Blogging Part 1: Build
your own blog

Here are some of the first posts on the Wix blog back in 2011.

Not exactly awe inspiring, but give us a break, it was 2011.

Fast forward to today and the Wix blog has gotten a few upgrades and now brings in a whopping 1 million visitors every single month.

I'm Kendall, blogger for Wix and longtime writer for my own personal blogs.

And in this course, I'm going to show you everything you need to know to take your blog from its own humble beginnings, into something you and your readers will love.

Now, good blogs are both art and science.

And while I can't teach you your own creative method, I can give you tips and the best practices on how to set your blog up for success.

And so to do that, throughout this course, I'm going to build, promote and make money off of an actual blog.

That's right, we're in it for the long haul and we've got a lot to cover.

So let's get started.

If it seems sometimes like everyone has a blog, it's because pretty much everyone does.

There are 600 million active blogs online today.

And I mean active.

Everyday bloggers published 7.5 million blog posts.

when you calculate that, that's 3 trillion words a year.

So you might already be itching to get out there and join your 600 million companions but slow down, because successful blogging means careful planning.

And with that in mind, in this lesson, we're going to cover how to pick your topic, research your target audience, brainstorm ideas for posts and pick a name.

First, you'll have to figure out the "what" of your blog, and it starts with the topic.

There's a huge number out there, but here are some of the most popular at Wix.

But within your broader topic, you need to find a niche, a specific angle that you want to work off of.

So for example, food is a great topic to go off of.

But there are so many food blogs out there.

But if we find a nice little niche, like food trucks, it separates your blog from the rest of the competition and carves out a spot just for you.

Plus, you know, we love food trucks.

So that'll be the focus for the site I'll create to help walk you through all of the steps of blogging.

And it's a good thing that I love food trucks, because I'm going to be writing a lot about it.

If nothing else, 20% of bloggers spend more than six hours on a post, Just make sure that you have experience with your topic, because you want to set yourself up as an expert to get people to read what you have to say.

And if you're still figuring things out, just be upfront with that too.

Readers will appreciate the authenticity.

And speaking of readers, you need to find an audience who's actually interested in reading what you're writing about.

And not every topic has that audience.

But there are some ways to measure audience to make sure that your blog will get eyes on it.

And to show you how to do that, we're going to dig in and see if my idea for food trucks actually works.

To jump start my research, I'll go to Google Trends.

You might have seen this site before and if you have, it's because it's an incredible free resource.

It shows what people are searching for online back to 2004 and can even compare search terms over time.

So I'll search for my topic, food trucks.

And from here I can see there's been a steady growth in interest in food trucks, which is a good sign.

Plus, down here I can see the top places where people are searching for this keyword, looking at you Honolulu.

And something I do here always is that I look for related topics or queries to help me come up with ideas.

So things like how to find food trucks near me, or food trucks plus a location are things that I can definitely keep in mind when I need to look for keywords down the road.

Next, I'm going to test out my keywords to make sure that I'm using the most effective ones for my site.

So I'll compare food trucks versus let's say, food truck reviews.

Okay, super interesting.

So food truck reviews doesn't seem to have that much interest.

So food trucks is going to work better for me.

And this isn't just helpful when it comes to searching for keywords This will also help me figure out what about my topic people are interested in.

So here I can see that people are less interested in reviews and maybe more interested in finding food trucks near them.

And that's something to keep in mind when I'm brainstorming topics.

So how do you think of fresh new ideas to write about your blog?

There are entire articles, case studies dedicated to the creative process and no one has quite figured it out.

For me personally, walking is helpful and apparently, there's some science behind it.

According to a Stanford University study, creative output increases by 60% just by walking.

I also keep a note section on my phone for when I find random moments of inspiration throughout my day.

Like if I'm out to dinner, an idea comes to me, I just add it to my note.

And if you're having trouble with that blank page, there are a few more methods that may help get things started.

You might decide to share your personal experiences on your posts, because after all, a whopping 60% of our everyday conversation is gossip about our personal lives.

Or maybe you could pull your friends and family since another 60% of people say that user involvement makes content seem more authentic.

You could also start by looking at trending topics and putting your own spin on it.

There are dozens of other ways to start but it's important to always remember your audience, But what defines them? What topics interest them?

What are some of their challenges?

And you are the expert, so would you read this article yourself?

Once you've locked down a topic, it's time to give your blog a name.

So let's talk names.

It's one of the most important aspects of your blog planning.

So workshop with your friends, have some fun with it.

And it's okay to take a few days to come up with something you love.

Usually, I like to play around with my blog names, by adding some sort of alliteration or riffing off of a well known quote or pun, whatever makes it memorable.

So think about it.

Are you more likely to click on food truck reviews, or Truck It?

Right, exactly.

So no matter what you choose, make sure that once you settle on a name you lock down a domain name ASAP.

Now we're just easing in and it all might seem like simple steps, and they are, but they also take a lot of careful planning.

The Wix blog didn't grow into what it is now overnight, and neither will yours. It took a lot of trial and error.

So take your time and make sure that your topic, your name, your posts, they're all right for your brand and they all work together.

And soon enough, your own humble beginnings can become the basis of your successful blog.

For more guidance on this, you can download our blog planning cheat sheet that I've linked in the resource and activities tab.

And later on in this course, I'm going to teach you how to design, write, monetize, promote and scale your blog.

And there's a lot to get into, so I'll meet you back here for the next lesson, Create and Design Your Blog.

See you there.