Do you want to start a blog? Blogging with WordPress is great but it can be scary to start especially if you are not technically minded. Don’t worry, you aren’t alone, and many people have the same fear, but it can be so simple.
If you want to start a blog, then we would recommend using WordPress. No scary coding or jargon here. Whether you are a beginner or a blogging aficionado looking for a new platform, WordPress can be as simple or complicated as you would like to make it.
Keep reading to find out more about WordPress, tips on how to write a blog and how to upload your very own blog!
What is WordPress?
WordPress is the simplest, most popular way to create your own website or blog!
Yes, really! In fact, WordPress powers over 43.3% of all the websites on the Internet. That means that more than one in four websites that you visit are likely powered by WordPress.
The best thing about it is that WordPress makes building a website accessible to anyone – even people who aren’t developers.
You can use WordPress to make all kinds of websites and blogs. You may primarily want to start blogging with WordPress, but if you are a business owner then you can also create:
Business websites
eCommerce stores
Blogs
Portfolios
Social networks
Membership sites
…and pretty much anything else you are looking for!
There are two forms of WordPress which you need to know the difference between.
WordPress.org, which is commonly called self-hosted WordPress, is the free, open-source WordPress software that you can install on your own web host to create a website that’s 100% yours.
WordPress.com is a for-profit, paid service that is powered by the WordPress.org software. It’s simple to use, but you don’t have as much flexibility in comparison.
When discussing WordPress, people usually refer to the self-hosted WordPress and if you would like to truly own your own website then it will be the best option for you.
Setting Up Your Blog
Firstly, before you can start blogging, you need to set up your blogging platform. We recommend using WordPress.org for your blog.
All you need to set up your blog is a domain name and web hosting!
A domain name is what people type to get to your website. It’s your website’s address on the internet. Think google.com or creativeintime.com
Web hosting is where your website files live. It’s like you’re a house for your website on the internet. Every website NEEDS web hosting.
We would recommend using Bluehost as your hosting provider as it is one of the oldest web hosting companies on the internet and is recommended by WordPress itself! Let us explain how to set up your Bluehost:
Choose your plan (we would recommend the basic plan if you only need one site and are a beginner)
Enter your domain name
Fill in required information to create your account
Confirm how long you want your hosting to be
Continue to payment
And done!
To connect your Bluehost to WordPress, you need to click the tab called ‘marketplace’ and follow it to one-click installs. You need to click install on the WordPress product and select your site name and tagline, and then select your domain name.
Once WordPress has been installed, you’ll be notified by BlueHost, along with your installation details, username, password, and the option to login to your new WordPress website straight away. Go login to see what your website looks like so far.
When you have logged in, WordPress will ask if you need help setting up your website, you can select yes or no depending on if you need help. Regardless of your choice, once you are ready to launch your website, simply select ‘Bluehost’ from your navigation bar and click ‘launch’.
How To Write a Blog
Blogging is a great way to spread information and there are a few components which you need:
Title: Tell the reader WHAT they are going to read. Avoid clickbait or vague titles as these will cause your readers to bounce off your content, sending bad signals to Google.
Introduction: Introduce the blog, what is it about? What can readers expect to learn? Don’t be afraid to show your personality!
Background Information: Include/explain any information that may be needed before answering the question. Imagine your mum is reading your content, would she understand what you are talking about without any context? Use this section of a blog to explain the details as if this is the first time your reader is hearing about this topic (which it very well could be!).
Answer the Question: Answer the question clearly and honestly. You can voice an opinion however present the facts clearly and without bias.
Outro: Include links to any relevant products, to your shop, your social media accounts or to other related blogs. ALWAYS link to something. Explain what your blog/business is about and why people should keep up to date with your latest content.
We recommend blogging weekly to build up traction and get ranking on Google. Blogging is a sure-fire way to keep your website fresh and inviting, it keeps your website active and keeps people on your website for longer. A quality blog gives other sites a reason to link back to your site which can build trust.
Uploading Your Blog
Once you have written a blog, you need to get it live on your website. To write a blog post, click on ‘Posts’ and then ‘Add New’ on your WordPress dashboard.
You will see an editor area where you can write your first blog post!
You need to transfer your blog information onto WordPress and then there are many extras which you can add in such as:
Subheadings
Images
Bullet points
Links
Categories
And more!
Once you are done, you can click the preview button at the top right to see how your blog will look and then click publish when you are ready for it to go LIVE!
And just like that, you have a blog live! Keep posting and marketing your blogs to get readers and rank higher on Google.
If you think blogging will benefit your business (which it totally would) but you aren’t sure that you can write quality blogs then get in touch now.Everyone knows content is king. From Blogging with WordPress to Infographics and Case Studies, we will get your business noticed.
Blogging is an amazing way to bring more traffic to your website, become an authority in your field and build a community.
What is Blogging?
Blogging is the act of posting content on a website. They are informal articles written for the main purpose of showing thought leadership and expertise on a certain topic.
Often, you will be reading a blog and won’t even know it!
That recipe you just read, blog.
List of fashion trends, blog.
Technology tips, blog.
If you’re searching for it then someone is blogging about it and vice versa, if you want to blog about something then the likelihood is that someone is searching for it.
If you want to know the ins and outs of how to start blogging in 2023 then keep reading!
Step 1: Choose your Blogging Host
To get people to start reading your blog, it needs to be online!
If you are starting from scratch, then you need to use a blog host to get your blog online.
In this guide, we will show you how to use BlueHost for all of your blogging needs. Let me tell you a few quick reasons:
They register your custom domain name for free
30-day money back guarantee
Free, automatic installation of WordPress blogging software (this sounds scary but don’t panic)
Step 2: Create Your Account
Once you visit their website, you need to select your plan. We would recommend that for a blogging beginner, you will only need the basic plan.
Next, you need to input your domain name. Yes, this may seem like the complicated part.
If you already have previously paid to register a domain and wish to use that to host your blog, then you can put it in the right box. If you have not, then input your chosen domain name into the left box and click “next”.
Now for the easy part, I’m sure most of us have bought something using the internet before, so fill out your billing details on the registration page now.
You will also need to choose your hosting package and extras, for a beginner blog, it is likely you are not going to need any extras as your account plan will have everything you need for your blog.
You are now ready to create your BlueHost account and password! Not to be that person but please choose a secure and unique password, I don’t want any birthdays or full names here!
Once you have your account set up, you will be shown an installation helper but since you are reading this you can just click on “skip this step” to follow along with us instead (or do both!).
The WordPress blogging platform will automatically install, and you can click on the “log into WordPress” button on the top right-hand corner to go to the administrator section of your blog.
Step 3: Customise your blog
This is where the fun really begins, here is your opportunity to customise the appearance of your blog!
How you want your blog to look is personal preference, there is no right or wrong answer for how your own blog should look.
One of the benefits of WordPress is its “themes” which can be accessed through the “appearance” tab. You should have some free WordPress themes already installed for use on your blog and unless you have a very specific design in mind, we would recommend using one of these.
Once you pick a theme, all you need to do is hover other the theme and click activate. It’s that easy!
If you don’t like any of these themes, just click “add new theme” to browse lots of other WordPress themes which you can install and activate.
On WordPress, go to the menu on the left and click “posts”.
Delete the post which is already there (it defaults on all new blogs and is not needed) and then click “add new”.
You can now add in a title, your content and even extra things such as images. Don’t forget your SEO as well (what is SEO for blogging, you ask? Click here to find out).
If you are creating your own blog, then you will also need to promote it. What’s a blog if it isn’t being read?
Some ways to promote your blog are through social media, email marketing and search engine optimisation.
Are you looking to get into blogging? Or perhaps you are an experienced blogger looking to refresh your memory, we’ve got you either way!
Blogging is a sure-fire way to keep your website fresh and inviting, it keeps your website active and keeps people on your website for longer. A quality blog gives other sites a reason to link back to your site which can build trust.
Keep reading all about HOW to make your blog the best it can be, and some of our personal favourite tools (shhh…it’s just between us!)
Write About Topics People are Searching For
Once you have decided blogging is for you, you will need to find your blog’s topic. You can write blogs about ANYTHING! If someone is searching for it, you can blog about it. Technically you can blog about something no one is searching for, but no one will see it so…what’s the point?
What do you enjoy? What are you passionate about? Your topic should reflect this. If you are not passionate or even interested in your topic then it will show through in your writing.
Blogging tips:
Use short paragraphs – Short paragraphs invite readers in whereas long paragraphs are daunting.
Include multimedia – Images, GIFs and videos can illustrate your point without more text and can provide relief from reading.
Use short sentences – Most people read in their mind’s voice and using short sentences can be easier to follow.
Read your work out loud – This helps point out areas that your content is boring or doesn’t flow right. Don’t worry, you don’t have to read to anyone else, just yourself!
Your blog title is so important! A brilliant blog title will improve the click-through rate of your blog. What is a click-through rate, I hear you ask. It is the ratio of users who click on a specific link versus the number of total users who view the page.
Here’s an easy way to get the best blog title. First, decide on your topic, then decide what sort of title you are looking for… Is it a guide? An answer to a question? A list of things? Then you can create a basic working title for your blog and develop it into the BEST title.
Check out our examples below!
Example blog titles – Guides
“A Start-To-Finish Guide…”
“…: A Step-By-Step Guide”
“An Experts Guide to…”
Topic: Using WordPress
Okay Title: A Guide to Using WordPress
Great Title: A Simple Guide to Using WordPress
Best Title: An In-Depth Guide to Using WordPress Efficiently
Example blog titles – Listicles
“5 Myths About…”
“10 Reasons Why…”
“The 8 Best Tools For…”
Topic: Writing a Blog
Okay Title: 5 Blogging Tips
Great Title: 5 Blogging Tips Everyone Should Know
Best Title: 5 Amazing Blogging Tips That You Might Not Know
Example blog titles – Questions
“…? Here’s How…”
“What Is… And How Should You…?”
“…? These Tips Will…”
Topic: Social Media
Okay Title: What Social Media Should You Use?
Great Title: What Social Media Should You Use? 10 Questions.
Best Title: What Social Media Should You Use? 10 Questions to Help You Decide
This is not an exhaustive list of titles, there are hundreds of phrases to choose from, the key is to make it catchy yet to the point. Your readers want to know WHAT they are going to read before they even click.
Check Out Our Favourite Tools
Now that you know your topic, it is time to start researching your blog! Before you start writing your blog, you should find out what people are SEARCHING for and what people WANT to know.
If you want your blog to be found, you need to know what people are searching for. Using a tool such as Ubersuggest will allow you to find keywords to use in your blog.
Keywords are what people enter in a search engine to find a website. Using relevant keywords throughout your blog can improve your ranking on Google and increase the chances of your blog being found.
Want to find out more about how blogs help you get found? Click hereto check out our content on how blogging helps SEO.
Another blog writing tool is AnswerThePublic. This tool is used to research what people are searching for on search engines. When you know your blog topic, this tool is useful for deciding what information to include and can be useful for writing subheadings.
Another amazing tool for your blogs, to ensure your grammar and spelling are up to scratch, is Grammarly.If your blogs have spelling errors or grammatical mistakes, people may not trust what you say or can even leave your website all together! Harsh but true.
Now, Go Forth and BLOG!
With your new found knowledge you should be all set to venture into the world of blogging!
We have lots of our own blogs on our website to help with all things blogging, SEO, social media and digital marketing. Click here to visit our website now or click here to have a chat with us!
Do you want the good news or the bad news? Bad news…you now need 3 layers to go outside without feeling like Frosty the Snowman. Good news…festivities are in full swing!
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, the world of marketing might pause long enough for you to scoff a mince pie but make sure to check out our latest monthly roundup of marketing news and updates whilst they’re hot and fresh. If you missed out our October monthly roundup of marketing news and want to catch up just click here.
There is always something changing, whether it is social media or Google, and you need to stay on top of it! When you’re trying to feel festive you may not want to keep up to date with news but if you are offering a product or service, Christmas is your time to shine!
Let’s get started;
Fendi’s Time Square Takeover: Is Creativity Dead?
Last week famous fashion brand Fendi took over New York’s Times Square by covering it in their signature yellow.
Venturini Fendi said: “Times Square is something futuristic, something so different from Rome and peculiar of New York. It’s a landmark of the city – the lights, projection. It’s a window to the future.”
In a futuristic environment, was their takeover too lacklustre with a lack of imagination? Most brand ‘city attacks’ have heaps of creative flair and make use of the magnitude of the area and displays.
Fendi’s display was not well received with little to no traction in the fashion industry leaving many people wondering who the target audience was and what reaction was intended. A mass of bright yellow with their logo would likely be memorable, however with people attributing the work to ‘Fenty’, ‘Fenti’ and ‘Fendi’ it is unclear if people even remembered the brand name!
CREATIVE in TiME say: Marketing is essential for all businesses and creative marketing is ideal. What are your competitors doing? What do your customers want to see? Don’t be afraid to change.
Are you struggling with your marketing? If you are looking through this post and want to up your game, then click here to read about our services and what we can do for you.
Google Maps adds 3 NEW Features for Local Shopping
In the midst of the pandemic, more and more people are wanting to support local businesses and Google are introducing 3 NEW Google Maps features worldwide to help. Local businesses, it’s your time to shine! “Busyness” (yes, that is how you spell it) is one of the new features, who else didn’t know this was a word?
Area Busyess: When using Google Maps you can see how busy an area or business is currently and the estimation of busyness throughout the day.
Directory Tab: The Directory tab is most useful in shopping centres as it will display a list of all businesses, whether they are open, what floor they are on and what their star rating is.
Restaurant Information: Google Maps is now able to display more information when customers look up local restaurants. Information such as price ranges, delivery and other amenities will now be visible to customers if provided.
Is your information on Google up to date? If not, make sure that your information is detailed, succinct and useful. Including information such as disabled access, catering for dietary requirements, and COVID-19 measures can encourage customers and bring in people who otherwise may not come in.
Google Maps isn’t the only thing to keep up to date with, want to know how to use Google My Business to grow?Check it out here.
CREATIVE in TiME say: Google is KING! Whether you are a brick-and-mortar business or an online business, keeping up to date with all of Google’s updates is vital!
O2 creates Snapchat AR store for Black Friday Samsung deals
Black Friday is the biggest shopping event in the early calendar with total spending in the UK expected to have hit 9.42 BILLION pounds!
O2 has got involved with Black Friday and adopted the use of Snapchat’s augmented reality (AR) feature to create an “AR store of the future” to promote Samsung Black Friday deals.
This inventive sales idea allows prospective customers to save money without leaving their home or putting down their current phone! It transforms the four walls around them into a virtual sales area used to present 3 Samsung products and a “buy now” button.
The 3 products shown are the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3, and Samsung Galaxy Watch4.
This is a unique and engaging shopping experience for customers and may point to a new way to shop. It is unlikely to become common place but, would you use an AR shop on your phone?
CREATIVE in TiME say: This is very unique, but is Snapchat a dying platform? We’re not sure on this one but one thing is for sure – AR is not going away anytime soon.
Instagram Launches Live Test of Longer Videos in Stories
Instagram has launched a live test of 60-second videos in stories, this was first spotted in testing last month. This change means that longer videos in stories will not be split into 15 second segments and will reduce interruptions in stories.
The feature is currently being tested by a small user group in hopes it will improve creative freedom and streamline video uploads.
This test is likely influenced by TikTok, who have risen in popularity as the best place to be for video, and do not limit the length of your videos.
CREATIVE in TiME say: We likey this one! We were expecting this feature sooner or later. After all, they do like to copy EVERYTHING TikTok does.
Google Review Snippets will not show if the reviews are republished from another source!
Customers love reviews and therefore businesses want them to be as visible as possible but for Google to display a review as a snippet, the review must be directly submitted to the website.
For most businesses, you likely take reviews for your business from other places on the internet, such as Facebook, and then publish them on your website. This is effective at having reviews seen on your website but it will disqualify the page from being eligible for rich results.
Google defines reviews from other sources as “testimonials” instead of reviews. Here is what Google’s John Mueller had to say about it:
“We probably wouldn’t show that as reviews in the search results because it’s more like a testimonial. Reviews would essentially need to be something which is based on a specific product on that page and the reviews need to be things that users leave directly on that page.
So if you’re kind of like archiving reviews from other sources and you’re posting them then we wouldn’t pick those up as reviews for the structured data side. You can keep them on the page we just wouldn’t use the review markup for that.”
If you currently don’t accept reviews on your website but want to start, the easiest way to do so is to add a review submission form on every product/service page on your site.
CREATIVE in TiME say: Reviews are so important for your business! Customers love them, Google loves them, everyone loves them!
Roundup Complete!
We hope you enjoyed our monthly roundup of marketing news, check back in next month for our December monthly roundup of marketing news! You can even have it delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter! Just send your email over to [email protected].
Whilst you do that, does your business need a hand staying up to date? Maybe you’re struggling to keep on track with all of the new marketing changes? There’s a lot after all!
Blogging is the act of posting content on a website. They are informal articles written for the purpose of showing thought leadership and expertise on a topic.
All sounds pretty serious right? But don’t worry, it’s not that difficult!
How Blogging Helps your Business
Blogs help your business in a number of ways. They are a great way to generate fresh new content on a website and provide a catalyst for email marketing and social media promotion to improve your SEO and drive search traffic to your website.
Is Blogging Still Relevant?
Yes! Each month, approximately 409 million people view more than 20 billion pages and 77% of internet users, read blogs. That’s a lot of people. This is why 53% of marketers prioritise blogging as their primary content marketing strategy.
Why is Blogging Important?
You will have been told, if you run a business, how important it is for your company to have it found, and to have blogs on your website.
Blogging allows you to share information about your business and its services but it also allows you to share opinions and thoughts on certain topics. It is also a great way to create a personality for your company and makes your business more credible and approachable.
How Blogging Helps SEO
First, what is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving your site to increase its visibility when people search for products or services related to your business in Google, Bing, and other search engines.
But how can blogging help SEO?
It keeps your website fresh and current
It keeps people on your website for longer
A quality blog gives others sites more reasons to link back to your site
A blog helps you connect with your audience
Blogging: Where To Begin
Here’s our top tips for getting started with blogging:
Create engaging titles and DO NOT make them misleading! They’ll only bounce straight off the blog post once they realise it’s about something completely different to what they thought it was going to be.
Use long-tail keywords throughout. These are extremely important for any SEO strategy. Half of all searches are for terms that are four words or longer. But these can be difficult to put into your pages. Don’t know how to use long-tail keywords in your blogs? Click here.
Write about trending topics/questions in your industry. You can do this by searching a keyword e.g. ‘marketing’ or ‘manufacturing’ into Answer The Public or Uber Suggest and see what people are talking about. Create your content around it!
LINK LINK LINK! So much of SEO is about links and internal links are the easiest one’s for you to get since you can create them for yourself. Link to another blog post or a pricing page that’s relevant to the information you’re writing about.
Always include a Call to Action (CTA)!
Already Blogging?
Got some smashing blogs? Great…but don’t stop there! Market your blogs. Update your blogs. Back link in your blogs. Collab with your blogs.
Use blogs to look like the authority in your industry. Use blogs to answer questions your customers have, and ones they didn’t know they had. If you’re too busy to work out how to create, format and promote your content…let us!
CREATIVE in TiME are here to help. We audit, advise, mentor and manage your marketing requirements (and all your blogging needs). Click here to book a discovery call with us.
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