Hey there Sea Changers and welcome to my post on how to start a website blog this year. As you may or may not be aware, I have focused this site mainly at the cultivation of a money making website that can allows us to fund our sea change in an ongoing manner. It has been around for a little while now and is starting to earn me some income via the provision of problem solving information for my readers (hopefully so anyway haha).

Recently, I decided to start a second website based around my passion for fishing. It will be a little work – especially as this site still takes a good chunk of my time, but to be honest, I just thought it was a good way for me to revisit the basics and ‘keep my eye in’ so to speak.

So let’s have a look at how I got it up and running:

 

The process I took

Again, for those of you familiar with this site will know that I have built my websites via an affiliate marketing training platform called Wealthy Affiliate. I have done so following their 4 step method which is the simplest process I have found in which to get an online business up and running. And best of all, the following methods can certainly be utilised to build a website blog using any site builder or hosting platform that you choose. So what are the four steps? Here they are:

Let’s use these four steps to outline how I got my blog up and running.

Step 1 – Choose an interest

One of the biggest advantages of setting up an online blog or business is the fact that you can generally start it in just about ANY subject that you like. This means that you can build a website around a subject that you are:

1. Passionate about.
2. Knowledgeable about.
3. Have an interest in.

To be honest, you will need at least one of these three otherwise you will struggle to keep your content updated however if you have an interest, but no knowledge, you can certainly learn along the way – or even use your blog posts as a ‘learn as you go’ guide.

Niches

A common terminology for the subject of a website is called a niche. In simple terms, a niche is a marketing segment that becomes the focus of your site. There really is no limit to the types of niche that you can choose however to be effective it should:

• Be evergreen – this means that it can never go out-of-date or style – for example you would probably not want to build an entire niche site around fads such as fidget spinners etc.
• Be able to solve a problem – Most people undertake searches on the internet to solve a problem – whether it be what or how to buy, how to use a product or simply because they require information.
• Have some, but not too much competition – As with any sales process, the more competition there is, the harder it can be to stand out of the crowd. However if no one else is selling a product, then it could mean that there is no market for it. If you want to sell a high competition item then there are obviously a few things you can do to bring yourself to the surface but it is a bit easier though if there are fewer people doing the same thing as yourself – as long as there is a market for it in the first place.

Site Name

Once you have an idea about the subject that you wish to cover, your next step is to decide that you want to call your site. This will incorporate the name of the site and the website domain name (a.k.a Uniform Resource Locator (URL)) that the site is known by. For example, my new site is called Beach And Fishing with a URL beachandfishing.com.

There are a number of thoughts on this subject but based on my research and knowledge of the way that this internet of things works, I would recommend considering the following as you determine your website name and URL:

1. Make it a unique name – which is probably obvious as you will not get a URL if not.
2. Ensure the name reflects (loosely at the very least) the niche or brand of your site.
3. Ensure the name allows for expansion (as per the ‘my experience’ section above).
4. Keep it as short as possible.
5. Make it easy to spell.
6. Avoid symbols, letters, hyphens and double letters if at all possible.

And unless your site is for a local business, I would also recommend sticking to a simple ‘.com’ URL rather than a country specific one as well.

Note: You may have to play around a bit and adjust your naming slightly based on the availability of the URL that you are after.

Step 2 – Build a Website

Ok, so this next step is probably obvious but if we are going to build ourselves a website blog, then we will need a website. So, what is an affiliate marketing website? Well I could go on for a while about this but basically it is the place where you write all your posts and add all of your affiliate links. 

And what makes a good website? –  I will elaborate on this below – but to be honest, my experience has led me to believe that rather than worry too much about that at the beginning,  if you have a basic idea of what you want, then you can just jump in and get started. This is because:

1. You have time – once you start your website and get it published, the chance of someone finding it immediately is remote as search engine optimisation (SEO) takes time (this sounds scary but I think is a good thing). This means that you have plenty of time to tweak and update your site as you start to build it up to a point where it attracts visitors.
2. You can change everything – The website building tools in use these days make it so simple to change the entire look of your site in about 30 seconds flat. Building a website is fun – It took me a bit to realise this but as soon as I did, it felt like a weight had lifted from my shoulders.
3. You get constant confirmation that you are on the right track – this one might sound foreign at the moment but trust me – the first time you see your site on a Google search results page you will know what I mean.

Let’s check out the basic steps below:

Plan your website

Again, I don’t expect you to spend hours and hours on this point, but as per anything we want to build, there are some things that you need to keep in the back of your mind as you get started. These include:

Remember your niche – This will determine the look and feel of your new site as you start to choose your base theme.

Are you selling? – Most themes are built for a particular type of website. For a blog site for example, the theme will be set up to show your posts. However if you are looking to sell products via your blog them an e-commerce based theme may work better.

What problems are you trying to solve? This is a follow on from the previous question. If you are looking to provide information and interaction, then again, you will looking for a blog based theme. If you are looking to provide lots of graphics for your ideas (such as photography or fashion etc.), then choose a theme that allows for graphical display as its main function.

Note: Most theme names will outline their main purpose in the title.

What is your brand? – Branding is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot in the marketing, sales and online worlds. If you have a logo, then again, make sure your site fits in with the brand that you are looking to build.

 

Building your website

Ok, so now that you have your plan in place you can build your website. This is the fun part and luckily for us, there are a number of good platforms that allow you to create, edit and host your website all in the one place. There are quite a few out there so do some searching and see what you think is best for you. I however will start this section with a quick outline of three that I think are the best options for beginners and experienced creators alike:

Wealthy Affiliate – Wealthy Affiliate is my number 1 recommendation and the reason behind my learned abilities and success in affiliate marketing. As a website building platform it contains:

• WordPress website builder with over 1000 free WordPress themes
• Domain purchasing platforms and website hosting
• WordPress editor including access to plugins
• Complete training package that takes you step by step through the website development process

WordPress – WordPress is a website development and hosting platform with the following:

• WordPress website builder with over 1000 free WordPress themes
• Domain purchasing platforms and website hosting
• WordPress editor including access to plugins
• Complete set of tutorials to run you through the website development process

Wix – Similar to WordPress, Wix also provides a full website building, hosting and editing platform including:

• Wix website builder with 100s of targeted themes
• Domain purchasing platforms and website hosting
• Wix editor including access to plugins
• Complete set of setup wizards and tutorials to guide you through the website development process

Regardless of the platform you choose to create your website, there are obviously a number of choices and variations that can be made as you run through the process. Further assistance can be located within the internal tuition materials of each platform that can guide you through each step.

Domain purchase and hosting

We have mentioned earlier the need to determine the name and URL for your website. Domain purchase and hosting are the final steps required to get your website on the world wide web and to have it visible to your readers. In the section above, we discussed the fact that most website builders provide URL/Domain purchase and hosting options as part of their product range. However, if you already have a website or are looking for a more cost effective option, then you could also look into the following:

• Hostinger – prices starting at $3.49 per month including domain name.
• Bluehost – start at $2.95 per month.
• accu web hosting – starts at $2.99 per month

Step 3 – Attract Visitors

It is probably an obvious statement but attracting visitors to your website is the most important aspect of it all. After all, if they cannot find your website, or do not know it exists, then how can they click on a link and find you. Sadly however, new websites just don’t show up on search engines overnight.

With that statement I guess this is the time to insert a little reality here. Once your website is up and running, the entire future of the website revolves around this step. The higher you rank, the higher the chance that someone will find your site online. That said in many cases, the simple fact that you are working on your blog – which is the reason you created the site in the first place – means you will be actively increasing the ability for readers to be finding your site.

You will need to rank your site by:

Writing quality content – Again, this is why you are here. Writing a good blog post with quality content is the most effective way to get your website noticed.

Using keywords – Keywords are the terms that readers use to find the information they are after when they are online. The process here is that you will include these keywords in your posts as you write them. Let’s use an example: Say I am writing a post on tuna recipes (in line with my fishing site). Using a keyword search tool, I can see what people are searching for:

There are a number of good options here, I would probably choose “tuna fish recipe ideas” as it gets a decent number of searched per month (64) with limited competition (19). There are some good canned tuna options there as well but as my site is about catching fish, they would probably not be a fit.

SEO – Search Engine Optimisation – This is a whole new kettle of fish and maybe the only complicated part of the entire process. There are so many facets to this that if I am being honest, I would suggest you concentrate on getting some content out there first. If you are after more information however, check out my post on how to do SEO for a website.

Solve problems – Think about your own search behaviours when you are online – I would hazard a guess that most searches you do are in order to solve a problem. Now think of these in a manner in which someone might have problems within your chosen niche. Again, using my fishing example, some common problems may include

1. You know that you want to buy a fishing combo for bass fishing but don’t know which ones are ‘best’.
2. You have a problem and need a solution – I.e. “My reel keeps tangling when I cast – what can I do?”.

Your goal here is to determine just what problem/s you are trying to solve for your readers and include the solutions to them in your blog posts.

Step 4 – Earn Revenue

Once you have chosen your subject, built your website and attracted traffic, then the last thing to do is monetise it – if that is what you want to do of course. There are a number ways that this can be done as follows:

• Affiliate Marketing – Affiliate marketing is the process of earning commissions based on the promotion of materials and equipment that are sold directly via the vendor. In this case, you utilise your website to provide information and solve the problems experienced by your readers. Sales are then made via providing links to the products outlined in your posts where you earn commission based on the purchases they make.
• Dropshipping – Dropshipping is another method that you may use to sell products via your website if you are looking to play with pricing. This process is similar to affiliate marketing in that you are generally promoting the products of others without the need to actually hold any inventory. With affiliate marketing, you are paid a commission on whatever price the vendor sets but do not manage any customer service, sales processes or post sales requirements. The main difference with dropshipping, is that you can manage the sales and customer service and set pricing as you see fit.
• Sell your own products – Alternatively, if you are a little talented on the handy side of things then you can make and sell your own products via your site. This is potentially a huge market as it provides the opportunity for those special and/or individualized items that can really appeal to your readers.

• Advertising – Should you not wish to actually sell products on your site, placing advertising on your pages and posts can be a good way of making some passive income if your website has some decent traffic. The trick here obviously is to have enough advertising on your site to make some income, but not so much that your site just becomes annoying or worse, unreadable.
• Offering coaching/assistance – Online coaching is a booming industry and one that you can certainly use to monetise your website. It should be noted however that online coaching is all about credibility. Unless you are already an expert within your niche/field then it is probably not feasible to set up an online coaching course if you are just starting out in your online business. You need to have good quality content, high levels of knowledge and the runs on the board. However if you do have that expert knowledge at your disposal then this could be what sets you apart from the rest.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Some fairly solid methods that you can utilise to start a website blog this year. Again, keep in mind that website establishment and making money online is a long term process. As always, patience is the key.

Have you tried any of the above methods? What worked well for you? What didn’t work so well?

Please share below.

Do you need some extra assistance with creating your very own website blog?

If you are looking for a comprehensive training platform that can give you step by step tuition with the tools to develop and host your very own website, help to identify a good niche, content or keywords, 24/7 support and access to some of the best online marketing minds on the planet, then click on the following link to read more about Wealthy Affiliate.

Until next time

Have fun

Paul

Note: If you make a purchase from this page, there is a very good chance that I make a commission from it – these commissions do not increase your sale price. This includes links to Wealthy Affiliate, Bluehost and AccuWeb.