Even with the growth of social media, blogs are still very popular. Blogging will help grow your readership and is a great way to enhance your online author platform. But if you want to have a successful blog, it’s important to choose the best platform and the right topics in order to attract and build an audience. At Web Design Relief, our experts have smart tips and hacks to help you start a blog people will want to read and revisit again and again.

7 Steps To Start A Blog That’s A Must-Read

Choose a platform: Before you start a blog, you’ll need to know what platform you will use to build it. Our web design experts’ best recommendation is to build a blog directly on your author website. By having your blog as part of your author website, you create a central hub for all of your online content. However, if you don’t have a website yet, you can use one of these blogging sites or builders:

• WordPress: https://wordpress.com/
• Wix: https://www.wix.com/
• Medium: https://medium.com/
• Squarespace: https://www.squarespace.com/
• Weebly: https://www.weebly.com/
• Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/
• Web Design Relief can build an author website with a blog for you!

Decide what type of blog you want to write: Blogs can be broken down into two distinct types: personal or topic-based. Determine whether you want your blog to be about you or about a subject you know a lot about: gardening, fossil hunting, travel, writing (of course), miniature painting, etc. A personal blog is a great fit for writers who want to share stories about their life or personal creative process. A topic-based blog may be a better fit for writers interested in posting reviews, how-to instructions, or reliable advice.

Determine the style and appearance: While freeform blogs do exist, the most successful blogs have a dependable, consistent format. Decide if you want to give your posts titles and whether you’ll have a standard word length for each post. Choose a font that will be easy to read, and use it for every post.

Make a schedule and stick to it: Prepare a steady supply of ideas for your blog so you can post fresh content on a regular schedule. You can quickly lose your audience if you wait too long between posts. Readers will assume you’ve abandoned the blog, and they’ll stop returning. We recommend creating an editorial blog calendar to keep you on track.

Put on your marketing hat: We know many writers shudder at the idea of “selling,” but the truth is, you must promote your blog and think about marketing strategies if you want to reach more readers and grow your audience. Blogging entails more than typing out your thoughts and pressing the “publish” button. Successful blogs utilize elements such as keywords, images, and references.

Keywords will help boost your SEO and give your audience the takeaway points for each post. Images (preferably your own, but stock photos work too) provide visual interest for your readers. And links in your blog articles to external data and sources will help give you credibility—with both your audience and the searchbots that rank blogs.

Have a comment section: Enable the comment section so your readers can share their opinions and feedback on your posts. Ask questions to engage your audience and encourage comments. The blog posts with the highest engagement will reflect your audience’s interests, so be sure to create new content that addresses these topics and encourages return visits.

Promote your blog posts on social media: Make sure your followers know when you’ve published a new article on your blog! Always integrate social media into your blog so you can easily share your latest posts on all of your social platforms. You might consider using a mailing list to send new posts directly to your readers’ inboxes.

If you follow these steps, you’ll create a blog that engages your audience, encourages repeat visits, and builds your readership. For an author website that’s already complete with a stylized blog, check out our Socialite Package!

Question: Which author blog do you follow?