6 Blogging Tips for Newbies

I bet you clicked on this website to see 6 blogging tips for newbies? Well sorry to disappoint you because you will not find that... You will find 7!! BONUS TIP WOOOOOOO (I hear you scream with excitement!!)

Tip #1- Start on Wordpress

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Wordpress is without a doubt the best way to get a website up and running. I started in August 2017 with ZERO experience of creating a website. Whilst it took a while to make the website look how I wanted, it was soooooooo easy to start. The best part is that Wordpress is COMPLETELY FREE! Wordpress is superior to most other platforms because:

1. You are in complete control of your website
2. You can add extra things later on (online store, forums, membership options etc.)
3. Thousands of themes to make yours stand out
4. Thousands of plugins to make your website more efficient (easier to use, load quicker, improves SEO)

Not sure about blogging?

If you're not sure about blogging using a free Wordpress account is a great way to start.

Do you want to monetise your blog someday?

I'd recommend paying for your own domain (around $15 for the URL e.g. website.com) and hosting on Bluehost for less than $4 a month.

Do you want to blog, learn more and join a community?

If you want a one-stop shop with training, a website builder and amazing community I'd highly recommend Wealthy Affiliate. All 3 of the above scenarios use Wordpress... because it is obviously the best blogging platform!! That's why that is the first of the blogging tips for newbies.

Tip #2- Be Clear on your Niche

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This topic causes more controversy than Donald Trump. Some people argue that you can just write whatever you think of. Of course, you can! In fact, I would recommend starting this way to enjoy the process and write things that you care about. However, if you want to monetise your blog and create an online business then you need to know exactly what your niche is. For example, the personal finance niche is huge and would be very hard to break into. So my niche has sub-niches:

1. Personal Finance...
2. Make Money Online...
3. Blogging...
4. Affiliate Marketing

Once your blog grows then you can write extra things that are relevant to you and expand. If you need help deciding on your niche then click here.

Tip #3- Know your "Why"

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What a load of airy-fairy baloney!! Said the old Mike about all this junk back in the day... Now I cannot tell you enough how important this is! If you are thinking of starting a blog or are still new to it and you don't know why you are doing it stop right now and read these two blogs: Why do people create blogs? 3-steps to finding your personal mission statement. Blogging is HARD. Blogging requires TIME. People that don't blog do not UNDERSTAND. If you don't have a strong reason as to why you are blogging and if you don't even know what your personal mission statement is, then you WILL find it IMPOSSIBLE keep blogging when times are tough... And if there's one thing I can guarantee. There will be times when blogging is tough.

Tip #4- Write in your own style- Let your personality come through

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Erm... I don't really know how to do this though?! How are you supposed to write showing your own personality?

Sometimes I pretend that I am normal... but it gets boring so I go back to being me

Let me explain with a short story: Last week, I was chilling on a beach in Zanzibar. My wife, Sarah, said to me as she sipped her coconut water, "you look so engrossed in that book!" I was reading a book called "Hypnotic Writing". I explained to her, "apparently it's possible to write and put your readers into a trance state". "How?" She asked. "Well, have you ever read a book that you become so engrossed in that you don't hear anything else? That book put you into a hypnotic state." Just imagine what you can do with this kind of power! I just wrote a section showing you how this is possible... you're still reading, right? Here are some tips for writing in your own style or showing your personality:

• Write how you talk... write erm, well, yes, so etc./ use your own slang/ add in breaks...
• Ask questions- just like in normal conversation (either your own questions or what you imagine someone else would ask you)
• Tell STORIES - people LOVE stories... and remember them much easier!
• Use Quotes 

So make sure you don't write like a robot or a scientific report! Are you beginning to see how important these blogging tips for newbies are?

Tip #5- Use Social Media- But Which Platform?

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Social media is just like marmite... you either love it or you hate it.

When it comes to blogging, social media is basically free advertising.

It's a must! You may already have a lot of followers in a specific platform, which is great! You can already start sharing your blogs and interacting with other people's content to increase your blog traffic. However, some social media platforms are better at driving traffic (get visitors to your website) than others. The best traffic drivers for blogging are: Pinterest = user to content (awesome) Facebook = user to user (good) Twitter = user to user (good) Instagram = user to user (average) There are obviously a lot of different types of social media but these are the main ones that I have seen people use effectively for getting more people to look at your website. Pinterest stands out from the others because its whole business model is to get users to click on content (your blog!) It's very similar to Google in that sense. The other 3 are designed to keep users on their platform (if you use Facebook or Instagram you will know what it's like to have an hour of your life disappear!) Related articles:

• Top 4 Secret Pinterest Hacks

Tip #6- Ignore Your Stats - Yes it's easier said than done!

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Stats is what heroin is to a heroin addict... It feels great when you are using it but you realise you've just wasted a load of time and it's killing you (well stat watching doesn't actually kill you... but that is true about heroin use... don't do it kids!) When your blog is generating a lot of traffic and you've produced a lot of blog posts (75+ as a rough idea) you will use stats to help you see what your readers enjoy and engage with. However, stats are pretty much useless when you start blogging. You will hopefully see that your engagement has gone up each week and each month but it is a massive waste of time to sit there gawking at them. Your time can be so much better spent. If you're not sure what you should be doing:

1. Write blogs,
2. Promote your blogs,
3. Engage with blogs- Read other blogs & comment.

BONUS Tip #7- Make sure your links work

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If you were anything like me as a kid then I bet your parents told you that you were going to Disney World on holiday but instead took you to Bognor Regis (a cold wet caravan park in England)**. This is exactly what your audience feels when they click on a link and it takes you here... An amazing extension for Google Chrome is "check my links". It tells you if you have a link that doesn't work. Install it & use it on EVERY post. Also check your older content every now and then to see if there are any out of date links. It shows you when you have a link that doesn't work.

6 Blogging Tips for Newbies Summary

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There is a lot to learn when you start blogging. If anyone tells you blogging is easy to make money from, then they are lying! I'm not trying to put anyone off it, but it is important to understand this as a newbie. It's only fair to have the information up front. Obviously, there are MANY benefits to blogging (you may need a boost after my trash talk - read the benefits here). As long as you have a strong "WHY" and do the basics when you start blogging you'll love it, and you always will. Blogging doesn't have to be hard though... Get things set up right from the start and remember you only need to do 3 things:

1. Write blogs,
2. Promote your blogs,
3. Engage with blogs- Read other blogs & comment.

Keep changing for the better, Mike **p.s. this didn't really happen to me as a child, my parents are not pure evil... it just was a good analogy. p.p.s. If you are interested in making money online to free up your time, have a look at my #1 recommended program here, which I am currently using.