How to Start Your Own Blog
One of the benefits of the internet is how easily accessible it is and how many people it can reach all over the world. The internet is such a powerful tool and you can use it to expand your knowledge, talk to friends, watch movies, and everything in between. In the era of COVID-19, we have all been pushed inside our homes and our contact with our friends and coworkers has been severely limited. However, on the internet, the world continues, and you too can harness the power and reach of the internet. The internet is one of the best ways to tell your own story, struggles, and experiences. Blogs (like the site you are reading this on!) bring forth such stories for the world to read, and if you are interested in creating your own blog, this is the perfect place to start! Follow the step-by-step guide below to start your own blog and begin telling your story for the whole world to read.
1. Have a central theme in mind
A blog site can be about one specific topic or whatever you want to write about. Some people start blogs to tell others about their life story, others start blogs to make posts about things they want to learn more about, while others make blogs about something as simple as cooking! Blogs can be about anything and everything, it just depends on what you are interested in telling others. Having a central theme in mind will help you curate your postings and keep your posts organized. It will also be helpful to draw in more readers. Of course, you don’t need to do this, but it may be helpful for you to organize your thoughts in this way when first starting your site. In the future, you can always branch off and expand your theme! Here are some example of common blog themes:
Cooking (recipes, cooking videos, cooking techniques)
Arts and Crafts
Your life story (talk about your experiences, life lessons, etc)
A field you are interested in (for example, if you are interested in astronomy, you can make blog posts about different astronomical subject such as stars, the Milky Way, telescopes, etc)
Music (artists you listen to, how to play certain instruments, etc)
2. Pick a “mode” for your blog
While many blogs are written posts, they don’t always have to be! Some people don’t like to write, and that’s okay! Types of blog vary, and you can pick whichever one you like best, or you can do a mix of them. See the type of blogs below:
Writing: This is the typical blog mode. Written posts can be long reads, or quick 1-5 minute posts. It is up to you and how you want to structure it.
Audio: This type of blog is most similar to podcasts. Instead of writing, you can record your voice in video files for people to listen to!
Video: This type of blog is also called a “vlog” (video-blog). This is a fun and interactive format to you if you like expressing more of your visual creative and editing side.
3. Look at other blogs for inspiration
One of the best things you can do is look at examples of successful blogs and get ideas from there. You will not be copying this other individual’s blog, but you can use their website as a starting point to structure your own blog and learn from experts! Having examples of successful blogs will also provide you with ideas to make your blog site unique.
Here are some examples of blogs that you can check out:
Cooking blogs: Orangette, Clean Food Dirty City, Alexandra’s Kitchen
Fitness Blogs: Fit Bottomed Girls, Love Sweat Fitness
Fashion Blogs: The Sartorialist, Color Me Courtney, Style&Error
Travel Blogs: Travels of Adam, Hand Luggage Only, Nomadic Matt
Gaming and Teach Blog: Wolf's Gaming Blog, Ask Dave Taylor
Eco-Friendly Blog: Going Zero Waste
Photography Blog: Light Stalking, Thomas Hawk Digital Connection, Humans of New York
4. Design your blog
Now that you have a central theme in mind, have picked out a mode for your blog, and have some examples to go off of, it's time to start designing your blog and put all your ideas together! The easiest way to do this is to use a website builder that will help you set up your blog site, step-by-step. Once you have designed the layout of your site, you are ready to start posting!
Here are some free website builders that you can use (note that while they are free, some have paid features, like a custom URL): Google Sites (need a gmail account), Weebly, Wix, SquareSpace.
5. Promote your blog!
Promoting your blog is the best way to spread the word about it and get people to visit your site. The best thing about promoting your blog is that it is completely free! The quickest and easiest way to do this is through social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook), whether that is your personal social media account or one that you create specifically for your blog.
Instagram is a great place to start. On Instagram, you can create infographics and follow other bloggers, where you can begin to slowly gain followers. Talking about your blog with friends is also a great promotion technique - word of mouth is very powerful!
It is important to remember, however, that you shouldn’t judge the value of your blog based on how many people read it or don’t! As long as you are happy posting, nothing else matters!
6. Your blog is up and running… now what? Have a consistent schedule!
The best way to work on your blog over time is to develop a consistent posting schedule. For example, you can schedule that you will post every Tuesday and Friday, or that you will post every second Wednesday of the month - whatever works best for you! Having a consistent schedule will help you stay motivated to update your blog and help you develop a good work ethic.
Now that your blog is established, it’s time to start telling your story! Keep pushing through the setbacks you may face and remember that this is YOUR story and you have control over it. Good luck!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Annik Brar is a student at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. studying International Affairs and Psychology. In her free time, she manages a support page for people with Type 1 Diabetes. She also loves photography and traveling and can speak Punjabi and Hindi fluently!