This is a contributor’s blogpost …

 

The past decade has seen the rise of the blogger. More and more people are turning to blogging for a whole array of reasons. Some write personal blogs, using the space almost like an online journal. Others write about their interests and passions. Take a look at the sea of travel blogs, fashion blogs and beauty blogs out there. But the most successful bloggers? Those who have created a career out of their blog. Just take a look at internet sensations like Zoella. The savvy amongst us have taken their passion and interests and built a business opportunity from them. So, if you want to join these people and make a little cash without having to face a nine to five office job, professional blogging may be the way forward for you. Read on for a complete guide to setting up your own professional blog!

 

Platform

First things first, you’re going to need to choose your blogging platform. This is the service that you are going to use to write, edit and share your posts. The best platform for you will entirely depend on the content that you’re going to use. WordPress is great for those who are going to be posting more text-based posts. The site has options for high-quality image sharing but its true strength is text. If you are planning on more image based posts, sites like Tumblr may be the best for you. This site gives other users the opportunity to share and repost your images, with direct links back to your page. This helps your work to spread far and wide.

 

Web Host

Next, you’ll need a web host to host your site. These will often give you the opportunity to also purchase your own private URL. This means you can have a personalised site name without the extensions necessitated by free platforms. There are so many hosts out there that it can be difficult to choose the best for you. But not to worry, a Hosting Foundry will help you to find the best and most competitive hosts available to you.

 

Web Design

Now onto the fun stuff: your website design. Remember, your content can be great but if your site is unpleasant to look at or difficult to navigate, people are less likely to engage with it. It is highly recommended that you invest in high quality, professional web design. You might like to have a personal logo. This helps to brand yourself and will make individuals familiar with you as an individual. Use an experienced graphic designer to help you create the perfect logo to represent you. Then consider things like colour schemes, fonts and page layouts. A competent web designer will be able to help you create a theme for your page that will be everything that you could ever wish for.

 

Advertising

You need to get your name up there in lights. So it’s time to start making people notice you. The best way to do this? Advertising yourself and your site through social media. Set up feeds that you can use to alert readers to new posts.