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THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU START A BLOG: Having been blogging for a while now, I thought I’d offer my insight and experience for anyone considering starting a new blog. Before you start a blog, one of the biggest and costliest decisions you need to make is which blog host and platform you’ll be using. I also have 5 other specific things you should consider before you start a blog.

Check out my Blogging category above in the drop down menu devoted to learning how to blog. (If you need to sign up for a new blog, try bluehost for the cheapest options.)

I personally use Godaddy Website Builder. However, having to pay the monthly cost is adding up quickly. They just recently had a price increase. Yikes! While a few dollars doesn’t matter that much, it can add up over the long-term.

2022 Update: I no longer use Go Daddy but use a WordPress blog. Take my advice and START ON WORDPRESS before anything else. Otherwise, when you qualify for the big ad companies, you will have to change everything over to WordPress (ad company preferences) which is extremely time-consuming.

(If you need to sign up for a new blog, try bluehost for the cheapest options.)

So, my advice is to shop around BEFORE you decide on a platform and make a purchase to have hosting. I personally like the ease of use I get with Godaddy website builder, so I am committed to continuing to use them. You can easily find reviews online and hear from experienced users. Some things to consider are as follows: Here are 5 things to consider before you start a blog:

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU START A BLOG

1. Does the site look and sound professional?

If you decide to go with a free option, you will usually be stuck with a lengthy web address. Mine is deemiddleton.com, while it could be deemiddleton.whatever.com. Why does that  matter? I mean, we are trying to save money and we’ve yet to earn anything with a brand new blog, right?

I just think it’s worth it, in the long haul to make the decision to go “.com” from the very start. It gives you immediate credibility and professionalism, that you don’t have to work as hard to earn. 

(If you need to sign up for a new blog, try bluehost for the cheapest options.) If you have already started a blog and want to increase traffic quickly, check out this post. Check out this post on how I use Pinterest to get page views.

What does that mean? It simply means this. If I want to read a topic you’ve blogged about, I will usually believe you are a more credible source on that topic if your web address reflects that. After all, you want your readers to have a good experience and not be turned off by you site address. Short and sweet is best.

2. Does your site have a good reader experience? Is it easy to navigate? Look professional?

If a new reader comes to your blog to read a post, you don’t want them to be turned off by a sloppy design. Usually a good blogging platform will offer you multiple free professional templates for your page. A wordpress site is excellent and you can find many themes that are free and work well.

They should offer you professional images you can use for free, as well. If your new reader comes to your site, you don’t want them to be turned off by pictures you uploaded from your smartphone. Unless you are a great photo editor, it’s going to show. As a side note, you cannot take photos from any other website without permission, so you need a place to grab free photos, such as Canva.

2022 Update: I use Canva’s pro version for photos. They do have a free version though. Here is my tutorial to use Canva to create photos and pins for Pinterest.

A second important matter on design is this…Most readers are visiting your site from smartphones. My website platform shows me exactly what a desktop  visitor will see and what a smartphone user will see.

Again, you want your reader to have a great experience on your blog, and you definitely want them to read that post you worked so hard to write. They should be able to do so from any device.

3. How long does your page take to load?

Let’s face it, we are impatient. We like things to move quickly, and we’ve been conditioned to expect that. For your reader, it is no different. They should not have to wait very long at all for your pages to load.

Many times, new bloggers make the mistake of adding too many ads which slows that page from loading. Avoid doing that, because your potential reader will grow impatient and leave your site.

Your blog hosting platform also affects the page load time. As soon as you can afford it, I recommend going with a premium blog hosting service. I personally use BigScoots and they are excellent.

4. Avoid redirect ads at all costs!

What are “redirect ads”? These are ads that immediately redirect your readers to an ad without their consent. I personally NEVER use these types of ads. After all, you want your blog to be read, right? Why would anyone want to give their website address to their blog posts only to have that reader stolen away?

If you do this, you will likely not get a second chance to capture that reader again. They will just assume that the link you provided is spam. If you post these types of ads to Pinterest, you can also run into trouble. It’s just bad practice, so please take my advice and don’t do it.

5. Do you have so many ads that your content is lost?

Speaking of ads, there is a balance. Look at the photo above. Does anyone notice the smaller ads? Probably not. The largest and brightest ones overpower the smaller ads. A new reader should be able to locate the information quickly once they arrive to your site. If there are annoying pop-up ads and huge ad banners, your content can suffer.

If I am reading a piece of content on a website, I do NOT want to be marketed to the point of becoming a nuisance. Consider that before posting multiple ads. Also, routinely examine which ads are useful, and if they aren’t being clicked and earning you revenue, consider tossing them. They are taking up precious real estate on your site, and you want them to actually bring you profit.

One of my favorite ad sources is Google adsense. They have been profitable from the start, and they only post ads that are relevant to my readers. You can read another blog post I have on how to monetize your site using Google adsense. I’ll walk you though the process. Google Adsense is a beginner ad source.

When you have more page views, you’ll want to monetize your site with a better paying ad company. I use Mediavine. You will have to qualify for Mediavine to apply, but you will love them once you are accepted.

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU START A BLOG

(If you need to sign up for a new blog, try bluehost for the cheapest options.)

So there you have it. These are my top 5 things I think you should consider before you start a blog. There are many ways to be successful blogging, and I frequently post on this topic. If you want to learn more, subscribe to my blog and you’ll get updates on more blogging topics I believe you’ll find useful.

Bloggers, stay tuned, as I’ll do my best to send more helpful information like this post on THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU START A BLOG your way! If you have already started a blog and want to increase traffic quickly, check out this post. Check out this post on how I use Pinterest to get page views.

Confused about how Pinterest works? Want to grow a larger, targeted audience? Then, let me teach you how to use Pinterest to do the work for you. Read more here.

You’ll receive detailed instructions to grow your Pinterest following. I’ll show you exactly how I grew my following from 60-5,000 in only 30 days. Read how here.

Need to learn more about Blogging for Income?

Check out these related blogging posts I’ve written.

Seeking blog traffic? Read my post on How to Get Massive Traffic to Your Blog

Need help setting up Your Pinterest Business account? Read my post on BLOGGING FOR BEGINNERS SERIES: HOW TO SEO YOUR PINS FOR PINTEREST

Need blog post and social media ideas to promote your blog? Check out my review of 366 Days of Social Media Posts.

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU START A BLOG

Want to Maximize Your Pinterest Reach? Read more here on this post I wrote: Blogging for Beginners: Using Pinterest Group Boards

Need help creating content? Check out my post here on HOW TO PLAN A YEAR’S WORTH OF BLOG POSTS IN ONE AFTERNOON

Need to make an income blogging? Read this post I’ve written on CAN YOU REALLY GET PAID TO PIN TO PINTEREST? and MAKE MONEY BLOGGING FROM DAY 1

Wondering what bloggers do all day? Read my BLOGGING DAILY TO DO LIST

Need help creating Pinterest Pins to promote your blog? Read this post on HOW TO USE CANVA

Bonus: I am excited to share a valuable resource with you today that can help promote your blog to the next level. It comes from Angie Gensler, one of my favorite bloggers who has helped push my blog to it’s maximum potential and get me more traffic than ever before. Today, I’ll show you one of the resources I use to get traffic to my blog.

To be clear, you should know I only promote content from people that I have used and that I trust. Angie Gensler delivers. She has an MBA degree and a background in Marketing. Truly, every single product I’ve used of hers delivers great, valuable content. You’ll find content that you can’t find elsewhere. 

Angie’s products will take you from being a beginning blogger to a full-time paid blogger very quickly. Angie’s resources are so valuable to me, that I continue to listen and re-listen to her content daily. Plus, each product of hers has delivered even more helpful information to me than the previous product.

She really does know her craft! In just one month of implementing some of her strategies, I had a four thousand percent increase in traffic and income! If you would have told me this was possible so quickly, I would have doubted you, but it’s true! Stay tuned in this series to learn more about Angie’s products. I’ll try to review each one to help you decide.

(Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase anything through my links, I’ll be compensated at no additional cost to you.)

Happy Blogging!

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU START A BLOG