Is there an idiots guide for Blog creation?

[Lucan Unlordly]

Any recommended software, templates etc.,

Looking to create something that looks professional and can be easily shared.

.

 

[fisicx]

Install Wordpress, find a nice theme and start writing.

There are no tricks, you just need the ability to write informative and interesting posts.

 

[Opinion87]

And if you can't do that, you can find some good copywriters on PeoplePerHour and other freelance sites.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Install Wordpress, find a nice theme and start writing.

There are no tricks, you just need the ability to write informative and interesting posts.

Wordpress asks me to transfer our domain to them?

 

[fisicx]

Wordpress asks me to transfer our domain to them?

No. You can install Wordpress on a sub domain of the main site. Takes about 5 minutes to set everything up.

Ideally the blog should be integrated into the main site to get the full benefit but this may not be possible.

 

[Novevan]

Google blogger is very simple, easy to start.
You can start posting your interested things and information after your register.
If you want looks much more professional, you also can find many kind of different style themes to match you requirment.

 

[fisicx]

Google blogger is very simple, easy to start.

Any pretty much useless for business.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Thanks all...

 

[antropy]

Install Wordpress, find a nice theme and start writing.

Completely agree, it is very easy to start. The key is putting the right keywords in the blog so that the right people can share it. Alex

 

[HarrisH]

Hi @Lucan Unlordly

If you aren't too familiar with web development, I'd 100% recommend a Wordpress theme since there are plenty that are free, quick to set-up, and they don't require much of a "technical" background

Content

In regards to actually writing the blog, I would agree that it really boils down to the ability to write interesting/informative posts and if you can't, not to worry, this is a skill - which means it can be learnt

That being said, structure is always important and websites like Hubspot provide great free resources that can really help you push your blogs to another level. Another benefit is that they themselves create fantastic blogs which means you can learn a thing or two just by analysing their layout/content.

And if you can't do that, you can find some good copywriters on PeoplePerHour and other freelance sites.

If after giving it a go, you find you just can't write blogs, or it's much too time-consuming to learn how to, I would agree and recommend the above - PeoplePerHour and UpWork are great freelancer marketplaces. If you're worried about capital, you can always pitch to the writers a revenue-sharing model where you share X% of the Ad Revenue and/or Affiliates generated from the post which essentially means you can get started with your blog for free.

SEO

Last but not least, whether your blog is self-written or you decide to list the help of various freelancers, SEO is and will continue to be most the important aspect of your website - more so than the "interesting-ness" of each article. Once again, there are a number of free tools that you can use to help you with this, including "Neil Patel's SEO Analyzer".

Hope this helps! Let us know how you get on

 

[Sophie Leonard]

I would also suggest Wordpress.

You easily build a blog on WordPress. Numerous free, customizable, mobile-ready designs, themes and templates are available on Wordpress. Also sharing blog posts is pretty easy on Wordpress.

 

[SesO]

Hi Lucan!

There are three ways to make a blog 1, a website builder, 2 hire a designer and coder 3, build your own.

I like Wordpress, it is really good at allowing people to choose a template and build their own website and there are options for different blog formats and no coding skills needed.

 

[jurassicaffirm]

I use Wordpress, I have to say I didn't know how to use the platform, but I learned it pretty quickly.

 

[Mollie Rhodes]

According to me, WordPress is the perfect solution to your query. Because there are thousands of free templates (themes) available that you can choose from. These themes are easy to customize as it comes with their own options panel allowing you to make changes according to your needs without writing any code at all. Also, WordPress is a content management system software, it has multiple features that make publishing content easy. One of these is a “built-in” blog feature that can be accessed from any device, at any time, so that users who want to add a blog to their website don’t have to create one separately.

 

[Bruniel]

I use wix and it's pretty easy to navigate. You can then buy your preferred domain within the site. This is a blogging-friendly platform for newbies in makin blog sites.

 

[ukbf0001]

We all know wordpress is the go to tool , I wont bother adding to what others have suggested.
BUT - in order for your blog to work - you must have the ability to write good / interesting / informative content.
If you have a writing style that is dull / boring - doesnt have a start middle and end and doesnt answer peoples questions - then guess what - people will ignore you and will read / listen to the person that makes it easy to understand and follow - just like in real life.
Pick a subject that you have a real interest and love for - otherwise you're in for a long lonely time.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

I can write engaging editorial but a couple of hundred words would take me a day as i revisit, edit, scratch my head as to why a paragraph is in the wrong place

I probably need a tidier!

 

[antropy]

If you have a writing style that is dull / boring

You won't know your are writing in a boring fashion, this is where sending it to impartial people to review before you post to give honest feedback is important. Alex

 

[Nick Walsh Studios]

People per hour start at £15 per 500 UK based writer, good quality SEO optimized.

Use Grammarly a free chrome extension superb for grammar, spelling "mizsteaks" etc

 

[Limited100]

Recommend the Yoast free plugin for Wordpress which will give you guidelines for meta description and page title length etc.

 

[fisicx]

Recommend the Yoast free plugin for Wordpress which will give you guidelines for meta description and page title length etc.

Noooooooo!

Don't use any of the advice from Yoast. It usually wrong or misleading.

 

[Limited100]

Without Yoast there isn't a useful widget to edit your SEO page elements and it does have some useful feedback such as usage of passive voice, consecutive sentences and subheading distribution. The most important thing is that you are writing for the website visitor not Google and focus on giving them exactly what they're looking for. That will naturally improve user experience and Google will notice that.

 

[Limited100]

Noooooooo!

Don't use any of the advice from Yoast. It usually wrong or misleading.

Is there a better SEO plugin for WordPress you recommend?

 

[fisicx]

One that just lets you edit page titles and descriptions. You don’t need anything else.

I built one ages ago that does just that.

 

[Limited100]

Ah fair enough, but someone who's new to the game might not know the ideal length for page titles and descriptions. Does yours provide any guidance? Be interested to have a look for my B2B website (in my day job).

 

[fisicx]

I’d start here:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7451184?hl=en

 

[Limited100]

I’d start here:

Great resource, thanks.

 

[Glen Wheeler]

We all know wordpress is the go to tool , I wont bother adding to what others have suggested.
BUT - in order for your blog to work - you must have the ability to write good / interesting / informative content.
If you have a writing style that is dull / boring - doesnt have a start middle and end and doesnt answer peoples questions - then guess what - people will ignore you and will read / listen to the person that makes it easy to understand and follow - just like in real life.
Pick a subject that you have a real interest and love for - otherwise you're in for a long lonely time.

Completely agree, once you have the tool it's the blog content itself that has to be strong. To be honest the way we create blogs is just simply crafting it ourself on any document, getting it into markdown then applying it the the site first hand in coding. So finding the right tool, like others suggested such as WordPress, is only really the first step. I think you've made a great point about ability to write well, cover interesting topics and forming a structure; it really is the most important factor. In terms of tools, you could really choose any (yes it could be presented well & it's easier) but its mainly content that drives views/shares etc. The reason people want to read blogs is not only out of interest, but to gather information that they are looking for. So if 'questions' aren't covered whilst reading, then they will look elsewhere.