Want to Start a Blog? Here’s How

Since you’re on this page, you probably already know how integral the process of blogging is to the success of your marketing efforts. Which is why it goes without saying that it’s exceptionally important to learn how to effectively start and manage a blog in a way that supports your business.

Without a blog, you’ll find yourself experiencing a number of problems such as poor search engine optimization (SEO), lack of promotional content for social, little clout with your leads and customers, and fewer pages that you can use to share lead-generating calls-to-action (CTAs).

We’ll cover how to write and manage your business’s blog as well as provide helpful templates to simplify your blogging efforts.

What are Blog Posts?

A blog post is any article, news piece, or guide that’s published in the blog section of a website. A blog post typically covers a specific topic or query, is educational in nature, ranges from 600 to 2,000+ words, and contains other media types such as images, videos, infographics, and interactive charts.

Blog posts allow you and your business to publish insights, thoughts, and stories on your website about any topic. They can help you boost brand awareness, credibility, conversions, and revenue. Most importantly, they can help you drive traffic to your website.

Today, people and organizations of all walks of life manage blogs to share analyses, instruction, criticisms, product information, industry findings, and more. There are many popular blog formats, but here are six of the most common:

• The “How-To” Post
• The List-Based Post
• The “What Is” Post
• The Pillar Page Post (“Ultimate Guide”)
• The Newsjacking Post
• The Infographic Post

How to Write a Blog Post

Here are the steps you’ll want to follow while writing a blog post.

1. Understand your audience.

Before you start writing your blog post, make sure you have a clear understanding of your target audience. Ask questions like: What do they want to know about? What will resonate with them?

This is where the process of creating buyer personas comes in handy. Consider what you know about your buyer personas and their interests while you’re coming up with a topic for your blog post.

For instance, if your readers are young people looking to start a business, you probably don’t need to provide them with information about getting started in social media — most of them already have that down.

You might, however, want to give them information about how to adjust their social media approach. That kind of tweak is what helps you publish content about the topics your audience really wants and needs.

2. Create your blog domain.

Next, you’ll need a place to host this post and every other blog post you write. This requires choosing a content management system (CMS) and a website domain hosting service. A CMS helps you create a website domain where you’ll actually publish your blog. CMS platforms can manage domains (where you create your website) and subdomains (where you create a webpage that connects to an existing website).

Register a domain or subdomain with a website host. Your blog’s domain will look like this: www.yourblog.com. The name between the two periods is up to you, as long as this domain name doesn’t yet exist on the internet.

Want to create a subdomain for your blog? If you already own a cooking business at www.yourcompany.com, you might create a blog that looks like this: blog.yourcompany.com. In other words, your blog’s subdomain will live in its own section of yourcompany.com. Upperlink Nigeria is one great platform that has everything you need, from domain registration to hosting.

Upperlink

To host your blog or register your domain, Upperlink Nigeria is the perfect platform. This company represent everything you need to have an effectively running domain without experiencing any hitches. Upperlink is an indigenous software development company licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP). As such, they are a credible and competent source to provide your blog with top notch tech services.

Upperlink can help you register, host,, and manage you blog’s domain. All the services offered at Upperlink are the best you can find in the Nigerian market. In order to make life easier for your blog as an individual or as an entrepreneur/merchant, Upperlink offers products with different products and pricing plans that will definitely suit the hosting needs of any kind of blog.

Upperlink Pricing Plans

Domain Prices

• .com Domains – N5,700
• .ng Domains – N9,500
• .com.ng – N1,200
• .online – N1,980
• .site – N880
• .africa – N12,100
• .xyz – N440

Annual Hosting Plans

1.)  Basic Hosting Plans

• FREE .xyz included
• ₦ 5,000/yr
• 5GB space
• 30GB bandwidth
• Unlimited emails
• Unlimited MySQL
• 1 Addon Domain
• 5 subdomains
• Free .com.ng, org.ng, .net.ng .online .site domain names

2.)  Unlimited Shared Hosting

• ₦ 25,000/yr
• Unlimited space
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Unlimited emails
• Unlimited MySQL
• 10 Addon Domains
• 50 subdomains

3.) BRONZE Hosting Plan with Free .online domain

• FREE .xyz included
• ₦ 8,000/yr
• 10GB space
• 75GB bandwidth
• Unlimited emails
• Unlimited MySQL
• 3 Addon Domains
• 5 subdomains
• Free .com.ng, org.ng, .net.ng .online .site

4.) Silver Hosting Plan

• ₦15,000/
• Free .Online , .com.ng or .xyz domain
• 25GB Disk Space
• 150GB Bandwidth
• 10 Sub-domain
• 5 Addon-domains
• 7 FTP Accounts
• Domain names

5.) Gold Hosting Plan

• ₦18,000/yr
• Free .Online , .com.ng or .xyz domain
• 45GB Disk Space
• 350GB Bandwidth
• 10 Sub-domain
• 7 Addon-domains
• Unlimited FTP Accounts

 

3. Customize your blog’s theme.

Once you have your domain name set up, customize the appearance of your blog to reflect the theme of the content you plan on creating and your brand. For example, if you’re writing about sustainability and the environment, green might be a color to keep in mind while designing your blog.

If you already manage a website and are writing the first post for that existing website, ensure the article is consistent with the website in appearance and subject matter. Two ways to do this are including your:

Logo: This can be your business’s name and logo — it will remind blog readers of who’s publishing the content. (How heavily you want to brand your blog, however, is up to you.)

“About” Page: You might already have an “About” section describing yourself or your business. Your blog’s “About” section is an extension of this higher-level statement. Think of it as your blog’s mission statement, which serves to support your company’s goals.

4. Identify your first blog post’s topic.

Before you write anything, pick a topic for your blog post. The topic can be pretty general to start. For example, if you’re a company that sells a stationery for small-to-enterprise businesses, your post might be about the importance of targeting schools in order to make sales as a Stationery.

Your credibility hasn’t been established yet. Before teaching others how to do something, you’ll first want to show that you’re a leader in your field and a force to reckon with. For instance, you can write a post on ‘Different types of Cloth Materials’ if you are a fashion designer.

If you’re having trouble coming up with topic ideas, a good topic brainstorming session should help. This can be done by:

• Changing the topic scope
• Adjusting your time frame
• Choosing a new audience
• Taking a positive/negative approach
• Introducing a new format
• Come up with a working title.

 

5. Write an intro (and make it captivating).

First, grab the reader’s attention. If you lose the reader in the first few paragraphs — or even sentences — of the introduction, they’ll stop reading (even before they’ve given your post a chance). You can do this in a number of ways: tell a story or a joke, be empathetic, or grip the reader with an interesting fact or statistic.

Then, describe the purpose of your post and explain how it will address a problem the reader may be experiencing. This will give the reader a reason to continue reading and show them how the post will help them improve their work or lives.

6. Organize your content in an outline.

Sometimes, blog posts can have an overwhelming amount of information — for the reader and the writer. The trick is to organize the info in a way so readers aren’t intimidated by length or amount of content. This organization can take multiple forms — sections, lists, tips — whatever’s most appropriate. But it must be organized!

To complete this step, all you really need to do is outline your post. This way, before you start writing, you’ll know which points you want to cover and the best order to do so in.

7. Write your blog post!

The next step — but not the last — is actually writing the content. We can’t forget about that, of course.

Now that you have your outline or template, you’re ready to fill in the blanks. Use your outline as a guide and expand on all points as needed. Write about what you already know, and if necessary, conduct additional research to gather more information, examples, and data to back up your points, while providing proper attribution when incorporating external sources. When you do, always try to find accurate and compelling data to use in your post.

8. Proofread and edit your post.

You’re not quite done yet, but you’re close! The editing process is an important part of blogging — don’t overlook it. Ask a grammar-conscious co-worker to copyedit and proofread your post. You may also consider enlisting the help of a free grammar checker like Grammarly.

Choose a visually appealing and relevant image for your post. As social networks treat content with images more prominently, visuals are more responsible than ever for the success of your blog content.

No one likes an unattractive blog post. And it’s not just pictures that make a post visually appealing — it’s the formatting and organization of the post, too.

9. Insert a CTA.

At the end of every blog post, insert a CTA that indicates what you want the reader to do next — subscribe to your blog, buy your product, download an ebook, register for a webinar or event, read a related article, etc.

After your visitors read your blog post, they click on the CTA, and eventually you generate a lead. But the CTA is also a valuable resource for the person reading your content — use your CTAs to offer more content similar to the subject of the post they just finished reading.

See how that’s a win-win for everyone? Readers who want to learn more have the opportunity to do so, and the business receives a lead they can nurture … who may even become a customer!

10. Pick a catchy title.

Last but not least, it’s time to redefine that working title of yours. Luckily, we have a simple formula for writing catchy titles that will grab the attention of your reader. Here’s what to consider:

• Start with your working title.
• As you start to edit your title, keep in mind that it’s important to keep the title accurate and clear.
• Then, work on making your title sexy — whether it’s through strong language, alliteration, or another literary tactic.
• If you can, optimize for SEO by sneaking some keywords in there.
• Finally, see if you can shorten it at all. No one likes a long, overwhelming title

Ready to blog?

Blogging can help you build brand awareness, become a thought-leader and expert in your industry, attract qualified leads, and boost conversions. Follow the steps and tips we covered above to begin publishing and enhancing your blog today.

Upperlink can help you with Web hosting and domain registration in Nigeria. Having operated in the country for over a decade, the company has got the experience, personnel, and all the required skillset to help get your personal or business blog to the right place. At Upperlink, you can acquire cheap web hosting in Nigeria, as it has got all the pricing plans to accommodate everyone. If you are in Nigeria and thinking of website development, Upperlink is the platform for you.