Should I Start A Blog? 8 Powerful Questions So You Make The Best Decision
Should I start a blog? This is a great question to ask because it is important to investigate blogging before you commit to it.
Learn from my mistakes please, I desperately wish I had done more research before diving in.
I read one article from a big blogger claiming that blogging is easy and you can make money from it easily.
He did a great job of convincing me it would be fun and easy and that I could ‘make money while I sleep’.
Let me tell you, that this is a load of shit…
The Bad News About Blogging
Blogging is hard work.
You can try different strategies through trial and error for years before finally figuring out what works for you and your audience.
Making money from blogging takes a lot of effort and it isn’t as simple as many big bloggers make it seem (many who started blogging years ago when it was easier to gain authority).
In 2021, there were 600 million blogs in the world and an estimated 4.4 million blog posts published every day (as of Mar 2019, so probably even more now).
The competition is stiff and it takes a lot of effort to stand out and build authority among millions of blogs.
The Good News About Blogging
If blogging was easy, everyone would be doing it.
Most new bloggers expect instant results, but it takes time and dedication to build your blog’s authority.
The good news is that it can work with a lot of dedication and perseverance.
Did you know that most bloggers quit within 6 months?
If you are determined to make blogging work, make it past the 6-month mark and you have already done better than millions of failed bloggers.
Disclaimer: This site contains affiliate links that will cost you nothing extra but offer me a little commission for any purchases made. This helps me continue to offer helpful tips. Thank you so much for your support.
‘Should I Start A Blog?’ Can’t Be The Only Question You Ask Yourself
1. What would be your blog’s purpose?
Do you want this to be a personal blog to share with family and friends?
A personal blog is kind of like a social media account except it is on a blog site rather than an application.
The content will be centered around you and your ideas because it is something that you do for fun or enjoyment (compared to someone trying to make money).
If this sounds like what you are looking for, you can start a blog space on any of these free sites, Wix, Blogger, Medium, WordPress.com (this is different from the WordPress.org software that I talk about later).
2. Do you want to make money from blogging?
Compared to personal blogging, the goal of trying to make money or ‘monetize’ your blog means you have to take a different approach.
I consider this blogging for ‘business’ since you want to profit off of your work.
Before starting a blog, you have to consider if you will want to monetize at any point in the future.
If so, you should NOT start a personal blog on a free site.
Instead, set up a site that you pay for. I use Bluehost and love it, but more on that later.
If you want to get serious about blogging and make it into a business, you need to have control over it.
Using a free site makes your blog domain name / URL include the name of the free software you are using.
Here’s an example:
A free blog URL will look like this https://maptrekking.wordpress.com
A paid blog URL will look like this https://maptrekking.com/
Getting your own domain name is essential!
Treating your blog like a business will show others that you take blogging seriously.
Think of any reputable blogs or online publications, they don’t use free sites. The need to have complete control over their business.
As an example, no one owns their Facebook or Instagram profile, they are only there because the companies allow you to have.
Your social media accounts can always be blocked or shut down without warning.
3. Do You Want Blogging To Be A Business?
One of the biggest differences between personal and business blogs is the blogger’s mindset.
Personal blogs don’t usually have or structure or strategy since they are purely for enjoyment.
To make a business from blogging, you have to treat it like a job.
The business blog mindset is that it is your job to make interesting, useful content for your customers or consumers.
Starting a business blog means you have to have structure, strategy, and content that is helpful and informative for your reader.
Bringing value to your audience should be held above all else.
Should I Start A Blog? More Things To Consider
So you’ve decided that you do want to start a blog for business and make money?
Here are more things to consider!
4. Are You Prepared To For A Huge Time Commitment?
Are you prepared to spend months or years building your blog before seeing any profits?
You might not make any money in the first 6 months or the first year.
So you have to think realistically, are you okay with continually investing time and money with no return?
There are some necessary blogging tools that I paid for months without knowing if I would make a profit. Here’s a breakdown:
Keysearch
An amazing keyword research tool to use in blog posts, using the correct keywords will help Google show your article to new readers (Use the code KSDISC for 20% off!)
Tailwind
An incredible time-saving tool that can schedule hundreds of Pinterest pins for your blog post, so new readers can easily find your content and read it!
They recently made a new feature called Tailwind Create. It helps you to make beautiful and unique pins that Pinterest will love!
The best part is that you can now use Tailwind (and their new feature, Tailwind Create) for free on their ‘Free Forever’ plan.
There are no hidden fees, and they don’t require you to input debit/credit card details.
Bluehost
A great low-cost hosting service that I use to host my website, I have found them to be speedy, secure, and have good customer service.
5. Have You Chosen A Speciality Or Niche?
Narrowing down exactly what you will base your blog on is essential. You can think of this as your specialty or niche.
When blogging was still a revolutionary concept, general ideas like finance, travel, lifestyle, music, etc. were considered your blog specialty.
Now with millions of blogs, having an inspirational travel blog won’t work.
You have to hone in on a specific part of the travel industry that you’re knowledgeable on to become an authority.
My niche is based on alternative ways to travel like cultural immersion, traveling slowly, and volunteering for free food and accommodation.
I aim to become the ultimate authority on these topics so when people need information, they think of Maptrekking.
6. How Relevant Is Your Niche?
Though you could pick out an amazing niche, it won’t matter if there isn’t a demand for it.
Do people need the information you want to give?
I suggest using Keysearch to research your proposed niche.
It will show you exact numbers of how many people search on google for information around your niche.
Keysearch also shows how easy or difficult it would be to show up on the first page of Google when someone searches for your niche.
Here’s an example:
I wrote an article about the safety of volunteering because I found an amazing keyword ‘is workaway safe’.
Keysearch showed us that people would search this phrase on google, but no one had written an article about it yet.
I provided helpful and honest information and now show up as the number 1 result on google.
This one article brings hundreds of visitors to my website each month.
7. How Can You Profit From Your Niche?
One of the biggest ways bloggers make money is by suggesting products or services or ‘affiliate marketing’.
When readers take their advice and purchase, the blogger makes a small amount of money.
This money doesn’t come out of the reader’s pocket, instead, the company pays the blogger a commission for successfully suggesting their product.
As a blogger, it is essential to maintain trust with your audience by only recommending good quality products and services that are relevant to your niche.
Before going ahead with a blog niche, research possible affiliate programs that easily fit into your content (since my blog is about slow travel, I’m not going to suggest a butt cream).
Check out the best affiliate travel programs for new bloggers!
8. Should I Start A Blog? Yes Or No
After all of these questions, you should no longer need to ask yourself, should I start a blog? It should be a clear yes or no answer for you now.
With a well thought out plan and lots of research, I think saying yes to starting a blog is the right way to go.
If that’s you, check out how to take action and easily set up your WordPress blog on Bluehost today!
How To Start Your WordPress blog on Bluehost
Domain Name
One of the biggest decisions of starting a blog is figuring out what to name it. Your ‘domain name’ is the web address or URL.
As an example, mine is ‘maptrekking.com’. This is what you would type into the address bar to arrive at my blog homepage.
Your domain name signals to your audience what you’re all about so it’s important to take time to think it through.
Many people choose a combination of something personal + their blogging niche.
Check if your desired domain name is available!
My initials spell M-A-P, which I’ve always liked.
Since my blog is about travel, I decided to combine my initials + the word ‘trekking’ = maptrekking!
I want to emphasize how important it is to think through and research a good domain name.
If you need to change it in the future, all of the website authority you have built over time will be lost, so choose wisely!
Want some advice on your blog name idea?
I’d be happy to help. Email me, Maria, at [email protected].
Web Hosting
Unlike your domain name that is out in the open for all to see, web hosting is a blog function that operates mostly behind the scenes. I use Bluehost and love their service.
Web hosting is the place where all of your blog information is held.
It is an information storage space that you rent for your website to live in.
It is similar to how your computer holds documents, photos, videos, etc. Those take up storage space on your computer.
In this case, you rent a space with a web host so they will store your blog posts, pages, images, etc. from your website.
Then whenever someone goes to your URL, your web hosting service is responsible for showing them the information on your homepage.
They store it and give access to people all around the world. It is a crucial part of a functioning blog.
Do you need a blogging camera? Check out Best Camera For Blogging? 7 Amazing Cameras For Bloggers In 2022
Software To Build A Blog
Even with a domain and web hosting, you will still need to have some type of software to build, design, add content, etc. to your blog (I use WordPress).
Software is what you use to build your blog’s information that will be stored by your web host.
This is an essential tool that bloggers use so they do not have to code their website.
It is an amazing shortcut that means you don’t have to learn about coding, and instead, you get to focus on making good content!
3 Essential Parts Of Starting A Blog
The domain name, web hosting, and software are separate parts that all work together.
I know they can be confusing to understand at first, at least it was for me!
Since these are technically individual parts, there are ways to mix and match when purchasing or using these.
When I started my own blog, I found it easiest to secure all three of these at once, streamlining the setup and avoiding stress.
This is what I’d suggest you do as well, especially if you get easily overwhelmed by this type of stuff.
Below are some reasons to use Bluehost for your blog set up. By the way, I’m suggesting Bluehost based on my personal experience with them!
I am recommending them because when I started maptrekking.com, it was a stress-free setup, extremely affordable, and have loved their service for the last year and a half.
Reasons To Use Bluehost For Your Complete Blog Setup
– Set up is easy & straightforward (see the explained steps before)
– Using Bluehost web hosting + WordPress software is one of the most widely used setups by bloggers (including me!)
– Using WordPress software on your Bluehost blog is FREE & easy to install
– Bluehost is one of the largest web hosting providers in the world. They have even been one of WordPress’s top recommended web hosts for the last 16 years!
– Bluehost has an anytime money-back guarantee. This means you can cancel whenever you want & receive a refund for the remaining months.
– Bluehost offers a full refund within 30 days of purchasing (minus the cost of domains if canceled after three days).
– Get a FREE domain name for a year when you purchase hosting for at least 12 months
– Their pricing per month becomes cheaper if you commit to a longer plan ($3.95 per month for 36 months vs $5.95 per month for 12 months). It might seem silly to commit to, but I like the 36 month plan because it is reminds me that I can’t quit. I am in it & my investment shows that. Plus, it’s cheaper in the long run!
– Bluehost is affordable without sacrificing speed & quality. Their basic plan is only $3.95 per month with my link, which is pretty much the lowest you can find!
– Affordability does mean you give up technical support & customer service. Bluehost offers 24/7 support based in the US & can be reached on phone, online chat, & tickets.
Steps For Setting Up Your Bluehost Blog
Click on the black ‘Get Started’ button.
Check out each plan & decide what would work best for you. Though you might need extra features, I use the basic plan it works great for me!
Now put in your well researched & thought out domain name, or put in one that you already own.
Fill in the account information that you want the website to be registered with.
Choose your desired package, I go with the 36 month plan since it is more affordable.
Also, this is very important! Every website has to have a phone number & address connected to it. It is put on the public ‘WHOIS’ list. Anybody can access this world wide.
I learned this the hard way because I didn’t buy the ‘Domain Privacy Protection’ which replaces your website information with a generic alternative.
Because I didn’t, I was receiving calls from all over the world at all hours of the day from people wanting to offer ‘website services’. I’m not talking about a few calls, it was hundreds of calls a day…
So yeah I suggest paying the extra for that!
Decide on a strong password for logging into your website.
Use that new password to log in.
Finish up creating your blog by answering these question. You can always change the name of your site and the tagline later, so don’t stress too much over this.
Now you need to choose a WordPress theme that will let you build your site. Themes can be changed so don’t worry if you want to change it later.
My personal recommendation is to use OceanWP because it is extremely customizable.
You are all setup now & on the Bluehost portal. This is where you can pay to buy more services or new websites, re-route old blog posts (if you ever change the URL of a post or page), change your website information, etc.
If you click the blue WordPress button on the screenshot above, it will take you to your WordPress platform. This is the area that you will created & design your blog content. Happy blogging!
If you are confused about how to setup Bluehost or need advice about picking a plan or domain name, feel free to send me (Maria) an email at [email protected]. I’d be more than happy to help you, I know how overwhelming it can be!!
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