A Quick Checklist for the New Blogger Entrepreneur
Becoming a blogger and starting a business-oriented blog is no different than opening an online business. However, there is one major difference – anyone can do it. When you really think about it, any blog can turn into a proper business. You pick a topic that you want to write about actively and then, assuming you also want to profit from it, you can pick up on the several ways you can monetize your work and earn something from it.
If these things have crossed your mind at some point, then there’s no doubt your blog is due to be something more than a simple online diary. But we do understand that some things might get a little bit confusing. So, in order to make sure that you’ve gotten everything in order before you kick off your new hobby (or occupation) as an entrepreneur blogger, we’ve lined up a concise checklist.
#1 Pick Your Niche
A niche and a topic are relatively different matters, though the lines between these two concepts are fairly blurred. They’re both somewhat similar, but the biggest difference is that with niches, we get the intervention of the question, “Is anyone looking for this?”.
For instance, you could carry a blog where you’re writing about the whereabouts of your pet house rabbit. But the chances for a group of people to be looking for this particular thing are slim to none. Alternatively, when picking a niche, you think about the people as opposed to when you think about the content of the blog when choosing a topic.
You might think that the broader the niche the better. That’s really not true. With a broad niche, the chances for you to be noticed from the ocean of competitors operating in the same area are incredibly low. There are already tens, if not hundreds, of other blogs and websites, focused on cooking (for example).
But if you particularize your niche, the chances go high immediately. Instead of opting for “cooking” as your topic, try something like “cooking Thai breakfasts with nothing but spoons.” It sounds crazily specific, but from a business standpoint, it’s actually the best thing you can do.
#2 Pick Your Domain
The domain, AKA the URL of the page, is a surprisingly important step. It’s pretty much the equivalent of a plaque carrying the name of your brand. Depending on how well you do choosing this business name, your blog might flourish or crash and burn. Yes, it’s that influential.
The first thing that you need to watch out for is to have the domain and the name of the brand match. This isn’t as obvious as you may think. After all, you may have all the good intentions in the world and be already thinking of doing this, but theory isn’t always matched by practice. Long story short – that URL may have already been taken.
When this atrocious reality hits you, you have two options – either rename and rebrand or find another hosting service. The problem with that is that you might risk over-complicating the URL. Imagine if your business name is “Casa Blanca,” the URL “casablanca.com” is taken and you’re stuck with something of the likes of “casablanca.biz.co.com.domainservice.uk.”
Of course, that’s just an extreme situation. But better be safe than sorry, so the moment you think up of a brand name, check whether the most simple of domains is available.
#3 Set Up WordPress
Blogging isn’t narrowed down to blocks of texts. In order to keep the attention of your visitors, a blogger needs to make it eye-catching. That involves adding pictures, videos, or doing something as plain as formatting your text.
But… wait! How do we do that?!
WordPress. Some of you may have heard of it, some of you may know how to operate it, and some of you might still be trying to figure out how it works. WordPress is virtually the main blogging platform at the moment, used even by big websites such as eBay or CNN. It’s a program that covers all the necessities for a blog to be successful – from a multitude of formatting and aesthetic options to the possibility of adding SEO plugins for marketing purposes.
While it’s not difficult to figure out how it works, the actual installation process might be a little bit tedious, especially for people who haven’t necessarily been in much contact with these kinds of processes. Luckily, there are quite a few tutorials floating around the Internet smoothly detailing the steps that need to be taken to get WordPress up and running.
#4 Set Up Search Optimization
Having all of these set-ups is all for naught if people can’t find your blog. This is actually the part where the blogger becomes a businessman. Unfortunately, simply writing about something and throwing it out there as it is isn’t enough to put yourself in the spotlight. It’s not difficult to realize that most websites get visited via Google searches. It’s not like you can expect more than 10% of the people getting encouraged via e-mail or social media to visit your website to actually do it. We can thank spamming people for that.
Your best option is, therefore, to make sure people can find your website through a Google search. And in order to do that, you will also need to be mindful of SEO from now on. Given that you’re just starting up, getting into advanced techniques and tricks isn’t something you need to bother yourself with right now.
All you need to do is think of sets of keywords revolving around your niche. Insert them in your posts a number of times, as well as in the URL of the page and the title. Within the actual post, have a link to one of your older posts as well as one link to a third-party website. And for now, this should do the trick! Naturally, we recommend expanding on your SEO knowledge once you get into the flow of things.
#5 Write!
“That’s it? Doesn’t it seem obvious?” This is the hardest and the most gratifying part at the same time, of being a blogger.
It kind of is obvious, but that doesn’t mean it’s the easiest step on this checklist. While all of the previous points can be pretty much done with, writing is the one step that will never be completed or finished. If you want to keep your business afloat, you have to keep constantly writing.
Your content needs to be as helpful and informative as possible. People may find your blog through the power of SEO, but in order to build up a loyal following, you need to write quality things. We also recommend establishing a schedule, if you can, so people can know when to revisit your website for extra content.
Conclusion
Many of these steps are technicalities for a newly blogger entrepreneur. With the right Internet guides and asking around forums or experts, you can definitely master them. The one step that you always need to strive to better is the last one. Even though this is business blogging, don’t forget to actually enjoy what you’re writing. Visitors can sense this kind of thing.
Image source: Pixabay
