We updated our grid without breaking the flow of content, so long as we continue to use the start and end identifiers we made up. Last—as promised—we need our gutters to be responsive. Now at or less than 8. Read on! However, for the last image, the one on the left at the bottom, we need to add even few more columns to our grid. We broke up our content-column into three columns: 1. The plan is for text to span our original 7. Note we need not set height.
Now each article is linkable. Well—websites are links :. Here article is the value of an id attribute, analogous to linking a timestamp in a YouTube video for example, this one. This idea of linking linking websites and content in websites is one of the points of HTML. HyperCard mastered this, but instead of linking websites and content, was interested in ideas and associations.
At the time, it was and HTML was first proposed in Above we introduced a few elements: h1 , h2 , h3 , time , strong , and em. Remember our reset? More readable text could be 1. Had we defined our line-breaks in ems , not rems , and set h2 and p to different font-size s, their line-breaks would differ! Therefore, consistent line-breaks use rem s and inconsistent ones use em s. And this is a powerful idea—writing CSS such that the design is connected.
Thus, if we make a change somewhere, we can make a change everywhere. Then everything — and I mean everything— will resize proportionally. We can go even a step further and have multiple media queries for multiple widths:. We can now write CSS that is not just responsive but responsive to our responsive design. This is perhaps the most important sentence in this entire post:.
Websites tend to be terrible, and I think it can be boiled down to this: when we write CSS, we should write in design systems and not silo code. When we use rem s and em s in tandem to media queries, that is a design system and code is not siloed.
And here, we use font to combine font-weight , font-size , and line-height. After font , we have color with hsl values, like hsla values in our debugger. An unaddressed problem is our a element.
In our reset, we unset color and text-decoration making links indiscriminate from text. We unset these properties because text-decoration: underline is too subtle. We invert box-shadow to create an underline that is inside the element. Had we set inset without a negative value, our underline would be an overline. Blogging is the opposite of a waste of time. Our blog is simultaneously our practice space-where we share new ideas and writings with the world-as well as an announcement board that keeps our audience abreast of any new developments in the world of minimalism.
Starting a blog is arguably more important than ever. Whether you want to publish your writing, build an audience, open a business, or start a podcast , your blog is the home for your creative projects. If they fall out of relevance, then so do you remember MySpace.
Because you own your blog, it stays with you no matter where the culture sways. The best time to start a blog was a decade ago. The second best time is now.
If you have an idea you want to share, get started! You can start a blog and start a podcast. After starting our popular blog, which is now read by millions of people, we started a similar podcast, which, at the time of this writing, has more than million downloads. Even if you start earning money from your blog, you can claim that income on your personal taxes under your name and social security number. Blogging is still a career for many people, a great way to make supplemental income for even more people.
Of course, if you add enough value, income tends to follow. Blogging has also enabled us to showcase our books, podcasts, films, social media, and other projects that add value to our audience. While new forms of media continue to enter the picture-podcasts, newsletters, social media-nothing replaces having a home for your creative work.
The Minimalists have a podcast, an email newsletter, and several social media accounts, but none of them could ever supplant our blog. Instead, we use our blog to point to these additional resources. If so, write about that! A blog is used for two things: to express and to communicate.
A good blog is able to marry communicative writing and expressive writing to create blog posts that are informative and entertaining.
When considering how you want to use your blog to communicate and express yourself, ask these questions:. The good news is that starting a blog is free with WordPress. All you need to pay for is hosting, as outlined in the step-by-step instructions above. When talking to my writing students, I recommend writing every day and publishing a blog post at least once a week. We usually publish two blog posts per week on this blog. Seth Godin blogs every single day.
Whatever you decide, we recommend you stay consistent. Avoid grandiosity. Avoid throat clearing. Instead, find one thing that interests you today and write about that.
For reference, you can read the first blog post on this blog, circa Be on the Mountain. Our friend Derek Sivers also has a wonderful Now page that could work for you. Tweet to theminimalists with your question and a link to this essay. Ask Your Question. The Minimalists. Download our free ebook: 16 Rules for Living with Less. Start your blog by adding WordPress. Pick a simple theme to make your blog your own.
Add two key blogging plugins to find your readers and track stats. Write compelling content to create a blog that your readers love.
Do you want to start a blog fast? This is a long essay and you may want to start your blog without learning all the details. This is the first how to quickly start a blog guidepost.
To start a blog fast simply: Look for these boxes. Follow the brief steps. Click the link to jump to the next box. Because The Minimalists are a Bluehost affiliate partner i. Blogging Quick Start — Step 1 In this first step you will choose your blog name domain name and buy your blog hosting. Go to Bluehost and click the Get Started Now button. Select the Basic plan. Pick your domain name and enter it into the New Domain box. Create your Bluehost account.
Learn how we started our successful blog using this free ebook. Click the Log In button. Click Skip This Step on the Pick a theme screen.
WordPress is now installed, click Start Building to go to your dashboard. Go to BYLT. Purchase the theme that fits your style we use the tru Theme. Click Upload and then Upload Theme. Click Choose File , select your theme. Click Activate. Since I am comfortable with tech, I usually move my high-performing websites to Digital Ocean. Case in point: afternerd. One important point: this is only for those of you who are comfortable with Linux, installing and configuring web servers, databases, etc….
If you are not already familiar with these topics and you are not willing to learn, then I highly recommend against the VPS option in general whether on Bluehost or Digital Ocean. You are better off using a higher-tier shared hosting from Bluehost.
In this step, you will be registering your domain name. For example, the domain name of this site is afternerd. For example, to find out the IP address of google. To be able to communicate with any machine over the internet, you need to know the IP address of that machine. You can think of a DNS server as a distributed database that is in charge of mapping domain names to IP addresses.
Sometimes hosting companies will offer you a free domain name for a year to incentivize you to host with them. Another thing you must know is that registering a domain name gives you ownership of that domain for only one year. Namecheap is an extremely popular choice simply because domains are very cheap compared to others. Also make sure to pick a relatively short, easy to remember, and brand-able name for your website.
Another fantastic service that I frequently use these days is Google domains. Whether you go with Namecheap or Google domains or any other service for that matter , you will need to configure your domain name to map to your IP address. You also have a domain name so that people can visit your website by typing this domain name in their browsers. Even though I recommend learning HTML, CSS, and javascript whether you want to start your programming blog or not, let me stop you right there for a second.
WordPress is a platform that the vast majority of blogs on the internet are built on including afternerd. With WordPress, you can literally publish your first article on the same day you sign up for your web host. It comes preinstalled with your account. Before worrying about WordPress, you first need to install and configure a web server apache or nginx.
And finally, you need to manually install and configure WordPress. Check this article out if you want to install WordPress on Digital Ocean the easy way. This means you can install third-party tools that can integrate with your WordPress site and help you with all sorts of things. Plugins , on the other hand, are meant to extend the functionality of your WordPress site.
In the next section, I will talk about the themes and the plugins that you need for your programming blog. I highly recommend Divi. Divi is probably the most popular WordPress theme on the internet. To be able to download Divi, you need to join elegantthemes. With a lifetime subscription, you only pay once and you get lifetime access to all their premium themes and plugins , including of course Divi.
Do yourself a favor and do your own research before picking a theme, because migrating later can be really painful. If you are an avid reader of afternerd, you know that I use a lot of code snippets in my articles. First, go ahead and install the Code Prettify plugin to your WordPress. This plugin uses the Google Code Prettify library and is extremely easy to use.
On afternerd, I also have some custom CSS that I apply to my code snippets to makes them look prettier. Having a professional, well-designed logo will not only enhance the aesthetics of your website but it will also build trust with your readers.
Changing your theme is the simplest way to customize your WordPress blog, but there are lots of other customizations you can do. Check out my full post on customizing your WordPress blog for an in-depth step-by-step guide. You can also watch the video above to see me completely customize a WordPress blog from scratch. You will see there is already a post there. You are now on the post editor screen. Enter the title of your post in the top box and then begin writing your post in the lower box.
You can make adjustments to the picture size on the next screen. Static Content: Your blog should contain a few necessary pages explicitly designed to provide the visitor with the tools they need. These are mainly top-level pages that can be accessed via a menu on your blog. You can take a look at the top of this page to see how I have these pages included in the header menu.
See this detailed guide to customizing your blog menus if you need help. These required static pages are typically linked to in the footer menu of a blog. They should, at the very least, be visible and accessible from the home page. Again, look at the bottom of this page to see how this looks in practice. There are other static pages you can choose to include depending on what suits your blog and business.
Common static page examples are an advertising page to solicit paid advertisements, a donations page, a resource page to direct visitors to your favorite links within your field, and a page for submitting ideas and content.
Dynamic Content: Your dynamic content is your blog and the most important content you have to offer. This is where you, as the creator, will infuse the blog with your brand of informative content that supplies your audience with knowledgeable tips, facts, opinions, and stories. This is how you engage your visitors and keep them coming back for more. Your blog content should be regularly submitted at specific intervals.
Waiting months to create content will never build a following. Posting content weekly and driving traffic to these posts will help build your brand. Each post should be lengthy, informative, and engaging. But there are a few elements that each and every piece of content should endeavor to include. Define the Content: Create an alluring post title that stimulates curiosity and encourages clicks. Use the first paragraph of your post to clearly define the topic of your article and provide a possible hook to keep the reader reading.
But visitors will begin to skim if the content contains lengthy paragraphs a mile long, and will pop out faster than they came in. Visitors enjoy tidbits. Engage The Reader: At the end of each post, a common tactic used to engage visitors is posing a meaningful question to your audience and asking them to reply in the comments.
This simple measure can increase engagement tenfold. Original Content: Your content should always be original. Never plagiarize — you will eventually be called out on it and could even face consequences. Your content should come from your heart, your brain, your knowledge base, and your experience. You can get topic ideas from others in your field, but make sure the content comes from you.
Original Photos: While it is easy to include stock images from free image sites, it is even better to include your own photos and graphic work. Another idea is to take free images and manipulate them with a free photo editor. Edit Your Work: Your blog content should be sufficiently edited.
Nothing says unprofessional like several typographical and grammatical errors. If you need a few refresher courses in grammar, consider using a writing application.
Creating a well-designed blog and writing great content is just the start. In order to get visitors to your blog you will need spend some time promoting it, especially when you first start. The strategies below will help get your blog in front of more readers. The very first people who should become aware of your blog are your inner circle. This includes family, friends, and colleagues within your field.
Encourage them to become followers, ask them to mention your new blog, and — most importantly — thank them. You should post a link to your newest content on your accounts, but you can also post relevant news and links to other sources that your readers may find interesting.
One of my favorite ways to get visitors to my blog is to post links on my social accounts, like Facebook and Twitter. This is great, because not only do your friends see the link, but if your friends share the link with their friends it automatically multiplies your visitors.
If you have created high-quality content on your blog then social media is a way for your blog to go viral. Find other blogs in your community and engage with them. Using the comment section, introduce yourself and leave engaging and constructive comments. Many will allow you to leave a link to your blog. After creating relationships with prominent bloggers in your community, you will find yourself within their ranks quickly.
When your readers leave comments on your posts, always engage with them. Become enmeshed in your blogging community by collaborating with respected members of your field. Post content regularly. Create an editorial calendar and stick to it. A good blogger posts at least once per week to start. If you have long lapses between posts, your followers will drop off and your growth will be severely hampered. In addition to getting new visitors to your blog, you will also want to make sure your current visitors are coming back.
This is where email marketing plays a big role. By collecting the email addresses of your visitors with their permission of course , you can then notify them when you post new content on your blog. This keeps people coming back to your blog, which not only gives you more readers over time, it also allows you to build a closer relationship with your visitors. Email marketing is too big a topic to cover well here, so I created a separate guide to email marketing for those who are interested hint: every blogger who wants more readers needs to read this guide.
Keep in mind that with a brand new blog your traffic will be minimal to start with. However, this will change over time as long as you continue to add informative and relevant content on a regular basis. There are many more factors relating to consider, such as installing something like the Yoast WordPress plugin , but these are the big ones that will help improve your search rankings sooner rather than later.
For more tips on promoting your blog make sure to check out my in-depth guide to blog promotion. Once you have put in the effort of creating great blog content and promoting your blog, making money from your blog is actually the easy part. It could take six months to a year to start seeing a steady stream of income. Blogging takes work and dedication, but once you develop a large enough audience, there are several methods you can employ to monetize your blog.
Once you have a popular blog, advertisers will be hounding you for the opportunity to advertise. The best way to take advantage of this situation is to use Google Adsense. Google finds the advertisers for you and all you have to do is place the Google Adsense code on your blog to start running ads. Google Adsense takes all of the hard work out of the process and just cuts you a check. I go into the full details of how to set up Google Adsense for your WordPress blog here.
An affiliate program is a commission-based way to advertise. Affiliate links are a nice way to earn income through the use of product reviews. However, you must remember to disclose that you are an affiliate for the product. Selling your own products and services directly on your blog is a great way to increase your income.
As your blog grows and you begin to see a wide audience, your products and services will begin to sell themselves. Use the sidebar of your blog to increase the visibility of what you sell using visual images and a link to your storefront page. Ebooks, video tutorials, and e-courses are the most commonly consumed digital materials sold by bloggers. With little to no overhead and no shipping costs, you can keep the price low and inviting.
If you are extremely knowledgeable in your field, an ebook can practically write itself. Give it a try, you might surprise yourself! Another way to monetize is by creating membership options on your blog. This allows you to offer members more exclusive content only available with a paid membership. For example, you could offer unlimited downloads of digital goods, free consultations, a private network or forum where community members can mix and mingle, and private content available to members only.
There are many ways a blog can capitalize on popularity and traffic. Choosing the way you monetize from your blog depends on your goals and the purpose of your blog.
Those who are selling services, physical goods, and digital goods, for example, may not want to participate in affiliate programs where traffic could be lost to another site. For more information see my full guide to making money blogging here. More specific tutorials can be found on my blog page. Here are some of the most popular tutorials from my blog:.
Contact me if you have any issues at all and I will personally respond to your email. The step-by-step guide on this site should give you everything you need to get started, but if you run into some issues, or just want some personalized advice, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time. Blogging is my passion, and I would love to talk with you about it!
Still have some unanswered questions about blogging? Below are the most common questions I get about starting a new blog. Keep writing, keep interacting, keep engaging, and your blog quickly become one of the success stories. What do you need to start a blog? Time, passion, and a clear goal. Blogging is nearly a full-time operation.
A successful blogger commits to posting lengthy and detailed content at least weekly. Promoting the blog must also be done regularly across social accounts and through peer interactions. Equally important is the passion behind your blog. To come up with great content on a regular basis your blog should revolve around a topic that you are obsessed with. You only need to possess passion, excitement, dedication, and deeply rooted opinions. You also need a clear goal in mind.
What is the main objective of your blog? Is it to inform the public? To eventually retain paid subscribers? With a clear final objective you can grow a blog that satisfies these goals in the long term. What should my blog be about? Answer these questions: What are you passionate about? What do you think about daily? What topic do you annoy all of your friends, family, and co-workers with on a regular basis? What do you find yourself dreaming about? What do you find yourself constantly researching?
What do you read about? If there is a common denominator in your answers to these questions — THAT is what your blog should be about. And once you begin to build your blog, no matter what the subject material, you will find a community of people who are interested in what you have to say. How do I find a profitable niche for my blog? If you know the general topic for your blog, a simple way of making your niche more profitable is by narrowing the niche to eliminate competition.
Making the topic of your blog more specific will help to eliminate a lot of competition and elevate your blog results in search engines for more specific queries. How do I name my blog? This can ultimately be a fun exercise. Now start putting words together, introduce new words, and keep playing around until you come up with a name you like!
If you are still struggling you can always try using a blog name generator for additional ideas. If the domain name you want is taken and the full web address is your trademarked business name, you can assert your trademark rights and privileges and eventually get this domain handed over to you. It is a lengthy process that will involve lawyers and hefty fees, but as long as the name is trademarked by you, you would likely win the domain name.
Trying searching for it in the browser. You may be able to buy the domain for the right price from the current owner.
If the domain is parked, you may also attempt to purchase the domain. Where is the best place to create a blog? You can begin blogging as soon as your account is set up. You can easily customize your self-hosted WordPress blog just by following the steps in the tutorial on this page. How much does it cost to start a blog?
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