Now that we have told you that starting up a Blog requires a previous preparation and a different approach and that once it is up and running you have to be persistent and organize the work well, going from less to more, it is time to get down to work to really set it up and then promote it so that what we write is read by the maximum number of people with the desired profile and thus achieve the necessary revenue to amortize the effort.
There are a multitude of tools that can help you get your blog into orbit, but you can also take certain actions that will allow you to give it a professional marketing approach. However, first things first: Let’s start with the platforms!
Select platform
There are an infinite number of platforms with which you can implement it, some simpler and others very advanced. Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. At Reinicia, for example, for content management systems [CMS] we usually work with WordPress for projects that do not require very high levels of security and Drupal if it is necessary to improve security. A brief summary is provided below:
Blogger
It is a pure and simple Blogging tool. Its main advantages are that you can launch your blog in just a few clicks, it is easy to use the basics and integrates with other Google tools. However, being a very standard tool, you are likely to be restricted in different functionalities as you grow your project.
WordPress
For us, this is the best option for most projects. Both for starting a small blog and for those of you who have big ambitions. There are two options:
- WordPress.com: It is an option similar to Blogger regarding the implementation of the Blog, since it is also a free cloud solution and in just 4 steps will allow you to have your project up and running. And although the functionalities are limited, it is far superior to Blogger and also, for very little money, you will be able to add different options as your project grows. From our point of view, it is a good alternative to start the project and, once you are sure you can maintain it and dedicate yourself to it, make the migration to another tool that allows you greater scalability and total control over the platform as the ones we talk about below. You will be able to take your articles to any other platform without any problem.
- Worpress.org: In this case, you install the tool directly on your own hosting. We recommend the service of companies like ASPL Hosting, which ensure that their servers have the appropriate service levels for WordPress and also have an anti-hacking service that will allow you to cover one of the main shortcomings of this phenomenal platform: security. The main advantages of this option are multiple. On the one hand, for the design, you can count on thousands of companies that can give you service, being an open source software to which many people have access. Similarly, you can buy responsive templates, ie, also adapted to mobile devices, for very little money and have a Blog with a really professional aesthetic. In pages like Theme Forest you can find many options. Generally, in addition to buying the theme and install it, you will have to hire a company to make the customizations to adapt it to your needs. In these cases, you will find budgets ranging from 500€ to 10.000€, so if you ask for a quote, we recommend you to be clear about where you want to go and ask for at least three options to compare. And finally, there are tens of thousands of plugins that will help you to improve the initial functionality of your Blog in just a few clicks and with very little time spent on configuration. You will be able to discover some of them if you keep reading… The main disadvantage of this option is that it will clearly cost you more money and also more time, but if you have a serious project, it will be worth it.
Drupal
Like WordPress.org, this is a free software option and you will also have to install it on your own hosting. And although it is true that there are not so many companies that work with it, we do, it is a very powerful tool that will allow you to have the best of the network at your disposal. With a great plugins market, you can turn your Blog into a very powerful marketing tool. We recommend this option when your project requires high levels of security or when you manage different projects on different domains at the same time, since Drupal’s multidomain management is much better than WordPress, which gives many problems in the management.
In either case, you will be able to implement tools or carry out actions that will turn your blog into a real marketing steamroller.
Visual identity and design
Before starting to develop on the platform to launch your Blog, a question to decide will be the aesthetics of it. We have come across many types of projects and in general we have found that the aesthetics is something that is abandoned or decided to do internally in that way. It is usually for one of the following reasons:
- Initially limited budgets
- Lack of knowledge of the Client at the time of contracting
- Hiring a web developer instead of a web designer or vice versa
- Lack of confidence in the designer who set up the website
However, we know from experience that neglecting design at the beginning is bread for today and hunger for tomorrow. Doing it at the beginning will mean important savings later on, as you will have developed all the elements of the brand in a coherent and consistent line. Therefore, the above factors should not be an impediment to invest time and money in a project with an appropriate aesthetic. Our recommendation in this regard is as follows:
Visual identity and corporate colors
If you have a previous visual identity, it is important that the Blog is aligned with it. In case the logo is not current, it should not influence the Blog to have a modern aesthetic, just take as a reference the corporate colors and define nice elements for the web in line with those colors. You can even softly shade the colors if that way you get a more modern aesthetic.
If you don’t have a visual identity, try to invest some time to know what colors you would like to have for your Blog and transmit it to the designer if you have hired one. If you are doing it on your own, it will be enough to choose a primary color and a couple of complementary colors. You will surely be able to find ready-made templates with the colors you are looking for. In fact, it is quite common to find templates in which you can define the colors from the control panel itself.
Limited budgets
As mentioned in the previous section, there are budgets for all tastes. From 500€ to 10.000€. With sites like Theme Forest, you can have templates at very affordable prices, from 15 € or more or less, and from there what you charge the company you hire, which obviously will depend on the time you have to spend and the experience you have. That said, do not trust too cheap budgets, because this is usually a reflection of little experience on the part of the person who is going to do it or means that the person is engaged in other activities in parallel, which is very likely to lead to intolerable delays in deliveries. The latter is very common and usually costs a lot of money.
Multidisciplinary Teams
In web design and development there are many different profiles involved in the development of a website or blog: designer, user experience expert, layout designer, developer, marketing consultant, etc. Depending on the size of your project, you will need the whole package or just a part of it.
For small projects, a personal blog or a blog of a small or start-up business, we recommend one of the cloud platforms, you can do without all of them and you will save a lot of time and money.
But for medium or large projects, what we recommend is that you hire at least a team of a designer and a developer. The first one will define a correct aesthetic and the second one will make a correct configuration of the selected platform. From there, to improve the final product that you put in place, you will have to include a greater number of profiles.
References and trust in the Team
To get a blog that fits what you really need , it is very helpful for the project team to have references that allow them to understand you better. Therefore, it is very useful to look for blogs or websites from different points of view: aesthetic and functional. This will help the designer and the developer to make a proposal that fits what you need and to trust their criteria when it comes to make you change ideas that you had from the beginning and that may be detrimental to the project.
[Conclusiones]Take the time to define what you want to achieve with your Blog, who your readers are going to be and what you are going to need. From there, write down everything you will need. If necessary, plan the development in several phases.
When selecting the platform, contact several companies and ask for several quotes. By comparing them, you will be able to better understand what best suits your project. Be aware of what would happen if you had to change supplier. To minimize the risk of making the wrong choice, spend time meeting with them and getting to know them, not just asking for quotes.
And finally, do not leave aside the design. A neat and professional image and a correct usability in your web will make you get clients in an easier and faster way and the readers will be more comfortable reading you. On the Internet, giving confidence is very important, especially if someone comes to you through the Search Engines or any other means in which they have no previous reference. [/Conclusiones]
