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(In my previous posts on Blogging, I discussed the differences between a blog and a website, the advantages, and downsides of blogging, and the need to choose the right niche and sub-niche.)
Today, I will go on to discuss some more important things you need for your right pre-launch blog preparation and some other juicy details.
⏺️ Have a ready audience.
If you have not been posting relevant things on your Facebook wall, and you just make an announcement one day that you created a blog and a post is up, you will discover few people will visit the blog and there may be no engagement at all.
It is therefore important that you build an audience, a community that will go anywhere with you.
I started Blogging in 2018 and I remember I started posting content on my Facebook wall before that time so by the time peculiarinspiro was birth I had a ready audience.
Put up writings on your Facebook Wall.
Post relevant things on your WhatsApp Status.
Let your Instagram account be a spot for people to unlearn and relearn. That is when you can say you have built an audience.
⏺️ You need to learn how to write as you talk and also know how to create amazing headlines. You want to make sure your readers keep coming to your blog for more because they get the solution they are seeking for.
Avoid sending your readers the wrong message with your headlines like some blogs do today. E.g Grace Ministry Pastor sacks 20staffs. When the news is just a normal business owner laying off some workers. Nothing related to the church at all.
Some may even add the picture of the Founder of the church there, it is very wrong.
Use amazing headlines but avoid sending the wrong message or painting the wrong image of people. In the long run, your audience won’t trust you again.
⏺️ Ask yourself ‘what is your motivation?’
When you are getting discouraged, what is the one thing that will encourage you to keep making write-ups available to your readers?
If you want to go into blogging because of money, you may be disappointed because it will take time to start making money from it.
When I started blogging in July 2018, the growth was slow and I could have been discouraged. But the fact that I enjoyed story writing kept me going and made it easy for me to write and publish my stories for free. Yes, for free.
My initial goal for going into blogging wasn’t money-related. I didn’t even know I could earn from it. It was, later on, that I discovered it could be a means of income.
Have a strong motivation that will keep you going.
⏺️ Don’t go into blogging with the intent of doing copy and pasting. It is plagiarism and if you are caught stealing people’s content your site could be penalized. Your Google AdSense account could be deactivated and your ranking will fall on Google.
…..
After knowing all these among others, you need to make your choice of which type of blog you want to go into.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬.
⏩ The free hosted site
⏩ The self-hosted site.
The free hosted site is free as the name implies while the self-hosted one is paid for.
Let me explain the word ‘host’ in layman’s language.
Imagine someone has a portion of land but he is not using it, but you want to go into farming and you don’t have land that you can use.
You are approaching the person: the landlord, in this case, to make an agreement that you would work on his Farmland for years then you will pay him. That does not mean that you are the owner of the Land, you are only borrowing the land to cultivate what you want to do. That is how it is when hosting a site also.
There is someone that has a hosting platform but you have a site that needs to be hosted. The hosting provider then gives you a portion on his platform to host your site and you pay him annually.
There are free hosting platforms where you don’t need to pay like WordPress and Blogger.
If you have financial restraints at the moment, this is probably your best choice. I prefer WordPress and I started with the free one before I eventually self-hosted my site.
If you want to go for the self-hosted site, you need to purchase your domain name and get a hosting provider who will eventually set things up.
One of the most common platforms where you can purchase your domain name is whogohost, (you can reach out to me for a link to the purchase at a subsidized price only when you buy through me). You can also host your site with them at a comfortable price.
𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞.
⏺️ You do not pay annually for a free one but for the paid one you have to pay for your hosting and domain name every year or you will lose it like I lost mine at a time.
⏺️ For a free one, you cannot use plugins the way you like but on a paid site you are unlimited.
⏺️ On a free blog, you cannot apply for Google Adsense but on a paid site you can apply for Google AdSense.
⏺️ You are restricted from even running certain ads or changing of theme on the free hosted site but it is not so for a paid site.
…….
I always recommend WordPress to a complete rookie who knows nothing about coding or website development. Anyone can download WordPress for free and use it to create whatever type of website they want.
WordPress has thousands of design options and plugins, allowing you to construct any type of website you can think of.
WordPress is the most popular website builder on the planet. Over 35% of all websites on the internet are powered by it. One of the many reasons for its popularity is that it is incredibly simple to install and construct for a complete novice.
Furthermore, practically all WordPress site hosting companies, like Whogohost, allow you to install WordPress with only a few clicks.
Installing WordPress is typically a quick and painless procedure that takes less than 5 minutes.
……
As I mentioned earlier, if you don’t have the money to purchase your domain name and your hosting plan now, you can go for the free one at first, especially so that you will be able to build your audience.
If it is a free one you want, simply visit the WordPress site to create your account now. WordPress has a simple step-by-step process for blog creation.
⏩ When you have decided on which one you want (whether free or paid) the next step is choosing your domain name.
Choosing the correct domain name can be difficult, especially for newbies who have little or no experience with how to go about making this decision. Most people even make the error of choosing a domain name that has nothing to do with the goal of their website.
Please note the following while picking a domain name:
⏺️ Choose a Domain Name that is Easy to Type.
Do not use abbreviations or slang that will make it difficult for your website visitors or clients to find or remember your site beyond their initial visit.
⏺️ Make sure it is memorable and can be defined with the purpose your website aims to serve.
⏺️ Let it be Short.
If your domain name is too long, your site users will likely misspell it.
⏺️ Avoid the Usage of Numbers and symbols like Hyphens.
Domain names like dominion123 should be avoided.
…..
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⏩ How to build a WordPress Blog from Scratch and design it yourself
⏩ How to purchase your domain name and hosting plan
⏩ How to install WordPress on Whogohost
⏩ How to install WordPress Plugins and the necessary recommended ones for newbies.
⏩ How to drive traffic to your blog. I have applied about 10 strategies and it works.
⏩ How to create beautiful designs for your blog so your graphic designer does not need to earn from every post you make. If you visit my blog, I designed every single flyer on it.
⏩ How to change your theme at your convenience. I just changed my own recently and someone has even commented on its new look. You need to know how to design your blog to your taste.
Look around this blog and tell me if you don’t love what you see there. Next month it may take another beautiful new look. That is one of the privileges of being a Blog Master.
⏩ How to backup your posts so that you don’t lose your contents.
⏩ What Google Adsense is, and how to go about the process.
…….
There is a whole lot more to this thing called blogging and of course, you need to be prepared for the challenges you will face, despite there a lot of benefits it will bring you.
If you want to start this journey of blogging but don’t know-how, you can reach out to me for a private section and I will guide you on everything that you need to know.
I have up to 4 years of experience in blogging and I even created my first blog all by myself. The one I am using at the moment was first created by my boss in Christian writing and after that, I have designed it many times to suit my taste.
Plus I even purchased my new domain name all by myself and my hosting provider sorted out all the coding parts for me.
I believe the three enriching Contents I made on Blogging have convinced you that you can be a Blogger.🤗
Your work is eagerly awaited by the rest of the world.
#YourWritingandBloggingCoach
#PeculiarInspiro
