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How to build your own blog

http://www.JustRetired50Plus.com

An easy tutorial - How to set up your own bloggers website

 

Today, we will show you how to start a blog one simple step at a time. We’ve broken it down into an easy to follow 10-part guide. Just follow the simple steps below, and your blog could be ready in a week or less.

 

  1. Decide on a topic for your blog:- our topic is Senior Travel

  2. Try to pick a USP based on your topic:- our USP is that we are un-biased with no axe to grind and we do it all ourselves, from the video to the copy to the backing track music( no copyright worries )

  3. Choose a domain name for your blog:- ours is JustRetired50Plus, Check that the name you have chosen is available for purchase. Best at this stage to check the web for similar named site and watch out for conflicts.

An image of Final Justretired Logo

  4. Choose a suitable web hosting site:- ours is IrishDomains.ie (best at this stage to purchase all of the available URLs for your chosen     website name .com; .org; .co.uk; .ie;. eu; .info; .net; .uk

  5. Pick your website building platform:- ours is www.wix.com

  6. Brand yourself by choosing a blog theme, a blog name and a blog logo that will differentiate your offering.

  7. Customise and build the structure of your site. There are templates available, so you do not have to start from scratch. 

  8.Build enough initial content to make you site worth visiting from the get go.

  9. Publish and continue to update with new content regularly thereafter. 

  10. Include SEO searchable text into your website pages and then get your site searchable from google searches. (No use having a site, if no one can find it)

 

Have fun creating your blog. Let’s get started.

This step by step blog setup guide is useful for users of all ages and skill levels. However, if you need help, then you can contact an expert team to help you setup your www.wix.com blog. Be mindful that it will cost you extra and you forego the learning experience and knowledge base gained by doing it yourself.

Deciding on your blog topic

 

Topic choice is going to be one of the most important decisions of your blogging journey. We suggest choosing a topic that you are interested and knowledgeable in. That way, You never run out of ideas or get stuck.

The best choice is a niche you’re passionate about. Something you love that is unique.

It’s fulfilling to connect with others and provide helpful information that solves their problems. If you’re passionate about your topic, you’ll be more invested in your blog in the long run.

Choose a domain name for your blog

 

The domain name is the URL, or web address, that identifies your website. This is your blog’s name. For example, JustRetired50Plus is the name of our blog, and Justretired50plus.com is the domain, the domain for YouTube is Youtube.com, and so on. See? It’s simple!

Your domain should articulate the mission and purpose of your blog. Don’t hurry through the process of picking a domain name. It’s your brand and something you’re going to love for years to come. Give it a name that is meaningful to your topic and what you do.

Here are a few tips to consider when naming your blog:

 

  1. Choose a .com. They are common and easy to remember.

  2. Avoid using numbers and symbols. They are confusing and difficult to remember.

  3. Try to use your brand as your domain name.

  4. Aim for 2-3 words. If your brand name is longer, try simplifying it.

  5. Avoid longer domain names.

  6. Choose a memorable or catchy domain name.

  7. Try to include a phrase that represents what your blog is about. This helps people to identify your blog’s niche. It’s good for search engines.

 

Be sure to take the time and effort to consider different names. Brainstorm ideas and bounce them off your friends, family, or co-workers for their opinions. After you narrow it down to a few names you like, check to see if the domain name is available before jumping ahead and settling on any name.

You can try the IrishDomains domain name search tool and see if your domain name is available. Don’t get frustrated if your top choices are already taken. The right name for your project is out there! Maybe you just haven’t thought of it yet.

How to Start a Blog – A ten step guide for beginners

If you’ve ever wanted to start a blog, but not sure how, look no further. This article will explain how to make a WIX website in a very short space of time. The ten step method we show you here is budget friendly. You can start a WIX created blog for less than €5 a month.

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Is building your own blog easy or difficult ?

 

The short answer is— it’s both easy, and difficult. We’ll explain why.

The easy part is it requires little cash investment. You don’t need a degree and the field is wide open. However, setting up a successful blog requires a lot of tedious effort, consistency, and perseverance. To put it simply, it takes time. But in the end, it is well worth it.

 

To start your WIX.com blog, you will need the following things.

1. A domain name – this is the web address of your blog. For example, www.justretired50plus.com is our domain name.

2. Web hosting – this is the place where your website is stored.

 

These are the essentials. Without a web host, your blog can’t be seen live on the Internet. Without a domain name, your blog is missing an address for people to search and find you.

How much does a WIX  website cost?

A website requires little capital investment, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely free. Start with a small budget. This will include your domain name and web hosting fees.

We chose to go with IrishDomains.ie as they are one of the Irish domain name registrars. We have both our Domain name 3 year purchase and they also host our site as well.

 

So in short, we build and update our website on www.wix.com and then our website is published onto IrishDomains.ie server in order to access the wider Web.

 

You can, if you choose pay www.wix.com to host your site instead.

Their pricing structure is a follows:-

An image of Wix Hosting costs

Prices accurate as of blog upload date

Brand yourself by choosing a design

At this point, you should have a basic website up and running. Now, we have to make it as appealing to the viewer as possible.

 

How to find a great WIX theme?

You have several options to choose from when it comes to themes. The first option is to search within WIX where they have lots of selections to fit your style and preference.

 

Customise and optimise your WIX blog

This is where the fun begins. One of the benefits of WIX are the endless features for customisation. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll stick to the essentials for now.

Themes are the foundation of your blog’s design and functionality. They give your pages a unifying style to embellish your brand. WIX also has Apps and plug-ins that can add to or extend the functionality of your blog. For example the WIX pdf viewer.

We find it best to have the main website landing page “the Blog” interface. All of the other information on the site are available via a menu bar on the home computer version and as a drop down menu choice on the mobile phone version.

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How to create great blog content?

Congratulations on setting up your first blog! Now you can get to the most important part—creating content. This is where your ideas can shine and you can share your passion with your audience.

The strength of the content on you site is what attracts and keeps viewers coming back for the latest updates.

Without great content, even the most well designed and structured blogs will fail.

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Adding new posts

To create a new post, go to your wix.com website builder and view your site in Design/Edit mode. Click anyone of your existing blogs and choose update. At the top of the Blog editing page there is a button option to add a new blog. Add your new content and save as you go.  Only when you are happy with your update do you publish your changes. It is as simple as that.

Adding new pages

Once you begin acquiring lots of content, the next step is to structure your website with static pages to help organise content. You’ll also want to include pages that tell people who you are and how to get a hold of you. You can do this with the following:- about page & a contact page.

 

About Page

This page is essential for any decent blog. An About page tells visitors who you are, what your blog is about, and describes your chosen topic in more detail. This is the centrepiece that describes your brand.

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Contact Page

This page allows visitors to contact you and find you elsewhere on the Internet. It can be a simple page with your email address and social network links. Or you can use plugins like “a feedback form” to have a simple contact form. Your visitor can use it to contact you without leaving your blog. This can be helpful to gain feedback, maintain relationships with your followers, and create business opportunities and partnerships. 

 

 

Promote your blog

Creating a well-designed blog and writing great content is just the start. In order to get readers for your blog you will need to spend some time promoting it, especially when you first start.

One of our favourite ways to get readers to our blog is to post links on my social media accounts like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. This is great, because not only do your friends see the link, but if your friends share the link with their friends it automatically multiplies your readers. If you have created high-quality content on your blog then social media is a great way for your blog to go viral.

 

A word of caution about a blog Facebook account.................make sure to secure your Facebook age from the off by applying two factor identification login and extra security to send you notifications of unusual activities etc.,

Youtube video content links

If your blog is going to contain video, it is best to make use of Youtube to initially load your videos up to and then link back to them via the URL that Youtube will produce to singularly point to each of your videos.

It is also best to create your own stream within Youtube in the name of your blog. This will serve to organise all of your video content within Youtube for you.

We have created our video stream in Youtube in the name of “JustRetired50Plus”. All of our subsequent loaded videos will be given a URL link to that unique stream, therefore avoiding any confusion as to their origin.

An image of Youtube Soller Vintage Train

Good luck with your blogging and eventual influencing !

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Now that you have built your blog, learn how to promote your blog.

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