Has lockdown got your creative juices flowing? If you’ve got incredible recipes or how-to guides or big thoughts on pop culture that the world just needs to hear about, a blog could be the creative outlet you need. Here’s how to start, build, and even monetise a blog in Australia.
Choose Your Blog Theme
Before you can start a blog, you need to decide what you’re going to blog about. Maybe gluten free food blogging is your thing, or perhaps you’re an expert on business, or investing, or keeping snails as pets. Ask yourself what you're passionate about, and what you could talk about for hours and hours and not get bored. Building a successful blog requires diverse, consistent content over the long term, so choose a topic that you really love to give your blog the best chance of success.
Naming Your Blog
The next step in setting up a blog is to name it. Your blog name needs to be memorable, reflective of what your blog is about, and of course, available. You’ll need to make sure the domain name isn’t already taken (that’s the URL and .com part of your website), register and pay for the domain name, and if you intend to turn your blog into a business, register it as a business name with ASIC. Very adulting, we know.
Setting Up Your Blog Website
Once you’ve set up your domain name, it’s time to create your website and web hosting. Don’t panic, it’s not as techy as it sounds. Squarespace, Wix, Wordpress and Blogger are all popular blogging platforms, so explore each one and see which feels right for you. There are step-by-step guides online that can help you connect your domain name to your new blog website and get you up and running.
Developing Your Blog Content
Once you’ve set up your blog, it’s time to publish your first blog post. You might want to plan out a content strategy and schedule to keep you accountable, or you might blog spontaneously when the mood strikes you. Try keeping a notepad or digital document on hand to jot down ideas as they come to you—inspiration can strike when you least expect it.
The key to writing rich and engaging blog content is to think about your ideal blog reader and write for them. What are they looking for? What problem are you solving for them? Keep these things front and center when writing your blog posts, to ensure your ideas translate when they’re reaching your ideal reader.
Getting Traffic To Your Blog
Pumping out blog content consistently can be time consuming, so make sure you’re sharing your content with your readers on a regular basis. You can grow your blog by sharing your content to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and by using search engine optimisation (SEO). Improving your blog SEO is all about writing content that people are searching for and using keywords in your content to help search engines find your blog posts. Popular SEO tools to help you write more searchable content include Ahrefs, Yoast, Moz and Google Search Console.
Monetising Your Blog In Australia
Once your blog is established, there can be opportunities to earn money from your blogging efforts. You can earn money from your blog by selling advertising space to companies, or by using ad serving software that places ads on your blog for you. You may also be able to partner with brands and businesses on sponsored content—hello, influencer. This is content you charge for on your blog, that may feature specific products or information about the sponsoring business.
Looking for some extra motivation to kickstart your new blog side hustle? These are the podcasts you need.
Emma is a finance blogger at The Broke Generation and a reformed spendaholic. She shares hot tips on saving, property, tax, career and investing for millennials who want to break the spending cycle and get financially confident.
Image Credit: Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels
