Do you want to start a Christian blog?
Starting a blog is the easy part. It’s being consistent and patient that’s difficult.
In order to be successful in blogging, you need to figure out your why. Why do you want to do this?
If you’re starting a blog only for the money, don’t start at all. It takes a long time to start making income from a blog, especially as a beginner. There’s nothing wrong with making money, but you’ll be disappointed if that’s the only reason.
Start a blog because you’re passionate about the topic you’re writing on. If you find what you’re writing about boring, you’ll lack the motivation and discipline to keep going. Passion will help you be consistent.
So before you read the rest of this article, take a moment to think about your why.
…
(I’m serious! Take a few minutes to think about your why)
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, here’s how to start a Christian blog.
Steps to Starting a Christian Blog
There are a few steps you should take when starting a blog of any kind.
Here are 7 steps to starting a Christian blog.
#1 Decide on your niche and target audience.
A niche is a specific topic you specialize in. You shouldn’t start a blog where you write about everything.
If you write about everything, search engines won’t know how to index you. The bots will get confused on what your blog is about. You don’t want that to happen because it will be harder to rank on search engines like Google.
A good way to decide on your niche is to first pick your target audience. I’ll use my blog as an example. My target audience is female new believers in their 20s. That means everything I write is geared toward them. When I write, I write with my audience in mind. My topics are meant to set a good foundation for them.
Here are some examples of Christian niches/audiences:
- Christian health and wellness for women in their 30s
- Christian homeschool resources for women in their 20s and 30s
- Christian relationship resources for married women in their 30s and 40s
There are many possibilities on what you can write about, which is why it’s good to narrow it down.
#2 Pick a domain name.
Now, pick a domain name.
A domain name should be simple. Don’t make it complicated. If you do, people won’t remember your website name.
If you can’t think of anything, consider using your name. Names are typically easy to remember.
Also, if you decide to change the course of your blog later on, you won’t have to worry about your domain name being off brand.
You can take your time with this. You don’t have to decide on a domain name right away. Most hosting services allow you to have a temporary url in the meantime.
Speaking of hosting, let’s move on to the next point.
#3 Choose the platform and hosting.
It’s time to choose the platform and hosting you’d like to have your website on.
I recommend a self-hosted WordPress. There are two types of WordPress. Don’t use WordPress(.com). You don’t have as many liberties and it’s not as professional.
Although it might cost a bit more, WordPress(.org) is the way to go. You have more freedom to do what you want with your site. It’s also what most professional bloggers use these days.
In order to use WordPress(.org), you need a hosting service. I used Bluehost as a beginner but I don’t recommend it. Although it’s cheap, they don’t have the best customer service. Also, the hosting service tends to have a lot of issues.
I use and recommend SiteGround. SiteGround has good customer service and is user friendly. They have instructions for almost anything you could think of. My website hasn’t had any issues since using SiteGround.
#4 Install a theme and necessary plugins.
If you decide to have your website on WordPress, you’ll need to pick a theme for your website.
A theme is basically the design and look of your website. When you start on WordPress, they provide a basic theme. You can search for and pick a theme on WordPress, but I don’t really like them much.
You can also find a theme through a third party. I found my theme design on 17th Avenue Design. She has really pretty and professional themes specifically for WordPress. I use the Ameila theme.
If you need help installing your theme into WordPress, she provides that service for an additional cost.
WordPress is different from other platforms in that you use plugins. There is a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it gets easier.
Here are some plugins I recommend using when first starting out:
#5 Develop an SEO strategy.
SEO stands for search engine optimization. This term basically means you’re optimizing your content to appear high in search engine rankings.
You might not be knowledgeable about SEO but if you want to start a blog, it’s important to develop an SEO strategy.
SEO is a big topic that needs a lot of hashing out. You can find a lot of information about SEO through online resources.
#6 Develop a social media strategy.
SEO is your first priority before social media. But after you’ve developed an SEO strategy, you can incorporate social media.
I would recommend focusing only on one social media platform in the beginning. Many bloggers start by using Pinterest. Personally, I don’t like Pinterest but I’ve heard of it producing results for others.
I focus on Instagram. However, Instagram doesn’t necessarily build a lot of traffic. I use it more for the social aspect of connecting with my audience.
#7 Start writing!
Finally, it’s time to start writing.
I wouldn’t recommend making your website public until you’ve had a few blog posts already posted.
I started out with 5 blog posts published. It gives your website more of a finished look when you already have content on there.