Make Money Blogging: 8 Blogging Tips for New Bloggers
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Can you really make money blogging? Looking for blogging tips as a new blogger?
Running a blog is an excellent way to express yourself, share your knowledge, and you can even make money.
To grow a successful blog, though, you have to start on the right foot. And unfortunately, some new bloggers jump into blogging without understanding the basics.
Now, there’s no shortcut to grow an audience or monetize a blog — you have to be patient. Even so, several strategies can help grow your blog faster.
Here’s a look at 8 blogging tips for new bloggers.
Blogging Tip #1. Find your passion
Building a blog takes patience, motivation, and a lot of effort — just like building any type of business. Sadly, some new bloggers fall off after only a few weeks or months. The reasons vary, but sometimes, it’s lack of passion for their subject.
In the beginning, you’ll put in a lot of work and get little in return. To stay motivated, you have to be passionate about your work and have a genuine interest in what you’re writing about, or else you’ll stop before getting to the finish line.
My number one advice for anyone starting a blog is to follow your passion. It isn’t always enough to write what you know. Because let’s be honest, just because we know a lot about a particular subject doesn’t mean we’re passionate about the topic.
You might have a lot of insight and knowledge to share on the subject. But do you “really” want to? If not, your audience will discern your disinterest and you’ll likely lose steam.
So think about what you’re passionate about. In other words, what topics can you talk about without getting bored? It might be travel, personal finance, home decor, parenting, cooking, etc.
If you’re excited about the topic of your blog, you’ll be equally excited to deep dive into the subject and present your audience with fresh ideas.
Blogging Tip #2. Get a self-hosted blog
Every blog is hosted on a server — which is where the blog lives. Some new bloggers start off with free hosting, especially hobbyist bloggers.
However, if you want to turn your blog into an income stream, free hosting isn’t going to cut it. You need a self-hosted blog, which involves paying a web host company to host your blog.
If you choose free hosting platforms, such as Tumblr, Blogger, or Wix, you don’t own your website. Therefore, the platform can remove your website at any time. If you self-host, though, you own your website.
I use Bluehost for hosting and my experience has been amazing and hassle-free.
Self-hosting is one of the best ways to “level up” from the beginning and have more control over your blog.
For starters, self-hosting will make your blog look more professional because you’re able to register a domain name. A registered domain name doesn’t include the name of the blog platform.
For example, a URL with free hosting might be www.yourblogname.wordpress.com. But if you self-host and register a domain name, your URL will be www.yourblogname.com. See the difference?
The ability to register a domain name isn’t the only reason to self-host, though.
Self-hosting allows you to monetize your blog and earn money. You’ll also have more options to customize the theme or appearance of your blog.
There’s more access to plugins which increase the functionality of your blog, and self-hosting gives you access to technical support, if you run into problems.
And the best part: self-hosting your blog is cheaper than many realize, and you don’t need technical skills.
Again, I recommend Bluehost. Not only because it’s user-friendly, but also because it’s a one-stop shop for setting up a blog. You can register your domain, choose your WordPress theme, and get hosting through the company, starting as low as $2.95 a month.
Click here to get started with Bluehost and customize your blog.
Blogging Tip #3. Share your posts
If you’re a new blogger, you might be nervous to share your work with the world, especially your family and friends. This is understandable.
However, growing a blog requires an audience. Chances are, those within your inner circle are happy to read and support your work, so share it!
Once you create and publish your posts, share them with your social network. But don’t only share – ask your friends to share them too.
Granted, your subject might not appeal to everyone in your circle, but it will appeal to some. The more friends sharing your posts, the faster you’ll grow a core audience.
Blogging Tip #4. Be consistent
Nothing kills the growth of a blog faster than being inconsistent. This is a mistake that some new bloggers make.
You don’t have to post every single day, but I would recommend posting at least 1 to 2 times a week as a new blogger. The more, the better.
When your audience expects posts on a regular basis, they’ll keep coming back. On the other hand, if you get into a habit of only posting every few weeks or months, your audience might forget about you and move on.
From the beginning, create a posting schedule that’s realistic and stick with it.
Blogging Tip #5. Learn about SEO
SEO stands for “search engine optimization” which is the practice of making your blog more visible on search engines. It’s vital to optimize your webpages so that users can easily discover your blog.
Now, SEO involves a lot of practices — too many to dive into in this post.
As a new blogger, you need to focus heavily on creating high-quality posts that contain relevant keywords to help you rank higher on search engines. Keywords include words and phrases that people are likely to type in a search engine.
As a general rule of thumb, include relevant keywords in your blog titles and headers, and sprinkle keywords naturally throughout the text.
If you’re writing an article on improving credit, relevant keywords in your title might include:
- how to improve your credit score
- how to improve your credit score fast
- how to improve credit score without a credit card
- how to improve credit after bankruptcy
Take time to research and learn basic SEO practices. You’ll find a ton of articles and blog posts on Google explaining the best ways to optimize your content to increase visibility.
Blogging Tip #6. Don’t give up
If you’re expecting your blog to blow up and go viral overnight, you’re in for a rude awakening.
Not to say this can’t happen.
However, it can take years of consistency and hard work before a blog generates a real income. But the effort is well worth the reward.
After three or four years (sometimes sooner), many bloggers have replaced the income earned from their employment. This can be you too — but only if you don’t give up.
Blogging Tip #7. Proofread, proofread, proofread
I don’t know what it is about the human brain, but it’s so difficult to catch our own mistakes, especially those minor typos like dropping an “s.”
I can’t stress enough the importance of proofreading your work. Granted, your audience might forgive the “occasional” typo (we’re humans, not robots).
However, a blog that always contains typos, poor sentence structure, and grammatical errors detract from the message. This kills your professional image and makes you look like an amateur.
After finishing a blog post, I like to “sit on it” for several hours or even a day before publishing. I’ll go back and read the post, and sometimes I’ll find a mistake I didn’t catch before.
Another tip, have someone read your posts before publishing.
Blogging Tip #8. Show your personality
One benefit of blogging is that there’s more freedom to show your personality. You can write in first person, second person, or third person – and even insert opinions and personal experiences.
You can share valuable information and be relatable. Don’t be afraid to be yourself – and when appropriate, add a little humor.
Thinking about starting a blog? If you found this information helpful, let us know below?