WordPress Blogging For Beginners
So today I’ve decided to write somewhat of a tutorial. A tutorial named blogging for beginners that will hopefully resolve some of your problems and answer the millions of questions I’ve been getting. If you’re anything like I was, you’re a complete beginner looking to start a successful blog. That was me 2 years ago. I was absolutely clueless, had no idea what a domain was, I didn’t know WordPress existed, and I had never even heard of the term SEO. So if you’re new to the whole blogging thing and you’re looking to start a blog to enhance your business, keep reading.
Blogging is like an art; you can’t master it overnight. It’s not something you just get; it’s something you continually learn over the space of a few years. I actually got lucky by deciding to pay for a $200 blogging course. Anyway, here’s what to do if you’re looking to start a highly successful blog. I’m going to write down in steps practically everything you need. (If you already know something about blogging, stick around as there are still a few tips and tricks you’ll pick up on.)
First of all, you need to set up your blog. You know, get a domain name, hosting account, install WordPress, configure plugins and all that. First, you need to find yourself a domain name (I use GoDaddy). I wouldn’t stress too much about the domain name; it just needs to be memorable and relevant to whatever your blog is about. Seriously, don’t spend a week trying to think of a catchy domain name. We’re not trying to start the next Facebook.
Once you have your domain, you need to host it (I use HostGator). Once done, you need to install WordPress. Under no circumstances will I explain how to do that—LOL—a few Google searches will do the trick. Just so you know, you have no option but to install WordPress. No other blogging platform compares to it. The next thing worth talking about is the theme.
The theme is actually one of the most important elements to a successful blog. While I strongly believe in using a cool theme, there are plenty of highly successful blogs that are just ugly. But trust me, if you want your readers to stick around and return, pick a nice theme. I personally use a somewhat simple theme; it gives my blog a personal look. There are really two types of blog themes: personal and commercial.
If you’re starting a blog for yourself, make it personal. With personal blogs, I like to keep things simple—a simple white theme, two columns. You can actually use however many columns and widgets you like; that stuff is up to you. If you’re starting a blog for a company or product, you might want to take a more professional approach. A magazine-type theme works best.
The plugins, I’m not going to write another long paragraph on plugins, as I’ve already written a full-length post on the best WordPress plugins right here. Make sure you check out that post; there are lots of cool plugins mentioned that will dramatically boost your blog’s traffic.
Once you’ve got your blog installed and your plugins configured, there are just a couple of last on-page elements you need to take care of. Starting with the pages: Always add an about and contact page to your blog. Using one of the plugins I mentioned in that blog post, you’ll be able to instantly add a contact form without leaving your email address. (Last time I left my email on this blog in the very beginning, I had like 50 daily emails—spam.)
Final steps: For the final steps, you need to select a few keywords for your home page. If you’re a marketer, then you’ll want to do this. I personally don’t, but it’s a great way to rake in some extra traffic. Just find a few relevant keywords people are searching for in your niche. Make sure they are the kind of keywords that people would search when they’re looking to buy whatever you’re selling. Then enter them within your blog’s title and description using All In One SEO.
Think long-term for this part. You should try and rank for some crazy keywords, as over the span of a couple of years, you can rank for anything. If you’re a total Internet dummy, when I say rank… I, of course, mean rank in the search engines, as that’s where bloggers generally get traffic from.
Anyway, you should also change the default permalinks, as I hate to say it, but I still see people making that vital mistake. Lastly, for the behind-the-scenes stuff, add an opt-in box. I’ll talk about this in a minute, as it’s one of the greatest ways to monetize your blog, but you need to do something within WordPress for this. Basically, you see the box at the top right of my blog asking for an email address? Well, that’s called an opt-in box, and you can use one to build an email list.
If you’re a marketer, you’re going to want to install an opt-in box on your blog. You’re going to need an autoresponder for this. I personally use Aweber, but there are tons of alternatives. Just set up your form and use a text widget to place it in your blog’s sidebar. Once done, I believe you’re all set.
Now is the actual blogging part. Once your blog is up and ready for content, you should read things to think about before starting a blog. Just some helpful information that’s totally relevant to what I’m about to say. When you start blogging, you need to keep blogging. I’d say blog at least 3 times a week in the early stages of your blog’s life. Later on, you just need to update it like once a week. Just remember that the more you blog, the more traffic you’ll get.
I really want to make sure you are consistent with this. If you write one article a day… over the next 100 days, you’ll be able to build a profit-pulling, lead-sucking, customer-grabbing blog. Seriously, it’s not unrealistic to say you could be getting a few thousand daily visitors 100 days from now. All totally possible if you put your mind to it and stay consistent.
I have no formula for constructing amazing blog content. I just tell people to be themselves and let their personalities shine through their content. So if you’re a deadbeat who has absolutely no personality, a blog really isn’t for you. One thing about blogging is you have to write promotional content. Promotional content means articles you write simply to gain traffic, like this one right here. I’ll admit it. Although this post is really helpful and should answer a lot of questions I’ve been getting.
This post targets the term “Blogging For Beginners,” which actually gets searched over 1000 times a month. While that’s not much traffic, it all adds up when you’re an avid blogger. I actually started writing this for the sake of helping some people out, but if there’s a keyword I can target, I go after it.
Also, once you build up your blog’s readership, write some cool content. Cool content is just content your readers will love and that probably won’t rank anywhere in the search engines. As once you have a readership, if you feed them high-quality information, they are far more likely to opt in and buy your stuff. It’s really as simple as that. Once you’re blogging and the content is getting posted on a weekly or daily basis, there’s one last thing.
The search engine optimization. Yah, it can be boring and all, but it’s a must. As without building high-quality backlinks to your posts, no one will ever read them. You can read all about them here and here. I’m not going to write another essay on search engine optimization, so you’ll have to read my other posts. Basically, you’re competing with LOTS of other marketers. I’m talking millions of other marketers. So in order to outrank all the other sites and receive lots of free traffic, you need to build links to your blog posts.
Now that’s pretty much all there is to running a highly successful WordPress blog. Once you do everything mentioned in this article, you’ll be running an extremely lucrative blog (probably within the next 60 days). Most of you will probably give up after a few blog posts, but that’s ok. Some people aren’t cut out for this stuff; that’s why I suggest you read my post on things to consider before starting. So if I could give you one very serious, yet obvious, word of advice, it would be consistency. While that’s the exact piece of advice you’ll hear from every other marketer on the Internet, hopefully, you’ll listen this time. So commit to posting x amount of content every week for at least 100 days. I can promise that you’ll be better off 100 days from now. And if you stop halfway through, just know that you’ve failed at life. Just kidding.
In Prosperity,
David Wood
P.S. Leave me your thoughts, comments, and questions below.
Comments
Stephanie Deneke
I think you give the best advice ever for blog content when you say to be yourself. When people are trying too hard to sound like a guru, their content ends up being worthless because people can tell it’s not genuine. By the way, tutorials are boring LOL. Can you rant about something fun next?
Richard Duke
Ohhhh Mannnn, Marc said the other night that I need to write a caffeine product about beginner bloggers and sell it!!! Now you’re giving it away!!!! Just joking, you’re giving people info that they need to get started. Keep up the good work!
Ryan Biddulph
Hi David, Solid tips here. Keep keywords in mind, folks. Let traffic come to you—passive traffic. We intend to retire one day—can’t be online tweeting and FBing like a fool forever—so keeping keywords in mind and developing a duplicable system are two musts for any serious network marketer. Thanks for sharing your insight, Dave.
David Wood
Ha ha. Of course 😉 Love you Steph. How are you?
Martha
Wonderful post! It has everything a beginner needs to know about how to get started blogging. As you said, many people want to start a blog, but they don’t have a clue where to start. I will refer people to this post.
Pj Zafra
Awesome as always, David! Thanks for this amazing post! I’m two weeks new so far and have been getting really good traffic. Me and my father are daily bloggers. Definitely looking forward to making it big time! 🙂 Have an amazing week ahead to all!
Jeff H
Great simple tutorial. I think there are a couple of things that will keep people from keeping their blog updated:
1. They think their blog is ugly.
2. If they don’t have visits or comments right away, they feel they are wasting their time.
Just stay consistent and don’t stop. Obviously, the more you write, the better you get at getting your message across. Thanks for the always inspiring message, David!
Tyronne Ratcliff
Awesome tips, Dave. Consistency trumps talent when it comes to blogging.
Etieno Etuk
Awesome post, Dave. This fantastic post has everything a beginning blogger needs to know and also has good info for people who have been blogging for a while. I took a look at the post about the cool plugins to install, and I learned some new ones that I’ve now installed on my blog. Thanks for sharing.
Katherine Logan
This post is incredibly helpful! I’ve been struggling with getting my blog off the ground, and your advice on themes and plugins makes so much sense. Thanks for breaking it down into manageable steps!
Tommy Adams
I find it hard to believe that following these steps alone will result in thousands of visitors. Do you have any actual examples or proof of how this has worked for others? Some real evidence would be great.
Melinda Foster
I’m curious about your recommendation for themes. You mention keeping things simple, but what about blogs that need to showcase a portfolio? Would a more complex layout be better for those?
Alex Ramos
While the tips you shared are useful, I feel like they focus too much on general advice. It would be nice to see more advanced techniques for those of us who already have blogs but are looking to take them to the next level.
Daniel Greene
Hey David! Great post, really informative as always. How have you been? It’s been a while since we last caught up. We should definitely grab coffee sometime and chat about blogging!
Emily Parker
This post reminds me of when I started my own blog last year. I had the same frustrations with SEO and finding a good theme. I wish I had found this guide back then! It would have saved me so much time.
Jason Williams
I recently came across a tool called “RankMath” that provides SEO suggestions right within WordPress. It seems to offer similar functionalities to what you’re recommending with “All in One SEO”. Have you tried it? I found it really intuitive.
Sophia Turner
This post really opened my eyes to the importance of consistency in blogging. I used to think occasional posts were enough, but now I realize why regular content is key. Thanks for sharing your insights!
