What is a blog?
A blog is a shortened term of web blog, which is a platform that you can use for anything from a diary, newscast, a digital magazine, a portfolio for your artwork or photography, a place for you to teach etc. It contains text, images, videos, and audio. Readers can leave comments, which is a way for your readers to engage with you and your content.
How do I start a blog for free?
To start for free, I suggest you sign up for a blog from www.wordpress.com. The biggest problem with a free account is that you don’t own the content you put in it, the free platform does. If their site goes down, you have no control over it. Your username will be formatted as yourusername.wordpress.com, and if you are trying to be an influencer or be a leader in your niche, many authorities and readers from your niche will not take you seriously. The best way to start establishing yourself with a blog is using a self-hosted version of WordPress and have your own domain name and hosting plan. This option is not free, however.
What is a niche and how do I choose one for my blog?
A niche is a category that you are focusing on. You choose your niche based on what you want to focus on. Be as specific as you can when picking a niche. For example, if you want to talk about nurses in business, instead of being generic, you can miche down to talking about online businesses a nurse can start from home.
What should I write about?
Consider writing about what you are interested in. You can also think about what you want to learn more about and document it. What are some topics of interest that you are an expert in? What areas do you have work experience in what you want to share with the world? How can your knowledge improve and help the lives of others? You can write about anything. The world is your oyster.
What’s the best blog platform?
The most recommended and most utilized blogging platform that you should choose is the self-hosted version of WordPress. When you get a hosting plan (BlueHost is the most recommended with WordPress), you can install WordPress from there. The benefits of using self-hosted WordPress include full independence on what you can do with your site, you control and own your content, and you can customize is so much more than if you use the free version of WordPress. According to WordPress, the power 35% of all internet sites ranging from hobby sites to the biggest news sites. Some known users include Vogue, CNN, TechCrunch, entrepreneurs like Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income, john Lee Dumas’ Entrepreneur on Fire, and yours truly, The Nursing Bloc.
What’s the cost involved in starting a blog?
If you are considering the free route, well, it’s free but has a lot of limitations. If you are considering the self-hosted WordPress route, what you have to consider is the cost of your domain name and hosting. It all depends on where you buy them, how you long buy them for, etc. Plenty of WordPress users including myself use BlueHost to host our sites. If you are a new BlueHost customer, you can get your domain name free for the first year. If you are interested in getting this, click here.
How can I make money with blogging?
You can do this through many different ways. Some of these methods include being an affiliate in products that you believe in (for example, I am a BlueHost affiliate because I use them and I believe in their hosting company). You can be an Amazon affiliate. You can use Google Adsense. You can also create and sell digital products. There are so many options that you can do.
How can I find blog topics to write about?
Firstly, brainstorm for ideas. You can also do an internet search and look for important keywords that are relevant to your topic. You can also consider and trends, holidays, world events, etc. Look into what you know. Think about what you can share from your day to day life.
What can I do if I already have a free blog?
If you have a free blog and want to migrate it to a self-hosted version of WordPress, you can definitely look into it. I’ve personally done it both ways where I moved a free Blogger blog and a free WordPress blog to a self-hosted WordPress site. Depending on what your free blog is on, there are options to migrate it.
How do I learn WordPress?
Some resources I used to learn about WordPress started with having a free WordPress account. This is where I learned some of the basics of this platform. Other places I looked into for learning about WordPress is YouTube. You can search for many tutorials out there to help you with step by step instructions on how to use WordPress.
How do bloggers get paid?
Bloggers can get paid in many ways. You have the option of making your money from selling digital products, making money from YouTube videos, running ads, becoming an affiliate and promoting products, etc. Some other avenues for bloggers can include freelancing, ghostwriting, etc. There are many ways for a blogger to get paid.
How do I make my site a HTTPS instead of HTTP?
I highly encourage you to have your domain name be HTTPS versus HTTP. HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, which is used for secured communication over a computer network. When your site is HTTPS, it signifies that is better secured compared to a HTTP site. HTTPS adds security and trust to your site. It protects you and your site users from middle-man hacker attacks that can be launched from insecure or compromised networks. If your site is not HTTPS, change it as soon as possible.
