Every day, countless people set out to begin fulfilling their hobbies and careers via blogging. The art of the blog can be a cathartic experience for many, while for others, it can be a real money-making opportunity. The purpose of a blog should be to inform, persuade or otherwise entertain readers in a way that ensures they return for more. Beginning your blogging journey can be a bit confusing and daunting at first, but thankfully, there are a few steps you can take initially to be well on your way. Below, we’ll discuss which guidelines you should follow when setting up your blog and writing your first posts.

Take Advantage of WordPress

There is no better platform in the world through which to start your very own blog than WordPress. Currently being used by more than one in four websites worldwide, the WordPress content management system was originally designed to be used as blogging software. However, it has expanded into a fully-featured solution that packs a powerful SEO punch and allows you to easily start pinging links, sharing content and reaching search engines. Not only will you be able to design and manage an excellent blog, but you’ll also be able to expand your offerings by adding static pages, interactive elements, store-fronts and anything else you can imagine.

Focus on Quality Instead of Quantity

All too many new bloggers make the mistake of assuming that they need a large amount of content in order to be successful with SEO and reaching new audiences. While more pages and posts will help you rank better in more search engine results, the reality is that search engines are increasingly becoming conscious of what readers actually want to see. Therefore, quality matters more than ever. If there is a choice between publishing five poorly-written and poorly-researched posts each week versus one great post, then the obvious choice should be the latter. High-quality and lengthy blog posts perform much better in search than poorly-constructed ones, so always go with quality.

Build Links – In and Out

Link building has long been known as a vital component of SEO. In order to show search engines that your website does in fact produce quality content, links from other websites to your blog posts are essential. You can build and obtain these links through a variety of legitimate activities, such as guest posting on other blogs. It is absolutely necessary to avoid the temptation to buy links, as this almost always ends badly. Furthermore, pinging links from your blog posts to other related blogs and websites is a great idea. This link association can further convey meaning and significance of your blog to search engines and will help you to rank better in select search results over time.

When you begin blogging, it can seem like a lot of work. In the short-term, it’s essential that you build a solid foundation from which to blog and optimize content, focus on producing quality content that both search engines and users will love, and build links to and from your website to further legitimize your standing.