Starting a blog is the most thrilling and terrifying experience.

There’s so many things that can go wrong after you launch that site. But so many wonderful things can happen too.

I can be a major planner-person with some things, and my blog was one of them. I wanted to be prepared when my blog officially launched for the public. I didn’t want any slip-ups, to be caught behind in writing posts, or get lost in managing comments and stats. So I took a few precautions to ensure that blogging was going to be the best experience possible.

Some of these tips are things that I never heard from anyone else. But I wish I’d heard it; they make a difference. So I’m going to share them with you, in case you are someone looking to start a blog, or even just thinking about creating a new one or revamping an old site.

So here they are…

01. Plan posts

Leading up to my blog launch, along with all the site customization going on and all of those technical things, I was writing blog posts. I didn’t want to be scrambling to create new content every week, especially the first while out there. I had at least a month’s worth of posts before launching, plus a lot more rough drafts.

Writing these posts ahead of time also gave me a bit of blogging practice before the real thing. It was weird at first, writing something I knew potentially a lot of other eyes would read. But the more I wrote, the more comfortable I became.

So yeah. Prepare your posts. Even if it’s just a few jotted notes of outlines, be prepared. I love that I can schedule posts on WordPress, that way I can spend a day writing posts, schedule them, and then not have to worry about it for another month.

02. Set up Google Analytics or Jetpack

I didn’t start using Jetpack until a few months after my blog went live. It was Jane Maree who first told me about it a long time ago, and I am so glad she did. You can manage most everything with your WordPress site in then Jetpack plugin in a really easy and simple way, and view stats and manage settings. It’s really cool to see your blog grow and where your visitors are coming from (especially the different countries).

I also use Google Analytics, but not as much. I set that up with the site, but I’ve found it easier to just use Jetpack for the most part since it keeps everything in one place (and I have less tabs open on my laptop, hehe).

But I want to encourage you to do some research to figure out what’s best for you and your blog.

03. Sign up for Mailchimp

I set up Mailchimp with the site as well. It’s been really nice being able to create different lists for different subscriber forms and keeping things organized. I can easily send out campaigns and blog posts to my exclusive subscribers collected there (join the club; form on the sidebar 😉 ), and you can do a lot of things without having to sign up for the paid plans.

Mailchimp does require that you provide an address for setting up your account. If you’re uncomfortable with giving out your exact address to tons of subscribers, consider setting up a P.O. box if you can.

04. Set up a separate email address

I am so glad I did this! I would’ve had a ton of “business” related emails flooding my personal inbox, and things would’ve been a tangled mess.

So I have one email address for personal things, etc., and another for blogging and other business related things. Keeps things separate and organized.

05. Plan a blog tour for your website

This is something I didn’t do, but wish I had. It probably would’ve boosted visitors and subscribers from the get-go.

But if you’re just starting blogging, you may not know a ton of bloggers. But that’s fine! Just reach out to some via their contact pages and ask if they would be willing to join in a blog tour spreading the word about your new website!

And lastly…

06. Prepare yourself mentally

It was hard waiting for subscribers to come, let me tell ya. I would check my list and email almost every day to see if someone had decided to let me flood their inbox with my posts. In fact, I could get downright impatient waiting for my blog to take off like I’d dreamed.

But growth takes time. Don’t expect to be famous overnight. You can use different methods of marketing to advertise and spread the word about your website, but things will still take time. Don’t worry yourself ragged watching and waiting to get those first 1k 100 subscribers. Enjoy the people that are already there spending time on your blog, put out the best content you can, and let God do the rest.

So that’s it. I’m sure there were more things that I did to prepare for my blog launch, but these are the main ones. If I think of more, I might do a part 2. 🙂

Talk to me in the comments about your blog! What is your goal with it? What message do you want to give to the world? What was something you did to prepare for launch?

Write on,

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What is your goal with your blog? What message do you want to give to the world? What was something you did to prepare for launch?

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