Are you starting your first blog? Looking for some tips and advice for new bloggers?
I just received a tweet from @MillerMosaicLLC asking for some links to posts about starting a blog so I thought instead of just replying to her I’d compile the list here as a post for new bloggers. There are literally thousands of posts in the ProBlogger archives for bloggers starting out – but these would be a good place to start.
Update: Check out our brand new tutorial – How to Start a Blog in which I outline 5 simple steps to getting your blog up and running.
Posts on Starting a Blog
There is a lot to think about before and during the process of starting your first blog. These tips and tutorials attempt to give you some questions to think about and some advice on how to practically move forward:
- 3 Factors to Consider Before Starting a Blog – Maintaining Blogging Momentum
- 9 Tips to Start Blogging Successfully
- Starting a New Blog? Start With a Mind Map (will help in choosing topics and categories for your blog)
- Crawl before you walk: 6 Step-by-step Instructions for Starting your First Blog
- 23 Questions for Prospective Bloggers – Is a Blog Right for You?
- How to Choose a Niche Topic for Your Blog
- Choosing a Blog Platform
- Choosing a Domain Name for your Blog
Writing Blog Content
At the core of every successful blog is great content – without it starting a new blog is almost pointless. How you define ‘great’ content will vary from person to person but I generally put it down to content that is unique and useful. Here are a few other tutorials and tips on creating this type of content on your first blog.
- Discover Hundreds of Post Ideas for Your Blog with Mind Mapping
- 21 Ways to Write Posts that Are Guaranteed to Grow Your Blog
- How to Launch a Blog and Have Fresh Content for Weeks
- How to Craft a Blog Post
Blog Promotion/Finding Readers
When starting a your first blog one of the most challenging things is that it is hard to find readers. We all want to be read – here are a few tips on how to make this happen and then how to keep those new readers:
- 13 Ways to Promote Your Next Blog Post
- How I’d Promote My Blog if I Were Starting Out Again
- How to Market Your Blog in 2007 (still very relevant)
- 19 Strategies for Finding Readers for your Blog
- 11 Ways to Find New RSS Subscribers for Your Blog
- A Secret to Finding New Subscribers for Your Blog
- 21 Ways to Make Your Blog Sticky
Making Money from Blogs
Not all bloggers choose to try to make money from their blogs (I think this is a good thing). But if you’re one that does want to make money from your new blog then here are a few tips and articles for you to start with:
- How I Make Money Blogging
- How Bloggers Make Money
- Make Money Online Blogs – Should You Start One and How to Choose a Profitable Topic
- How quickly after starting a blog should I put ads on it?
- How Much Should I Charge for my Advertising Space?
- A Reality Check about Blogging for Money
Further Reading and Resources on Starting a New Blog
If what I’ve listed above isn’t enough – here are a few other resources for those wanting to invest into starting out with a blog.
- ProBlogger the Book – This book (in which I am a co-author) was written for the beginner blogger. It contains up to date and logically ordered advice on starting new and profitable blogs.
- Training Programs – Two great courses/coaching programs for new bloggers are Blog Mastermind and Become a Blogger. Blog Mastermind is a paid coaching program that is one of the more comprehensive training resources going around. Become a Blogger is series of free videos and a great free report/roadmap. It also has a paid program which is ideal for those just starting out. Both of these courses are by Yaro Starak – a great blogger.
- Archives – there are a lot more posts that are relevant for bloggers starting their first blogs in the archives of ProBlogger. Another good place to find some of them is my Blogging for Beginners Series helpful. I’ve mentioned some of the posts in this series above but there are a lot more ‘beginner’ type tips and articles listed in it.
- Recommended Blogging Resources – lastly I’ve put together a page of tools and resources for bloggers. It covers blogging platforms, designs/templates, tools, training and monetization. I hope you find them useful.
I hope you find these articles and resources helpful!
Thanks for the compilation Darren!
Just what I needed since I have just started my other blog.
http://pinoyingermany.blogspot.com/
I highly recommend the Blogging for Beginners series. It was super helpful to me when I was starting.
Nice list, would have been much more useful if I had looked for it, oh, 3 month ago. But who knew that blogging was so difficult?
Thank You for this sugar post, Sweet!
Mmmmm…..Useful Resources!
I am sending this off to like 50 people right now….. …..so I dont have to answer these questions all day, lol
Great article and great tips. Thanks for the compilation. I’ve been learning a lot with problogger.net.
Regards,
Monthiel
This is great Darren… my friends who are new bloggers can find this very helpful! I certainly can use it as well as a refresher for my site.
This is really is good tip about how to write a quick and effective blog post.
Tanks, for the info I had no clue that you could make money from my blog. I will look in to this a bit more thanks for the head start.
Nice list; plenty of stuff here to keep people busy for a long time.
The place I keep seeing people getting stuck, though, is in figuring out the technical parts of their blog. Sure, WordPress is a 5-minute install… but then what? Keeping up with updates, adding features, customizing the design…
As a webdesigner myself, I can’t tell you how many people I see get slammed by this. I train people not just to use WordPress, but to understand the css/html/php side of things, too, so they don’t feel handicapped when it comes to dealing with the #1 tool in their business – their site itself.
Anyhoo – again, great list; one for the bookmarks.
(Hope you’re surviving the summer heat alright, Darren!)
This great! I can’t wait to read. I started my blog a few months ago and have decided to revamp it so all information is needed.
These are really gold mines and we are getting these at free of costs. Thanks for this.
Seems to me that I got all the quota for my coming weekends and may be this one will take more than that to understand and research about it.
Thanks! I find this post very helpful!
Darren,
Wow. This is not just for new blogs this is a library of resources for all bloggers. I’ll admit that I am not exactly a veteran but this is a great resource for anyone who blogs. Thank you for the wealth of information.
Jeremy
Refocusing Technology
Nice list of resources. I was a big fan of the article: “How To Craft A Blog Post”.
Yeah this post make me have a more strategy.
If someone ever wondered why Darren is one of the top resources for newbie bloggers or any blogger for that matter this article shows it all.
I did a retweet of this article..
WTG.. Darren.
Cheers…
Wow. Thanks for this. I’ve not seen such a comprehensive list in a long while.
Excellent resource Darren, I hope you dont mind me adding my own link here. I dont usually however I know it would help people.
Blogging Mistakes, my 11 mistakes written about and explained.
http://back-links.org/11-things-to-consider-before-you-start-blogging/
ProBlogger was the first blog I ever laid eyes on and the one I always come back to for any question about blogging. Great resource to bookmark. Thanks Darren.
Wow, this is the mother load of fabulous information!
Thanks! :)
Great tips, thanks! I just started blogging for Mindjet at http://blog.mindjet.com. As you can imagine, I’m using mind mapping every step of the way from idea creation, writing and promoting. Have any advice or articles on the difference between corporate blogging and independent blogging?
Again, thanks. I’m going to be diving into all these posts!
Michael Deutch / Mindjet
@MichaelDeutch
I have to say Darren, you own the topic. You sure do keep bringing out content that brings me back to your site. My site isn’t about making money, but it does require the kind of information that you explore on your site.
Thanks for the help! I just started my own page with blogs!
This is really a good list as it helps me a lot. Thanks Darren.
I am bookmarking this one! It looks like I have a lot of reading a head of me.
Thank you for the resources.
Sheila
Darren, you’re a true gentleman. Thanks for the list and the mention.
Great resources. I’m a few months along in my blog but I still find many of these useful.
I think the important thing that people need to understand is that a blog requires a multi pronged approach to really become visible just like any other website.
Darren, thanks for this great series. I am just starting this fun process so these resources are just what I need!
Darren,
Your article is very informational. I am starting a blog page in which I give my opinions about President Barack Obama. I will use these tips when I work on my site. My site address is:
http://www.educateaboutobama.blogspot.com
Very helpful post. Getting started with a new blog involves so much work in so many areas that it’s great to have a bunch of resources in one place.
Great tips and ideas. Thanks so much for sharing these. I will pass this great information on.
This one is going in the ‘Read Each Week For New Ideas’ file! What a great collection of posts. Thanks for sharing with all of us.
Great tips and information. I will for sure pass this information out. Thanks so much for this plethora of information.
I always enjoy your posts Darren, thanks for putting them together like this. Like many others, I’m bookmarking this for reference. Thanks!
Darren, your a real pro mate. Always worth coming back to see what your blogging about.
I would have to say that is a great compiled list of articles for beginners.
Great tips all in one place. I have been blogging for a while but never thought about it in ways like yours.
Thanks!
This post should be put on your main page or somewhere that’s easy to be accessed as you’ll find the same request over and over again throughout the years :D
these are just amazing tips from beginners to advanced level bloggers, Really worth reading post for bloggers like us.
Thanks Darren
my blog which i started is http://techno-chek.blogspot.com
I hope i have started good now..
Cheers,
Jas
I had a brief discussion with a charming .Au lady yesterday.
In the talk we found a common interest and I promised I would blog about the experience. I did write it, took hours and now I’m petrified to publish it. You really can’t ask someone for their opinions without publishing it though can you? Her name by the way D was@suziecheel. Any thoughts for squeemish bloggers?
cheers,
These tips are excellent. Last year I had begun to explore the the many uses of mind mapping tools. Incorporating them into our writing as a habit will surely help expand and grow ideas and topics for blogging. I’m thankful for that reminder among the other gems here! =)
Woooow a very good summary. Have added this post to my favorites for future reference.
dats really cool Darren..I will like to implement all
Nice list Darren, one you may wish to include as a separate post link is commenting in related communities / blogs to get your name known.. :)
Read your article gave me great help, thank you! This is a great article, and again expressed his thanks!
Excellent article, I will definitely be referencing it for many days to come for more ideas. I just started a personal blog to learn WordPress and get my feet wet wtih blogging. Thanks!
Wonderful article Darren! I have also presented a list of blog ideas as well as stressed on the point about taking your time and creating original content. Patience is virtue to blogging success and that is at the heart of http://www.askbajwa.com!
This is a great list. Thank you for sharing it. I see and preach the value of blogging but staying on top of it is another thing altogether.