Any tips on starting a blog?

Buster_Danog

Is starting a blog something that takes a lot of research / planning in who you use as a host, the way you design the site etc.?? I would be happy to jump in at the deep end but my concern is I will not do it in the most efficient way the first time and be forced to redesign or go with another format after a few months. I suppose I would like to have some manual control over the design, but go with a provider that is easy for search engines to find without paying a fortune every month.

MattMattMattUK

Start on a free option until you have a decent amount of followers and have successfully monetised the blog.

Neil_Jones

Buster_Danog said:

Is starting a blog something that takes a lot of research / planning in who you use as a host, the way you design the site etc.?? I would be happy to jump in at the deep end but my concern is I will not do it in the most efficient way the first time and be forced to redesign or go with another format after a few months. I suppose I would like to have some manual control over the design, but go with a provider that is easy for search engines to find without paying a fortune every month.

Use a template/system designed around blogging that can double up as the template.  Wordpress for example.

Re: search engines, if you find a suitable place to put a link that Google regularly visits (or stick it in the signature of a website you regularly use and shows signatures when you're not logged in - be aware of T&Cs about this on the website) it will pick it up on its own.  You can submit to Google yourself but strange as it may sound it may push you down the queue a bit.  https://developers.google.com/search/docs/beginner/how-search-works might be of interest.

moneysavinghero

Worry more about the content. If you don't have content that people want to spend their time reading than the design or which host you use is rather meaningless.

If you have great content people will be willing to overlook design issues.

richardw

Do you have the time to drive traffic to your blog from social media? If you’re going to allow discussion and comments, do you have the time to moderate them?

Buster_Danog

richardw said:

Do you have the time to drive traffic to your blog from social media? If you’re going to allow discussion and comments, do you have the time to moderate them?

Not really. Well, in reality I am not social media savvy. I do not have any business or product to promote so I would be blogging about everything from fashion to sports, and health etc.

Buster_Danog

moneysavinghero said:

Worry more about the content. If you don't have content that people want to spend their time reading than the design or which host you use is rather meaningless.

If you have great content people will be willing to overlook design issues.

I already have a few ideas for content, and think I can do a decent job typing up articles. That's part of the reason I want to blog. It's a good focus and a way to work on marketing / writing in general.