The term Blog is probably quite familiar to many people, but in order to understand exactly what a blog is, not everyone can explain it.
Let’s learn more about what a Blog is and how to create a free Blog for individuals or businesses. Especially how to make money blogging !
1. What is a blog?
Blog is the abbreviation for weblog (electronic diary), which appeared in 1999. It is a form of online article sharing information about a specific topic of an individual or group.
Bloggers will rely on their own knowledge, research, and experience to share in their articles.
What is the purpose of blogging?
The general purpose of using a Blog is a place for those who want to share individual or collective views on a specific issue. Specific examples:
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- You love and are passionate about the topic of travel and want to share it with the community
- You are doing a project related to the community such as environmental protection.
- If you are a new business you want to introduce your brand to potential consumers and attract their attention.
The more quality articles are regularly posted to your Blog, the more likely it is that your website will become more popular and have more customer traffic. Thanks to that, you will build your brand and create trust for readers.
Blog Web Structure
Similar to a website, blogging also has its own structure and usually has the following parts:
- Menu, navigation bar in the header
- Content area
- The left or right side of the interface is called the widget, which contains related articles of high interest, advertising banners, or email forms for users to register.
- The website footer has contact information, site policies, etc.
2. What is blogging?
Starting to explode right from the beginning of 2000, Blogging is an informal term and is understood as a content writing skill and operational skill that a person needs to run and control a Blog. Combined with internet tools to help you write, share and link easily.
Blogging was developed as an official platform where news and information are updated, and importantly, you can read it for free and can choose to follow each Blog according to your interests.
So who is the person who carries out the blogging process? Let’s move on to the next content.
3. What is a blogger?
Blogger is a word used to refer to a person who operates a Blog website, specializing in writing diaries and sharing information online with readers, with a variety of writing topics.
In fact, if the Internet is an open world, so are Bloggers, most Bloggers blog online everywhere.
4. History of Blogs and Blogging
The predecessor of “blog” is “weblog” which was born in December 1997 by Jorn Barger. Then, in the 2000s, the “golden age” of blogging and blogging began to have a strong influence, many platforms specifically for bloggers appeared massively, especially the emergence of blogs. political.
Jorn Barger – father of Blog
The following year was the birth of WordPress, which changed completely because creating a Blog became simpler than ever, marking a milestone in the development of programming and Website design.
Blogging began to attract a lot of attention, because at this time famous blog websites such as ProBlogger.net or JohnChow.com were making money from advertisements.
5. Difference between Blog and Website
Usually it is difficult for us to distinguish the difference between Website and Blog. To make it easier to understand, you can imagine that a Blog page will continuously update new article content regularly, while a Website usually has “static” content that rarely changes.
As for blog posts and websites, they are also clearly distinguished, such as:
- Blog posts will be arranged in the order the newest post appears first, by default the home page is the page containing blog posts.
- The web pages on the website are often in a “static” state with few changes, and articles are not updated regularly. However, the main website is the home page with navigation bars to help readers move to each section or article. that they want to see.
In addition, the blog also maximizes interaction with users, where they can share and comment on each article.
6. The value of blogging
Although a blog is a place for individuals or groups to express their interests and passions about a certain field, it also has the responsibility of ensuring customers are regularly updated with information like a news channel. official.
Therefore, creating a good blog helps you gain a certain credibility, when many people visit your business blog, helping you increase your brand recognition.
Unlike a website, a blog is where readers can interact with your business. Bloggers will be people who share their thoughts and perceptions on a topic, so they can also earn money from their blogging through third parties.
Because you will be paid by a third party to place ads on your site, when visitors see the third party’s advertising banner, if they click on it, it will bring you income. If it’s your business page, then people who are reading about your own products are potential customers.
7. How to make money blogging?
There are many ways to create a blog to make money, in this article we will list the 3 most popular types of blogging to make money:
- Make money from Affiliate Marketing
If your Web Blog is a reputable and well-known site. Affiliates can contact you to use your Blog to advertise other people’s products for a commission.
Lazada Affiliate Marketing Program
In addition, you can also make money as an affiliate through marketing partners such as Accesstrade, Lazada, Shopee
- Make money with PPC advertising
For some people who create blogs for entertainment needs (game instructions, story blogs, etc.), they will earn very high money from PPC (pay per click) advertising.
- Sell your own products/services
There are many forms of advertising your own products/services such as Facebook, Google Ads, posting on personal Facebook, Zalo, etc. However, you need support tools and costs. Therefore, to ensure safety and bring higher purchase conversion rates is to combine blogging and SEO
Blogger Hannah Olala shares beauty secrets and sells cosmetics for famous brands
SEO costs less and will be more sustainable than other forms of advertising (because once you reach the top position, you will no longer have to spend money on maintenance and still maintain your position).
8. Two best free Blog creation platforms
To start creating the best and most effective free Blog, you can refer to two blogging platforms: WordPress and SAAS, however each platform has its own advantages and disadvantages. Please consider before making a decision!
a) WordPress
Currently, WordPress is the most commonly used and trusted platform. Many large companies are choosing this platform to build their websites and blogs.
Advantage:
- Has earning potential
- Good SEO
- Customize the look and feel and add functionality quickly
- Add and meet quality plugins for all your purposes.
Defect:
- You need time to learn WordPress and control it yourself.
- You will be the one to manage and control everything: security, troubleshooting, data backup, installation, design.
b) SAAS – Web-based applications (WordPress.com, Blogger.com, Storychief.io,…)
Advantage:
- Start fast
- Easy to use
- No cost (free)
Defect:
- Articles are not guaranteed if SAAS is closed, because if you convert to WordPress, you will still have to pay for redirect links, reinstallation and SEO.
- Earning capacity will be affected. Are there any restrictions on advertising and affiliate marketing?
- You will not be able to build a website according to your preferences. Because this platform will limit your website customization and functionality.
9. Instructions for creating a free personal blog
If you have chosen a blogging platform, go to the step of creating your blog. This article will introduce you how to create a complete personal blog in just 10 simple steps.
Step 1: Choose the object you target
When you start your own blog, the first thing you have to think about is your target audience.
- Who are you blogging for?
- Who do you want to read your blog posts?
First, you must consider and consider the field you are writing about and what topic you are covering and why you chose this topic. Finding an audience will help you get ideas for the content you want to create.
Step 2: Brainstorm content ideas regularly based on your market segment
Because when you start a blog, you want to provide consistent, quality, and regular content. However, this is not easy at all, as creating content is a time-consuming job. You also want your content to be shared by readers, which will help improve your SEO.
To start brainstorming content, you need to consider what your competitors are doing and combine SEO research to gauge how much users are searching and interested in the topic you want to write about. Tools like SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner to support you
Analyze your content regularly so you always have ideas for your content.
Step 3: Research and review a content management system (CMS).
A CMS is a tool you use to design, manage, and edit content posted on your website.
Choose the right CMS platform for blogging
You need to check whether the CMS has all the features of a blog hosting or not, if not, you will consider other CMS options that can integrate with your website or search for a CMS that is suitable for the site.
Step 4: Create a blog strategy and edit content
Just like building a business, you need to have a similar strategy. So to know how to write content, you must answer the following questions:
- Who is your audience?
- What content will you create?
- What time will you post?
- Where will you promote your content?
In short, you need to have a mission, vision, and goals for your blog.
Then, you start scheduling content editorial so that the content is controlled and on track. Scheduling will also help you keep track of what posts are coming up, making sure writers are on time and coming up with content ideas for the future.
Step 5: Pay attention to the article structure
When you write articles on your blog, you need to pay attention to the article structure.
Such as:
- Are you using subheadings to break up your posts for easy understanding?
- Are you using bullet points and images especially if you design an infographic to make the post easier to read.
These are important factors that will help retain your readers.
Additionally, you will have to make sure that you are using a call to action (CTA), which will guide readers on what you want them to do next. Here’s how you can start making money and generating leads from your blog.
Step 6: Become an expert in Marketing and promoting your Blog
You can use social networks, SEO, websites or emails to reach your potential customers.
Beauty blogger Hanah often shares useful articles on her personal Facebook page
Step 7: Learn SEO
Through SEO, you can get organic traffic and customers can read your blog posts.
Besides, you want your Blog to be more successful, learn how to research keywords, how to rank in search engines and how to build an SEO strategy as well as how to write an SEO standard article .
Step 8: Use multiple blog post formats
Your blog posts must always be interesting and attractive to readers. You should not follow the same article format to avoid boring readers. Consider using how-to posts, list-based posts.
Step 9: Reuse old content
Keeping blog content consistent is often difficult, but you don’t need to waste any effort rewriting the article. You can update old articles to be accurate and comprehensive. Additionally, you can take your other content, maybe a YouTube video or a podcast, and repurpose it into a blog post.
Currently, Youtube videos are a hotter trend. Everyone, everyone is rushing to make YouTube content videos. As a Marketer, of course you can’t help but keep up with trends, so let’s see what video content is right away !
Step 10: Analyze competition
To understand your audience, analyze the competition to assess the strengths and weaknesses of current competitors. This helps you identify trends, uncover content that is not stable in your industry, and gives you ideas for blog topics and ways to promote.
Doing this analysis will help you build and iterate your Google Blog strategy.
10. Conclusion
Thus, to be able to build and create an effective blog requires many steps and factors to achieve success for an individual or business.
If you like writing and just see this as a hobby, you can still develop it into blogging to make money – a profession for a living. Because most people like to read, to experience interesting things happening everywhere.
Moreover, if you are doing business or you are a business, then Blog is a great potential support that you cannot ignore, an extremely effective Online Marketing and customer interaction tool.