Ultimately, what looks “good” is subjective and up to you, based on what you think your (future) readers will resonate with most. But one of the most important lessons I’ve learned through starting a blog of my own, is that design matters a lot.
5 rules to structuring the perfect blog post layout (quick tips)
These five time-tested design principles (above) will be immensely helpful in constructing an appealing blog layout that’s easy for readers to digest, from the moment to learn to how to start a blog.
Hit Publish on Your First Blog Post
Once you’ve written your first blog post (and ideally get it to the 1,000+ word range) you’re almost ready to publish!
Take a few minutes to double check on the Yoast SEO suggestions and ensure your blog post is SEO-friendly, which will give you the best chance of ranking well in organic search.
Blog SEO WordPress Plugin Yoast for Getting Your Content Optimized
After your SEO settings are dialed in, choose which “Category” this new post will fall under and tick that box. Then, you’re ready to hit publish!
Publish Your New Blog Post and Select Post Category Tutorial on How to Start Blogging
And boom! It’s that easy if you allow it to be
Now, if like me, you appreciate great design—before you hit publish on your first blog post, there’s one last step you could take.
Studies show that blog posts with images get 94% more views than those without. thailand business mailing list And when it comes to posts getting shared on social media, tweets with photos get 150% more retweets that those without one, while Facebook posts with images get 2.3X more engagement. Adding a few visual elements can almost double your amount of views and expand the shares a blog post gets.
Free Blog Photo Resources (Stock Images & Blog Graphics)
One of the easiest ways to add some visual flair to your blog posts is with beautiful images and designs. Thankfully in recent years, there are now a number of high quality content sites that offer incredible photography that’s completely free to use for your blog—my favorite is Unsplash:
Unsplash (for Free Blog Images and Stock Photos)
Unsplash Stock Photo Website for Stunning Blog Images
Unsplash is the best online resource for completely free, user-uploaded photos for your blog. Every photo that makes it onto Unsplash is curated by their team to make sure it’s high quality content. Under the Unsplash license, you don’t even have to attribute the photographer (however, they recommend you do), which makes Unsplash the easiest option for free blog photography.
Other Great Free Blog Photo Resources Worth Mentioning
Wikimedia Commons: 21+ million photos and images from throughout history that are now in the public domain and free to use.
Life of Pix: Awesome free-to-use (open-source) photos donated by an advertising agency in Montreal, Canada.
The path to learning how to start a blog and make money with it is truly a winding journey that includes learning a lot of related skills along the way.