Feeling up to the challenge but not too sure where to start? Not to worry. The team over at WIX has created a guide that encompasses everything you need to get going. Check it out below:
Determine your focus
There is virtually no limit when it comes to what to blog about. Topics can range from marketing tips or fashion trends to an in-depth guide to perfecting the art of croissant making. When you hone in on one, you’ll notice that most likely the web today is filled with many blogs creating content about the same subject. Knowing that the competition is stiff, it’s important to set your focus point by initially asking yourself: How will I stand out?
Keep in mind that the more niche your topic is, the higher your chances are of being discovered. For example, creating a food blog about the many cuisines you’ve invented with avocados as the main ingredient will increase your visibility when someone searches “avocado recipes.” Although, if you’re creating a blog for your already established business, it might not always be possible for you to go niche. Therefore, you should focus on producing content that your competitors have not. Always keep in mind the golden rule of web writing. Quality content, that pleases readers and the mysterious bots of Google, has to meet three criteria: valuable, unique, and fresh.
Choose an expressive and fitting name
When you choose a name for your blog, you’re initiating the creation of your brand. That means, whatever you decide needs to embody your vision. Do you want it to be playful and creative? Or serious and straightforward? Really think about how you want to present yourself to the online world. In any case, it’s always preferable that your name somehow reflects your specialty and what you’ll be writing about. Finally, settle a list of three to five options that you’re happy with, and submit them to your peers and potential readers to give their opinion and help you find a winner.
Once you have your perfectly fitted blog name (My Stunning Blog), the best practice is to choose a domain name that is exactly the same (www.mystunningblog.com) for the sake of consistency and legitimacy. If you already happen to have a website, make your blog a page within your existing domain (www.mystunningwebsite.com/blog) and connect your website and blog to each other.
Offer a smooth navigation experience
When someone browses your website, they should be met with an intuitive and efficient navigation. In other words: a superior User Experience (UX). Aside from this being the trendy word of the moment, it’s one of the most important aspects of your site to focus on. In essence, every word and image counts.
Start planning and creating blog posts
In order to welcome your readers, create an introductory post to explain a little about yourself and describe your blog’s goals. A great option is to include a short survey to get to know your viewers and ask them what kind of content interests them most. After this, it’s time to dive into the posts that you planned to create when you started this blog. It’s evident that creating content is something you learn and get better at overtime with improvement and an understanding of your audience. However, a great place to start is by creating a blog schedule to diversify your topics and decide how often you want to post. Build a table that includes each day and week with the corresponding title of the post you’ll cover then. Find a strategic balance in your content. Basically, you’ll want to post diverse content on at least a weekly basis.
Focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO, when done correctly, draws more traffic to your blog and helps it rank higher in search results. The first step here is to be recognized by search engines – the most popular being Google. Likewise, Wix websites were built with the proper tools to make your site visible within seconds. Once you fulfill this process (known as indexing), there are a few more steps you need to become optimized. Wix came up with the most comprehensive and clear SEO guide for bloggers. Take the time to read it, as it’ll help you avoid damaging mistakes.
Make sure your blog is mobile-friendly
A mobile-friendly blog is a version of your website fit for mobile devices. This means it’s built to make all of your blog’s components easily accessible for on-the-go readers. Not only is this convenient, but it’s also a must in today’s world of technology – when more of 50% of the Internet is consumed through a smartphone or a tablet. To make it a further priority, Google announced its Mobile-First Index Revolution, that is: websites (blogs included) are now ranked first and foremost on their mobile version. In summary, the initial step to being recognized by its search engine and optimized for SEO is now to acquire a mobile-friendly website. Fear not! You won’t have to work with a microscope on the design of your site to achieve a stunning result. The Wix Editor automatically produces a version of your site that is optimized for all devices and screens.
Triple check and publish
Maybe you feel like blogging can be intimidating - especially when you're about to press that scary "publish" button. Here is a helpful checklist of things to look out for before publishing your website. In order for your site to be welcomed to the online world as you intended, make sure that you preview it (both mobile and desktop) ahead of time.
Have a family member or friend checkover that everything is grammatically correct; when we write content ourselves, we often overlook small errors. Then check, does the content look the way you want it to? Do all the links work? Can users subscribe? And do all of the menu options lead to the correct pages? Once you’ve checked over again and again, you can finally hit the “publish” button!
Promote your articles
Congratulations! Your blog is now live and looking good. However, taking it live was only step one. Now you’ve got to take the additional, necessary steps to make sure all your hard work is seen.
Measure and improve your performance
In order to stay ahead of the game and continue releasing out of the world content, it’s vital to take a step back and understand the performance of your blog as a whole. Keep your finger on things, as the only way to improve is to see what worked and what didn’t. To measure the success in the culmination of your work thus far, complete an in depth analysis on your blog’s performance. In order to delve into this valuable information, make sure you have tracking tools and analytics on your website. A popular choice among these is Google Analytics to see how people react to your posts (How many readers? How long do they spend reading them? etc.) and Google Search Console to have a clear view of the organic traffic your blog receives. Every time that you see a successful post, be it a title, a content format or an image – you’ll be able to identify it and create similar content for the future. You can also track your results through receiving feedback via customer surveys.