Important blogging tips for bloggers that consist of actionable and proven blog tips, ways to increase blog traffic and improve visitors conversion rates.
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How to Start a Self-Hosted WordPress Blog in 15 Minutes or Less
You want to start a self hosted WordPress blog and it can be for a variety of reasons—make money blogging, passion, affiliate marketing and for business. While the Internet been quite helpful in tutorials and guides, you are probably lost thanks to the enormous amount of guides out there.
I get it. The choice is very real and you read that WordPress is the right blogging platform for you.
But, there’s a little problem. There are over 75 million blogs on WordPress, one of several platforms that helps you to publish online. This number, according to one source, represents only 43% of all blogs, making the total somewhere around 180 million blogs. (I recently heard this number could be as high as 400 million).
These blogs are viewed by an audience of over 410 million people each month — and that’s only one place people are connecting online.
You know that a self hosted WordPress blog is the way to go—but how to go around with this? More importantly, how do you start a self-hosted WordPress blog? How do you create a WordPress blog from scratch?
The opportunity here is very real and is definitely something you wouldn’t want to leave out. We all have something to say. Blogs not only make that possible, they make it easy. All you have to do is act. It’s time to dive in and figure out what it takes to get your message heard, to see your cause spread. Of course, with the opportunity to make money on the side too.
Setting up a self-hosted blog sounds technical but is, in fact, easy to do. And yes, I think it’s worth investing a little money into having full control over your website. I’m going to show you exactly what you need to do (if you already have a blog set up like this, feel free to share this post with a friend).
In the next few minutes, I’m going to show you (exactly) how you can create a self-hosted WordPress blog under 15 minutes or less. The first stop would be a quick video on “why you need a self-hosted WordPress blog”, followed by an awesome infographic before ending up with a simple 5 step tutorial in creating your first self hosted WordPress blog.
P.S. Do you know that my primary goal of creating a WordPress blog is to own a personally-branded website I could have control over. And I put more effort into the blog, opportunities started flowing in—more than I could ever imagine.
What Is A Self Hosted WordPress Blog?
This is by far the most common I often get from others.
What is a self hosted WordPress blog?
What is the differences between blogging on WordPress.com to WordPress.org?
In a nutshell, self hosting your WordPress site means downloading your own copy of the WordPress content management system (CMS), finding a domain provider, and signing up for a hosting service to host your site on the Internet.
I hope the explanation below helps you clarify the matter.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
Self hosted WordPress blog a.k.a. WordPress.org. Here, you can download the WordPress CMS and install it on your own hosting server. Your URL would be something like this: yourdomain.com.
Hosted WordPress blog a.k.a. WordPress.com. This is NOT a self hosted WordPress blog. You partially own the domain and you are bound to the rules (such as no monetization etc.). Your URL would be something liekt his: yourdomain.wordpress.com.
Infographic: 5 Steps To Launch Your Self Hosted WordPress Blog (Without Coding Skills)
Tutorial: 5 Steps To Create A Self-Hosted WordPress Blog
If you prefer reading text versus viewing a video, here are the quick steps you can take:
Get a reliable web host. A web host is where your website “lives.” You own it, but you pay a small fee to keep it online (kind of like paying property taxes to the government). I recommend Bluehost for only $2.95/month (a special rate for my readers). It’s one of the most popular web hosts on the Internet, comes with 1-click everything (no coding skills required) and offers excellent, 24/7 customer service via live chat, email and phone.
Register a unique blog name (domain name). You can get a domain name (e.g. www.reginaldchan.net) through your hosting company. I recommend doing it this way, so you can keep everything streamlined. With Bluehost, this service is free with a hosting plan (as opposed to paying extra through a service like Godaddy.com). Take a read at this article on the 16+ ways to choose a blog name (don’t worry, you can thank me later). The trick of finding a good domain name is focus on a short and easy-to-remember brand name. Check out this video for more information.
Install WordPress. Blogging requires software, and the best that I’ve found is WordPress. It’s easy, quick, and best of all, free. You can set up WordPress through your host (Bluehost does this for you for free through it’s easy 1-click automatic installation and setup). Otherwise, you have to go through WordPress.org to download the software and then upload it to a host. It is important to note that WordPress.com and WordPress.org are two different blogging platforms.
Get a theme. When you start using WordPress, you get access to a bunch of beautiful blog designs (called “themes”), many of which are free. For those just getting started, I recommend Twenty Nineteen; it’s a simple, neat, well coded, mobile friendly and above all, an elegant WordPress theme. If you are serious in making started a self hosted WordPress blog for blogging business, I recommend you to use Divi by Elegant Themes (read the review) instead. This tool allows you to build blog posts without touching a single line of code. Take a look at the demo here.
Log in and start blogging. The URL for your dashboard (which redirects to the login page if you’re not logged in) is yourblogname.com/wp-admin/. Once logged in, click “Posts” on the left-hand sand, and then select “Add New.” Write a title and create some content for your new blog, and you’re off to the races!
And that’s it; now you’re blogging. Which is where the hard, but good, work of writing begins. If you’re ready to jump into this world of blogging, click the image below to get started with Bluehost.
See you on the other side!
What if you have already have a domain name?
This is a great question. If you already have a domain name and probably a web hosting, moving to BlueHost (or any other web hosting companies) is not that hard. Seriously.
Most web hosting companies offer free migration and make sure you ask the support team about it. The standard way to move a domain successfully from one web host to another is through changing the nameservers or IP address. In most cases, changing nameservers is the safest and highly recommended solution.
This is how you can change nameservers when moving your domain to BlueHost.
If you’re ready to get started blogging with Bluehost, you can use my affiliate link to get a little extra off the normal $5.99 price (only $2.95/month). They’re a top recommended host by WordPress and have great customer service. I’ve worked with them before and been very pleased with the service.
Young at heart and a deep passion for entrepreneurial success, Reginald is devoted to share everything he had learned about online marketing with the public. Follow him for more awesome postings.
Are you struggling to choose a name for your blog?
I had been there myself—I wanted to start a blog, and I created a long list of blog name ideas just to realized that I can’t come up with a good blog name. At least, a blog name that I can accept.
Here’s the cold hard fact: Naming a blog is challenging.
In order for you to choose a blog name at the end of this article, I decided that it is best to create two parts in this guide.
The first part is a simple but highly checklist of things to consider and questions to ask yourself. The goal here is to get you to put on your thinking cap—the blog name is more than just a name. The blog name ideas should come from things that you are passionate about and carries some weight in your blog branding.
The second part is a list of tips and blog name generator tools to help you. I know some calls this the methods and inspiration section but for me, it is more as a guideline. These guidelines could lead to some awesome and unexpected blog name ideas.
This guide is excellent for bloggers who are planning to start a blog. Regardless the type of blog you want to start, I’m devoted to help you with getting the right name for your blog. Always remember that a choosing a blog name is an important step—because it will effect how you can drive traffic to your blog.
Here’s a quick video on what to expect from this blog post today.
Part 1 – Things to consider / Questions to ask yourself
Anyone can choose a blog name and start one under $10. What differentiate you and your competitors is the ability to launch and maintain a successful blog.
Step 1: What would be the ideal topic for your blog?
Most of the time, we are confident that we know what we want to blog about. At least, we thought so.
Successful blogging is more than just “I thought I like” and “I think I like“. You got to love the topic and be super passionate about it. This allows you to have a competitive edge.
Allow me to give you an example. Through experience, I had created thousands of WordPress blogs—some which are generating thousands of traffic a day and some which are not doing that well. Amazingly, the blogs that are generating massive amount of traffic are the ones with the topics that I’m really passionate about.
The blogging materials you produce are always better in quality when you have a passion in them.
The ideal topic for your blog is always the one that you are super happy to discuss and learn further. It can range from health, nutrients, relationship, business, blogging (yes, wink wink), make money blogging, website development, social media marketing etc. The sky is practically your only limit when it comes to choosing a blog topic (and choosing a blog name).
If you’ve already decided on your niche, then the answer to question one should be straightforward. If you’re still undecided then now is the time to answer the question.
My wife used to say this, “Think about it logically.”
Here’s my honest take. If you spend hours choosing a name for your blog and then decide to blog about something unrelated, you’ll have wasted your time. For instance, you decide to go for an awesome blog name, ‘Genius Photography’ and then choose the gaming niche.
Of course, if you decide on a non-specific name or use your own name, then you’ll have more room for maneuver.
But, I’d still recommend choosing your niche first as it’s a valid exercise.
Step 2: Who is your target audience?
Do you know that choosing a cool blog name involves heavily in understand your target audience?
I recommend you to take a look at these perspectives.
Let’s say you started a blog. What type of audience will get the most value out of your content? What name/tone of voice would best resonate with these highly targeted blog audience?
Here are some ideas to help you get started (and put on your thinking cap in searching for the best blog name).
WPBeginner.com has an audience which are passionately interested in WordPress related matters.
WPBeginner is the largest WordPress resource site for WordPress Beginners with easy to understand WordPress tutorials for mastering the basics and beyond.
On the other hand, the SmartPassiveincome.com focuses in helping beginners with launching their online business and generating additional income streams.
Learn how to build an online business using smart passive income. Find Pat’s podcasts, tutorials, videos, and other how-to articles on growing your business.
The trick in finding the best blog names?
Having a firm understanding of your target audience will help you choose a suitable blog name.
Step 3: What is the tone/voice of your blog going to be like?
The next question actually follows on from your target audience. The two examples above, WPBeginner offers an easy to understand, guiding and soft tone that is suited for beginners.
The Smart Passive Income offers very casual conversational tone because they provide trending online business tips using blog posts, podcasts and videos.
If you are in the technology niche, it is best to combine fun and professionalism in your writing. Here’s a good example by SoyaCincau.com.
SoyaCincau.com offers technological news which target audience are mainly from Asia Pacific.
Step 4: Will you be building your brand around your blog name?
No matter you are selling a product or service, your blog name is an excellent way to build and promote your brand.
For example, Pinch of Yum is a food blog with hundreds of simple and tasty recipes. It also provides resources for other food bloggers including photography and monetization tips:
A food blog with hundreds of simple, healthy recipes and food blogging resources for food photography and blog monetization.
If you had followed my affiliate marketing course (which you can sign up here at no cost), one of the most important thing that I had discuss is building your brand name. Building a strong brand name will create some level of credibility for you and you blog.
Step 5: Does the blog name read OK when it’s in a domain URL format?
Listen to me. You really do not want to be caught in this one.
A cool blog name could easily backfire—when you join up separate words and inadvertently create the wrong words.
BoredPanda.com had shared a long list of worst blog names you can ever imagine and here is one sample for you.
Think out of the box when choosing a domain name to avoid embarrassing moments
You can see the logo uses two colors to separate the words, but when you look at the domain in plain text, it becomes embarrassing.
Make sure you type your intended blog name into a domain name format and check. It’s also worth getting somebody else to review your idea because it’s easy to become word blind.
Step 6: What happens if you change or vary your niche?
When we start a blog, we always focus on a niche. But here’s the thing.
Things change.
Sometimes you’ll end up switching or varying your original idea.
Lucky for you, it is okay. Yes, like seriously okay.
When I first started ReginaldChan.net, I wanted to make it the best blog for bloggers. I ended up diversifying to SEO, freelancing and WordPress as sub-niches. little did I know this little action of mine had (indirectly) help me to generate over 6,000 visitors each day to this blog.
But one of the things you’ll need to consider at that point is whether your blog name and brand are right.
Here are some guidelines for you to get started with.
Does your blog name resonates with your new niche?
How much diversification you can afford for your blog?
Are you able to perform internal backlinks from one category to another?
If you are a beginner in blogging and finding ways to choose a blog name, the above could be difficult questions to consider … simply because we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.
An important point to take note is this: you should consider to choose a more open-ended, generic blog name.
Always remember that it’s not the end of the world if you don’t. You can still change. But you might lose momentum in the process.
Don’t worry, these ‘momentum’ can be gained back with the right strategies.
Step 7: Is it easy to say or spell?
One of the important criteria when choosing a blog name is to consider the spelling part.
Is the blog name easy to pronounce?
Is the blog name easy to spell?
Getting this part right is crucial. Sometimes a blog name looks great on paper, but when you say it out loud, there’s ambiguity.
Here’s a real life story of mine.
Some years back, I had a blog name called eStudioWerks.com. It sounded great and I knew I was on to something. That was until I had to reach out to my web host support for some help. They asked me to confirm if I meant eStudioWorks.com. You see, “werks” and “works” sounded alike and that could be an issue for you in branding in the future. You are definitely going to confuse your readers!
Need another cool blog name example?
Photo sharing site ‘Flickr’ also had similar problems because people naturally typed ‘Flicker’. They ended up buying both domains and setting up a permanent redirect, so they didn’t lose business. Try typing ‘flicker.com’ into the URL bar:
Website visitors are always confused between Flickr and Flicker
And you’ll get directed to ‘flickr.com’ instead:
Searching for Flicker.com will redirects you to Flickr.com
The moral of the story for choosing a blog name is simple: Trying to be clever with words doesn’t always work out best.
Part 2: Methods / Inspiration
Inspiration and imagination are great ways to choose a blog name
The second part in choosing a blog name is through using the right methods. Most of the time, we choose a blog name based on inspiration or our blogging heroes.
For instance, I look highly at Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income. I ended up purchasing the domain name, Smart Internet Lifestyle to be like him!
The purpose of this part of choosing a blog name is to remove the guessing game. Here are ten tools and methods to help you choose the best blog name.
Method 1: Self-named blog names
Typically, there are many ways to choose a blog name and to be honest, there could hundreds of them. This specific blog naming formula is my favorite.
Self-named blog names.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is by far the most popular blog name generator for bloggers. Here are some of the most powerful self-named blog names in the market today.
You see, having a self-named blog is pretty awesome. For starters, you are branding yourself. Your name is always the most important thing in life—and you want to make the most out of it.
Self-named blogs are best when you are creating a brand for yourself. Some blogging niches such as self-development, coaching, public speaking and consulting are best with self-named blogs.
As this point of writing, I know that there are many words around that the disadvantages of using a self-named blog.
To be honest, it is not much different compared to a unique blog name. Depending on the name and blogging niche you are in, the challenges faced for branding your new blog name is rather similar.
Therefore, if you are comfortable with a self-named blog name, I recommend you to proceed with it. Don’t let the naysayers turn you down!
Method 2: Blog name that resonates
This is one of the most common methods in choosing a blog name.
blog name = [topic or audience group] + [end goal or transformation]
If this is something you are interested in, here are two more examples that you can use as guidance.
iPhone Photography School = [iPhone owners] + [lessons on how to take better photos with your iPhone]
Photography Life = [photographers (all levels)] + [guides on landscape, wildlife, and portrait photography]
Sometimes you can flip the formula around:
blog name = [end goal or transformation] + [topic or audience group]
Expert Photography = [become an expert at photography] + [beginner photographers]
Do you know that this is an awesome method to choose a blog name? Some years back, I came across a blog name, SocialMediaRush.com and ended up buying the domain. 11 months later, I sold that domain for around $500. Pretty good ROI if you ask me!
I recommend you to get started by drafting all the generic keywords (1 to 2 words long) and add some variables either in the front or back of the keyword. You will be surprised on the blog names you can create from scratch.
Method 3: Create a Portmanteau
What is Portmanteau and how it helps you to choose a blog name?
No, we are not talking about travelling bags but more on creating unique blog names.
In short, a portmanteau is a word that blends the sounds and combines the meanings of two others.
For example:
‘podcast’is a combination of the words iPod and broadcast
‘brunch’ comes from breakfast and lunch
You can combine two words to create a new word, especially two words that speak about what you’ll help your audience with, or key brand values.
A great example to this is CopyBlogger.com, where it combines the word “copy” with “blogger.”
Using portmanteau in choosing a blog name
The usage of portmanteaus allows you to create very unique blog names that are often times still available (.com domain).
This method of choosing a blog name allows you to save money in purchasing expensive, premium domains and at the same time, owning a unique blog name.
I love using blog name generators to choose a blog name and the reason behind this is simple. You don’t have to crack your brain to think of the next premium blog name.
I, for one, is not really good in coming up with blog names. That’s why I opt for self-named blog instead.
When it comes to blog names generators, there are many that you can choose from (thanks to Google). The advantages using blog name generators are as follow:
Free to use
Multiple variations
Ability to check domain availability in bulk
Fast results
Low learning curve (easy to use)
Offers related and similar blog names
Carry on reading to discover the best and free blog names generators today.
If you want to generate a list of snappy, funny and original names for your blog or website, you got to check Satori Studio out.
Unlike other blog name generator tool, this tool is easy to use (user-friendly), results are more structured and the blog name ideas are often from available .com domains, which is a must for any modern blog.
If you are not sure what to call a blog, this free blog name generator could be a life safer!
Panabee offers simple to use interface to generate random blog names
What is Panabee?
Panabee is a simple way to search for company names, domain names, and app names.
If you are starting a blog, you got to use Panabee because it is super intuitive to search for new domain name.
You enter a couple of words, e.g. ‘blog tips’, and Panabee generates lots of suggestions derived from phonemes, syllables, abbreviations, suffixes, prefixes, and popular domain trends:
Panabee is a free blog name generator app
There’s also lists of related terms for each word, plus availability checks on domains, app name, and social media profiles:
Related terms can also be used to generate new blog name ideas
They look nice and feel great. They are good for naming things.
The tool has some input parameters on the left-hand side where you select:
Language – Select one language to get wordoids constructed according to the rules of that language. Select two or more to blend the tastes of several languages.
Quality – Defines how wordoids look, sound and feel. The higher it is, the more they resemble the natural words of the selected languages.
Pattern – Wordoids may begin with, end with or contain a short fragment. Enter something, or leave the field empty to create completely random wordoids.
Length – Set the maximum length of the wordoids. Short wordoids tend to look better than long ones.
Domain – Choose whether to show or hide wordoids with both .com and .net domain names unavailable.
Here are some suggestions for ‘high-quality wordoids in English, that contain “blogging” and are no more than 10 letters long’:
Wordoid.com is a free blog name generator
The only funny thing about Wordoid is that it does generate strange blog names.
Method 6: Choose a blog name using Thesaurus
As a writer and blogger, a thesaurus is one of my most-used tools. But it can also be a source of inspiration when you’re trying to come up with your blog name.
Thesaurus is a great tool when it comes to finding synonyms (when choosing a blog name).
Synonyms are those words that have a similar meaning to your keyword. For starters, the word ‘tutorial’ has many different meanings depending on the context in which it’s used:
Thesaurus offers a wide range of tools to help you find unique blog names
Clicking on any of the relevant terms will open up more options and other synonyms.
This is what happens when I click on “academic”:
This tool also offers a list of most relevant keywords (highlighted in dark yellow)
In short, using a thesaurus is a great way to generate blog name ideas (and without paying a single cent for it).
Method 7: Using alliteration to generate blog name ideas
Alliteration means the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
Here are two examples to give you an idea:
Shooting Star Soccer SchoolMusic Mayhem
One of the most satisfying things about alliterations is the natural rhythm they bring to your brand name.
Out of ideas when choosing a blog name? Use the thesaurus to find more related keywords!
Method 8: Abbreviations
How to use abbreviations to create cool blog names?
Wait, what is abbreviations?
An abbreviation can often turn out to be better in the long run than the full-length version of a brand name. Take International Business Machines for example. That’s quite long-winded, and with so many letters there’s a high chance it could get misspelled or mistyped. But IBM is more snappy and memorable.
Three-letter abbreviations seem to do particularly well:
BMW – Bayerische Motoren Werkein German, or Bavarian Motor Works in English
RAC – Royal Automobile Club
PWC – Price Waterhouse Coopers
Method 9: Unrelated words (bold blog names)
Unrelated name ideas could lead to unique blog names
If you are searching for the best blog names, you should let your imagination go wild. In other words, there is absolutely no issue using unrelated words to create a cool blog name.
Want a catchy blog name? Using unrelated words for your blog name to be different from the rest.
If you think that your blog name doesn’t sounds good, think again.
Here’s a billion dollar tech company that uses a fruit name:
Make the blog name as unique as possible to your brand
Method 10: Blog name is another language
If you’re struggling to find a unique name in your language, then consider trying a different one. Or combine words from different languages.
I am always searching for the best blog names that I could buy and keep them in the inventory. To be honest, it is really hard to find unique ones as those will go off the selling list like hot cakes.
The solution? Searching for another language!
I’m living in Asia and being an Asian, I am exposed to multiple languages since childhood time. I always love spy movies and sadly, spy.com is taken. Now, what happens when I convert the word “spy” into Malay language? It is now “pengintip” and I was lucky to discover that pengintip.com is available (and of course, I purchased it).
The moral of the story is simple. If you can’t find a blog name in English, consider searching in another form of language. If you don’t speak multiple languages, consider using Google Translate to do the translation for you.
You might just get lucky!
Method 11: Focus on your competitors
Use your competitors to choose a blog name
I know, focusing on your competitors may not be the best thing you can do when it comes to searching for a blog name … but sometimes it can be enough to give you a moment of inspiration. Personally, I love to consider it the “Ah-ha moment.“
The concept here is real simple—your competitors would give you an idea of the blog name.
As you can see, all of these starts with “Search Engine”. Thus, you might want to do the same too.
Method 12: Old school—pen and paper
A pen and paper could generate unique blog names as it removes digital interference
Calling all old souls out there. If you want to find the best blog name, this is a great way to do so.
By using a pen and paper, it helps you to visualize the topics and possible blog names. To start, here’s what you need to do.
Divide the paper into two parts
On the left side of the paper, write down all the general keywords you can come up with (try to stick as close as your niche as possible)
On the right side of the paper, write down all the adjectives and random words you can think of
Pick one name on the left and on the left, and combine them
Mix and match until you find one that you are happy with
You can take this one step further and invite friends and family to a brainstorming session. Everyone has a different perspective, and you’re sure to end up with ideas you hadn’t considered.
Method 13: Expired domains
If luck is on your site, you are able to find premium blog names with a fraction of the cost
Are you looking for hidden gems? I bet you do.
Expired domains is one of my go-to tools to choose a blog name. There are two ways you can use expired domains to find a blog name:
Using expired domains as idea generators to unique blog names
Purchase expired domains with unique blog names
How to use expired domains to choose a blog name? Follow these exact steps:
Directory Word Domains (choose English or any language of your choice)
Tick only new last 12 hours (or you can go for 24 hours)
Tick only available Domains
Domain per page (set to 200)
Click Apply Filter
Now, what do you get from the above setting?
You will get list of super targeted, fresh and highly relevant expired domains. You can now decide to either buy them (if they are available) or get a blog name similar to them.
Here’s how it looks like.
ExpiredDomains.net is one of the best places to choose a blog name for free
I recommend going through the expired blog name lists with .com and .net at least once a day. You will never know when you hit the jackpot!
Method 14: Heading to the bookstore
Get blog name ideas at bookstores near you
Wait a minute. What?!
Yes, bookstore. I love bookstores because it gives me a nice range of ideas. Regardless it is blog post ideas or choosing a blog name, running through the books in the shelf is a great way to generate blog names for free.
Here’s how it is done (I recommend you to try this as soon as possible):
Make sure you have a notepad or a note-taking app installed on your phone (I use Evernote by the way)
Head over to the best sellers section
Jot down a list of titles that interest you the most (they can even be single word)
Work the titles in your brain or at home
Come up with some awesome blog names
When it comes to choosing a blog name, you want to choose a blog name that is popular and attracts others. Lucky for you, most authors would spend days crafting the best book titles. Therefore, use this book titles to your advantage and try to incorporate relevant ones into your blog name.
You may even want to search for relevant blog names using free blog name generators.
I purchased WordPressProfs.com and realized that I had infringed the word “WordPress.”
When you choose a blog name, make sure you avoid going for big names as it will bite you in the ass down the road.
Method 16: Avoid using numbers or special characters
Choose a blog name that is easy to type out
Having a cool blog name is not about having special characters in it. This could be one of the biggest mistakes ever!
You should focus choosing a blog name that is easy to remember and don’t take a long time to ‘figure that out.‘
In other words, blog names that is easy to typed out will always be the best option.
Summary: Choosing A Blog Name
There are many ways you can choose a blog name. Whether you are searching for a cool blog name, a good blog name or a unique blog name, the above 16 steps will definitely help you out.
Like this post? Don’t forget to share with your friends.
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About Reginald
Young at heart and a deep passion for entrepreneurial success, Reginald is devoted to share everything he had learned about online marketing with the public. Follow him for more awesome postings.
A beautiful blog without traffic means nothing to website owners. It makes all the sense for everyone in the constant lookout for ways to drive traffic to blogs.
Today’s article is all about taking the right steps to increase organic traffic to your website. If you have just start a blog, this is an excellent
IMPORTANT
These are the exact steps I took to drive organic traffic to my blog. These strategies are highly effective and I recommend you to try it as soon as possible. If done right, you will be able to increase traffic to blog.
Want awesome blog designs?
I use WP Astra and Elementor to build this blog from ground up—without coding skills.
Learn More
Publish More Content To Drive Blog Traffic
This is not bullshit. It’s real—and it’s really effective if you want to drive traffic to your blog in the next 3 months.
Content freshness as discussed by Search Engine Journal, is a powerful method to inform (indirectly) to Google that your website is active.
In the Caffeine update some time back, content freshness is highly discussed in the topic. Here are some important takeaways you need to know.
Constantly publishing new content is vital
Updating old content with latest information, images and other relevant media are highly effective
Updating content without telling Google is NOT effective
There is always a chance that you will not bump in ranking (even after updating)
Getting ‘Dry’ On Content Ideas?
I use KWFinder to discover popular search queries and long tail keywords for idea generation.
Try Now
Creating fresh content every day, week or month is important as it will send ‘good’ signals to search engines—telling them that your blog is very active.
Plus, your readers will love it too!
Drive Traffic Using Social Media
Everyone has social media account (more than one) and I’m sure you check your social media account feed at least once an hour!
So, how do you generate traffic using social media?
Here are two awesome ways to get started.
Engaging Content
Craft well-thought content to get heads turning
Publish on Facebook pages, Groups and personal account
Focus in creating meaningful content instead of content for clicks
Time your publication to ensure maximum reach
Paid Advertisement
Highly effective and fast results
Use landing pages to collect emails and other form of data
Install pixels for remarketing (future usage)
Target audience based on interest and demographic (be specific)
Budget is required for this strategy
Nearly every professional blogger uses social media marketing to reach a wide range of audience.
Here’s a short video of Neil Patel on how to generate traffic to your blog using social media.
Traffic Generation Using Email Marketing
One of the most asked question is this—is email marketing still effective today?
The answer is YES.
Email marketing allows you to build an audience on your own ground. Instead of using other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Medium and others, you are bound on your own rules.
There is absolutely no one who is going to stop you (in terms of marketing) especially when you are building an email list.
In order to deliver emails, you need to use an email service provider who you can trust. These are the guys who will ensure your emails get delivered timely and correctly. After all, emails landed in the spam/junk box are useless (no matter how good the email is crafted).
AWeber helped me launch my first email campaign under 30 minutes. I’m sure AWeber can do wonders for you too.
Try AWeber for FREE
Email marketing is not dead but a highly effective tool to drive blog traffic in just a few clicks. It’s never too late to launch your first email list.
For me, it means free blog traffic. Using well-crafted headlines will encourage clicks, and this is very effective when you are planning to beat the competitors ranking higher than you.
So, how do you create amazing blog headings to drive more traffic to your blog?
Follow these simple steps.
Step 1: Use Google Suggested Search
Google automatic suggested keywords are great source for idea
Let’s take the example of “write irresistible headlines” as the primary search. Before hitting the “Enter” key, Google will list down some relevant keywords that are highly searchable.
IMPORTANT: These are keywords that are searched by others around the world. By using the exact (or similar) keywords, you are going to get better click-through-rates.
Keep in mind that you can decide to ignore the keywords completely, or use them as clickbait (sorry for the choice of word).
Step 2: Google Related Searches
Google Related Searches are great blog titles that you can use
If you ever run out of ideas, Google Related Searches are awesome topics and title generators for you.
Similar to the previous one, these are searches used by others to search for similar keywords.
Step 3: Adding Powerful Words
The usage of powerful words is going to drive traffic to your blog. In other words, these purposely/specifically chosen words are used to create interest and other psychological effect to get readers to click on your article.
Search Engine Optimization or SEO in short, this is one of the most debated question asked by many bloggers.
If you want to become a professional blogger (and make money through blogging), you need to know SEO—at least the very basic.
As you can see above, SEO is divided into several parts. All of these are required (yes, REQUIRED) if you want to start ranking well on search engine result pages (SERP).
Want to drive more traffic to your blog? Pay attention to these.
The structure of your website shows Google which pages of your site are most important. This means you can influence which articles will rank highest in the search engines with your site’s structure.
An SEO analysis can help you make strategic decisions to improve your site’s ranking in search engine results pages. You can utilize SEO analysis results to help you rank higher, expand your reach, and drive traffic to your website
Content SEO refers to creating content that helps your web pages to rank high in the search engines. … Content SEO is important because search engines, such as Google, read your website, so the words you use on your site determine whether or not your site will rank in their results pages.
Backlink is a link one website gets from another website. Backlinks make a huge impact on a website’s prominence in search engine results. This is why they are considered very useful for improving a website’s SEO ranking. Search engines calculate rankings using multiple factors to display search results.
Your SEO keywords are the keywords and phrases in your web content that make it possible for people to find your site via search engines. A website that is well optimized for search engines “speaks the same language” as its potential visitor base with keywords for SEO that help connect searchers to your site.
Social media SEO refers to how social media activities can boost your website’s organic traffic through search engines. It’s a topic that never gets old. The reason being simple: social media is important for SEO in more than one way. It not only makes your SEO activities effective but also lucrative.
Rankings in SEO refers to a website’s position in the search engine results page. There are various ranking factors that influence whether a website appears higher on the SERP based on the content relevance to the search term, or the quality of backlinks pointing to the page.
Search engine optimization is the process of increasing the quality and quantity of website traffic by increasing the visibility of a website or a web page to users of a web search engine. SEO refers to the improvement of unpaid results and excludes direct traffic/visitors and the purchase of paid placement.
Comment On Blogs
Commenting on other’s blogs could generate you blog traffic and quality backlinks
Do you know that commenting on other blogs is a great way to drive traffic to your own blog?
Bloggers particularly are very engaging—and they will often return a comment ‘favor’ once you had left a comment on their blogs.
IMPORTANT
Commenting is a tedious process and shouldn’t be taken lightly. It is always recommended to leave long and insightful comment to build credibility to yourself.
Drive Traffic To Blog Using Quora
Quora can drive quality traffic to your blog
If you are not using Quora to build a strong following, then you are not getting any closer to become a professional blogger.
One of my old buddies, Ryan Biddulph from BloggingFromParadise.com is a constantly publisher on Quora. Take a look at his profile here.
If you click on the image, you will notice that he has over 415.3k content views this month itself.
That’s massive and can you imagine how much free traffic he gets from Quora on a monthly basis?
Quora is a great source of traffic only if you do it right.
You can’t just leave a link and hope others will click on it. You need to spend time in creating great content—followed by building strong foundations to build your fame on Quora.
It is not easy and it is extremely tedious job. However, do it for long enough and you will be able to generate free traffic to your blog.
Generate Free Traffic From Flipboard
Can you generate free blog traffic with Flipboard?
For starters, I use Flipboard some years back by accident. I had a few magazines on Flipboard and I thought it was cool to repurpose my blog posts on some of these magazines.
I ended up opening the flood gate to massive traffic (free traffic, mind you) thanks to Flipboard.
Join me right now on Flipboard and get ready to generate free blog traffic!
I Want Free Blog Traffic
Guest Posting
If you’re in the market for targeted traffic and powerful backlinks, guest posting should be at the forefront of your mind. More importantly, guest posting is also an excellent way to generate more traffic back to your blog.
If you have not done any guest posting (or not sure how to start), I’m happy to share that interviewing experts and guest posting are two of the best techniques to gain traffic when you don’t have an audience.
Most bloggers and website owners are keen of having great guest posts that are detailed/comprehensive and highly engaging.
Plus, guest posting is also a great way to make money from blogging too!
Organizing contests on your blog is a good way to generate blog traffic
Organizing a contest to drive traffic back to your blog is not the world’s most fun thing to do—but it is certainly very effective and creative.
There are many forms of contests and you can work with companies within your niche to host the prices. In return for their support, you can share the list of email addresses of the participants (please disclose this early in the contest) and even share mailing lists.
When done right, you will be able to grow your email list and at the same time, get more traffic back to your blog.
Summary: What is the most effective way to drive traffic to blogs?
There is no specific answer to this as it depends heavily on your niche, industry you are in and of course, your target audience.
If I would to choose, I would definitely go for SEO as I’m very comfortable using it for all my blogs (and I have the expertise for that too).
About Reginald
Young at heart and a deep passion for entrepreneurial success, Reginald is devoted to share everything he had learned about online marketing with the public. Follow him for more awesome postings.
Want to know how fast you can make money with affiliate marketing? The answer is “it depends.” There is no exact formula in knowing how long it takes for you to make your first dollar using affiliate marketing. Some bloggers make the first dollar within days and some takes a few months depending on the strategy, competition and market environment.
Affiliate marketing is a legitimate online business (and not a scam)
So, why are there parties who say affiliate marketing is purely a scam?
The answer is simple. The first part is that they probably aren’t making money using affiliate marketing and they are jealous. The second part is that there are also affiliate marketers who make a living by scamming others (such as promoting a product they don’t use but yet, they publish a review on the product with the hopes of making sales out of it).
That is the ugly side of affiliate marketing and it is something none of us can control.
How to make money with affiliate marketing?
If affiliate marketing is a legitimate business model, then why it is so hard to make money from it?
Competition is the word here.
There are just too much competition in the marketplace and marketers (including myself) are often seen struggling to make money from it.
Summary: How fast can I make money using affiliate marketing?
Assuming that you have the right strategy, patience, great listening skills and persuasive skills, you are bound to make some money from affiliate marketing.
On average, I would say it takes around 30 to 90 days for you to earn your first dollar through affiliate marketing.
Want success in affiliate marketing? There is NO quick ways in making money. Have a strong plan in mind and constantly build trust.
That’s how you can build your audience and finally, make money with affiliate marketing.
Page builder for WordPress helps you to create pages on WordPress with the shortest time available. The biggest upside about using a WordPress page builder is no coding skills required.
This is one of the reasons why page builders for WordPress are often very popular.
In today’s world, there are many page builders that you can choose from, at different prices and features. And I totally understand this — everyone wants to use the best page builder WordPress, right?
The first and most crucial part in choosing the right page builder is the features. What are the features that they offer that benefit you?
I rather use a WordPress page builder that comes packing with features than hiring an expensive web developer for my websites.
What are the features you need to look for in a WordPress page builder?
2. Build for speed
Page builder plugins are often considerd heavy and bloated with codes that make your website loads super slow. When choosing a WordPress page builder, you certainly wouldn’t want to choose a plugin that will make your website loads over 3 seconds, to say the very least!
Speed is all about efficiency — build for speed is an important feature in any WordPress page builder plugin.
Google and other search engines also penalize websites that load slower than the current benchmark. So, don’t ever fall for this mistake.
3. Build for beginners
Everyone wish to have WordPress page builder that allows you to “click and edit” anything, in just a few seconds.
This means that it has to be super easy to use and it doesn’t require you to go through the manual/knowledge base just to understand how to use the plugin.
Everything on a page builder plugin must be ultra-flexible to ensure that beginners (and advanced users) can create powerful WordPress pages in just minutes and not days.
Note: The best page builder WordPress removes every obstacle between you and building the content that you want.
4. Landing page templates and demos
If you are planning to buy a page builder, make sure that it comes packing with tons of pre-made designs and demos which are ready to download. Most of the time, you wouldn’t want to spend time creating a lading page from scratch. Therefore, having ready-made templates is going to save you a lot of time and making your page building experience a great one.
Pro tip: The best page builder plugin will allows you to create sales pages that make you look like a copywriting pro.
5. Pre-build conversion elements
Ladies and gentlemen, this is important. You are not required to reinvent the wheel — You just need to follow what’s working.
And this is a critical element when you are choosing the best page builder WordPress for your site. Great landing page builder plugins like Thrive Architect and Divi allow you to import ready made conversion elements (which are proven effective by the way) into your page without you needing to lift a code.
What’s your favorite and best page builder WordPress plugin?
Are you finding for the best email hosting in Malaysia? You came to the right place!
In this article, I’m going to share with you some of the best email hosting in Malaysia for 2019 that is both affordable and best in performance.
If you are looking for free email services, you should sign up for MailChimp which is free to use up to 2,000 email subscribers and up to 12,000 emails monthly.
Important disclaimer: I highly recommend these email hosting Malaysia and you should focus on the number of email addresses that come with each email hosting package. You should only get the email hosting package that fits your needs.
Most of us understand the importance of using a reliable email hosting provider. You certainly wouldn’t want to miss out on important emails, you want hassle free import contacts feature, on the go email client (mobile email client) and unlimited storage to name a few.
Don’t worry. You will find everything you need to know about the best email service in Malaysia in this post. Carry on reading!
If you are looking for common and popular email hosting in Malaysia that doesn’t cost an arm and leg, Exabytes is the best email hosting for you.
What are the features of Exabytes?
One of the best business email hosting Malaysia that works perfectly across all devices
Access webmail, desktop and mobile at anytime
Powerful team collaboration feature
Accessible and user-friendly webmail interface
Advance features such as message prioritization and throttling (limit the number of messages send per hour and/or the amount of bandwidth used per hour to send messages
Extra layers of protections such as intrusion detection (IDS) and active directory integration to protect you and your business
Synchronization of calendars, tasks, notes and contacts on desktop applications and sync with smartphones
Two-way synchronization for Microsoft Outlook (users can now fully utilize Mircosoft Outlook beyond the capabilities of most mail servers
Remote wiping of mobile devices
SSL/TLS, SPF and DKIM included
Daily backups
Anti spam filtering
99.9% uptime guarantee
24/7 and all year round support
Enterprise-grade email servers
Is Exabytes worth it?
Exabytes is one of the leading business email hosting provider in Malaysia for years. Apart from that, they have been offering their services to both bloggers and business owners within the region.
Not only that they are a reliable email hosting provider, they offer generous storage space especially when you are sending emails with large attachments.
In terms of pricing and features, Exabytes is definitely worth it.
How much does email hosting with Exabytes costs?
Pricing starts at RM 17.99 per month and it is best fit when you have less than 5 users (up to 5 email addresses).
2. ServerFreak — A Good Alternative To Exabytes
ServerFreak calls themselves “Malaysia Web Hosting.” As a paying customer with them, I got to tell you that they are pretty good!
Decent price and excellent support to name a few, ServerFreak is definitely one of the best email hosting in Malaysia.
What you need to understand that ServerFreak doesn’t offer email hosting services. Email hosting services are bundled along with the web hosting package that you take up.
Basically, you need to host your website with ServerFreak before you can utilize their email services.
What are the features offered by ServerFreak?
30-days money back guarantee
99% or higher uptime guarantee
24/7 and whole year round technical support
Super affordable pricing and rate structure (web hosting services)
Is ServerFreak worth it?
I used ServerFreak around 7 years back. Back then, I was a complete newbie in WordPress and no matter what questions I asked the support, they will always reply and try to guide me with the task.
Yes, most of the questions are basically out of their ‘work scope’ but they took the time to reply me. And until now, the service level remains the same.
It is also important to note that you can easily integrate ServerFreak email hosting services with your custom domain. While you might need to know how to do it, the support team is available when you need help configuring that on your server.
How much does email hosting with ServerFreak costs?
For shared web hosting, it costs a mere RM 90 per year (that’s RM 7.50 per month). If you need more firepower, there’s Cloud Hosting and Dedicated Servers which starts at RM 75 per month.
3. SiteGround — Comprehensive Support And Scalability
When it comes to the best email hosting Malaysia 2019, nothing come close to SiteGound as my personal favorite.
SiteGround adds various third-party and in-house developed solutions to guarantee you a secure, spam-free and lightning fast email experience. It will make sure that both your email and website run smoothly on our servers and that your website is safer, faster and better supported than anywhere else!
Important: Just like ServerFreak, SiteGround doesn’t offer a standalone email hosting service. All email hosting is bundled with web hosting packages.
What are the features offered by SiteGround?
Email at your domain name
Comprehensive and complete email tutorials
Considerably less spam with advanced spam control
Easy email management
Availability of secure protocols
Free email accounts
24/7 support through phone, live chat and email
A large selection of webmail clients
Built in anti-spam solutions
Easy email management from cPanel
Is SiteGround worth it?
The answer is yes. I recommend SiteGround to everyone I know and the core reason for me to do is because of the server performance.
Security flaws and patches are done by the SiteGround team automatically, therefore, you do not need to worry about security matters.
Plus, the support via live chat is definitely a killer reason to go with SiteGround. Any problems are always solved within minutes and their live chat works 24/7!
Personally, SiteGround is a great email hosting provider and the only downside is that it doesn’t come with an office suite with it (unlike what NameCheap does).
How much does email hosting with SiteGround costs?
If you are just starting up, a shared web hosting services starts at $3.95 per month. If you need more server performance, scalability is not an issue as SiteGround team will monitor and advise you when it is time for you to upgrade to a new package (of course, it’s entirely up to you for the upgrade).
4. GoDaddy — All-Time Favorite For Beginners
If you are looking for a save bet, GoDaddy is your best bet. With support and servers all around the world, GoDaddy is definitely one of the best email hosting provider 2019 in Malaysia.
What are the features offered by GoDaddy?
Professional email hosting service
Business email that matches your domain
Award-winning 24/7 support
Unlimited access to email, contact and calendar anywhere, on any device
99.9% uptime guarantee
World-class data security and spam filtering
30-days money back guarantee
Outlook web application
Is GoDaddy worth it?
If you are looking for hassle-free email hosting in Malaysia, GoDaddy is an awesome choice. Prices are very affordable and support is best to none.
How much does email hosting with GoDaddy costs?
Email hosting with GoDaddy starts at RM 17.99 per month, per user. I would rather pay for this price if you want a complete worry-free email hosting service for your business.
5. NameCheap — Great GoDaddy Alternative
If you are looking for a great alternative to GoDaddy email hosting Malaysia, then you should consider NameCheap.
Note: Did you know that NameCheap is slightly cheaper than GoDaddy?
What are the features of NameCheap email hosting services?
POP/IMAP/Webmail enabled
Secure email storage
Secure file storage
Anti-spam protection
Mobile support
Collaboration tools between users (higher plans only)
NameCheap allows you to manage multiple email accounts from different providers under one roof
24/7 support via live chat, email and phone
Is NameCheap worth it?
One of my business is using NameCheap private email services and it is secure as hell. The NameCheap spam filtering is state-of-the-art and you are guaranteed to have a clean mailbox, every day.
In terms of service and support, it is extremely easy because of the live chat availability daily.
I use NameCheap Private Email services for affordability and reliability. NameCheap comes with mobile app / mail app which is a nice bonus and its spam filters is one of the best in the market.
How much does email hosting with NameCheap costs?
NameCheap doesn’t offer any services in Ringgit Malaysia. Therefore, I’m going to convert it on an average of 4.05 (USD:MYR).
The lowest package starts at $9.88 per year (RM 40 per year) and it comes with all the basic features and integrated mailbox. There are also higher plans that you can choose from, for bigger organization.
What is my favorite email hosting solution?
Personally, I use NameCheap because it is really reliable (and most of my clients are from the United States).
What about you?
Leave a comment below and tell me whcih is your favorite email hosting provider in Malaysia!
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