Blogging in Nigeria
How to Start a Blog & Make Money in Nigeria. Blogging is a very well-known topic this recent times because it makes it uncomplicated for ordinary persons to share their thoughts or ideas online. In this article, I will guide you on how to begin a blog and make money off it.
Reasons to Start a Blog.
A blog is a substantial marketing tool for enterprises. But the popularity of blogging is mostly because it also offers casual people the chances to become stars as well as build a reasonable living from their blogs.
Nevertheless, amateur bloggers frequently do not get what it requires to start a blog and make it successful. Few think it is about issuing a few posts on their site and relax for the money to fly in.
Others believe it is all about imitating other people’s articles or post and pasting them on their site. But, neither of these strategies actually works, no wonder the empirical rate of blogs is very high.
One does not just start a blog now and start making money instantly. It takes a while and enough time to build, maintain, and nurture it. This is why it is significant to know how to blog.
How to Begin a Blog (How to Start a Blog & Make Money in Nigeria)
What comes next is a guide on how to begin a blog.
Step 1: Select what to Blog about
One of the first verdicts you make after choosing to start a blog is to figure out what to blog about. Some new bloggers fall into the ploy of writing about anything and everything that comes to the heart.
Indeed, blogging is about sharing your research, experiences, and thought. But if you have an interest in professional blogging that research or thought must be targeted at a generally defined audience.
Bearing in mind that one of the aims of professional bloggers is to develop a reputation. Indeed, you can not make a reputation on everything.
You need to develop a reputation on one thing. This is why prior to you starting a blog, you have to give a large firm thought on what you desire to be blogging on.
Your blog should be regarding your interest and zeal. It should be about a subject you are cheerful discussing. It should be on something you have passion for.
Passion is very significant in blogging. The reason is that it takes time and energy to develop a reputation and make money from blogs. And without emotion, it is easy to you will undoubtedly give up at least once a while, until you certainly give up ultimately.
To discover your passion and your interests, you need to brainstorm. Asking yourself the following questions would help:
-What do you spend your money on?
~The type of movies do you watch
-What kinds of websites do you often visit?
~What subjects do you often converse on with your friends?
-What are your hobbies?
~The types of books and magazines you go true?
When choosing what to write on, it is essential to choose a niche with a sizable audience. Do not choose a focus area that is so dissimilar that you are practically the only person involved in it.
Step 2: Choose a Blog Platform
A blogging platform is an online software that allow you to make and manage a blog. A blogging platform gives you an effortless interface for posting content to your site.
You can write, construction, and edit your writeups, as well as add photos and videos to your article via your blogging platform.
The blog platform also generates an easy interface for customizing the appearance and quality of your blogs. They also offer plug-ins and widgets for expanding the functionality of your blog and delivering it more useful to your audience.
Although you can change your platform whenever you want, getting it right the first time is essential. Switching blogging platforms may require some professional skills. So, you should take your selection of a blog platform serious.
I know this because I happened to switch this blog from one platform to another blogging platform sometime in the past and had to face a lot of difficulties doing so. So, I will caution that before you commence a blog, you think long and hard, also do some research about the blogging platform.
It is advisable for you to use WordPress. Most bloggers use this platform, and yes, WordPress was the blogging platform I changed to. You grow in blogging, develop yourself more. And it happens that I had outgrown my former platform and needed something more mature, and more flexible, and WordPress was all that for me.
WordPress has numerous plug-ins that can be used to add lots of functionality to your blog site and offers another level of modifications that no other blogging platform provides. Besides, WordPress has a large population of users that can assist you with any difficulty you may run into.
Note that there are two varieties of WordPress: WordPress.com and WordPress.org. I am suggesting WordPress.org, the self-hosted version. WordPress.com is identical to Blogger and share some of its restrictions.
So, I suggest that if you have plans to start a blog soon, WordPress should be your number one choice. You can also select from other blogging platforms like Tumblr, Blogger.com, and Medium.
To avoid confusion, the remainder of this article will be based on WordPress.org.
Step 3: Choose a Domain Name
The domain name also is known as the site name in some cases of your blog is its primary address on the internet, for instance, the domain name of this blog is www.angelistech.com
A domain name is another small detail you want to get settled before you begin a blog. Here are some clues on how to pick a domain name for your blog:
Choose short, easily memorable domain names – Some of the most popular domains are compact and significant.
Use a popular TLD (Top Level Domain) – Top Level Domains TLDs are characters that end a domain name, eg. .com, .net, .org. .com is the most common and traditional top-level domain and should be your number one choice. You can also try .org and .net, whichever one rocks your boat.
Attach your keyword to your domain – If it is possible, add your main keyword to your domain name.
Consider future developments – When choosing your domain name, you want to consider the forthcoming expansion for your blog or site.
Avoid using other people’s trademark names and certified names – Avoid using a company or business brand names in your domain or registered accredited brand names. This will guarantee you do not run into legal dispute the following day.
In the same style, your blog name should be as short as it can be, memorable, and also, avoid using other persons brand names or certified names.
You have selected a domain name for your site, but the domain name does not become yours until you indeed register it. Besides the domain you have taken may have been acquired by another individual. So, you want to check for availability foremost.
To register a domain name, you need the services of a domain name registrar. At the website of the domain name registrar you can explore for the availability of the one you fancy and if it is available, you can purchase it.
You may also decide to obtain your domain name from your hosting company, which will be discussed in the next step. Likewise, you can also choose to host your blog using the domain name registrar.
There are a number of competent domain name registrars out there. You can use GoDaddy or Namecheap for all your domain name registration. I recommend them, and you can try them out.
Step 4: Choose a Web Hosting Company
After choosing your domain name, the next thing is to host your blog.
A web hosting company is a service that saves the files that make up your blog on servers connected to the internet in such a way that they are readily available to your audience through your domain name.
The articles on your blog, as well as the pictures and other content are all saved for you by the web host. All you require to do is connect your domain name with the web host’s servers and you are cleared to go.
However, if you purchase your domain name straight from your web hosting service, you will not need to connect the two as they will be linked automatically.
One significant hosting tip if you plan to embark on blogging is that some hosting companies will present you a free domain name as part of your hosting plan. This may seem appropriate initially but will make moving your blog difficult.
There are lots of hosting companies to determine from. It is best to choose one with a good reputation. I suggest you use GoDaddy, JustHost, HostGator, and Tiger Technologies for your websites and they will all serve you well. This blog, for instance, is hosted on Tiger Technologies.
Tiger Technologies is excellent, however, because they have a pretty fast server speed when compared to the ordinary speed of a lot of hosting companies.
When Moving a blog you would needed a hosting company that should be capable of matching the speed of Google servers, Tiger Technologies does a good job as the hosting platform that came close while conducting my tests.
Other services you should also bear in mind for the web hosting of your blogs are Bluehost and LiquidWeb.
The Best Hosting platforms offer a user friendly interface for connecting WordPress and other blogging platforms you may have preferred.
These days, because of the reputation of WordPress, good hosting platforms now offer hosting services optimized to manage WordPress very efficiently.
They are called managed WordPress hosting and are advised if you plan to start a blog on WordPress. Here are some of the most reliable WordPress Hosting.
Hosting a blog can require you between $4 monthly for a petite blog to up to $60 monthly for blogs with heavy traffic.
Another hosting hint to keep at heart when you plan to commence a blog is that the first year (or first session payment) of hosting could be discounted. For instance, a web hosting company may charge you as little as $1 a month for the first year and $5 or possibly more on succeeding years.
So, in assessing your cost pay more attention to the true price rather than the discounted price. Discounts can as high as 90% in some situations.
Hosting companies offer various plans; usually, you could begin your blog with the entry plan, which can run between $4 and $10 per month depending on the hosting platform. Nonetheless, it may be better to start your blog using the mid-range plan to give more interest in case your blog develops quick.
However, regardless of the hosting plan you pick, it is necessary to ensure that the hosting company proposes you an easy path to relocate to a higher plan without interrupting traffic to your blogs.
Although most web hosting organizations offer monthly payment choices for their hosting plans, It is advisable for you to pay for at least 12 months if you sincerely want to start a blog.
the reason is because it takes time to build a flourishing blog. Paying for just a month at a time makes it effortless to give up if things are not going the way you planned the first few weeks.
Obtaining a long term commitment on your hosting can motivate you to try harder through the very tiring early stage of blogging.
Step 5: Install WordPress
Now you have an address for your blog and hosting plan for storing your content in, you are now going to install the blogging platform that will empower you easily manage your blog.
Recognize that in step 2, I advised that you start your blog with WordPress. I am presuming you took my advice. Installing WordPress is not as tiresome as it sounds.
You do not need to download anything nor do you need to upload anything. the reason is because the best hosting services already have WordPress on their servers, all you need to do is to press a button to begin the installation process and in less than a minute you could have WordPress ready to power your blog.
To start a blog on WordPress, just find the relevant link to click once you are in the user panel of your hosting account.
If you selected Tiger Technologies as your hosting company, look for the aptly named Install WordPress link. If on the different aspect you picked HostGator, you should watch for the WordPress Installer.
regardless of the hosting company you choose, it will be simply to find the relevant link or key to initiate the process of installing WordPress.
Once you press on the link or key, you will be asked to specify the domain name you desire to install WordPress on.
During setup, you will also be needed to insert your site name as well as the username and password that you will give you access to the administration area of your blog. Your email address will also be needed.
When inputting your password, make sure you select something difficult to guess and something you can easily remember. It is also a good idea to keep away from using admin as the username.
Installing WordPress is straightforward and takes no time at all, and in the finish, you will receive an email with the link to the admin section of your blog where you can immediately resume developing your blog.
Step 6: Design your Blog
With WordPress installed successfully it is now safe to say that you are officially ready to start a blog.
You should now sign-in to the admin section of your blog and start to tweak the design and layout. The first thing to attend to is to adjust the permalinks. Go to Settings, select Permalinks, and choose the post name choice.
The post name option is the ablest for an SEO-friendly link.
The following task should be selecting a theme to use for your blog. There are a plenty of free themes that come with your WordPress installation. Just go to the appearance, select Themes section to choose a theme.
The themes you see in this segment come pre-installed and are habitually the default themes and the themes installed by yourself.
To see more available themes, click on the Add New key. Hereabouts you will see lots and lots of themes to select from.
You can also just easily click any of the themes to get to a dedicated viewing page for the theme.
You can also go to sites like ThemeForest, ThemeJunkie, or Mojo Marketplace to purchase a more professional premium looking WordPress theme for your blog. A premium WordPress theme would run between $30 to $50 a pop.
If you obtain your theme from a theme marketplace (or from any other source and created one yourself), you have to firstly download it (in .zip file format) on your PC, and afterward upload it to WordPress.
To upload a theme to WordPress, go to the Appearance section, select Themes, then select the Add New button. Click on the Upload Themes key.
Clicking on the Upload Themes button will disclose the browse button.
Using the Browse button, find the theme files (in .zip format) on your computer and press the Install Now button.
After installing your theme you can customise it. Go through the Appearance area to see available options for customising your blog.
When starting a blog, it is a brilliant idea to choose a theme with an active design. This assures your blog adapts to various devices, from full-fledged computers to mobile phones.
Step 7: Install Essential Plug-ins
At this juncture, your new blog is ready to go. You have all that you need to start blogging.
WordPress appears with everything you need, but with a few essential plug-ins, you can overtone your blog for success.
To install plug-ins, go to Plug-ins> Add New, and then search for any plug-in you require and install it.
Here are a few major and essential WordPress plug-ins if you need to start a blog the proper way:
JetPack: This is a series of software from WordPress. They offer security and help your website boot faster. You also get related posts, social share buttons, among other valuable features.
Yoast SEO: The best plug-in to manipulate SEO for your blog. Handle content, duplication, metatags, etc. Also creates a sitemap
WP Smush: This plug-in will compress your pictures, making them lighter, which the outcome will be making your blog loading faster.
Relevanssi: This grants better search capability than WordPress’ follow come search.
W3 Super Cache: This assist in caching your blog. With a cache, your blog will boot faster and use more bandwidth, which will make sure you do not simply over-shoot the server resources allotted to you by your hosting company. You may also use W3 Total Cache.
There are numerous plug-ins, but these five are sufficient to commence a blog supercharged. As your need grows, you can use more plug-ins.
You can also download premium plug-ins on your PC and then upload them to WordPress. Go to Plug-ins, select Add New, then use the Upload Plug-in key.
You have to install and activate a plug-in for it to begin working on your blog.
Step 8: Start adding content
While having a fine looking blog is fabulous, you should not pay great attention so much on looks originally, especially at the expense of constructing content on your site.
While you are creating a great looking blog, you also need to be adding amazing content to it. You must learn how to write good and proper content for your blog.
If at any point you are wondering what a great article looks like. Here is a brief qualification of a great content:
It is helpful and has keywords in all the appropriate places
It must answer a fundamental question (or one fundamental question and several other related questions)
A Great Content must be special
A Great Content is simple to read and easy to understand
It incorporates images when necessary
Note that content is not necessarily only articles and text and pictures. Content includes webinar, videos, slideshows, infographic, podcast, etc
It is also essential to add new content frequently to your blog.
Step 9: Implement Performance Tracking
Once you get an amount of posts and articles under your belt (say about 5 or 10 or even more), you should next register your blog with search engine webmaster tools (like Bing and Google) and add tracking and analytics code (Google Analytics) to your site.
The webmaster tools provide useful information concerning the SEO health of your blog. Make sure you submit an XML sitemap to aid search engines index your blog quicker.
Tracking services like Google Analytics offers lots of handy information about your traffic and readers. These will enable you write more conventional content to satisfy your readers.
Step 10: Integrate Blog with Social Media
Social Media is a huge deal in this recent times with billions of users on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. This is the reason your blog needs to be on social media platforms.
Create social media accounts for your blog. You do not have to be in available in all of them. Choose the social network that is used by most persons in your niche.
Build your fans and frequently share your post with them. Sharing your posts is very essential because social Media is one of the signal search engines like Google use in determining importance and authority.
Blogging is not difficult; putting Ads on your site is also not difficult, the hard part is making money from your blog. Forthwith let’s see what you must do to start making money from your blog.
What it demands to Make Money from Blogging
When you chose to start a blog, it is normally about making money. However, for a blog to make money, two attributes are required.
First, you need to develop an audience, and then your audience needs to trust you and see you as a professional in the niche.
To begin a blog and make it successful, you must to know how to develop your blogging reputation as a professional.
You cannot create your blogging reputation by copying other persons’ work; neither can you create a reputation if you are blogging about everything and anything. Your blog must be known for something, thus having a niche.
This is why you should take my counseling in step 1 about how niche blogging is the choicest way to begin a blog for real. It is easier to make a blogging reputation if you concentrate on a niche.
Can you explain the purpose of your blog in one statement? If you can’t, then your audience will find it hard classifying it.
Developing your blogging reputation solely means making it uncomplicated for your clients to associate your blog with your content.
So that every time they think of your niche, they think regarding your blog. For example, if your blogging content is about clothes or fashion, having a good reputation implies that people looking for clothes or fashion concept will have your blog on top of their thoughts as well as recommend it to their folks.
The truth is that it demands time and hard work to develop a blog authority. So you must be passionate regarding your niche to pull through. It will also need time to make money.
To develop a reputation, you need to offer different, fresh, relevant, and quality content. You need not post every day, but if you do it has to be excellent.
Distinguish yourself from other blogs in your niche. And in addition, open social media accounts (including Google+) for your blogs and interact with your followers actively.
Make it effortless for your audience to engage with you by making available feed subscriptions, shares buttons, and like buttons for your social networks.
As for the next part, which is developing traffic, it goes simultaneously with creating a blogging reputation. Good content is the most important, greatest, and biggest asset to invest in when you start a blog. Having unique, well-investigated, well researched, and well-written content or article on your blog will keep the audience coming back for extra.
Search engines must be top on your traffic developing strategy when you start a blog. The reason is that most people use search engines when searching for information on the web.
So, you need to study the latest SEO strategies and apply them to your blogs. Furthermore, do not neglect other traffic sources like social media, email lists, feeds, blog directories, etc.
Once you have a reasonable amount of traffic and authority for your blogs, making money becomes simple. You can place your ads on your site, sell directly to your guests, or use advertising channels like Adsense and you will see genuine results.
You might now be questioning how to create your authority and traffic. Well, it is not a precise science, but this is an editorial about how to start a blog and make money. So, the least I can do is give some points.
How to Grow Traffic and Authority
You want to start a blog that gives you money, don’t you? Here are three moves to guide you:
Research the most popular problems, needs, desires, wants, issues, etc. of people in your niche.
Investigate the best solutions for these problems, needs, desires, wants, issues, etc
Generate good quality content (articles, infographic, videos, podcasts, etc.) that serves or provides solutions analysis in step 1 based on your investigation in step 2.
Do these all always without disregarding all the other tips dotted around this article, and you will end up a prosperous blogger.
So, for amateur bloggers planning to start a blog, my advice is simple. Learn how to develop your authority and traffic first and keep making money for after.
Even if you put plenty of ads on a blog site with little traffic and poor admin, it will make either nothing or very limited. So, now you know the secret of how to start a blog and make money.
