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How to Start a Profitable Blog In 2025
If you’re thinking about starting a blog but you aren’t sure how, I’ve got you! This guide is designed to help you get your blog up and running from the start. Here, you’ll find all you need to know about starting a blog, from setting up your domain, where to get themes for your blog, how to write great blog posts, and more.
Maybe the idea of blogging piques your interest, but you aren’t sure if it’s viable for you. Trust me, I’ve been there. If you have already started a blog but you need more help getting going, this information could be useful for you too!
Truth be told, I was in exactly the same position; I thought about starting a blog, and I liked the idea of creating an income with a website, but I didn’t know where or how to start, or how realistic an idea it was. I really needed help in the most fudamental sense.
I think giving as much realistic information as possible is paramount when you’re starting, and it really helps you to get things going, so here you will find all the things you need to know as a new blogger.
If there’s anything I’ve forgotten, feel free to email me at [email protected] and I will do my best to help you.
My blog is fairly new compared to others on the internet, but let me tell you, I have learned A LOT over the past year! There are things I would do again, and NEVER do again, things I wish I had known when I started, and so much behind the scenes of a blog that you really should know that no one tells you about.
I would have loved something like this when I started my blog, so I thought why not make one myself? Honestly, I want other new bloggers to be equipped with as much information as possible to help make their blogs profitable.
Why? Long story short: because if you’re here, chances are you want to build something great, and I like to help people 🙂 If you are willing to dedicate yourself, you enjoy writing and sharing information, and you want to take the steps necessary to creating an income, then we are a lot alike.
I will be updating this page more as my blog grows, but for now this guide will walk you through the essential steps to start your own blog, from choosing a niche to optimizing for SEO. Let’s get to it!
Step 1: Choose Your Niche
Choosing a niche is the first step for your blog. You have different options with this, and it is important to put some thought into it.
If you don’t already know, all “niche” really means is the topic or category of your blog.
Your niche could be something you’re passionate and knowledgeable about, but it must have a potential audience if you want a profitable blog.
Design and decor has been in my background for many years, so it seemed natural for me to start a blog in the decor niche. I could have also made my blog about healthy recipes or parenting, for example.
It made the most sense for me to go with home decor because: A.) I have experience in this niche, B.) I don’t get tired of writing about it, C.) Google and Pinterest get a high volume of searches in this niche.
Later, I included 2 other pillar topics within my niche: event ideas and gift guides. Now my blog has 3 pillar topics: home decor, event concepts, and gift guides.
You can do one niche or branch out and include 1 or 2 other topics, but try to keep them in a similar family.
For example, a blog in the crafting niche could include pillar niches like crochet patterns and DIY projects, but it would be strange to pair crafting with something like health and fitness.
Make sure your pillar niches connect in some way if you want to make the most out of your blog.
How to choose a niche for a blog
When choosing your niche, don’t go for something you’re blah about, or that an internet guru told you to write about, otherwise it will be really challenging for you to write about it for years and years!
You need a mix of interest and strategy. By that I mean, your own interest in the niche, and a niche that has the potential for a lot of traffic.
What you don’t want to do is start a blog all about yourself. This might sound a little wrong, but people don’t care about you, and they aren’t using the internet to search about you. Therefore, you won’t have the audience to drive traffic to your blog, so it’s not a a good way to make a profitable blog.
Where you will find the magic combination is if you can find a niche with a high search volume AND that you also enjoy writing about. If you want to create income with your blog, then you will be writing about your niche for years to come!
The goal: to solve a problem or answer a question for people, to provide ideas and inspiration, or to help people searching for your niche. It’s not about you, it’s about the information people are searching for.
What to avoid: writing about yourself and your interests, or using your blog as a diary. That’s fine if you just want a blog for a hobby, but it’s not the way to make a profitable website.
Think about yourself when you use Google or Pinterest. What do you do on these platforms? You are likely searching for information and/or ideas.
You will need to do some research to find what people are searching for. Research trending topics and use tools like Google Trends and Pinterest trends to see what people are searching for. Go with something that interests you and that has a high search volume. More on this later.
The ONLY time I would say it’s fine to write about yourself is if you are an expert in something and your topic also has a high search volume, then you could make that your niche.
Some ideas for niches you can do:
- Food Niche
- Mommy Niche
- Crafting Niche
- Money and Investments Niche
- Lifestyle Niche
- Home Decor Niche (like mine!)
- DIY Niche
- Health And Fitness Niche
- Product Reviews Niche
- Fashion Niche
The list goes on and on, but the main points you should take away from this are:
- Choose a niche based on search volume and interest
- Ask yourself if you can realistically write about your niche for years
- Don’t write all about yourself. Get out of your own way!
Step 2: Pick a Domain Name
Choosing a domain name is an important step in starting your blog. Your domain name is essentially your blog’s address on the internet, and it’s the first impression visitors will have of your site.
Picking a domain name sounds easy, right? It’s actually more complicated than you may think! Because of the vastness of the internet, most domain names are already taken. It is likely going to take you several tries before you find a domain name that’s both available AND fits your niche.
What I suggest doing is writing down a keyword that’s relevant to your niche and brainstorming from there. Make a list of potential domain names using different word combinations (ideally with your keyword/niche as one of them).
Why do you need a keyword in your domain name? This can help with SEO and make it easier for people to find your blog through search engines.
Imagine you’re all set to start a parenting blog, but you picked “SugarAndSpiceCrafts.com” as your domain name. While it sounds cute, it suggests baking recipes or DIY projects, leaving visitors confused when they find posts about potty training or bedtime routines instead.
It’s like walking into a bookstore and finding a freezer section—confusing and totally unrelated! Ideally, your domain name should reflect your niche to avoid leaving your readers scratcing their heads.
You can use tools like a domain name generator to help you out if you’re stuck. Be sure to use a .com extension for a more professional appearance.
Some tips to help you choose a domain name:
- Make sure you go for a “.com” domain – .com is the global standard and it looks professional.
- Avoid using words that are hard to spell or have unusual spellings.
- Steer clear of names similar to super popular websites because it will be REALLY hard for you to rank against them.
Step 3: Select a Blogging Platform
In order to get your blog up and running, you need a blogging platform.
A blogging platform allows you to create, manage, and publish content on your blog. It gives you the necessary tools and interface to write posts, add content, customize the appearance of your blog, and interact with your readers.
For my blog, I use WordPress.org that is hosted through Bluehost. The set up was incredibly easy to do through Bluehost when I purchased my .com name. It was all synced together with step-by-step instructions.
And don’t worry, just because it’s WordPress.org it doesn’t mean your site has to have a .org name – you can definitely do .com.
Some blogging platforms are free, but there are a few caveats to that, and ultimately free ones are not recommended if you want to make a profitable blog.
Why not use free websites?
- Your website URL will be something like yourblogname.freeblog.org instead of yourwebsite.com – harder for people to find your site, and it’s not as professional.
- If you read the fine print, the hosting company will technically own your blog and you won’t.
- You will be stuck with the bare minimum options until you pay to upgrade your package, and you risk losing your work if you change providers one day when your traffic grows.
When you start with a self-hosted option like WordPress.org, you are setting yourself up better for the long-run. You won’t have to switch from a free site to a paid site as your traffic grows (free sites can only handle so much traffic!) and potentially lose all of your blog posts and hours of work.
Just to cover our bases, here are some popular examples of blogging platforms:
- WordPress.org: The top choice for many bloggers and what I use. It’s a self-hosted platform, meaning you have full control over your blog’s design, functionality, and monetization strategies.
- WordPress.com: Similar to WordPress.org but hosted by Automattic. It has fewer customization options and monetization options, and you will need to upgrade your plan as your blog grows.
- Blogger: Owned by Google, Blogger offers free hosting. Good for hobby blogs, not for monetizing.
- Wix: Known for its drag-and-drop website builder, Wix offers templates and integrated hosting. Not great for a profitable blog, but good for hobby blogging.
- Squarespace: A website builder that focuses on design and includes hosting. Squarespace is good for bloggers who want a site with minimal customization.
Among these options, WordPress.org stands out as the best choice for several reasons:
- You can customize your blog with themes and plugins
- You own your domain name and have full control over your site’s content and data. This is crucial for branding, SEO, and monetization.
- WordPress.org is very SEO-friendly, meaning it has many helpful built-in tools and plugins like Yoast SEO to optimize your blog posts for search engines.
How do you set up WordPress?
If you get your hosting through Bluehost, they include automatic WordPress installation. All you do is follow the prompts and it connects you. This is how I set up my blog and it was super easy.
If you choose to set it up manually there are many tutorials available online for you to reference.
Not to sound like a broken record, but I really recommend Bluehost when you’re starting your blog. They are incredibly helpful and make getting started easier. Which brings us to step 4…
Step 4: Choose a Hosting Provider
After picking your domain name and choosing your blogging platform (I recommend WordPress.org for that), the next step is hosting your blog.
Your hosting provider is where your blog will live on the internet. They provide space on a server to store your website’s files and data, and make sure that your site is accessible to visitors around the clock. Think of hosting as your blog’s connection to the world.
There are many different hosting providers you can choose, but I would advise you to go with something affordable. When you’re starting a blog, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on hosting.
When you get a lot of traffic to your blog you will have to upgrade your hosting to a higher plan to accomodate the increase in traffic, but you can do that when the time is right.
Here are some popular hosting options:
- Bluehost: Known for its excellent customer service and affordability, making it a favorite among new bloggers.
- SiteGround: Good for more established blogs.
- HostGator: I don’t know too much about this one but many people have success with them.
Best web hosting for beginners
I HIGHLY recommend Bluehost for starting a blog. They’re budget and user-friendly and they have great customer service. They were incredibly helpful a few times I was stuck or had questions and helped me right away.
Believe me, when you start a blog, you will have questions!
Because I use and recommend Bluehost, I will use them as an example for when you register with a hosting provider.
When you go to the Bluehost website, you’ll see 4 different options for hosting. I would go with a Basic plan or Choice Plus plan for a blog just starting out. I use the Choice plus for my blog, but a Basic would have worked for me too.
If you go with a Basic plan, you will need to upgrade your plan when you get a lot of traffic so that your website loads faster. I do believe in keeping costs low when you’re starting a blog, so go with what works best for you.
After you select your plan, it will prompt you to check for a domain name.
This is where you enter the website name that you want (ideally with your niche in the name) and check to see if it is available.
If you already bought a domain name elsewhere (such as Godaddy.com etc) you can enter it here too.
If your name isn’t available, don’t worry. Keep brainstorming different name and word combinations and you will eventually find one that’s available!
Note: sometimes domain names are available but for a crazy price like $1200. This means someone owns the domain and they’re selling it for a premium price. You should not be paying anything crazy for a domain name! (mine cost $15)
I believe in keeping your costs low, so unless you have an extra $1200 for a domain name, just switch up your words and choose a different domain at a better price. I certainly did NOT have that kind of money for a domain name.
You should see something like this when the domain name you want is available:
Next, you enter your information and select your plan add-ons. Bluehost is including some of them for free now, which is great! At the time I made my blog I paid a little extra for some of these.
If they are no longer free at the time you’re registering, I would recommend either/or of the following add-ons if your budget allows: Codeguard Basic ($2.99/mo) + SiteLock Security Essential ($2.99/mo)
If you don’t have a budget to add any of these, don’t worry, you can start with nothing and then add security features as your blog grows (which I recommend you do to secure your blog from hackers etc).
Step 5: Install WordPress
After you have chosen your domain name, registered it through Bluehost, chosen your plan and payed for it, the next thing you will need to do is to sign up with WordPress.org.
Bluehost makes it really simple and offers a one-click installation for WordPress. Follow the prompts, and within minutes, your blog will be up and running.
It will ask very basic questions like creating a username and password, but nothing too complicated.
If you aren’t sure about what to do during this process, click on the chat support and a Bluehost customer service representative will help you out!
After you install WordPress, it will prompt you to add a theme, or to skip this step. If you plan on using a free theme, you can choose one you like or have researched, but if you plan on purchasing one and installing it (like I did!) just click skip this step.
Getting WordPress Set Up
Note: It could take 24-48 hours for your new domain to be fully set up with WordPress, so be patient.
However, during that time, you may still be able to log-in via Bluehost. Go to bluehost.com/my-account/login and enter your domain name and password.
Next, select the Home option on the menu. It should look something like this:
Then, select the Websites option from the menu, and you should see your domain listed (like mine is below). From there, click the Edit Site option (with the WordPress logo!).
And wa-lah! You’ve launched WordPress via Bluehost.
Next up, you should see a menu like these (below). If you have a different version than me, that’s ok.
You might see a lot of little symbols in a column to the left hand side, and you should be able to expand them like the image on the right (below) by clicking on the WordPress icon.
Don’t worry, eventually you will be familiar with them and you’ll know what they mean!
When I started, it looked a little overwhelming to me. I though, will I ever learn this? The answer is YES, I did, and you will too.
Take your time to click around to get familiar with the options. You will be spending a lot of time here in the coming months.
Another way to log into WordPress:
To access the backend of your WordPress site and make updates, simply add /wp-login.php to the end of your domain name.
For example, I would put thedecorforum.com/wp-login.php to log in with my WordPress username and password.
Navigating the WordPress Dashboard: Essential Tips for New Bloggers
When starting your blog, you will need to understand the WordPress dashboard so you can update your site and post your content. Here’s a quick guide to help you get started:
Posts: This is where you’ll spend the most time. To start a new blog post, simply hover over the “Posts” button and click on “Add New.” This is where you’ll draft and publish your blog content.
Media: Want to upload images to your blog? Head to the “Media” section. Here, you can upload pictures to the library and use them in your posts or pages like your About page.
Pages: In the “Pages” section, you create new pages that make up your website. Examples include your About page, Contact page, and Privacy Policy.
What’s the Difference Between Pages and Posts?
- Pages: These are the pages of your blog that are NOT your blog posts, such as an About page, Privacy Policy, or Contact page. You can modify pages, add new pages, and delete pages on your website.
- Posts: These are where you post your regular blog entries. You will be writing a lot of these!
Comments: This is where you can view and moderate comments on your blog posts. Sometimes readers will have comments, questions, or suggestions, but sometimes spam comments can get in. Be sure to engage with any comments you get from your genuine readers, but delete the spam.
Appearance: You will likely spend some significant time here when you’re starting out and creating your blog. In the “Appearance” section, you can customize your site’s look, change your header, and add widgets. More details on this will follow later.
Plugins: A plugin is a piece of software you add to your WordPress blog to add features not included in the default WordPress setup. Think of plugins as mini-programs that let you customize your site without any coding. For example, you can get a plugin that checks your grammar, or a plugin for Pinterest.
Users: In the “Users” section, you can create usernames and passwords for others who might need access to your blog, such as a co-author.
Tools: The “Tools” section is not something you’ll use often, but it allows you to import and export data from your blog.
Settings: One part you need to check in the “Settings” section is under Permalinks. You need to make sure the URL of your blog posts are optimized to help your blog’s SEO.
Check to make sure it looks like this:
By selecting the Post name option, WordPress will automatically make the URL of your blog post the same as the title of your blog post when you publish it.
Most, if not all times, I still modify my URLs to be shorter than the title of my blog posts, but it is still very helpful to do this.
For example, if I made a blog post titled 20 Amazing Birthday Party Ideas For Grandma She Will Always Remember, WordPress would make the URL like this: thedecorforum.com/20-amazing-birthday-party-ideas-for-grandma-she-will-always-remember
It’s a bit of a long URL, so I would shorten it (via the sidebar on the right) to something like: thedecorforum.com/best-birthday-party-ideas-for-grandma
Everything else in Settings is pretty straightforward. I found I mostly needed to fill out blank spaces with information such as the title of my website, the website tagline, etc.
Step 6: Choose a Theme
If you want your blog to be profitable, people need to take your website seriously, and a big key to that is how your website looks. Not all of us are website designers (definitely not me!), so that’s where themes come in.
A website theme for a blog is like a ready-made design that sets up how your blog looks and feels. It covers things like fonts, colors, page layouts, where widgets go, and other design bits.
Themes make it super easy to set up a blog by giving you a stylish framework that you can tweak to match your content and personal tastes.
The theme for my blog is from 17th Avenue Designs. I use the Vivienne theme and really like how it’s both feminine and professional. Their set-up guide was easy to follow and I was able to set it up by myself!
What I also appreciate about 17th Avenue is their themes are easy to customize, even for people like me who have minimal technical skills. They have a thorough help section that literally answered every question I had if I got confused.
Overall, I am extremely pleased with 17th Ave designs and will definitely use them again for my next blogs.
You can also find WordPress themes on Etsy at great prices. Just make sure that you read reviews and comments to make sure the theme is good.
A few tips to help you choose a theme:
- Make sure the theme is mobile-friendly. This is a must! You will find a lot of your traffic is viewed on mobile.
- Make sure the theme is compatible with different browsers. Your visitors will use all different browsers so you want to ensure they have a positive viewing experience with your blog.
- Make sure the theme is viewable on different devices. You want to ensure your blog works great whether your visitors are on a tablet, a computer, or an iPhone.
- Make sure the theme is customizable. You need to be able to change the font, color, or headings if you need to.
- Make sure the theme is compatible with WordPress updates. You want to make sure the theme won’t break when WordPress rolls out updates (which it will).
- Make sure the theme has real reviews. You want honest feedback about how the theme performs, so choose a theme that has positive customer reviews.
Free themes are available, but premium themes often offer more customization and support, and give a more professional look to a blog.
Some popular free options you could look into are Astra, OceanWP, and Divi, but I don’t have experience with any of these myself, just 17th Avenue Designs.
Step 7: Install Essential Plugins
Plugins are a must for any blog. If you aren’t familiar, a plugin is a small software add-on that you can install to add new features or improve the functionality of your blog.
For example, there are plugins that check grammar, add code to your website, and helps you optimize your content for SEO.
Here are some plugins I recommend:
Yoast: Yoast is an SEO plugin for WordPress that helps improve your blog’s search engine rankings. It provides tools and tips for optimizing your content, including keyword usage, readability, meta tags, and more.
Site Kit: This one is a must. Site Kit connects to your Google Analytics account and shows you an overview of your website traffic, most popular posts, and traffic growth over the past week and month. It helps you stay updated with your site’s activity, like traffic spikes on certain posts and new keywords you’re ranking for on Google.
Smush: The Smush plugin automatically reduces the file size of images you upload to your media library. Large images can slow down your website, so this plugin helps keep your site fast and healthy. Heavy images can impact your user experience, so If your blog will be an image-heavy website, I highly recommend you use Smush to make sure your user-experience is good.
Social Media and Share Icons (Ultimate Social Media): You know those cute social media icons you see on blog posts? This is a widget that adds those icons to your posts so your visitors can share your content easier. It’s easy to use and it’s free.
Akismet Anti Spam: This plugin protects your blog from spam comments. There are a TON of spammers out there!
Pretty Links: Pretty Links lets you make your affiliate links look appealing. It’s a must-have if you plan to monetize your blog with affiliate marketing.
Insert Headers and Footers: You may need to add code to your website when you’re setting up Google Analytics or verifying your site on Pinterest. If you’re not comfortable with coding, this plugin lets you copy and paste code snippets.
Step 8. Set Up Google Analytics
Google Analytics is extremely important if you’re going to have a blog. It is essential for helping you track and understand your blog’s traffic. I would say it is a must and you should definitely take the time to sign up.
It is also the exact information you need if you apply to an ad agency one day. More on that later.
It’s a good idea to set up Google Analytics before you start making blog posts. Here’s why:
- Track All Visits: You’ll be able to track all visits from day one, whether they’re from friends, family, or people who find your site through social media or search engines. It’s good to know where the traffic is coming from.
- Understand Readers: Early data helps you see how visitors interact with your site right away. This is valuable data for when you want to optimize your content, user experience, or even your blog layout.
- Spot Popular Content: If you start posting content before setting up Google Analytics, you’ll miss out on tracking which posts attract the most visitors and engagement. Early insights can be very helpful for guiding your future content creation.
- Measure Growth: Having analytics from the beginning allows you to see your blog’s growth over time. I also find it helpful for identifying trends, or times of year when interest in my blog increases or decreases.
- Optimize Early: Early data can help you identify SEO opportunities and performance issues. For example, you can see which keywords are driving traffic to yout blog and which pages might need improvement in terms of load time or user engagement.
How to install Google Analytics for a new blog
1. Create a Google Analytics Account
- Go to Google Analytics.
- Sign in with your Google account. If you don’t have one, you’ll need to create one.
- Click on “Start measuring” to set up your account.
2. Set Up a Property
- Enter your account name and configure the data sharing settings as you like.
- Click Next to add a property.
- Enter your website name, URL, industry category, and time zone.
- Click Create.
3. Get the Tracking ID
- After creating the property, you’ll be directed to a page with a tracking ID and global site tag (gtag.js).
- Copy the tracking ID or the global site tag.
4. Add Google Analytics to Your Blog
On your WordPress dashboard:
- Install and activate the “Site Kit by Google” plugin from the WordPress plugin directory.
- Go to Site Kit in your WordPress dashboard and click “Start Setup”.
- Follow the instructions to connect your Google account and set up Google Analytics.
5. Verify Setup
- Go back to Google Analytics.
- Click on the “Home” tab.
- Check real-time reports to see if your own visit to the site is being tracked.
6. Explore and Customize
- Familiarize yourself with the Google Analytics dashboard. I found it helpful to download the app on my phone and browse it that way. I slowly learned what everything meant.
- Set up goals, such as tracking form submissions or other actions. This really depends on the type of website you have, if you have a mailing list, etc.
- Explore various reports to understand your audience, traffic sources, engagement time, and user behavior.
In a nutshell, getting Google Analytics set up before you start blogging means you’ll catch all the important data from the get-go, helping you make smart choices as your blog takes off.
Step 9: Create Quality Content
Creating quality content is the cornerstone of any successful blog. It’s not just about writing; it’s about crafting engaging, informative, and valuable posts that resonate with your readers, coupled with your keyword research.
Whether you’re offering how-to guides or diving into niche topics, high-quality content is what keeps your audience coming back for more. When you Integrate keyword research into your writing, you help your audience find you through website searches. It is a balance between providing value and solving problems for your readers AND using keywords in your posts.
Incorporating these elements into your writing is an art form, I swear; but I know you can do it!
If there is one thing you do, make sure you position your blog as a resource for helping your reader. When I keep that in mind, I find it easier to write.
Before we go any further, it has to be said that your content must be original. You simply cannot copy other peoples’ work. Google and Pinterest are intelligent platforms that can tell when content is plagiarized and whose content was published first.
Also, you run the risk of getting into legal trouble. Pinterest shows you similar posts to what you’ve made, so if you copy exact posts, it’s very easy to report it to Pinterest or your ad agency. Then you could find yourself getting your account banned or into legal trouble. It’s really not worth it!
How to write a blog post
There is no magic formula to creating quality content, but I will tell you what I do.
I find it helpful to start with a rough draft. After I have done keyword research and figured out what I’m writing about, I start with one or two sentences about each talking point.
For example, if I’m writing a post called “12 Amazing Charcuterie Board Ideas For New Year’s Eve You Have To Make,” I would start by gathering information for the post and typing it into a document (or saving it as a draft in my blog), and talking a little bit about each charcuterie board.
You could have a NYE appetizer charcuterie board, and suggest ideas for it. Next you could do a fancy cheese board, and save links to some cute dishes on Amazon that the reader could use. Then you might have dessert boards that are all about skewered fruits with different chocolate dips, or a charcuterie board of different cakes and pastries.
I like to include pictures in my blog posts, so if I’m not using my own photos, I would search for photos of charcuterie boards that fit my topic, and make sure to save the source/URLs of the images I use in order to give credit to the sources.
With each idea, I would then research items that my reader could purchase to help them make their own charcuterie boards. Ask yourself, what would help me if I was making a NYE-theme charcuterie board?
These could be items like the charcuterie board itself, a honey pot with a dipper, some fancy gold leaf they could use on their food with some numbered “2025” dishes for the NYE theme, and copy all of the the links for those.
That being said, it is NOT essential to add products when you’re starting out, as you won’t initially have many visitors to your blog, but you can still provide links if you want; you just won’t get an income from them until later when you’re an Amazon affiliate!
On the topic of Amazon: write a good 15-20 blog posts before you apply to be an Amazon Affiliate! You need to make 3 qualifying sales within 3 months to stay in the program, so wait until you have some posts online for a while first and start getting traffic.
To recap: I’m brainstorming and compiling information about my topic, taking my own pictures or saving pictures of the subject, saving the sources of said pictures, and researching products that my readers could use (and saving the URLs). Don’t overthink this – you’re really just compiling information for your post.
This could look different depending on your niche. A travel blog is going to look very different compared to a tech blog.
Also, sometimes as writers we can get in our own heads and stuck on the little things. Analysis paralysis is real! I’m here to tell you, don’t sweat the small stuff. Nothing is going to be perfect! You just need to start creating your content and get your posts out there on the internet.
Nothing is going to teach you better than actively blogging and working on your website. If you get really stuck, set a timer for 1 hour and write what you can.
How many blog posts do I need to write?
There is no set number for how many posts you need to write, but rather, how many you can realistically write per week.
For me, I write a minumum of 2 posts per week. 2 posts per week are my average, but it has dropped to 1 on the very rare occasion due to elements out of my control.
There are NO times that I post 0 times per week. Why? Because consistency matters.
If you have more free time, feel free to do more posts, but you need to be consistent. Do not disappear from your blog for months at a time. You need to show up and regularly post to your blog if you want to make something out of it.
Aim to make your content engaging and original. Take the time you need to create something helpful to your readers that you’ve put thought and research into.
Avoid writing blog posts with zero effort just to churn out blog post after blog post. If your content is valueless, you will have a harder time getting traffic and ranking on Google because you’re not a source with value.
It can be a little discouraging at first when no one is viewing your website. You put in hours of work and make your blog really great, and what do you get? 2 visitors and the sound of crickets. It’s normal and part of the process. Do not give up. Keep writing your blog posts and growing your website!
“Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.”
Bill Bradley
How to structure a blog post
I like to start every blog post with a sentence that tells the reader exactly what they’re going to see in my post. For example, “This post shows you 12 Amazing Charcuterie Board Ideas You Can Easily Recreate For NYE”
Use a mix of text, images, and videos (if you can) to keep things interesting.
Though I do approach my blog intuitively, there is a bit of a structure to my posts, but nothing too rigid. Here is an example of how I would structure a blog post:
- Title: “12 Amazing Charcuterie Board Ideas for New Year’s Eve You Have to Try”
- Introduction: Explain why charcuterie boards are perfect for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
- Image: Include leading image that is on theme for the blog. Could be an image of a pin for Pinterest that you made. (This could go before the introduction too).
- Content: Provide a list of 1 – 12 different charcuterie board ideas, including ingredients, ideas, and arrangement tips for each. Differentiate each new idea on the list using Header 2.
- Visuals: Include photos of each charcuterie board idea.
- Affiliate Links: Include affiliate links where applicable in the post. (Skip this until you have 15-20 blog posts)
- Conclusion: Recap the ideas and encourage readers to create their own boards and share their experiences.
How many words should a blog post have?
How many words your blog posts should have can vary depending on the topic, audience, and your goals. I aim for 1,500 – 2,000 words for my blog posts and have had positive SEO traction with that.
They might seem like big numbers, but I find the word count grows faster than you think when you’re busy writing about all different kinds of content and ideas.
I’ve seen insanely popular blog posts that are anywhere from 500 words to 3,000 words – content and keywords have the most impact on traffic to your blog, not just the word count, but it IS important to know about.
Here are some general guidelines supported by various sources:
- Short-Form Blog Posts (300-600 words):
- Ideal for quick reads and news updates.
- Suitable for frequent posting and easy consumption.
- Example: Buzzfeed-style listicles or brief news articles.
- Standard Blog Posts (600-1,000 words):
- Common length for many blogs.
- Balances detail and readability.
- Good for how-to articles, list posts, and personal stories.
- Source: HubSpot recommends around 1,000 words for most blog posts to effectively cover a topic without overwhelming the reader.
- In-Depth Blog Posts (1,000-2,500 words):
- I aim for 1,500-2,000 for my blogs on average.
- Provides comprehensive coverage of a topic.
- Better for SEO and engagement.
- Suitable for detailed guides, case studies, and research-based articles.
- Source: According to Orbit Media, the average blog post length has increased to over 1,200 words, with longer posts performing better in terms of engagement and SEO.
- Long-Form Blog Posts (2,500+ words):
- Ideal for ultimate guides, pillar content, and in-depth research.
- Attracts more backlinks and shares.
- Best for detailed exploration of complex topics.
- Source: Backlinko found that long-form content of 3,000+ words gets more traffic, shares, and backlinks compared to shorter posts.
Experts on SEO suggest that Google prefers content that’s in-depth over shorter blog posts. If your topic allows for it, aim to get a solid word count around 1,500 – 2,000 words for each of your posts.
Step 10: How To Optimize Your Blog for SEO
To optimize your content for SEO, you may need to do some research and find some tools that work for you. To get you started, here are some resources that I’ve found helpful for finding keywords, brainstorming content for my blog, and writing better blog titles.
First off, you might surprised to learn that Google can help you. I will show you how. Let’s take the phrase, “Small kitchen organization ideas” and Google it:
If you scroll down to the People also ask section on the Google page, you will see suggested searches you can explore. These are also known as long-tail keywords.
We went from small kitchen organization to very specific long-tail keywords related to small kitchens that people are also searching for.
When you click the arrow on each one, it will expand the list even further. There are so many ideas!
Now you can take a super broad idea and narrow it down to more specific ideas. This is great for generating content for your blog, and it’s free.
Similarly, you can do the same via Pinterest. It works nearly the same as Google, except you will see these colorful bubbles on the page:
It may be displayed differently, but you get the idea.
This is Pinterest’s way of showing you ideas that people are also searching for. You can explore the colorful bubbles/search suggestions and use them to make blog content.
On the topic of Pinterest, it is a great way to get traffic to your website, and I highly suggest you make a business account. It’s great because people will see your pin, click on it, and it will take them to your website (which means you get another source of traffic).
How to find keywords for blog content
I highly recommend installing Keywords Everywhere. It’s not free, but it is pretty cheap (I think it was $10 for 10,000 searches). Keywords Everywhere shows you suggestions for related keywords, “people also search for,” and long-tail keywords. These are super helpful for generating ideas!
Here’s an example of Keywords Everywhere:
You can see I Googled the broad search term “living room decor ideas,” and the Keywords Everywhere extension (on the right) gave me suggestions for related keywords I can use.
These suggested keywords will help my blog rank better than using a broad search term (“living room decor ideas”) because they are more unique keywords that people are searching for.
How to write a good blog title
Writing a good title is important for getting traffic. Why? Because your potential viewers decide whether or not they’re going to click and visit your website based off the title of your blog post, and you want them to click!
Think about what sounds better: “What To Do With A MudRoom” or “15 Clever Small Mudroom Decor Ideas To Transform Your Space”? I think we could all agree the latter is more enticing to read.
There are tools you can use to your advantage like widgets and websites that will help you write good blog titles. Generally, how they work is you input the title you’re working on, and it will rate the title out of 100 based on SEO research.
A source you can use is Headline Studio through CoSchedule.com. When you input your blog title, it rates the title and suggests where you can make it better. It’s simple to use and It’s free, but you need to make an account.
Here is an example of a blog title that needs improvement:
As you can see, the number is low and we’re in the red. You want the number to be higher and in green.
The great thing is these tools will tell you what you need to do to make improvements to your title. I like to get my blog titles over 75 at least (over 90 is ideal but doesn’t always happen!).
Widgets can also help you with your blog titles. They work similarly and rate your title out of 100, but what I prefer about widgets is it will be visible on WordPress when you’re editing your blog posts in the upper right-hand corner of your screen.
Here is an example of the All In One widget once installed:
Widgets to help you write blog titles:
-All In One SEO*
-Yoast SEO*
*Don’t run both at the same time; it will crash your website until you uninstall one. Try each one separately first and choose what you prefer.
A tip for writing blog titles:
Try to put your keywords or main topic either in the first 3 words of your headline, or in the last 3 words. It is not an absolute must, but it can help readers skim and understand the title of your blog faster. (As humans we do a lot of skimming when we’re browsing the internet!)
Essentials for Every Blog Post: Top 5 Tips
- Introduce Your Topic and Sign-Off Your Topic
Start each blog post with an introduction telling the reader what your blog post is going to be about. You don’t want to disappear at the end, so don’t forget to write a closing sentence too. - Aim To Have A 1,500 Word Count
To rank on Google, aim for at least 1500 words in your posts. You may not need to do this every single time, but when you’re getting started, I would put a lot of effort into meeting or surpassing this word count. - Try to Include Pictures
Without pictures, your run the risk of your blog post looking like a wall of text. We want to try to keep the reader’s attention and, really, who doesn’t love pictures? It’s a great way to add life to your content. Just be sure to source them from legitimate websites and ask permission to use the pictures when needed. - Link Other Blog Posts Within Your Post
I always link to my other relevant blog posts within my content. This keeps readers on my site longer and helps them discover more of my work. I link to similar posts that I think they’ll find interesting based on what they’re currently reading. Sometimes I do this in the body of the text, but usually at the end of posts. - Use Headings and Subheadings
You want your content to be organized, so be sure to use headings and subheadings to structure your posts. In WordPress, I like to use the H2 for subheadings, and H3 for sub-subheadings (and so on!).
Step 11: Promote Your Blog on Pinterest
While promotion is so important when growing your blog’s audience, I would encourage you to pare down on where you promote your blog.
Why do I say that? Because when you’re starting out your focus needs to be on growing your blog and turning it into something great, and NOT on posting on every single social media platform.
If you don’t already know, posting on social media can take a lot of valuable time to do. If social media is your wheelhouse and you absolutely love it, then go nuts, but you really don’t have to.
So, how can you promote your blog? The best place to start without a doubt in my mind is Pinterest. Honestly, Pinterest is seriously underrated.
Check out these Pinterest stats:
– Pinterest has 498 million monthly active users! Yes, 498 MILLION users per month, looking for ideas and pins to click on that will take them to a website (yours could be one).
– Pinterest is the only social media platform where people go to read blogs.
– Pinterest’s users increase year after year
– 1 in 3 Pinterest shoppers have an average annual income of $100,000 or more
There are many other favorable Pinterest statistics you can easily look up if you’re interested.
Another great thing about Pinterest is it’s completely free; it only costs money if you run ads. I would highly suggest you set up a business account and start posting content to help drive traffic to your blog from the start.
Will Pinterest give you crazy traffic right away? Realistically, no, not exactly. It takes time for the algorithm to pick up on your pins and put them on users’ homefeeds. Over time, the Pinterest algorithm will start to trust your account and get more eyes on your Pins.
If you are familiar with Pinterest, that’s fantastic, and if you haven’t heard of it or used it before, I would go to Pinterest.com and just browse to get a sense of how it works.
Like blogging, you need to keep at it. You may see some traffic start trickling in right away, so use that as motivation to keep going, making content, and making pins on Pinterest.
Really, blogging requires you to have patience and determination. You need to consistently show up, write your blog posts, and create attractive Pinterest pins over and over again until you start seeing the fruits of your labor.
How to make pins on Canva
To make a great Pinterest pin, you will need to get Canva. It is one of the best ways for making attractive pins on Pinterest because it has a huge database of design options and stock photos and it’s user-friendly.
Like anything, the more you practice, the better you will become. The same goes for designing! Canva is easy to use compared to other design programs like Adobe Illustrator, but you will still need to practice it.
My pins were NOT good when I started, but I discovered more design options the more I used Canva, and my pins naturally improved with time. You really need to get in there and try things out!
You can use Canva for free when you’re starting, but there are some limitations with the free version. I do recommend that you get Canva Pro eventually because you will get the most out of the platform and you can make better pins.
This is where you will need to either design the pin templates yourself, use free templates on Canva, or buy templates that are already made where you just edit the text. There is no right or wrong way to do this, but I promise pins get easier to design the more you do it!
Keep in mind you don’t need to make fresh designs from scratch every time. Once you have some designs made that do well on Pinterest, you can just change the title and the images but keep the format the same, which can save you time.
I will be offering my Pinterest templates as an option for you to buy within the next few weeks. There is so much to do but I promise I will do it!
How to make Pinterest pins people want to click on
Here is the secret sauce for a great pin: number + topic = desired results.
So what does that mean? It’s very similar to a blog title, but more succinct. You want to use a number showing how many ideas or things you’re going to be talking about, the topic of your content, and the results your readers can expect to see from clicking to your website.
For example, 20 Amazing Dorm Room Gadgets To Make Your Life Easier.
This tells the reader:
1. How many of something you’re going to be talking about.
2. What you’re going to be talking about.
3. The benefits they’ll get from viewing your content.
As humans, we love numbers, color, and imagery. So don’t be afraid to use them! You want to create pins on Pinterest that are colorful, have a strong title to catch readers’ attention, and use images.
How often to post on Pinterest
There are different ideas about this, but I will start by telling you what NOT to do, then I will tell you what I do.
👎 What you should NOT do on Pinterest is go absolutely ham and spam your links on the Pinterest platform. That might sound like a no-brainer, but this was actually the school of thought at one time! Now, we are seeing more people getting shadow-banned from doing this, and their account is basically of no use until Pinterest lifts the ban. Talk about a waste of time.
👍 What you should do on Pinterest is make 2 to 4 pins for each blog post you write, post one right away, and schedule the remaining pins to be automatically posted about a week away from each other.
So, let’s say you post a pin on the 1st of the month, then you schedule Pinterest to post the next one around the 7th, then the 14th, and so on. Use this formula for every new piece of content you create. When you make a new blog post, make pins for it, post one right away, and schedule the rest of your pins. Do this every time.
It takes a little while for the algorithm to put your pins in front of an audience, so start getting them posted right away and build up your pins.
If you have friends and family with Pinterest accounts, ask them to like and save your pins. Activity on your pins is a really positive thing and helps the algorithm “notice” your pins faster. Social engagement = so helpful!
What is the best Pinterest pin size?
Pinterest recommends a pin size of 1000 × 1500 pixels for the best results. However, you can also use sizes like 600 × 900 pixels, 1200 × 1800 pixels, or 2000 × 3000 pixels. It’s ok to switch things up. All of these options maintain the ideal 2:3 aspect ratio for Pinterest images (all 2:3 aspect ratio means is your pins are more tall than wide).
Tips for your pins:
1. Use larger text. Most users go on Pinterest on their phones, and having large text makes your pins easier to see and will help them stand out on the page.
2. Make sure the titles on your pins are succinct and to the point. Don’t use excessively long titles on your designs. You only have a few seconds to grab your readers’ attention.
3. Repeat what works. If one of your pins is getting more outbound clicks, do more of that design, and change up the style and color to keep things fresh.
4. Do more of what’s working. Pinterest will show you what pins are getting clicked on and what ones aren’t. Notice what people are clicking on and create more content around that topic.
On the Pinterest platform, you can also post video pins. These usually get great results, so if you make the type of content that goes with a video, take advantage of it and post on Pinterest too.
Pinterest checklist:
Set up a business account on Pinterest: This will ensure you can see Pinterest’s stats and analytics of your pins, and see what pins are performing the best (so you can make more of them!).
Make your username your blog name on Pinterest: It’s just the professional thing to do, keeps everything cohesive, and makes it easier for people to search for you.
Write catchy pins on Pinterest: Number + topic = desired results. Incorporate stylish fonts and images in your designs.
Do more of what works. If a pin design is getting all the clicks, do more of that in various fonts and colors. The outbound clicks will speak for themselves!
Step 12: Monetize Your Blog
So, we’ve talked about choosing your niche, setting up your blog, and promoting your content on Pinterest. By this point, you’re probably wondering how to make money with a blog. There are several ways to monetize your blog depending on your content and strategy.
Are you wanting to make passive income through affiliate marketing and display ads? Do you want a website with a store that has physical or digital products for sale? Are you an expert offering education or memberships for sale?
How you strategize your blog to make money depends on your niche and the type of business you want. A travel blog that focuses on revenue through tourism boards or travel companies is going to look different from a website that sells access to educational tutorials, courses, or webinars.
For example, if your goal is to make passive income from your website, consider doing affiliate marketing. This means you join programs where companies pay you to promote their products. You just put special links in your blog posts. When someone clicks on these links and buys something, you get paid.
There is initial work with creating blog content, providing quality links to products, and promoting your blog, but you can continue to make revenue from your affiliate links for years afterwards.
When starting out, choose products that are relevant to your blog’s niche and that you genuinely believe in. As you build trust with your audience by providing valuable content and honest recommendations, your affiliate earnings can grow. It’s a win-win: your readers get helpful product suggestions, and you earn income by sharing things you love.
One of the simplest programs to join when you start is Amazon Affiliates, but wait until you have 15 – 20 blog posts before you try to sign up, because you need to make 3 qualifying purchases in 4 months in order to join the program.
Other networks like AWIN, ShareASale, CJ Affiliate, or Rakuten offer affiliate opportunities too.
Another way to earn money is through ads. Ad agencies like Mediavine, Media.net, or Adthrive help bloggers and website owners monetize their sites by placing high-quality ads. Think of it like the ads you would see on a billboard – and your blog is the highway.
A common requirement for joining ad agencies is that you have at least 10,000 monthly views to begin applying, with the better paying ones requiring 50,000 monthly views. Until you meet this threshold, focus on buiding your blog content and earning money through other avenues, like affiliate marketing.
Doing affiliate marketing and display ads are great ways to earn an income. After the initial set-up work, it is a hands-off way of earning revenue.
When you’re just getting started, it might be tempting to jump into Google AdSense, but I’d actually recommend steering clear of it. AdSense doesn’t pay as well as some of the bigger ad networks. Plus, those larger networks often want you to be in good standing with Google AdSense before they’ll consider your application. In my opinion, it’s not really worth the hassle. Instead, focus on affiliate marketing when you’re just beginning.
You can also write sponsored posts. This means companies pay you to write about their products. You can review products or write posts that promote a company’s services. Once you build your content, there are websites where you can sign up and apply to write sponsored content for companies and get paid.
Selling digital products is another good idea. You can write ebooks, create online courses, or make printable items like planners and checklists. People can buy and download these from your blog.
If you have physical products, you can sell them too. Make and sell your own branded items like T-shirts, jewelry, or mugs. You can also set up a dropshipping store to sell products without having to keep them in stock.
You can also offer memberships and subscriptions. Create a membership site with exclusive content that people pay for each month. Or, you can sell subscription boxes with goodies related to your blog’s theme.
Offering services is another option. You can do freelance work like graphic design, writing, coaching, or web development. Freelancing is a great way to make money online while building your blog. You can find potential clients on websites like Upwork.
Step 13: Track and Analyze Your Performance
Once you have started publishing your blog posts, and you’re seeing some traffic on your website, it’s important to track and analyze your blog’s performance to make sure that you’re on the right path with your content. It might seem intimidating, but it’s something every blogger needs to pay at least a little attention to.
You can use your analytics tools to monitor various aspects of your blog’s activity you wouldn’t otherwise know about. It’s like a peek behind the curtains of your blog! Having this information at your fingertips will help you make data-driven decisions for your website in the long-run.
Why Track Your Performance?
Tracking your blog’s performance helps you:
- Understand your audience’s behavior and preferences.
- Identify which content your readers like most (so you can create more!).
- Improve your blog’s SEO and user experience.
- Set and achieve realistic growth goals.
- Make informed decisions about future content.
Key Metrics to Monitor on Google Analytics
When you have Google Analytics, pay attention to these key metrics:
- Traffic: This shows the number of visitors to your blog. Look at the overall traffic and trends over time.
- Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave your blog after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate that your content isn’t engaging enough (if that’s the case, you can try to edit your posts and add content to improve your bounce rate).
- Average Session Duration: The average time a visitor spends on your blog. Longer sessions suggest that visitors find your content interesting and valuable. The longer time spent – the better, especially when you get in an ad agency.
- Pages Per Session: The average number of pages viewed during a single session. More pages per session generally indicate higher engagement.
- Traffic Sources: Understand where your visitors are coming from—organic social, search engines, direct traffic, or referral links. This helps you focus on where to promote your website.
- Top Pages: Identify which blog posts are the most popular. This can help you understand what type of content resonates with your audience so you can make more of it.
Using the Insights
Here’s how to make the most of your analytics data:
- Identify Popular Content: Use the top pages report to see which posts are performing best. Create more content around these topics to drive more traffic.
- Optimize Underperforming Pages: Look at pages with high bounce rates or low session durations. Consider updating the content and adding more engaging elements like images or videos.
- Refine Your Marketing Strategy: Analyze where your traffic is coming from so you can invest more effort into those platforms, whether it’s Pinterest, Google, social media, or email marketing.
- Set Goals and Track Progress: Use Google Analytics’ goals feature to set specific goals, such as newsletter sign-ups or purchases if your website has a store. This allows you to monitor your progress and adjust your strategies as needed.
Additional Tools
Beyond Google Analytics, consider using other tools to enhance your tracking and analysis:
- Google Search Console: Definitely sign up for Search Console. It helps you index your website on Google faster, monitor your site’s presence in Google search results, and identify any issues on your website.
- SEMrush or Ahrefs: For more advanced SEO tracking and competitor analysis.
- Hotjar: To understand user behavior through heatmaps, user feedback, and session recordings.
14. Sign up for Google Search Console
Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool from Google that helps you keep track of how your blog is doing in Google search results. It gives you useful information about your blog’s performance and helps you find and fix any problems that might be affecting your rankings on search engines.
It also reveals the search terms people use on Google to find your website, providing valuable insights. Sometimes the results can be surprising, and these search terms can be incredibly useful for creating content around them. Trust me, keyword research is a constant in the life of a blogger!
Here’s a closer look at what GSC can do and how to use it:
What Does Google Search Console Do?
Track Your Search Performance
- Search Analytics: See how often your blog shows up in Google search results, what search terms people use to find your blog, and how many click through to your site.
- Top Queries: Find out which search terms bring the most visitors to your blog.
- Top Pages: Discover which of your blog posts are the most popular in search results.
- Sitemap Submission: Send your sitemap to Google to help it find and index your blog’s pages faster. A sitemap is a list of all the pages on your site.
Google Search Console also helps you identify usability issues so you can fix them, understand and improve your site speed, check for any issues that might be found in your website that would effect your blog’s ranking, and more. It’s a very useful tool to have.
How to Install Google Search Console in the Easiest Way
Getting Google Search Console set up for your blog can be straightforward if you follow these simple steps. Here’s the easiest way to get started:
Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Google Search Console
- Sign In to Google Search Console:
- Visit the Google Search Console website.
- Sign in with your Google account. If you don’t have one, create a free Google account.
- Add Your Property:
- Click on the “Add Property” button.
- Choose the URL prefix option (it’s simpler for beginners).
- Enter the URL of your blog (e.g.,
https://yourblog.com
).
- Verify Your Property:
- The easiest method for most people is the HTML tag verification.
- Select “HTML tag” from the verification options.
- Copy the meta tag provided by Google.
- Add the HTML Tag to Your Blog:
- If you’re using WordPress:
- Go to your WordPress dashboard.
- Install and activate a plugin like Insert Headers and Footers plugin.
- Go to Settings > Insert Headers and Footers.
- Paste the HTML tag into the Scripts in Header section.
- Save your changes.
- If you’re using WordPress:
- Complete Verification:
- Go back to Google Search Console.
- Click the “Verify” button.
- Google will check for the meta tag on your blog and confirm your ownership.
- Submit Your Sitemap:
- In the Google Search Console dashboard, go to the “Sitemaps” section.
- Enter your sitemap URL (usually
https://yourblog.com/sitemap.xml
). - Click “Submit”.
Quick Tips
- URL Prefix: This method is simpler because it only requires verification of the specific URL you entered.
- HTML Tag: Using an HTML tag for verification is straightforward and doesn’t require file uploads or DNS changes.
- Plugins: Plugins like Insert Headers and Footers make it easy to add the verification tag to your blog without needing to edit code directly.
What does it mean when Google “crawls” the internet?
When Google “crawls” the internet, it means that Google’s automated software, known as Googlebot, systematically browses the web to discover and index new and updated web content.
This means that when you make new blog content and publish it, Googlebot will discover it, index it, and make it possible for people to find your blog post via Google search.
However, if you leave it up to Googlebot, it could take a while for your blog to be crawled and indexed. This means you might have to wait longer for your posts to appear in Google searches. It can be frustrating, especially after putting in so much hard work into your blog posts and wanting to see traffic from your efforts.
It’s not that it won’t happen, it just takes longer. If you don’t want to wait for Googlebot to crawl your blog organically, there are ways to speed things up.
How to speed up Google indexing your blog
To speed things up, you can manually request indexing for your blog posts as soon as you publish them. It’s an extra step to remember, but it can really help your blog get crawled faster.
To do this, go to GSC and look for the “Inspect any URL” search box at the top of the page (below). Enter the URL to your new blog post and click submit.
A box will briefly pop up saying, “Retrieving data from Google Index,” and it should then take you to the URL Inspection page where you will see something like this:
Click on “Request Indexing” and it will put your blog post into a que for Google to crawl. Doing this is much faster than waiting for Google to do it.
Again, Google will eventually do this organically, but if you don’t want to wait you can do it yourself.
14. How to Optimize Images for a Blog
I really wish I had known all about this when I started – it would have saved me so much time. I told myself if I made a blogging resource one day I had to include everything I learned about optimizing images so no one had to spend hours fixing things like I did.
No one ever told me that if your images are too big or in an improper format, it will completely slow down your website and your core web vitals rating will plummet.
To keep your blog running fast, you need to optimize your images so they load faster for your viewers.
Optimizing Images for Your Blog
Optimizing images is crucial for enhancing your blog’s performance, user experience, and SEO. You want to make sure Google thinks your core web vitals are functioning well, and future ad agencies look for things like this too. Here are some key tips to keep your blog running fast with images:
1. Choose the Right File Format
- WEBP: My go-to for my website. Webp is best for websites looking to optimize load times, reduce bandwidth usage, and improve overall user experience.
- JPEG: Best for photos and images with lots of colors. It provides good quality with a smaller file size.
- PNG: Ideal for images with transparency and simpler graphics, such as logos or icons. PNG files are usually larger but maintain higher quality.
- GIF: Suitable for simple animations and images with limited colors.
2. Compress Images
This is a must! Don’t skip this step. You want to reduce the file size of your images without compromising quality to help your blog load faster. Again, we want to keep those core web vitals looking good.
- Online Tools: Use tools like TinyPNG.com, JPEG-Optimizer, or ImageOptim to compress images before uploading.
- Plugins: If you use WordPress, plugins like Smush, ShortPixel, or EWWW Image Optimizer can automatically compress images as you upload them. Usually there is a fee for these.
iloveimg.com is a website I use all the time for compressing images before I post them in my blog. Another handy resource is imageresizer.com – you can crop and resize your blog images for free.
I frequently use iloveimg.com to compress images before posting them on my blog. Another useful tool is imageresizer.com, which allows you to crop and resize your blog images for free.
3. Use Descriptive Filenames
Rename your image files with descriptive, keyword-rich names before uploading them. Instead of “IMG_1234.jpg,” use something like “bedroom-storage-hacks.jpg.” This helps search engines understand the content of the image.
4. Add Alt Text
Alt text (alternative text) is a brief description of an image, which helps search engines and people using screen readers to understand the content of the image.
On WordPress, you can add Alt text to your images via the right-hand editing panel on the right of your screen when you’re adding an image to your blog post.
For alternative text, you want to write clear and concise descriptions and include relevant keywords naturally (avoid keyword stuffing – it’s bad practice!).
5. Use Captions and Context
Adding captions and surrounding text that describe the image can provide additional context for search engines, improving the chances of your images appearing in image search results.
I find that with blogging, there’s so much attention to detail required, but these little things really can impact your traffic.
Final Thoughts
Starting a profitable blog requires dedication, but the rewards can be significant. By following these steps and consistently producing quality content, you can build a successful blog that grows with you over the years.
Remember, patience and perseverance are key—keep learning and adapting, and your efforts will pay off.
This post showed you how to start a successful blog for beginners.
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