“How to start a blog” is one of the most-searched topics on the Web. Blogs can be used as personal diaries, family journals, business support or even as a marketing tool. If you’ve been thinking of starting a blog, you’re in good company. According to Technorati, there are over 175 million blogs around the world and that number is growing every day! Blogging has become increasingly popular since it’s so easy to set up and maintain. With a few simple steps, you can have your own blog up and running in no time at all.
1. Choose a Platform
2. Choose a Host
3. Choose a Domain Name
4. Choose a Theme/Design
5. Start Publishing
The first rule of blogging is: having a blog.
The second rule of blogging is: have something to say in your blog posts.
You know, it’s a blog. It’s not rocket science.
It’s been a long time since I felt the need to write about this. That’s because for a long time, I’ve had no idea how to answer this question. I didn’t know where to start, what to say, or even how to explain it. All I had was my story and a bunch of emotions that came with it.
I’m not sure what changed. Maybe it was the year-long writing gig that gave me some confidence in telling a story. Maybe it was the countless friends who have told me they don’t know why they are starting a blog, but they want one anyway.
But whatever it was, something changed and I finally figured out what to say:
Don’t overthink it. Just do it. It’ll be okay.
In case you’re new here, let me tell you my story so you’ll know why I’m saying all these things.
I started blogging in February 2004 on Blogger. Yes, Blogger still exists today and yes, there are people who still use Blogger as their blogging platform of choice (I’m one of them). But back then, Blogger was pretty popular and everyone I knew was on it (that’s probably because everyone in my life at that time were students).
If you want to start a blog, go to Blogger and set one up. I’ve done this at least fifteen times, and it takes under five minutes. If you want to get paid for your writing, try Textbroker or HireWriters. These are content mills that pay mediocre rates; they’re not the best choice if your goal is to earn money, but they are pretty good practice.
If you want to learn how to use social media effectively, read The Tao of Twitter or How To Make Money With Social Media. If you’re wondering how to write a great blog post that people will share on social media, read The Advanced Guide to Content Marketing.
If you want an editor who does not care about content (or accuracy), try Demand Media Studios. This company hires freelancers who can crank out hundreds of articles per day on any topic, no matter how stupid or offensive those topics might be. Your work is not seen before publication, so there’s no need for anyone to edit it.
If you don’t know what tone is appropriate for your audience (informal vs. formal; humorous vs. serious), try reading some other blogs in your niche and noting the style and tone of their posts.
Running a blog takes a lot of time and effort. But, you don’t have to do it alone. There are all sorts of ways you can work with others. You can use the resources below to find people who want to write for your blog and recruit them, or you can invite other bloggers to guest blog on your site.
If you plan to pay contributors for their posts, be sure to check out the guidelines on how to start a blog with WordPress.org and how to start a blog with Blogger.com.
Write Guest Posts on Other Blogs
Writing guest posts is a great way to build relationships with other bloggers in your niche, become an authority in your field, and gain exposure for your site through links in the byline. Here’s how:
Find blogs that accept guest posts by searching Google using the search term “your niche” + “write for us”. For example, if you want to write about gardening, search for “gardening” + “write for us”.
Contact the sites you’re interested in writing for using their contact page or via Twitter (if they have a Twitter account). Be sure to include links to samples of your work or sites where your work has been featured. If you don’t have any published articles
The first thing you need to know about starting a blog is that it’s not as hard as you think. In fact, it’s ridiculously easy. If you’re reading this post, you probably have the two most important things you need:
1. A computer
2. The desire to write
The first thing you need to do if you want to start a blog is choose a platform. There are millions of free and paid platforms out there, but we recommend WordPress. It’s easy to set up, easy to use, and it looks good right out of the box. You can do it on your own host or use their free hosting service. Once you’ve signed up for a free account, just follow their step-by-step instructions for how to set up your first blog.
Next, download a theme. Themes change the look of your blog and make it look professional (the layout is important because ads pay more when they are surrounded by relevant content). There are thousands of themes available for free on WordPress; download one and install it with a single click!
Now that you’ve got your theme picked out and installed, it’s time to start writing! If you want to start making money from your blog right away, we recommend writing about something
This is the first in a series of blog posts I’m writing on how to build a basic blog with ASP.NET Core MVC and Visual Studio 2017.
I’m going to assume you’re already familiar with ASP.NET Core MVC, as I won’t cover it in much detail, but will cover other topics such as setting up SSL, configuring custom error pages and email, deploying to Azure App Services, and more.
If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know in the comments below and I’ll respond when I can.