by James Sowers |
Last Updated: April 27, 2019 This post may be sponsored or may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission, at no additional cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the full disclosure.
Things can get really confusing when you’re starting your blog.
Especially, when you try hard to make things REALLY PERFECT.
Stay miles away from the “perfection” trap because it’s just not necessary at all.
Instead, focus on these 5 CRUCIAL things to do before launching your blog.
1. Create An Opt-In Form To Get Email Subscribers
This is something most bloggers ignore.
I can’t stress enough how important building an email list is.
It lets you build a relationship with your readers and potentially turn them into paying customers.
It’s like sitting on a GOLDMINE.
In order to build an email list, you need to create an opt-in form within your blog to capture your visitors’ emails. Once you collect their emails, you can send out daily/weekly newsletters to them.
Those newsletters can be anything like notifying them of your new blog post or sending them to a sales page to buy something.
Now, I can give you two options:
Option 1: If you’re tight on your budget and don’t want to spend anything on email marketing, then go for MailerLite.
They’re totally FREE till 1000 subscribers and let’s you send unlimited emails.
They also have 24/7 email support on the free plan. That’s super cool if you ask me.
Option 2: If you’re willing to spend some money per month to get a better email marketing service, then go for ConvertKit.
They’re highly powerful and in my opinion are one of the best if not the BEST.
They have beautiful and high-converting opt-in forms to collect emails of your visitors.
Not to forget, the interface is super easy and they have a a solid 24/7 support team to fix any problems.
I recommend taking the 14-day FREE trial so you can test it out and decide better.
2. Publish 10 Blog Posts
When someone visits your blog, they’re likely to read more than just 1 post.
So, in my opinion it’s necessary to have at least 5-10 published posts on your blog which covers a range of topics within your niche.
Also read:
How To Get Hundreds Of Blog Post Ideas Within 5 Minutes
7 Most Profitable Blogging Niches and Ways to Monetize Them
This helps to keep the readers glued to your blog for a longer time + helps lower the bounce rate.
3. Set Up Your Social Media Profiles
In order to be a successful blogger, you need to be on social media.
To do that, you have to set up your social media profiles first and link them to your blog.
I would recommend joining no more than 3 of them otherwise it’ll become a tedious task to manage.
I use Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter which turns out pretty enough to get traction to my blog.
4. Have An ‘About Me’ Page + Other Important Pages
Do you have preferences of certain authors while selecting a book?
The same thing happens when you start a blog.
People would be curious to know how you are, what you do and where your interest lies in.
That’s where the “About me” page comes in.
You’re a real person behind the screen and people should know it.
Make sure that you get personal with your readers because this page is vital for building trust and forming long-term subscribers of your blog.
Along with the “About Me” page, you need to have these pages as well:
- Contact: For readers to reach out to you + brand sponsorship offers
- Privacy Policy, Disclaimer & Disclosure: These pages are super important because as per GDPR laws, you’re required to disclose how your readers’ data is being used, how your content shall be consumed, how you make money from them etc.
And unless you’re a lawyer, writing these pages yourself is not advisable.
In fact, if your blog doesn’t comply with GDPR laws, you might face huge trouble. (Not even kidding!)
That is why I highly recommend investing in this Legal Bundle from a professional lawyer who’s practicing law for more than 8 years.
The bundle includes privacy policy, disclaimer and terms & conditions templates + other legal bonuses which will make your blog GDPR compliant within few minutes.
5. Have A Content Calendar
Planning is extremely important in blogging.
A content calendar makes it easy to keep the blog-flow smooth and saves up your time in the long run. You’ll be able to plan out months of blogs posts in advance.
Moreover, having deadlines will make you more responsible towards your blog, resulting in you being regular at creating content for your readers.
My friend Angela has created a super-helpful 45 page Blog Planner that contains:
- Weekly/monthly/yearly plans and goals
- Blog Post Planner
- Blog Post Checklist
- Blog Post Ideas
- Social Media Stats
- And a lot more!
This blog planner will help you stay organized and productive as a blogger + make your tasks so much easier.
Bonus: Check For Grammatical Errors
There is nothing worse than reading a piece of content that is full of grammatical errors.
Even if you have great content, the errors will drive the readers crazy.
When your writing is smooth and clean, the readers will have a good time reading your blog post. And the more they enjoy your writing, the more likely they’re to share your blog post.
That’s why I use this FREE tool called Grammarly that automatically detects any spelling mistakes and grammatical errors within seconds.
It’s a lifesaver in a nutshell.
Are You Ready To Launch Your Blog?
Keeping the above points in mind will help you launch your blog with a bang!
However, building an audience can take a while and doesn’t happen overnight.
So don’t worry about not getting the attention you expected, you’ll start to see the numbers gradually.
If you haven’t started a blog yet, read How to Start a Blog And Make Your First $1,000
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. 🙂
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