How to Become a Blogger in Nigeria? 8 Simple Steps Guide

Blogging has become an increasingly common platform for people to express their thoughts, ideas, and passions to the world. In Nigeria, blogging is not only a means of self-expression, but a business. This post will offer a guide on how to become a blogger in Nigeria, along with useful tips for blog writers to start one.

Let’s begin this journey and find out!

Why Start a Blog?

So before talking about how to become a blogger in Nigeria, let’s discuss why someone would want to start a blog in the first place. Here are a few motivations why:

Share Your Passion: You can blog about cooking, fashion, writing, or any topic that you are passionate about and it can turn out to be a huge success.
Make Money: The majority of bloggers make money by selling advertising space, running sponsored posts, and selling products or services.
Build a Community: You’re able to meet and connect with people of similar interests while sharing your thoughts through a blog.
Improve Your Skills: Writing, research, and marketing skills are some of the essential skills that can be enhanced through blogging activities.

How to Start Blogging in Nigeria

To begin blogging, you need to take the following steps:

1. Choose Your Area of Expertise or Niche

Your area of focus should reflect what you intend your blog to represent. One thing you definitely need to do is select something you are passionate about and have the requisite information. Some of the niches in Nigeria that are doing well include:

Scents
Recipes
Traveling
Tech News
Workout
Investment

2. Select a Name for Your Blog and the Domain Name

Your domain name should be short and to the point about your blog’s niche. After selecting a name you will require a domain name (for example www.yourblogname.com). GoDaddy and Namecheap are among the websites from which you can register a domain.

3. Choose a Blogging Platform

A blogging software is an application that will allow you to create and control your blog. Some of the most used platforms include:

WordPress: It is very popular and versatile but quite complicated for novice users.
Blogger: Excellent for starters as it is fairly straightforward to use.
Wix: Users are required to drag and drop elements to create the site. It is simple but lacks versatility.

4. Find a Hosting

Hosting refers to where your blog is located on the web. For Nigerian bloggers, there are some reputable hosting providers such as:

Bluehost
HostGator
Whogohost

Such services usually require a small fee every month but are imperative in ensuring that your blog is viewed by all users online.

5. Design Your Blog

When you have a platform and some hosting for the blog, the next step is to build your blog. Use the theme that best describes your niche and is user-friendly. Most themes are available on the platforms for free while others are paid.

6. Post Quality & Unique Content

Content can be said as the life of a blog. Check out some of these for awesome content creation:

Write from an Experience: Write down things that you already have an experience with.
Use Easy English: Make posts that are very simple and easy.
Remain The Same: Maintain the relevance by posting from time to time.
Make Use of Images and Videos: They make the posts more appealing.

7. Advertise Your Blog

There is no single person out there who is going to read their blog if they do not know about the blog. Use the following ways to advertise your blog:

Social Networking Websites: Post your blogs on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Search Engine Optimization: Optimize your posts so that they appear on searches. Include relevant keyword phrases, good titles, and meta tags about your posts.
Readers’ Interaction: Address their comments and queries and talk with them.

8. Monetize Your Blog

If you have enough people reading the blog, monetization can be started. Here are some means that you can take up to generate revenue from the blog:

Ad Networks: Get registered to Google AdSense or any ad network and start posting advertisements on your blog.
Sponsored Posts: Businesses will pay you to create content on their products.
Affiliate Marketing: Promote products and get a cut of the sale whenever anyone buys a product using your link.
Sell Products or Services: Sell your products, as an example- eBooks, or services, as for coaching.

Tips for Achieving Your Goal

Control your Short-Term Expectations: It will take time to learn the ropes and monetize your blog, do not be disheartened if it is taking longer than anticipated.
New Skillset: The target audience is constantly evolving, and therefore there will always be something more to learn about a blog.
Get in Touch With Other Bloggers: Search for relevant blogging groups, forums, and other resources to connect with like-minded individuals.
Maximum Efficiency: Use tools like calendars and to-do lists to break up your time and tasks.

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

1. Finding Time to Blog

Blogging is an intensive task and not a stroll in the park, especially an issue for someone holding down a 9-5 or going to classes. Disable Mishra Buraing once every week with time slots and it will work wonders in the long run while even sparing an hour in the day will help.

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

2. Coming Up with Content Ideas

Sometimes it can be easy to think about topics to write about and other times, not so much. If an idea comes to you, write it down in a small notepad that you keep with you. In times of struggle, look for other blogs in your niche for clues.

3. Dealing with Writer’s Block

If you feel stuck, you need to give yourself some time off. Take a walk, read your favorite book, or carry out any other activity. It is sometimes necessary to distance yourself from a problem to find a new solution.

4. Growing Your Audience

Your audience does not build itself, well it takes time. Be disciplined and persistent. Connect with your audience, and market your blog on social networks. Think about advertising to reach more users.

Tools to Help You Blog

Many tools can make blogging easier. Let us take a look at some of them.

Canva: Make wonderful catchy graphics and images for your blog.
Grammarly: Help check on your spelling and grammar.
Google Analytics: Help log in the traffic to your blog and register the most popular posts.
Hootsuite: Manage and schedule your social media activities.

A Guide to Write Awesome Blog Posts

To retain a loyal readership, you have to create interesting blog posts. Follow these recommendations:

Crazy Captions: You have to ensure that your title captures attention enabling people to want to their read posts.
Start-Up: In every post, always start with a catchy intro that makes a reader want to go on reading.
Straight forward: Ensure that your message is straightforward and easily understandable. Do not use complicated language and long sentences.
Employ Subheadings Smartly: Use sub-headers as a way of breaking the long chunks of text into smaller readable parts.
Final Note: Close your articles by encouraging readers to take action, like leaving behind a comment or posting your article.

How to Use Social Media to Promote Your Blog

Before we deal with that and many more related questions, let us first analyze the characteristics of social media platforms.

Concentrate on the Platforms that Matter: Target the platforms which your readers spend the most time on, If your blog is about fashion then, probably the best platform to use is Instagram.
Be Diplomatic: Calmly post updates so that your followers do not get bored with the much-wanted information, or use Hootsuite, which can do the work for you.
Bring Your Community Together: Make sure that YouTube shares the love, YouTube is a community as well.
Extend Your Reach: This can be done by putting relevant hashtags.

SEO Basics for Bloggers

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) helps your blog get found on search engines like Google. Here are some basic SEO tips:

Target The Right Keyword: Aim for specific areas of your blog while posting, but make sure to target the right areas and not keywords overstuff your content.
Quality Over Quantity: Always focus on delivering high-quality content with which the readers can benefit from.
Structural Strategies: Lastly always use a heading(s) H1, H2, and H3 it helps to give your blog posts structure.
Meta Descriptions: Ensure you offer clearly defined meta descriptions for your postings.
Internal Links: Provide links to other posts within your blog.

Monetizing Your Blog in Nigeria

It’s worth pointing out that there are several methods to monetize your blog. Below are some widely adopted methods:

Google AdSense: Advertise on your blog, and pay for ads that a viewer may click on.
Affiliate Marketing: Sell products from other people, and get a percentage for each sale.
Sponsored Posts: This includes writing posts regarding certain products or services at a fee.
Selling Products: You can also sell your e-book or even merchandise.
Online Courses: For those who are in a certain field, there is the option to develop and sell online courses.

Keeping Your Blog Secure

Blog security is key and here are a few ways to achieve that:

Strong Passwords: Strong passwords should be employed and changed as regularly as possible.
Backup Your Blog: Regular backups should be done to avoid this scenario from happening.
Update Plugins: Always update plugins and even the themes.
Use Security Plugins: Make use of security plugins such as Wordfence Editor for protection.

Building a Community Around Your Blog

For the success of your blog, it is crucial to build a community around it. Here is how you can do it:

Engage with Readers: Answer readers’ questions and messages and thank them for their feedback. Adore the word ‘Thank You’ and ask similar questions so that people engage with and around your blog.
Social Media Groups: Establish social media groups for your audience so that they join and engage with one another.
Newsletters: Write newsletters and send them regularly to your audience to keep them in touch with you.
Events: Organize virtual events, for example, webinars, or live chats.

Conclusion

Starting a blog in Nigeria is an excellent opportunity to express your interests, build an audience, and even earn some income. Following these steps, remaining focused, and planning means you can also develop a blog that readers would be more than happy to follow. Be patient, continue to develop your skills, and enjoy the blogging process!