Many have started their blog for many years, but they seem not to be making headway from it. Some blogs are also poorly designed, and because of that, readers don’t find them attractive.
You can do things to turn around the fortune of your blog and make six figures a month from your blog. Apart from the money aspect, it would help if you built a professional blog to build a reputation for yourself.
Let me show you the secret in this article.
First and foremost, making your blog look professional is not something that comes naturally. Some people spend money employing others to do this for them.
At the same time, it may not be a bad idea if you have the means to do such. Making your blog professional looking by yourself will help you grow as a blogger. There are various ways to accomplish this.
If you are new to blogging, you will do well to keep in mind this step by step guide that will help you ensure your blog looks more professional.
These steps that I will reveal in this article will help you take your blogging career to the next level.
Here are the steps:
- Get a custom domain
- Choose the right theme
- Speed is vital
- Choose the right hosting company
- Content creation is the key
- Know about your niche
- Proofreading and editing is essential
- Organize your posts
- Use a catchy heading
- Add image and videos
- Post consistently and regularly
- Include a share button
- Get acknowledgments
13 Tips on Creating a Professional-Looking Blog
Let me give you an in-depth guide on how you can create a professional-looking blog for your website:
#1 Get yourself a Personal Domain (Self-hosted)
A free hosted domain will never allow you to style it the way you want it to be. There is a significant difference between a free hosted domain and a self-hosted one. With the free host, you get little to no option to choose how it should be.
The company you host your website on will do most of your work for you, like security checks and optimization. It could even run ads without paying you.
But a self-hosted domain is different. It will allow you to choose your themes and the plugins you need to touché your blog to look professional.
You can modify security settings, carry out site maintenance. You even get to modify and customize your site. This will indeed ensure a professional outlook for your site.
#2 Choose the Right Color Theme
Depending on which domain you use, try to choose a theme that will fit what your blog stands for. Available on the web are various free themes you can choose from.
You can even learn from how other blogs under your niche did theirs so that it could influence your decision.
Remember, some blogs use more fancy themes than others due to their niche. As an extra tip, try to be consistent in whatever color theme you decide to choose.
#3 Have a Fast Loading Site
If you want to grow enough audiences for your website, you need to make it fast. Try to improve your Google SEO system.
There are various tools and plugins available to make your website faster, such as GTMetrix, Pingdom, Cloudflare, among others. If your blog is slow, it will not show professionalism on your part.
#4 Choose an Effective Blog Host
For faster website optimization, it is essential to choose your blog host carefully. There may be times whereby the website might have a few drawbacks that could affect its performance.
This is why it is essential to carefully choose your blog host because they would have to assist you. A good blog host has an active customer care service that will help you face issues like this.
#5 Content Creation is Vital!
Blogging is all about creating content. Be consistent in whatever content you are creating. To maintain a professional look, don’t turn your blog into a personal diary.
Create content for audiences you want to reach.
This is where niche blogs come into play. If you want your blog to look professional, choose the contents that target a specific audience, and create such for them.
#6 Learn more about Blogging Key Terms and Niche Language
Every profession has its language and key terms. Blogging is not left out in this. It would not seem right at all if you do not relate or understand things related to your niche.
At times bloggers use words such as SEO, H1-tags, Page speed. You need to understand this term better. So you not only have a professional blog, you become a professional blogger.
#7 Proofreading and Editing of your Blog Post
Flaws are what make us humans. Especially when we are new to writing, we might make mistakes.
It might be expensive to find an editor who could help you with your posts proofreading; if you have a willing family or friend who wants to help you out, there is nothing wrong with accepting such help.
Their feedback can give us a needed writing boost. You could use tools such as Grammarly or Scribbr or the Hemming Way App for this.
These tools are essential writing tools. They help improve your grammar and contents to create close to an error-free blog article.
#8 Organizing your Blog Post
The organization is essential when it comes to writing a blog post. The primary purpose of a blog post is to grasp the attention of your audience.
So try to post short paragraphs and several subheadings. Use bullet points generously—highlight critical points under bullet numberings.
Remember, blog writing differs significantly from story writing. So organize your posts in such a way your audience understands and loves to read through them.
#9 Choose a Catchy Heading/Title
Research has shown that most people read a post headline, but in the end, only a few go through the blog post. So try to spend a generous amount of time on your post’s title so it can look captivating enough for your audiences.
Some apps can assist you in creating catchy headlines. Some of them can be found on the web. Just search, and you will get to choose which would be of help.
#10 Add Images, Videos, Info-graphics, etc.
Try to give people a visual representation of what is being written. People are more captivated by what they view than what they read.
When you use these visual aids, Long posts become more comfortable for your audience to read through. Provide images your audience can share on social media platforms.
Some pictures with the link description will suffice. Use tools like Canva to create beautiful short videos and infographics. You can also get pins from Pinterest showcasing pictures of what your niche is all about.
#11 Post Consistently and Regularly
Posting regularly on your blog is crucial if you want to maintain your audience’s appetite for more content.
Especially when you are relatively new to this, it is advisable to create enough content to improve your SEO and blog traffic.
Try to organize how often you will go about that. Because you want to maintain regularity doesn’t mean you should post just anything.
Take your time and regularly create the right content for your blog. Remember, Consistency is key in achieving professionalism.
Let your audience help you grow your blog; let them share your post with the world. Make sure your share buttons come with an automatic link, picture, or post.
So it is easy for your audience to send them to others. Otherwise, letting your audience create a picture for posting to a social media site reeks of unprofessionalism.
#13 Get Acknowledgments
Customer recommendations and acknowledgment are a subtle way of adding a professional flicker and receiving credibility for yourself as a blogger.
Ask friends and family and even old classmates for recommendations. You might want to ask fellow bloggers for help with that too. They would be willing to do so.
Wrapping Up
The above mentioned are simple things you can do. It is achievable and can make a whole lot of difference. Starting a new blog, you will want to get it right.
You are not perfect, yes. But you can make your blog look professional enough for your audience to look forward to it every day.
You should also note that the process of making a blog professional is not something that happens overnight.
You have to grow into it. It would help if you always created avenues where you can get feedback from customers.
This feedback will help you identify areas where you need to adjust so that your blog can look more professional. This will help you retain your audience and attract a new set of blog followers.