Want To Be Successful Blogger? Follow This 6 Steps

Welcome, prospective blogger!

I will tell you 2 facts before starting:

·           If you just make a blog, it's very easy

·           But for a successful blog, it's not easy

You might be interested in becoming a blogger after visiting several big blog sites in Indonesia, then be amazed by them. Or because you hear that blogs can make money.

Whichever is the reason, this is the right guide for you.

I will not only teach you how to create a new account on Blogger / Blogspot and how to install WordPress.

If it's only 5 minutes, it's finished.

I will teach you more importantly ...

... which is a way to create a blog that has a high chance of success.

After you finish reading this article, you will be able to create a cool, interesting blog that is not inferior to the BEST BLOGGERS IN INDONESIA.

Please take a glass of tea or coffee, we will start immediately. 

... before we start, one more thing:

Almost all new bloggers eventually fail after the first 1-3 months ... only a few can succeed.

How come?

Because they make a blog carelessly.

Because of the reason: the topic is mixed, the content is not quality, the promotion is unclear. It's all messy.

Then because the blog continues to be quiet, they finally get bored.

This is not to scare ...

... this really happens often.

Planning a blog is extraordinarily important, so you don't waste time, money, and energy.

Therefore, before we enter the way to create a blog, we will discuss the preparation first.

This guide consists of several chapters ranging from preparation, installation and use. 

1.       Which topics can make money?

Based on a survey I did a while ago, most of the readers of this article turned out to want to make money from your blog.

Yes, blogs can indeed be a source of income.

But there is one legendary myth which states that only blogs on certain topics can earn income.

That is a big mistake.

All topics can produce.

Provided that the content you create is able to attract many people. Any topic can be made into a blog for income. Even blogs that are funny.

This is a story from personal experience:

7-8 years ago I tried to make a blog on tax topics, because he said this topic could get a lot of money from advertising.

Even though I am not at all interested in taxes.

As a result ... the content that I made is very low. Every time I write content, it feels stressful. Finally the blog is abandoned without getting visitors at all.

So, don't choose topics that don't interest you.

2. Choose the right blog platform for you

One of the toughest processes in starting a blog has passed us.

Now we go into an easier one.

Today's technology is sophisticated. By using a blogging platform, you can write on a blog like writing in Microsoft Word.

These are the 3 most popular choices:

1.      Blogspot - hosted

2.      WordPress.com - hosted

3.      WordPress.org - self-hosted

4.       

There are still dozens of other blogging platforms, but I will not complicate your choice by discussing the less popular ones.

Consider these 2 terms: hosted and self-hosted.

What is that?

Hosted means your blog is 'hitching' on their website. So you will not have a pure website of your own, and your blog address is like this: blogme.blogspot.com

Self hosted opposite.

You create your own website with a platform called WordPress. The website will be 100% yours, but you have to pay for the domain name and hosting. Many beginner are often confused when they choose a blog platform, because on the internet according to different people. This guide discusses whicv one is the most appropriate for you

If you don't want to move pages, these are the weaknesses and strengths of each type of platform:

Choose a hosted platform (WordPress.com or Blogger) if you:

1.      Do not want to go out at all (though not much)

2.      Willing with limited features

3.      Willing to be limited in appearance

4.      Please name your website like this: namawebsite.blogspot.com

5.      Will your website be deleted at any time (if you violate the rules)

Instead, choose the self-hosted platform (WordPress.org) if you:

1.      Have a capital of around Rp. 300,000 per year (for domains and hosting)

2.      Want to have a website that is 100% yours

3.      Want to be able to change the display freely

4.      Want to be able to add whatever features you need

5.      Want to make a blog that looks more credible

That's just a glance.

Because it is very flexible, self-hosted WordPress is often used for functions that are more than just blogs.

For example, selling online, business websites, communities, and others.

I personally always recommend that people who are serious about blogging use self-hosted from WordPress.org, because it will be better in the long run.

But if your capital is really 0, it doesn't matter.

Even though it's a little more troublesome, when your blog is successful you can move from hosted to self-hosted. Many do this, so you can still start from hosted.

The self-hosted WordPress installation method will be explained below.

3. Determine hosting and domain service providers

For those of you who have never heard of this term:

Domain: name / address of your website. This blog is the domain domain  guidim.com. 

Hosting: where your blog files are stored. Like a hard drive if on a computer.

The original understanding is more complex, but don't bother.

Both use the rental system. This means you need to pay every month / year when you rent a domain and hosting. There is no choice to pay once for a lifetime.

Its role is vital for blogs.

Of course you do not want the blog that you create often experience problems such as sudden death, or can not be accessed suddenly.

So, choose a trusted domain and hosting provider.

Here are some international domain and hosting services that are usually recommended for beginners:

·         Domain: NameCheap

·         International hosting: BlueHost  or HostGator

·         Hosting Indonesia: Niagahoster (free domain)

If you create an English blog, use international hosting. As for Indonesian blogs, use Indonesian hosting.

4. Determine a domain name

Domain names will always be attached to your blog.

Although it can still be replaced, it will be a hassle and if it is wrong it can be fatal. Therefore you should determine carefully the domain name at the beginning.

Here are 7 things that you must pay attention to:

1.      Adjust to the topic of his blog

2.      Avoid names that are similar to popular websites

3.      Easy to write, remember, and say

4.      As much as possible use .com

5.      Avoid strip / minus (-) and numbers

6.      Don't use someone else's brand

7.      Also check the availability of the username on social network.

 Some people might not agree with me at point 4, because actually there are extensions other than .com which are also good. For example .org, .net, .co, .id, etc.

But the reason I chose .com was because it was the most remembered.

I have a blog with a .co, .net, and .org suffix, but in fact there are also many people who typographically ... they enter .com.

So first, .com, use the other as the last option.

Oh yes, avoid dashes (-) and numbers in the domain because people will consider them both as spam blogs. EXCEPT if indeed your brand uses one of them.

5. Installing a self-hosted blog with the WordPress platform

Now we enter the steps to create a blog.

In this article I will use NameCheap, HostGator, and WordPress (self-hosted) as examples. You can use hosting services and other domains because they are not much different.

Creating a hosted blog I don't need to explain again because you only have to follow the guidelines that are directly on the website:

1.      Blogspot

2.      WordPress.com

6.  Understand WordPress after installation

After the installation process above, you may feel confused where to go to publish new content. Here are some instructions for learning WordPress

a. Enter the WordPress dashboard

Dashboard is a place where an admin manages his WordPress bl

To enter the Dashboard, this is the default address:

  http://namablog.com/wp-admin/ 

Enter the username and password that you registered earlier.

In this Dashboard you can change blog settings, change views, add plugins, moderate comments, and so on.

b. Rename blogs, languages, & other settings

To change the name and tagline of a blog, you can go to Settings> General.

Other settings such as permalink and the number of posts on the homepage can also be found in Settings.

c. Change WordPress themes

New blog owners usually want to immediately change the appearance of their blog to suit their taste. Fortunately, WordPress has thousands of ready-to-use themes.

d. Add a WordPress plugin

Plugins are one of the reasons we choose WordPress.

With the help of plugins, you can add features as you want without understanding programming.

To see the installed plugins, click Plugins> Installed Plugins. Meanwhile, to add a new plugin, click Plugins> Add New.

Some plugins that you should install and activate:

1.      Yoast SEO: simplifies SEO matters

2.      UpdraftPlus: automatically backups your blog data

3.      Akismet: spam comment filters

4.      iThemes Security: improve security

The rest is as needed.

You can immediately search for and install these plugins from the WordPress dashboard.

e. Make a new post

Now it's time to create content for your blog.

First, please go to Posts> All Posts from the left sidebar.

You will find a post titled "Hello World!", Delete the post because only as an example.

Then click the Add New button above to create a new article.

This is the description of the picture above according to the number:

1.      Write the title of your article here

2.      Button to add pictures or videos to your post

3.      Set formats such as bold, italic, list & numbering, read more, and others

4.      Place to write your article body

5.      Put each different topic in one category to make it neater

6.      When writing is ready to be published, click Publish

Finished! What is next?

Congratulations, you have successfully created a blog with WordPress (or other platforms). At this point you already know how to:

1.      Determine the main topic of the blog

2.      Determine the right blogging platform

3.      Choose a domain & hosting service provider

4.      Choose a domain name

5.      Installing a blog

6.      Set WordPress to suit your taste

7.      Publish new content for blogs

But your trip isn't finished yet.

In fact, we are just starting!

Next we learn how to make your blog successful.

There are many materials, but don't worry. If you don't have time to read everything now, please bookmark this page and come back next time.