Starting a freelance blog in 2023 – the easiest guide

In recent years, more people are switching careers favoring flexible working hours and non-defined workspaces. In essence, professionals are ditching their nine-to-fives for freelance engagements. A recent report says there are over 70 million freelancers in the US alone. We are in an interesting era, and there is certainly no better time to launch a freelance blog, especially if you are a freelance writer or love writing.

Your freelance blog could be targeted at freelancers, offering great resources. Or you could start a freelancer blog to demonstrate your abilities, establish your brand and attract clients. Notwithstanding, it is important that you understand what it takes to start freelance blogging before launching out.

But like always, we got your back, and this guide is all you'll ever need to launch your freelance blogging business. Let's hit the road.

What do successful freelance blogs have in common

Before we delve into the "Dos," the "DON'TS," and the "HOW TOs," it is best, to begin with, an idea of what a successful blog looks like. This is to give you a clearer picture of what you should do.

There are over 550 million blogs worldwide, and only a handful are successful. The truth is that most blogs fail. The high failure rate is mostly down to blog owners not providing sufficient value to attract and keep an audience consistently.

Don't forget the first purpose of your freelance blog is first to attract an audience and not for you. If you want to write for yourself, a diary or an e-note should suffice.

So what do successful freelance blogs look like?

A great user interface

Let's begin with the look and feel of the blog site. Nobody will take a second look at a boring website or an ugly blog that is not properly arranged. 

In fact, studies say that 88% of people will not return to a site with a bad user experience. Of course, the user experience encompasses the user interface, functionality, flexibility, etc.

Even more interesting is that 75% of users determine a site's credibility based on its appearance. In essence, you must be wary about low-quality blog design and ensure that your blog is smooth and user-friendly with a simplistic but beautiful design.

Content quality

Content is king in freelance blogging, and the best freelance blogs out there have one thing in common; quality and unique content. You can't attract an audience if they don't find your content resourceful, original, and informative. 

Mobile friendly

What is a blog if it isn't mobile-friendly? Most people today prefer to read and surf the web on their mobile devices, so if your blog isn't optimized for mobile view, you're already missing out on a huge audience.

Niche specific

Most successful freelance blogs focus on certain specified areas or industries. Don't try to cover all the fields; it would make you seem unprofessional.

Consistent posts

No successful blog got to the top by posting arbitrarily and when they felt like it. They often have a schedule, and they keep to it. It could e two times a week, three times, or daily.

A monetization strategy

Every successful blog has a workable monetization strategy, and they stick with it. The blogging industry is quite competitive; hence you have to intentionally map out a monetization plan and not rely on luck or chance.

Now you know what a freelance blog looks like, the question is, how do you launch your successful freelancing blog?

Decide on a purpose for your blog

People start blogs for various reasons; it could be as a marketing channel or to share knowledge and build an active audience. You should begin by outlining your purpose for the blog, who the blog is for, what you intend to achieve with the blog, etc.

When you can answer these questions and have clarity of purpose, it becomes much easier to achieve success.

Choose a name for your blog

Deciding on a suitable name for your blog is important because the name represents your brand, and it has to be appropriate for what you intend to do. Although there are no hard and fast rules for selecting a name, here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Do not choose a name that sounds like that of an existing blog, especially if the blog is in your niche.

• You may decide to name your blog using your name or initials.

• Your blog name might include a description of what you do to make it easier for people to understand your purpose. For instance, Kehl Auto review.

• The name of your blog should also be the same as the domain name or closely related. For instance, if Kehl Auto Review is too long, you may use the initials as the domain name, e.g., KAR.com.

Decide on the content you want to publish

Trying to be a master of all trades will only lead to failure. Focus on a certain industry or niche and provide content for that market. For instance, you might blog about independent graphic designers, writers, etc.

However, your content choice should be influenced by what you know sufficiently about and are interested in. That way, it becomes easier to deliver value and be consistent.

Here are some popular topics to blog about

• Fashion

• Health

• Food

• Travel

• Music

• Sports

• Relationships

• Career, e.t.c.

• Freelancing; NB: freelancing is broad, but you may narrow it down to certain freelance careers like freelance writing, freelance web design, etc.

Put some effort into setting up your blog

You are ready to set up your blog and go live, but you must first decide what blog builder to use and where to host your blog. There are several blog builders to choose from. A few of the popular ones include;

• WordPress

• Blogger

• Contentful

• Wix etc

If you have a technical partner or you have hired a web developer, they will advise you on the most suitable builder to use for your demands.

For hosting most builders offer hosting services and charge extra for that. However, you may choose external hosting even while using a particular builder.

Google Analytics and Search Engine Optimization

Google Analytics is a free tool that you should include in the setup of your blog. The tool collects data from your website to give insights into your blog's performance and engagement rate. It measures and reports traffic, clicks, events, etc.

Beyond analytics, it is also important that you optimize your blog for search engines (SEO). This will enable Google and other search engines to rank your blog and project it whenever people do a relative search. 

For instance, if you blog about freelance tutors and someone makes a Google search with the following string" how to be a freelance tutor," Google curates all the website with such content and project them on the result page.

Note: Your blog has to follow important SEO rules. You may need to hire an SEO expert to guide you on what to do.

Decide how you will grow and market your blog

It is not enough to have great content and do SEO. Those are important parts of the process, but it only takes you half the way. You need to develop a strategy to grow and market your blog to attract an audience and ultimately achieve your goals.

Here are some quick tips.

• Leverage social media: social media is a great way to build an audience. You may post snipes of your blog articles and encourage people to click the link. With this, you'll redirect traffic from social media to your blog.

• Guest posting: Many renowned blogs allow guest posting. Here you write to a blog with a large audience seeking permission to make a post or few on their platform.

• Join forums and communities: You may also join forums and online communities with an audience of interest and actively participate in their activities.

• Ads: You may also run paid advertisements on social media platforms and other websites.

Run your freelance blog with Workee

To run a successful freelance blog, you will have to be proactive and intentional about the blogging business. You should have tools that can automate your processes and enable you to build better relationships with your clients for better business outcomes.

Workee is a business management software for freelancers, independent professionals, and anyone working online. The Workee software provides important tools and automates business processes to help you become more efficient and successful in your online business. Here are reasons why you need Workee;

• Client management: Workee syncs with your Google contacts and allows you to add other important business contacts to manage your business relationships from one place. You can also keep track of your communication with your client.

• Booking: Monetizing your blog and offering paid services when you sign up on Workee. The software provides a booking function allowing clients to book you at your preferred time. You get a notification immediately after you are booked, and the system sends automated emails to confirm an appointment.

• Finance management: Managing your finances gets easy. The Workee software spots an accounting hub that enables you to manage and keep track of your cash inflow and outflow. You may issue invoices and receipts, and calculate accruable tax, so you never miss a thing.

• Video calls: Personalize your business relationships using the Workee video collaboration tool. With this tool, you can hold video meetings and even take down notes while communicating.

• Free website: Workee also offers you a free website to enable you to promote your business. The good part is that it's a no-code website, so you never have to bother about maintenance or paying a developer. Your Workee website can be set up in 5 minutes or less after signing up. 

All of these are what you gain when you sign-up on Workee. And yea Workee has a free version that allows you many of these features for life even without paying a dime.

Conclusion

Freelance blogging is more than just a hobby; it is a business and should be treated as such. Before jumping into it, ensure you're ready for the work and have the patience to see results. Importantly, consistency and value are two vital virtues you should adopt.