If you’d like to join this large group of 500 Million bloggers that share content regularly with their followers, there are some hoops you need to jump to do this successfully. These hoops can get more traffic on your blog and make you stand out in a place that once might look to you as overcrowded. 

The prime factor that will decide your success in 2021 is the ‘quality’ and if you can master that, you will definitely come out as a winner. From approaching guest posting sites for link building to following new trends in keyword research, there are many more steps that you need to know about to rule the blogging sphere in 2021.

Here are the Steps to Start a Blog in 2021

#1 Choose a niche

The first thing to consider is your target audience and what type of content they love in these changing times. Follow the 2021-oriented trends and then make a move. Secondly, you need to consider what you’re passionate about. 

A professional blogger from an academic assignment help service says that writing about something you are passionate about will come much easier and naturally than forcing content out of yourself every time a blog post is due. These two factors can help you identify the perfect niche to pursue and blog about.

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Structure of the blog accordingly

You need to secure a domain name that is relevant to the niche you’re pursuing. You can secure domain names with different suffixes, either a .com, .net, or even area-specific ones like .co.uk and so forth. However, a .com suffix works best because it is versatile and caters to a much wider audience that’s international. 

After securing the domain name, you should get a hosting plan that suits your objective best. Getting the domain and hosting is just the beginning because, after that, you should choose a CMS like WordPress or Joomla that are still popular towards the close of 2021. So starters go for Blogger, a free blog platform by Google. You should much know which is better and suits your conditions WordPress or Blogger.

You should then choose a theme that will be used for the blog and start customizing it. If you have a lot on your plate, try delegating some of these tasks to Virtual Assistant Services to help handle a portion of them.

Build a content strategy

Creating the blog structure and design might take some time, especially if you do it yourself as a beginner. However, once you are done, it is time to focus on the content posted on the blog. To manage the blog well, you need a content strategy that entails a calendar and plan of when to create and publish blog posts. 

You should build this strategy before starting with creating the content. Once it has been established, you will see how many times you’re supposed to post weekly. That will help with creating enough content in due time. Using the content calendar can also help you schedule publishing posts accordingly on your CMS instead of posting on random days.

Create authoritative content

When you are ready to create the first blog post, make sure that it is authoritative. From the first post, assert your dominance in the niche that you have chosen. Do not write redundant content as the internet is already full of content in almost every area. 

Think of current 2021 trending areas and create blog posts that add value to the targeted audience. Solve real-life problems through the content you create to captivate the audience. 

Also, layout the data and statistics whenever applicable and link to authoritative sources where you got those figures. The most important thing to remember is writing for people and solving their problems in the process. That is how you can create authoritative content regardless of the niche you’ve chosen.

Include visual content on every blog post

Visual content is very important in blogging because of its appeal and captivating nature. Writing a blog post without any featured image and supporting images is destructive. Images can help in different ways; it will attract the audience that sees the featured image. Also, by optimizing the blog’s images, you can get traffic from Google Image search results. 

You can even include video content whenever appropriate and augment the blog with a vlog. Alternatively, you can share infographics that pertain to your niche. The infographics should be designed appropriately with high-end tools like Adobe Spark. 

#2 Driving more traffic to the blog

For the blog to fulfill its purpose, it should have a constant stream of meaningful traffic. There are a lot of techniques that you can use to receive more incoming traffic. 

One of the trending techniques in 2021 and will remain powerful in the coming year is guest posting. That will help boost traffic volumes on the blog you are running. You can also use tactics implemented in SEO for e-commerce, such as optimizing the structure of the website. 

2021 has seen newer tools and innovative use of keywords for blogs. Using keywords is still a major part of getting organic traffic to the blog. Conducting keyword research is a very important step as ever in getting more website traffic. By targeting competitive keywords, you can get more website traffic. You can use different keyword research tools to get high-value keywords to utilize.

#3 Monetizing the blog

The greatest thing about a blog is that you can monetize it. There are various ways to monetize a blog and they include advertising directly and indirectly. How can this be done? 

Using services like Google Ads or other networks like Taboola, Outbrain, Revcontent, etc., you can get revenue from direct advertising campaigns. Google will match your audience with relevant ads by using AI personalization algorithms. 

Alternatively, you can partake in affiliate marketing programs. You can market products or services relating to the niche you’ve chosen. You will receive a commission for every sale made by a lead generated by your content. There are a lot of affiliate marketing programs currently available. 

Some are from Amazon’s marketplace, whereas others purport from individual online shops signed up for an affiliate marketing program. 2021 saw Amazon slashing its affiliate commissions considerably and bloggers are consistently looking for newer options. However, when it comes to volume, Amazon still rules and will continue to do so in 2021.

#4 Riding out the first few months

It’s competitive but there are quality blogs and then there are blogs just for the sake of it. So do not get intimidated as there’s always a great scope for you if you maintain high quality and with stricter norms from search engines, only quality blogs rank higher. 

The first few months will be quite tough because you might be getting close to zero traffic. That is why you should not measure the success of the blog on near-term metrics. 

Keeping your eye on weekly performance indicators can discourage you and end up abandoning blogging frequently. In this case, consistency is key, and although the first few months will be tough, keep the end goal in mind. 

After a couple of months or even a year, you will start experiencing an uptake in website traffic. Be patient and consistent to finally get the exposure you were hoping for. Also, do not give up on traffic-generating tactics such as SEO and guest posting on more authoritative blogs and sites.

#5 Identifying trending topics

Another important aspect of getting more traffic and engaging your audience is coming up with topic ideas. Without enough topic ideas, you might lose your consistency, which plays a huge role in making the blog a success. 

There are various ways to brainstorm topic ideas. You can use keyword research to identify what keywords are trending. You can then use one of those keywords to structure a content topic. 

Alternatively, you can use tools designed specifically for this task. For example, tools like Google Trends, BuzzSumo, and some other spy tools like Adplexity can help identify topic ideas. You can even use social media trends pertaining to your niche to come up with topic ideas. Remember, it is very important to ensure that the content idea fountain does not run dry.

#6 Marketing the blog on social media

With growing trends like work from home and online classes for students, 2021 has popularized social media further and it will be even more in 2021. People will like the social media content you create and that can woo the audience you’re targeting. Social media can help build relationships with website visitors and make them return. 

Instead of having one-time visitors, you can get recurring traffic that keeps up with your content. You can use social media to alert followers about new content posted on the blog. 

It is also very important to work on being consistent on social media to keep users engaged. Social media marketing can help boost the traffic you incur dramatically in a short period when done correctly.

The bottom line

Starting a blog in 2021 can be a game-changer. The focus of the audience is on quality and if you can provide them with it, the game is yours. It can also be a great source of income, especially if you write about things you’re passionate and knowledgeable about.

Once it starts getting traffic, you can start monetizing it by using Google Adsense or entering an affiliate marketing strategy. Also, choose a niche you are passionate about so that content comes easy and natural to you.