Are you ready to start blogging to get your ideas out into the social media ecosystem? Or are you hesitating, afraid to get your feet wet? Here are eight steps to get comfortable—and your content carefully calibrated to your target audience—before you take the “publish” plunge.
1. Decide what to blog about. Choosing the right niche for your blog is perhaps the most important choice you can make before you actually start blogging. Search for a way to balance what you feel passionate about with what would interest the audience you want to reach.
2. Read and comment on other blogs. Once you have found your niche, find the popular blogs and websites within it and study them closely. Figure out what you like about them and what you find annoying. Then begin commenting on these blogs to help you start developing your own blogging voice and get a sense of what discussing your niche is like online.
3. Pick your blog strategies. Whatever you do resist the urge to write excessively about you, your organization, or your products and services. Instead, figure out what blogging strategy (or strategies) will build the most rapport with your target audience.
4. Identify keywords, a name, and URL. Next figure out which phrases and words within your niche are most often searched and do not have too much competition. Use these keywords to think carefully about the name and URL of your blog and how search engines will index them.
5. Put together a basic blog. With so many easy-to-use software options out there—Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress.com, Xanga, etc.—you can create a professional-looking blog in just minutes, even if you don’t have much technical know-how. Be sure to make your feed/subscribe information prominent on each page and social media sharing options prominent on each post.
6. Get feedback on test posts. Keep your new blog password-protected for the first few weeks after you start blogging. Ask some friends or colleagues to review your first test posts, so you can make adjustments to your writing style (or the blog’s design) before you open your blog to the world.
7. Go live and promote. After you take the public “publish” plunge, promote your blog in the social networking sites you already use, particularly the ones your target audience frequents most. This could mean tweets on Twitter or updates on Facebook or LinkedIn. Also leave comments on blogs within your niche, making sure to add your blog’s URL to your comments, so they can starting visiting you too.
8. Be patient and keep it up. Don’t get discouraged if your site gets few visitors for the first few months. It will take some time for your blog to get noticed.
Your turn! Share your ideas or anything I missed in the comments section.
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