How to start a captivating blog in 60 minutes

Starting a blog might not be as hard as you think. 

Starting a blog isn’t the easiest thing to do, but it is also not as difficult as you might think. You don’t have to be a journalist or professional writer to start your own blog or specialized website. You can set up your new blog in less than 60 minutes. From there on, it’s all about passion and consistency.

These are 20 essential steps to get you started right away on setting up your blog.

20 tips on starting a blog profitably

Choose the right niche.

There are three important questions you should ask before you enter any blogging niche:

• How knowledgeable are you about the topic at hand?
• Is the chosen niche big enough?
• How can you be different?
• As you start your blog, finding the right niche or where no one else has covered can be challenging, but If you think and look carefully, you will find.

Pick the right domain name.

This can be fun and also tough at the same time. The blog’s name is your chance to make a compelling first impression. But don’t overthink it or get too fancy. An eye-catching domain name should be easy to type, find and remember. Make it obvious, but unique, and throw in as many keywords as possible, based on your target market.

Embrace feedback. 

They say feedback is the breakfast of champions. Try and be proactive about feedback. Though criticism can be harsh, every kind of feedback is a chance for improvement. Not only will this help you get better at what you do, but it will also spur long-term relationships built on trust.

Understand your audience.

To earn the reader’s attention, you need to be familiar with what your audience seeks. The ideal reader of your blog is the one whose needs are in tune with your chosen niche. Think about that person, the topics they’d want to read, the solutions they need, and the types of content they would prefer to see. Spend a day in their shoes!

Create catchy headlines.

First, create a working title that specifies the topic. Then, create the value that the post will provide to the reader very clear. Choose strong, impactful words, but keep the entire title under 60 characters.

Remember, headlines are what sells the content. They determine the SEO rank and read-through rate of your posts. And this is how you start to blog profitably.

Develop a content schedule.

Regardless of your goals, an irresistible blog should delight its readers with fresh content on a regular basis. As a beginner, you could publish new posts randomly. But, if you’re looking to speed up your growth, you’ll need to create a consistent blogging schedule and stick to it, no matter what.

Be consistent with posts.

Consistency impacts the traffic, and that’s a fact. If you publish many posts two days in a row, but then take a three-week long vacation, your readers will get confused. Some will get frustrated; others will forget about you. When there’s no fresh content, there’s no reason for people to take a look at your blog. The best publishing frequency is probably two to three posts a week.

Create unique content.

Beware that crafting unique content takes plenty of work. Your “idea bank” will have to be full, and it goes without saying that you’ll have to do a lot of competitive research to see what’s already there.

Whatever you decide to cover, make sure to give it a unique twist. And include evergreen articles that are not time bound. This is one of the primary requirements for success, so pay attention. The readers aren’t interested in reading the same thing over and over again.

Don’t be over promotional. 

If there are products and services you want to inform your readers about, you’ll need to be careful with how you approach this. A blog site is an editorial space not an advertisement platform.

Don’t be a copy-cat.

It is quite easy to simply cut and paste. But copycatting is not good for both you and the readers. Your readers who have entrusted you with their attention and time expect to learn something new. Nobody is interested in reading an old headline over and over again.

Copied content can get your blog banned from search engines. Google has developed a spot-on algorithm that detects any form of plagiarism. And knocks down the blog from the rankings or penalizes the site altogether. This is a crucial point to remember on how to start a blog successfully.

Photos do magic.

Not every picture is worth a thousand words, but the right one can adds magic to the content. That’s why their huge appeal is known as the “picture superiority effect.” It means that this type of content is more attention-grabbing and images are more engaging than the written word. But don’t over do it as you start your blog. A rule of thumb here is adding one image for every 350 words or for every major subheading.

Keep your blog mobile friendly.

Why? In Africa, over 70% of the population consume content on their mobile devices. Moreover, Google has made the mobile site an official engine ranking factor. And because it’s what all audience-oriented professionals do. In the digital age, mobile responsiveness is absolutely crucial as you start your blog.

Make sure your website loads fast.

Again, nobody has the patience to wait for a website to load 30 seconds. In case your blog is too slow, there’s a big chance your readers will get frustrated and leave. Research shows that after 3 seconds; most readers simply go back or go away. Loading speed affects both the user experience and search engine rankings. Be mindful of this as you start a blog.

Your web design should be stylish.

So, what are the characteristics of a well-designed blog? It uses smart positioning, colors, sizing and various design elements to catch a visitor’s eye, guiding them through the site.

Effortless navigation is essential for the same reason. Make it stylish but at the same time simple, intuitive, and responsive across different devices. This is an important point on how to start a blog in Nigeria.

Make your blog posts scannable.

Almost 75% of visitors skim rather than read through website articles thoroughly. So, it’s important that you make your blog posts scannable. This means using bold headings, subheadings, numbered lists, and bullet lists.

You should also keep your sentences and paragraphs short so that it’s easy to read and capture the reader’s attention. This is a great point to remember on how to start a blog.

Remember E.A.T

E.A.T. stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, and it’s the foundation for how Google rates websites. The highest-ranking pages on the internet have premium content that applies to your industry, informative, and well-written. Get these three rights and you are on your way to success in starting your blog.

Numbers, questions and How to.

Asking questions, listing numbers and how to’s make great blog posts.

How-to’s, which live up to their namesake by explaining how to tackle a certain task or problem. Here are a few examples of questions, listings and how to:

• How to avoid excessive bank charges.
• How to become a millionaire before 30.
• How to avoid the worst traffic in Lagos.
• The best 10 tourist locations in Africa.
• 7 online businesses you can start today.
• Why Big brother Africa might soon be banned.
• Is sugar more dangerous for your health than tobacco?
• Audience and traffic together.

Most bloggers and writers get a lot of satisfaction when their posts get a lot of views. That is traffic. To succeed as a publisher, you must know the difference between building traffic and building an audience.

The difference is simple. You see, traffic comes and goes. Your audience, on the other hand, want to come back for more. If you create compelling content consistently, you should be able to have the best of both worlds as you start blogging.^[1]

Don’t give up quickly. Give it time.

You made a blog and post articles, but yet nothing is happening. Blogging success takes some time and effort, so be stubborn. It might be a few months before the hard work pays off, but blogging will teach you a thing or two about being tenacious. This is another important point on how to start a blog in Nigeria.^[2]

Now that you have all the tips on how to start a blog profitably, you are good to go.^[3])

Start today.

The best time to start your blog  was yesterday. The next best time is now.