![\"starting](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/giphy.gif\")
So how can you start a blog that will<\/i> succeed, get thousands of people reading your articles, and turn your writing into profit?<\/strong><\/p>\n We reached out to some of the best marketing experts and asked for their opinion.<\/strong><\/p>\n Also, it\u2019s almost one year since Aggregate blog went live. Looking back, there are many things I\u2019d do differently. I also learned a lot on the journey.<\/p>\n In one year, Aggregate blog has grown close to 30k monthly readers, most of who come to the blog via Google or are return visitors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As I\u2019m not a big fan of the marketing expert roundup posts that just list everyone\u2019s answers, I decided to test a different format that is, hopefully, more beneficial to someone looking to start a blog.<\/p>\n All the best practices and hacks shared by the marketing experts are edited into a logical order. I also added some of my personal key learnings based on building Aggregate blog.<\/p>\n Look at this article as a guide to starting a new blog or improving your existing website.<\/p>\n Also, big thanks to all the marketing experts who contributed to this article. (This list follows a random order)<\/strong><\/p>\n Lukasz Zelezny<\/a>, <\/strong>@LukaszZelezny | Ross Simmonds<\/a>, <\/strong>@thecoolestcool |<\/strong> According to Shelly Kramer, CEO + Founder of V3 Broadsuite<\/a>, it’s important to understand that you’re competing against hundreds of thousands of other corporate blogs, all vying for attention and eyeballs.<\/p>\n Far too many companies launch blogs that are nothing more than thinly-disguised, or not disguised at all sales pitches that are all pieces of brand-centric content.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIf your answer [to why you\u2019re starting a blog] isn’t that you want a way to be able to serve your customers and prospective customers and provide information, resources, solutions, ideas, report on industry trends, and overall help them by giving them information that will help them grow their businesses and solve the problems they might have, stop right there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Shelly Kramer<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Social media marketer Adel de Meyer<\/a> also added that:<\/p>\n \u201cStarting a successful blog starts with a clear goal, message and target audience in mind. You need to plan out your content path and you need to understand exactly what you want your blog to do for you. Every business including personal brands has different goals, missions and stories.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Adel de Meyer<\/p><\/blockquote>\n When starting out this blog, I had a goal of building myself an online portfolio. As time went by, I started to grasp the importance of a long-term goal and focused more efforts on high-quality articles and SEO.<\/p>\n Blogging is a more strategic endeavour than you might expect.<\/b><\/p>\n You should ask yourself:<\/b><\/p>\n Once you know what it is you want to achieve, you can adjust the type of blog content to contribute to your objectives in the long term.<\/p>\n According to content marketing expert Adam Connell<\/a>, one of the most important things that most people forget is positioning.<\/p>\n Positioning is what differentiates your blog from the rest.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cLook at what your competitors are doing right now. Identify the good and the bad. And use that to position your brand in a way that allows you to cut through the noise. But what’s critical here is that you re-evaluate your positioning every so often.\u201c<\/p>\n \u2013 Adam Connell<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Adam noted that if you take your eye off the ball, you may find yourself surrounded by new competitors that are doing exactly what you’re doing because they see how well it’s working for you.<\/p>\n This is why you’ve got to be agile and be prepared to adapt – your competitors won’t stand still so you shouldn’t either.<\/p>\n Nirav Dave from Capsicum Mediaworks<\/a>\u00a0also emphasized the importance of choosing your niche market carefully: Once that\u2019s done, you\u2019ll be able to create relevant content that\u2019ll resonate with your audience and drive in more traffic to your site.<\/p>\n When starting my blog, I had no idea how to name it. So I went with Aggregate to signify my plan to aggregate many marketing hacks to this one blog.<\/p>\n That was not the best of my decisions.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s face it; the name is kind of random. \ud83d\ude03<\/p>\n UPDATE: In June 2018, I finally changed this blog’s domain to karolakarlson.com and renamed the blog to Advertise. Grow.<\/p>\n So now, I\u2019ve been thinking about a slight rebranding and change of my blog\u2019s name.<\/p>\n The problem with changing your blog\u2019s name is the need for domain name change. And this can potentially mess up your organic blog traffic<\/a> and backlinks.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s the key takeaway: Consider your blog\u2019s name carefully!<\/b><\/p>\n Dubie Bacino from FriendFiler<\/a> made another great point:<\/p>\n “Before you launch a blog, check if your blog\u2019s domain name is also available as a handle (username) on all the social networks you intend to use. If not, spend some time now to find a short, catchy domain name that relates to your blog\u2019s content and is also available as the brand name across social media sites.”<\/p>\n \u201cConsider that online marketing is based on growing your brand\u2019s influence. Having a uniform name will help to consolidate your branding efforts and make it easy for your audience to find you. A good brand name can be a great asset. In the same way, a bad brand name can turn out to be a constant challenge in your promotional efforts. Setting up your brand with a good name will save you a lot of headache and money in the long run \u201c<\/p>\n \u2013 Dubie Bacino<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I couldn\u2019t agree more!<\/p>\n Your brand\u2019s style is another important point to consider carefully before starting your blog.<\/strong><\/p>\n It will take a lot of time to rebrand your blog later.<\/p>\n Moreover, the sooner you develop a strong brand image, the more people will start recognizing your content in social media and other sharing platforms.<\/p>\n The first 6-7 articles in Aggregate blog followed a simple design principle: all images needed to be colourful and eye-catching.<\/p>\n However, after a while, the blog developed a stronger brand image. You might need a small-scale website redesign<\/a> to bring more personality to your blog.<\/p>\n Now, whenever we share an article on social media, people immediately recognize the ponycorns (yes, they\u2019re not unicorns \ud83d\ude43).<\/p>\n So how should you think about your blog\u2019s style before the initial launch?<\/strong><\/p>\n Amy Purdie from Whiteacres Design<\/a> told us that:<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s important to figure out your brand style. This doesn’t need to be perfect at this point, you can develop it as you go – and you probably will – but if you can create a brand style that is easy for you to put together when you’re creating graphics and that is carried through across everything that you do. Then, when you are sharing your posts and repurposing content and spreading the word about your blog everything will have a consistent look and feel, you’ll stand out, you’ll be recognised across different platforms, you’ll be remembered and people will become curious, remember your past posts and want to find out more about you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Amy Purdie<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Unsure where to start? Check out these 142 Facebook ad examples<\/a> that all exhibit a different branded style.<\/p>\n It’s an obvious one, but understand your niche, understand your audience. \u2013 Samantha Kelly<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n When we asked her what\u2019s the most important thing about launching a new blog, Kelly noted that the keywords for your article should match the user intent, not search popularity.<\/p>\n Look to providing the type of content your audience will want to read.<\/p>\n Cameron Conaway, Director of Content at Reflektion<\/a>, explains this further:<\/p>\n \u201cFind your content\/market fit. As with product\/market fit, there are many variables to consider and many questions to answer before launching a new blog.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013Cameron Conaway<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here are two fundamental questions Conaway suggests that you think about:\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n (We\u2019ll get back to discussing content distribution later in the article.)<\/p>\n “Before launching a new blog, or anything in the marketing arena like that, I would always make sure you have your niche at least approximately nailed down,”\u00a0Ashley Faulkes, SEO & WordPress Specialist at Mad Lemmings<\/a> suggests.<\/p>\n That means doing some research, figuring out where you can stand out from the crowd, where there is enough traffic or a big enough audience (on social channels, for example).<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are just going to do what everyone else is doing, you will really struggle. It is far easier, and a faster path to success if you find a narrower niche, at least in the beginning. One that you want to spend time in, and there are people there to listen to you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Ashley Faulkes<\/p><\/blockquote>\n For example, Hundred5\u2019s blog<\/a> focuses on hiring and recruitment.<\/p>\n But not just that \u2013 they\u2019re also qualified to talk on the topic, having previous recruiting experience of their own.<\/p>\n How to find your blog’s niche?<\/b><\/p>\n Usually, the key to creating valuable content that people want to read is your experience <\/i>in the field.<\/i><\/p>\n (That\u2019s why, famous blogs also prefer contributors who are practitioners, not just freelance writers.)<\/p>\n One of the surefire ways of never making your blog succeed is repeating what others are saying.<\/strong><\/p>\n If your blog is just an echo of Entrepreneur and Forbes articles, why would anyone prefer it to the original sources?<\/p>\n Think about it\u2026 Are you publishing original content that can\u2019t be found anywhere else online?<\/p>\n Dan Marks from Hancock Whitney<\/a>, suggests that you try to understand your target audiences’ interests and how you uniquely provide value.<\/strong><\/p>\n According to the marketing legend David Ogilvy,<\/a> writing a good advertisement starts by studying the product \u2013 you need to know what makes it beneficial to its users and different from the competition.<\/p>\n Rosser Reeves, another notorious marketer, explained that your product needs a USP \u2013 unique selling proposition.<\/strong><\/p>\n What he said about advertisements surprisingly well applies to blog articles too:<\/strong><\/p>\n When starting out with Aggregate blog, I had previously worked as a growth marketer for more than two years. I also had a fair share of blogging experience from working with some of the top marketing blogs.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why, whenever I\u2019m writing an article, I make a point of sharing advice that\u2019s based on real marketing experience, not just on what other people and blogs are saying.<\/p>\n When starting a new blog, ask yourself:<\/strong><\/p>\n According to marketing influencer Sam Hurley<\/a>, you need to know exactly who you’re targeting.<\/p>\n \u201cBlanket approaches don’t work \u2014 your blog must be fit for a specific purpose, geared towards a particular audience \u2014 else it won’t be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Sam Hurley<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mark Traphagen from Stone Temple<\/a> added that you should think about the needs, wants, hopes and desires of your target audience. That information should then guide everything about your blog, from its design to the content you post there.<\/strong><\/p>\n Stay true to the reader persona you\u2019ve created, and solve their problem(s) in every blog post \u2013 Eric Peters<\/a> from HubSpot emphasized that you should think about your target audience every time you\u2019re writing an article.<\/i><\/p>\n Digital strategist and entrepreneur Ross Simmonds<\/a> told that the most important thing to do before launching a blog is ensuring that you have an audience to actually launch to.<\/strong><\/p>\n He\u2019s onto something here.<\/p>\n \u201cAbraham Lincoln once said: ‘Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.’ The same idea holds true when it comes to planning a successful launch for your blog. Spend time building a mailing list, building relationships with people who will share your first post on social media, businesses who will share with their teams and any other opportunities to give your blog launch more life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Ross Simmonds<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Marketing consultant Peter Trapasso<\/a> also suggests that you start building up your social presence once you have secured your domain name. Build up your followers on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn first, then launch your blog and begin posting regularly.<\/p>\n At this point before the launch, you don\u2019t necessarily need to have thousands of fan emails.<\/p>\n All you need is to find your 1,000 true fans \u2013 people who will become your loyal readers and help to spread the word.<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cMaking connections is, by far, the most important lesson I learned since when I started blogging in 2010. Whether you are launching a new blog or promoting an existing one, building relationships with bloggers of your niche ensures new visitors and knowledge exchange.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Erik Emanuelli<\/a>, social media marketer<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Another way to build up your blog\u2019s audience is to become part of an online community.<\/b><\/p>\n This idea is the curtesy of Joanna Wiebe from Copy Hackers<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cInvest some real time in becoming part of the community you’ll want to read your blog. By “real time” I mean more than 6 months of regular engagement with that community – to the point where people in it recognize your name. And don’t rely on upvoting \/ liking their content alone. You need to dig into the community. Ask questions, comment in discussions, share interesting content that’s not yours, post about the community on social media — contribute as much and as well as someone who’s paid to.\u201c<\/p>\n \u2013 Joanna Wiebe<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There are online communities focused on all possible topics. For example, GrowthHackers<\/a> brings together digital marketers all over the world.<\/p>\n Building up a blog audience before the big launch is not an easy task. However, you will find it a lot easier to distribute your content later.<\/p>\n Tip: You can also use the communities for distributing your blog content in later stages.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve ever launched a blog, you\u2019ll know how much effort it takes to keep things running and to publish content regularly.<\/p>\n The new blog is going to demand a lot of your time.<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s why, it\u2019s a good idea to create your blog\u2019s social media accounts before the launch.<\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s Mike Schiemer from Bootstrap Business<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cIn my opinion, the most important thing to do in the early stages of a blog launch is to grow your social media accounts. Initially, your blog will not be getting much or any organic traffic because you don’t have a subscriber list yet, SEO takes time, and PPC campaigns can be very expensive. Social media provides free or affordable platforms to share your new or upcoming content and amplify your reach.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Mike Schiemer<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Strive to increase followers and engagement on your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, YouTube, Pinterest, and even Google+ pages so you’ll have a sizeable audience.<\/strong><\/p>\n You’re going to need every platform and follower to maximize the reach of your blog posts and gain shares. The increased website traffic from social media will help your blog significantly in the short and long term, Schiemer added.<\/p>\n Tip: If you already have branded social media accounts, there\u2019s no need to create new ones for your blog.<\/strong><\/p>\n You can also use your personal brand and tie it to your blog. For example, Joanna Wiebe has tied her Twitter account to her brand Copy Hackers.<\/p>\n Look at your social media accounts as a platform for building new connections and creating brand awareness.<\/p>\n One last thing… Do your best to publish on social media accounts on a consistent basis!<\/p>\n The second part of this article is dedicated to probably the most overlooked aspect of starting a new blog.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve never set up a website before, you\u2019ll be surprised by how much technical aspects<\/strong> matter \u2013 your choice of website hosting will have a long-lasting effect on your blog\u2019s maintenance costs, loading speed, and SEO results.<\/p>\n After all, you don\u2019t want your blog to be crashing under a heavy traffic load once an article goes viral\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n So here are the most important technical details to consider.<\/p>\n Whenever you want to launch a new website with a unique domain name (e.g. a blog without the .wordpress ending), you\u2019ll need to host it in servers.<\/strong><\/p>\n Luckily, there are many hosting providers out there that also help you with buying the domain name you want.<\/p>\n SEO expert Lukasz Zelezny<\/a> suggests the following:<\/p>\n \u201cI bet You are launching Your blog on Wordpress. Use server-side version. Then\u00a0<\/i>consider a good hosting provider. I am always using SiteGround. WP Engine\u00a0<\/i>seems to be good too.\u201d There are 10+ good hosting providers out there, the most popular ones (and easiest) to use being Hostgator and Bluehost.<\/p>\n Using a hosting service with shared servers often means that when someone loads your blog article, the servers take a long time to respond, and your page loading speed will be low.<\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example of an article page speed load report by Google \u2013 their website is not well-optimized for high page loading speed.<\/p>\n We used to have the same problem with Aggregate blog.<\/p>\n The articles took too much time to load, and it was damaging the SEO results.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why, we decided to move the blog over to Google Cloud Platform<\/a> that\u2019s a bit more expensive, but provides high server response times.<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Google, there are still many things that could be improved. However, we already have 90\/100 points on Desktop and 68\/100 points on Mobile.<\/p>\n![\"blog](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null.png\")
\n Dubie Bacino<\/a>, <\/strong>@opajdara | Daniel Wallock<\/a>, <\/strong>@danielwallock | Cameron Conaway<\/a>, <\/strong>@CameronConaway | Joanna Wiebe<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>@copyhackers |\u00a0Jacob Varghese<\/a>, <\/strong>@jacobvar |\u00a0Chuck Bankoff<\/a>, <\/strong>@KreativeWebwrks |\u00a0Mark Traphagen<\/a>\u00a0, <\/strong>@marktraphagen|\u00a0Raul Tiru<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>@raultiru |\u00a0Sam Hurley<\/a>, <\/strong>@Sam___Hurley |\u00a0Samantha Kelly<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>@SJKellyWrites |\u00a0Madalyn Sklar<\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>@MadalynSklar|\u00a0Amy Purdie<\/a>, <\/strong>@amypurdie |\u00a0Peter Trapasso<\/a>, <\/strong>@petertrapasso |\u00a0\u00a0Adam Connell<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>@adamjayc |\u00a0Dan Knowlton<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>@dknowlton1 |\u00a0Adel de Meyer<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>@adeldmeyer |\u00a0Keri Jaehnig<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>@kerijaehnig |\u00a0Shelly Kramer<\/a>, <\/strong>@shellykramer |\u00a0Chelsea Krost<\/a>, <\/strong>@ChelseaKrost |\u00a0Eric Peters<\/a>,<\/strong> @EricPeters0 |\u00a0Dan Marks<\/a>, <\/strong>@wdanmarks|\u00a0Nirav Dave<\/a>, <\/strong>@nirav_dave |\u00a0Peter Banerjea<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>@successiswhat |\u00a0Erik Emanuelli<\/a>, <\/strong>@ErikEmanuelli |\u00a0Sarah Dudley<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>@sarahdudley3 |\u00a0Jason Acidre<\/a>, <\/strong>@jasonacidre | Johnathan Dane<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>@johnathandane |\u00a0Ashley Faulkes<\/a>, <\/strong>@madlemmingz\u00a0|\u00a0Mike Schiemer<\/a> |\u00a0Phil Pallen<\/a>, <\/strong>@philpallen<\/p>\nPart 1: Things to do before launching a blog<\/h2>\n
1. Define Your Blog\u2019s Goal<\/h2>\n
![\"starting](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null-1.png\")
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2. Position your blog on the market<\/h2>\n
![\"stealing](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/giphy-6.gif\")
3. Select your blog\u2019s name smartly<\/h2>\n
![\"doge](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/doge.jpg\")
4. Create a distinct brand style<\/h2>\n
![\"choosing](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null-2.png\")
![\"Develop](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null-3.png\")
5. Find your content\/market fit<\/h2>\n
![\"Think](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null-4.png\")
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6. Define your personal niche<\/h2>\n
![\"Hundred5](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null-5.png\")
7. Provide something unique<\/h2>\n
![\"confused](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/giphy-1.gif\")
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![\"Base](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null-6.png\")
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8. Know your reader persona<\/h2>\n
9. Build your audience beforehand<\/h2>\n
![\"starting](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null-7.png\")
![\"Become](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null-8.png\")
10. Set up branded social media pages<\/h2>\n
![\"launching](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null-9.png\")
Part 2: The technical aspects of your blog<\/h2>\n
![\"building](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/giphy-7.gif\")
11. Select a good hosting provider<\/h2>\n
\n<\/i>\u2013 Lukasz Zelezny<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"high](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null-10.png\")
![\"blog](\"https:\/\/karolakarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/null-11.png\")
12. Upgrade your blog from HTTP to HTTPS<\/h2>\n