Written by Carrie Davidson
Before you can start a blog, you have to ask yourself a few questions. After all, this isn’t going to be a static website with a simple homepage and a few bells and whistles. No, this is going to be an evolving platform with a voice, a brand, and followers from all walks of life. It’s a living thing that grows and evolves as you work on it.
That’s why it’s important to ask the right questions about blog creation. You need to be absolutely sure with your decisions before you set something like this into motion. Today, I’ll help you find those questions and ultimately the answers that you seek.
The 3 Biggest Questions to Ask Yourself About Blog Creation
So, you’ve decided it’s time to create a blog? Excellent, but that’s just the beginning. Today we’re going to look at the major questions you should be asking yourself as you dive into this incredible world.
1. What is my blog’s purpose?
Every blog has a purpose, much more so these days. Originally they were used as online journals, but today there are countless things you can do with a blog. Before you start writing posts and changing people’s lives, it’s important that you decide what your blog’s ultimate purpose and goal is going to be.
Here are some examples to get your creative juices flowing:
- Blogging For Business
Many of today’s modern companies have blogs, and for good reason. The best way to grow a brand and develop it, while also engaging your audience, is to write valuable and interesting content for your company’s blog. By doing this, you can develop strong relationships with your customers, build your credibility, and ultimately spread your brand to new and exciting prospects.
- Teaching People Valuable Skills
Blogs are also a place where people go to find new information, it’s one of the top reasons people read blogs in the first place. If you have a talent or skill that’s in demand, you can create a blog that’s designed to help people learn about that skill or industry. Through in-depth how-to-guides and detailed posts, you can share your knowledge with others and teach them the secrets of your trade.
- Showcase Your Skillset
A lot of people also use blogs as a place to hone their skills and create a portfolio that they can use. While it’s always useful to have a resume handy, sometimes having a blog that you can show to potential employers is the secret ingredient to winning that career you’ve been working toward.
These are just a few examples of what your blog can do for yourself and for your future. Start by asking yourself this question and define a clear goal for your blog’s purpose.
2. Am I Choosing a Profitable Niche?
When you’re choosing your blog’s topic and purpose, you’ll need to go deeper than just a broad idea. This is what we call a “niche.” It’s the place within your market or your industry where you provide a service or product that isn’t easily found elsewhere.
For example, if you’re doing a food blog, then it would make sense for you to narrow down your niche to a type of diet like gluten-free or perhaps the raw food diet? When you’re looking at your niche, it’s important to also make sure that there’s money to be made in that market.
If your niche isn’t profitable, then you won’t be able to make money from your blog. When you’ve figured out your basic topic, you can find out if there’s profit in that market by doing keyword research with Google’s Keyword Planner.
Search volume and a look at your competitors in that niche can help you decide if your chosen niche is going to be a successful one. It’s also important to see how competitors in that niche are engaging with their users and if there’s a lot of discussion going on around the topic.
3. Which platforms Are Right For Me?
If you ask the bloggers of the world today, they’ll tell you that WordPress is better than Blogger or any other blogging platforms. Not only is WordPress the most popular content management system, but it earns its place by being a great platform in general.
It welcomes both beginners and advanced users equally and offers plenty of features to make your blog into the exact website you want it to be. That being said, there are other platforms like Drupal and Joomla that cater more to advanced users or eCommerce site respectively.
Ultimately, your platform of choice should offer features and options that allow you to craft the website and the functionalities that you need. If you’re a beginner, you’ll find that some of today’s other platforms also offer drag-and-drop website builders. It’s important, ultimately, to explore your options before you choose.
Final Thoughts
Asking the right questions before you create your blog will ensure you start on the right foot with everything you need to succeed. Thanks for reading, and be sure to let us know which questions you think bloggers should ask themselves in the comments!
About the Author:
Carrie Davidson is a seasoned blogger who has helped launch numerous blogs in her online career. She is an expert in crafting excellent posts with great content and powerful headlines. You can find her online @carriedavidons1
