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Nwosu Mavtrevor

Beginners guide to blogging: How to build a blog – Episode 1

In my f ew years of blogging I have of ten been asked how can one build a successf ul blog f rom scratch?Building a successf ul blog is not really dif f icult only if you know what it takes to build one. Blogging is notall about writ ing but if you have good writ ing skills then you are sure to succeed as a blogger, many of usare already active in social media like Twitter and Facebook. All you need to start a blog is simply my“Beginners guide to blogging”.

In my Beginners guide to blogging series I intend to teach you all you need to succeed as a blogger even ifyou do not know how to write or design a website. So if you are really interested in blogging, then you willhave to f ollow all the episodes of this series.

Beginners guide to blogging:

But f irst we have to talk about the reasons why you want to build a blog so I can set some things straightso you will know exactly what to expect bef ore you decide if you want to build a blog or not. There havebeen a lot of misconceptions about blogging and I intend to set them straight here f or you so you will knowbef orehand what you are getting into and what to expect.

Why do you want to build a blog?

Dif f erent people get into blogging f or dif f erent reasons especially f or the money $$$$, there is nothingwrong about coming into blogging f or the money; I don’t see anything wrong in one earning good incomef rom his intellectual prowess. In f act the number one reason many people start blogging is to earn moneybut you need the best approach to this so you won’t mess up your hard work with your quest to makemoney through it because at a t ime your personality will also be at stake.

I know a lot of people will tell you it is wrong to start a blog just because you want to make money out of it,I am telling you otherwise, and there is nothing wrong about it provided you do not do it in a f ashion whereit will hurt your audience. I am personally earning money through this blog, have I done anything wrong inproviding the web with rich contents and in return earn money f rom my hard work? Same applies to you, youcan earn money f rom your blog, just ensure to f ollow the rules I will give in this guide so you can do it rightand earn good money out of it.

So f or whatever reasons why you may want to build a blog, you will f ind the “Beginners guide to blogging”very interesting. Next will be the qualit ies you will need to succeed as a blogger.

Qualities you will need to succeed as a blogger:

I want to give you the secret mathematical f ormula of a successf ul blogging, I call it the 3P’s of blogging.

Passion+Patience+Persistence = Successful blogging.

To succeed as a blogger, you will need the above mentioned qualit ies. Blogging is not a make-money-quickscheme; in f act you need a lot of PATIENCE to succeed as a blogger. It took me 3 months of blogging toearn my f irst $100, some say it took them 6 months others a year or more. But maybe you got luckyespecially af ter reading my “Beginners guide to blogging”, yours may not take that long because I will shareall my challenges here and how I overcame them all so you won’t have to suf f er same.

Another quality that can help you succeed as a blogger is only if you have the PASSION to blog; there is noshortcut to doing this. Forget all you read about blackhat methods to succeed as a blogger, it will only landyou in trouble because Google is working hard day and night to punish those lazy people who won’t workhard to succeed but rather are looking f or shortcuts to succeeding as a blogger.

Then PERSISTENCE is yet another quality you must possess to succeed as a blogger. You must bepersistent in your publications and promotions; you must be persistent to succeed. Blogging is a seriousthing so you must be serious with it, you don’t publish an article today and publish another in 3months timeand expect to succeed as a blogger. You have to do it regularly to earn both your visitor ’s trust and that ofsearch engines.

If you are sure you have the right drive to start a blog, then you have some decisions to make about whatyou will be blogging about and what platf orm you will use to blog. You also have to decide on your blogdesign and web hosting. You will have to consider the costs and your capabilit ies.

How to choose a Niche:

A niche is like the area or topics your blog will cover. To f ind the best niche that will best suit your blog f or asuccessf ul blogging carrier, you have to choose a niche that best matches your natural lif e passion. Build ablog on a niche you are passionate about and you are half way to success already. Blog on topics you arean authority in, that way you can never run out of ideas to write about. So whether it is sports,entertainment, education, health etc, choose only a niche you are passionate about.

Another thing you will have to consider is if the niche is competit ive; remember traf f ic is the lif e blood ofany successf ul blog, so you must choose a niche that has good monthly global searches. So you need toresearch the potential traf f ic of the niche you are choosing. As a starter I will advise you choose a nichethat is not too competit ive with good amount of traf f ic and one that is prof itable with good CPC so youcan also earn good money f rom it.

Always remember good blog + good traffic = good money.

When you have decided your niche, you can also decide to break it f urther down to micro-niche, else youhave to move on to the next thing on list which is to choose your blog name or simply domain name f oryour blog.

How to choose the right domain name:

The right domain name is the f irst step to building a successf ul blog, so you have to ensure you make theright choice here. Don’t worry “Beginner’s guide to blogging” will teach you all you need to know tochoosing the right domain name f or your blog. Simply read an article I published earlier t it led “Choosing theright domain names” f or all the tips you will need in choosing the right domain name f or your blog.

Af ter you have decided on the domain name you will want to use f or your blog, the next thing to do will beto check f or its availability then place an order f or it to secure it, but wait a minute so you can do it togetherwith the hosting plan as most registrars give f ree domain name f or their hosting packages.

How to choose a web host:

Bef ore choosing a web host there are some f actors you will have to consider so as to be able to choosethe right web host. I have discussed the “Basic f actors to consider bef ore choosing the best web host” inthis blog, check it out.

I personally use Arvixe f or my blog and the support team has been awesome in solving whatever problems Imay have. If you want cheap and reliable webhost f or your blog, check out Arvixe. Others include Godaddy,Namecheap, Hostgator etc.

Af ter you have placed your order successf ully, your domain and webhosting details will be emailed to you,this is where you begin your work. I know not everyone is a web designer, but if you have a good knowledgeof html you can be able to customize your blog to look good. Now let’s see how we can build our blog f romscratch.

Install WordPress:

There are def initely other platf orms f or blogging but I will always f avor WordPress f or several reasons.WordPress was built f or blogging ad so it has a lot of search engine optimization SEO advantages overother blogging platf orms. WordPress is so easy that even a newbie can quickly get a hang of it in no timeand build a prof essional website just like I did some years ago.

Simply login to your cPanel dashboard, look f or Fantastico and install WordPress on your root f older (wwwf older). This is the f irst step to building a blog, and a lot of people f ind it dif f icult to pass through thisstage, so I have decided to help you all, yes I want to help you all install your WordPress sites on yourhosting server.

All you need to do to earn my help and install WordPress on your server is f or you to buy your webhostingpackage f rom any of these recommended hosting solutions.

Arvixe

Godaddy

Namecheap

Hostgator

In return I can of f er you this service at no additional cost, and guide you in the right direction in theprocess. Once you complete your sign up with any of the hosting companies above, click here to send mean email and I will f ollow up with you asap to setup your blog and get you live! I hope you take advantage ofmy of f er to get your blog started in no time.

Customize your WordPress:

Af ter installing WordPress the next thing will be to customize your WordPress blog, make it uniquelydif f erent and nice, give it an appealing look that will give a f irst t ime visitor a good impression and get himto return again.

You can do this by installing themes and plugins, there are f ree themes out there but f rom experience Ihave discovered that premium themes perf orm better, so depending on your budget you can either decideto use a f ree WordPress theme or you can purchase a premium theme. But bef ore you choose any theme, Iwill recommend you read a post I published earlier on this blog tit led “What to consider while choosing aWordPress theme f or your site”.

Same goes f or Plugins, you need to secure your WordPress site f rom hackers so I recommend you checkout “Necessary WordPress Security Plugins every blog should have” and “Some important WordPressPlugins f or your WordPress blog”. You will also learn how to install and activate a plugin there, so checkthem out.

This is the end of the f irst episode of this series, I will continue with the rest tomorrow. I hope you f ind itinteresting to share your views and contribute to it. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask mevia the comments or better yet via the contact page.

If you do not want to miss any episode of this series, simply enter your email below and click the Subscribebutton. You will receive all the episodes on your email, that way you won’t have to miss any.

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