Disclosure: This post is brought to you by HostGator. Opinions shared are mine.
I started my blog in 2010 when my son was a baby. I’d been doing product surveys and samples for a few months, and could earn bonus points by sharing my reviews on a blog. I started my first blog on the free Blogspot platform and never dreamed that anyone would actually read what I wrote. To my great surprise, my posts were soon getting comments from people around the world. So, ultimately, Savings in Seconds started quite by accident! Let me share some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned over the past 9 years. If you’re ready to jump in, I recommend that you get started with WordPress! Use the one click install to start that Blog you’ve always wanted!
Why start with WordPress?
Here’s the thing — I knew NOTHING about how to start a blog, but I didn’t realize that I didn’t have to. There are people who do it all for you! For example, HostGator offers hosting plans with Free SSL for as low as $2.75/mo. SSL is that little “security” icon at the top of secure websites (like mine.) I started with a short subscription to see if I liked blogging, then increased to 3-year increments when blogging became a favorite hobby.
If I’d done a little research, I would have started with a self-hosted WordPress blog. It’s so much easier to add cool features to the blog post that way, and I’ve found that my posts get better Google attention. Making the move from Blogspot to WordPress was a royal pain in the rear, plus I lost a lot of followers and had to start fresh.
Blog Title
Since blogging started as a whim for me, I didn’t really focus on the topics I wanted to write about. That was a mistake. I should have chosen a broader, all-encompassing title instead of something that focuses on Savings. Many brands think that I run a coupon/deal blog, which isn’t true. I should have gone with my name or something else that would be a longer-lasting interest.
Social Media
You won’t be surprised to hear that social media plays a huge role in a blog’s success. Make sure your social media usernames match! That way, people can easily find your blog on any platform.
Whatever you decide to write about — from careers to family to travel — you can start a blog in 2019! Brand sponsorships and income can come in time; the way you start your blog can really get you off on the right foot. If you start blogging the smart way, everything else will fall in place.
Have you ever considered blogging?
(Thanks to HostGator for partnering with us on this post.)
This is a very interesting article. Thanks for the tips.
I love hearing stories about how people started blogging. I have heard that the switch from Blogspot can be hard. WordPress is definitely where it’s at! 🙂
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Definitely WordPress – Blogger is driving me crazy lately.
Really useful to know. thanks for the tips. Holds weight, from you, a seasoned blogger
Nice post! I love leveraging social media, although the results can be slow going unless you’re dumping a lot of money into paid ads. Spending time organically growing your following via blog content is a much better ROI.
One common mistake I’ve seen clients make is using follower apps to get more follows/likes on Instagram and Twitter, because they don’t want to allocate a budget to paid ads, and aren’t happy with their organically visibility. I talk about it in one of my recent articles, but not only are follower apps a waste because they generate fake likes/follows, but giving an unauthorized app your username/password for your social handle is never a good idea: https://brandonlazovic.com/follower-count-avoid-apps