With the free web application WordPress a private or professional blog can be created. The software offers the blogger a wide range of different designs, templates and style elements. Through the numerous plugins, the blog can be easily expanded and used in many ways. Blogging itself is easy, but not every blog is successful. For a successful and well-visited blog, the blogger must think of many things and consider important factors.
Define the goals and target group of the WordPress blog
Even before building your own blog you have to make some important decisions. First of all, you need to define the goals and therefore the target audience of your new blog. For what purpose do you want to run a blog? Do you want to keep a digital diary just for fun or do you want to earn money with the blog through advertising or affiliate marketing? Do you want your blog to cover just one topic or several topics at once? Which topics appeal to which reader groups? Take enough time for the thematic planning. Analyze the market and look at other successful WordPress blogs.
The success of a blog is measured by several factors. Especially important are the aesthetics (design) and of course the content. There are thousands of blogs on the internet and almost every topic is treated several times. On the one hand, you have to find a topic that interests you and in which you are well versed. On the other hand, the topic must also be interesting for a wide range of visitors (readers). Many successful bloggers have found a special niche and established themselves in this.
A good niche is characterised by a high search volume on Google, low competition and content update options. Therefore, for your first blog, it's better to focus on one main topic and expand it over time. If your blog doesn't follow a thematic thread and you write about all kinds of topics, the chances of success are rather lower.
The readers of your blog will quickly notice whether you know your way around, write with dedication and enjoy it. These things are more important than grammatically correct articles. The visitor must enjoy the content of your WordPress blog, only then you will win him as a reader (subscriber) permanently.
Adjust the style of the page accordingly
Once you have decided on a niche and a suitable target group for your blog, you can adapt the style of your site in an optimal way. The look of your site must match the respective topic. For example, if you write about nature and animals, then green and brown would be suitable colours. When designing the style of your site, always remember that the reader must feel comfortable on the pages of your blog. So don't use too many colours and make sure the lines are clear. Your blog must be easy to read at all times. Font colour and size are especially important. Both must match the rest of the design of your site. The overall design must look like a unified whole. The font should stand out clearly from the background and remain legible at all times.
WordPress offers you a wide range of styles, designs and templates. In this one you should definitely find something suitable for your chosen theme. Each design can be changed and adapted individually. If you don't find anything among the free templates, you can of course buy a professional design or have it designed by a professional. A good design has to be clear and should not look too cluttered. The reader must be able to find his way around quickly and not be put off by too long loading times.
Structure and categories must be logical and meaningful
The general structure of your blog should be like a red thread. It must be logical in itself and remain comprehensible at all times. The individual categories in WordPress work similar to the file folders on your computer. You can create categories as well as subcategories in your blog. For example, if the top category is "Animals", then useful subcategories would be "Dogs" and "Cats". The individual articles you write are assigned to a specific category. It can happen that an article fits into several categories because of its content. This is no problem with WordPress. If necessary, you can store each article in several categories. This makes it easier for your visitors to find the articles.
The best thing to do is to use a clear navigation menu in your blog. It contains all categories including all subcategories. But only create as many categories as you really need and don't overdo it. Take enough time to plan your structure. It is best to sketch them on a piece of paper or with a suitable computer program. The structure tree must always be logical in itself. A clear and concise structure has a positive effect on the navigability of your blog. Blogs that are not structured well or even illogically are not well received by readers. The same applies to pages that have too many categories. The reader quickly loses the overview here and feels overwhelmed.
Include images in your blog
Pictures and graphics must not be missing on any website. This also applies to your WordPress blog. Images give your visitors a better impression of your content. The media loosen up your contributions and act as "eye-catcher". You need high-quality image material with expressive motifs. You can either take the pictures yourself or buy professional images on the Internet. You are not allowed to publish pictures that are protected by copyright on your site. If you have suitable image material, you must prepare it for use in your blog. The images should not be too large, otherwise this will have a negative effect on loading times. Therefore, make sure that the maximum file size is 200 KB per image. As file format use either PNP or JPEG. The picture width is best between 800 and 1,400 pixels. For the file name, use a precise description of the image.
The user-friendly content management system provides you with many features and tools. Without additional plugins, media can be incorporated into your blog posts. You can add single images as well as larger image galleries to your blog. The first thing you need to do is upload the images to your WordPress media library. For this purpose, the content management system offers you two options. Either upload the images via the backend or integrate the visuals directly into your posts. After uploading the media files, you should edit the images in WordPress. Fill the fields "Title" and "Alternative text" with the appropriate content. Assign a name and a description text for each image. This information has a positive effect on the findability of your posts via search engines. Once you have edited the images, you can align and position them in your blog. This is typically done via the HTML code of your page.
Using social media effectively for your own blog
The social networks, above all Facebook, Twitter and Google+, play an immensely important role in the viral marketing of websites. Articles, posts and news spread incredibly fast in the networks. People who like certain content share it on the social networks. Content that is shared multiple times is also well received by search engines and this in turn has a positive effect on the ranking of a website or blog.
If you want to make your blog known without paid advertising, social networks are the best way. WordPress offers you some useful social media functions for this purpose. You should display the most important social media buttons for every post you publish on your blog. If a visitor reads one of these posts and likes the content, he will most likely share it via a social network.
With the appropriate plugins you can easily equip your blog with the appropriate buttons.
There are many plugins in the social media area for the popular content management system. But use only the most important social media buttons of the biggest social networks. Too many buttons under a post can irritate the reader. In addition, too many buttons and plugins also have a negative effect on the loading time of your blog. Suitable plugins for this purpose are for example "Social Media Widget" and "Tweet, Like, Google +1 and Share". Both plugins are free and can be installed quite easily via the backend.
Blog content must be updated regularly
A successful blog is characterized by an appealing design, a clear structure and high-quality content. You should not publish and make your WordPress blog public until these 3 important points are fulfilled. After you have created and published your blog, the real "work" begins. The content or posts are the heart of your blog and these should be available in an appropriate number. Blogs with very little content are only briefly viewed by most readers and then immediately left. Write regularly for your blog and never let the site lie idle for a long time. Most visitors notice pretty quickly if the page is updated regularly. Always write search engine friendly and loosen up your posts with matching images and other media content. If you receive comments on your contributions, you should answer them promptly if possible. An active blogger who responds to his readers will definitely be better received during visits.
