How to Start a Poetry Blog in 2022
Poetry has been a form of art for centuries. Whether you’re a poet or a reader, it’s still popular. Poetry writers enjoy sharing their work and are always looking for new places to share their work. One such way is on a poetry blog.
It’s easy to start a poetry blog. With or without any knowledge of coding, anyone can start a blog. In this post, we provide a step-by-step guide on how to start your poetry blog. Let’s get started.
Step-by-step guide on how to start a poetry blog
Step 1: Choose Your Poetry Niche
Now that you’ve already decided to start your poetry blog, it’s time to choose your niche. A niche is the subject matter of your poetry. You can either concentrate on poets, forms or styles. Here are some poetry niches to consider.
- Free verse- the poetic style does not adhere to rhyme conventions.
- Blank verse- a poem with no rhyme
- Ballad- uses short pieces to tell a story. Usually performed.
- Limerick is a five-line poem that follows the strict meter and rhyme schemes of AABBA.
- Haiku- The traditional Haiku style is a 3 line poem with five syllables in the first and final lines and seven in the middle.
- Lyric Poem – expresses the writer’s emotions or thoughts and leaves the reader with one unique impression. Odes, ballads, and sonnets belong to this category.
- Narrative Poem- describes the story’s events.
- Acrostic- use of alphabets that are up and down to spell words.
Depending on your target audience, you can pick on any of these or any other form. You should know that no poetry style is superior to the other; hence, choose what works for you. Also, if you’re uncertain, you can check out poems from the best poets to come up with your blog ideas.
- Warsan Shire
- Clint Smith
- Morgan Parker
- Sarah Kay
- Hanif Abdurraqib
- Safia Elhillo
- Robert frost
- Maya Angelou
- Dylan Thomas
- Langston Hughes
- Robert Pinsky
- Maggie Smith
- J. R.R Tolkien
An alternative would be to visit poetry blogs and get a sense of the categories and niches available. Here are 100 of the most popular poetry blogs available online now.
For instance, if you visit Charmedchaos.com, you’ll find that the poet’s blog focuses on life, love and linguine poetry and writing. She frequently writes haiku poems.
Now that you’ve chosen your poem blog niche, it’s time to move on to the next step.
However, if you’re still not sure, you can start on a micro-niche and broaden as your blog grows.
Step 2: Choose Your Blogging Platform
If you’ve decided on your poetry niche, the next step is to choose your blogging platform. There are several blogging platforms. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages.
For instance, read the advantages and disadvantages of blogger and also the advantages and disadvantages of Tumblr.
While there are several free blogging platforms such as Wix, blogger, and Squarespace, starting your blog on a self-hosted platform is important.
Free blogging platforms have their disadvantages, including;
- Storage capacity limitations
- Poor customization options
- No control of your site
- Chances of your blog being removed without notice
If you’re a beginner, the offers might sound appealing at first. But as time goes on, you’ll realize the chances of your blog succeeding keep diminishing.
If you opt for self-hosted blogging platforms like WordPress, you’ll be able to develop a website that you can develop and grow. Here are a few major advantages that come with using WordPress:
Hence, you should host your website with a self-hosted blogging platform such as WordPress. You’ll be able to build your site on your terms.
Read WordPress org vs wordpress.com
Step 3: Decide Your Domain Name
When it comes to deciding on a domain for your blog, you’ll realize that there are numerous domain name myths. Choosing a perfect domain name for your blog is easy, especially if you want a lifetime domain name.
Here are some tips for choosing a domain name for your poetry blog.
- Choose a broad name for your poem blog. This will come in handy when your blog grows, and you want to start writing poems in other categories.
- Keep it short. Short domain names are easier to remember. Also, avoid complicated and hard-to-pronounce words.
- Ensure it’s brandable. Brandable domains are easy to remember. It also makes it easy to spread the word about your poetry blog.
- Go for a .com extension. While you can choose any domain extension and still be successful, the wisdom of crowds dictates that a .com domain is the most preferred by visitors.
You’ll be tempted to buy expensive domains when choosing a domain name. As long as it’s a new domain, it won’t impact your blog’s performance. Hence, crafting a new domain on your own, using a maximum of four words, alliteration, synonyms, or additional words, will be the best.
Alternatively, you can use domain name generators to come up with a suitable domain name.
What if I want my blog to grow very fast?
Starting a blog on a fresh domain means you’ll have to put a lot of time into creating content and building backlinks and networks to drive traffic.
A quick way to avoid some hassle is to buy an expired domain or domain sniping. Sites such as Namecheap and GoDaddy have expired domains on offer.
Step 4: Buy Your Domain Name and Hosting
Armed with a domain name, your next step is to purchase the domain and web hosting for your poetry blog. The domain name is similar to a home address.
For instance, if you choose example as your domain name, example.com will be your blog address.
Web hosting refers to where your blog will be located on the internet. It’s where you’ll build your poetry blog from. Out here, there are many web hosting providers to choose from.
There are free hosting providers as well as paid. Bluehost is one of the best web hosting providers. Other good hosting providers include;
For this guide, we’ll use Bluehost as our hosting provider. This is one of the hosting providers recommended by WordPress. So, it’s first necessary to follow this link to go to Bluehost, then follow the instructions below.
Sign up to Bluehost
1: sign up for Bluehost
If you are not already at Bluehost, click start building, and you’ll be directed to the WordPress hosting page that looks like the page below.
2: Choose your hosting plan
You’ll be taken to the hosting plan page after. You can choose to purchase the “Plus” or “Choice Plus” plan. However, it’s not required. This Basic package is the most affordable at $2.95/month.
This hosting plan includes
- 50 SSD GB of storage space
- Free SSL certificate
- Encrypted WordPress installation
- Free domain name
- Unlimited website hosting
3: enter your domain name
Next, you’ll have to type in your domain name. Type in the existing domain bar if you already have a registered domain name from other domain registrars, such as Namecheap. If you want a fresh domain from Bluehost (free is the first time), enter it in the new domain bar.
Alternatively, if you’re yet to come up with a domain name, select “I’ll create my domain later”. Your domain will be the name users enter into a web browser to visit your website in the near future.
4: Account information
When you’ve submitted, the following page will require the entire information you have provided. It will ask for the information on your account and will provide you with a self-explanatory.
The step is to input the details of your package. This will allow you to select how long you’d like the plan to last. I suggest you choose 12 months for discounts and save cash.
You’ll also need to select which “Package Extras” you want. You can click on “More Information” to understand each one of these options. However, here’s my recommendation.
Consider the “Domain Privacy + Protection.” plan as a beginner. It ensures that nobody can link your domain name to you.
5: Payment information
The final step in the signup process confirms that you are aware of and agree with the terms and conditions of Bluehost‘s Conditions of Service, Cancellation Policy, and the Privacy Notice. Click the checkbox, after which click “Submit.”
6: Create an account and password
Then, you’ll be asked to create an account and a password. This information will be used to log into Bluehost. Bluehost system to handle your website and account details.
7: Choose a WordPress theme for your poetry blog
Once you’re finished, then you’ll be prompted to select an appropriate theme. You can choose any free theme. However, you can change your theme anytime you like.
8: WordPress backend
You’ll be redirected to the WordPress dashboard with your theme already installed. It’s where you’ll manage your website from. From this end, you can install plugins, create pages and posts, or anything you want. When you’re done, click the “Launch Your Site” button.
Congrats! You have created a blog for poetry.
If you’re looking to make changes to the web page, then all you need to do is visit your website URL, with /wp/admin at the end of a browser and then log in on the page to login.
Example: https://example.com/wp-admin
Step 5: Choose and Install a Theme For Your Poetry Blog
When creating a blog for poetry, you must choose the right theme. A theme defines how your blog design will look and feel. It’s like the skin of the website.
A theme is the basis of web design and allows you to change images and text to your preferred one. With WordPress, themes make creating a blog for poetry easier without learning to code.
You can choose between premium themes and free themes. Here are some of the best themes for your poetry blog.
- Typology – Minimalist WordPress Blog & Text-Based Theme
This wildly popular theme was made for poets and writers. It’s easy, stylish and has a typography-focused theme. It has various options, allowing you to create unique poetry blogs.
- Wild Book – Vintage & Elegant WordPress Blog Theme
This theme is ideal for poets and has various layouts for design. It also has endless colour options and a myriad of other options that can allow you to create your distinct poetry site.
- Writer – Powerful WordPress Theme for Writers, Authors, and Poets
The writer is a fantastic designer for poetry. Although it’s not designed specifically for writing blog posts about poetry, it’s an elegant and elegant theme that’s easy to alter to meet your specific needs in poetry.
- The Novelist: Responsive WP Theme for Writers
It’s an exclusive product, so you are unlikely to see several designs specifically geared towards writing poetry. But the vast majority of themes, such as this one by theme Forest, allow you to create custom designs for your poetry blog.
Alternatively, you can find other themes on the theme marketplace, such as studio press, mythemeshop and Themeforest. To choose the best theme for your poetry blog, look out for the following
- A fast-loading theme
- Mobile responsive
- Easy to customize
- Has excellent ratings and reviews on the internet
- Created by a trusted and well-established brand
Step 6: Create essential pages and logo
Your poetry blog won’t be a blog without the important pages and a logo. Here are some pages you must create on your poetry blog
About
Most of your poetry readers want to learn more about your personality.
To keep them engaged, you must add some information to your blog. For instance, you can include your motivation to create a blog for poetry.
However, keep it fun and friendly. Include photos if you don’t mind. Several will connect with you and subscribe to your email list to get more content.
Contact Page
On this page, include all details a reader needs to contact you. You should provide several options such as email address, phone number, social media buttons or any other method.
A good alternative that helps reduce spam messages from flooding your inbox is using a contact form. You can create a simple contact form with the contact form 7 plugin.
Privacy Policy
Your poetry blog should have a Privacy Policy page and other legal pages, like a Disclaimer and the Terms of Service, Cookies Policy, etc.
Legal documents are extremely important. If you’re unsure how to create them, you should seek the assistance of an expert.
Create a Logo
A logo is important when you start promoting your poetry blog. Whether you’re a graphic designer or not, there are several ways to create a logo for your poetry blog. You can use free platforms such as Logomark.
If you’ve no skills, Canva is a great tool as it has ready-made templates to choose from and customize. If you want a premium logo, the Fiverr marketplace has thousands of graphic designers ready to do the job for you.
Step 7: Start creating content for your poetry blog.
As a poet, this is the most enjoyable step. Publishing your poems online and making them accessible worldwide to thousands of poem lovers is a great feeling.
However, you must have a content strategy to succeed. You can break your blog’s main topic into subcategories depending on your niche. You can now work on a single subcategory for 10- 15 posts.
So how many blog posts should you have before launching your poetry blog?
This will depend on your work ethic and why you created your blog. However, to build a following, you should have at least 15 posts on your blog. Furthermore, you should create a content plan to help you post poems and blog posts regularly, keeping your audience engaged.
The difficult part is writing the posts. However, with the emergence of AI writing software, some are capable of writing poems, as well as blog posts. You can try the following
Ensure your blog has fresh and interesting content always. Here are some topics to get you started.
- Write poetry book reviews
- Write a summary of other poets’ works you are studying
- Use the National Poetry Month to create content
- Learn from other poetry blogs
At the point your blog is live, ensure enough content to draw diverse segments of your readers and keep them interested in your blog for longer.
Step 8: How to Promote Your Poetry Blog
As a poem blogger, you’ll need a lot of eyeballs on your content. You’ll need to be your marketing expert to build a large audience. This is because you’re marketing your own words.
Here are some ways to build an audience for your poetry blog
Using family and friends
This is the first group of people you think of as poetry bloggers. You should start sharing your content with them as soon as your blog is live. They’re likely to help you with word-of-mouth marketing. They can also offer suggestions and provide feedback to your blog.
Social Media
If you’re on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, you can start promoting your blog through your social media profiles. For Facebook, you can create a page or a group for your blog and build the following form there.
On Instagram, you can create stunning graphics with your poems and let visitors know where to find more. With TikTok, you can create short videos reciting your poems.
Social media is a great way to draw readers, especially if you join relevant groups. If you publish new content to your website, you must publish it on these social media platforms to drive readers to your website.
Poetry forums
Poetry forums, such as poetry clubs, are groups where poets meet to chat about poems. Join these groups to get to know local poets or join with other poets around the world.
However, don’t spam forums with your links. You should connect and engage with other members while adding value. Forum members of the group are more than happy to browse your poetry blog as a gift.
Add Social media sharing icons on your site to allow your readers to connect with your work to their circle of friends. Additionally, invite your email list to visit your blog, and include your blog’s URL in your signature email.
Step 9: How to make money with a poetry blog
To start making money from your blog, there are methods. You can get started slowly and improve as your blog grows in audience and authority. Here are the proven methods of monetizing your blog.
Affiliate marketing
This is an excellent method to monetize a new blog. It doesn’t require a large audience before you start earning. You can make money from your blog with a few poetry enthusiasts.
To get started, sign up to affiliate marketing networks such as amazon, Shareasale, and Clickbank on impact. Next, start recommending products offered on these networks. For instance, you can recommend books and courses and earn a fee every time a purchase is made.
Write for magazines
Poetry magazines and anthologies are always looking for new poems. You can start submitting your poems to literary and poetry journals. Others include pay-per-view websites that pay poets very well. This will not only help to create an extra source of income but also aids in generating additional awareness for your work.
Write poetry books
You can write and publish your book or collection of poems as a poet. With self-published books becoming more popular, it’s easier to earn cash by publishing your books. You can sell them through your website or sign up for amazon kindle books.
Even though it may take some time and effort as well as some money at first, It’s an effective way to earn passive income.
Display ads
Display ads are the easiest way to start monetizing a blog. However, to earn a good amount, you need tons of traffic. You can sign up for the Google Adsense program. When you sign up, Google will start showing ads on your blog.
However, to make more money, you should consider google Adsense alternatives such as media.net. With your blog growing in traffic, your income will keep on growing. All this is possible with minimal maintenance when everything is set up.
Sell poetry courses
If you’re a talented poet, you can start creating courses on teaching different types of poems. Several schools, community programs and colleges are willing to pay people to teach poetry. If you’re a professional poet, you might be able to make use of these possibilities to earn an additional income stream while also working in a rewarding and engaging way.
Bee consistent after starting your poetry blog
It takes time and effort to make blogs successful. Keep believing in yourself and remember that, even though you’re slower than you would like, any growth is still a win.
Your audience will grow if you create high-quality content with a consistent voice. Keep creating content you believe in and promote it on as many channels as possible. Your audience will keep growing.
These steps should help you start your poetry blog. The additional tips will help you grow and earn an income from your blog. It can be scary, but if your passion is strong and you combine it with hard work and resources, you can make a great blog.
