Are you interested in starting a successful blog? It may seem like an easy thing to do, but that can’t be further from the truth.
Blogging takes a lot of time, and it’s not for everyone. But if it’s the right path for you, you can turn your new website into a success.
Before we get into the tips, this post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy to learn more.
Determine Your Definition of Success
First, you need to figure out what success means to you. For some bloggers, that means being able to quit their full-time job or freelance work after making enough money from their content.
Other bloggers may define success based on an average number of monthly page views or social media followers. But some bloggers may simply define success based on enjoying the process of blogging and getting their content out there.
Knowing your personal definition of success is vital. It can help you figure out when you reach that point of success you’re longing for, and you can put yourself on a path to get there more efficiently.
Set Some Goals
The next step in starting a successful blog is setting a few goals. Consider what will make a blog successful for you, and use that to come up with the best goals.
If your goal is to turn your blog into a business, you may want to set goals related to money. Now, your blog probably won’t make much money right away, so keep these goals realistic.
When your goal is getting a certain amount of traffic, you can write down a specific number. As with money, you probably won’t get many views right away, so keep the goal low or make it a long-term goal.
Keep Expectations Low
You can set just about any blog-related goal you can think of. While you may want to reach for the stars, you need to think about how long it will take to get there.
Starting a successful blog is a very slow thing. I’ve had one of my blogs for over a year and a half, and it’s only now starting to see a decent amount of traffic and income.
It’s okay to take a long time to start and grow a blog, and that will be the case for most of us. You should keep that in mind when setting goals and expectations for your new venture.
Choose the Right Niche
One of the biggest things that you can do when starting a successful blog is being smart about what niche you choose. You can niche down and start a blog about finance, parenting, fashion, music, or any other topic.
While some niches are more profitable, you have to balance profit with passion. Sure, you could start a finance blog, but you’ll struggle to see any success if you know nothing about money.
So think about your current interests or any experience you have. Research those things to get an idea of how profitable they can become, and go from there.
Find a Name
Once you decide what your blog niche will be, it’s time to name your blog. You can take the route I took with this blog and name the site after yourself, which is a good option if you aren’t quite sure about your niche yet.
However, you may want to name your blog based on the niche or topic. That way, it will be super clear from the beginning that your blog is about the topic in question.
I’d recommend using a domain registrar to search for available names. If you like one that you find is available, register the domain right away to keep others from snatching the name.
Set Up Hosting
You can start a blog for free through Blogger or the free version of WordPress. However, I’d recommend going through a paid, third-party host, such as SiteGround.
These hosts allow you to set up a professional website from the start. That way, your blog will look better, and you’ll have more control over the layout and appearance to match your branding.
Free blogs have a lot of restrictions, so they can be okay for hobby bloggers. But if starting a successful blog means starting an online business, you need to invest in good hosting.
What I love about SiteGround is how affordable it is for the first year. They also make it super easy to install WordPress as your content management system (CMS).
Write a Few Blog Posts
You’ve finally reached the stage where you’re ready to write some blog posts for your new blog. If you haven’t already, you should come up with a few topic ideas.
I’d recommend covering some of the basic questions people have about your niche. Then, you can write more advanced topics later once you have the basics answered.
Go ahead and write a few posts then publish them or schedule them to publish later. Once your blog posts are live, you can share the links with people you think would like the blog.
Develop a Content Calendar
For better or worse, most successful blogs have more than a few posts up. It may help for you to create a content calendar that you follow to help grow your new blog.
The calendar can help you decide how often and when to publish new posts. That will then help you figure out how much time you need to spend writing blog posts each week.
I’d recommend trying to publish at least two to three posts per week on your new blog. Then, you can grow your content library more quickly, so readers will have more articles to choose from.
But it’s more important to choose a schedule you can stick to. If you only have time to write one blog post per week, go with that, and make it the best blog post possible.
Promote Your Blog
As much as I love writing blog posts, a lot more goes into running a successful blog. You should spend as much time marketing your blog as you do creating content for it.
Promote your blog on social media, in your existing email list (or start one), and to people you know. Share links to the blog home page or specific posts.
You most likely won’t get a ton of traffic at first, but that’s to be expected. The more you promote your blog, the more you can build a name for yourself, and the easier it will be to get traffic later.
Be Patient
A lot of bloggers fail because they quit too soon in the process. I know it can feel like forever until you start to get traffic and even longer until you get your first paycheck.
Don’t expect to go viral or make a massive amount of money overnight. Instead, give yourself at least one or two years to work on your blog consistently.
As long as you’re strategic about the content you create and how you market your blog, you should start to see some results in that time. Then, you can focus on growing those results.
How Do Beginner Bloggers Make Money?
Display ads and affiliate links are two of the most popular ways beginner bloggers make money. But as a beginner, you probably won’t make more than a few dollars here and there.
If you want to make more money blogging, you should offer blogging services to clients. Then, you can make more money per blog post you write compared to working on your own blog.
How Long Does It Take to Make Money Blogging?
It took me about four months to make my first affiliate sale on one of my niche blogs. But it took even longer to start making a few dollars from that blog.
I still have yet to make thousands of dollars per month from my own content. Things happen faster for some people than others, so you need to know what strategies to use to start making good money.
What Blog Niches Are Most Profitable?
Some of the most profitable blog niches include finance, business, and anything else having to do with money. But that doesn’t mean you should start a blog in that niche.
I’d suggest combining profitability with something you’re passionate about or have experience in. Then, you’ll be able to enjoy your blog before it starts to make you money.
Final Thoughts
Staring a successful blog takes a lot of time, effort, and strategy. Be sure to choose the right niche and be consistent when creating and promoting your content.
And if your definition of success includes making money, enroll in Affiliate Marketing Superstars. I’ve learned a lot about affiliate marketing from the course and can’t recommend it enough.