5 Important Steps For Creating a Successful Blog

From the very first blog that was created in 1994 to modern day microblogging platforms, blogging has quickly become the center of the internet. Today, there are more than 440 blogs in the world, all different in their own way, providing heaps of varied information. Creating a successful blog requires time, effort, and plenty of research. One shouldn’t expect to dive right into a first blogging experience and see results from the get-go. Over time, you will develop the necessary skills that a blogger needs such as writing, marketing, and SEO. 

Some of these tasks can be outsourced, but this is a costly process that may not render the results you’re looking for. Even if you do manage to find good writers, designers, and marketers, there is still a lot that needs to be done. Here are five simple but important steps that will help you reach blogging success. 

Use The Right Hosting Service

Choosing the right company to run your website should be the first step in creating your blog, as it will serve as the core of everything you create. If your hosting provider isn’t up to scratch, your website will potentially experience random downtime or become unsupportive of certain services due to a lack of storage or processing power.  

It’s recommended that you opt for dedicated hosting from a reliable company such as HostGator. In addition, for a small monthly fee, ‘Shared Web Hosting’ plans are available from HostGator, which helps to make web hosting easy and affordable for new bloggers. If the website leaves you unsure about which plan you need, they also offer a call back service and a live chat option.Unlike your standard hosting service, a dedicated host runs your website from a single machine, providing uninterrupted power and high amounts of storage at affordable and customizable rates. 

Utilize The Power of Email

As old as it is, email marketing is still an effective way to keep your readers interested and engaged. Take some time to create a few subscription options, such as weekly and monthly newsletters. Once your blog is more established, other companies can pay for sponsored content within your newsletters. Using email as a tool to attract customers is a very simple and effective marketing method. A welcome or introduction email, sending the benefits of your services, promotions and your previous content, can be a great way to boost traffic to your blog.

Build Relationships With Other Bloggers

Instead of seeing other bloggers as competitors, it’s significantly more beneficial for you to create partnerships with them. This has a number of benefits, such as providing support and advice when you need it, along with sharing your content on social media to a new audience, potentially bringing in more readers to your blog. When it comes to getting in contact with bloggers, you can’t be afraid of rejection. If you do it right, reaching out can feel a lot less scary, more natural and rewarding. Good steps to take towards giving a good first impression are creating a list of target influencers, following and commenting on their content, inviting them to your inbox and linking your blog posts to your influencers. 

Keep up to Date With Design Trends

Quality content is key, but if your website doesn’t look the part or run smoothly, your content is virtually worthless. People value attractive websites that are pleasing to look at and easy to navigate. Ensure that your font is large and readable, your logo is professional, and that your website has a clean, simple and unique design, which is needed to keep up with the growing blog population. It is estimated that in May 2011, which is four years after Tumblr was launched, 17.5 million Tumblr blogs existed. However, now, on Tumblr alone, there is thought to be over 360 million blogs on Tumblr alone. 

Create Attention-Grabbing Headlines

Most people base their decision on whether or not to read your post purely by the headline. If it’s too long, vague or misleading, readers are more than likely to move on. Use adjectives and numbers to create more compelling and interesting headlines. 

For example, “10 Cheap And Healthy Meals For Weight Loss” is a lot more enticing than “Cheap Weight Loss Meals.” Keep in mind that your headline is the main component that appears in search results. Good headlines will bring in more readers from search engines on top of those who are already on your website. 

Conclusion

A successful blog is run by a passionate and hardworking person. Make the most out of the advice you’re given, the time you put in and the services you use, and you’ll quickly see the benefits. When done properly, blogs can bring in a lot of revenue.