How to Start Writing a Blog in 10 Steps – Part 2

1. Choose the appearance of your blog

When choosing your blog “theme” there’s a large number of free as well as paid themes available, but you can also customise your website the way you like (which, of course, requires some extra knowledge, or get someone else to do it for you).

The style and theme of your blog should reflect the blog’s content because an integral whole makes a great first impression. For instance, a light-hearted blog goes well with vivid colours, beauty blogs often have pastel colours, you can’t go wrong with blue if you’re writing about underwater diving... Luckily, just browsing the internet a bit is enough to find something to your liking (and, perhaps, you won’t even have to make any alterations).

2. Install any required plug-ins

Yes, even before you start writing, there’s some technical stuff you need to deal with first. Plug-ins are software components that add functionality to your website – they serve as antivirus protection, offer insight into the website traffic, enable video playback or image viewing in the form of galleries, display social network icons on your website etc. You can find plenty of articles on the internet that list plug-ins which are strongly recommended.

3. Create the first pages of your blog

Even before you start writing the first posts, create a page with a short description of yourself and your blog. Then add contact information (on the same page or create a new one) and, what’s also important, add a link to a page with information about privacy policy and data collection (those cookies that aren’t baked in your grandma’s oven).

4. Start making posts

There, it’s finally time to start writing! A blog with a single post is going to look a bit boring, so you should write at least 5–10 posts before your “official launch”.

After you’re finished writing, the posts (usually) need to be visually edited in Wordpress*, and photos, videos, table of contents and other things need to be added (e.g. pins if you’re using Pinterest).

*WordPress is a content management system used for creating websites.

SOME TIPS FOR WRITING BLOG POSTS

• Sentences should be clear and not too long.
• Text should be reasonably divided into paragraphs to make it more easily readable – large chunks of text will immediately discourage readers (even if they’re equipped with a huge cup of coffee).
• Each post should have a goal, be it to inspire the reader or come to their aid with some useful information.
• You should check how many times you use the word I/we – if the topic covers your thoughts, travelogues, etc., then it’s ok to use it, otherwise you should focus on the reader (By the way, have you noticed how many times I’ve used first-person singular in this article?).
• Whether you’re writing stories or tips, don’t forget the basic “school essay” structure – introduction, body and conclusion give meaning to every post.
  If your blog gives negative ratings (of countries, places, products), they should always be backed up by facts. If you think something really sucked, explain what makes you think so. Don’t forget, the reader trusts you. On the other hand, also explain why you were impressed by something.
• Verify the facts. Always.
• Don’t just list information, paint a picture for the reader (Do you remember the “nice weather” from the previous article?).
• When you write a post, don’t rush – it’s not a race and you’re not going to miss anything by not posting it right away. Come back to your post in a day or two and go through it once more, check if there are any grammatical errors, turn around a sentence or two... In other words, give your post time to grow. Quality over quantity.
• And, perhaps, the most important piece of advice – let your personality shine from your blog. Even if your blog is especially full of information that is useful for the reader, it’s still YOUR blog. There are many tourism and cooking (as well as other) portals and websites, but you’re the one who gives special character to your blog.

5. Click “publish” and share your posts on social media

There, it’s finally time for you to officially “launch” your blog. Publish is together with your posts and share it with your friends and on social media.

Congratulations, now you’re a blogger, too!

Every beginning is hard, but it gets easier – the same goes for writing a blog. I would like to put to you the following – write about things you like and compare yourself to others who have been doing it for quite some time, they, too, were once just beginners. Nothing can stop you now!