How do you start a blog?

I'm constantly asked what's really important for a blog. Many of you would like to blog yourselves, but then realize there's quite a bit to consider.

How to start a blog? This came up as a topic in my last survey that you'd like to be informed about. Here you go!

Table of Contents

What blog providers are there?

Let's start with the technology, because in my eyes, that's an essential point. There are numerous platforms, and you should thoroughly consider how you want to start. To make this decision a bit easier for you, I'll list the most common providers here. As mentioned, the list of blog providers is huge. Blogger.com from Tumblr, Medium, Jimdo, and Wix to WordPress.com and WordPress.org. 

The central question remains: Do you want to do everything yourself and also have control over your blog, or do you want to just write and run a free hobby blog with fewer features for now?. 

I started blogging in 2014. Back then, I kept a diary during our trip to the USA and made it accessible to my family and friends back home. I used Blogger.com for this, as registration is really easy. Email address + password, and you're ready to start writing. However, I quickly hit my limits. Everything became very unorganized and messy after a while.

There are other providers like Wix and Jimdo, and also Medium, which were not an option for me, or at the time didn't even exist or weren't relevant to the blogger market. I chose WordPress.org, because even WordPress.com as a free version has its limitations.

WordPress.org – The best blogging platform for full control

With WordPress.org, you retain full control and can easily install your WordPress blog on your own server. What sounds complicated is very easy to implement. You have two options:

I recommend the provider to you All-inkl.comAfter selecting one of the inexpensive packages there (e.g., the smallest package for EUR 4.95/month – as of March 2021), you can register a domain. This is free or included in the package. 

Now comes the exciting part: With just a few clicks, you can install WordPress from the All-Inkl menu and be ready to start writing within 5 minutes. 

The second option is that you Web Nomad Helene I recommend her if you want to start a professional blog, as she can also advise you on design, marketing, and SEO. She will handle all the technical aspects for you, even after the installation if you wish. This way, you can concentrate on writing or your core business.

Perfect, now the technical side is sorted, and we can move on to a few important and essential things that no blog should be without.

Helene helps you build your digital business. Simply contact them, ideally at Instagram or click the logo on the right.

Naming, Design, and Logo

Naming

What should your new blog be called? This is a very tricky question and therefore one of the most difficult topics when starting a new blog. Ideally, a visitor should immediately know what to expect just by looking at your blog's name. Furthermore, the name should of course be easy to remember and not contain any special features or gimmicks, e.g. Wandernot1Peace, instead of hiking emergencyiZen. 

Before my blog was called Wandernotizen, I called it 141080.com for years. That's my birthday, and therefore something very personal. But as my blog grew and more and more visitors came, I decided in 2019 to look for a new name. Wandernotizen describes very precisely what it's about here. It's about hikes and, of course, about travel and the associated notes. 

When you have a few initial ideas, tell your family or friends about them and get their feedback. You'll know you've found the right name for your blog when you can say it to someone on the phone and they don't have any questions about the spelling.

Design

For me, a blog needs to be simple and straightforward. I like minimalism, and that's reflected a bit in the design. For your blog design, you can choose between many free templates for WordPress or paid ones. Google can actually help you the most with this.

Now think about what menu items you want to have. These are typically the categories, so for me, for example, Travel, Outdoor, and Webcam. Somewhere in the footer, you need to include the two most important legal pages: the imprint and the privacy policy. There are free imprint generators on the internet; Google can help you with this too.

Logo

The logo is part of your branding and, of course, also ensures a professional appearance and recognition value. My logo was created by Webnomadin Helene. I can recommend her to you, but often a simple text logo is enough at the beginning. After all, you want to finally start writing. If you want to run a commercial blog, definitely seek support! The logo is like your business card, your calling card.

Perfect, now you are really finished and we can get started with the content.

Here you'll find the best tools for your digital business. From cool apps like Canva to laptops and accessories, to plugins for your blog.

Content and filling your blog with life

Who are you?

Your first blog post should be about you. Who are you? Why are you blogging and (sad but true), even more importantly, what does your reader gain from reading your blog posts? Because your posts should primarily offer added value to your readers.

My coach once told me in harsh but clear words: Nobody cares about you! This was naturally about focus and how much you really want to share about yourself. Always get to the customer's advantage as quickly as possible. In this case, that's your reader.

How to start a blog is answered in terms of content. First, with an introduction of yourself and your blog, and the added value. 

Content and Structure of Your Blog Posts

After the introduction and what the reader can expect, I will give you some honest advice. Grab the Blog Buster Course, because he really helped me. He answers all your questions regarding the content.

But in her course, she doesn't just tell you what you can write about and how you should structure your texts. She also shows you the different types of readers, meaning what kind of person pays attention to what. This way, you can ensure right from the start that your blog posts are well-received and not just quickly skimmed.

For example, in your posts, make sure you start with a short summary. What will your reader learn if they look at your post? Don't reveal the outcome, but give a good preview.

I also make sure there are good main headings and some subheadings. This ensures a good reading flow. Pictures are also very important and make the text more engaging. Depending on the topic of your blog, you should include more or fewer pictures. For example, if you blog about recipes and cooking, you should use at least one meaningful photo for each ingredient and each step of the process.

I mostly use one image per section of meaning, and at the end, I have a gallery with the best pictures from my trip.

Marketing Your Blog

What an ugly word, right? ☝️ Wrong! Marketing is great and essential for making your blog known. After all, you want someone to find your blog. 

Not every blogger wants to be in the public eye right from the start. I also started with family and friends and gained my first readers that way. But especially if you want to run your blog commercially, then go public with it. That means: Be a Superspreader...uhh...bad word.

By that, I mean, of course: use all available channels and report on your blogging activities. But please also make sure that you are not a spammer. Don't just write on all sorts of blogs and posts that you now have a post too.

Offer value on other blogs as well. Then every blogger will be happy to cooperate with you. This way, you'll gradually make your blog more and more known.

Social Media

Facebook, Instagram, and the like are also ideally suited for telling people about your blog. Ideally, you can post a small excerpt of your article on Instagram and then refer to the link in your bio. However, here too, be careful not to fundamentally drive people away from Instagram, as Instagram doesn't like that.

Mandatory plugins and small helpers

I spent an eternity finding the right plugins and had to invest a lot of time too. The latter, because my blog gave up now and then. It was hacked and content was gone. There are only two points that you really need to consider. must

1. Always do all Updates Yes! Oh yes, ALWAYS! Even if you don't feel like blogging and don't touch your blog for a few weeks or even months. Log in anyway and perform the updates for WordPress and all your themes and plugins. This takes 2 minutes but ensures that vulnerabilities are closed and your blog or WordPress site becomes less susceptible to attacks. You should always consider this for other systems as well (Wix, Jimdo, etc.).
2. Install a Antispam Plugin. This plugin detects when an attack on your website is happening and prevents it. You can think of it as your virus scanner. 

List of required plugins

Installing plugins in WordPress is very easy. Under the Plugins section, click Install and search for the desired plugins. Then click Activate and it's ready to use. 

I'm making it easy for you and telling you, install at least the following plugins, ALL?.

• Antispam Bee – Prevents Attacks (Free)
• Cookie Notice & Compliance – Cookie Banner (Free)
• Rank Math SEO – Enough for Google and etc. (free)
• Yoast Duplicate Post – Duplicate Posts (Free)
• Contact Form 7 – Contact Forms (Free)
• Smash Balloon Instagram Feed – Your IG Posts on Your Website (Free)

Furthermore, there are of course 10,000 other plugins, all of which are more or less important and useful. For example, for hiking notes, I use a gallery plugin that displays the images more beautifully than the standard editor. If you want to spruce up your blog posts a bit, you can also use a page builder like Elementor or Divi. Both come with numerous design options. 

However, you now have the basic equipment, and you can get started with it.

Small gift and other tips

Since web nomad Helene has helped me a lot and I have received many tips from her, I would like to highly recommend her to you. I had a blog for years that was technically flawless, but my current blog looks really good even today, and I also owe my new logo to Helene and her flair for design.

Here you now have the opportunity to download a free gift from her, the digital compass.

Download the Digital Compass

Your digital COMPASS

Click the button below and receive a free guide from Webnomad Helene about the possibilities of digitalization.
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Furthermore, I encourage you to diligently Google things and, above all, to watch some tutorials on YouTube. You'll find a suitable answer for almost anything there.

Have you already found your niche? You can also look around online at people who are already successfully blogging about your topic. Get inspired, but don't copy! 

Last but not least, plan your posts and, above all, plan your time. Don't write all day; take breaks. You'll see that this tip isn't so easy to implement, which is why I want to give it to you now at the end.

Conclusion

Blogging is a lot of fun, it's a great way to express yourself, and you can provide real value to your readers. The goal of my blog here is to inspire and present great places around the world to my readers.

Many people also write to me who are simply entertained by my posts and all the photos. This can help satisfy wanderlust, but maybe also sometimes intensify it?.

I wish you a lot of fun blogging, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me anytime.

Write me in the comments what exactly your topic and you are welcome to link your blog here as well.