How to successfully start a blog and use it to promote your business
I am all for blogging. I started my writing and curatorial career as a blogger and then leveraged my blog to attract some incredible I-never-thought-this would happen-to-me opportunities. I’ve turned my blog into a book, written for and been featured in magazines, received invitations to curate prestigious exhibitions, mentored and opened doors for artisan business owners to promote their work and even won an interior blogging award.
Blogging has been a labour of love for me—a way to connect to and inspire my readers. Blogging is also the main way I promote what I do and get found on the internet. I view blogging as my essential marketing tool and seek to help artisan retailers, makers and designers who are looking to maximise the benefits of blogging to promote their business.
Like any new venture, if you’re starting a blog from scratch the process can come across as daunting. If you want to start a blog to promote your work and business here’s my quick start guide with actionable tips to get you on your way to publishing your first post:
1. Set your objectives
Before you set up your blog I encourage you to create a plan that outlines the objective of why you want to have a blog. Your plan will keep you focused on what you need to do and help you make the decisions related to the other steps.
Actions to take: Set aside an hour or two to jot down how a blog can help promote your business i.e. drive traffic to your website, build your reputation, grow your mailing list, educate your customers about the different aspects of your work, or actually start a business if you haven’t yet done so.
2. Name your blog
If your blog is not attached to an existing business website or you’re simply setting up a blog to share your thoughts or plan to eventually turn it into a business you will need to give your blog a name. Once you have a name proceed to purchasing the domain name of your blog name. The domain name is the address that people will use to access your blog i.e. if your blog name is My Beautiful Blog the domain name will be www.mybeautifulblog.com. If your blog is part of an existing website you can still give it a name that is a bit more exciting than ‘blog‘ and include it in your menu i.e. Journal, Stories, Diary, Inspiration.
Actions to take: Spend some time brainstorming suitable blog names. Choose a name that reflects what your business is about. Keep your blog name simple yet memorable. If you don’t have a website purchase the domain from a domain name registrar- this service is offered by web hosting providers. If you already have a website come up with a list of inspiring names to call your blog.
3. Choose a web host and blogging platform
A blog is technically a web page, so will require a web host. A web host is an online-based platform that provides the software and technology needed to create your blog and/or website. Web pages are built using coding and programming languages such as HTML/CSS and JavaScript. The good news is that you do not need to know how to code to set up a blog. Web hosting providers remove the need for you to know how to code making it much easier to set up your blog and start blogging. Web hosting providers offer several options, including shared hosting, managed hosting, and dedicated hosting. Shared hosting is suitable for beginners as it’s affordable and relatively easy to set up. Popular web hosting providers include WordPress, Wix, Blogger and Squarespace. Each provider comes with benefits and limitations and pricing options to suit a range of budgets. If you already have a website the software to create a blog will often be a feature offered by your web hosting provider.
Actions to take: Have a look at web hosting providers. Compare what each offers and select the one that suits your requirements. To help select ask for recommendations from your peers.
4. Customise your blog design
Most web hosting providers will provide a selection of blogging themes or templates tailored towards different industries i.e. A booking system for a hospitality business, an e-commerce facility for retailers, and recipe functionality for food bloggers. I find that these templates tend to be limited and fairly generic in style. To find a stylish template that suits your brand personality and business needs you can design your own template if you know how to code or purchase and install one from a designer, developer or third-party provider. Whether you choose to use your web host’s themes, buy or get one made you will need to customise the templates with your desired layout, brand colours and typeface fonts. Where relevant you will also need to add your brand images and information such as an about bio, contact details, and anything else that is needed or is a legal requirement i.e. privacy policies.
Actions to take: Select and customise a suitable theme. Review the theme demos before purchasing and do ask questions if you are not sure about any features.
5. Create your blog posts
Your blog designed it’s time to create, upload and publish your blog posts. This is also referred to as creating content. Blog posts are the individual published entries that make up a blog, similar to diary entries. The content you create for your blog posts will comprise one or a mix of written text, images, video, and audio media to name a few. Choose relevant eye-catching images and graphics. It is good practice to plan out the content for your blog posts. This will help you see and keep track of what content to create and when to publish it.
Actions to take: Set aside time to brainstorm ideas for your blog content. You want to publish posts about your business, that tell the stories about the products you sell, and help your audience get to know you. Create a content calendar and populate it with ideas for the blog posts you want to publish. If you need help with crafting the stories of your business have a look at Unfold Your Story our signature brand storytelling course.
6. Optimise your blog posts for SEO
Search engine optimisation commonly known as SEO is how your blog posts will get found on the internet by showing up in search engine searches. SEO is centred around using keywords. Keywords are the words and phrases that someone will input into a search engine such as Google or Bing to search for the information they are looking for. When you create your blog post content you want to ensure that you include the relevant keywords to maximise the chances of blog posts showing up in the search results.
Actions to take: Put together a list of keywords that are related to your business, products and industry. Use these keywords in your written blog content, paragraphs and headings, and image names. Don’t overdo it though as that can have the opposite effect of hindering the chances of your content showing up.
7. Review and Publish your blog posts
When you are ready to publish a blog post review it to check for spelling mistakes, and that the content flows. If possible view the post in preview mode on a desktop, tablet and mobile screen to see how a reader will see the post, and catch any responsive errors. Once satisfied that all looks good publish your post
Actions to take: Run a spellcheck of your content, you can ask another person to have a read to catch anything you may have missed. Check the responsiveness of your blog post on different devices. Publish your post.
8. Promote your blog posts
Using a blog to promote your business means promoting the blog posts you create. While SEO helps with getting your posts found in search engines you will still need to actively promote your blog posts to maximise the chances of your audiences seeing them.
Actions to take: Tell people you have a blog. Share links to your blog posts in your newsletters, and on your social media platforms.
9. Maintain your blog
A blog requires nurturing. technology is always changing and this will impact your blog. Your web hosting provider will notify you of changes, but if you use any third-party tools such as templates and plug-ins you may need to manually update them to ensure they remain compatible with your web hosting provider’s software upgrades.
Actions to take: Keep on top of web hosting updates. Review past blog posts for outdated content, and update where necessary. Consider refreshing your theme every few years.
That’s your brief guide to starting a blog. I hope you find it useful. Starting and maintaining a successful blog takes time and effort, so keep in mind that the results of blogging will take time to come through- it pays to be patient yet consistent.
If you dream of creating a blog that promotes your business and inspires your audience turning them into customers and could benefit from a review of your existing blog or guided support to start a blog from someone who knows what it takes to build a successful, award-winning blog then do get in touch here to find out how I can help.
– Tapiwa Matsinde
[Image credits: The image shown belongs to cottonbro studio via Pexels. If downloaded and used elsewhere please credit accordingly.]
