While there are about 50 bajillion things you can put on a launch list, these are the the 12 basic steps you’ll want to be sure you take if you want to launch a successful blog.
1/ What Are You Going To Blog About?
The first thing you need to do to start a blog is decide what you’re going to blog about. You’re going to be in this for the long haul so it’s important to choose a topic that interests you, but that whole thing about “passion” that everyone keeps talking about? It’s more important that you’re passionate about building a business. Choose a niche you enjoy, but make sure you can make money with it.
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2/ Choose A Name For Your Blog
A successful blog is a business and one of the most basic business concepts you’ll need to focus on is building an online brand. The best way to start? Choose a name that reflects the topic of your blog and resonates with your visitors.
3/ Choose Your Theme
There are two ways to go here. If you know what you’re doing it’s best to start off with a premium theme that you can customize to do anything you want. However, if you don’t know anything about coding or graphics then it’s best to choose an out-of-the-box theme so you can get your blog up and running. You can worry about customization later.
4/ Choose A Logo
A custom logo goes a long way toward helping to build your online brand. You can design it yourself, but you’ll get better results if you have it designed by a professional or someone who knows something about graphic design. Check sites like Elance.com or Fiverr.com to find freelance designers.
5/ Choose Web Hosting
If you’re ready to launch a “successful” blog then it’s time to stop messing around with those free blogging platforms. Get yourself some reliable web hosting at BlueHost.
6/ Install Plugins
After you install your theme, install basic plugins like GASP to help control comment spam, and All-In-One SEO to help your blog rank better. Installing your plugins first allows you to see how they’re going to affect your content as you publish. That way, you don’t have to tear everything down and start all over again.
7/ Install Google Analytics
Don’t launch until you’ve installed Google Analytics so you can track your performance right from the very start.
8/ Research Your Market
You’re going to need to use keywords and you’re going to need to know the questions people are asking. To learn this, use Google Adwords tools to research your market.
9/ Brainstorm Article Ideas
You’re going to be writing at least one article a day for years to come. Start right now keeping an idea journal so you always have something to write about. This is a great time to start brainstorming article ideas while you’re doing your keyword research.
10/ Install Social Sharing Buttons
In the beginning you’re going to be focused on content creation and traffic generation. Get those social sharing buttons on your blog and make sure they’re prominently displayed so your readers can help pull in more traffic.
11/ Create A Blogging Schedule
It’s a business and that means you need to be organized. It’s important to publish frequently and regularly, but you don’t have to publish every single day. Create a blogging schedule you can live with for the long-haul. Three or four times a week is idea.
12/ Set Business Goals
Too many bloggers fail to set daily and weekly goals. They have the big picture in the back of their minds but a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Break your Million Dollar Goal down into achievable increments and add to your schedule the things you need to do to reach those goals.
3 Comments
Awesome and useful article to get started with blogging. Well, all these steps are very important, mostly choosing an interesting niche, easy to remember domain and a reliable webhosting service. Thanks for sharing and tweeted :)
Hey Nizam, did you follow these 12 steps when you launched your own blog?
Well! I followed almost all of these strategies when starting my own blog :)