1. Pick a Great Name for Your Blog.
Your blog name should encompass your blog’s mission and should clearly articulate your blog’s purpose. Don’t hurry through the process of picking a name; it’s your brand and you want to make sure you love it and it’s something you’re going to love for years to come. Take a week or two to consider potential names. Ask a few trusted friends to give their input. Toss around ideas, and when you land upon ones you like, check to see if the domain name (the www website address) is available on GoDaddy.com before jumping ahead and settling on any one name.
Important note: Blog names can be federally trademarked. This means that an individual or company owns the federal rights to a particular name or phrase. It cannot be used by others or you will be subject to fines and required to discontinue using the name. To be safe, search thoroughly online to make sure no one is using the name you come up with or a very similar variation of it.
2. Purchase the Domain Name and All Variations.
As soon as you land on the blog name you love and have double-checked that no one is using it, buy the domain name immediately. It usually costs around $10 to $20 per year for this and it’s worth every penny to have your own domain name for your blog. I always purchase domain names from GoDaddy.com just because that’s what I've always done. However, if you are planning to set up your blog through Blogger (see point 3 below), it’s much, much easier if you purchase the domain name directly through Blogger rather than through a separate domain name service because the domain will be automatically set to point to your Blogger blog. You won’t have to go through the process to manually input the code yourself to point the domain to your blog.
I also suggest, if you want to think long-term and hope to turn your blog into a successful business, that you purchase all variations of your domain name. That way, you don’t have to worry about someone else setting up a site with a domain name very similar to yours.
3. Choose the Right Blog Platform from the Get-Go.
Not too long ago I was asked “What is the one thing you wish you had done differently when setting up your blog.” I immediately replied, “I wish I had started with Blogger a long time ago.” I started with Blogger because that was pretty the best easy online platform in existence at the time.
4. Hire a Designer.
Back in the “olden” days when there weren't many blogs, if you had great content and updated regularly, you’d have a good number of readers—even if you had a basic, free Blogger blog design. Today, because there are so many more blogs, great content is paramount, but a nice design and ease-of-use is also very important. If people find your blog design dull or your layout disorganized, they are much more apt just to go find another blog.
Now please don’t let this discourage you. You don’t need a fancy-schmancy blog with lots of bells and whistles. A simple, clean design that is easy to navigate can make a world of difference. And paying someone to set this up for you may be worth the money. If you can’t afford a designer, at least consider paying to have someone design your header, and then take the time to learn some basic HTML so you can tweak your sidebar.
5. Plan Your Posts Ahead of Time.
I can’t tell you how many times I've seen a new blog advertised and been all excited to check it out, only to find there were a whopping three posts on it! If you want people to stick
around, you need to have depth and series and a variety of posts. Before you open your doors to the public, go ahead and post 10 to 15 posts, plus plan out and write another 15 to have in queue to post after you start advertising your blog. Not only will this allow you to get your feet wet and get accustomed to blogging before you have a real live audience, it also provides some great content for people to check out when they visit your blog.
I love Google calendar for planning out post series long-term. I also have recently begun printing out a monthly calendar to pencil in specific posts for each day. This gives me accountability, inspiration, and organization— well, at least it’s better than my former blog-by-the-seat-of-my-pants routine!