Blogging 101: How To Jumpstart A Mommy Blog

This is a sponsored guest post.

A lot of moms out there might think blogging fits “the young ones,” and that they’re too busy with tasks for the day and the household that a Mommy Blog will just “take too much” of your time. However, it helps to realize that having a Mommy Blog won’t be just to entertain or have a hobby. In fact, a lot of Mommy Blogs can be a source of income, or even a way to connect with other moms all over the world. How exactly can you make this work, though? Well, before we dive into the specifics, let’s go over the basics of doing a Mommy Blog. Here’s generally what you need:

See if you want to allocate a budget to blogging. Yes, you’ve heard us right – a budget. Blogging can be something you do for free – a lot of people actually blog as a hobby, or something to do with their free time. However, if you’ve seen bloggers, vloggers, and content creators earning money through their craft and want to do the same, you need to set aside time and resources to plan your way to profitable blogging. When we ask for a budget, this means the kind of budget you’ll be willing to allocate to things like good web design, potential advertisements, and your own domain. These are all things that not only can help make your blog more creative and unique, but also help set you up for profitable blogging and content marketing.

• Free is best, but it helps to set aside a bit of money to make your blog authentically yours. Free website services exist, but that means attaching their names to your website URL. If you want to make a unique website, you have to start with claiming the essentials – and this means thinking about whether you want to have a unique domain (the website address), a web host (the service that handles all your site content) and if you want a web design team to build the site for you.
• Test multiple services first before settling to one. While a lot of websites “attest” the popularity of their preferred website service, try to test out their features and website offerings before you decide on something you want. While a lot of website makers generally work the same way, they usually have little tidbits that can make or break the website-making experience.
• When paying for a service, try checking modes of payment and terms and conditions for your services. A lot of bloggers tend to rely on online payment options such as My Premier credit card for payments like these, especially when they look for international services.

Build your website. Who says you have to be imbued with intense programming knowledge to be able to build a blog? A ton of services online exist that can help you build your site for free – be it WordPress, or even Wix, among others. A lot of these websites tend to be “drag-and-drop,” too, where you simply drag elements you want in your blog and that’s about it. Before you start your blog, build your website first – be it a standalone blog, or something with multiple pages. What better way to start your blog than to start it with a dash of creativity, right?

• Start with the most basic features you need. You definitely need an About Page that tells about you as an author, and a Blog feature that lets you post your blogs. What else do you need? When you have an idea of essential features your site should have, prioritize making web pages for those. You can add other features later on.
• Branding is important when building your website. When you choose colors or add logos or add images, make sure they are consistent with the kind of message you want your blog to share with others.
• When using a website service, take a look at their premium features and make a list of the ones you want to avail eventually. Regardless of the price, try listing them down and looking at how they work in action on sites like YouTube or other videos. While you might not buy them yet, knowing what potential features strike your fancy can help you build a game plan for your site in the future.

Identify your niche and stick with it. Just because you’re starting to write a “Mommy Blog” doesn’t mean it always has to be about motherhood and parenting. There’s a ton of aspects of being moms and being parents that you can tackle in a blog, and you’ll likely find an audience depending on the kind of pieces you write. While thinking of your blog, think of a concept and a “focus” you want to approach. When you have these specifics in mind, writing becomes much easier for you, and content ideas will spring to life because you have a focus.

• Even if you’re writing a blog for moms, you can still have a more specific niche or genre for your audiences. This topic can come from anywhere – your history, your habits, your passion, and even your academic training. For instance, psychology-inclined moms can talk more about parenthood and raising kids. Likewise, if you’re a single mom, you can write blogs about dating as a mom. The possibilities are endless.
• When you find a niche you like, try to set aside time to make a list of topics you’ll be writing about under this niche. Try to look around the internet for “hot topics” in your niche, and list them down. When you start writing, focus on these first as these hot topics will likely bring you a lot of attention from readers.

Be aware of your audience and try to reach out to them. When you have a niche or genre you want your Mommy Blog to approach, it’s time to identify the kind of readers you want. While it helps to cater to all sorts of readers, having a specific audience makes it easier for you to write pieces as a new blog. Your audience can range from new moms, to grandmas, to mommy chefs, or even to single moms wanting to get back to the dating scene. When you identify your audience, try to research ways to reach out to them, and see if this is the kind of audience you want to talk to for a long amount of time.

• Think of the kind of people you want to be reading your blog. This will likely help zero in on the tone and message you’ll write for them. If you want to focus on beauty tips for moms, you’ll likely focus on a cheerful tone and a positive message that “you’ll be able to be the best version of yourself through self-expression.” Likewise, if you want to focus on single moms looking for dates, your tone will likely be authoritative but friendly, and focus on building your audience’s confidence. When you identify the kind of readers you want, you’ll likely identify the kind of impact you want your blog to have on them.
• With your audience in mind, look around the internet for where you’ll likely find these people. Are they in forums, communities, and other online groups? Try to bookmark these, join them, and interact with your audiences to identify their needs and what they might look for in a blog. When you start writing, try to refer them to pieces you write, which can lead them to read your page.

Think about the long term. How long do you plan on blogging and running your Mommy Blog? While it’s not always good to think about “how things will end,” it might help to think ahead before you pursue your Mommy Blog. Nothing beats a good goal than a lack of follow-through, so you need to be aware of your goals ahead. What do you plan on doing with your blog? Do you want to eventually sell your site to someone else? Do you want to form a community for moms? Do you just want a medium to store your memories with your family?

• If you’re along the lines of bloggers who want to make money out of building websites, you can start planning to build your website’s credibility and reputation by connecting with peers and other websites of similar genres. We suggest you eventually dabble into what’s called link building, where you improve your website’s popularity in search engines like Google by writing guest blogs and always linking back to reputable sites. When you do this, you’ll likely be able to sell off your website for a high price.
• If you want to grow a community, you should start looking into creating content for social media as well. You can connect your blog to your social media (or social media accounts for your blog) in order to widen your reach. This can make writing blogs a lot more fun, as you can get the input of your other readers.
• What other features do you want your blog to have? Do you want to eventually have an eCommerce website? Do you want to host webinars? Do you want to have a chat feature for fans? Identify these so you’ll have a better understanding of your goals.

You Can Make Your Mommy Blog Real!

When you work on something like a blog, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with the many elements associated with it. After all, if you want to grow your blog into a community or make profit from it, you’ll inevitably have to read up on a couple of things. And, of course, readings can get overwhelming – especially for moms like you that have household duties and stuff on their personal life to deal with. Hopefully, with the above tips, you’ll get encouraged to pursue your dream to make your Mommy Blog a reality – and, hey, hopefully you’ll be able to make it a normal part of your life as well!