Is your blog as ready as you are when it comes to stepping into the online world? The excitement of creating a blog can quickly wear off once you start to get your hands dirty.
Blogs are like newborns. They need to be tended to almost every minute and there are essential things needed to ensure they grow healthy and strong.
To make sure yours is the best it can be, let's go over some of the things every blog needs, especially yours. Ready to see what they are?
Here we go!
A Good Hosting Platform
It doesn't matter whether your blog is a few days old or a few years old. Everyone needs a good hosting platform. Why?
This is to ensure your site runs as smoothly as possible. No one likes to visit a site where it's loading slow and isn't up half the time.
However, a good hosting platform won't promise 100% uptime either. That's just unrealistic. Things happen.
What to look for is a company with good reviews and one that offers 99.9% of uptime. Uptime is what keeps your blog alive on the internet. It also means visitors won't see an error page.
Along with making sure their uptime guarantees are suitable, another area to research them on is cyber attack prevention. What lengths do they go to so your site is protected?
With a hosting platform, you're technically leaving your site in the hands of others. That said, it's crucial you know what steps they take should their own servers be hacked or your blog is infected with a virus.
Contact Form/Page
It doesn't matter what niche you're in or if you're not selling any type of product or service, you need a contact form or page! What if readers have questions? Or perhaps a brand wants to collaborate?
You need a way for them to get in touch. Not only that but a contact page or form shows that you're reachable. Without one, visitors might get turned off seeing that the blog owner refuses to be contacted.
Let them know there's a human on the other side, waiting to answer questions and respond to comments. Even if you get no takers on a daily basis, at least you'll have a way for them to contact you should they have questions.
Search Bar
Sure, there might be tags and categories to sort your blog posts accordingly. However, some people don't want to take the time to sift through years of content. They may be looking for something specific on your site.
To make it easier for them, include a search bar on your blog. They might've really liked the topic you wrote about in one post and then want to find more content on the same subject. The easiest way for them to do that is to use a search bar to type in keywords to find more related content.
Email Newsletter
A lot of bloggers don't realize the importance of a newsletter. Some think it's a waste of time while others believe that readers will continue to visit without one.
That's simply not the case. An email newsletter is crucial because of two things.
First, you've gained access to their inbox. That means you're reaching them directly.
Secondly, you're reminding them that you're still around. Hoping readers will come back without the assistance of a newsletter isn't a good idea. They have busy lives and the last thing on their mind would be to remember to visit your blog.
Your newsletter doesn't have to be anything spectacular or sent out every day. You can choose to alert subscribers of new content when it's posted.
As for the number of times to send it out, that's really up to you. You want to make sure you're consistent with whatever amount you choose. If you're really not sure, twice a month is a good start.
An Easy Way to Comment
What's a surefire way to make sure no one comments on your posts? Captcha requests (especially the one that is a picture and you have to click on the appropriate squares), confirming contact details or signing up for a commenting website.
All of those things mentioned contribute to having no comments on your posts. We understand you want to make sure you don't get spam but think of those who have thoughtful things to say. They won't spend the time confirming minute details to tell you what an awesome post you wrote.
Legible Fonts
This may seem like a no-brainer but we've seen a lot of bloggers get this one wrong. While you want to make your blog stand out, one way to NOT do that is by picking illegible fonts and colors.
While your audience may be young, they shouldn't have to get close to the screen to read what you typed. Nor should they have to spend minutes staring at your headline because it's in an impossible-to-read font.
For color, go with black. Sure, grey or even blue seems more appealing brand-wise but it's a no-no. People are used to fonts being typed in black. There's no point in deviating from that.
As for fonts, serif or sans-serif is a good choice. Choosing handwritten fonts are great for your blog name but not for anything else relating to your posts.
Simplicity is best in this case. Go all out when it comes to your brand but keep the fonts used for your posts legible.
While these may seem like essentials you would know to put, all too often bloggers forget the basic. To ensure your blog is the best it can be, keep these tips in mind.
