How would you define success? Is it having lots of followers or being able to sell your blog for millions of dollars? If you want to start a successful blog in 2022, then you should focus on building a strong brand identity.

The blogging community has exploded over the last decade. There are now hundreds of thousands of blogs across the web. And although they are great platforms for sharing information and ideas, they also provide a way for businesses to reach out to their target audience.

A well-written blog post can go a long way towards establishing your brand. In order to build a successful blog, you'll need to create a unique voice and establish your credibility. Here are some ways to get started.

Find Your Niche

If you're just starting out, it's best to choose a niche that you would be interested in. If you aren't sure, a niche is a term used to describe the category of your content. So for example, the niche for this blog (Portfolio Hub) aims to focus on personal finance and any other related topics. This post in particular is related to side-hustles which can help increase your income further supporting your personal finance.

It is important, and I can't stress just how important it is for you to choose a niche that you have a genuine interest in. Unless you just simply enjoy writing and don't care what you are writing about, you will likely experience times where you may struggle to be motivated to write as often as you would like. By picking a niche you enjoy, you will likely it easier to stay motivated.

There are many niches out there, in fact almost anything could be classed as a niche. But make sure you research the niche you want to write about as if it is a popular niche then you will have trouble competing. However, if the niche is not very popular then you may have a better chance at being seen. Although if a niche isn't very popular for writers then it may also not be popular with readers.

Finding the correct middle ground can be difficult as you want the niche to have low competition so that you have a chance to grow in the niche without worrying about no one being interested. Using tools such as Google's Keyword Planner you can carry out research on certain keywords to see competition scores and average monthly views.

Pick Your Platform

Once you've chosen a niche, you'll need to decide on a platform. A platform is essentially the software you use to publish your posts. The most common platforms include WordPress, Medium, Tumblr and Blogger. Each platform has its own pros and cons and choosing the right one for you depends on your needs.

WordPress is probably the most commonly used platform for bloggers. It has a free option to use and easy to set up. WordPress offers a lot of customisation so you can easily change the look and feel of your site. You can even install plugins to add extra features to your website. With WordPress, you can also sell products through affiliate links.

Medium is another good choice if you prefer to keep things simple. In fact, you may be reading this blog post on Medium as I post on both my website (www.portfolio-hub.co.uk) and Medium.com. This helps me reach a wider audience that Medium already receives due to Medium being a much more established platform then my website.

Medium is much more simplistic then WordPress however this simplicity means you are able to create your first blog post within minutes of signing up. They also have an integrated partner program so once you gain over 100 followers on Medium, you can begin to make money from your posts.

Tumblr is great for sharing images or videos but it doesn't offer too much else. You can embed code into your posts but you cannot edit them after they have been published. There is also a limit to how many people you can follow.

Blogger is a blogging platform which was previously owned by Google. It is now part of their suite of services under the name Google Sites. It is a fairly basic platform but does allow you to upload pictures and videos. As well as allowing you to embed code, it allows you to link to other websites.

There are lots of different options available when it comes to creating blogs. If you're looking for something that is easier than others, then try Blogger or Medium. These two platforms are perfect for beginners who don't want to spend hours setting up their own website.

Now the option I personally chose for my website was actually to code it myself. As my career is in software development, I understand how to create my own platform. For anyone interested, I used the Laravel Jetstream PHP framework. This of course takes a lot more time however gives the freedom I desire for future plans with Portfolio Hub.

Create a Content Diary

The next step is to start writing content. Now, before you get started, you should create some sort of plan .What will you write about? How often will you write? Will you only write once per week or every day?

Of course you should already have decided your niche at this point so next is the planning. Starting thinking of blog ideas related to the niche you have picked. List down as many ideas as you can think of topics you would like to write about. Once again, you can use Google Keyword Planner to analyse keywords and see what may or may not work for you. 

The content diary itself doesn't have to be anything special either. You don't need an actual diary or calendar to create your plan. I list all of my planned posts on spreadsheet (Google Sheets) where I have the planned publishing date for each post.

Having this diary and keeping it a few weeks ahead at any given time can help reduce stress and give some peace of mind that you know what your doing next. If you are trying to stick to a strict plan, say uploading 3+ times per week then having some form of content plan is essential in my opinion.

Work on SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. In simple terms, it's the process of getting traffic to your site. The best way to do this is through search engines such as Google.

The Google search algorithm is very secretive so exact details are not known, however including relevant keywords to your topic will help increase your chances of being found.

I recommend using tools such as SEMrush to find relevant keywords. They provide free access to their tool if you sign up. When using these tools, make sure you include the keyword you wish to rank for within the title and content of your blog.

One tool I use to assist in my blog writing is called Frase.io. Frase.io is a web based application designed specifically to assist blog/article creation. The site has some great tools including there SERP overview tool for optimising blog posts as it is required.

The tool will analyse your blog and suggest keywords or other content to use in order to rank higher for your specified search term. Along with suggesting keywords to help you rank, you are also shown articles that currently rank for the keyword so you can perform relevant research on the topic.

From looking at case studies on YouTube and other peoples blog posts, it seems it will typically take between 4-8 months to see results from SEO. This delay is worth the wait if done correctly as a well ranking page can bring in thousands of visitors completely organically. 

Promote Your Blog Through Social Media

Social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools available today. It allows you to reach out directly to your target audience instead of relying on traditional advertising methods.

While waiting on your SEO or other organic marketing methods to take effect, you can create a social media page to begin connecting with people and to bring traffic to your blog. I currently run a Twitter account (@portfolio_hub_) so I can communicate and interact with people on a more immediate basis then the blog currently allows. 

Although not a huge amount of traffic at the moment, using Twitter is currently my main form of organic traffic. My blog has been live for around 2 months at this point so I still have a little while to wait before I will see if any of my SEO efforts will make a difference so being able to use twitter to engage with people and test ideas is a great advantage.

Twitter may not be your cup of tea so don't worry if you don't feel like using it. Any other social media platforms will do well but really it depends on your niche. Certain niches may have better communities on some social media platforms compared to others so experiment a bit until you find which one works for you.

Regardless of the platform, you likely won't see a huge amount of growth immediately so stick to creating good quality content on a consistent basis for a couple of months and you may begin to see some traction. Remember every new post on a social media platform opens the gate for more people to see your blog.

Summary

Blogging is something even 6 months ago I thought I wouldn't have an interest in. It has surprised me greatly how much I have enjoyed writing about the topic of personal finance and I would recommend to anyone to give blogging a shot to see if you like it. You may surprise yourself. I can not stress enough how important consistency is so regardless of your niche or social media platform choice or whatever you do... if you want to find some success in blogging then you need to be consistent. You will be very unlikely to blog for 2 months and see a lot of success. Although if you do, let me know 😁

I hope you found this article useful. If you did please share it with your friends! Also, if you would like me to write about anything else related to digital marketing, let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

FAQ

How often should I blog?

When talking to my writing students, I recommend writing every day and publishing a blog post at least once a week. We usually publish two blog posts per week on this blog. Seth Godin blogs every single day.

Whatever you decide, we recommend you stay consistent. Setting a weekly schedule helps you create accountability partners (your readership) so you feel compelled to write even when you don’t want to write.

Source: (theminimalists.com)

What should my first blog post be about?

Avoid grandiosity. Avoid throat clearing. Your first blog post needn’t be a grandiose mission statement. And your first blog post doesn’t have to be a vapid, self-involved introduction to your blog.

Source: (theminimalists.com)

How do I choose a name for my blog?

Use free name generator tools, check for available domains, check business records and social media to make sure others don’t have that name already.

Source: (neilpatel.com)

What is a blog?

While a blog can encompass an entire website or simply be its own section of a website, this is a place to share content about a topic you’re passionate about. A blog will typically include both written and visual elements published in an easy-to-read, article format so visitors can swiftly browse and find what they’re looking for. And with over 31.7 million blogs in the US alone, you can literally find blogs about every subject out there, from home renovation to baking to local business marketing strategies. Once you’ve established a community of readers, the possibilities are truly endless.

Source: (wix.com)