up to 1,000 page views from day 1. Write something that people want to readPeople are drowning in social media updates, news feeds, emails, and all kinds of promos. It's getting harder and harder to get people to read your content. But you can still do it well if you know who your ideal audience is and what they're looking for. Think about the void in your niche, what type of content is missing, and how you can add more value to your audience. Here are things that can help you with your research:
Connect with your community"Shared and Done" is no longer the name of the game. You have to share your posts over and over again. If you're invited to a group Pinterest forum that fits your niche, log in and comment often. If you join a list of like-minded bloggers, the chances are that the bloggers will share on a regular basis - weekly or daily. This will help increase your readership and engagement. Consistently find your tribe - reward and connect with other members in it. Help out on Twitter parties. Comment on other members' posts. Share articles in your newsletters. Round off your favorite blogs and reward them by posting them every week or every month. Ask how you can help someone with a guest post or guest post. Sell their products, use the links to your partners, advertise their links on your social media and tag them. As there is an opportunity to recruit bloggers, those bloggers will remember your help and invite you to participate. Make sure your blog is easy to readI get frustrated when I find a blog with a title. I'm totally excited to find just the content with a large block of text, a few paragraphs, no headings or bullets, and tiny fonts. That drives me away. In addition to what I experienced above, your blog shouldn't be burdening readers with pop-ups and click-throughs. Instead, present the content skillfully to your readers. Know your readers' time constraints and what makes them stay on your website. Here are some things you can do to make your blog easier to read:
Comment on the blogFirst and foremost, commenting on blogs is probably the most overlooked method of building blog traffic - especially since people are bad at having high quality, meaningful conversations with strangers (myself included). However, commenting on blogs is a high quality method of generating traffic that happens to be free too - I can't argue about that! There are two golden rules for commenting on blogs:
When you leave a link, you are not only including your blog's url, but also another rule (possibly not a golden rule). Instead, link to your own relevant post that adds value to the original post and discussion. Relevance is the key here. Q & A-PlattformenForums and Q&A platforms are great places to put yourself in front of your relevant, interested audience. The trick is to monitor ongoing conversations in your niche so you can tune in when you have something helpful to say (and no, not every post is going to be an opportunity - but some will). You need a good feed reader like Feedly for this to work. Can't find an exact fit or not enough current options? Create custom content relevant to a particularly hot conversation. For example, if asked how to do something with .htaccess code, you could write a tutorial and post it on your blog. Then, in the "Questions and Answers" section of the website, respond to the requester with a teaser and link it to your blog for the full codes and demos. If one person asks the question, others are likely to have the same question - and your forum reply and link will also advise them in due course. Regarding the Q&A platforms to use, I recommend
Learn more: The growth of your blog is a broad topic - I have a written manual for enhancing your blog with 6,000 words , read it necessarily when you have learned the basics. Chapter 6. Make Money BloggingI'm sure you've heard of some blogger success stories by now - people who started a blog and made it rich a few years later. Peter Cashmore, founder of Mashable, makes about $ 7.2 million a year and TechCrunch's Michael Arrington makes about $ 10 million a year. Pat Flynn, blogger at Smart Passive Income, makes hundreds of thousands a month. Pinch of Yum's Lindsay and Bjork had sales of more than $ 85,000 in one month. While you won't become Daddy Warbucks overnight, you can definitely monetize your blog and start making some cash. The first step in monetizing your blog is deciding what your limits are.
Be careful because if website visitors and search engines see your website as spam, you will get a ranking hit. Once you've established some guidelines for the types and numbers of ads you'll accept, it's time to consider some ways to monetize your blog. Also Read: Find More Ways To Monetize Your Blog And Read Kevin Muldoon's Case Study On Selling BloggingTips.com For $ 60,000 . 1. Direct mailDirect mail may be the fastest way to get the income from your blog. Simply put; You provide space on your blog for outside companies to advertise a monthly, quarterly, or annual fee. You can choose which companies to advertise, where the ads will appear, and how much space they will take up on your blog. The following requirements apply to your blog in order to attract advertisers to your website:
How do i startFirst, you'll create a media kit, a one-page informational guide that potential advertisers can use to get to know your blog at a glance. It should include measuring all of your social media numbers (followers, engagement rates, etc), blog page views and unique visitors, and information about your target audience and niche. There are a variety of standard ad sizes for the web. The bigger the ad, the more you should be charging. Usually advertisements are sold month to month. Find sizes that will work for your blog. You don't want to immediately commit yourself to a large ranking at the top of your blog and then find that visitors are being chased away. The most common ad sizes (in pixels) are 125 x 125 px, 150 x 150 px or 300 x 300 px. There are many other options, however. Think about how much real estate you want to give up on your blog, ad position, and run time. Standard sizes for banner advertising. 2. Affiliate-MarketingAffiliate marketing is a performance driven business where companies pay people to advertise their products - these people are known as affiliates. Most affiliates pay affiliates through cost per action (CPA). This means that the partner earns money with every action. This usually takes the form of a sale (when someone buys something) or a lead (when someone signs up for something, e.g. newsletter, free trial, registration, etc.). Also Read - How To Start Affiliate Marketing How do i startAs a new blogger, the best way to get into affiliate marketing is by joining affiliate networks. Sites like CJ Partner or Shareasale represent a range of products from multiple vendors. They also provide useful tools for new bloggers to use to track sales and act as an intermediary to ensure fair pay. Which partner product should be advertised?Choosing which affiliate product to advertise is just a question of "chicken or egg". It depends on which direction you prefer to go. Many bloggers often create content on topics they are passionate about - and look for related partner products to aid in content creation. Alternatively, you can also target a specific niche that you think is a good fit for you and target your content around those products. Note that different types of products often have very different commissions for affiliates. Retail products tend to be very low in commission and your earnings depend heavily on being able to push large quantities of these products. Large ticket commissions are usually incurred for services or digital goods such as subscriptions and software. To get a better idea of how well some products work, you can use your partner network data as a guide. Alternatively, an estimate of interest can also be obtained from web tools such as Google Trends . Example: Merchant details - including the average 30 day sales and commission paid - are published on Shareasale . 3. Selling Premium ContentIf you don't like selling other people's products, consider creating your own products that you can sell. Whether it's new software to help a business owner, cooking utensils, or tutorial, there are many different items you can create and display on your website. Digital downloadsThe most common articles are e-books and instructional videos. These articles are based solely on your knowledge of your niche area. They go a little deeper than short blog posts or offer very specific information. It's easy to get e-books through platforms like Amazon Kindle Publishing and SmashWords . Membership PagesTip: Check Out Nexcess WPQuickStart Powered by LiquidWeb - Nexcess WPQuickStart offers an all-in solution that covers everything from hosting to marketing your member site business for one very affordable price. Try a 30-day free trial version with a money-back guarantee Speaking of technical information, some blog owners choose to have a separate, membership-based area where the best articles or videos are posted. Those who are a member can access this information. You can entice people to sign up for membership by offering a brief excerpt to entice the reader to subscribe. There are a few keys that will help make your member area more successful:
Members area created by Copyblogger, in which readers have to register in order to access premium content ( see example ). Chapter 7. Using Free Blogging ToolsAlthough useful free tools and web services are available online, the problem is finding them among all the other junk and / or outdated tools. As a parting gift for reading my guide so far, I'll provide you with a list of free tools that we at WHSR use all the time. Good luck and I wish you every success on your blogging journey. To write
image editing
Free Stock Photos & Images
References & research
Social Media, Marketing and SEO
Web Analytics & Productivity
Website speed test
Frequently asked questions about blogging1. How much does it cost to start a blog? The estimated cost of starting a blog that includes a domain name and web hosting is under $ 100 per year (less than $ 10 per month). These costs are based on a self-hosted blog (using WordPress). The breakdown of the cost would be: $ 15 per year for a .com domain name and about $ 60 per year for the web hosting fee. 2. How are bloggers paid? To get a better picture of how bloggers are paid, I've divided them into two types: one, you work directly with customers or advertisers, and the other, you participate in a program offered by a company or network. When you deal with customers or advertisers directly, you have more control over pricing. You can make money by using premium content (member site), direct mail, selling your product and selling more . 3. How do I start a free blog? There are numerous platforms on which you can create a free blog today, including WordPress.com, Tumblr, or Blogger. To create a free blog, all you have to do is sign up and start posting your content. 4. What's the catch behind a free blogging platform? Nothing is free in our world. A free blogging platform has a number of disadvantages. For every platform there are rules that you need to be aware of. Your blog's domain name appears to be a subdomain like "myblogname.wordpress.com" or "myblogname.tumblr.com". There are limited features, plugins, and topic choices that you can make for your blog. Last but not least, free platforms limit the ability to monetize your blog, so I highly recommend starting your blog with a self-hosted WordPress.org (as described in this guide). In addition to overcoming the limitations of free blogging, the potential growth of your blog is unlimited. |
