Blogging is a powerful tool for writers, marketers and business owners looking to share their knowledge and experience with the world. But what exactly is a blog? What does it do? How do I start one?
In this article, we’ll answer all of those questions and more as we explore how you can use blogs to grow your business, build your brand and get more customers.
Table of Contents
- What is a blog?
- How does a blog work?
- How do I start a blog?
- How often should I blog?
- Does blogging help SEO?
- Blog ideas
What is a blog?
A blog is a software application for creating, editing and publishing content. It’s used to share thoughts and opinions on various topics. Blogs can vary in style and tone, but they typically have a conversational feel to them.
77% of internet users read blog posts
https://www.impactplus.com/blogging-statistics-55-reasons-blogging-creates-55-more-traffic
Blogs usually have a specific theme or purpose, for a business you would write about your products and services and all related topics. For instance, you could answer questions you regularly receive from customers or clients.
Many people interested in your products or services are looking online for answers, reviews or advice. Your blog could target these queries and get new customers for your services.
Blogs are great for SEO (search engine optimisation) because they help you build your brand and increase exposure to potential customers.
How does a blog work?
The software will have editing and formatting functions to help you write content. The most popular blogging software is WordPress, I use it for this site, it’s simple to use and free.
Writing, editing and formatting a blog post is simple. WordPress contains a built-in editor. You create an article using “blocks”, as you can see from the image below there are many different blocks to choose from including text, images, embedded content including video and many different styles.
Themes
Content can include a mixture of text and photos, the layout of the page is controlled by the theme. Blogging software will have many different themes to choose from, some free and some you have to pay for.
Thousands of themes are available for WordPress and almost all hosting providers support WordPress.
You can see the Add Themes screen in WordPress below showing the first few of over 9000+ themes available for WordPress. Installing a theme is just a matter of installing and then activating the theme and can be done in seconds.
You can change your theme later without losing any content so don’t feel you need to stick with a theme forever.
Comments
Blogs allow for comments and comment moderation. Comments left on your blog give you valuable feedback from readers and may help you find new ideas for articles.
If questions are asked in the comments you can reply with an answer or perhaps answer more thoroughly in a new article. You can turn off comments and enable content moderation. This is where you can decide which comments to make public on your site.
How do I start a blog?
To start blogging you need to have a website, a domain (this is a unique name for your website) and blogging software installed. It sounds daunting, luckily online services exist that will provide all you need to get started.
43% of blogs on the internet use WordPress
https://w3techs.com
Read about creating a website using WordPress, one of the most popular blogging tools used for online blogs.
How often should I blog?
There’s no right answer here—it depends on what kind of content you’re creating, how much time and effort goes into producing each piece of content (and whether it pays off!), etcetera.
How competitive is your niche?
The more competitive the more you will need to blog to stay in search results. This is because your competitor’s will be publishing content frequently so you need to do the same.
It’s a good idea to do competition research on your niche before deciding if the niche is right for you. Established websites may be difficult to compete with so choose your niche carefully.
How much time do you have to create content?
Don’t forget you are not just writing you also have to:
- Do keyword research ← very important
- Research the topic
- Edit to boost readability, find typos and fix grammar
- Add both internal links and external links
- Create graphics or infographics if appropriate (Canva is recommended)
- Publish and promote
So, you can see it is much more than just writing the article and pressing Publish!
Does blogging help SEO?
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving your website’s ranking in search engines like Google so that people can find your site when they search for keywords related to your business field.
Writing fresh, original content frequently on a blog will help you website rank for many different keywords. Google likes fresh new content so that will help.
It is very important to do keyword research though, otherwise you could be writing about topics no-one is searching for. You also need to avoid highly competitive topics that you are unlikely to be able to rank for.
Google also recommends you write for people-first. Writing content only for search engines can get your site penalized which can heavily affect your ranking position – even for good content on your site.
Keyword research tools will help you find the right keywords. I’ve written about these tools before, here are some relevant articles:
In addition to keyword research you want to format your articles in a way that helps search engines understand the content and what you are writing about. This is a big topic, I wrote this SEO Tips and Tricks article to give you an idea of how to do on-page SEO.
Blog Ideas
Blogging is a great way to connect with your customers, build your brand and drive traffic back to your website. However, it can be intimidating to start a blog if you’re not sure what to write about.
Here are 8 blog post ideas that will help you get started:
1. How To Posts
2. Top 10 Lists
3. Tips & Tricks
4. How I Did It Articles
5. “How It Went” Stories
6. Behind-the-Scenes Stories About Your Business or Workplace
7. Product or Service reviews
8. Tutorials/Guides for your readers
For more blog ideas: Unlock Your Creativity with These 20 Blogging Ideas for Beginners
Here are more blogging ideas for various blogging niches – in case you haven’t decided what niche you want to write for:
100 Blog post ideas for moms
Get inspired with 100 creative blog post ideas for moms! We’ve got you covered with new content ideas to keep your audience engaged.
100 Health and Wellness blog post ideas
Looking for fresh and engaging ideas for your health and wellness blog? Check out our list of 100 powerful and inspiring blog post ideas!
100 Self care blog post ideas
Help your readers improve their mental, physical, and emotional well-being with this list of self care blog post ideas to help you write your next blog article.
100 Fashion blog post ideas
Looking for fresh and unique ideas for your fashion blog? Look no further! Our list of 100 Fashion Blog Post Ideas will inspire your next post and keep your audience engaged. Check it out now!
100 Exciting Book Blog Post Ideas to take your blog to the next level
Looking for new content ideas for your book blog? Look no further than our list of 100 exciting book blog post ideas that will take your blog to the next level!
100 Travel blog post ideas when you are stuck for content
Get inspired for your next travel blog post with our comprehensive list of 100 unique and creative ideas. Click here to explore our ultimate guide to travel blogging!
Final Thoughts
In summary:
- Blogs are for sharing your thoughts and opinions
- Blogs are good for SEO
- Most of the software you need is cheap or free
- Blogging software is easy to use
Does blogging sound like something you would like to start doing?
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