How To: Start A Blog | Tips & Tricks
The Beginning Is Always Now…
How do you start a blog from scratch? I wish I had known the answer to this when I first started, so long ago! Although it has definitely become much easier for anyone to start a blog with very little experience in anything blog related, there is still a lot to learn and new skills to practice. The landscape of technology, platforms and resources available to bloggers and creators is only growing, and can be very confusing to navigate.
In this article, I will cover the basics of starting a blog, including all the practical know-how, tips and tricks, and my recommendations for where to go get started. We’ll cover starting a blog in five simple steps:
Preparations - What you’ll need to do before you start to create your site! What plans you’ll need to make in advance.
Blog Basics - Practical advice for choosing and designing your website, aesthetic, and layout.
Construction - The essentials of constructing your content and pages.
Execution - A break down of the writing and creation process. How often to post, how long your posts should be, and what ideal user friendly content looks like.
Tips & Tricks - Finally what I wish I knew when I started, including the importance of keywords, SEO advice, [Search Engine Optimisation] creative tips, and how to market your blog effectively!
First we will cover what you’ll need to prepare in advance, i.e. niche, topics, style, aesthetic, prep posts, and tangible advice of where to go and which platforms are best to create your website. I cover my blogging journey in depth, including my past mistakes and the lessons I learned in a recent article coming soon…
Read on below to get started, and head over to my Instagram and Facebook for more tips and tricks!
“The secret to getting ahead is getting started.”
How To Start A Blog | Tips & Tricks
Starting A Blog | Preparations
First things first, when it comes to starting any new project I like to know what practical knowledge and skills I’ll need to learn in order to invest, plan, and prepare. The basics of starting a blog include your content, the platform you’ll use, and most importantly what other platforms you will use to promote and market it. The main preparations involved in creating a blog are:
Niche - Your blog’s purpose, based on one or a combination of to entertain, educate, inspire.
Resources - What tools you’ll need to create your blog and content yourself, including the cost for a website, URL, camera equipment, and the software for this.
Timetable - Plan your blogging schedule in advance, so you are not waiting on content to post etc etc
Finding your niche - This is in fact an entire topic in its own right, and I’ll be creating an article on this in the near future with more advice and knowledge on how to identify, solidify and utilise a niche that works for you. Start with a topic that is simple and concise. Ideally it will be a subject you are passionate about, something that you can create with relative consistency, and something you have knowledge of or skills of value that you can share with others. Finding a niche and writing blog posts has to be a win-win for me, I want to enjoy creating, and I want others to enjoy reading what I create. For example for this article, I enjoyed creating this rainbow flower wall to show you the process of getting creative in your own home, as a backdrop and pretence for creating your blog and content you are proud to share to the world. More to come on this in the future… next, we move on to defining and creating your aesthetic which should be inherently tied into your chosen niche!
Resources can be tangible and digital! Tools you’ll need to create a blog include the most frequently used items I had to find, source, or buy. Most of these are relatively low-cost but you can invest as much or as little as you want, especially when starting out. That’s the beauty of blogging! The main resources you’ll need include:
A URL once you have thought of your blog title, which should ideally come from your chosen niche.
Your chosen platform, and the cost for designing it if you choose.
A financial budget for promoting future posts on social media, this can anywhere from $2-200 per day, but you can easily start with only a few dollars spent on advertising as you go!
Software investment. If you want Photoshop, software or apps for editing your images, and assisting you with blog promotion can cost you an additional $20 a month approximately.
Camera equipment - See this blog post I created that covers essential equipment you’ll need. You can even use your phone for creating beautiful images!
Finally, plan your blogging schedule in advance. Don’t leave it till the last minute to finish posts, and set aside time for yourself to research, write, create, and brainstorm. This is essential to the success of your blog and to staying motivated both when it is easy and when it gets hard! I created a chart to show you an average breakdown of how I most often spend my week on blogging activities. I am often working on 10-12 new posts at a time, and this includes a mixture of imagery and text to create. A significant amount of my time is taken up planning and brainstorming ideas! This can include solving problems or ironing out details in a blog post or future photoshoot. Always plan with ample time, especially on new projects!
A Blogger's Week
Starting A Blog | Basics
For me, I started with Google’s own blogspot.com, which was the original blogger website created long ago. Unfortunately they didn’t move with the times as well as I had hoped they would, and now with branding, customisation and aesthetic playing such important roles in all online content creation blogspot just didn’t allow me to operate in the capacity I required. Several years ago around 2018 when I began blogging professionally, I moved over to Squarespace.com which allows full customisation on all your content, layout, and aesthetic. Once you get to know the features Squarespace is an extremely easy blogging tool to use, allowing me to quickly create content based around my imagery. I will stress that Squarespace is great particularly suited for visual creatives, if your work centres around illustration, pictures, photos, videos or any kind of visual content then it will be perfect for you. Otherwise, if you are more text focused in your style, Wordpress is the alternative option that is also highly recommended online. I chose Squarespace because I love the intuitive interface, and how easy it is to change and adjust settings, fonts, and details at the click of a button with tons of templates and designs. All without fear of losing my work or content. It’s also super easy to move your blog over to Squarespace if you are currently using another platform. To create your blog with Squarespace you’ll need:
A custom URL which you can purchase from here for about $20 per year [NZD]
I recommend investing for a year’s subscription in your website so you don’t have to think about paying per month. It’s also more cost effective to pay per year and it ranges from around $10 a month to $30 for fully functional sites with ecommerce.
Preprepared content, preferably at least two weeks’ worth so that you can publish your articles regularly and consistently.
Social platforms you can connect and link to your Squarespace website, making it easy for readers to pop over to your social channels like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Twitch.
Finally, you need to be clear about your niche, aesthetic, and content you want to create, in order to write meaningful posts that connect with your audience well over time, which I cover more in depth in this article about how to write Timeless Topics here!
Starting A Blog | Construction
Designing your blog can seem daunting at first, but most of the decisions you’ll need to make come down to the overall style or aesthetic you envision beforehand. Aesthetic is such a talked about term, but it can include your innate style, method, vibe, and even your personality. It is the colours, the fonts, the feel and the way your viewer interacts with your website. Are you are professional person in your approach, by using an elegant and minimalist layout? Or are you a relatable, down to earth person speaking intimately to your viewer with an homely, relaxed look to your blog? Whatever your personality, passion and topic of interest, these will help you figure out the aesthetic you want to go for. For me it is clean, dynamic, and vibrant. My content has always been, and always will be image heavy because I am a photographer! So my blog layout is structured mostly around my photographs, making them the focus so this influenced the overall template I chose too. Here are some details to consider in your blog aesthetic plan:
Colour Palette
Font/s
Layout routine
Watermarks
Logo
Header and footer
Signature
Next, you’ll want to combine the aesthetic ideas you have for your blog with the blog fundamentals that every great website needs.
A Home Page
An About Page
A Contact Page
An Archives Page or Search Bar
Social Media Links
A Clear title or Logo
Starting A Blog | Execution
The three C’s of execution for a successful blog:
Consistency - Consistent posts, generally between 1-4 a month or any number that works for you as long as you can maintain it over time. Also keep in mind that as your blog grows the rate at which you’ll need to put out content will grow too, so start with achievable goals.
Connection - Connect your ideas and inspiration to topics or trends that are happening now. This will increase your organic growth and your online visibility. I cover this in a recent article on how to write Popular Posts here.
Creation - Create it user-friendly. Aside from the obvious faux-pas in the design process of creating your blog, make your layouts of your posts easy to read, with well spaced paragraphs, clearly labelled sections, concise grammar and working links! I can’t stress this last one enough. There is nothing more frustrating than clicking a link on any website that doesn’t work or takes you to a dead end. It signals a lack of love from the host, and perhaps even a neglected or forgotten website!
Starting a Blog | Tips & Tricks
Tip #1. Know your strengths.
What I wish I knew when I started my blog is mostly connected to the practical way that I decided to lay out my blog. Although Squarespace wasn’t always an option for bloggers, there were definitely more customisable templates I could and should have utilised in the beginning. Showcasing my photos and playing on my visual strengths as a professional photographer is and has been an important factor in my process. My imagery is my main language I use as a blogger to communicate my ideas and intentions, so this should have always been paramount. If I haven’t already shared how much I love Squarespace for these reasons and many more, then I can’t stress enough how helpful it has been on my blogging journey!
Tip #2. Learn about SEO
SEO isn’t having a fancy manager to tell you how to run Google Adwords, it’s all through your blog from the headers to the details of your text. Keywords, laying out your posts with clear titles that connect to your text and keep your content clean. Making sure headers and keywords align so your posts will show in Google and other search engines. Include keywords in image files, the text of the page, and the titles. Longer blog posts are generally rated better by search engines, so it’s even more essential to pick a meaty topic you are passionate about, even for photography lovers like myself!
Tip #3. The 80/20 Principle
Less is more. The 80/20 principle is a simple concept that stresses how 20% of our efforts create 80% of our rewards. If you can utilise this effectively you’ll be working smarter - not harder. I have talked frequently about this concept but in the world of blogging this is definitely true. There is nothing worse than a ridiculously long and cluttered blog post full of too many images, confusing headers, and vague waffle that has nothing to do with the main subject and headers. I try to aim for 3-6 images for most blog posts and 6-12 if it’s a business feature. This way I can use some for a preview across my other social media channels, whilst still having a selection of hero images to use on the blog. This idea is also about refinement. Refine your content, your ideas, concepts, and images. Focus on one main point that you want to get across in both your images and text, and create everything else to supplement that. Be regular, consistent and think quality over quantity. Timeless blog posts, a topic I have written in depth about here are far more likely to get you views and traffic over time, so think of all your work as ROI! [Return on Investment] The more the return the better spent your energy on the investment will be
Tip #4. Market Your Blog
No, marketing isn’t just for companies and businesses. Bloggers are brands, so it’s important to lay out a solid marketing strategy for who you are and why you blog in order to create captivating ways of expanding your audience and engaging your readers. Be recognisable. Always have social icons in your posts, in an easy to find spot. You can also include them in a standard ‘signature’ footer you include in the bottom of every post! Dedicate yourself to at least one other social platform and use this to promote your blog posts and content. Be sparing about what you share to your other platforms, keeping the curiosity from your audience and encouraging them to visit your blog! . Finally, make sure you have a subscribe button or way in which you can keep contact with visitors! A subscribe buttons means your readers can receive email newsletters and updates on new content. [I use Mailchimp.com for this, and it’s free!] This is one of the best ways to maintain a loyal following as you are reaching your target audience.
Tip #5. Think Ahead - A Long Way!
As a wise man and the writer of ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ once said, always start with the end in mind. I didn’t take this advice for a long time, and looking back I missed out on so many opportunities because I didn’t have an end goal and I was focusing too much on the short term rewards. This means you need to know your destination before you even begin, which can be easier said than done! Regardless, take the time you need to plan out your end goal whether it’s financial, social, or professional and make sure all roads you take will lead you there. There is no better time to start than now!
Based in Christchurch, New Zealand.
