Round two! If you missed it, check out Part 1 of my Tips for New Bloggers series! This week I’m going to be hitting on how to set up your blog!
1. Pick a platform: When I first started writing my blog I used Blogger. Blogger is very user friendly, free and was very easy for me to set up. A few months in, however, I decided to switch to WordPress.com since many other bloggers used it, I felt like I had more options, and I knew I could buy my own domain name eventually and easily make the move on WordPress. Also free!
2. Going Self-Hosted: Self hosted basically means that you own and run your own website however you want to. You buy your domain name and host your website through a provider such as Go Daddy or BlueHost. I chose Bluehost as it was recommended to me as very user friendly. Then, you choose a platform. Because I was already on WordPress.com, I could easily make the change to WordPress.org. I did everything to go self-hosted by myself and I can’t pretend it was easy (I spent many hours researching how to do everything and speaking with customer service representatives at bluehost to get everything running), however I chose to do so because of money. Many bloggers hire someone to do it for them and from what I’ve heard it can vary from $100 – $250.
If you’re new to blogging, I would definitely recommend using a free website for a few months before investing the money into going self-hosted. Make sure it’s something that you enjoy and that you’ll keep up with!
3. PC Owners – Use Windows Live Writer: If you own a PC I HIGHLY recommend downloading Windows Live Writer – it’s free! It’s basically a Windows program that you open on your computer just like you would Word, and type out your blog post, add photos, and then publish directly from the program to your blog. I’m actually hesitant to get a Mac computer solely because I would miss this program too much!
4. Put some effort into your photos: I’m not going to pretend I’m some great photographer, or that I use anything other than my iPhone to take pictures. However, I do try and make many of my photographs look good, both when I’m taking them and through using PicMonkey. I’ve looked at several new blogs that completely turn me off because the pictures are dark, grainy and just not appealing. I’ve actually not pinned recipes solely because the picture looked bad!
Much older oatmeal picture:
Newer oatmeal picture:
5. Design a nice blog layout: Just like with photos, you need to put some effort into your blog design. I think I’ve re-designed my blog three times since I started, and I’ve had a new look in the works for a couple months now (look for it soon!). Having a clean and appealing blog is key to drawing in new readers. Many bloggers hire someone to design their blog for them. Again, I haven’t done so because of cost and I only use free WordPress Themes (there are many that you pay for), but you can make anything work with a little creativity!
6. Use your sidebar: the items you put in your sidebar are surprisingly important. ALWAYS have a search bar where people can search your website and be sure to include a mini “about me” section as well with a photo so readers can get an idea of who are quickly. Other suggestions include affiliations you might have (blogger networks, sponsors, etc), archives of past blog posts, and post categories so readers can browse easily.
7. Have an About Me Page: Your “About Me” page is key – that’s where most new readers click immediately when they find your blog. If you don’t have an about me page then I usually don’t read your blog! Most healthy living blog readers read because they feel like they can relate to and connect with the writer: if they don’t know who you are then how do you expect them to connect with you? I actually found a couple blogs where I couldn’t even find the author’s first name!
If you’re a blogger – how did you set up your site? Did you do it yourself?
Do you read “About Me” pages on other blogs?
my sister helped me set up my original site and then about 10 months into blogging, i paid to switch to self hosted! i also think itz important to have your email somewhere on that sidebar – easy access 🙂
That’s a great tip – easy email access!
I spent 4.5 years on blogger and was so hesitant to move to self hosted, because it was easy and I didn’t want to spend the money. I finally did it and was SO frustrated for the first month! I’m slowly getting the hang of it though. Thank goodness my BFF is computer/code savvy, she has saved me from throwing my computer out the window more than once 😉
I agree that blogger is much more user friendly to set up a blog!
Great tips! And a reminder that my “about me” page needs UPDATING! 😉
I always feel like I need to update mine!
Great tips!! I think I would add just to get started – you learn so much as you go as a new blogger and no one is perfect when they start out. 🙂
So true, I’m still constantly learning!
Great Tips! I always have to remember to update my ‘About me’
Haha me too!
Good tips. I use the free WordPress right now because I’m just seeing how I like blogging right now. I’ve only done it since August. I love checking out people’s About Me pages…definitely something I check out early on when reading someone’s blog.
Definitely stick to free until you’re ready to make the commitment, it took me a while to decide!
I’m on wordpress.com and love it! When I started I didn’t realize there was wordpress.org, and maybe someday I will switch to self hosted, but for now, I’m happy where I am.
I liked wordpress.com too! WordPress.org is basically the same, just more options!
I switched to self-hosted after just under a year of blogging – it was definitely not easy to do it myself! A lot of Googling and crossed fingers 😉
Haha agreed!
I set up my site all by myself and I always read the About Me page whenever there is one.
Oatmeal pictures are key…and if you’re a fitness blogger, make sure to include photos looking down at your shoes. Also, I LOVE rainbow engagement questions at the end of a post. That’s when you really get to know your readers.
rainbow questions? I haven’t heard that term!
I use Live Writer too and love it. It makes things so easy. To edit photos I use Picassa. I’ve never tried Pic Monkey, but I’ve heard that lots of bloggers use it.
Yes, live writer is amazing!
One of the best tips I’ve gotten is to tell a story on your About Me page. Don’t just list the facts. Tell people something about WHY you started your blog and give some background so people can connect with you.
Great tip, Erin!
I think one of my only problems is that I don’t use/take the best photos. We are such a visual world yet, I just take screen grabs from my videos. That being said, I MAKE VIDEOS – Perhaps I feel like the video outweighs the photos?
Next week I am going to have a more photo orientated post I think, I will try my best to get the best pics I can 🙂 It’s all about those pinnable images these days, right?
Oh that’s great that you make videos, I’ve never done much of that because I just have my iPhone and it’s hard to do videos if I want myself to be in it!
I love this! Def a huge one is being self hosted and trying to make an effort with pictures. And having a good website design. AWESOME tips!
Thanks, Annette!
Thanks for all these tips! My brother helped me set up my blog initially. I use WP and lately, I was thinking of buying my own domain; although, I think I’m going to hold off on switching to self-hosted for a while longer.
Definitely wait until you have some time to devote to it, it took up a lot of my free time when I switched!
These are such great tips! I wish this post would have been out there when I first started blogging 🙂
Thanks, Lindsay!
Thanks for another round of great tips! I just added the welcome blurb on my homepage, but, can’t seem to figure out how to post a picture above/below it!? I added the Gravatar to test it out and that had other links I didn’t want there….just want the picture!
I used PicMonkey and made it all one image and then just added it in as a picture. Before I used WordPress widgets and one was a picture and the second was text.
[…] part to my Tips for New Bloggers series! If you missed them, be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2. Today’s part in the series is going to focus on how to get more readers. I know I said in Part 1 […]