You take bicycling seriously. You are out there every day, putting in your miles, getting ready for your next century ride. You’ve spent over a thousand dollars on your beautiful Kestrel bike, and you just really love to ride. We think someone like you should be blogging about your experiences. After all, there are a lot of fellow bicyclists out there who are frustrated by not having enough riding time. Things like work, school and family take up valuable time one could be spending on a bike. You owe it to your less fortunate brethren to let them know what they are missing.
To get started, here are a few tips for setting up a bicycle blog:
- Design: You will want to start with hosting a WordPress website, as this is the simplest and most popular way to quickly put up a blog site. You select and apply a theme – many of them are free – to establish the look and feel of your site. Perhaps something with a travel motif? You might want to add a forum so that others can chime in with their own questions and comments. Also, you can include a FAQ page to share your deep knowledge of all aspects of bicycling, from riding to repair.
- Content: If you are going to blog, you need to be literate. Not Hemingway literate, but good basic skills when it comes to grammar, spelling, proper usage, etc. Part of developing a reasonably-sized readership is to write thoughtfully and intelligently. Every day as you ride, you experience the Zen-like feeling that comes with doing something you really enjoy. Try to express that spirit in your writing. If your English skills aren’t that good, hire a professional freelance writer to help with the editing. Just search for one on Google — there are many from which to choose.
- Search Engine Optimization: The key to developing a substantial following is to rank well in the results pages for your chosen keyword phrases, such as “bicycle blog”. To achieve a high rank organically (i.e. not paying Google for placement) you will need to have backlinks from authoritative websites pointing to your site. One way to achieve this is to purchase a Presell Page from a paid link provider. A Presell Page is written to your specification and contains a link to your website. The advantage of a Presell Page is that it allows the backlink to appear naturally within the context of the written material. This is important in getting the maximum boost from your backlink.
Once you start blogging about your riding experiences, you’ll find yourself more observant of your own experiences and will look forward to sharing them with others. Have fun and happy riding!