Many Christians are gifted writers who have always dreamed of starting a Christian blog, but they don’t really know how to go about it. Some seem to think that blogging is like writing a long story and posting it to their Facebook wall, then sitting back to see hundreds of likes and comments troop in (no pun intended). I used to think the same way until I realised blogging is a bit different.
They also need to follow some best practices as they continue writing and building their audiences.
Why You Should Start A Christian Blog
The blogosphere has long enough been dominated by worldly and secular blogs whose owners post nothing close to such that glorify God or edify any Christian reading them. It's just of recent that I've noticed Christians starting to show interest in blogging. And to add to that, I'll say it's disappointing to see most of these Christians starting blogs about gossip, sports, celebrities and other worldly stuffs.
For a long time now, the devil has used the internet to pull more souls into hell, and I believe it's high time we Christians rise up and take the blogosphere by storm! We can't sit and watch the enemy use the internet to do what pleases him while we do nothing. The internet belongs to God, and it's our responsibility to dominate it!
Having also noticed that many Christian blogs are being started everyday, I believe more will keep coming. I encourage you to think on starting one if you're led to. I'm very sure God will be pleased.
Steps Toward Starting A Successful Christian Blog
1. Pick A Niche
It is true that many Christians are gifted writers and would like to start a Christian blog, but at the same time, some don't know exactly what to narrow down to when it comes to writing a Christian blog.
Your niche is the major subject of your blog; the very thing that came into mind when you first thought of writing a Christian blog. Your blog topics should revolve around your niche.
In case you have no idea on what your blog niche should be, you can take a clue from a few Christian niches below:
- Devotionals
- Christian Marriage
- Christian Motherhood (For Women)
- Faith and Business
- Christian Musicians BiographiesChristian Music
- Christian Ebooks Reviews
Christian Ebooks Free Downloads(Copyrighted materials can get your blog shut down!)- Christian Courtship/Relationship Tips
- Christian Marriage Counseling
- Christian Bloggers
When choosing your niche, be sure it is something you enjoy writing on. Your niche must be such that you won't run out of ideas on what to write or experience a burn-out.
Your niche must also be interesting, likewise your blog topics (no one wants to read some boring stuff).
If you can multi-task, you can as well pick more than one Christian niche. When I started this blog, I had so much in mind to blog about. But I'll advise you only do that if you're Graced to handle many niches and in such a way they won't make your blog look cluttered and untidy.
2. Pick A Fitting Domain Name
Your domain name is your blog identity. Choosing a domain name must be done with diligence. Pick a name that will speak to anyone concerning what your blog is all about. A domain name like 'foodiegirlblog' is fit for a food blog run by a female, not a Christian blog. So get a bit creative when choosing a name for your blog.
Naming your blog after yourself is a bad decision. Not saying it's a form of pride; but the fact is that you'll struggle to rank that blog since the name isn't related to any Christian niche you'll write on.
When you've picked a name you like for your blog (and are sure others will like it too), head on to domain name registras like Godaddy and NameCheap to purchase your domain.
Once you're there, make sure you purchase a Top Level Domain (TLD). Examples of top level domains are domains with '.com, .net and .org' extensions.
3. Choose A CMS For Your Blog
Content Management Systems (CMS) are platforms on which blogs are built. Examples of popular content management systems are:
Etc.
Some content management systems require you to pay to host your blog on their platform (WordPress being an example of such), while few others offer free hosting for your blog (like Google Blogger). This blog is hosted free of charge on Blogger.
When it comes to choosing a CMS for your blog, you have to take certain factors into consideration. Factors like SEO-Friendliness, Site Speed, Security etc of the CMS must be taken into consideration. WordPress has a good rating when it comes to SEO-friendliness but it's a bit expensive, I won't recommend it for a newbie blogger.
Blogger is Google-owned blogging platform. It's very secure (more than WordPress). It has a superb Content Delivery Network (CDN) which makes blogs hosted on it super-fast. I went with Blogger for iBlogGospel.com since it's way more secure, fast and free to host your blog.
Unless you're a genius in blogging and have enough money to pay for monthly or yearly hosting of your blog, then you can go for WordPress. I started on Blogger and am not planning on migrating to WordPress any time soon. As a matter of fact, there are people wishing they never created their blog on WordPress, because they end up not making a dime from their blog while they keep paying for hosting every month.
If you'll like to start a Blog on Google Blogger platform, I'll be willing to guide you through for just a token. CLICK HERE to chat me on WhatsApp.
4. Get Basic Knowledge on Programming Languages
Programming languages are the skeleton that hold the structure of every blog and website on the Internet. Every blogger must be knowledgeable (to an extent) in these basic programming languages:
⚫HTML (needed for Blogger)
⚫Javascript (needed for Blogger)
⚫CSS (needed for Blogger)
⚫PHP (needed for WordPress)
If you intend to host your blog on Google Blogger platform you'll need basic knowledge in Javascript, HTML, and CSS. You'll have to learn the basics of these to be able to set up and design your blog on the Blogger platform. For example, CSS is behind the design of iBlogGospel. You can learn these basics yourself at W3SCHOOLS.
5. Launch Your Blog
Once you've had the above options all in place and are well-equipped with the basic knowledge to start blogging, go ahead and launch your Christian Blog.
Why You Should Have A Quality Christian Blog
Some times when I browse through the web and stumble on some Christian blogs, I get disappointed and click on the back button. I believe that is same with many other people. Being a Christian Blogger doesn't mean we should care less about the quality of our blog. Blogging needs diligence. Below are some factors we must take into consideration when starting our Christian blog:
1. Write Quality, Irresistible Blog Posts
Be creative. Your blog articles should be worth the time of your readers.
Your number one priority when starting a Christian Blog shouldn't be to make money (that can come afterwards), but to provide value to your blog readers. If you don't want people to stay away from your blog and if you want your blog to rank well on search engines, you have to write quality blog posts with at least a thousand words or more. Your blog posts must be compelling enough to make people read to the very last word.
If you check this blog, the only section you'll find short posts are within the gospel music audios, videos and lyrics categories; and that's because there is nothing much to write there. Move on to check the Devotionals and Teachings section and see the difference.
2. Ensure Your Site Is Fast
Bounce rate is the rate at which people stumble on your blog and quickly get back out of it. People are too busy to wait for your blog to load for ONE WHOLE MINUTE (gosh!) and am one of them!
High bounce rate is bad for your blog and will negatively impact your rankings. Learn best practices and ensure that every page on your blog loads and displays fast.
3. Have A Neat And Attractive Blog Design
People browse the web with their eyes, not with their legs. If your blog design sucks, you'll lose blog readers as no one will be willing to return to read your blog after their first visit. Having an ugly and untidy blog will be a turn-off for many.
The fonts on your Christian blog shouldn't be too tiny, too large or too fanciful. If the fonts and color combinations on your blog are such that will give your readers eye defects, they will stay away from your blog.
Some Salient Points To Note
⚫Having a Christian blog is not only fun, it's a ministry. If you don't feel led to start a Christian blog and if you don't love writing, there's no point starting a blog.
⚫It is advisable to pray and ask God to confirm to you if it is His will for you to start a Christian blog or not, before going ahead to start one.
⚫Understand that running a life-changing Christian blog is running an online ministry. It must be prayerfully done, knowing that the enemy attacks everything that is of God.
Conclusion
Running a successful Christian blog doesn't mean making a lot of money from your blog. It means blogging meaningfully, impacting lives through your blog posts and being certain that God is pleased.
To run a Christian blog is not the same as running other blogs. To be a successful Christian Blogger, your spiritual gifts must be in operation. It's a spiritual service and you'll need your gifts.
Blogging is hard work. Much patience and perseverance is required. No one builds a successful blog in one day and starts reaping the benefits. If you get the basics right, your blog will grow everyday as you make daily modifications and retouching here and there to make it better.
The Blogosphere and Blogging evolves on daily basis, so should the blogger. In the blogging world, no blogger knows it all. A serious blogger learns a new thing everyday. So, keep learning, upgrading and evolving. Break limits and have an awesome Christian Blog!
Be blessed!
If you're interested in learning more about starting a blog on Google Blogger platform, I'll be available to teach you (not for free), CLICK HERE to send me a message on WhatsApp and don't forget to leave a comment below.
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Anointed And Gifted Christian Dream Interpreter, Christian Therapist, Writer And Web Designer.