**TIp: This post is very in-depth. I do recommend bookmarking this page for future reference. I included a Table of Contents below to assist you in picking up where you left off.
Table of Contents
Hi! I'm Lily, the creator of this blog!
By the title of this post, you can already guess…This is a guide on how to start your blog when you don’t know how!
Let me tell you, learning how to start a blog from scratch was a loooong journey.
Throughout my journey, I learned the long way how to successfully establish a blog. I was able to get the hang of it with no knowledge at all about building websites. Now, here I am with my own site and making money from it.
Why did I start?
Back in 2015, I started my blog to showcase my makeup tutorials and beauty products. I quickly realized how much I actually enjoyed blogging.
Unfortunately at the time, my family and I were experiencing hardship. We were both running a business that honestly kept us trapped, eventually ended by a bad business deal.
This was the catalyst that caused me to dig deeper into researching how I could make money from my blog just like other bloggers.
I ended up “biting the bullet” and purchased several blogging courses in order to help me blog more efficiently. But most importantly, I needed to learn how to turn my blog into a business.
Through courses like The Ultimate Bundles and a Pinterest Marketing course, I quickly learned that you can make money from a blog.
I immediately had an epiphany on my desire.
I wanted to learn how to successfully make my blog a business and then motivate others to turn their passions into a business no matter how small or silly it appears to everyone else.
So, If you want to start your Blog to showcase your talents, then this post is for you!
I put together this roadmap to guide you on how to start a blog. The road This roadmap works FOR ANY BLOG in any NICHE.
There are a couple of key points
I have to go over with you
before you begin your blogging journey.
~ You need to understand starting a blog is not a get-rich-quick scheme.
~ Nothing in life is free. If you really want to follow your dreams doing something you absolutely love and get paid for it…you are going to have to spend money to make money. Spend on the proper resources and fundamentals to run your business that is.
~ You will have to work hard. This is the truth behind your happiness. You have to work for your happiness. Only then you will truly learn to appreciate and enjoy, the in-the-moment feeling. Building your blog will take time. Trust me I know. My first year I made almost nothing compared to what I invested.
~ BUT, This does not mean you won’t make money. I got my investment back and secured another source of income at the same time. You will see fruits of your labor, you just need to be patient.
~ Last thing, You have to learn to adapt to a winners mindset. There will be times that your ego and comfortable side will want you to quit. When this time comes, you have to know, it’s all about MINDSET. Your body will always make you want to go back to what was comfortable or deemed safe. When, in reality we tell our body through our mind that we need to move forward because there are goals that need to be accomplished even if it feels like your walking into the unknown.
~In Business, Failure is inevitable. But those are the times you learn. KEEP GOING.
A | BLOG ACTIVATION
A | BLOG ACTIVATION
1. CHOOSE A NICHE
1. CHOOSE A NICHE
You may be wondering, What is a Niche?
A niche is a passion. It’s a specific topic. A category per say.
Here are some examples of some blogging niches:
- Beauty
- Blogging
- Business
- Fashion
- Finance
- Health & Fitness
- Technology
- Travel
Here are some examples of Blogging Niches
- Beauty
- Blogging
- Business
- Fashion
- Finance
- Health & Fitness
- Technology
- Travel
"Do you need a Niche?"
Yes, you do. Why?
Because having a niche will allow you to “direct targeted traffic to your site”. In other words, you will send more dedicated readers, interested in the answers or options you can provide, directed to your site. Answers, related to similar interests you share with your readers.
At the start of your blogging journey, try to stick to one or two niche(s) in order to help grow your blog faster. This will help people remember your blog and what you have to offer. As you grow your presence, you can start to explore and introduce other niches.
Dive deep to see what hobby you can talk about for hours. When I started lilianatoufiles.com, the beauty niche was my particular interest. Eventually, I started to grow towards the business side of things. I found myself incorporating experiences that I’ve had throughout my business career being self-employment and in the corporate world.
Next thing you know this turned to a beauty-to-boss situation. Since reactivating my blog, I have focused my “niches” to now be centered around entrepreneurship and beauty.
I also like to dig into the lifestyle niche. At the moment, my lifestyle posts are still being crafted. It’s a work in progress.
How to brainstorm a Niche.
Well, start by asking yourself questions like:
"What is my passion"
What is the thing that you can talk about over and over and over again.
Mine is business and beauty. Niches can vary depending on preference: food, technology, skin care, travel, etc. It just has to be something that excites you. Something that you’ve been obsessed with. Look at your hobbies and life experiences to help you decide your niche. Find that spark that continues to inspire you for a long time.
For example, you have always maintained your skin and find yourself spending hours talking about it. Notice yourself recommending several products you have tried? Talking about your personal experiences? Then, this is a perfect example of a Skin Care niche.
Any readers that are techies and/or gamers into technology? If you look closely there is technically two niches in that last question.
Work-out fanatics who can go on about diet and exercise? Look, another double niche.
And most importantly…stay-at-home mommas! I know you have a ton of experience, you can easily recommended household products and tips to share about the stay-at-home mom life! Everyone has something they can talk about.
"Is there a need for my niche? ...and Can I answer those needs?"
This is hard but important. The good news is you can do a simple Pinterest keyword search to see the need for your niche!
For example, you can search “how to start a business” and find many pins related to this question. This means there is a “market,” a.k.a people have questions related to your niche, and they are looking for answers. This is where you would come in to provide those answers.
By searching a question that your audience may have related to your topic , for example: “How to start a business,” you will see a bunch of results come up related to starting a business.
Think of all the times you had a question to research techniques or “how-to” steps to something you needed help with. These questions are tied to your passion, create blog posts for them and BOOM!
There is always a need for your passion.
"Can I monetize it?"
You can start your blog as a hobby if you want. But being honest…in today’s world, we need money to survive. I’m also always in search for knowledge. So, I like to take my time learning to become more familiar with the topic (making money). One way I do this is learning from the people that are in what I would consider a successful position. When you read the bios or listen to them speak, you will notice truly successful people all mention one thing. If you truly want to be successful in life and have financial freedom, the secret is to have different sources of income. In other words, you need to establish different avenues that make you money.
A blog is just another one of those methods. You need to find out how to make money from your niche. This can be affiliate links, offering your services, and/or collaborating on sponsored posts.
2. CREATE YOUR WEBSITE URL NAME
2. CREATE YOUR WEBSITE URL NAME
Time to start thinking of ideas for your domain name.
Note: Make sure you make a small list of a couple domain names just in case your original idea is not available.
For my site, I went with my name because originally it was tied to my instagram. I was showcasing my instagram pictures in more detail. Ultimately, this blog started to represent my journey on how I turned my passions into a business. So, I stuck with my name the second time around instead of changing my blog for a third time.
Honestly, that was my view behind my domain name. Whatever you choose, make sure its unique to you and your passion!
This is where the next step also comes into play.
3. TIME TO BECOME SELF-HOSTED
3. TIME TO BECOME SELF-HOSTED
*SiteGround Website and SSL certificate Set-Up
What is the difference between a Hosted and Self-hosted site?
&
How is being self-hosted important for the success of my blog?
Hosted sites like Wix.com, WordPress.com, Blogspot.com, and others offer the ability to have free websites that are already built for you.
These free sites allow you to have a site… but, you don’t actually own it because they are already hosted. These sites are already made and belong to that organization ( like Wix.com ). At any time, they can shut you down. Then there goes all your hard work. Plus, you will not be able to display ads and/or are limited to using affiliate links (one of the ways bloggers make money).
This is why hosted sites will have your domain (or URL link) looking something like this:
www.yourblogname.wordpress.com or www.yourblogname.blogspot.com.
Having your site on these free platforms is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is extremely detrimental if you’re looking to monetize.
On the other hand, to be Self-hosted (like wordpress.org) you purchase your site domain (a.k.a. the website URL you see in your browser search bar). With this option, you own your website. You can now customize your website however you want.
How to get a self-hosted site?
Best place to get a self hosted site is SiteGround. I recommend SiteGround above Bluehost any day.
To be honest, when I first started my blog I jumped on the bandwagon along with other bloggers, and started with Bluehost. But, after sometime I ended up regretting the service. No, It wasn’t their customer service on the contrary, they were great!
...It was their site loading speeds.
WHY DID I CHOOSE SITEGROUND?
WHY NOT BLUEHOST?
With Bluehost, I started to see my site crash. My site was loading slower than usual with the traffic I started to present it with. After a while, I just started looking into better options. This is when I started reading other bloggers having the same issue with Bluehost start to recommend SiteGround.
I did some extensive research on the services SiteGround had to offer, and after some time of my site being down, I relaunched it with SiteGround.
Ever since switching to SiteGround, I have had no issues!
My site loads much faster, as well as, more secure since SiteGround is one of the best in the market with their site security. They offer 24/7 chat, telephone, and ticket support. And let’s not forget how SiteGround has a very easy platform to get started with.
Overall for the value and support, I choose SiteGround above Bluehost any day.
Milliondollarwinnie.com has an amazing article on the difference between SiteGround and Bluehost. I highly recommend reading their post if you want a more detailed comparison for both platforms.
Head over to SiteGround’s main page here and select Start Now.
B | SELECT YOUR PLAN
Here is where you select your preferred plan. SiteGround has three in total to offer. Start Up, Grow Big, and Go Geek.
Click here to view and compare their plans.
Many users start with the Startup plan. I currently have the GrowBig plan for my site. I’m not a small site, but I am also not a large enough site to GoGeek yet. I find that the GrowBig plan offers the right amount of site storage and traffic visits for the size of my site.
The Grow Big plan has all of this to offer:
- UNLIMITED WEBSITES
- 20 GB WEB SPACE
- FREE SSL
- DAILY BACKUP
- ENHANCED SECURITY
- ECOMMERCE ENABLED
- 30 DAYS MONEY-BACK
- FREE CDN
- FREE EMAIL
C | CHOOSE YOUR DOMAIN NAME
Once your plan is selected, the next step is to select Register a New Domain or I already have a Domain.
FOR BRAND NEW BLOGGERS (DO NOT have a blog): Select Register a New Domain.
NOTE: I recommend sticking with a domain name ending in “.com”. This is why If mentioned having a couple names selected in case your initial idea is taken.
FOR EXISTING BLOGGERS ON OTHER HOSTING PLATFORMS (ALREADY have a blog): Select > I already have a Domain.
D | CREATE PROFILES & EXTRAS...?
For the final step, create your account at the top, then, billing and payment info.
At the bottom of the page, there are some extra services that SiteGround offers you. I highly recommend adding Domain Privacy. This will help shield your personal information from the internet.
E | Set up your SSL Certificate...
A SSL certificate is NEEDED for site security.
You don’t want Google telling your readers your site is not secure. This will drastically break the trust you are building which will domino effect on your audience. To avoid this, you want to head over to your “Websites” tab in SiteGround to access your WordPress admin.
Once your in the Websites tab, make sure you turn on your SSL certificate as highlighted in the image below. This will make sure your site loads on a “https://” format instead of “http://“. This is the smallest change down to your site that will cause internet browsers to flag your site as unsafe.
4. WORDPRESS SETUP
4. WORDPRESS SETUP
The amazing part of having SiteGround is that WordPress is automatically installed. This makes the process easier for you!
Especially, for those of you learning to get into the swing of things in the technology world.
In the image above, I highlighted where to find the “WordPress Admin” button under the “Websites” tab in SiteGround.
As soon as you select WordPress Admin, It will direct you to your WordPress back office
Congratulations on reaching this point! You have successfully established your website.
This is where your blogging journey truly starts. You are closer to creating your blog posts and managing your website.
5. SET UP WEBSITE EMAIL
5. SET UP WEBSITE EMAIL
Next, we need to set up a professional email.
Instead of having an email like this: yourbusinesname@gmail.com – you’ll have something looking like this: contact@ your website name .com.
Every business needs a professional email that actually shows your website at the end and provides a more professional aesthetic to your branding. Readers are more likely to trust you due to having a more established business. Another reason is to also maintain your business separate from your personal. Having a professional email for your followers helps add to personal privacy, as well as, avoid losing business emails among our personal emails.
Also, your subscribers will be able to recognize you through their email list easier.
To get started:
1 |
First, go to your SiteGround log in homepage and click on SITE TOOLS.
2 |
On the side you will see a menu, so you want to select Email
3 |
Here, you will see a section that allows you to create a new email account.
You only have to type the beginning part of your email. For example my email is “admin@lilianatoufiles.com“
So in the Account name box I just entered “admin.” You can make it anything you want.
After you will create your password. This password will be used everytime you sign into your email for your site.
4 |
Once you create your email, it’s going to appear in the Manage Email Account section.
To access your email you simply have to click on the “3 Dots” next to your email and select login to Webmail.
And just like that you have successfully set up and logged into your website email!
On to part B of our blog setup.
B | WORDPRESS SET-UP
6. INSTALL YOUR PLUGINS
6. INSTALL YOUR PLUGINS
What are plugins?
Plugins are applications you install within WordPress that are the foundation to your blog. Just like a car needs it’s parts to run. Plugins are the “car parts” to your blog. These applications add extended features and functions to your site. They are extremely important.
Let’s not forget to add, plugins are the easiest way to cheat functions on your website without having to know anything about coding.
Each plugin has a specific job to do behind the scenes of your website.
The Best WordPress Plugins for Your Blog as a Beginner.
I recommend heading over to my blog post, The Best WordPress Plugins.
I made it easy for you by listing all the WordPress Plugins. Within the post, I created a list of plugins that are recommended for beginners. There is also a easy step by step on how to download and activate your plugins.
Throughout the post, I will share separate blog posts for these types of steps since there is already enough information in this post to go through.
Feel free to pin “The Best WordPress Plugins” post for later, for when you get to this part of your blog set up.
You don’t want to miss this post.
7. ACTIVATE UNDER CONSTRUCTION PLUGIN
7. ACTIVATE UNDER CONSTRUCTION PLUGIN
After downloading your plugins, Active the Under Construction plugin.
This plugin will put a “curtain” over your website. Under Construction assists with creating a landing page that does exactly what the name of the app is called. It creates a cloak over your site, informing your readers your site is under construction.
This will allow you to edit in peace without looking all over the place to the public. Put Under construction up anytime you want to redesign your site.
8 . PICK A WEBSITE THEME
8 . PICK A WEBSITE THEME
A website theme is the design of the site itself. First impressions do matter so make sure to look for a theme that flows with your goals for your blog.
WordPress makes it easy for those of you that are not familiar with web design. WordPress offers a lot of free themes within WordPress to choose from. Of course, free themes do have limitations in how you can design them. But, there are also paid options that are amazing and provide you with more freedom when it comes to designing your site.
For those of you that are a little more advanced, The Elementor plugin is a great plugin to use for designing your website. (mentioned in my “Best WordPress Plugins.” blog post.
If you choose to use the Elementor plugin (which I highly suggest you do) I recommend using the OceanWP theme.
I have been using this theme together with the Ocean WP theme for the last 2 years, everytime I test something different I always find myself going right back.
HOW TO DOWNLOAD YOUR THEME
1 |
How to download your theme? Simply head over to the “Appearance” option on your WordPress Dashboard menu.
2 |
Then, select “Add New” on the top left.
3 |
Select “Install” on the theme you prefer.
**I highly recommend Ocean WP due to it’s flexibility with the Elementor Plugin
After you just simply Active your theme and your good to go!
9. ACTIVATE YOUR GOOGLE ANALYTICS
9. ACTIVATE YOUR GOOGLE ANALYTICS
The next step in our blogging journey is activating your Google analytics account together with the Monsterinsights plugin (or similar plugin). Don’t forget to also activate your CookieYes Cookies Disclosure (or a similar plugin) plugin, since they are directly correlated to each other.
Why do you need a Google Analytics account?
Google Analytics is going to be your best friend when it comes to tracking your blog’s performance. With Google Analytics, you will be able to compare the demographics of your audience, see which post is performing the best and which are not. This is crucial for your blog’s marketing and management. For your blogs success, you need to be able to see what your audience is drawn too.
What are plugins?
Keeping track of your analytics gives you a look into what can be expanded on and what may need to be revised. The best thing? Google Analytics is completely free to use.
You want to set this up, as soon as, you activate your access to WordPress.
Coming Soon! For those of you that plan to use the MonsterInsight plugin, I will have a Step by Step blog post on how to activate your Google Analytics profile and connect it with your MonsterInsights Plugin.
Stay in the Know! Sign up to receive our Newsletter for updates!
10. SET UP YOUR ABOUT ME PAGE
10. SET UP YOUR ABOUT ME PAGE
The first page you should set up is your About Me page.
Why?
When a new reader reaches your site, they will go to your about-me page at one point to see the person (or team) behind the blog.
Also, starting with your About Me page will give you the opportunity to test out your design skills, as well as, explore some features in WordPress. This will give you familiarity with the site and give you an idea on how your blog posts may be structured.
Your About Me page is where you actually talk …about your blog not “you”.
I mean, you do introduce yourself, but, it’s more about how you started your blogging journey and what your blog ultimately has to offer.
How many times have you started learning something where you have a question …find the answer to the question… but then you immediately have another question about the new process you just learned? Your About Me is the introduction to the space you created where your reader can be prepared for future questions they haven’t come across yet.
I suggest take time building this page. Dig deep into what you want your blog to represent. It’s all about being able to answer the questions your audience may have. Because effectively introducing your blog, increases the chance of those readers becoming followers.
11. PURCHASE LEGAL PAGES
11. PURCHASE LEGAL PAGES
IT'S IMPORTANT TO HAVE THESE NECESSARY LEGAL PAGES UP AND RUNNING BEFORE YOUR FIRST BLOG POST.
In no way, shape or form, am I a lawyer. This is why, when it came to legally protecting my site I turned to a lawyer.
This lawyer’s name is, Amira. Amira is the creator of ASelfGuru.com. Back in 2017, when I started researching how to blog, I came across Amira and her blog, ASelfGuru.com. She is a lawyer that specializes in providing legally approved legal-pages designed for your blog.
Amira was inspired to become a lawyer after her dad had some legal implications with his own business. Since then, she succeeded TREMENDOUSLY in her blogging journey while being a full-time lawyer. She now assists countless bloggers protecting their blogs by providing the proper pages legally needed for a website.
Related Post:
Read my blog post, 3 Important Pages You Legally Need on Your Blog.
In this post, I introduce Amira and explain the importance of each individual page you need for your blog.
Feel free to pin this post for later, for when you get to this part of your blog set up.
12. SIGN UP FOR SUBSCRIPTION EMAIL SERVICE.
12. SIGN UP FOR SUBSCRIPTION EMAIL SERVICE.
The next step, is to set up your email subscriber for your email list. This is completely separate from your website email. Email Subscribers are used to build a storage list of your followers.
This is where we turn our heads over to Mailchimp, Convertkit, Mailerlite, or any other email subscriber you decide to go with.
Together with your email subscriber you will be able to create signup forms, landing pages and more for your followers who want to provide their email in exchange for your valuable content. When they become subscribers, through your email subscriber, you can send them your updated newsletter.
Why is this step important?
It’s important because these subscribers are your people. They trust you and want more from you. By having an email subscriber you will be able to help your readers stay in the loop with updates. Neatly organize your email list all in one place. Best part of this, you always have your audience if in case your blog goes down, you can quickly get to your email list and notify them.
Having an email list IS very important.
C | SOCIAL
C | SOCIAL
13. SET UP SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS &
CONVERT THEM TO BUSINESS ACCOUNTS
13. SET UP SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS &
CONVERT THEM TO BUSINESS ACCOUNTS
Social Media is Important.
Why?
You need social media in order to promote your blog and promote what you talk about. It’s where your readers get a glimpse of the real you!
In the beginning, since there is a lot going on when setting up a blog, I suggest building your social media profiles one at a time. This way your not so overwhelmed.
In my opinion: Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook are a must. But, others social media platforms have been successful regardless. I suggest starting with one social media account first, then moving up to other platforms. This way you are not stressed about what to post across several platforms. Build your flow one at a time.Remember to use the power of automation.
Tips?
For your username keep it the same or as close as possible to your blog name (honestly why I settled for my name, yeah I know…whatever lol).
Keep your brand and page consistent throughout your platforms so this way followers can find you easier.
After setting up your social media accounts time to convert them to business accounts. For facebook, you need to create a page tied to your personal profile instead.
The reason you want to convert to business is because this will activate the business features within Pinterest. Business features like, analytics, ad promotion, tracking and more. In other words, you have access to the tools you need to track and run your business. Best part it’s free!
Simply go through you account settings of your social media profiles and select convert to business.Follow through with Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and any other social media profile.
Word of advice: Always have the second-factor authentication turned on for your social media profiles. This is essential for the security of your social media profiles.
14. JOIN GROUPS
14. JOIN GROUPS
We have set up our social media accounts, now it’s time to start preparing for the promotion of your blog.
To start, get on Pinterest and Facebook and join group boards with interests similar interests to yours.
You do not want to miss out on group boards because they are extremely important in growing your blogging audience.
How are Group Board Important?
Tips:
- You many need to message the group administrator
- Always verify group terms & conditions to make sure your are able to abide by them or if they fit with your ideal group
- Don't Spam (sharing unrelated posts, multiple posts, unreliable links etc.
D | POSTS
D | POSTS
15. BRAINSTORM PILLAR POST SET
15. BRAINSTORM PILLAR POST SET
What are Pillar Posts?
Pillar posts are a set of linked blog posts that serve as a resource for your reader. Pillar posts serve as the foundation for your blog.
Think of building a house. You need to set a proper foundation in order for the house to stand. When looking at it in the blogging world. You have to see your blog as your house and your pillar posts as your foundation.
Pillar Posts should be evergreen, or in other words, timeless articles that are useful year-round.
It’s supposed to provide valuable information that will draw your readers in, and make them want to read on and click on the next linked pillar post.
These are also the posts that should be mainly promoted across our social media networks. So take your time in brainstorming and creating your pillar posts.
TIPS TO TAKE DOWN: In the brainstorming stage it’s recommended to:
– Create various topics tied to one idea
example: how to lose weight -(tied to)- how to count calories -(tied to)- best exercises to do …etc.
– Remember to link your pillar posts inside the body of any additional blog posts that you create related to a common topic.
16. CREATE YOUR POST GRAPHICS
16. CREATE YOUR POST GRAPHICS
Graphics are used to catch your reader’s attention. When your readers go on Pinterest to search for their answers they will come across a list of images or “Pins.” These are the first graphics you should create. I currently use Canva to edit my website graphics.
Graphics also help with your SEO ranking. The more you optimize your images the better it plays into higher SEO ranking on Google. Take your time creating graphics that are on par with your graphicsNumber one way to drive traffic from social media to your site. You want your images to be bright, bold, and related to what you are talking about.
Make sure to look for pictures that represent the branding (colors and design) of your site.
Word of Caution:
Do not just use any image off the internet
This is extremely important because If not, the owner can have you take down the images or worse, make you face legal fines. In order to avoid this always make sure you are getting your images royalty-free.
Royalty-free images are images uploaded to free platforms to use but that the owner posted with the intent to have other parties reuse them with no repercussions.
These are Websites that have Royalty-Free Stock Images:
Design Your Image
Once you select your stock images,you can take them over to Canva. Canva is a free online graphic desing tool where you are able to design you blog post images for pinterest.
Canva is offered with a free and paid version. The free version is perfect for newbies. If you’re new to graphic design then I recommend Canva due to it’s easy to use platform and predesigned templates to choose from.
The free version offers a wide variety of fonts, elements, templates, images and clip art. It is of course a free version so you will only be able to have access to very basic features.
The paid version unlocks much more built in features. My favorite option with the paid version are the premium graphics and the ability to download my graphics with a transparent background.
I highly recommend using Canva as part of your design tools for your Blog.
17. HOW TO WRITE YOUR BLOG POSTS
17. HOW TO WRITE YOUR BLOG POSTS
We have brainstormed our pillar post ideas and created the images. Now it’s time to actually create these pillar posts.
Remember to stay on brand with your pillar topics and that each post answers questions your ideal audience may have.
1 |
To create our posts we have to go to our “WordPress homepage.”
2 |
Select the link where it says “Add New Post.”
3 |
You will be met with the Glutenburg editor in wordpress if you downloaded your wordpress after 2021. But, I stick to the elementor plugin for the majority of my posts..
4 |
In this step you simply build your post in Elementor by adding sections from the menu and dragging them into the space.
E | MONETIZATION
E | MONETIZATION
18. SIGN UP FOR AFFILIATES
18. SIGN UP FOR AFFILIATES
"WHAT ARE AFFILIATES?"
Now, ALWAYS disclose your affiliates in your posts and only offer affiliates that you have personally used and recommend.
Why?
Because you always have to have “growing trust with the audience” on repeat in the back of your mind.
DO NOT recommend something you do not like just for the sale. This is the fastest way to ruin your reputation and lose trust from your audience.
Remember: no trust = no audience = no support = no money
HOW DO I SIGN UP FOR AFFILIATES?
A quick Google search will help you find your answer. If you look closely there are a lot of companies and websites that offer affiliate programs. Look towards your hosting provider, store websites, service websites you’ve used, email subscription providers, etc.
For beginners, I recommend starting off with Amazon Affiliates and Shop Style Collective. Both are free to join, do not need a month traffic minimum and their platforms are easy to use. I believe they are perfect for beginners.
As you start to grow, you will run into some affiliate partners that will require you to have a certain amount of followers or monthly page views to be approved. One of those examples is Share-A-Sale. Even though for a beginner blogger these types of affiliates may not work yet, make a list of these affiliates to refer back to later once your site starts gaining traffic.
Affiliate links are essentially the easiest way to make money with your blog. Just make sure you do your research on the company behind the product.
With this being said let’s move to our next step.
19. MONETIZE YOUR BLOG
19. MONETIZE YOUR BLOG
What does "monetizing" your blog mean?
The process of monetizing your blog is setting it up to make money. We have already talked about affiliate links, but there other ways like sponsored posts. ads and more.
For affiliate links I recommend using Pretty Links.
Quick Tip:
Pretty links is a link cloaker I recommend having for your affiliate links. Use Pretty Links when possible. – I know this can get annoying with multiple amazon affiliate links but it does simplify things for you in the long run. Plus, Pretty Links help keep your affiliates organized.
Hide those ugly, long affiliate links with clean links that represent your blog’s brand. Best part is, Pretty links makes it easy to update your affiliate links through out the blog, all in one spot. No more spammy looking links. Any changes in Pretty Links will then extend the link update across the areas you used it.
F | PROMO LAUNCH
F | PROMO LAUNCH
20. LAUNCH & PROMOTE YOUR BLOG
20. LAUNCH & PROMOTE YOUR BLOG
It’s now time to Launch your blog. Make sure all your links are set and don’t forget to deactivate the
Under Construction plugin
This is the true start to our blogging journey! You laid the foundation, then created your blog from scratch.
After your launch, the next level is to promote your blog.
Earlier, I suggested creating a minimum of 3 graphics for your blog post. This is where those graphics come into play. You will be promoting them. Share your posts throughout the week to get traffic directed towards your blog. The more the post itself is shared the more traction you will gain in growing your ideal audience.
-Tailwind is a social media automation service that helps you schedule your Pinterest and Instagram posts. I highly recommend this social media & marketing tool. I personally grew my Pinterest traffic with tailwind.
-Share your posts on your Social Media
-Create interest on your Posts in your Stories
-Talk about in any Podcasts you do or would like to share to
-Share with friends and family ask them to share with the
-Pay for sponsored ads & listings by other bloggers
-Share your blog posts on any questions posted in Forums
– Link your website in your Email Signature
You just have to now get to work. I truly hope this post helps makes things easier with setting up your blog. Feel free to comment below your thoughts or any helpful tips!
If you have found this post useful, remember sharing is caring, Share this post if you think it will help any fellow entrepreneurs looking to start a website or blog.
Thank you guys for taking the time to read!
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