Question / Discussion First time starting a blog...

Rs20033

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I am thinking of starting a blog. I'm just trying to get everything straight in my head before I leap in! I have some questions. As you can see I am clueless about copyright etc.

1) If I want to name check someone famous in a blog post, who is never going to reply to me to give me permission, I'm assuming it's OK to write a bit about them and link to their work (can i link to a Youtube video of theirs?) and NOT ok to screenshot their tweets/posts on social media to use as examples of what I'm saying about them? Is that correct? Or because the tweets or posts are public is it OK as long as I make it clear that they wrote them?

2) I want to write a blog post on a medium sized business. I want to advertise their free services (so no affiliate links). I'm presuming in this situation I would still need written permission to use their logo?

3) There might be different opinions on this but I'd love to hear what you all think - how many posts do you think should be on a blog when it's launched (and why)?

That's it for now.

I'm sure I'll have a few technical questions once I actually get going!!

Thanks very much
 
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Jon

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1) social media posts made in the public are public so you can do what you want. You wouldn’t screenshot then. You would just paste a link to the content and WordPress would convert that link into a fully functioning tweet :)

2) yeah just drop them a line, sure they won’t have an issue. It’s common place to cover companies In Blog posts.

3) I probably wouldn’t want to start promoting until I was at least at 10 but you can always submit your sitemap to google search console earlier :)

MORE QUESTIONS!!!
 
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Kimilsung

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Well, last year i did some google ads which was terrible. Got a very low amount of hits on that and literally no one bough anything or clicked on any ads or even Interacted with me, they just left spammy comments with backlinks to hair and beauty articles. Anyway, i never paid google ads off. Also tried facebook ads and got a few visitors but no engagement. Every now and then, I’ll link to my articles from reddit and thats where my 8-12 views come from but they don’t really bother interacting on the blog either. Occasionally i do get “sales” for my drumkit and lofi soundpack, but i expect only cos their free anyway. I know there’s a market for selling sounds as people buy drumkits and soundpacks all the tike. (You we’ve seenan ad for “600+ unique drum samples for $8.99) and then its like 460 duplicates.
 

Rs20033

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@Kimilsung have you read Jon‘s blogging guide? Loads of things to try there to increase traffic. https://blog.themoneyshed.co.uk/totally-blogging-free-online-blogging-course/

Obviously i‘m new to this so don’t have much advice but you don’t have many posts, so i would say keep posting. The more you have on there the more chance there is to be something of interest to whoever visits. I’m not at all familiar with your genre so this could be a daft idea but is there anyone in the industry that you could ask to do a guest blog post? That could generate a bit more interest? Or a competition that you would need to promote on social media that involves interacting with your blog in some way?

Hope that helps
 
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Kimilsung

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Yeah, blogs usually intervirw rappers and stuff. I guess i could do a giveaway of one of my pianos. (Not a real piano. One of them usb ones. All the sounds come from your computer)
 

Rs20033

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I’m making progress. I’ve come up with a blog name (secret for now!), played around with Canva and got lots of ideas for posts etc. I’m a bit scared to actually start writing my blog posts in case I can’t do it!! I know I’m being daft and just need to give it a go.

Another question (inspired by @The Reverend ’s answer on another blogger’s post regarding word count and SEO) - Is there an optimum word count for a blog post? Obviously it will depend on the subject matter, but any guidelines would be very helpful before I start writing. Thanks v much
 
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Jon

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I’m making progress. I’ve come up with a blog name (secret for now!), played around with Canva and got lots of ideas for posts etc. I’m a bit scared to actually start writing my blog posts in case I can’t do it!! I know I’m being daft and just need to give it a go.

Another question (inspired by @The Reverend ’s answer on another blogger’s post regarding word count and SEO) - Is there an optimum word count for a blog post? Obviously it will depend on the subject matter, but any guidelines would be very helpful before I start writing. Thanks v much
I would say minimum of 500 but typically you want to be over the 1000 barrier
 

The Reverend

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I’m making progress. I’ve come up with a blog name (secret for now!), played around with Canva and got lots of ideas for posts etc. I’m a bit scared to actually start writing my blog posts in case I can’t do it!! I know I’m being daft and just need to give it a go.

Another question (inspired by @The Reverend ’s answer on another blogger’s post regarding word count and SEO) - Is there an optimum word count for a blog post? Obviously it will depend on the subject matter, but any guidelines would be very helpful before I start writing. Thanks v much
If you have a self-hosted wordpress blog then install 'YOAST' and it will tell you if your wordcount is 'enough'.

However, if you are just starting out then write what you want and see where you end up. I tend to write 500-750 words per blog post (with the occasional ones a bit shorter). I don't usually pad mine out but sometimes do if I'm worried about getting the green light from Yoast.

:)

Thanks,

The Reverend
 
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Jon

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it's all much of a muchness isn't it.

I've seen blog content that is literally like 300-400 words long rank at the top of google for some really high paying keywords!!!

If enough external sites link to that content then 'word count' becomes a much smaller factor!
 
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The Reverend

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it's all much of a muchness isn't it.

I've seen blog content that is literally like 300-400 words long rank at the top of google for some really high paying keywords!!!

If enough external sites link to that content then 'word count' becomes a much smaller factor!
I do understand that, but if you are starting a blog and your posts are less than 100 words then you will struggle to get any engagement as what is there to engage with? I was introduced to YOAST from this forum (I think) and it does help make you think a little about the content and structure.
 
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Rs20033

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I think I’m overthinking a bit. I’m going to write my posts, see what YOAST says, then take it from there. I’m sure the words will just flow once I get going. It’s useful to have an idea of what might show up best in search results though. Thanks for the advice.

After I’ve written sone posts I’ll have a look at hosting options.
 

Jon

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I do understand that, but if you are starting a blog and your posts are less than 100 words then you will struggle to get any engagement as what is there to engage with? I was introduced to YOAST from this forum (I think) and it does help make you think a little about the content and structure.
I think I’m overthinking a bit. I’m going to write my posts, see what YOAST says, then take it from there. I’m sure the words will just flow once I get going. It’s useful to have an idea of what might show up best in search results though. Thanks for the advice.

After I’ve written sone posts I’ll have a look at hosting options.

Just to equally piss on the Yoast related cornflakes

There are people who don't even use the addon or do and don't have ANY greens at all and have widely successful blogs and earn a ton of money from them


Though I still like the like to be green on my content lol
giphy.gif
 

The Reverend

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Just to equally piss on the Yoast related cornflakes

There are people who don't even use the addon or do and don't have ANY greens at all and have widely successful blogs and earn a ton of money from them


Though I still like the like to be green on my content lol
giphy.gif

I'm not saying it can't be done, but if you are creating a blog, from scratch, and you are looking for help, yoast can give you a nudge in the right direction. Its not the only way, its not the guarenteed way, its just a way.

I try to follow it and somedays I do better than others.

Currently I'm writing a blog post that is about 2000 words long but most of mine at 500-ish.
 
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Jon

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I'm not saying it can't be done, but if you are creating a blog, from scratch, and you are looking for help, yoast can give you a nudge in the right direction. Its not the only way, its not the guarenteed way, its just a way.

I try to follow it and somedays I do better than others.

Currently I'm writing a blog post that is about 2000 words long but most of mine at 500-ish.
Yeah that plugin does give you great guidance I think

Internal images, alt text, external links, keyword in headings, reading style etc...

all useful stuff!
 

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