Step 5: Start Blogging!

Image: Google

Finally, we can get to the fun stuff!

Every successful blog follows just a few basic principles:

Steps to a successful blog

1. Proper Blog Setup

2. Amazing Content

3. Marketing

Proper Blog Setup

The first 4 steps of this guide explained to you how to get your blog setup properly (start with Step 1 if you haven’t already). As I have mentioned in previous steps, there are an infinite number of tweaks and changes you can continue to make to your blog. But if you have gone through the previous steps in this guide then your blog should be setup just fine.

Keep in mind that being a good blogger isn’t all about writing. You also need to read other blogs to stay informed on what is popular and to get new ideas for your own blog.

You may visit a blog and see they have a really cool plugin that you want on your site. Usually, you can just ask the blogger directly and they will tell you all about it. This is a great way to improve the setup of your blog while also making connections in the blogging community.

I can’t emphasize enough that the steps I have already shown you are more than sufficient. If you want to make more changes in the future that is fine, but don’t get hung-up on thinking that everything needs to be perfect before you start blogging, because your blog will always be a work in progress.

Amazing Content

The heart and soul of a successful blog is great content. If no one wants to read what you are writing about then your blog won’t be very successful.

One of the easiest ways to write content that people actually want to read is to answer a question about your topic that you have yourself. Chances are, if you are wondering about something, so are other people. Obviously you will need to do some research to find the answer, but once you do you will be providing valuable content that people actually want to read and share with their friends.

For additional writing ideas this is a great resource: http://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/tp/BlogPostIdeas.htm

It is also important to keep in mind that great content is about more than the writing. Images, videos, different fonts and colors all make your content look eye-catching and interesting. Blogs are not books, and they need to have more than just a huge block of text to keep the readers’ interest.

Marketing

Even if you setup your blog properly and create great content, there is no guarantee that anyone will ever see it. Because of this, marketing your blog correctly is a requirement if you want to be a successful blogger.

In the next step we will go over a variety of methods for marketing your blog so that you can make sure people are actually seeing all of your hard work.

 Step 4: Configure Your Blog >>                           << Step 6: Promote Your Blog