People have been using WordPress to write blogs for a while now. It is by far the best tool for writing blogs. Over the years, its reputation has only grown.
Setting up a blog site using WordPress is very easy. It merely takes a few minutes to get it done. However, before you can get started with your blogs, you first need to get the site up and running. And to do so successfully, you have to maintain specific standards.
Here is a list of the seven most important things to consider while creating a WordPress blog site to help you achieve these standards.
#1 Choosing a Clever Name for Your Blog
You should get creative with the name, but not to the point that it sounds weird. Generally, your blog should have a name that reflects you or the type of content in your blog. Of course, you can always ditch this concept entirely and choose a name that you think would be more fitting.
Take your time while choosing the name for your blog. It is something you will have to stick to as long as you keep the blog running. Your blog’s name will be its identity. People will remember it by its name, and the responsibility is yours to make that name resonate in their minds. While good content is crucial for helping a blog grow, a clever name will make sure it sticks to people’s minds. Hence, before deciding on anything else, you must first choose a witty name for your blog.
#2 Picking a Niche
While you can write about anything and everything on your blog site, you should consider picking out a niche. This will help you generate more concrete ideas. Moreover, niche blogging will also open opportunities for you to monetize your blog.
For instance, if you are running a tech blog, you might get paid by different brands or IT service providers to talk about their products and services. They might even post ads on your blog site.
#3 Deciding on a WordPress Theme
There are WordPress themes specifically designed for blogging, so you should consider choosing one of them. We suggest that you go for something user-friendly. Most developers build WordPress theme styles for blogs in a way that highlights the content or images. These blog themes also come with almost all the necessary plugins you might need for your blog.
If you have any experience in web designing, you can consider using a page builder as well. Just drag and drop the elements you find interesting or necessary, and make sure that your content is always at the center of attention.
#4 Installing Necessary Plugins
You need a few specific plugins to run a blog site. For starters, you will need something to help you with SEO. Yoast SEO is a great plugin to use for this purpose. You can also consider using SEOPress or All in One SEO. Next, you will need something to compress your images. The Smush Image Compression and Optimization plugin can help you out with this.
You will also need to keep track of your website’s analytics, especially if you are monetizing it. And there is no better tool to do so than Google Analytics. Apart from all this, you will also need some basic plugins like page builders, form plugins, social media plugins, etc.
#5 Using the Right Images
Select appropriate images based on the topic of your blogs. The number of images for each post depends on the size of your posts. Posts under a thousand words can make do with two or three pictures. Afterward, you can include one image for every five hundred words.
The images you use must either be paid for, credited properly, or copyright-free. You can try Pexels, Pixabay, and Freepik to use free images. Shutterstock is a popular choice if you are willing to pay for the images.
#6 Integrating Share Buttons
No blog can become popular without social media these days. So you should integrate social share buttons for your blog. These buttons will be present under each post and allow your visitors to share the posts on social media. The shares are very important as they can increase your reach and help grow the blog’s popularity. Once you have planned all these things out, you are ready to get started with your WordPress blogging site.