You only have one chance to get things right when you’re starting a successful blog from scratch.
I think you agree with me when I say that starting your first blog can feel daunting and even scary. You have a 1,000 things to learn and manage, some of them technical and even difficult to understand. That’s why many bloggers never get to the point where their blogs take off and start making money.
I know you don’t want to waste your time on anything that doesn’t help you achieve your blogging goals. And that’s what I’m here to help you out with. Just imagine not having to worry about anything technical, but just being able to focus on what you love and feel passionate about.
In this post, I’ll share with you some of the top secrets to successful blogging for beginners with no experience. By the end of this article, you will know exactly what to focus on when you start a blog.
That said, just tag along and get your notebook out!
Here are a couple of related articles you may find helpful, too:
Please note: This post contains affiliate links to products I use, trust, and recommend. If you choose to purchase a helpful product using these links, I may receive a small commission for referring you – at no extra cost to you. These funds help me keep this blog up and running.
#1: The perfect time to start is NOW
If you feel like you’re not ready to start a blog yet, think again!
Here’s the deal: none of the bloggers you follow and look up to was ever ready to start blogging. They all went through a long journey of learning through trial and error to get where they are now.
If you’re having doubts about taking the first step, let me tell you this: each day that goes by is a lost day in terms of learning what blogging is all about and how you can make it work for you.
Don’t worry about not being “ready” just now, because you will never feel 100% ready to start a blog.
The whole idea of blogging is to learn as you go.
I mean, on most day I feel like I haven’t got the slightest idea about what I’m doing!
Even though I’m a very organized person and I love to plan things out, I find myself changing those plans all the time. You know, I see something I could do better and I just try to find the best way to fix it.
Recommended: Step-by-Step Tutorial: How to Start a Successful Blog in 30 Minutes
What you should do next:
Here’s one of the secrets to successful blogging you should keep in mind:
When you’re just getting started, don’t worry about what or how much you need to learn in the future. Just start with what you know now and build on top of that.
Blogging is just like learning anything that’s new to you. You start with the very basics and progress to more advanced topics step-by-step, right?
Once you start, you’ll notice how much you learn every day. And that’s one of the biggest secrets to successful blogging and the beauty of having an online business!
To get started, head over to my step-by-step tutorial on how to setup your WordPress blog in just 30 minutes. See you there!
#2: Focus on your strengths
When you’re just about to start a blog, you’re probably thinking about what to blog about in the first place.
If you haven’t found the perfect blog topic just yet, don’t worry. It sometimes takes me weeks or even months to figure out what to blog about when I’m starting a new blog.
I usually have a rough idea what my topic is going to be when I find an interesting niche. However, refining the first ideas often takes longer than I expect.
If you’re struggling with finding a topic for your blog, just make sure you focus on what you’re good at already.
What you should do next:
Think about what you know more about than most other people.
- What did you love learning back in school?
- Did you attend any extra-curricular groups, for example?
- How about your career so far?
- Do you have some specific skills that people would love to read about?
In short: what are your strengths?
If there’s anything you can help your readers with simply by sharing your knowledge, consider starting a blog about it.
Focusing on your strengths when you start a blog will make the journey so much easier and enjoyable.
Since you already know a lot about the topic, you don’t need to dedicate much time to learning more about it. Unless, of course, your blog is about a personal learning journey!
3: Blog for your readers – not for yourself
When you start a blog, you’re most likely excited to share your knowledge and skills with the world!
And that’s perfect, congrats! If you choose the right blog niche you’re passionate about, you’ll have no problem creating valuable content for your readers.
But no matter how important your passion is, the only thing that can make your blog successful are your readers. You need to make sure they want to spend their time reading what you have to say, right?
But how do you create content that keeps them coming back to read your blog regularly?
The key to successful blogging is to provide value to your readers.
Whatever it is you write about, you always need to think about what your readers want and need. Give them
- Answers to their questions
- Solutions to their problems
Focusing on these two points will help you reach your target audience, turn them into loyal readers, and your blog starts to grow almost by itself.
You’ll have fun blogging, you can connect with like-minded people from around the world, and you can make some money with it, too.
Focus on what is important to your readers – not on what is popular at the moment.
Now don’t get me wrong here. You blog should still be about something you are passionate about. But in order to keep your readers coming back, they need to find something of value on your blog.
What you should do next:
When you start your blog, make sure you know who you’re writing for.
Think about your target audience. Try to come up with a single imaginary person who embodies your ideal reader.
Then, whenever you’re writing, keep that person in mind. Write like you were talking to them. Think about what questions they have in mind and answer them all with every little bit of knowledge you got!
Read also: 10 Instant Tips for Writing the Perfect Blog Post
4: Learn from every mistake you make
I could write a book about all the mistakes I’ve made with my blogs. It would be a trilogy I think.
When you start a blog, you can easily feel overwhelmed and confused. There are so many moving pieces to manage and learn that it can feel scary to take the first step and get started, right?
But just remember this: it’s perfectly fine to make mistakes!
And to be honest, you will make a few at some point. Trust me on this: you can’t get everything 100% right. But don’t get me wrong here – I don’t mean to discourage you or scare you off from starting a blot. Quite the opposite!
You should start blogging and I’m here to help you achieve your goals!
But when something goes wrong, don’t let it get you down. Just take it as a learning experience. We all screw up at some point, sooner or later. But it’s just a blog.
Read also: 3 Essential Blogging Tips for Success
What you should do next:
When you’re just getting started with blogging, don’t be afraid to try new things! One of the top secrets to successful blogging is to stay curious and take risks every now and then. It’s the only way to learn what works the best for you.
Therefore, keep a notebook at hand for your ideas and notes. When you’re trying out new things, write them down and keep track of them.
It’s a good idea to sit down for an hour or so every month to see what you’ve learned in the past few weeks.
- Perhaps you tried a new blog post pattern? How did you readers like that?
- Or maybe you tested a new Pinterest strategy? Can you see any results from it?
I mean, blogging is a business where you can never know if something’s a good idea or not. Sometimes you just have to take risks and see what happens.
What I can tell you right now is that most ideas you try will work just fine. But you can’t avoid the occasional mess-up, no matter how hard you try.
And that’s perfectly OK!
There’s no one here judging anyone or pointing fingers. The blogging community is incredibly supportive and you’ll always find fellow bloggers to help you out.
Just remember that I’m here to guide you through each step you need to take. So there’s literally no risk to it!
All that could happen is that your blog attracts such massive amounts of traffic that you end up breaking the Internet, ha!
Read also: What to Blog About? How To Find Blog Post Topics That Generate Traffic
5: Treat your blog like a business
The #1 blogging advice I give to all blogging beginners is this: your blog is a business.
And you need to treat it like one from the very beginning. You’re a blogging entrepreneur now!
I know this might sound funny, especially if you’re just getting started. But trust me on this: one of the biggest secrets to successful blogging is to know that it’s essentially a business.
But why?
Think about it like this: when you’re running a business, you feel accountable to someone or to your customers, right? But when you’re blogging, nobody will come and tell you you’re not working hard enough.
The only person in charge is you. You decide
- when to publish new posts,
- how to promote your blog, and
- which monetization methods to use etc.
The easiest way to help yourself commit to your blog for the long run is to become aware that you will need to invest a few bucks to get your blog on its feet.
And I don’t mean spending money and never seeing it again. I mean investing money and seeing profits in the future.
Related: 4 Profitable Blogging Investments for Making Money Online
What you should do next:
I know you may feel like it’s too early to spend any money at this point already. I was you not too long ago.
But I soon learned that I will never achieve my blogging goals if I don’t treat myself to a couple of helpful tools right from the beginning.
First of all, do NOT use a free blogging platform like WordPress.com, Blogger, or Tumblr.
If you choose a free platform, you will not own your content nor your traffic you worked so hard to generate. Also, you can’t monetize your blog as easily, since you’re not allowed to use affiliate links or sell ad space on it.
Instead, use a self-hosted blogging platform like WordPress.org. It’s the only way you can build yourself a brand with your blog. The freedom and control you have with a self-hosted blog is one of the top secrets to successful blogging, so keep it mind when you’re getting started.
Read also: What is the Difference Between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
I use WordPress.org for all my blogs and most of my other websites, too. All you need to do to start a blog on WordPress.org is to sign up for blog hosting and register a domain name for your blog.
If this sounds too technical, don’t worry. I have the perfect step-by-step tutorial right here for you. And it only takes 10 minutes! See you there!
Bonus tip: How to save dozens of hours of work
Also, understand that although it’s possible to earn income using free resources only, any investment you make into your blog will pay itself pack quicker than you think.
Using paid tools is one of the biggest secrets to successful blogging through efficiency and productivity. The point of using paid, premium tools for blogging is to save you time.
For example, if you can buy the perfect WordPress theme for $40 and create an amazing design for your blog, why not just do it?
Trust me, investing in a solid WordPress theme is one of the easiest paths and secrets to successful blogging. Spending $40 to $70 now will save you dozens if not hundreds of hours of work in the long run.
True story: The money I invested in the Divi Theme when I started my first blog paid itself back the very first day I started using it. A website client of mine called me the same evening about my new blog design and hired me to redesign his website using Divi, too.
Related: How to Find the Perfect WordPress Theme for Your Blog
6: Grow your traffic first, then start monetizing
There’s a reason why the entire topic of monetizing your blog is the very last part in my guide for starting a successful blog from scratch.
What I mean is that you should go through every individual step in my guide thoroughly before you start focusing on the last part.
And even though blog monetization should never be your #1 goal and motivator, it’s an important prospect for most blogging newbies.
Just keep in mind that it will take some time to start earning your income from blogging. Needless to say, be prepared to put a lot of work and effort into it.
Blogging for money is possible for anyone, but it’s not going to happen overnight.
You’ll need to be patient and show determination to grow your blog step by step. Having enough traffic is one of the most important secrets to successful blogging and making money as a blogger.
And I’m not trying to scare you off here, I simply want you to know that there are no shortcuts on this path.
Read also: 7 Proven Tools to Grow and Promote Your Blog Instantly
What you should do next:
Whatever your long-term plans are, make sure you don’t let your goals out of your sight, ok?
Build yourself a clear plan and strategy with measurable milestones, so that you can track your progress as you go.
Once you’ve established a steady foothold in your niche, you should see your traffic increase little by little. As long as your blog is helping your readers with their problems, they’ll come back time after time.
And that’s when you can start thinking about monetization. There are a number of ways to start making money with your blog, like:
- Affiliate Marketing
- Paid ads
- Guest blogging
- Selling your own products
- Offering courses and tutorials etc.
Whichever method you choose to monetize your blog with, make sure you learn one method at a time.
You’ll need some practice and experience in order to master even one monetization method. Once you feel like you know it inside out, pick the next one. And again: learn it thoroughly.
Setting up each individual monetization method like this is one of the top secrets to successful blogging. It simply means that you don’t have to come back and adjust it that often in the future.
When you set up everything the RIGHT way from the beginning, you can be sure that each method is earning you virtually passive income for a long time.
Final thoughts: 6 secrets to successful blogging for beginners
Even if you’re a complete blogging beginner.
Even if you’re never written articles for the Web.
You can start a successful blog from scratch and make your blogging dreams come true.
I’m living proof that literally anyone can start a blog and turn it into a successful business. It doesn’t require any witchcraft or wizardry. All you need is determination and passion for your topic.
There will be times when you feel like things aren’t going the way you planned. That’s when you can come back to this post with a few crucial secrets to successful blogging and get your blog back on track. Here are a few powerful motivation tips to help you stay focused.
Remember: whatever happens, good or bad, it’s going to take you one step further along your blogging journey.
You will learn, you will improve, and you will succeed.
What are your top secrets to successful blogging? Do you any blogging tips and tricks I didn’t mention in this post?
Here are a few helpful articles you may want to read, too:
- How to Start a Successful Blog? 6 Essential Steps for Beginners
- How to Choose the Perfect Blog Name in 20 Minutes
P.S. I’d appreciate if you shared this post with others, so that they can find it, too! Thank you so much!