Starting a Business Blog – 8 Simple Steps to Success

First thing’s first, it’s worth outlining some goals for your blog and consider how it will link to your overall business strategy. People often want to jump ahead to creating content and growing on social media but remember, why comes before what.

It’s important to establish expectations, as well as a general strategy to make measuring success easier along the way.

Start with the below considerations:

• Think about who you want to read your blog, as this will be your target audience. Decide how you want this audience to see and remember you.
• What will you do to measure success? For example, the number of readers of your blog, or the sales your content contributes to.
• Browse what other business blogs are doing and think about what you can do differently. Is there a gap in the market?

Selecting your domain name is an essential second step in creating your business blog. This acts as an address for your website to help browsers find you – for example ‘ websitebuildingguide.com.’ It’s important to pick something memorable so people will be more likely to come back to your business blog.

To obtain one of these, you need to go to the domain registrars to buy one. They offer slightly different services but some of our favourites are the below:

• Domain.com
• NameCheap
• Bluehost
• HostGator

All you need to do is sign up and pay an annual registration fee, then the domain name is yours for a year.

The next step is where you can make your blog your own. By signing up for a blogging platform, you can pick templates and start to customize the look and feel of the website.

There’s a lot of choices, but here are the three website builders that we’d recommend for starting a business blog:

Wix

Wix has been hailed as the best choice for those with no prior experience in setting up websites and costs around $16 per month. So no tech experience is required! It has over 800 templates to browse which are easy to customize, so you can put your own twist on your business blog.

Squarespace

Squarespace has over 100 templates and prices start at $16 per month. The templates adapt easily to mobile devices, which is important for business blogs as you want to be able to access content on the go. It also offers G Suite and PayPal integrations, as well as a lot of customization for design.

WordPress

WordPress is your go-to for a seamless blogging experience. Starting at just $2.95 per month, it’s budget-friendly and packed with over 3,000 free themes. Customisation is a breeze–you can tweak every nook and cranny to fit your brand’s vibe, and it’s mobile-responsive, so your readers can catch up on-the-go. 

When you’ve chosen which platform works for you, enter your personal details and domain name. Then you can start to select from the fabulous themes on offer.

It’s now time to think about design and have some fun by choosing a theme to personalize. Consider whether you want your business blog to look like an integrated part of your website, or have its own look and feel.

You can check out our list of Small Business Website Examples to get some inspiration before you get started.

When you’ve found a theme that works for you, you can start to create the aesthetic of your business blog. Our three favorite website builders all offer easy drag-and-drop customization, allowing you to design pages easily by moving content around and experimenting.

It’s worth considering the below before selecting your theme:

• Is the theme responsive? You want your blog to be able to be displayed on a variety of devices, including desktop and mobile.
• Does it come with some level of customer support or a support forum?
• Does it allow for customization? For example changing colors, a navigation menu, buttons, widgets, and so on.

If you’re wondering how customization works on our favorite website builders, here is some more information:

• Wix has multiple themes that are easy to customize and drag-and-drop building tools which are great for beginners with no tech experience. This functionality gives you more flexibility, which is ideal when it comes to creating a unique business blog.
• Squarespace offers beautiful templates that are easy to edit and are optimized for desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. It also comes with drag-and-drop customization that is based in sections, and – while it allows for greater creativity – will still take some getting used to. Editing becomes quick and easy after a while!
• WordPress offers a vast array of themes, both free and premium, that are highly responsive on mobile devices. Its drag-and-drop customization is user-friendly, thanks to various page builder plugins like Elementor. While WordPress is beginner-friendly, it also offers extensive customization options for those who are comfortable with coding.

Examples of templates

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A clean design promoting topics around jewellery for Industrial Jewellery.

This Wix template uses an image gallery to showcase product previews (in this case, flooring).

We love the fuse of a full-width image to grab attention in this Squarespace template.

Wix-built website Mananalu opts for inviting yet warm copy, welcoming readers to its blog.

Another site built using Wix, Terraliving's blog goes big on imagery to draw readers in.

Next up, it’s time to install some apps. The good news is that website builders now allow you to install and choose from a whole host of apps – such as social share icons and email marketing tools – which will make your blog even more useful and engaging.

Here are some apps that would all be useful for a business blog:

Wix

The Wix App Market also has hundreds of apps to choose from, including product review apps such as Editorify, which is great for a business blog. It also offers visitor analytics apps so you can track your website’s growth over time.

Squarespace

Squarespace has a host of social sharing apps, all of which will make the site more engaging, as well as apps like Smart SEO and useful sales apps if you’re looking to monetize your blog, such as Candid Wholesale, Easyship and Spocket.

WordPress

With WordPress, you have access to an extensive library of plugins that can enhance your blog’s functionality. From SEO boosters like Yoast SEO to customer engagement tools such as live chat and contact forms, WordPress offers a variety of options for both engagement and monetization.

So, you’ve got a blog up and running, and it’s buzzing with traffic. That’s great! But how do you turn those clicks into cash? There are multiple routes to monetization, and here are a few that can take your blog’s earning potential to the next level.

• Advertising. The low-hanging fruit of blog monetization. Platforms like Google AdSense make it easy to display ads and earn revenue based on views and clicks.
• Affiliate marketing involves promoting products from other companies and earning a commission for every sale made through your unique link.
• Membership or subscription model. Gate premium content behind a paywall and turn your expertise into a direct revenue stream. Let’s not forget that if you have your own products or services, your blog is the perfect platform to showcase them.

Choosing the right strategy depends on your content, audience, and long-term goals. If your blog offers specialized knowledge, a subscription model could be a hit. If you want to start a review blog, or review products on your business site in any way, affiliate marketing is a no-brainer.

The key is to align your monetization strategy with the unique value your blog offers.

Find Out More

• Learn How To Make Money With Affiliate Marketing in our full guide
• Need a crash-course in Google AdSense? Check out our beginner’s guide to What Is Google AdSense to learn how it works.
• Discover How To Create a Membership Website for more tips on this money-making model.
• We also compiled the Best Membership Website Ideas if you’re in need of inspiration!

Now you can start creating your pages and building out your blog. We’d recommend starting with a homepage, an ‘about us’ page, and a ‘contact me’ page with your personal details.

It’s also important to have some consistency while posting content. Larger businesses might post new content daily, but you can start with a few posts a week, and then gradually increase the output over time. Try tools such as Google Sheets or CoSchedule to create a plan or schedule, and you can receive automated reminders of when to post.

If you’re struggling with what to write about, do some keyword research on Google Trends or Google Adwords to find out what other business blogs are posting about at the moment. Explore the topics that you’re most knowledgeable about, and be original when you can. More importantly, focus on content that is useful to your customers and readers. You could look at recent customer reviews or comments on your website and social media platforms to see what interests your audience.

More Information

• How to Respond to Google Reviews: Learn how to reply to both positive and negative feedback

Marketing your blog properly is important for growth and success, so putting effort into the key strategies involved will help you stand out from all the other business bloggers.

Here are our top digital marketing tips to help you promote your business blog:

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Once you start adding content, you’ll need to make sure that users can find your website. Focusing on SEO helps you do just that, boosting your rankings in Google’s search results. Start with some keyword research to get you going, but many website builders also offer built-in SEO tools, which are definitely worth trying out.

Social Media Marketing

Over 52% of online brands are discovered via social media, so it’s vital to start building your presence across multiple social channels, such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Business blogs are also ideal candidates for social media marketing. So add social share buttons to your blog, then start posting and sharing!

Email Marketing

Try using an email opt-in tool to capture email addresses from your readers, and initiate regular contact. When you’re trying a business blog and trying to monetize your blog and sell products, email marketing can help you in the long run. Check out our guide on how to get blog subscribers to help boost the number of people engaging with your posts.

Business blogging is important when it comes to creating a lucrative venture, so ensure to keep revisiting your goals, strategy, and mission statement, so that you don’t lose sight of what you’re trying to achieve.

With our help – and your commitment – you’ll be well on your way to starting a thriving business blog.

Here’s a reminder of those 8 steps on how to start a business blog: 

1. Decide on the purpose of your blog
2. Buy a domain name
3. Sign up to a blogging platform
4. Choose and customize a theme
5. Install apps
6. Monetize your business blog
7. Plan and create your blog’s content
8. Promote your blog

Good luck!