Starting your first blog? Need some help? These top ten tips will get you started with creating your blog, generating subscribers, getting going on social media, becoming a member of the blogging community, and more.

1. ToptenTipsfor
TopnewBloggers
Key tips for the first few weeks
with your blog

2. Soyou’vestartedablog?
What’snext?

3. It’snoteasy. Youneedto
workatit.

4. Butwithafewgoodtips,you
canbeonyourwaytosuccess.

5. Let’sgetstarted...

6. UseWordPress.ORG. Not.COM. Youprobablyarealreadyusingit. Butreallyuseit.
Gettoknowthefeatures. Therearealotofthemandit’sintimidating. Butthe
moreyoulearn,thebetteryoucanmakeyoursite. WPBeginnerisagreatresource
andusuallyhastheanswer. Butifnot,justgetonGoogleandgetgoing. Invest
inyoursite.
TIP ONE

7. Putsomethoughtintoyourtheme. Don’tjustpickthefirstfreetheme thatpops
up. Youmightbeabletofindagreatfreetheme,but,ifyoucanaffordtospend
$50(orso),itmightbeworthit. Nomatterhowgreatyourcontentis,most
peoplearegoingtoskiprightoveritifyoursitelookslikeitwasbuiltin1998.
TIP TWO

8. GeneratesubscribersusingLeadPages. LeadPagesisaservicethatprovideslandingpageswithopt-in
formsandorderforms,andothertypesofsubscriberopt-inservices. Itcosts$25/month. But,if
you’rereallyinvestedinyourblog,you mustgenerateleadsandthisisagreatwaytodoit. Youcan
setitupsothatwhenpeoplegotoyourblog,theyfirsthitonalandingpageaskingthemto
subscribe. Thiswillgenerateatonofsubscribersforyou. Justmakesurethatyoualsogivethemthe
optionnottosubscribe. Youdon’twanttodrivepeopleawayfromyourblogjustbecauseofthatopt-
inform.
TIP Three

9. Getseriousaboutsocialmedia. Youdonotneedtobeoneverysocialmediaforumoutthere. Butyou
doneedtobeonsomeofthebighitters. Youmustdevotesomeserioustimetothis. Youneedtobe
activeonthesepages,youcan’tjustsetupanaccountandassumethatpeoplewillfollowyou. I
generated1000Instagram followersinabout2weeksbypostingmultipletimesaday,likinglotsof
posts,andfollowingtherightpeople. Youcandothesame,butyou’vegottoputtheeffortin.
TIP four

10. EmbraceGoogleAnalytics. It’snotimmediatelyobvioushowtouseallthose
coolnumbersandgraphs,butonceyoufiddlearoundabityou’llfigureitout,
andit’sveryuseful. Youcanseeexactlyhowmanypeoplehavebeenonthesite,
wherethey’ve been,howlongthey’ve beenthere,andtheirdemographics. Youcan
evenseewhoisonthesiterightnow. Theinformationisallavailable,you’ve
justgottouseit.
TIP FIVE

11. Considerwhetherornottohaveadvertising onyoursite. Thisisnotanobvious
answerandpeoplewillguideyoudifferently. Youdonothavewanttobethat
annoyingpagewith7pop-upads. But,alittleadvertisingmightnothurtifyou
wanttogenerate somerevenue. Thisisprobablynotgoingtomakeyoua
millionaire,butitcanmakeyouasmallamount. Mostpeoplewillrecommend
GoogleAdsense,andIamoneofthosepeople.
TIP SIX

12. Considerwhetherornotusepaidadvertisingyourself. Again,thisiskindofuptoyou. Ifyouwant
toputsomemoneyintoit,thiscangenerateyouafairnumberofclicks. Popularchoicesinclude
GoogleAdwords,FacebookAdvertising,Outbrain,andTaboola. Youcanprettymuchsetyourown
budgetforalloftheseservices,soifyouwanttospendlike$2/dayyoucan,butofcoursethemoreyou
spend,themoreadsyouget. Forwhatit’sworth,Igetmoretraffic fromFacebook,byfar,thanany
othersource.
TIP SEVEN

13. LearnaboutSEOanduseitwisely. Anotherboringthingyouhavetolearnabout.
ButSEOissuperimportantforgrowingyourblog. Youcan’tignoreit. Geton
Googleandreaduponhowtooptimizeyoursite. AndthengettheYoastSEOplug-
in. Itdoesalotofthehardworkforyou. Atthebottom ofeverydraftpost,it
givesyouawholelistofthingsyou’ve donerightandwrongintheworldofSEO
sothatyoucanfixitaheadoftime. It’salifesaver.
TIP EIGHT

14. Makefriendswithotherbloggers. Thisoneisabiggie. Youarenotanisland.
Youneedtostartfollowingandreadingotherblogsandinteractingwiththe
bloggersontheirsites,onsocialmedia,andoncertainFacebookgroupslike
TravelMassive(ifyou’reatravelblogger). Whatgoesaroundcomesaround.
Readtheirblogsandthey’llreadyourstoo. Thisisalsoagreatwaytogettipson
anythingandeverythingintheworldofblogging.
TIP NINE

15. finally...

16. Enjoyit! Youshouldn’tbebloggingabouttravelifyoudon’tlovetravel. Andso
yourblogshouldreadlikeit’swrittenbysomeonewhoispassionateaboutBali,
Mozambique,Amsterdam,Beijing,Cairns,LakeTiticaca…whatever. Yourblog
shouldbefuntoreadandwrite! Thereare1000othertravelblogsoutthere,if
yoursisn’tenjoyable,you’renotgoingtomaintainreaders. Andreally,why
areyoudoingitifit’snotenjoyable?
TIP TEN

17. Sothat’sit. Yourtoptentips
forinitialsuccessin
blogging!
But...one more thing.

18. Ifyoulikedthesetips,checkoutmyownblog,
www.redheadtourist.com! Subscribe,andstartreading!
AndcheckmeoutonInstagram(@redheadtourist),Facebook
(@redheadtourist),andTwitter(@redhead_tourist)aswell!
Pssst...I follow back!

19. Thanksforlistening!
AND GOOD LUCK!!