With over 300 million blogs in the world today, you need to create something pretty special to be able to stand the test of time while also standing out from the crowd. Where most new bloggers go wrong with their sites, is their initial planning.
In this article we are going to break down a simple seven step formula that will greatly improve your chances for finding success in the world of blogging. Each of these seven steps are from the Blogging.org’s infographic titled “7 Steps to Creating a Successful Blog from Day One” and is also shown at the bottom of this article.
Whether you are a starting a blog for the first time or already several months or years into an existing blog, the good news is that there is always time to make improvements and to see better results from content creation, outreach and ranking higher in the search results.
Follow These 7 Steps to Build the Foundation for a Successful Blog
Without further ado, here’s a quick breakdown of the seven step process every blogger should take when planning the launch of their new site.
- Pick Your Topic – The topic and focus of your blog is extremely important. Not only is it about the content that you create for the site, it’s also about how you are going to provide value, brand yourself as an expert and down the road, how you make money with your site. When choosing a topic, try to go as niche as possible.
- Create Your Avatar – The people who visit your blog are known as your ‘avatar’. The more you know about your audience, the better you can create and cater content to their needs. Know your audience and you will find success!
- Domain Name and Hosting – One of the best ways to set your blog off in the right direction from day one is to get setup with a unique domain name and quality web hosting. While there are free blog hosting alternatives out there, many of them will keep you limited on what you can do with your blog, and you will also never have full ownership over your site and content.
- Content Creation – Content creation is the substance of your blog. It’s what people are going to see in the search results, and find value in when they actually read it on your site. Focus on creating high quality content, and not just content.
- Blog Launch – When all of the pre-planning is done and in place, it’s time to finally launch your blog for the world to see. Create a few blog posts before promoting your blog and also take some time to spruce up your theme, enable some top WordPress plugins and make your blog your own. No one likes to visit a site with little value or substance, make sure yours is ready before promoting it.
- Content Promotion – Content promotion is key to finding success with a blog. Spend more of your time on outreach, social promotion and gaining high quality backlinks versus just creating content. The more your blog content is out there, the more traffic and success you will find.
- Monetize – With a high traffic blog and all of your killer content now in place, it’s time to start looking at your monetization options. Google Adsense is a great option for newbie bloggers, while other methods like affiliate marketing and production creation is better for more advanced bloggers. No matter how you are going to make money with your site, make sure you are still providing value in the process.
Bonus Tip: LEAD GEN & SALES FUNNELS
I wanted to add in a special bonus step as well, which would have to be a lead generation and sales funnel. This has been the driving force behind the success of JohnChow.com. No matter what happens in the search results and social media, as long as John continually drives people to his mailing list, he will have a system in place that works for him 24/7. You can listen to John’s story here and learn more about how he creates his automated mailing lists and sales funnels.
Follow these simple steps and you will find success in the world of blogging. The most important things to remember are to niche down as much as possible, focus on creation quality content and then putting in the time and effort to promote your content once it’s published.
