When you think about starting a blog, you sometimes wonder where to start, in what order to do things and to learn. The amount of information available online is literally enormous… but how do you know where to start?
In this article, we offer you a checklist to start your blogging by considering a multitude of aspects. Keep in mind that blogging is not an exact science: there is no one way to start and promote a blog, and no one “recipe” either.
This means that you can approach this checklist with some freedom. This is not a cooking recipe to be followed step by step, in order, but an inspiration to create a blog in accordance with your expectations.
The “for everyone” mention in the captions means that this is an important step whatever your ambitions as a blogger. The mention “optional” means that it only concerns certain bloggers. If you already have a blog, feel free to complete this list in the comments by adding your own suggestions.
Create a blog: the checklist to prepare your project
Think about the purpose of your blog (for everyone)
We do not prepare a blog project in the same way when we want to create a blog for fun or that we have professional ambitions. Before deciding more concretely where to start blogging, ask yourself the question of your goal.
Are you going to blog for purely amateur purposes, without any pressure, as a simple hobby? Do you want to create a blog to give visibility to your business, your products, and your services? Do you want to start out as an amateur but still be open to the idea of (maybe) making money one day?
It will influence certain choices, especially on a technical level. If you blog in an amateur way for example, you are very free to choose a free blogging platform or to invest a little… whereas for a professional, investing is essential.
Consider your editorial line (for all)
The editorial line is the general axis that will guide the publication of your future articles: what theme (s) will you address on your blog? What formats do you feel most comfortable with (more advice articles, videos, very visual posts)? Do you already know what tone you want to adopt (humorous, factual, didactic)?
On the other hand, it seems important to me to have an idea of the subjects you want to cover. Indeed, creating a blog requires energy and you have to be aware that it is difficult to “hold” in the long term without a good dose of passion and interest in what you are talking about.
Think about the sections of your blog (for all)
Your reflection on the editorial line should lead to a (roughly) clear idea of the future categories that will constitute your blog.
Of course, you can start with a very limited number of sections and make the structure more complex over time, once you have more sections. It is also preferable to highlighting 10 empty sections.
Anticipate crossing the early desert (for all)
Unless you invest a significant budget in advertising, most blogs begin their journey with a desert crossing that lasts several months. You have little traffic, some days feeling like “doing it all for nothing”.
