How to start and run a successful blog

Do you have a passion for wordplay? Have you nursed a lifelong dream of seeing your words published and read widely? Starting a blog is a logical first step for aspiring writers in this day and age. But blogging is not for the faint-hearted. It calls for consistency and requires a lot of time and effort. So, if you are considering starting a blog, here are some things you can keep in mind before you take the plunge.

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Choose a theme

To ensure consistency, stick to writing about topics that interest you. While you narrow down on a niche, these are a few questions you should ask yourself:

• Who is your audience?
• Is your content relatable?
• Does your theme have a long-term appeal?
• What is the size of the audience for your theme?
• How do your competitors fare?
• How will you ensure that your content is always fresh and exciting enough to bring readers back?

The options are many. You can choose to write about a certain industry or on political topics. You could also start a personal blog or journal a hobby or DIY activity you are good at. If your theme is too common, look for niches that are relatively unexplored.

Choose a platform

The next step is to choose a platform to host your blog. While choosing a platform, take care of the following:

• The look and feel: Building a blog is like building a personal brand since you intend to make an impression on your readers and give them a reason to return. Pick out a theme that expresses your brand best. In case you blog about fashion, choose a platform where you can display multiple images.
• Price and additional features: WordPress has wonderful paid and free themes to choose from. Apart from these, there are additional plugins that can enhance the look and feel of your blog. Compare different blogging platforms to see which has the best features to offer.

Building relations and PR

If you intend to earn money through your blog, building relations with people in the industry and being part of a social circle is important. The success of your blog largely depends on such relationships. Look up similar bloggers in your circle, connect with them and share possible collaboration plans. Additionally, go robust on your socials, connect with influencers on Twitter, and share and retweet their content. Mention your connections on your blog and ensure they know of it.

Personal branding

This might seem like a disingenuous way to sell, at first. But it isn’t. Personal branding is a necessary evil today, as people seem to relate more to an actual living person than to an abstract product or entity. You can choose to be a person of honest integrity and actually invite genuine followers and engage in conversations with them.

We hope these tips will be of help to you on your blogging journey . Do share your suggestions in the comments section below.