How to Create a Profitable Blog

I get asked quite often how to create a profitable blog. I never have a quick and easy answer for them because in my mind I automatically think about all the things that go into blogging professionally. There are a ton of how to create blog posts out there. There are also a ton of blogging courses that will teach you as well. However, considering the question is still asked as often as it is, that tells me that a clear and concise set of directions isn’t available. I hope that this post helps make things easy to follow.

First Step to Create a Profitable Blog

The first step to create a blog would be to determine how you’re going to help a certain set of people change their lives one blog post at a time. In other words, you have to have an avatar. You need to know who you’re writing to and how you’re going to help them solve their problems.

For example, throughout 2020 and beyond, I’m aiming to help the woman who has a passion to start a profitable blog, but yet still has a busy family life! They need the tools and training to help them make it all happen. That’s where I’m going to come in for them. She’s a woman wants to save as much money as possible to have financial freedom. Yet at the same time, she doesn’t want to suffer from mom/wife guilt. So, she needs to know how to get financially stable, manage her time, and make money from home. She has a passion for making a personal connection with others through blogging.

Create a Blog Name

Once you have your mission laid out, you’re going to want to create a blog name. This is so much easier said than done!

Rules for Making a Blog Name:

• Make sure it doesn’t inadvertently spell things you don’t want to be associated with such as cuss words, sex, and other things like it. While I’m creative, I’m not quickly able to create a scenario where this will happen, but it does. Be sure you put the WHOLE title together and ensure it doesn’t do that.
• Try to not come overly close to someone else’s big-name blog or company. It will cause major issues and possibly even a law-suit.
• Be sure it clearly describes what your blog will be about. The closer you can get to the keywords you’re going to cover the better.
• The shorter the name the better.
• Think catchy phrases without being slang.
• Choose easy to spell words.

Make sure your blog name is available across all social media channels. A great tool to help with this process is Namecheck.com. Once you pick out a name that is available across as many platforms as possible, go to the next section.

What Platform Should You Use?

I started my first blog on Blogger, but there are many limitations to using Blogger in my opinion. It took me over a year to transfer my first blog over to WordPress. Let me tell you, I wish I had done it sooner. I was taken more seriously as a professional blogger by companies once I moved. Plus, I saw how much easier it was to add things/learn things because there are a ton more how-to tutorials for WordPress. The plugins make life a heck of a lot easier for me!

I personally am a fan of WordPress.org with my own hosting. I started out having a hosting service through MomWebs.com. I must say I like their service and have no complaints. However, I did get a remarkable deal with Lyrical Host and I’m extremely happy with them.

There are MANY big bloggers who will tell you to go with BlueHost. I can understand that because you can get hosting for less than $4.00 a month. Plus, they help you completely set up your blog on WordPress in a user-friendly way.

Now there are two choices between WordPress. Again, I recommend investing in the WordPress.com version with your own hosting. This allows you to create YOUR own online world.

Get Your Domain and Social Media Sites

Now that you’ve decided which platform you want to use, get your domain name from whichever blog host (mentioned above) you’ve decided to go with. Then take that name and create a Facebook PAGE, Twitter, Instagram Business, and Pinterest BUSINESS account with that domain name. If you need tutorials on how to set these up, email me at [email protected].

I did just find out about WP Engine with HOSTING included AND a premium Studio Press theme. This is quite the deal! I’m on the fence about considering making the switch because it does come with hosting and the theme. The appeal of this bundle plan is the theme included.

How Do I Get WordPress on My Domain?

This set of videos will show you how to install WordPress on your blog. There are two ways of doing it. However, in most cases, your host WILL help you do this step. However, if they don’t you have these tutorials to help you out.

How to Use WordPress

Now once you have WordPress installed, you need to know how to maneuver around it. WordPress isn’t as complicated once you have someone show you how to use it. Just view this video to see the basics of WordPress.

Now that you know how to navigate WordPress. You can start creating content for your readers.

Choose a Stylish Theme

If you didn’t jump on the WP Engine option then you need to pick a theme for your blog. While there are MANY FREE themes to choose from, I do want to recommend that you get a premium theme because it will help you to create a stylish user-friendly website. Plus, you can create a fast-loading site.

I am personally using a MyThemeShop Feminine with some personalized edits to it. However, I am a blogger who gets bored with the layout of my site quite often. I’m known to change my theme OFTEN!

I’m a fan of Elegant Themes products. They have become quite popular with their DIVI theme. Their themes are designed to be more of a drag-and-drop style.

When I first started blogging Studio Press themes were extremely popular! I still think their themes tend to offer a more professional look! I had a few of their themes customized on my old blog. I am honestly considering picking another one and customizing it for this blog.

The Trick to Creating a Profitable Blog

The trick for creating a profitable blog now that it’s set up is to create content that your avatar wants to read and NEEDS. If you can solve their problems in detail then you’re going to thrive as a blogger. Unfortunately, though, that’s not all there is to blogging. Creating outstanding content is only 1/4 of the process of having a profitable blog.

You also need to learn as much as you can about blogging! There are tons of blogging courses all over the web. I’ve invested hard-earned money in many of them. I’ve shared the most profitable courses that have given me the most return on my investment in my Top Blogging Courses by Professional Bloggers post.

There are two things I invest in every year to help me stay in the know about current trends because the online world is constantly evolving. The two things I get every year are the BC Stack which is sold usually in June/July and the Genius Blogger’s Toolkit which is typically sold in Sept.

While you can invest in many blogging courses, there are plenty of free courses available as well. But I do want to stress that 9 times out of 10 those free courses are only going to provide you snippets of what you need and will only try to convince you to buy another course. As a woman who has tons of courses and books on all things blogging, social media, and making money online, you can only follow so much advice at a time. Plus, you will find tons of conflicting information.

Connect Bloggers in Facebook Groups

There are MANY blogging groups on Facebook! You can network and learn from many of the members within these groups. You can find out the Facebook groups that I like to visit as often as I can by clicking on the button below.

Hopefully, this guide to create a profitable blog has helped you take the first couple of steps on this journey with more ease. There will be more posts to help you with other aspects of blogging to come.

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