Running a blog is a fun and rewarding experience, but it also takes time, resources, and effort. Many new bloggers realize they need a little help figuring out the best ways to get their blog off the ground.
They don’t just want to know how to start a blog; they have questions on everything from generating traffic to creating content and making money.
Here, we’ll show you what new bloggers are searching for online, what type of content works best, and the tools required to get started and run a successful blog.
1. How do I start a blog?
This is the most commonly asked question for new bloggers. They have great ideas and feel the urge to write, but don’t know where to begin. For businesses, they want to know how they can add a blog that works with their existing website and marketing plans.
This seemingly simple question often prevents new bloggers from getting started. Sometimes the hardest part of starting something new is just getting started.
There are a number of easy-to-understand guides on everything from choosing a domain name to building a website. Here at .blog, we’ve written a number of step-by-step guides to enable aspiring bloggers to get online. Here are just a few recent examples:
How to Start a Blog in 5 Simple Steps
5 Tips for Selecting the Best Domain Name for Your Blog
In addition to articles like these, you can also find a number of helpful podcasts or videos showing step-by-step how to do things like choosing a blog theme, buying a domain name, and setting up web hosting.
2. How do I choose a niche?
Choosing what to write about is one of the next most-searched-for questions by new bloggers. They want to know several things:
- What is a niche?
- Does my blog need one?
- How do I choose one?
While some bloggers come into the industry with a clear idea about their goals, many new bloggers need help to refine their vision. One way to build clarity is to start by asking a few key questions.
In our guide Why Your Blog Needs a Niche and How to Find the Right One, we ask aspiring bloggers the following:
- What is your passion?
- What do you do in your free time for fun?
- What are your hobbies?
- What do you enjoy talking about?
- What do you enjoy learning?
- What are you good at?
- Which topics do you know well?
- In which areas do other people constantly ask for your help?
- About which topics could you talk to your friends and even strangers for hours?
All of these questions are designed to help bloggers define and refine their goals and, ultimately, their niche.
This process does not need to feel overwhelming for new bloggers, finding your niche can be simple and fun by exploring your own passions and strengths.
3. How do I get traffic?
Another top question for new bloggers, especially those blogging for business, is how to get people to read their content.
Bloggers can attract traffic to their website in a number of ways and there is a variety of content on topics ranging from:
- Building up a social media following
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Paid advertising
It’s a good idea to review content that covers a number of topics like 5 Essential Steps to Grow Your Audience. More in-depth blogs for each tactic are also helpful as bloggers move to implement a few of the ideas.
Likely, not every piece of advice will apply to every blogger. Bloggers can identify which ones are most interesting and applicable to them.
Beyond just reading articles it is a good idea to review real-world examples of blogs using each tactic to see it come to life.
4. What tools do I need to be a blogger?
Many new bloggers are looking for help through third-party tools that will help them craft the best possible content.
Some of the most popular tools used by bloggers include:
Grammarly – A cloud-based writing assistant that reviews spelling, grammar, punctuation, and clarity.
Canva – A graphic design platform, used to create social media graphics, presentations, posters, documents, and other visual content.
Hootsuite or Buffer – A social media management platform that supports integrations for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Moz or SEMRush – A keyword research tool that helps maximize SEO, inbound marketing, link building, and content marketing.
In our blog posts, 12 Tools To Create Stunning Visuals For Your Blog and 12 Social Media Tools Every Blogger Should Know About, we list some popular tools by category so readers can compare features.
5. What should I write about?
This question may seem to go hand-in-hand with the question about choosing a niche, but it’s actually quite different. It’s one thing to know what your niche is, but it’s another to know what you should be writing about within that niche.
Using tools like Keyword Tool, Google Trends, and Answer the Public will help new bloggers to find the most-searched-for topics in their particular niche. Doing keyword research with tools like Moz or SEMRush will also be helpful for new bloggers to uncover the ways readers currently find their content.
It’s not just what a new blogger should write about, though, it’s how they write about it. This is where a guide to blog formats will be useful. In our post Blog Post Formats: 10 Different Types and When You Should Use Them, we break down the different ways a blogger can write, including:
- Lists
- Interviews
- Reviews
- Personal stories (including longform content)
Once bloggers have decided what they want to write about, they’ll need ways to keep track of all their ideas. Content calendar templates – or links to third-party tools, like Google Calendar or Hubspot – to help them better manage their ideas and stay on track with their publishing goals.
6. Can bloggers make money?
Last, but certainly not least, one of the biggest questions new bloggers have is if they can monetize their blog. The answer is, of course – but how they get there is another thing altogether. There are a number of ways bloggers can make money, including:
- Selling products
- Sharing sponsored content
- Selling services (such as photography)
- Including affiliate links
In our blog How to Make Money Blogging, we cover each of these topics and provide some actionable steps to take.
As you can see, new bloggers have plenty of questions when starting out. But it’s a lot easier than you may think. The internet is full of helpful resources that answer these questions and getting started is often the biggest hurdle. By using different tools and guides bloggers can learn what they need to start their new blogs. A blog can also evolve over time so new bloggers shouldn’t get too hung up on making the perfect decisions. Nothing is set in stone and the more you blog, the more you’ll learn.
Knock Knock WHOIS There 