Blogging has undergone many adjustments to make it more user-friendly and profitable for businesses.
Today, most organisations use blogs to promote their products and services. Meanwhile, some individuals also use this platform for non-profit activities, like sharing their experiences and improving the world.
This guide will walk you through laying the groundwork for a successful blog and getting your site up and running. And with time, effort, and good fortune, you may be well on your way to being a successful blogger.
Let’s learn the ins and outs of blogging down under!
What is a Blog?
A blog is a website with regularly updated content, usually focusing on a specific niche. Unlike traditional media such as newspapers and magazines, blogs often adopt an informal, conversational tone to create a stronger bond with their readers.
People can start blogs for different reasons, such as:
- To express ideas, passions, or life experiences
- Email list building
- Marketing a brand
- Online moneymaking
- A mix of the aforementioned
Often, blogging needs a lot of time and dedication to succeed. However, the rewards may be great after some time, especially when traffic jams and more strangers start reading your content.
Being consistent is essential to making your blog successful in terms of how often you post and how good the posts are.
While it’s great to have high hopes for your blog’s future success, it’s important to remember that it may take some time before you start seeing tangible benefits from your efforts.
How Much Are Australian Bloggers Make?
Blogging can be a lucrative career option for those who want to dedicate their time full-time; bloggers can make over $100,000in their debut year. However, you must put great effort into learning the nitty gritty of blogging and creating top-notch content to keep people coming for more of your content.
Top Tips on How to Start a Blog
Most startups need help getting people to buy their wares. Starting a blog is a common strategy for businesses of all stripes to attract and retain customers. However, many new blogs take time to gain dominance online. Bloggers initially focus on growing a following through frequent publication of high-quality content before considering how to monetise their efforts.
Some companies want to have their blogs either as standalone entities or integrated into larger websites. Also, it can be managed by either a single author or a team of authors who take turns contributing articles. In any case, the following tips will help you get your blog up and running effectively:
1. Pick the Perfect Niche
The web has plenty of content; you can find whatever you need to hear or see online, making it almost impossible to stand out, especially for new blogs.
Luckily, there are two ways to succeed:
Narrowing your focus to a more manageable niche: You should pick a market that is narrow in scope but vast in depth. This will guarantee that you always have things to write about on your blog and will also impact your brand. Ensure your blog’s target audience is compatible with how you intend to profit with that niche.
You have a few options for accomplishing this:
- Focus on a specific area, e.g., Washington.
- Choose a niche within a more prominent topic for your blog theme (e.g., not just pets, but dogs)
- Change your blog tone (e.g., humour)
- Evaluate quality (e.g., write in-depth content on a topic that your competitors avoid)
Crafting content that offers value: Creating something unique that your readers won’t find anywhere else is essential if you want your website to stand out.
Your chosen niche will influence how you monetise and if you can sustainably supply your audience with a consistent stream of information.
Branding and finding your voice can both benefit from studying the competition. Finding an underexplored angle and illuminating it is the secret to a popular blog.
2. Choose a Blogging Platform
Most website-building tools, including WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace, include pre-built layouts and a blog setting in your browser. And then there are the blog-specific mediums, like:
- Medium
- Blogger
- TypePad
- Postach.io
3. Pick Your Domain Name
Hosting sites like Bluehost offer you a free domain name after signing up for their services. Plus, they guarantee a refund if you’re not happy with their services within the first 30 days.
Hosting sites like Bluehost offer you a free domain name after signing up for their services. Plus, they guarantee a refund if you’re not happy with their services within the first 30 days.
While it might be attempting, using your name for your domain is only advisable if you want to create a portfolio site or personal blog.
You may still be the blog’s face even if your name isn’t in the URL, and coming up with a clever moniker that conveys your message will make your brand far more memorable to readers.
Choose a domain name with these goals in mind.
- Easy to remember
- Easy to spell
- Fun to say
- Unique
Deciding on a name for your website can be time-consuming, but a catchy brand name can help visitors remember your blog and give them an idea of what to anticipate from your business. So, take your time!
4. Opt for WordPress
WordPress, self-hosted, is your best bet if you’re just getting into the blogging space. However, WordPress is only cost-free when you utilise WordPress.com; if you use WordPress.org, you’ll have to pay for hosting and domain name.
WordPress could take some time to learn and adjust, but once you do, they will let you run your site independently and structure it as you see fit. Furthermore, it is mobile-friendly.
Bluehost makes setting up a WordPress site accessible by allowing you to do so with one click after signing up.
To get a free WordPress blog up and running, select a theme from WordPress.com. The blogging niche is well-represented among WordPress’s themes’ many available options for free use.
Choose “Skip for now” at the top of the page if you’re not ready to settle on a theme. Creating your blog will now begin on a new page.
To give your site a title and fill up your profile, select Name your site and then click Save settings.
The next step is to decide on a WordPress theme, which can be either free or purchased, depending on your budget. The Appearance section of your WordPress dashboard is where you’ll find free themes.
You may also purchase premium WordPress themes for your blog from sites like ThemeIsle and ThemeForest.
There are several solutions to convert your WordPress weblog into a simple online store. For example, Shopify Purchase Button allows you to start selling on your WordPress site or blog for as little as $5 per month. With Shopify, you only need to complete a few clicks to get your product on your online store for sale.
WordPress Plugins Your Need to Install on Your Blog
WordPress plugins are critical to the operation of your blog.
The only issue with WordPress plugins is the overwhelming number of available options—thousands of plugins and weblog tools. The following WordPress plugins are essential for blogging newbies:
Yoast SEO:
Your blog will perform better if it can be accessible to more people. The Yoast SEO plugin optimises your blog article titles, meta descriptions, content length, and other components across your blog to enable search engines to discover you more easily. This is the most well-known and influential SEO plugin available today; thus, installing it on your blog first is essential.
WPForms:
Contact forms for your blog can be easily added using WPForms, a plugin that allows you to drag and drop forms into any page.
It is crucial to make it easy for website visitors to contact you. This will allow them to inquire about your services, express their constructive criticism and give fresh ideas that could help you improve your content and products. A good reach-out channel could also open doors for people who wish to work with you.
Site Kit by Google
This free Google plugin lets you view your critical Google Analytics, AdSense, Google Search Console, and Google PageSpeed optimisation statistics. Linking this plugin to his program to your Search Console accounts or Google Analytics allows you to see who is visiting your site, the time they spend on the site, and your most popular blog posts.
UpdraftPlus:
A blog malfunction is inevitable (and not always within your control). A backup plugin that saves your work regularly is a must; this free one is the best.
WP Rocket:
Websites that load more quickly perform better in search engine rankings and provide a more satisfying experience for your visitors. WP Rocket plug-in works to make your site load faster for your visitors. It caches the blog pages, compresses your files, and more.
Bunny CDN:
Bunny.net offers an excellent WordPress plugin-based CDN that will make photos load quickly, among other static aspects of your blog.
Insert Headers and Footers:
Adding code snippets to your blogs’ headers or footers to change your site style may sound tricky to many. Luckily, this plugin saves you the hassle of using it. You may need help if you change the theme’s code directly. Using this plugin, you may quickly insert code into certain blog areas.
Lightweight Accordion:
This plugin is a piece of the user interface that shows content in a way that can be collapsed and expanded. It is made up of panels with headings and bodies. It saves space because it fits a lot of information into a small amount of room. It is often used in menus, FAQs, and descriptions of products.
Lightweight Accordion allows users to open and close sections quickly, making it easy to move around and find the needed information. You can improve the user experience by using a Lightweight Accordion to make the information easier to find, better organised, and more appealing.
MightyShare:
Create free, customisable, and automatically shareable photos in WordPress for all your social media platforms. This free plugin is designed to generate attractive social photos utilising different themes, fonts, colour options, and robust personalisation, replacing the dull social media share image your site uses by default. It works with any post type, has a bunch of different ones, and adds more every month.
5. Plan Your Publishing Strategy
Maintaining a stockpile of potential post topics is essential for any blogger who wants to guarantee they’ll always be ready for inspiration. Make a schedule to keep records of your great content.
While a simple spreadsheet would do, Trello could be better as it is free and provides a great location to brainstorm and keep track of your content calendar. You should include the following items in your content schedule:
- Your content
- Targeted demographics
- How and when will you release it?
Considering your content mix helps you understand the scope of your weblog and what classification systems you might use to categorise it as you add additional fantastic content.
Blog posts can include:
- Evergreen content: This blog post where the author addresses frequently asked questions. The core purpose of evergreen content is to provide knowledge to its readers.
- Topical content: Blog posts that are “topical” capitalise on whatever is currently in the public consciousness. When appropriately executed, relevant content can quickly expand a brand’s social media presence. Do not, however, base your plan solely on this. Use timely material, but don’t count on it as a primary source of views. You can never tell what will happen.
- Curated content: Tailored content can be a fantastic option if you’re looking to supplement your original content strategy. The web is vast, and people prefer well-selected material that speaks to their beliefs and passions.
- Feature pieces: A structured interview is an excellent technique for gathering information for an editorial. Feature articles provide insight into exciting people’s lives and convey a tale. Interviewing influential people might help you establish your authority by association.
- Visual content: All successful blogging strategies should include some form of visual material. Blog entries with multimedia components, such as videos, original photographs, and graphics, perform better in search engine rankings.
- Interactive content: Taking a quiz about your audience is a fun and effective method to learn more about them and boost engagement metrics like page views.
Letting your readers know when to expect fresh blog posts is essential. Therefore, plan them out at least a month ahead of time and publish them regularly. A feature piece that suddenly needs to be published quickly can be accommodated by adjusting the schedule.
Create an outline before you start writing blog entries. While some bloggers may skip this stage, doing so is a mistake because outlines help you remember what you want to say. It will ensure that you use all applicable keywords and free your mind from the final destination so that you may enjoy the ride.
Here are a few easy things to perform after you complete writing your blog article but before you hit Publish.
- Proofread: Blog entries can benefit significantly from having a human editor to kick things off and from utilising a tool like Grammarly to assist in spotting syntax and grammar issues.
- Headline your blog post: Using subheadings in your posts makes them easier to read and navigate.
- Workshop titles and social media visuals: The success of your blog post promotion depends on the quality of your headline and featured image. It is not recommendable to make clickbait, but catchy blog titles and photos that stick out in social feeds and pique people’s interest are essential.
Growing your following will take time to happen. There will be successes and failures, but you must persist in developing further.
6. Monetize Your Blog
While people start blogs for different reasons, making an extra buck is the most dominant target for many bloggers. A well-thought-out plan for making money off your blog should precede writing content. You should approach your new blog like a business rather than a personal diary.
There are many methods for earning cash from your blog, depending on what kind of blog you start. Combining, say, a blog with a business that requires little initial expenditure yields a scalable model that requires little input of time or money.
Google AdSense is sometimes mistaken as the sole means through which bloggers can begin to monetise their efforts. Although advertisements can contribute to financial success, they can only do so with substantial site traffic. Fortunately, there are many alternatives to building a massive readership before you can start making money off your blog.
The following are the top methods of making money from your blog:
1. marketing
You can make money by promoting the products of your business partners and receiving a cut of the profits.
For example, the blog Bases Loaded Softball uses gear reviews to draw in followers and then promotes an Amazon product across every post. If a reader purchases by hitting the link, the blog receives compensation.
2. Digital products
Bloggers can easily monetise their online content. You can sell many digital products on your blog: Digital art, Music, Software, Digital courses etc. Online courses are among the most lucrative digital products. If you’re a specialist in a particular space, you can develop a helpful course to help people from anywhere on the planet.
Selling books online is also a lucrative niche. While the influx of new technologies has given tons of ways to spend their free time, the culture of reading books is still prevalent. That said, you can find success in selling books on your blog. James Clear, a celebrated author of Atomic Habits 9self-improvement blog), used his blog content to write Atomic Habits, one of the most significant self-improvement books ever.
3. Physical products
You can start selling tangible things related to your blog’s theme and message. As an illustration, consider the makeup line Glossier, which has successfully sold its products online.
4. Subscriptions
You can support any kind of creator on Patreon, not just YouTubers. Subscriptions are a terrific way to monetise a blog since readers who find your content valuable may be prepared to pay a monthly price in exchange for access to your premium articles.
5. Services
Aspiring bloggers are knowledgeable subject matter experts who have a way with words. Coaching, consulting, and public speaking are all excellent methods to earn money from a blog.
Without many daily visits, there are better and quicker ways to monetise a blog. Even more so if you can create a devoted following rather than just a large one.
You should care more about the people you’re serving than about generating a profit.
How to Keep People Coming back to Your Blog!
The best indicator of your success as a blogger is the growth of your readership. Yet, you need to plan if you want your blog to gain popularity soon.
In general, two issues cause many bloggers problems with distribution:
- Their publication procedure needs a consistent method of distribution.
- It’s nerve-wracking enough to publish a new blog post; increasing your readership makes it feel like you’re putting your life on the line.
The latter is easily overcome, but the former requires forethought and preparation before you start.
Now, let’s discuss how to optimise the impact of your blog posts in the long run.
Start Collecting Emails ASAP
You should work on acquiring email subscribers no matter what blogging platform you choose. A growing list of subscribers indicates your efforts are paying off, and each new subscriber represents a unique, easily accessible audience.
Your email list is portable and will follow you even if you decide to switch platforms or launch a new business in the future. Therefore, more than a list of subscribers is required. Contact forms should be strategically placed around your site to collect emails.
Including subscription forms in your content and homepage is a great practice to get into. Another way to get people to sign up is to use an exit pop-up after leaving your site.
Simple-to-use forms like these in many email marketing platforms. Your email signature, social media profiles, and blog articles can all connect to this dedicated contact page that you create.
Always remember that if you don’t ask readers to subscribe to your blog and make it easy for them, they won’t. When you hit Publish, you should immediately email your mailing list, a process you may automate once you get the hang of things.
Consider Ways to Improve Your Visibility in Search Engine Traffic
You can determine the number of people looking for content related to your blog’s topic by keyword research. If the number is high, the subject is in high demand, and you may expect to see steady growth in visitors.
You can use programs like Ubersuggest to search phrases from the perspective of your target audience to generate ideas for blog posts.
Blog Keyword Research
Even if your content doesn’t rank on the top page of Google, at least you’ll know it’s in demand. Nonetheless, if you have lofty goals, you can educate yourself further on search engine optimisation. Also, if you’re using Shopify, you may optimise each blog post using the free SEO analyser tool.
Plan Your Social Media Strategies
Marketing your blog across every social networking site may seem like a good idea, but it’s hard to manage and only sometimes works. Concentrate on the platforms your audience uses most.
For instance, party supply retailer Oh Happy Day regularly writes blog posts that its 1.7 million-plus followers read.
Your friends can be fantastic beta testers, so remember them.
When starting a blog, remember your networks; they can be a terrific traffic source.
Reduce, Recycle, and Resurface Content
A comprehensive and original blog post cannot be published daily. An intelligent blogger understands the value of recycling and reformatting old posts. Some topics to consider for your next blog post are:
- Share a compilation of related blog entries from the past.
- Make infographics or quizzes out of your old blog posts.
- To improve Google Search rankings, occasionally edit and publish old content. This is an excellent strategy if you create material that changes with the seasons.
- As your blog’s readership grows, you should start featuring guest pieces from other writers. Likely, guest bloggers will also promote this information to their readers.
- Include relevant links throughout and at the end of your posts.
- You could be a guest speaker on a podcast and discuss some ideas you’ve already written about.
Blogging is a business; therefore, you must make every minute count.
Use Analytics to Know Your Audience
Your data holds the key to unlocking the most significant opportunities.
Installing Google Analytics is simple and free, regardless of whether you run a WordPress blog or a Shopify store. By signing up for an account with Google Analytics, you may learn more about the readers of your new blog, such as how long they spend on each post, where they come from, and how engaged they are in real-time.
Bloggers can use data as a bargaining chip as well. Your ability to demonstrate the volume of traffic you generate will significantly increase your chances of being considered for partnerships and audience access by other businesses.
Bottom Line
To get a blog up and running, you need to do a lot of thinking, looking around, and trying out different things. Therefore take advantage of this time to learn from your mistakes, explore your creativity, and be unafraid to express your true self. You may always refer to this helpful manual for starting a blog in Australia if you need help.
FAQs:
1. How much do Australian bloggers make in a year?
A typical annual pay for one of these people is $53,000 AU. However, a few more prominent ones can earn up to AU$ 200,000 annually.
2. How do I legally start a blog?
Finding a blogging platform, purchasing a domain name and hosting services service, and getting started with website customisation and content creation are the steps necessary to launch a blog lawfully in Australia.