I’m regularly asked by those yet to start a blog what is the best way to go about it? Should there be posts already up upon launch? How many? Do I need a Facebook page? Should I be collecting emails? What’s the best way to design my blog to keep readers on site? What should I invest in, and what can wait?
Starting a new blog can be a daunting, overwhelming experience, but it doesn’t need to be.
When Should You Launch Your New Blog?
To be honest, there isn’t one right answer to this question. Throughout all the questions I’m asked, there’s one common thread: how complete does a blog have to be before I can release it to the world? But everyone’s looking for different things.
Some people like to spend plenty of time and money in preparing their blog for launch, ensuring it’s perfect before an eye ever gets laid on it. Others launch on the fly, learn and tweak as they go, and just get stuck in, making connections and finding readers.
I’ve written plenty of things on the topic, even including a checklist of items to achieve before launch. But the reality is, that’s not going to work for everyone.
In this episode of the ProBlogger podcast, I discuss the difference between an ideal launch scenario and the reality you all find yourselves in. Some of you will take some of the advice, and the rest of you will take a different part. You can mix and match to suit your own pathway of creating a blog you’re proud of at launch time. You want to strike a balance between moving while you’re still in the exciting momentum phase and strategically planning it to death.
This is what I’d focus on:
In this section of the podcast I discuss all the technical stuff like which hosting I’d go for, what platform, etc, but also how to start writing posts and ensure I can keep going in that direction. I’ll talk about how many blog posts I think you should have published and in reserve, what kind of design you should have (paid or free), whether you should have a newsletter in the early days or not, what social media platforms to focus on, and what has worked for me every time I’ve launched a new blog (and what has gone wrong!).
If you’re thinking of starting a new blog and are unsure on a few sections, I hope my story gives you some direction and a renewed enthusiasm to get out there and give it a go!
If you have any questions I’d be happy to hear them – what is your biggest hurdle trying to get your blog launched?
You can find the show notes here.
Further Reading:
- Bite the Bullet and Start Your Blog with this Seven-Point Checklist
- How I’d Promote My Blog If I Were Starting Out Today
- The 5 key elements your blog’s ‘Start Here’ page must have
- Kick-Start Your Blog With These Engaging Content Suggestions
- Home Bases and Outposts – How I use Social Media in My Blogging
Hey Darren,
Some great point in regards to launching a new blog.
Like most things in digital marketing, preparation is a major component of success!
Do you have a surprised blog/written version of this podcast that’s available?
summarised*
Ideally you should have your domain name ready, the web hosting and at least a couple of pages about your company or product.
It helps if you also have a video, google maps address and contact form.
really a domain and important contact form among other things
It is very important to make necessary changes before launching your blog. You also need to create a buzz about your blog on social media so that you will get some initial readership.
Thanks for sharing
-Abhishek
Nice article Darren. Its really very important to look on every aspect of your blog before launching it and you have elaborate things very briefly. Its really become very helpful to guys who are on the way to launch their blog.
I haven’t listened to the podcast yet. But my feeling is that most important thing you need before you launch a blog is CONTENT. I’ve been guilty in the past of getting all excited about themes, plug ins, email subscriptions, pop-ups and everything else before considering whether I have enough motivation and ideas to keep on producing quality content.
Great episode Darren. Your podcast has been a huge help to a beginner blogger. I agree with having content ready before you launch. I found it difficult not publish a few posts because I needed to see how things work on my site while I was developing it. So it did stress my out some knowing that my site was sitting there with only one or two posts. One plugin that I had difficultly finding was a solid social media plugin. I’m using Sumome and it’s solved a lot of issues I was having. I recommend having your social media sharing set up before launch.
Kevin
http://www.thegoodlifesamurai.com