Thousands of people begin blogs every day. It’s easy to create one; it’s harder to make one successful. If you’re wondering how to start a Christian blog, there are a few things to consider.
Seek Guidance from God Before You Start a Christian Blog
Throughout the Bible, scriptures mention the importance of following God’s will. Jeremiah 29:11 makes it clear that God has a plan for each of us.
Before beginning your Christian blog, ask God for guidance. If blogging is his will for you, he’ll lead you in the right direction and make your endeavors prosper.
Define Your Purpose
Why do you want to know how to start a Christian blog? Why do you want to start a blog? Do you plan to monetize it? Is it for connecting with other Christians? Perhaps you feel a calling to ministry. Your purpose for blogging provides the framework that holds everything together. It will determine who your audience is, which platform you choose, and even what kind of content you create.
For example, if one of your goals is to create another income stream, you’ll need to host your blog on a platform that allows more freedom for ad networks. You’ll want to focus more on SEO-oriented topics. Your posts will be more about converting readers into buyers — in other words, getting them to click on an ad or a product you’re selling.
Find Your Niche and Audience
Once you know why you’re blogging, you can determine who you’re blogging for. This goes hand in hand with finding your niche.
What is a niche? It’s the very specific topic on which you’ll be blogging. It might be tempting to start a blog that covers a wide variety of subjects. This will make it tougher for you to find and keep an audience.
Think of it this way: every time your topic changes, you’re appealing to a new group of readers. The person who visited your blog to read about homeschooling might not be interested in posts about dating.
Your tone and writing style needs to meet your target audience’s expectations. Your content and style will be different if you’re writing for teenagers than if you’re writing for parents or ministers. Each post that you create should offer some value to your audience — you need to know who they are and what they’re looking for.
Choose Your Platform and Christian Blog Name
Once you’ve drilled down and found a niche to write in, you can figure out where to host your blog. If you plan to monetize, avoid free services. There are a number of inexpensive web hosts to choose from. This gives you the ability to have your own domain name. It also gives you complete control over your content.
Your name should be something that’s easy for people to find. Make sure it’s available as a domain. Also make sure it’s available across social media platforms. You’ll want to create Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts even if you don’t plan to use them. Doing so will prevent other people from using your blog’s name on those services.
Make An Editorial Calendar
Before putting pen to paper — or fingers to keyboard — brainstorm a list of topics to write about. Once you know how to start a Christian blog, you’ll need to figure out how to keep it going. If you have a list of subjects ready to go, you’ll never have writer’s block.