So its 2018. New Year, New Start and New You. To go with this new start, you have decided to start a blog! BUT… you have no clue where to start. Well you’ve come to the right place. After starting my blog I’ve had so many people ask for advice on how to start a blog. So I decided to write a blog on starting a blog! Blogging is such a great way to destress, vent and discuss things you are passionate about; more people should definitely do it.

I came up with 4 awesome tips for anyone thinking about starting a blog. A lot of these are things I wish I knew before starting mine so hopefully they are useful to you too.

1) Who are you writing for?

Figure out who you are writing for. This is my number one tip on writing a successful blog and something I only figured out recently. It is even more important than WHAT you write. You could have the most incredible content in the world but if it’s not something anyone is interested in, then your site is going to bomb. Picture your ideal reader in your head, what are they interested in, what types of social media do they use etc. Once you’ve got that in mind you can easily figure out what to write and where to go to attract people to your blog.

2) What makes you unique?

So you figured out what kind of people you are targeting and what you are going to write. Great! But your blog still isn’t getting that many reads and you don’t get it. Chances are you are not standing out enough. The internet is a very crowded space and it is hard to stand out. There are hundreds of blogs on just about every topic on the planet so you need to pick a Niche. Something really specific that you are interested in. It’s too vague to just write about travelling. Travelling as a student? That’s more specific. Traveling as a broke student? That’s a Niche. A specific topic with a specific target audience that no one else is really covering in detail. Once you get a good following you can expand into more areas outside of your niche that you might be interested in.

3) Pick a Blog Site Builder

Making the blog website is actually the easiest part because sites like WordPress will actually provide you with multiple website templates that you can easily customise to suit you. Its easy to change the layout as your site grows and develops (as I have done many times). Honestly, if I can do it, then anyone can.

4) Just Start It

I could probably have put this as the first tip because a lot of people have so many incredible ideas that never come to life. I actually created my blog website 2 years ago and never posted on it because I was too scared about people’s opinions. I didn’t think anyone would be interested and I didn’t know if I could do it. A whole bunch of excuses that stopped me doing something I really enjoy. Running a blog is a learning curve that I am still very much on. But the only way you will figure out exactly what works is by making a couple of mistakes along the way. There will always be an excuse as to why you shouldn’t start your blog and there will never be ‘the right time’. Just take a leap and start writing today.

Hopefully this has helped some of you thinking of starting a blog. Before I started my blog I read a lot of great books like the Million Dollar Blog by Natasha Courtenay-Smith that I would definitely recommend. If you have more specific questions or just want to share your own opinions/ ideas, leave a comment.