How to Start a Blog in Australia

By Deb Carr

I frequently get asked how I got into blogging and whether or not bloggers make money. So continue reading to learn how to start a blog in Australia and hopefully make money.

I've been blogging for a while. Over the past ten years, I've maintained several blogs;

Sydney Chic is a lifestyle blog about living in Sydney, however that has extended to many articles beyond Sydney.

The Jasmine in the Forest - Created in 2013. This blog is about nature and spirituality.

North Coast NSW Leisure and life is a destination blog on the Mid North Coast NSW (and now North Coast)

A blog dedicated to spreading positive vibes and happiness, was launched in 2021 at Upbeat and Positive. A web store is also available on this blog.

I started the site www.everythingjungle.com in 2022 to help others learn how to launch an internet store. This blog discusses nature, simple living, conservation, and, of course, jungles.

Turn Your Dreams Into Reality

You can!

My preferred platform is Wix, and I use it to build websites for all my customers. I've created many websites and joined the Wix Arena as a Wix Expert and Partner, where they help me find new customers. If you are looking to hire a Wix designer, please get in touch. When someone asks me how to start a blog, in Australia, I always remind them to consider the time commitment and startup expenditures. The platform is the first step in launching a blog. Since I'm not fond of Wordpress as much as other bloggers, I switched to Wix in 2013 and haven't looked back.

Since this isn't a tutorial on making a website, I recommend going to WIX to sign up and using the ADI site, which essentially creates your website for you after responding to a few questions. Several video lessons are available to learn how to edit as you get acclimated to WIX. Make sure to include a BLOG when building your website. Additionally, you'll need to get a domain name. I recommend Crazy Domains, which has .au at the end, but you may also go with .com. The first year of domain registration is free with WIX. From 2022 a domain such as www.debcarr.au (without the .com.au is best)

It's important to note

that upgrading your site to a premium site will be necessary, and WIX will host this for you starting at $120 US each year. Additionally, you may access free stock images and movies through your website, and you can always change how it looks. The image below is a free stock photo, although I like to take my own photos whenever I can.

How often to blog?

How often you blog depends on the subject of your blog and how badly you want it to rank well. I try to publish on Sydney Chic every day, and occasionally I do more than one. Regular contributors who represent me at events include me in their writing.

Profiting from a blog

There are several ways to make money from your blog, but if you start a blog only to make money, you might want to reconsider because it won't come across as authentic. Find something you are genuinely passionate about and grow it from there. The following are ways you may eventually make money if you are consistent and persevere.

Acquiring new customers

Many people start blogging to gain more recognition as thought leaders. Your business will gain visibility if you frequently blog about a particular subject and share information that your customers are looking for. Additionally, it's a fantastic method to promote your clients on your blog, which promotes goodwill. Unless people are reading your postings, I will emphasise that it will be a waste of time. As a result, you should make the most of social media and incorporate it into your daily routine. There are no justifications. By blogging, you might be able to attract a journalist's attention who is looking for information on your area of expertise. For this reason, signing up for updates at www.sourcebottle.com is an excellent idea. Thanks to Sourcebottle, I have achieved success getting media coverage.

Speaking

You could choose to pursue a speaking career if you've gained recognition as an authority in your industry. I've been in the speaking business for ten years, and I can guarantee it's lucrative if you win the job. Alternatively, you might want to follow my lead and hold some coaching and training seminars.

Affiliate promotion

Another approach to monetising your blog is through affiliate marketing, which requires a lot of work and a sizable audience. In essence, you register as an affiliate; I did this through www.commissionfactory.com and joined a couple of programmes. These affiliate businesses then provide you with a tracking code so that you can get paid even 30 days after someone clicks on a link or a photo bearing your tracking code and makes a purchase. The buyer incurs no additional costs due to this commission, and in some circumstances, you could even be able to provide them with a discount. However, be cautious not to have too many affiliate links in your blog since Google can consider it spam. Additionally, you can use your chosen affiliate link on social media.

You might occasionally be allowed to write a sponsored post with one of the advertisers. I recently completed this one for Priority Pass.

Joining ShareSale is worthwhile because they offer a wide variety of tutorials on affiliate marketing.

Getting Clients while Freelancing

Since I am known for being skilled at what I do, this is the primary way I monetise my site. I consequently attract clients who require websites, social media management, and training. An excellent strategy to earn the trust of potential customers is to use your blog to demonstrate your knowledge. Blogging may be a very effective marketing technique in whatever industry you are in.

Your chances of getting your blog entries onto Google's first page increase the more you understand SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Getting there requires much effort and perseverance, but once you notice your posts ranking, it's a tremendous buzz.

Launching A Blog

Asking yourself why you want to blog will help you get started. Is it to develop a blog for fun? Hobby? Business? Are you interested in creating a blog to earn money? Boost your professional skills. Enter your responses in a notebook.

Can you blog about what you love to do? Consider what you will write about and where you can locate the

information. Will you be able to publish frequently? Consider your areas of expertise. This will serve as the foundation for the blog's topics. Consider a topic that you will like writing about every day. One thing to consider is who will read your blog. Before starting your blog, you must complete these two steps. You might blog about food, travel, lifestyle, sales, marketing, art, and history, to name just a few topics. Keep coming up with ideas until you know what to write about and why you are blogging.

Numerous factors could motivate you to start a blog. It can draw in more customers; you might want to advocate for a cause or charity, you might want to become a well-known blogger, or you might have a passion for something that you want to share with the world. It can be to monetise the blog through affiliate marketing or selling advertisements. You might want to sell your images if you're a photographer. You might also make jewellery to sell online. Is it because you want to establish yourself as a subject-matter authority so that people would come to you for advice and information?

Before you even consider blogging, you need to start doing some research. If you create a blog where no one is interested, it will waste your time and money. You could even use SurveyMonkey to do a survey that you could email to individuals you know to see whether they'd be interested in your topics.

Consider these things: What issue do you address for your audience? How might you assist your reader? What makes your writing so fascinating and pertinent to your reader? What blogs would your reader be reading in addition to yours?

What age range would you fall into? Masculine, female, or both, Where do they most likely reside? work? How much money would they make? It would help if you considered each of these issues in order to draw readers to your site. So, record everything here in your notepad.

Keywords

Consider the keywords you'll use and incorporate them into the header when you choose a heading for a blog post. Use those keywords consistently throughout the content, especially in the first paragraph. But be aware that Google disapproves of "keyword stuffing," so avoid using your keywords carelessly and make sure the phrases make sense.

Whatever the cause, you must resolve this before moving on to the next stage. I've been marketing online since 2004, and I've written blogs on various subjects, including sales advice, professional speaking, recruitment, and inspirational topics. However, one day I realised that wasn't the kind of blogging I wanted to do, so I started Sydney Chic and quickly grew it to achieve high Google rankings.

Here at Deb Carr Digital, we can assist in SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), getting found on Google and building a fabulous blog for you. You can consider our Academy and teach yourself if that's not in your budget.

Use a calendar to set aside time each week or month for posting.

Contract a ghostwriter to help create content.

Utilise small business data analytics

Take notes on your phone to post later on a blog.

Keep in mind that all your efforts bring customers to your establishment.

Keep your niche and keywords in mind while being transparent with your message.

I don't have comments on my blog, which is probably bad for my SEO. Still, one of my pet peeves on social media is the number of haters who think it's okay to say hateful and offensive things, so I don't give them the chance to contribute their garbage to my website.

Subscribers

To assist you in creating a database of people who wish to hear from you, add a subscriber form to the top of your blog. You can send weekly updates of your posts and news using this database.

Focus on growing your subscriber database because it is a goldmine. You will be happy you have a robust database when your site expands, and you begin to monetise it. In the future, it will also assist you in luring sponsors and advertisements.

Media Kit

To accept advertising for your blog, you need to compile a media kit. Keep track of your social media followers and website hits because you need a sizable following before people pay to advertise with you. My media kit contains my pricing and other information I don't want the general public to know about, so I keep it private and only distribute it to prospective advertisers and PR firms.

Your media kit must include your statistics, reader demographics (i.e., who they are), the number of people on your database who receive your emails, and whatever other details you can offer to attract new customers.

Content Creation

Without excellent material, a blog is useless. As a result, you must be exceedingly organised and creative. A video, podcast, poem, news story you've commented on, a photo, an infographic, and so on are all examples of content that isn't just writing.

Giving sound counsel and disseminating informative material are critical components of content. You don't always have to write text for blog entries; you may also make stunning visuals with an encouraging message, post a video, or provide advice on "how to" accomplish things.

You can use blog content to highlight your personnel, announce new job openings, and discuss award-related news! People pique people's curiosity.

Create a spreadsheet and add the URLs of content-finding websites.

I look at the following sources for blog content:

PR firms send me press releases; you can also sign up to receive press releases from Medianet and SourceBottle.
I've been to hundreds of launches and events that gave me content.
Find local landmarks to discuss.
I have had so many experiences as "media," including climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, riding in a helicopter, and indoor skydiving, which gave me great content to share.
Fashion.
Reviews of restaurants.
Film critiques.
Theatre critiques.
upcoming celebrations and events
Interviews with musicians.
Hotel reviews.
Journeys and destinations.
Reviews of bags and accessories.
Beauty reviews.
Product reviews.
Reviewing apps.
Technology evaluations.
Posts on digital marketing.
Alerts from Google You can get daily alerts in your inbox by typing "google alerts" into your browser and signing up for topics you believe you can write about. Google alerts or trends could serve as inspiration for new articles.
How to guidance similar to this "How to Start a Blog" guide.

Tips for Blogging

Plan!

There are several strategies you may use to make maintaining a blog more accessible if the idea overwhelms you.

Disclaimer Policy

Disclosure Policy: If you're growing your subscriber base, getting paid for sponsored pieces, or using affiliate links, you should take it very seriously. You may notice my disclaimer at the top of my posts on the blogs I listed at the start, which states that "some" of my posts may include affiliate links. After that, I point viewers to my complete Disclaimer page, which you may read for yourself. Please don't put a disclaimer at the bottom of the content; position it before your reader might click on any links. If you are honest and up forwards, your readers will appreciate it.

Advertising

When the timing is appropriate to advertise, someone will approach you to enquire about your media kit. Your site ought to be well-liked and demonstrate that you have the readership marketers find appealing. Occasionally, advertisers could want to display a banner ad on your blog. In such an instance, you'd need to decide how much you'd charge. Since it's hard to say, I'll stick with these numbers: 5,000 unique monthly hits equal $50 each month, etc. Only a few affiliate banners and others drive visitors to my freelance business on this website. Nothing prompts me to abandon a website more quickly than an overabundance of intrusive banner ads