BLOGGING: What Newbies Should Know?

STARTING A BLOG? WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW?

Quite easy to be envious and desirous of having a blog just like the bloggers and content writers you see around; perhaps you have wondered what it takes to have one to call your own. Well, here’s a great news for you, I will be taking you through guided steps on owning a blog. You don’t have to worry so much about the cost, as long as you are passionate about it and ready to make some cool cash, you’re good to go.

TIPS ON HAVING A BLOG

1. BRAINSTORMING: First, you have to go on a solo search or request for the help of an expert. You need to be informed about the world of blogging and various platforms available to own a blog. You need to brainstorm on the following:

• What blogging platform do you want? There’s a whole lot of them out there on the net such as WordPress (this has both the free and hosted plan), Blogspot (highly recommended to those who want to stick to a free hosting and never worry about paying a dime for as long as possibly desired), WIX ( offers a beautiful and simple form of having your preferred website just in simple steps), Tumblr ( is often likened to an app but you are privileged to have an interface that looks just exactly like a website). There are other platforms out there but listed above are the most popular among website owners.
• The second thing you’ll be brainstorming about is the name you’ll love to give your website; now you have to make careful selection here but I will advise that you name your website beautifully and don’t choose a lengthy name; preferably you can use your name because it isn’t easy getting a domain name that hasn’t been chosen by another user, also another benefit your name offers is professionalism and search engine benefit.
• Lastly, you need to ask yourself this; what is your website is for? The main question is, why are you blogging? Why do you want to own a blog? What does your blog stand for? What and what do you want to offer your intending readers? You need to think about this before you venture into the world of blogging. You need to know your niche so you can stand for something on the vast web.

2. BE ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA: It is not a joke when it comes to driving traffic to your newly created website but you can reduce stress by having active social accounts where you can share your posts and inform your friends about your newly created website. For bloggers, you need to be a lover of various social media because only through this can you drive traffic to your website but if you don’t want to do so, you can buy traffic from traffic providers if you deem it necessary.
3. BE READY TO SPEND LITTLE MONEY: Read again I said ‘little money’, let’s do some estimated breakdown of expenses you need to consider:

• Domain name: ranges from #500- #4000 per year depending on your choice. You can get your perfect domain name on Godaddy which offers a huge discount for first year domain name purchase, visit their site for more. I also will recommend Qservers which sells domain name for a thousand naira for the first year; but they are cheap only for a .com.ng and the likes, also it favors Nigerians so you might want to consider them. You can compare both websites above for your most preferred choice. My domain name is from Godaddy, you can check them out or search online for other platforms selling domain name at a price convenient for you.
• Hosting: Like I said under brainstorming, WordPress offers both the free and hosted plan. Hosting is pivotal if you don’t want a free hosting account on blogger and WordPress, when we say free it means your website domain name will be as such:

www.yourname.blogspot.com

www.yourname.wordpress.com

But under paid hosting with your perfect domain name, you have full right on the name of your website just like mine

www.daachiever.com

www.victory.com

What hosting platform should you use? You have to make careful deliberations on this because you are putting your trust and website data/information on the line, you wouldn’t want to host on a site that crashes easily or would you? A quick advise, don’t always rush to choose a hosting site that offers you the most absurd cheapest plan and one that isn’t reliable. I can only list the following sites since with the little research on my path, I can say these sites are reliable and very cheap enough:

1. Bluehost
2. NameCheap
3. Godaddy
4. SiteGround
5. Hostgator
6. WordPress
7. And among others

For my website, I use NameCheap and I love their customer care support which provides step to step guide on a lot of how to and customer complaints. You can register for their services on NameCheap. Bloggers also use Bluehost and SiteGround since it doesn’t crash frequently like other hosting sites.

4. Lastly on this blog post, I will highly recommend you to be equipped with the following:

• Enough content for your website
• Passion and zeal for blogging
• Don’t blog for the money, you will get frustrated if it doesn’t come in
• Be proud you are a blogger because you have a presence on the web. Isn’t that adorable? Winks

There is still a whole lot of things to learn about blogging and we will continue with detailed discussions on how to open a blog on the various platforms listed in the first paragraph. Don’t worry, I have got you covered. Soon, you’ll have your own website, so grab a bite of your imaginary hamburger and sit tight for a lovely tea to be served to you.

   HAPPY BLOGGING!!!

 

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