Starting, maintaining, and growing a blog in 2024 might seem daunting. Many people may feel discouraged since they think it’s too late to start a blog, given that there are already so many bloggers out there. However, it’s never too late to start blogging. Although you may have missed some opportunities, such as when TikTok was gaining popularity and many people created their accounts early on, there is still plenty of room for new bloggers. The second-best time to start is now! Here’s how to start a blog in 2024:
Pick a niche and blog name:
This is the name that your readers will see first, which should ideally represent generally what your blog post would be about, or it could be even your name or business name. clever people would combine the words.
To ensure the growth of your blog, it is important to choose a specific niche. This avoids confusion among your followers. For instance, if someone subscribes to your blog after reading an article about pets, and the following week they see an article about mechanics, they might lose interest and stop following you. This is because the content is irrelevant to them, and their feed will be showing unrelated topics.
I don’t know what to major in!
It is recommended to choose a specific niche for your blog. When I first started blogging, I experimented with different topics to see what worked best. Sometimes I would write about trending topics to gain more views, but once those trends faded, so did my page views. Visitors were only interested in the trending topics, and my other content wasn’t getting as much attention. This caused my page to decline, and it also affected how Google recommended my page.
After experimenting, you’ll find what works for you and your page. However, if the majority of people like a certain topic, it might be best to focus on that for the success of your page. But keep in mind that if you choose a topic you don’t enjoy, you’ll get bored in a few months. Researching and creating content on a topic you don’t like is not a pleasant experience.
Instead, work on something you love. Doing so will attract people who enjoy your content, and you’ll also enjoy what you do. It might take time to grow your page, but it’s worth it, and there are ways to reach people who are interested in your niche.
Blog Consistency
Once you have chosen a name and niche for your blog and conducted some experiments, it’s time to commit to it and put more effort into it. You should have spent enough time experimenting to get to know your audience, or at least some of them. Find out what time they are most active, where they are located and what they’re interested in. You can do this by checking the analytics tab on your platform. If this information is not provided, you can study their interactions with your posts, such as their comments and the most viewed content.
It is advisable to post two to three times a week, but some people post daily, which is okay if you can manage it. This depends on your availability. Some people run their blogs as their full-time job while others may be busy with work, school, or family. Posting once a week is acceptable too, as long as you are consistent. However, it’s not recommended to post inconsistently, such as once a week and then five times the next week, as this can harm your blog’s success.
Focus on keyword research and SEO
Keyword research is a practice search engine optimization (SEO) professionals use to find and analyze search terms that users enter into search engines when looking for products, services, or general information. Keywords are related to search queries. Source Wiki.
If your blog post has key words that matches what a lot of people are searching, google will grade it, pushing it to more people.
Making Money on Blog: Monetisation
After researching keywords, SEO, your audience’s interests, and their active times, there will come a point where you become eligible for blog monetization. There are several ways to make money as a blogger, although it may not be easy when starting, as your blog grows, it becomes more lucrative.
Ad Agency
One of the most common ways bloggers make money is through ad agencies. Google AdSense is an excellent example of an ad agency. Every ad agency has its eligibility criteria that differ from one another. Your ad revenue will depend on the number of visitors who come to your page. Once you have an agency activated on your site, sponsored posts will appear. Every time a visitor sees a sponsored post and clicks the sponsored link, you earn money.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a marketing arrangement in which affiliates receive a commission for each visit, signup, or sale they generate for a merchant. This arrangement allows businesses to outsource part of the sales process. Wikipedia
Personally, affiliate marketing is not one of my favourites, although people are different everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. If you know your audience well, you will be able to tell what method works with them and the products to advertise to them.
Advertising
As a blogger, once you have put in a lot of hard work and achieved success, brand owners, regardless of their size, will start reaching out to you with requests to advertise on your platform. There are several ways to advertise through your blog, such as through a brand review or by telling a story.
I remember when I began writing, and my first short story went viral. In some parts of the story, I covered one of my favourite games developed by Gameloft [Link]. It wasn’t explicitly an advertisement, but my readers were thrilled with the game and wanted to know more about it. At that time, nobody had paid me, but I saw an opportunity to connect with my audience. I shared a link to the game with them, and they became my followers. A win-win situation for everyone involved.
Some people find it tempting to accept money from brands for advertising their products. However, it is important to be cautious while accepting offers. You should do thorough research before affiliating with any brand to avoid being associated with any controversial brand. Additionally, it is important to consider your followers before promoting any product. Only advertise brands that you trust and avoid deceiving your followers. If you engage in any unethical practices, you could face consequences like being cancelled by council culture, which may affect your reputation. This can also lead to brands not wanting to work with you in the future. Remember, maintaining a good reputation is crucial for successful collaborations with brands.
Growing Your Blog
To be honest, growing your blog is not going to be easy unless you are a very popular somebody then you have somewhere to start in. Opening other socials media accounts in other platforms just to support your blog is not mandatory but its recommended.
Pinterest.
I have heard a few whispers with people saying Pinterest is for old, that’s hilarious. There are so many people using Pinterest worldwide and most of your audience is there. Setting up a Pinterest account is easy, then you link it with your blog. Every time you publish a post you should also promote it on Pinterest. As your Pinterest grows so will your blog.
Invest wisely.
Investing in your work is highly recommended, whether it involves renting your domain for hosting or running a YouTube blog. By investing in your work, you can reach a wider audience and promote your brand effectively. However, it’s important to consider the ROI (Return on Investment) before investing. You need to ensure that you get the most of your money back or even more, which is a sign of wise investment. If you fail to get most of your money back, then there is something you are not doing right!
If you are facing issues in getting a good return on investment, it could be due to your blogging skills. Investing money to promote a poorly written blog is not a smart choice. You need to enhance your blogging skills to create quality content that can engage your audience. You can take some blogging classes, which are available for free or for a fee, to improve your skills.
Another reason for a poor return on investment could be renting an expensive domain that is not generating enough traffic. In that case, it’s better to switch to a cheaper option. However, as your followers grow, you may need to upgrade your domain to accommodate increased traffic.
Starting a blog is quite easy. All you need is a smartphone or a PC with an internet connection, and you’re good to go. In 2024, free yourself financially! Keep an eye out for our next article. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section below, and don’t forget to subscribe to our latest magazine issue.
