I started my first blog back in 2009. To be honest, It was a complete JOKE. It was ugly and not very SEO friendly.

Truth was, I had no idea what I was doing. I was learning by doing. Needless to say my first few attempts were a HUGE FAIL. I didn’t fail because my ideas were terrible or because I didn’t work hard enough. I failed because I didn’t understand the importance of the 7 steps I have listed for you below.

I didn’t understand the importance of doing the right market research, or the importance of building a following and an email list. I didn’t understand the importance of developing a real online marketing strategy and identifying my target audience.

In today’s Blogging with WordPress podcast, I’m going to share 7 steps that you should considering taking before you launch your new blog.

Over the next several weeks, we are going to take a close look at each one of these steps to insure that you know exactly how to launch a successful blog.

7 steps to consider BEFORE you launch your new blog

1) Choose your niche and topic based on passion, not based on your desire to make money

It’s so tempting to try and create a blog around a niche that you think will make you a lot of money. I fell into this trap when I first got started online.

Don’t choose your niche based on how much money you think you might make.

FACT, It’s that it’s going to take you several months and maybe even several years to start making money online. If your niche is not something that you are completely passionate about, then you will get burnt out long before you ever start making any REAL cash. When your passionate about something, your more likely to stick it out for the long hall.

2) Do your keyword research

For beginners, keyword research is one of the most important but overlooked aspects to blogging. Make sure your doing your research. If no one is searching for your main keyword phrase or if the competition is to high for your main keyword, then you are setting yourself up for failure.

Here are a list of tools that are handy for keyword research

Google Keyword Tool

SEMrush

Long tail pro

I would also recommend using free mozrank checker to analyze your competition.

3) Choose your domain name, host & Theme.

Now that you have done your keyword research and decided on a niche, It’s time to choose your domain name and get a hosting account.

If at all possible you want to make sure that your primary keyword is included in your domain name. For example, if your main keyword is “camo pants”, then ideally you want to include that in your domain name. (Domain name example: www.coolcamopants.com).

Next, you need to choose a host for your website. For beginners I always recommend using Godaddy for your domain name and hosting account. Check out my article on how to set up your WordPress blog, using Godaddy as your host.

Make sure your choosing a high quality theme. I personally use Thesis and Genesis for all my blogs, and I use Optimizepress for any sales pages that I need to create.

Now, if you can’t afford a high quality theme, then I would recommend researching for a great free theme that fits your niche.

Don’t let not having a premium theme stop you from getting started. However, if you can afford it, then I HIGHLY recommend using a premium theme, like Thesis or Genesis.

4) Create at least 10 blog post to go live at launch.

It’s important that you have a reasonable amount of content on your site before taking it live. This is a mistake that I would suggest almost all beginners make, including myself.

The problem with going live with only 1 or 2 peaces of content is that you will appear to be amateur and have no authority.

With having 10 or more post ready when you go live, you give your new readers a reason to stick around and learn more about you and your business. The more content you have at launch, the better.

5) Create a free product or money magnet to give away in exchange for email subscriptions.

The money TRULY is in the list. If you really want to make sales, drive traffic and build a solid online business, then your going to need an email list. The sooner you can start collecting emails, the better.

The best way to get people to sign up for your email list, is to first GIVE them a reason to want too.

You need a money magnet. A money magnet is that free eBook, training course or news letter that will greatly help or improve your readers life.

Simply placing a sign up box on your website, WILL NOT WORK. You need to give your readers an incentive for signing up.

After you obtain the subscriber, you need to continue to give them value.

Email them often, otherwise your list will dry up. It’s a balancing act for sure, but more then worth the work and effort.

6) Create an about page or Presspage

I don’t know about you, but whenever I come across a new site that’s offering services or products, I always go to their about page and try to find out who they are, what they are about and how long they have been in business.

If I can’t find this information, then chances are I won’t buy from them.

Make sure that your telling your new readers, who you are, what your about. When you do this, you build trust. No trust, no business.

I recommend creating a free presspage using Totem. A presspage is a lot more informative and professional looking then a simple “about me” page.

7) Come up with a marketing strategy.

DON”T do anything without first coming up with a marketing strategy.

You need to identify your target audience and come up with a marketing strategy.

You need to figure out how to get eye balls on your content. The best place to start is using social media outlets, podcasting and creating YouTube videos.

If you have a marketing budget, then using online ads through Google, Bing and Yahoo can be very effective.

Links discussed in today’s show

• 
  
• easytechsite.com/itunes
  
• easytechsite.com/love
  
• Getting started online
  
• Long tail pro
  
• Guest Post
  
• Totem
  
• Thesis  Theme
  
• Genesis  Theme
  
• Optimizepres Theme
  

 

Podcast Basics “LIVE” training class with Shawn Ozbun

If your interested in being a student in Shawn’s Podcast Basics Training class then please send an email to Shawn@easytechsite.com informing Shawn that you are interested.

The consulting classes will run 1 evening a week for several weeks and will be 100% delivered and operated by Shawn Ozbun himself.

You will learn how to create and publish your own podcast from start to finish. Shawn will teach you about the best types of equipment and software to use for podcasting, as well as give you tips along the way on how to make your podcast a great success.

The Podcast Basics Training Course has limited seats available, as Shawn want’s to keep the class small in order to give the best attention and results to those who have participated.

Pricing and dates will be emailed out to those who have registered stating they are interested in training.

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