Step by step blogging tutorial
This is a tutorial how to make a blog and how to monetize it.
I already have a blog, which I was trying to maintain, but I wanted to go through all these steps and peculiarities that are recommended in all the best blog making tutorials and courses. I hope they are right, because I want to try it, one more time. Suggestions and recommendations below are taken from a few online sources and combined into one comprehensive tutorial.
I mean I will not just talk about it how this or that can work, I will actually make a plan and stick to it to see how much I can make of my blog and of myself at the end line by following all these rules.
I did a few extra steps and I will mention it along the way.
I am already doing all the crypto blogging webs so this is going to be an extra thing.
At this point I made this blog a priority, so in general I work more in here, than in any other website or crypto-blogging community.
So far, the only crypto-blogging community I stick to is Hive.Io.
And these are only the basic stuff, which I found randomly online and stuffed into one big blogging tutorial.
It is pretty long. So, by the end you will probably fall asleep, but wait there is more to it.
There are so many thing that can be done with a blog, and the list would be even longer.
At this point, I am working on passive streams of income, so my blog will reflect that intention.
PLANNING YOUR BLOG¶
These are the three set of the rules and this should be our gospel
Things to do¶
Note
The only thing I have an objection to is an email list. Newsletters seem to be last century and I personally like to see everything on a page, so maintaining a newsletter ( and having one more additional app) is redundant. Instead of a Newsletter I have a chat box, so a visitor can leave a question directly on a page.
- Establish a niche
- Create valuable content
- Blog consistently
- Build a solid social media presence
- Nurture your relationship with readers
- Network with other bloggers
- Build an email list
- Create amazing graphics
- Keep learning
- Offer some variety
Things to avoid¶
Note
Instead of a normal comment box I opted for the alternative and that is a Webmentions and Bridgy. These things fetch comments from various social networks such as Mastodon Reddit or Twitter containing an article link and presented them under the article on my blog.
- Not choosing a niche
- Neglecting your “about page”
- Blogging sporadically
- Ignoring your competition
- Disabling comments
- Not understanding keywords
- Being salesy
- Not promoting your content
- Having poor-quality images
- Producing low-quality content
Things about income¶
- Affiliate marketing
- Advertising networks
- Private ads ( suggestions: adrotate, oio publisher, wp125)
- Influencer networks
- Sponsored posts
- Social media
- Sell your own products
- Sell a service
- Sell an ebook
- Have a membership site
Set up your blog¶
Now, when we understand all the rules and plans we can start going through the basic blueprint of our work. To make it more convenient I split it into 20 relatively easy tasks.
Choose a free or paid blogging platform¶
So, let's launch your blog and see what happens.
People usually go instantly with the WordPress, but for the starters you can chose something less demanding.
I already have bought a domain name for another movie blog, and I chose to host my content with the Cloudflare from Github.
You can use any other free or paid hosting platform where you can paste codes and links freely.
You will have to learn about that blogging platform so you can use it.
I tried pretty much everything from paid WordPress to free Google Blogger.
Customize your design¶
I like old vintage stuff, so I decided to make my blog a non-responsive flat-line stiff, just a way I like it.
Now, you can use any modern template or the theme, it is up to you.
It will reflect your personality and give a frame to the things you write about.
Create a few must-have pages¶
( About, Contact, Privacy, Disclosure)
This is a self explanatory. These are all the default pages any blog has.
My about me and contact is on the front page, because it is a portfolio website.
Set up google analytics¶
Or you can use a Statcounter. But Analytics is fairly ok. I personally use Cloudflare and Statcounter in combination, and my chat app notifies me when somebody visits my blog.
Just start writing¶
For a start - 50 posts about your favorite topic, or in my case the topics.
This can be written by you, or you can outsource it.
Do not use any free articles, nothing is free, you will end up banned, excluded from communities or even deindexed.
Copies of the content are not valued online.
Write with SEO in mind¶
There are the SEO tutorials online, you can find a very useful things there including a keywords research and keyword density. Apply everything you can, but don’t overdo it.
You can use SEO check mobile application to get the ideas how to improve your SEO in general.
Add high-quality photos¶
This means either your own, outsourced or graphics. You can add those too.
If you are in a hurry, use a free royalty images.
Original work will add quality to your work, but if you don’t find it overly important just use something, or if in the last step, when we start doing reviews you will use a free images of the product lines.
Don't forget to write ALT ( description) for your images.
Polish your content¶
Recommended last things to do:
- Interlink your posts - add some related posts on the bottom.
- Use “no-follow” links.
- Fill out the metadata for your post.
- Add your keyword to the alt text of at least one photo.
- Set a custom permalink for your post ( if you have this option)
Set up google search console¶
This link up there is an explanation how to use the Search console. You can use custom made search on-page.
Set up a domain-based email account ( recommended: zoho?)¶
Well, I had that and it makes one difference, and that is that some things become easier.
In essence I like using Gmail, Protonmail and some other, but ok.
Set up a free email newsletter (Mailchimp, TinyLetter ?)¶
I had it with a Mailchimp as well. If you never used it, take an hour or two and learn how to make it. They have great tutorials and they are really easy to follow.
If you are not comfortable with it, you can use any other service.
I tested TinyLetter that allows you free 5000 subscribers, or Substack for unlimited subscribers with some additional features for a premium version.
Set up your social media profiles¶
Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit…
These are all the traditional, centralized websites which all have their less known decentralized or federated alternatives.
This has to be an assignment of a day.
You will have to customize these.
Fill all the necessary fields in the social profiles.
If you are using Facebook, can also have more than one Facebook fan page about the same thing, or similar. Later you can merge them.
Don’t forget to install metadata for your social snippets. If you don’t have those your post will not show up in the Facebook or Twitter in a way they should.
There are many other social and bookmarking websites where you can share your posts. Come up with a list of the most useful for your topic/blog and make those accounts.
Set up a social media auto-scheduler¶
Note
OPINION: Using a social media platform natively is far better, but don't make a habit having it all stuffed into your phone. Or at least limit their notifications.
Recommended tools:
Buffer, Hootsuite, SocialOomph, SproutSocial, TweetDeck ( only Twitter), Facebook ( inbuilt feature), Quintly.
This is what I found online as a recommendation, but it is not the whole list.
You can absolutely use anything else as long it is comfortable for you.
Personally I made my own simple scripts with database and sheets that will be fed into the social media accounts.
Drive traffic to your blog via Facebook groups¶
Note
OPINION: ... or anything that conveys a huge number of live users. I don't use Facebook profoundly and my account is dormant for years, but I have other communities where I can display my content.
Facebook is still extremely popular and there is no reason why not use it.
You can have your own Facebook Group, or you can join other groups and just post there your blog posts. Many Facebook groups allow this. Find the ones that does and who have a huge followers base.
Advertizing¶
The usual way to go is the banner ad units with the Adsense, but if you can’t get it you should try some alternatives. The Adsense alternatives pay multiple times less than the real thing, so you should avoid these low-carb advertising networks and pay attention to get some solid advertiser to back you up. If you can’t do that, install - Pubovore, Clicksore, Popcash, Chitika or a-ads - I am not sure what is used nowadays the best. I mostly just see affiliates and Adsense. The last two are the far the worst, and Popcash is a popup based advertising service, but still they are better from the rest.
Affiliate marketing¶
Aside from the advertising this can be a very lucrative source of the income.
Recommended Affiliate Networks for New Bloggers
- AMAZON ASSOCIATES
- SHAREASALE
- SHOPSTYLE COLLECTIVE
- SKIMLINKS
Join these and find some nice products you can write about on your blog.
Product reviews¶
How to write a good product review¶
Basic questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why & How
Who can use this product?
What is the product?
Where and when we can use that product?
Why should your readers want to buy this product?
How can it make their lives better?
How can this product be purchased?
Basic rules¶
Be Honest and Resonate with Your Audience
Take Quality Images
Use Affiliate Links - that’s why you are writing those
Include a Call to Action button
Keep Track of Statistics
Follow-Up with the Brand
Use the affiliate link cloaker- use something to shorten those bulky ugly links
A review can be about¶
Beauty product reviews
Book reviews
Store reviews
Restaurant reviews
Hotel reviews
Credit card reviews
Children’s clothing reviews
Subscription box reviews
Influencer networks¶
This is where you can find the gigs and get paid for what you do. Some have the requirements, some don’t. I found a few online...
http://www.blogher.com/marketplace/opportunities/publishing-network
https://socialfabric.us/
http://massivesway.thesitsgirls.com/
http://whoispollinate.com/about-us/join-the-colony/
http://www.acorninfluence.com/
https://activate.bloglovin.com/landing
http://inspiredbloggersnetwork.com/
http://www.thewomenbloggers.com/
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