I started my blogging journey a few years back but started my own self-hosted blog 2 years back. I won’t call myself an expert but surely someone who knows tips and tricks through experience. The first suggestion which I always give new bloggers is to try out things themselves as it gives them the first-hand experience of everything. I believe you learn a lot when you try things yourself.

I am sharing a list of questions which are commonly asked by new bloggers or those who are planning to start but are confused about the whole thing. Also, being a blogger doesn’t mean that your work is done if you started a blog and designed it. It also means being an influencer having social media accounts attached to your blog.

So, along with blogging related queries, I will be sharing commonly asked queries related to social media channels and their answers in my next post.

Blogging queries answered –

  1. How to start a blog?

All the basic steps are mentioned in my post, How to start a blog? You can read here the basic steps to start a blog.

  1. What is all needed to start a blog?

You need 3 main things to start with – Domain name, hosting, and a plan. First of all, decide a domain name according to your genre or niche of writing. Then select a hosting which means a service provider who will be giving you all the services for your website to be ready for the internet. Domain name is the name you want for your blog and a hosting plan is a plan which you select according to your needs. There are many service providers and the popular ones are Go Daddy, Bluehost, Siteground, Hostgator.

  1. How to design my website?

Once you buy a plan and hosting from a service provider, you will be able to see the backend of your website which is called dashboard. It is the place where you will have full control and also manage your website easily. There are some video tutorials available on the dashboards which helped me a lot initially. You can see an orange button on the left-hand side corner which says Click for help. Click on it to learn how to manage basic things on your new blog.

  1. What are plugins and which ones I should add?

Plugins are a software which enables you to add any specific feature on your website according to your liking. For example, if I want my website to have spam protection, I will go to the plugin button, click add plugin and look for the popular one which is compatible to my website and install it. After you install it, you have to activate the plugin to start it and get it working.

Important tip –

Make sure the plugin is compatible with your website as sometimes a new plugin causes a lot of problems. Also, if there are any new updates for already installed plugins, make sure to update it regularly.

Some of the important plugins which you must have are – Jetpack, Google Analytics, Yoast SEO plugin, WP Smush.

  1. How can I start getting sponsored posts?

Sponsored posts take time. Patience is the key when it comes to blogging. I remember getting my first paid assignment after 6 months of starting my website but it was not a very high paid one but I was happy as I knew it was the starting. After that, it took me almost a year to get some good sponsored posts. So, it’s important to be regular, consistent and keep patience.

[bctt tweet=”Don’t be in a hurry to establish yourself as a blogger. Just take baby steps towards your goal. #blogging ” username=”Deepagandhi1″]

  1. How can I make sure my website gets exposure and other bloggers know about it?

First and foremost, you can let your family and friends know through social media and let your other blogger friends know about it. Secondly, after few months you can register yourself on the websites like Blog Adda, Blogchatter, and Indiblogger. These websites are a great help especially when you are starting out. They keep on having blogging related campaigns, contests and sessions which can be really helpful to not only gain exposure but also learn blogging tricks.

  1. How brands judge a website? What do they look for in a website before giving a sponsored post?

A website has different numbers and ranks which help brands to decide how good or bad a website is or how credible it is. The different parameters are – Alexa rank, DA (Domain authority), PA (Page authority), MOZ rank etc.  These numbers give an idea to brands about your website but if you are just starting out, you might not see very good numbers as it takes time. Other than this, brands see consistency, an up-to-date blog, ease of use and content quality.

  1. No one is commenting on my blog, what can I do to make others comment on my posts?

As mentioned above, it takes time. You cannot force anyone to read your posts. It takes time to get some genuine readers and make a reader base. Let people know that you published a new post on social media and if they find it interesting, they will surely read your post. Most people read it but do not bother to leave a comment and it’s ok. Page views are also important for your blog.

  1. What is SEO and how can I do it for my website?

When you are just starting, you should not worry too much about SEO but it’s good to know about it. SEO is search engine optimisation and helps your site to rank better on Google. In layman’s terms, it is a way by which you adjust and change your content so that the post appears better and higher on search engines. Yoast SEO plugin is great for basic SEO adjustments on your blog posts. Install it and check before publishing your post for all the green signals. It is a very easy app to use and can help you adjust your content according to SEO requirements.

 blogging queries answered

  1. What are backlinks and is it OK to give them to other websites?

In simple language, backlinks are the links which refer you from one website to other website or any other page on the same website. A most important term when it comes to SEO and a website’s ranking depends a lot on backlinks. High-quality backlinks on your website can help you in ranking higher on Google. So, when it comes to backlinks, quality is important than quantity as bad quality backlinks can affect your rankings. As a blogger, you can get backlinks through comments and guest posts too. As a new blogger, you should not worry too much while giving backlinks to other blogger sites which are a higher authority than you. It is, in fact, good for your ranking. But if someone approaches you with a guest post, make sure you check its quality. As backlinks with spam are not good for any website.

These were few questions which new bloggers commonly ask. If you have any other queries in mind, do leave a comment and I will try to include it in the second part of this series.

The second part of this series will include how social media helps your blog and how to use it for the same. Hope you got your blogging queries answered.

We are a team of bloggers participating in #OpenNTalk and writing together as #BloggingDivas.

This post is published for #OpenNTalk Blogger’s League hosted by @GleefulBlogger and @WigglingPen in association with SummerBarn, Vedantika Herbals, Nyassa, Explore Kids World.

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