How to Create a Successful Blog from Scratch - Guide 2021

If you are serious about starting a successful blog then you are in the right place. In this long and detailed guide, you'll get all the information you need to get off to a great start.

 

There are hundreds of articles on the web that explains more or less in detail how to create a blog and how to be successful with it, therefore I will try to be concise, but at the same time give you all the necessary information and maybe even some extra advice that others do not give...

 

In the video that you will find below I will show you exactly what to do in practical terms to create your first blog and put it online, in the rest of the article I will explain in detail all the steps to bring it to success.

 

Are you ready? Well let's get started!

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Why Start A Blog?

My first approach to the world of blogging was strictly linked to the social one, in fact, I saw the blog as a place to write and tell your stories and share them with others.

 

That was until I realized the hard and raw truth:

 

People don't care about your business! 🙂

 

Of course, unless you're a well-known character with a certain following.

 

A blog is a place where people share interesting information with users. Those who frequent a blog do so to inform themselves or learn new things and not to know your own business.

 

So we begin to see the blog as something made for others and not for themselves.

 

Obviously, if your intentions are only to have a small circle of friends reads your articles, without pretensions or whatever, well then you can do as you see fit.

 

Having established this, the objectives of a blog can be broadly these:

 

• ·        Sharing
• ·        Instruction
• ·        I earn
• ·        (All three together)

 

Sharing

Everything that is published on the web without restrictions becomes something shared but in this specific case I turn to a particular type of blog, where personal thoughts and opinions are shared.

 

In fact, on blogs of this type we will share with users a whole series of particular information such as, for example, reviews on products tested by us, various opinions on certain objects or topics, case studies, simple experiences that can be useful to others. and so on...

 

However, we always keep in mind that what we are going to share must also be interesting and useful for others and not an end in itself.

 

The web is full of blogs of this type and they are also quite successful.

 

Instruction

This category is dedicated to all those sites or blogs whose main purpose is to inform or teach something to others.

 

If you are a specialist or expert in a particular field, you will surely have something to teach people who know less than you. In this case, you will be able to share your knowledge with others.

 

This kind of sharing is much more direct, as the topics covered are not opinions or points of view, but real teachings based on specific studies.

 

Obviously, to open blogs of this type, you need to be really prepared on the subject.

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I earn

Although it is hypothetically possible to monetize almost all types of blogs, some people start blogs with the sole and sole purpose of making money.

 

Personally, I consider this approach one of the most wrong (unless you are an experienced marketer). In my opinion, being able to monetize a real passion is extremely easier, but in any case, it is still one of the ways to go.

 

Blogs of this type must first and foremost belong to a very commercial niche and be populated with content that attracts traffic to be monetized, which can be done through the implementation of banner ads, advice for purchases, reviews, etc.

 

We will address this topic better in the next article.

 

Creating a blog gives a person the opportunity to establish himself in a certain sector and perhaps become a point of reference if not even an INFLUENCER for that category.

 

How to Create a Blog - The Tools

To create a blog basically 4 things are needed:

 

• ·        One domain
• ·        A webspace (HOSTING)
• ·        A CMS to create our site (e.g. WordPress)
• ·        One template

Theoretically, to create a standard blog without too many pretensions takes very little, within an hour we could be already online, especially thanks to the means we have available today.

 

But let's analyze all the points seen above in detail:

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1. Domain

The DOMAIN is none other than the address of our website, the classic "www. nomes into.it", which is essential to allow users to access the site.

 

It is usually possible to obtain a domain name during the purchase of the webspace (hosting) which we will see in the next point.

 

Before proceeding, however, I want to clarify that once the domain name has been chosen it will no longer be possible to change it, changing domain is equivalent to changing site.

 

Of course, if we are at the beginning the problem does not exist, but if you think of a site already started full of contents then the discourse changes radically.

 

As a result, always think long term and choose your domain name meticulously.

 

We will deal with this topic better later.

 

2. Hosting

Hosting is the webspace where we will place our entire site.

 

This space is for rent and obviously has an annual cost. Prices vary from company to company especially based on quality.

 

Is it possible to have a webspace for free?

 

Of course, there are services such as ALTERVISTA that allow you to get reduced webspace for free by accessing it through a third-level domain.

 

By the third level, we mean a domain that is the child of another, to put it simply, in the case of Altervista for, For example, your domain will be www.miosito.altervista.org instead of www.mosquito.it.

 

Other solutions could be GOOGLE'S BLOGGER or even through WORDPRESS.COM

 

Needless to say, sites of this type have very little credibility as well as being slow and "snubbed" by Google.

 

They could be a great starting point for testing, but if your intentions are serious, not only will you have to opt for a paid hosting, but my advice is to get a performing one.

 

As you will discover later, to be successful with a blog it is essential to enjoy performing hosting. Consider that hosting is the basis on which your entire site rests, consequently a low-quality hosting would compromise the entire structure and the success of the entire site.

 

I always recommend the SiteGround web hosting service, which offers high performance at an affordable price.

 

3. CMS (Content Management System)

A CMS is nothing more than a tool for creating websites.

 

Thanks to these CMS we will be able to create, modify and optimize websites without necessarily putting our hand to the code. Tools of this type are also accessible to people who have no knowledge of HTML or CSS.

 

The most famous of all, especially when it comes to blogging, is definitely WordPress, but there are many others such as Drupal, Joomla, or Magento for e-commerce.

 

For the less experienced, installing WordPress or another CMS could represent an obstacle, but today almost all web hosting services such as SiteGround, offer the possibility to install all the main CMS with a single click, and once you have entered your username and the password it will be possible to access the dashboard and immediately start creating your site.

 

In the video, I made for the occasion we will see very roughly how WordPress works, but if you are willing to learn how to use this tool in a more advanced way, I recommend an extremely complete course where you will start from the basics up to the most advanced techniques.

 

4. Template

Once we have installed our favorite CMS we will need a template.

 

What is a template?

 

A template is nothing more than the theme of your site, that is, the structure and basic appearance of the site.

 

Unlike in the past, where everything was developed by hand from scratch, today in addition to having tools like WordPress that greatly facilitates the work, we never start from scratch, in the fact we are allowed to download and install a template. our choice with a predefined structure to start from.

 

WordPress offers thousands of free themes that can be downloaded directly from the dedicated section, but even in In this case, if our intentions are serious, I recommend that you opt for a premium template, ie for a fee.

 

The largest portal on the market to buy WordPress templates (and more) is definitely ThemeForest. In this marketplace, you can really find everything.

 

If you want some advice on Professional Templates, take a look at my dedicated article.

 

How much does it cost to start a blog

Opening a basic blog with third level domain and free template costs nothing, but the chances of success will be close to zero.

 

For a professional blog, on the other hand, which has all the credentials to achieve success and be able to monetize, the basic costs are approximately these:

 

·        10/15 € for the Domain (annual)

·        50/150 € Hosting (annual)

·        40/80 € Template (one-time)

The total goes from a minimum of € 100 to a maximum of € 240 to start with.

 

Other possible expenses could be:

 

·        Extra plugins (for special features)

·        Photos and Images

·        Additional development tools

At this point, we will have everything we need to create a blog, we just have to create content and bring it to success.

 

How to make your blog successful and make money

Once we have created our first blog, we will immediately realize how difficult it is to get noticed and above all to receive traffic.

 

Many are discouraged after a few months, others, more daring, carry on the project without ever receiving concrete gratifications.

 

The truth is that today, unlike in In the past, being able to bring a blog to success is extremely more complicated, for this reason, it is necessary to respect some fundamental points.

Countless mistakes and oversights are often made during development and when you realize the mistakes, it's not that easy to fix, so it's essential to start off on the right foot.

 

Both in the article and in the video tutorial we will roughly see all the points to be respected.

 

Thanks to this guide you will receive a complete overview of all the things to do to create a successful blog. At the end of this article, you will have a much clearer idea of ​​the path to take.

Well, from here on we will see together step by step 15 points to be respected to make your blog ready for success.

 

Obviously, it will not be enough for you to follow all the points to the letter to guarantee you a result, but I can assure you that without these requirements everything will be extremely difficult, if not impossible.

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1. Choose your niche

 

A niche is nothing more than a specific segment of a larger topic.

 

Some examples of specific niches could be, PC Video Cards, Programming Languages, Gaming Computers, Anti-Virus, Management Software, etc.

 

As you may have noticed, all the sectors listed above are part of a macro topic which is computer science.

 

Choosing a very specific niche is crucial nowadays for the success of your blog, both users and search engines love specialized sites and are always looking for experts in the sector.

 

Do not make the mistake of starting a blog on multiple niches (unless they are closely linked), or worse still generic blogs that talk about several different topics.

 

Before starting it is very important to have clear ideas and to choose an area in which you are truly prepared. The more specific the niche you have chosen, the more your chances of success will increase.

 

Obviously, it will be necessary to evaluate the degree of interest of users on that particular topic, but I can guarantee you that choosing a specific niche brings countless advantages.

 

2. Domain Name

 

Once we have chosen the niche, we will have to choose the name of our site and consequently that of the domain.

 

A common mistake made in these cases is to choose a name only because it is "cool", perhaps long and difficult to remember, or that does not immediately convey what is on the site.

 

The domain name is extremely important, sometimes even crucial to the success of the blog.

 

My advice is to choose a name that is easy to memorize and identifies your niche. If you don't have one in mind, an effective solution, especially if you want to lose yourself nal branding is to use your own name.

 

Extra Tip:

 

I want to give you some extra advice that will bring you many advantages.

 

Using a domain name that contains the exact keyword of your niche will increase your chances of success dramatically.

 

For example, if your site is about gaming computers, you can set up a domain like: www. computer gaming.it

 

Although Google has declared that the "exact match domains" (as they are called), are not favored in anyway, it is a fact that, at least in Italy, domains of this type are positioned better in the search results and consequently receive more traffic.

 

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3. Speed ​​and Performance

With the advent of mobile, the speed and the performance of your site is critical today.

 

You know, the speed at which the world travels today has changed, everyone is in a hurry and no one has the time or the patience to wait.

 

Although I find this very sad and depressing factor, we must nevertheless try to adapt to the reality of the facts.

 

More than half of the people who surf the web are inclined to abandon a site that does not load within a few seconds, especially from mobile, therefore it is essential to have a fast and efficient site.

 

As if that were not enough, even the same "bots" of Google prefer more performing sites, positioning them better in the search results.

 

But how to speed up your site?

 

Many factors affect the speed of your site, an example is the size of the images, but we will better address this in the dedicated article.

 

For now, I want to focus on what I believe is the most important factor of all. Hosting!

 

Saving money on hosting is the biggest mistake you can make. Poor hosting will compromise the success of even the best of blogs.

 

My advice is to opt for a high-performance and quality hosting, the benefits will be innumerable.

 

If you don't know which one to choose, try to take a look at my article on the best hosting services, however if you use WordPress as a CMS my advice always falls on SiteGround, a service that I use personally and I consider one of the best, especially for the quality ratio. price.

 

4. Professional Template

As I have already mentioned, using a professional template is extremely important for the success of your blog.

 

Professional themes, in addition to having a certainly more attractive and modern look, often enjoy additional features, higher performance, clean code, and optimized for SEO, all advantages not just.

 

5. User Experience

 

The User Experience, that is the user experience is equivalent to the sum of all the emotions/reactions/ sensations experienced by the user once he lands on your site.

 

To make it easy, is the navigation on your site pleasant? Can the user easily find what he is looking for? is it readable? are the colors the right ones? etc

 

Let's say that there are a whole series of factors that will determine user satisfaction while browsing your site.

 

Taking care of this aspect is very important, especially if we want to retain our users and ensure that they return to our site.

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6. Structure of the site

The structure of the site is closely linked to the user experience.

 

How is your site structured? is there a clear and easily accessible menu? Are the articles divided by categories? Is the sidebar useful and well structured?

 

It might seem obvious, but a well-structured site is useful both to users and to search engines, and it is not uncommon to come across sites made to the ca ** or.

 

Plan everything well before starting and try to keep your site always clear and clean, do not create a jumble of stuff that will only confuse the user and the "bots" as well as make your site slower.

 

7. A keyword for each article

One thing that not everyone who is a novice knows is that articles should not be written at random. 🙂

 

You might as well do it, but if your intentions are to make your blog popular, then you need to write something that people are actually looking for.

 

Users tell us what they want to read and we have to adapt to their needs.

 

In short, there are tools such as Google's Keyword Planner that allows us to know "how many" and "how" are looking for "what".

 

For example, if we insert the word "web marketing" in the KWP, we will receive a list of suggestions on all the types of searches that users perform for that particular word with the respective search volume, at this point we will be able to write an article on every single keyword.

 

Obviously the topic "Keyword Research" is much more complex than that, I have dealt with it several times in my articles, but this information will be enough for you to start.

 

8. Original And Quality Content

Here we are at the most important point of all, quality content.

 

It goes without saying that everything we are going to do to improve our blog will be totally useless if we do not offer original and quality content.

 

My advice is to always put passion and love in things, it might seem trivial but it is not, nowadays there are too many very low-level blogs and seeing a well-structured one that offers valid content is certainly a significant advantage.

 

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9. Social Networks and web presence

It goes without saying that being present and active on all major social networks is very important nowadays, but my advice is to expand your web presence also on other portals dedicated to your niche such as forums, question and answer, and specialized sites.

 

Of course whatever the platform, always try to direct people to your site.

 

10. Make contacts with industry bloggers

Not seeing all the other bloggers in the sector as enemies, making contacts with "colleagues" is extremely important, as well as helping you grow, it will allow you to make yourself known and establish yourself in your niche, making you more credible in the eyes of others.

 

Plus you never know, you may also receive backlinks and increase the authority of your website. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I suggest you read my article dedicated to link building.

 

11. Use the tools made available by Google

A vast and complex topic, but I anticipate that Google provides us with many tools that allow us to monitor and optimize our website, the best known and mandatory are:

 

• ·        Google Analytics
• ·        Google Search Console

The first allows us to monitor traffic in an extremely detailed way, the second instead allows us to check for any errors on our site and optimize it for search engines.

 

12. Newsletter and Email Marketing

 

90% of users who land on your site will never return, at least not soon.

 

This data makes you understand how important it is to be able to establish a contact of any kind with the user who visits your site.

 

Thanks to a solid email marketing and newsletter campaign we will be able to recover some of these users and update them on all the news of our blog and any sponsored products.

 

The purpose is essentially to be able to acquire the email contact of our users through lead generation techniques, or by offering something for free in exchange.

 

At that point, the email address will be registered on an email marketing platform pre-configured by us, such as GetResponse (one of the best in my opinion), which will automatically send emails to our users based on their interests.

 

The newsletter and email marketing the topic is very complex, which is why I decided to create an article entirely dedicated to this topic.

 

13. Video

Nowadays, videos have become a MUST!

 

Making videos puts your blog one step above the rest. In addition to being very useful and effective, videos are the trend of the moment and also work great at the marketing level.

 

Of course, not everyone has the skills and knowledge to make videos, but don't think twice if you get the chance.

 

14. Put your face on it and don't hide

I conclude with an aspect that I consider fundamental today, namely:

 

Put your face on it!

 

In an internet full of rip-offs and hoaxes, hiding behind a blog is counterproductive. People want to see who they are dealing with and tend to trust and follow only people they recognize.

 

By putting your face to it, in addition to inspiring more trust in users, you will also have the opportunity to become are popular.

 

15. Sources of Traffic

 

Ok you have created the perfect blog, full of quality content, and now?

 

Now you need traffic!

 

Although it is one of the most important points on the list, I decided to put it at the end as we will not deepen the discussion in this article as it is too vast and complex, but in any case I will give you a brief preview of the most important traffic sources.

 

The biggest problem every blogger faces sooner or later is traffic. Getting traffic to your blog isn't easy at all and it's one of the main reasons people give up.

 

There are several sources of traffic on the web but the main ones are these three:

 

• ·        SEO or Organic Traffic, i.e. the optimization of the site so that it appears in the first results among search engines
• ·        Social Network i.e. all traffic from Social (eg. Facebook)
• ·        Advertisement i.e. traffic from advertisements (e.g. Facebook Ads or  Google AdWords)

Addressing each of them in detail in this article is almost impossible, they are too vast topics but I will deepen them in other blog articles, so always stay up to date.

 

Well, with this we concluded, see you in the next article where we will see how to make money with a blog.

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