5 Simple Steps To Start A Blog In Nigeria

Everything You Should Know About Starting A Blog in Nigeria: Step by Step

Do you want to create a blog in Nigeria as a hobby, side hustle or a full-time job with the aim of generating content and earning from it? If yes, I guess you don’t know where to start and how to go about it.

This article was written for you. 😉 

Whatever your motives are, ensure you’re ready to create content and satisfy your audience’s needs. In fact, I wrote this particular post because 4 readers asked about how to start a blog in the comment section of another post – businesses you can start with just 10k.

There are many reasons people blog but the kind of blog you want to create should depend on the type of content you want to create.

This can be technology, fashion, health, photography, business, entertainment, celebrity gist and gossips or any other thing you can think of. And if you have a good experience of any of these niches, you are one step closer to begin.

However, if you desire a particular niche but you don’t have the time or enough experience to continue to write content on it, you absolutely need the services of professional writers to handle that for you at an affordable price.

Now that I have established some basics of blogging, I’ll go into the steps serially.

Ready? Let’s go!

1. Get a catchy name for your domain

By now, I am sure you have already thought of a name to give to your blog. The name should be short, catchy and easily remembered. A blog is also a website – you don’t want your audience to be scratching their heads anytime they try to remember the name of your website. Giving it a weird name will not give people a chance to imagine what to expect from your blog.

Just beneath every blog name or title is the blog description. This plainly describes the blog in just a few words. Don’t write an epistle in the description. For example, “live healthily”, “live longer” or “a blog dedicated to making you healthy” are just fine.

From these description examples, someone can easily tell that it is a health blog. Once this is done, get your domain name registered because this will allow you to get a custom email address such as victoria@explicitsuccess.com.

You will also be able to make your name unique to you and unavailable to a potential buyer. A quick decision is required because there are chances that someone else wants to pick the same name you’re thinking about. You can check for available domain names at Qservers.

2. Get a blog host

This is the next step to take after getting a domain name for your blog. Your hosting company provides the space you need on the web to operate your blog. In layman’s language, your web hosting company is your landlord and you are the tenant who needs to pay your rent every year. You got the gist, right? 😉

There are a lot of hosting services online that you can easily choose from, but you should choose what will work best for you and will provide you with the necessary tools and technical support for your blog. You can choose to try this hosting company below by clicking the banner.

However, if you don’t have enough money, some free web hosting examples are Blogger, Tumblr, and WordPress.

• Blogger

Blogger is a free service offered by Google. This is what you can easily use if you aren’t tech-savvy. You can easily create an account by using your Google account and password, then choose your domain name. Once this is done, the website or link will come as yourdomainname.subdomainname.com e.g livehealthylonger.blogspot.com.

Among the pros of using Blogger’s free service is the ease of use and ability to manage without any technical skill. You also have the added advantage of Google’s robust services. However, with Blogger, you are limited to basic blogging tools, fewer templates for customizations and the fact that it receives fewer important updates and features.

It can also offer you a custom domain name which will be registered as “yourdomainname.com” but this isn’t free. You have to buy from a third-party domain registrar.

• Tumblr

This is a microblogging platform and a little bit different from other platforms with social networking features such as in-built sharing tools, reblogging and many more.

Just like blogger, you can get a free link with the Tumblr subdomain name (yourdomain.tumblr.com) or a custom domain name when you pay for the premium service. The themes available on Tumblr do not have additional features.

It has integrated social media content and it’s free to use but you will be limited to a few features as your blog grows.

(Read also) 9 steps to create a website for your business for free.

• WordPress

This is one of the best, if not the best host for your blog because:

• It is very easy to set up and free to use.
• A lot of free themes and layouts.
• There is massive technical support available in case you get stuck.
• Your blog speed will be very fast and have optimum functionality and look.
• Viewers/readers can easily interact with you.
• Your content can be easily shared and commented on.

3. Install a content management software

Installing content management software like WordPress is quite an easy thing to do if you want to have full control of your blog and content. This allows you to have an admin name and password that can easily be used to access your blog any time, any day.

You can also have the WordPress app on your phone to quickly surf through your readers’ comments on the go. You only need to install a preferred WordPress theme to customize your blog.

(Read also) What you should do about website design mistakes that affect businesses

4. Customize your blog

The majority of internet users in Nigeria and in the world today are smartphone users. Thus, your blog should have a mobile version and be user-friendly. The colours and themes for your blog should be very simple and professional such that it is very appealing and doesn’t strain the eyes.

You also don’t have to start from scratch as some of these hosts come with templates that you can work with. A template that portrays your content style can easily be chosen.

You should also ensure that your blog’s design does not only reflect both you and your personality but also what your blog is all about.

There’s no point in having a football-themed blog if your contents display contents about wildlife animals. That might be misleading and unprofessional.

5. Start publishing on your blog

Now that you have customized your blog and hosted it on a free or self-hosting platform, you can start generating content for your readers or potential consumers. You should ensure you keep the blog updated for new content as loyal users would regularly check your blog in the hope of new content.

You should also familiarize yourself with search engine optimization. This allows your content to be displayed when a user makes a content-related search on google or other platforms.

You can also reach out to people to let them know about your blog once you launch it. You may ask why? Whether you like it or not, you must market your blog passionately for the first few months to reach your audience. As time goes on, other readers from all over the world will find their way to your blog. However, the latter can be successfully achieved when you get your SEO right.

Free or self-hosting domain, which is better?

WordPress, Tumblr, and Blogger all offer free blogs for everyone and this is okay if you aren’t so much about blogging to make money. However, you won’t get your OWN domain name. As stated earlier, creating a free blog with any of the above free blog services will look like this: yourdomainname.wordpress.com, yourdomainname.blogspot.com or yourdormainname.tumblr.com. Other disadvantages are:

• You are limited

There are some limits to using free hosting services for your blog. You can’t fully monetize it and you don’t have absolute control over the number of photos/videos you can share. Worse still, you won’t be able to access the free themes offered by WordPress.

(Read also) Mobile apps or mobile websites: Which one is better for your business?

• You do not own your blog

This might sound absurd 🙄 but you don’t actually own your blog if you use a free platform. It’s just like staying in a friend’s apartment on someone else’s property. The landlord has the right to evict you anytime. It is hosted on someone else’s web property and they can delete it if they want to.

This isn’t a new thing because it has been done in the past and it isn’t likely to stop. This means all the work you put into your blog might be gone in seconds. However, with a self-hosted blog and your own domain name, you are the real owner of your blog.

You have total control of the longevity of the blog. Yes, you can upload an unlimited amount of photos and videos. You can also choose to end your domain name with .com, .co.uk, .net, .org, .ng .com.ng or virtually any other web suffix.

Why should you start blogging?

• It has become one of the most popular ways of reaching out and conveying information and news. There are literally many blogs online carved into different specializations or niche.
• You can improve yourself and become a better writer.
• It’s a great way to express yourself and also a fantastic way to share information with others.
• You can get the needed publicity for your business or yourself.
• You can make money while doing it! (if you’re consistent and patient)

Conclusion

As no man is an island of knowledge, be ready to do more online research even after you have started blogging. You will always need to learn about the internet terms and be abreast of updates that might come up in the near future.

You can also learn from the mistakes of other established bloggers to be better bloggers. As a general rule of thumb, you will do more harm to yourself than good if you plagiarize.

To avoid this, get the right writing services and always quote the source of content if you are not the original author. This way, you can generate enough quality and unadulterated content to keep the blog up and running.

If you want to know if blogging pays 🙂 , yes it does. How? It gives you the opportunity to monetize the blog when it has garnered so many views, traffic, and publicity. This can be achieved by running third-party sponsored ads, AdSense, AdMob, selling your products or offering your services etc. Let me know what you think in the comment section. Have you started? Share your experience below. 😉