How to Start Blogging in the Philippines: The Basics

Why would anyone want to start a blogging site in the Philippines? How can someone begin without a guideline to follow?

People are expressive by nature, especially Filipinos. We always have the tendencies to share; we can’t help ourselves. Sharing everything as long as it’s shareable, and we all have the right to do so.

Why would anyone want to start a blogging site in the Philippines? How can someone begin without a guideline to follow?

From talking about our skills on something or the lack of it, we always are inclined to share things. It doesn’t matter even if no one wants to listen, as long as we can voice out what’s inside our heads.

Blogging paves the way for people to express just that. And start showing the world what they got to offer or just how they feel at the moment.

It is also a great tool to make a living online. Even though some people may not see it as a way to make money, it is still something you can do as a fun hobby while sharing your expertise or passions.

To give you a head start, setting up a blog is simple, but not as easy as you might think it is. However, don’t feel hopeless. I went through that road myself and survived.

Here are the blogging basics you need to know to help you get started with your journey.

Find Yourself a Good Niche

Before you start building a blogging site, know first the audience you wish to cater to, a niche for short.

It’s a “specialized segment of the market for a particular product or service.” It’s basically what your blog will be. You’ve got to find a niche that is not too broad (saturated) but not too narrow (also unknown).

You must choose a niche that will get you some traffic.

A Physical Fitness niche can be extensive and universal. It will be a good idea if you try to narrow it down for a specific target audience. Let’s say you choose an audience with one particular age bracket of forty to sixty years old. You can narrow them down even further into Men Only category with distinct body types.

Consider a niche that you can continuously have something to write about and that you genuinely have the passion. By doing so, you’ll never run out of content to share with your audience.

Choose a Domain Name

Domain names are internet addresses where Internet users can access certain websites.

To simplify, it’s your website’s name.

If you want to build a brand, carefully choose one that seems personal but will stand out. You can choose your name if you’re going that way. Most people do that because, who knows, they might become famous someday.

Kidding aside, keep your domain name short and simple. A combination of two to three words will suffice. An example would be MenOver50.com.

You have three basic extensions to choose from for your domain name. A .com, a .org and a .net.

For non-profit organizations or charity sites, they commonly use .org. While a .net extension, even though it’s a much better option than other specialized extensions, it still isn’t as good as .com websites in terms of weight in search engine rankings. I know you’ll agree with me that most people’s assumptions will be a .com extension for any website unless you’ll tell them directly that it’s not a .com site at all.

I’m not going into much detail on this. But if I would suggest, it’s better to have a .com extension in your domain name for SEO reasons, especially if you’re building a brand.

Where to search for the availability of that domain name? — I use Namecheap and Float Hosting.

Using these sites for searching the domain name in mind, they will instantly tell you if it’s available or not and will give you its sell price, which usually is cheap.

Start from Scratch or Rely on Website Builders?

Every person starting on this journey always has two options to go through. To build a blogging website: either you make it yourself from the ground up or go to the smooth process by using website builders.

With website builders, you are negating most of the headaches. All you need is to set up an account, and you’re good to go.

To give you a few examples of website builders, you can sign up with the likes of Wix, Squarespace, and Jimdo.

I don’t want to sound bias, though. But I choose to build it myself with the use of CMS platforms, not because I’m an expert, but I want to experience building websites first hand.

CMS, by the way, stands for Content Management Systems. Examples of this are WordPress (which I prefer), Joomla, and Drupal.

Choose a Good Hosting Provider

A hosting, in its most straightforward meaning, is a service that provides computing and storage resources so that users of the internet can view a website. In layman terms, if a domain name is your address or door, hosting is your house.

If you prefer using CMS platforms to build your blogging site, then you will need hosting to manage it.

The hosting provider you’ll choose should be reliable in many ways. It should be dependable from its speed, bandwidth, disc space, and the number of domains it can host (should you decide to build multiple websites in the future).

I will not go into too many technicals; others have already done an excellent job doing just that. I’m sure that if you google about a specific hosting provider, the information is readily available. You’ll find hundreds of reviews about it.

There are three hosting providers that I’ll recommend.

• Bluehost — Time and tested hosting that I’ve used personally for nearly two years now.
• SiteGround — with superb customer service, you can rely on this reputable brand.
• Hostinger — If you care more about quality over recognized names, plus if you’re cash-strapped, then this hosting will serve you well.

Write Good Contents

Good content means a lot. It should be helpful and informational at the same time.

Every article you write should make sense with the reader or visitor of your site.

If you have a good understanding of something that you know will help others, don’t you think it’s the best move to share it? What is its use if you keep it to yourself? By merely sharing them with the world, that my friend is an excellent content per se.

From skills to experiences, to passions or whatever that may be, the things you write should at least benefit your audiences.merely

I know that JuanNomad is not the only site that talks about the topics you see on most of its posts. But I also know for sure that all the work we have here is not a direct copy of someone else’s work.

You may write something about the same subject, but make sure that it has your personal touch.

When creating content, make sure to CREATE, not to plagiarize.

Stay Consistent

Choose one or two days of a week where you will focus on writing an article. Schedule a weekly release date for every finished content. By doing so, you will let your readers know when to expect a new post.

You need to stay consistent, make it a routine if you may.

Do not base your success on the number of comments and views; you may not see much in your first months. Most likely than not, you don’t have any readers yet.

But don’t be discouraged. Always remember that your audience will come.

When you are consistent with what you are supposed to be doing for your blog, search engines will see that.

Eventually, with those contents you have created, your site will start to rank.

Constant Engagement with Your Audience

Time will come that you will have traffic on your blogging site. Slowly but surely, you will build a following. Get yourself ready because your followers may ask for your constant attention.

They may ask questions or probably more insights regarding the topic at hand. Whatever queries or comments are, don’t let them feel ignored.

Chances are, if they find you helpful and accommodating to their inquiries, you might have them as your avid followers for life.

All in All

Come to think of it, starting and ultimately running a blog is not that tough. It all boils down to the first decision you’ll make, choosing a niche.

If you feel you’re still inexperienced to do this stuff, don’t let it stop you; it doesn’t matter. As long as you have the drive and passion for it, you are on the right path.

Please read WHY STARTING A BLOG IS A GOOD IDEA BEFORE & AFTER PANDEMIC for further reading.

Another article that might pique your interest is How to Create a Website for Free with Leia.

Don’t stop learning what you need to learn about your chosen niche. And while doing that, continuously share what you’ve assimilated through writing.

Don’t treat blogging as a chore, and you will never get sick of making blog posts.

If you can get these blogging basics down, then you are ready to build one for yourself.

Who knows, we could start collaborating our works soon.