If there is anything earning young people lots of money in today's market, online platforms are among the top. Given that there is also various creativity and ways to sneak into online platforms, creating a blog can be one of them.
Innocent Kirui, a lecturer of online journalism explains that, during early times, a blog was personal website of which the owner shared their opinion on a variety of topics.
Today however, most blogs have become professional, run by individual or small groups, written in a form of conversation style to teach users a range of a products or services and teach consumers topics that are relevant to their fields.
Blogs are quite different from regular websites, Kirui says, the purpose of a blog is to frequently update readers with new-content on a variety of topics, different from a website, which does not update frequently, but static with less updates.
"Blogs are now used to promote and advertise lots of products, since they have gained many audiences. It a great medium channel that most companies use to let people know about their products and services” he says.
How to go about a successful one
Kirui says, first things first, open a blog using Wordpress.com
"Wordpress is an excellent choice when opening a blog because it is more of a friendly user. It comes with all the functions to allow you create a successful blog compared with others, such as updating and modifying your designs any time, being able to make money from your blog without any restrictions like additional payment, among others”
Almost every individual uses a blog looking for different stuff and of which, many actually don’t have much time dedicated to your particular blog, they always want something direct to what they are looking for, without taking much time.
"You need to learn how to keep your articles simple and short, with useful reliable information,” Kirui says.
According to Anaise Karangwa, a website content creator based in Kigali, do not use faltering titles to gain readers with no reliable source. Most bloggers use catch headlines that will attract more audience but with unreliable information
"Remember, due to the content and number of audiences of your blog, you get companies that want to advertise their goods with you. With flattering headlines, meaningless content can ruin your blog,” Karangwa says.
She further says, engaging in experts to explain more about the topic is a great way to convince your audience with reliable information. This will as well attract more visits to your blog, since it is a source of information.
"Some of the blogs are written through opinions, which lack professionalism expected in scholarly source and general knowledge,” Karangwa says.
What topic do you bring up most with your friends or family? Start a blog that talks about something you are interested in learning about, or something that you always bring up a conversation with. This you have more courage to dig into and come up with interesting content.
According to the guardian.com, when choosing a creative topic to blog about, try and find a niche. Make your blog about something very specific and you'll please both the search engines and your readers. Try not to be too general and really focus on one specialist topic and stick to it. Find your own niche and go for it – just remember to stay on the topic.
Allow engagement to your blog. Ask people to comment and provide feedback and make sure you always respond. Make it a genuine website that encourages interactions where possible.
Last but not least, do not give an ear to negativity. Dedicate your time to the road of success. Find professional bloggers and learn from them, ask for advice and allow to be helped.