How to Not Seem Like a Newbie Blogger
Obtain a domain name and hosting package., Update the favicon for your website., Update your permalink structure., Under Settings→Permalinks, click on Custom Structure and insert this code into the Custom Structure field: /%postname%/ ., Skip the...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Obtain a domain name and hosting package.
Get these from a web hosting provider in your area.
Look for a site, such as Bluehost, that allows you to easily build your blog with an associated blogging platform without having to take the blogging site's address.
By having your own name and domain, coupled with blogging software, you’ll have the benefit of looking professional from the beginning.
So, instead of yoursite.wordpress.com or yoursite.blogspot.com, you’ll simply have: www.yoursite.com.
While the free blogs you can setup on wordpress.com, blogspot.com and the like aren’t bad, they're not viewed of as independently professional anymore.
If you’re planning to be a successful long-term blogger, then you might as well start on a self-hosted site.
This will save you having to migrate to your own domain name later, should you decide to do that. -
Step 2: Update the favicon for your website.
The favicon is the little 16×16 icon that appears next to your web address at the top of most browsers, and it sometimes shows up next to the tabs or in the bookmarks section too.
Using the default icon screams “Newbie” to a lot of visitors.
Spend five minutes to update your favicon and make it original; it can be a small detail that makes a big impact.
To update your favicon, you’ll need to place a 16×16 pixel icon (named favicon.ico) into your website’s root folder.
For WordPress users, that’s directly into your public_html folder.
You can create a picture file in Photoshop and simply rename it to favicon.ico, or you can create one easily for yourself on a website such as Favicon.cc. , The permalink is the URL that your blog creates when you publish new blog posts.
By default, they usually come out looking ugly, like this: www.smartpassiveincome.com/?p=123 (where p=123 simply means post #123) Not cool, and it definitely doesn’t do any good for search engine optimization.
Before you write your first blog post, change the permalink settings to simply be the name of the post that you create.
For WordPress users, it simply means doing exactly what the picture below shows: , This will resolve the ugly URL rendering, and now you appear to the world to know what you’re doing. , It's nice that WordPress has tons of plugins and widgets to choose from that can do a wide variety of things for your blog, but a lot of people go overboard and add too many, creating clutter.
Not all plugins and widgets are useful.
Be conscious about what plugins and widgets you’re placing on your site, and remember that often, less is more. (What good does a calendar on a blog do anyway?) , New blogs should never include an RSS counter, because a counter with only nine subscribers is a huge flashing sign that says: “Hi! I’m new at this!”.
Leave it out until you have over 100 subscribers (at least), and then you can incorporate it into your blog if you really want.
In the meantime, work on your content and on making other parts of your blog awesome. , A quick and easy way to establish yourself as someone who knows what they're doing as a blogger is by adding a video on your blog, preferably somewhere in the sidebar.
A nicely recorded welcome message, or even a quick tip to share with new visitors can definitely make you stand out from even the more experienced blogs in your niche. , Newbie bloggers almost always write excellent material.
However, the format of many newbie posts almost always ends up looking the same: a long, undivided post that resembles an essay.
Avoid this by including headings, subheadings, bold keywords, italics, lists, white space, pictures, charts, diagrams, and even links! Make it easy for your readers to get your flow of ideas in small chunks with breather spaces in between.
Study some of your favorite blogs, and you can see that most are made up of several different parts, which makes it far easier to read and consume. -
Step 3: Update your permalink structure.
-
Step 4: Under Settings→Permalinks
-
Step 5: click on Custom Structure and insert this code into the Custom Structure field: /%postname%/ .
-
Step 6: Skip the unnecessary plugins and widget.
-
Step 7: Do not add an RSS counter.
-
Step 8: Add a video.
-
Step 9: Pay attention to your formatting.
Detailed Guide
Get these from a web hosting provider in your area.
Look for a site, such as Bluehost, that allows you to easily build your blog with an associated blogging platform without having to take the blogging site's address.
By having your own name and domain, coupled with blogging software, you’ll have the benefit of looking professional from the beginning.
So, instead of yoursite.wordpress.com or yoursite.blogspot.com, you’ll simply have: www.yoursite.com.
While the free blogs you can setup on wordpress.com, blogspot.com and the like aren’t bad, they're not viewed of as independently professional anymore.
If you’re planning to be a successful long-term blogger, then you might as well start on a self-hosted site.
This will save you having to migrate to your own domain name later, should you decide to do that.
The favicon is the little 16×16 icon that appears next to your web address at the top of most browsers, and it sometimes shows up next to the tabs or in the bookmarks section too.
Using the default icon screams “Newbie” to a lot of visitors.
Spend five minutes to update your favicon and make it original; it can be a small detail that makes a big impact.
To update your favicon, you’ll need to place a 16×16 pixel icon (named favicon.ico) into your website’s root folder.
For WordPress users, that’s directly into your public_html folder.
You can create a picture file in Photoshop and simply rename it to favicon.ico, or you can create one easily for yourself on a website such as Favicon.cc. , The permalink is the URL that your blog creates when you publish new blog posts.
By default, they usually come out looking ugly, like this: www.smartpassiveincome.com/?p=123 (where p=123 simply means post #123) Not cool, and it definitely doesn’t do any good for search engine optimization.
Before you write your first blog post, change the permalink settings to simply be the name of the post that you create.
For WordPress users, it simply means doing exactly what the picture below shows: , This will resolve the ugly URL rendering, and now you appear to the world to know what you’re doing. , It's nice that WordPress has tons of plugins and widgets to choose from that can do a wide variety of things for your blog, but a lot of people go overboard and add too many, creating clutter.
Not all plugins and widgets are useful.
Be conscious about what plugins and widgets you’re placing on your site, and remember that often, less is more. (What good does a calendar on a blog do anyway?) , New blogs should never include an RSS counter, because a counter with only nine subscribers is a huge flashing sign that says: “Hi! I’m new at this!”.
Leave it out until you have over 100 subscribers (at least), and then you can incorporate it into your blog if you really want.
In the meantime, work on your content and on making other parts of your blog awesome. , A quick and easy way to establish yourself as someone who knows what they're doing as a blogger is by adding a video on your blog, preferably somewhere in the sidebar.
A nicely recorded welcome message, or even a quick tip to share with new visitors can definitely make you stand out from even the more experienced blogs in your niche. , Newbie bloggers almost always write excellent material.
However, the format of many newbie posts almost always ends up looking the same: a long, undivided post that resembles an essay.
Avoid this by including headings, subheadings, bold keywords, italics, lists, white space, pictures, charts, diagrams, and even links! Make it easy for your readers to get your flow of ideas in small chunks with breather spaces in between.
Study some of your favorite blogs, and you can see that most are made up of several different parts, which makes it far easier to read and consume.
About the Author
Margaret Hamilton
Brings years of experience writing about organization and related subjects.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: