6 Essential Blog Investment That Every Serious Blogger Should Make
Essential Blog Investment That Every Serious Blogger Should Make: I come across this sort of questions very frequently – is investing on blogging a good idea?
If you are someone who has a free blog or if you are planning to start a blog, and you are wondering if you should invest some money on your blog, this article is for you.
In this article, I will answer to this question in details.
Essential Blog Investment That Every Serious Blogger Should Make
To answer this question, ‘Should I invest on my blog’, the first thing you need to do is find out why you are blogging in the first place.
If you are just a hobbyist who blogs once in a while or if you have just started your blog, I would say don’t invest money on your blog, unless, of course, you have enough of it.
There are tons of free blogging platforms, like WordPress.com, Blogger, Medium, Tumblr, etc. that will serve your purpose and more.
The reason I am saying you shouldn’t invest if you are a hobbyist or if you have just started out is that blogging could be very expensive.
If blogging is your hobby or if you are just starting, in all possibility, you do not have a long term plan for it. Even if you have a plan or a goal, there is no guarantee you would stick to it because it needs a lot of dedication and hard work to make your blog a success.
I am not saying you do not have it in you or that you are not dedicated or hardworking but once you start, you may realize it is really not your cup of coffee.
Also, the knowledge and skill required to make your blog a success is not something you would have at this point. So, considering all these, I feel investing is not a good idea.
However, if you are serious about blogging and want to become a professional blogger, sooner or later, you will have to spend some money. The question here is where exactly should you invest at the initial stage.
Important Blog Investment For Every Serious Blogger
Let us look into the most essential blog investment that every serious blogger should make:
1. Domain Name
Free blogs are basically sub-domains of the blogging platform of your blog.
For example, a free blog on WordPress.com will have the domain as https://www.myblog.wordpress.
Now, that doesn’t look professional. I mean you might be writing the best articles in your niche but the domain name will give your audience an impression that you are not an expert/professional/ in the subject.
In order to have a custom domain name, which will be like https://www.mysite.com, you have to register your domain name. The price depends upon your domain name (premium domain names are very expensive) and its extension. The minimum duration for which you can purchase a domain name is 1 year after which you will have to renew it.
2. Web Hosting
Your free blog on Blogger, WordPress.com, or any other free platform can get deleted any time if you do not follow the terms of services of the platform. Even if you go for a paid plan on these platforms, they have all the right to delete your blog. Basically, with these platforms, the content that you create is not yours.
This is where self-hosting comes to the picture, wherein, you pay a web hosting company to host your site and you have full control of your website. There are various other advantages of self-hosting websites.
Find Out The Different Types Of SEO Here
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
You need to make sure that your posts are understandable (and useful) not only to your target audience but also to Google, otherwise, your posts won’t even reach to your audience. This is where Search Engine Optimization or SEO is needed.
There are two types of SEO – On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO. Initially, On-Page SEO and eventually, both are a must.
On-Page SEO is easy and you can do it yourself. Off-Page SEO, which is for getting backlinks, is where, according to many, you need to spend money after you have written some content. What they mean is that you have to spend money to buy links and building backlinks.
However, this a bad SEO practice and if found, can cause trouble. I would recommend you write and submit quality guest blogs to various authoritative websites on the same niche.
4. Social Media Marketing
You need to promote your content on social media. The way most social media like Facebook and Instagram work is you need to pay them for your posts to reach a large number of people. This is important in the initial stages to bring awareness, create a buzz and show your presence where everyone else is.
5. Design
Just like the domain name, the look and appearance of your blog too matters a lot in building your impression.
On WordPress, you will get hundreds of free theme, but then again you need to have a theme that is unique.
So, it is good to go for a premium theme that goes with the personality of your blog. However, I would say it shouldn’t be your first priority.
6. Keyword Research And Other Tools
Although there are tons of free tools for keyword research (Google Keyword Planner is one of the best among them) and other things, you need to invest on some advanced tools after you are done with the other stuffs in the list.
This are more or less the basic, essential blog investment that every serious blogger should make at the initial stage. As your blog grows, you will have to invest on other stuffs as well.
Having said that all, your primary focus should also be on content. If your content is not good, no matter how much you invest, it is not going to help.
I hope I have been able to explain the essential blog investment for every serious blogger. If you have any question pertaining to Essential Blog Investment That Every Serious Blogger Should Make, feel free to drop your comments below. I will respond as early as possible.