There are many reasons why you would want to start blogging. It can be for business, as a personal diary, for a civic campaign, and many more. Whatever your reason is, you have to prepare these 5 basic and essential things before starting your blog.
Identify your goals
Every blog needs a purpose. Before starting a blog, you should plan first what it is for. Different purposes of a blog include doing it for business, for personal expression, or for a creative outlet. Also, you should identify your target audience. Who are you writing for?
These two questions will help you make sure that your blog will be in the right direction. Some blogs run the risk of being too generic or too hodgepodge. Be specific and clear with your goals.
Familiarize with similar contents
Once you have identified the purpose of your blog, it would help if you search for other blogs with similar content and style. For example, if you want to create a travel blog, familiarize yourself with the common elements included in these types of blogs.
Every blog genre has different elements. Travel blogs have more colorful and playful content. In contrast, business blogs tend to be more formal and professional in appearance. You can learn the trends and updates by visiting blogs in your niche.
Choose your platform and host
There are various platforms where you can launch your blog as well as hosts to help you set it up. Some of the popular ones are WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Squarespace, and many more.
To choose among these, it is best to read reviews from other bloggers. Identify someone who comes from a field like yours so you will know what to expect from these platforms and hosts. Just remember that the cheapest is not necessarily the best choice.
Stock up content
If you choose to publish articles on your blog, make sure that you will have regular and consistent posts in your first few weeks and months. As you are building your blog, it is important that your viewers and readers know that you are a stable source of knowledge and information. It will be an instant turn-off if you see an almost empty blog that has not been updated in the last weeks.
What you can do is to stock up 5-10 contents which you can spread over a course of a month. This does not mean, though, that you will no longer write or prepare for your next postings. Take this opportunity to prepare quality content that will constantly hook your audience.
Set your expectations
Setting up expectations entails identifying specific goalposts throughout your journey as a blogger. This means that you should set different expectations through time and not just one big goal at the end. This will ensure that you are on the right track.
You can also have room for improvement once you have assessed what you have achieved vis-a-vis your expectations. You can change what does not work and continue doing what works.
