Having a great interest in blogging, an entrepreneur by heart and a born risk-taker, I always aim to set up a blog, something that I can call my own. This goal remains in my heart despite having a day job and my success in other online activities. I believe that having my own blog could be a way for me to explore further in this online world. This is one of the ways wherein I can share the knowledge and skills I acquired through continuous learning.

Shortly after I discovered Bitlanders, I decided to set aside my plan of having my own blog because I am enjoying my stay with the site. I am making a good amount from being writing blog posts despite the fact that I am working on a full time and can only write during weekends and whenever I have free time.

Blogging on a third party site relieved me from other tasks such as setting up the domain and hosting of the platform. The amount I earn from Bitlanders is a big help to me. I also love the atmosphere within the site. Friendly people, easy to approach and supportive admin and everything that I like about a site can be found in Bitlanders.

After a year of continuously blogging for the Bitlanders, I decided to start my own blog again. This is not the first time that I tried setting up my own blog. But because of the limited knowledge and time, I would end up giving up after several months. Especially if I could not attain the result that I am aiming for.

After saving a few amounts, I decided to conduct extensive research and devote part of my free time in preparing the necessary things for setting up a blog while still active with Bitlanders which happens to be my main online income source. I can’t afford yet to enroll in online courses so I get help from free sources such as articles and blog posts. I also become active in forums and Facebook groups where I can get some ideas from other members.

Setting Up a Blog Is No Joke

I began reading a lot of materials in order to increase my knowledge of setting up a blog site. I don’t want to start and end up frustrated because due to lack of preparations. This has happened to me in the past and I don’t want to commit the same mistakes again. I learned my lessons and one of those is the importance of planning.

I need to set up everything before I launch my site. Since I am doing this alone, I know I need a considerable amount of time before I could be able to prepare everything. But I believe this is better than jumping on to buying a domain and hosting without preparations.

Here are the activities I had before I made the launch. It requires a lot of patience and hard work.

Finding the Right Niche

Finding the right niche or topic is a complex process. Asking different people may give us different answers. This can be even more confusing. Here are some of the things that came out during my search for the right niche.

• Write what you are passionate about
• Write about what you know
• Choose a profitable niche or the one that can be monetized easily
• Choose a niche with less competition

When I wrote about earning online, some say this is a niche which is difficult to get approval for an Adsense account because of the high competition. When I created another blog which contains personal experiences, some say it is very difficult to obtain an Adsense approval because it does not provide value to the readers. From the different comments I received, I learned several things that helped me in setting up a blog.

Those things that I learned helped me in crafting my own set of rules to follow. So, here is the guide I came up with when setting up a blog.

1. Write for the Readers

The issue was not on the specific topic chosen but rather on the purpose why we are writing a certain content. While we might want to write something we are passionate about, we should also take into consideration if this is what the readers would like to know. We can solicit suggestions from others which may give us ample ideas but in the end, it is our own decision that should prevail. After all, it is our own blog and we know what we want. We just need to be responsible enough to accept whatever outcome it may give us.

2. Write About The Topic That You Are Comfortable With

Trying to please everyone will not bring you anywhere. Just because others say writing about a certain topic is difficult, you will not anymore pursue it. My stand on this is if you are comfortable writing about a certain topic and so long as this does not violate the rules, then go for it! Remember, you are your own master.

3. Know What the Readers Really Need

Being aware of what the readers need is one way of knowing what we should write about. People already learned the value of search engines such as Google. Thus, they would usually search for almost everything they want to know on Google. Google Trends is a very good place to start with.

BLOGGING PLATFORM

I am using WordPress.org because I find it much easier especially that I don’t have much knowledge about coding. With WordPress, I could be able to use different plugins depending on what I need.

DOMAIN AND HOSTING

This time, I used NameCheap for my hosting and I believe this is a wise decision considering the advanced technology they are using and the supportive admin. It is also important to note that the price is affordable especially with that of the shared hosting package which can accommodate up to 3 blogs.

THE RIGHT BLOGGING TOOLS

Having the right tools for blogging is vital if we are aiming to gain success in this field. Here are some of the tools I am using in order to improve my skills, create high-quality posts, come up with good images.

• Ubersuggest
• Google Calendar
• Canva
• Small SEO Tools
• Title Generator

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)

Optimizing our contents is a great thing to consider when starting a blog. As bloggers, we aim to bring more traffic to our site and increase conversion. The first goal is to be on the first page on the search engine. Though this may not always assure of getting more traffic, it can help because we are being exposed to more audience.

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a huge topic and has a lot of studying to be made. Articles that are written by Neil Patel and Moz are my source of inspiration.

MARKETING

We could not rely on SEO alone. A good marketing strategy will certainly help us in our goal of bringing in more traffic to our site. Here are some of the programs and apps I started with.

1. Pinterest

I started building my Pinterest account after I read some posts from online friends who are using the site to promote their articles. Reading most of the articles of one of my most favorite writers, Michelle, author, and owner of Making Sense of Cents had helped me a lot in terms of writing and other important factors to consider when maintaining a blog.

I learned how to set up my Pinterest Account including the use of relevant blog graphics and joining different groups.

2. Facebook

Having a Facebook account is more of a business move for me than personal enjoyment. Even when I was starting online, I already saw it as the main source of information and a very good app to bring success to any endeavor with the use of proper and timely strategies.

Joining Facebook Groups with similar interests offers advantages. But we should also know that we have obligations of being a member of a certain group. The benefits they offer are helpful and thereby we should return the same so that others may benefit too.

One of my favorite groups is Becoming a Blogger where members and admin are very supportive of each other. They give advice and help in growing your blog.

3. Twitter

I must admit that I have to learn more about Twitter. Though looking into my stats with my old blog, Twitter has been a good source of traffic.

4. Linkedin

Linkedin is a good place to create a loyal group. With members who are mostly professional, it is a good place to get connections with the same interests.

5. Instagram

Instagram is a new avenue to grow our blog followings. Though at this time, I am still learning the ins and outs of this app.

On the final thought

Extensive preparations, proper planning, hard work, dedication and believing in oneself are the main ingredients we can apply in setting up a blog. We can experiment with the different strategies and choose which would work for us best.

Thank you for reading and if you think this content would be helpful for others to read, please use the share button so that others may gain the same benefit.