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If you want to start a hockey blog and connect to like-minded hockey fans everywhere, then you are surely to appreciate this step-by-step buyer’s guide to starting a successful and profitable hockey blog.
Here, we will go through all the things to do and items to buy to get your profitable hockey blog to success.
As an avid fan of hockey, this article is exciting to finally write, as many people might decide to start a hockey blog because of this article.
Some of you might be Canadian hockey lovers, and others might be from Hockeytown, where this article was written – or anywhere else!
Either way, starting a hockey blog can be a healthy, enriching experience that can help inspire others to be better hockey players, or even show off your hockey player’s talent.
Without further ado, let us get started with the 10 steps to start a hockey blog.
- Choose A Blog Niche, Blog Name, and Emphasis
- Sign Up for Web Hosting from a Preferred Partner – GreenGeeks for the Budget Conscious, & Kinsta or WP Engine for the Affluent
- Be Sure to Integrate Email Marketing into Your Profitable Hockey Blog with GetResponse
- Sign Up for an SEO Tool For Your Profitable Hockey Blog with Serpstat
- Add A WordPress Theme from StudioPress – With Genesis Pro
- Monetize Your Blog With eBooks and Online Courses about Hockey with Kajabi, Podia, and Thinkific
- Share Content on Social Media with Tailwind
- Inform Your Blog Content with an Analytics Tool for the Best – MonsterInsights Pro
- Add Pillar Content to Your Content Calendar for Best Results
- Remember: Blogging Consistency Is the Key to Blogging Success!
Step 1: Choose A Blog Niche, Blog Name, and Define Your Blog Vision
The first step to start a hockey blog is to articulate your blog niche.
You could have any number of blog niches with a hockey blog or other sports blog.
You would write about skating techniques, or stick techniques, or better, how to score more goals!
Another way to do a hockey blog is to update your blog with daily hockey news, in a style like ESPN or CBS Sports.
You could also do a hockey blog that updates your readers about a specific player’s progress –thinking your son or daughter’s hockey progress – to be seen by scouts, etc.
There are many forms a hockey blog could take.
The key is to have a visualization, vision, or image for your hockey blog, that you then have define your blog’s image.
When you define your blog vision, you get clear on what you want your blog to look like – the content, the design, everything.
Do not forget, you will need a blog name, and you will need a .com name as well.
We think the best place to buy your .com, called a domain name, is from GoDaddy or Google Domains.
Produce a name that is catchy and memorable and keep things simple and easy to remember!
Step 2: Decide on a Web Hosting Partner – GreenGeeks for the Budget Conscious, Kinsta or WP Engine for the Affluent
Quick Blog Profit recommends these partners for web hosting:
- GreenGeeks – $2.95 a month for 1 blog
- DreamHost – $2.95 a month for 1 blog
- Kinsta – $30 a month for 1 blog
- WP Engine – $30 a month for 1 blog
The next step in starting a hockey blog is getting that hockey blog up and running.
Every blog takes up space on an internet server.
That is called web hosting, and it is a requisite for every blog.
Do not worry, it is not very technical.
All you need to do is sign up for GreenGeeks if you are budget conscious, or Kinsta or WP Engine if you are more affluent.
GreenGeeks costs $2.95 a month, and Kinsta and WP Engine cost around $30 a month.
When you sign up for web hosting, you then get to install WordPress, which is the blogging platform that you write with.
Many profitable bloggers use WordPress, and it’s what powers our own blog Quick Blog Profit.
We recommend signing up for WP Engine, it is what powers our blog.
We have used GreenGeeks previously, and we have had excellent customer experience.
You sign up for web hosting, then you set up WordPress, and then you connect your blog to your .com name.
It is very easy to do and takes about 15 minutes to set up.
Then, you can get started writing your first article for your new and soon-to-be profitable hockey blog!
Quick Blog Profit recommends these partners for web hosting:
- GreenGeeks – $2.95 a month for 1 blog
- DreamHost – $2.95 a month for 1 blog
- Kinsta – $30 a month for 1 blog
- WP Engine – $30 a month for 1 blog
Step 3: Be Sure to Integrate Email Marketing into Your Profitable Hockey Blog with ConvertKit
Quick Blog Profit recommends these partners for email marketing:
- ConvertKit – $10 a month
- GetResponse – $29 a month
Now that you have purchased web hosting with GreenGeeks, Kinsta, or WP Engine, it is time to turn the tables.
Usually, when you read a blog, you sign up for an email list and get updates.
Now, it is your turn to add one of those email forms into your blog and ask for the email address to send email updates of your blog posts.
Some of you might say that is not necessary, and that is okay, but for many of you who want to be profitable hockey bloggers, this is an integral next step.
Integrating email marketing gives you the chance to send email updates about your blog, promote your hockey products, and more.
Also, you can monetize this by sending out affiliate marketing offers for hockey gear such as equipment, hockey sticks, skates, jerseys, and much more.
You can also write eBooks and online courses about optimal hockey and make money from the sales of your eBooks and online courses.
The easy part of this is that email marketing is very affordable.
For $10 a month for up to 300 subscribers, you get access to all ConvertKit has to offer.
We use ConvertKit for Quick Blog Profit, too.
Quick Blog Profit recommends these partners for email marketing:
- ConvertKit – $10 a month
- GetResponse – $29 a month
Step 4: Sign Up for an SEO Tool For Your Profitable Hockey Blog with Serpstat
Quick Blog Profit recommends these SEO tools:
- Serpstat – 7-day free trial, then $125 a month
Okay, so check this.
You have signed up for web hosting, bought a .com domain name, and added an email marketing tool.
You have also reached your WordPress dashboard, where all the blogging takes place.
At this point, you might be looking to find blog content to write for your newly profitable hockey blog.
An excellent resource is an SEO tool called Serpstat.
Serpstat has the best keyword research on the market.
With Serpstat, you can search for hockey terms, and get instant responses of keywords that you can then turn into articles for your profitable hockey blog.
When you know what articles to write, it makes a big difference.
Serpstat gives you ideas for articles to write, and they feature a 7-day free trial so you can take it for a test drive.
Serpstat also helps you build backlinks.
If you really use it – and we recommend using it before every post – then you will find it helps your profitable hockey blog succeed beyond measure.
When you do this, you rank nicely on Google, and that brings more readers to your site, and helps with revenues, too – more on that below.
So, we recommend Serpstat which has a free trial that you can easily sign up for.
Quick Blog Profit recommends these SEO tools:
- Serpstat – 7-day free trial, then $125 a month
Step 5: Add A WordPress Theme from StudioPress – With Genesis Pro
The next step to starting a profitable and successful hockey blog is to add a premium WordPress theme.
The idea here is to add a look and design to your hockey blog that is beautiful.
There are many places where you can buy premium WordPress themes, and our favorite store is StudioPress.
StudioPress is the theme collection from the same company as WP Engine.
They offer 10 in-house designs, and link to many other premium designs from their website.
The 10 in-house designs are available for $360 a year but are free if you sign up for WP Engine – this is what we did with Quick Blog Profit.
What we like about the StudioPress themes is that they are easy to install, customizable, and used by online business and blog specialists everywhere.
We also find that StudioPress themes work well for people with an eye for SEO.
One of the leaders in search engine optimization, Matt Cutts, has a personal blog that uses the Genesis framework.
It is a good sign that the Genesis Pro themes, based on the Genesis framework, are going to get you to the first tier on Google.
Quick Blog Profit recommends the following WordPress themes:
- Genesis Pro by StudioPress – $360 a year
Step 6: Monetize Your Blog With eBooks and Online Courses about Hockey with Kajabi, Podia, and Thinkific
Quick Blog Profit recommends the following online course tools:
- Kajabi
- Thinkific
Monetizing your blog, otherwise known as making money blogging, is a core essential to building a profitable hockey blog.
In other words, you build your blog, and then you add money-making opportunities to your profitable hockey blog, to help you bring in residual income.
The first way you can monetize your hockey blog is with eBooks.
Many of you have excellent skillset and talent in the great sport of hockey.
If you like, you can build out your brand by writing an eBook about your personal expertise – it could be goalkeeping, it could be getting the puck to the net, or it could be scoring more goals.
There are so many ways to make a hockey blog profitable, and an eBook is an excellent way to start.
You can also build out an online course.
Online courses are often the best way to communicate your expertise to your audience.
You can price your online course from $397 to $997, and a few hundred sales a year can make a full-time living!
When you add email marketing to the mix, you really profit.
The idea is that you build out your email list, and then you send links to your eBooks and online courses through your email marketing.
While some of you do not want to monetize a blog, and are looking more to excel, it is a good thing to know how to do for later down the road.
Quick Blog Profit recommends the following online course tools:
- Kajabi
- Thinkific
Step 7: Share Content on Social Media with Tailwind
As a proud hockey blogger, you will want to share your blog content on social media, to reach a larger audience!
If you are a parent, it is as easy as sharing your blog posts with your Facebook friends.
However, there is a more productive approach, especially when you have a lot of blog content.
Most social media managers and pro bloggers use social media platforms such as Tailwind to post their blog posts.
What is nice about Tailwind is that you can plan a content calendar for your blog posts.
Rather than post each time after an article is posted, with Tailwind, you schedule your social media posts in advance.
The reason this works is because it saves you significant time and money.
By scheduling your social media posts in advance, you can plan a month’s worth of social media posts for Facebook, Instagram, and especially Pinterest – highly recommended for bloggers – all in one day!
There are many social media tools for posting in advance, and we recommend Tailwind.
Quick Blog Profit recommends these social media management tools:
Step 8: Inform Your Blog Content with an Analytics Tool for the Best – MonsterInsights Pro
Many pro bloggers add to their blog content with blog analytics tools.
The #1 analytics tool for blogs and websites is Google Analytics.
While Google Analytics is free, it is very complicated to install.
Google Analytics recommends that for WordPress blogs such as yours, you should use MonsterInsights for the installation.
That is why Quick Blog Profit recommends MonsterInsights Pro.
MonsterInsights Pro sparse the data and analytics related to your blog and gives you so much analytics data that you will know exactly how to manage your hockey blog.
Again, not all of you will sign up, but it is one of those requisites for a successful hockey blog.
You should have your analytics tool installed.
MonsterInsights Pro costs $99 a year and integrates with Google Analytics with a beautiful dashboard to help you make sense of your data.
Quick Blog Profit recommends the following analytics WordPress plugins:
- MonsterInsights Pro – $99 a year
Step 9: Add Pillar Content to Your Content Calendar for Best Results
We here with Quick Blog Profit have found that pillar content really makes a difference for blog performance.
It is the difference between a blog post such as ”how to score more goals in hockey” and “3 thoughts from last night’s game”.
The first post is a pillar post.
It is content that people can come back to regularly, even posting links to your article from their own social media or blogs.
Pillar posts are #1 pieces of content.
Then, you could have 40 articles related to scoring more goals than then link to the pillar post.
Pillar posts keep web visitors coming to your blog, and that helps your traffic and rankings on Google.
Find pillar content for your blog by using the Keyword Tool from Serpstat.
Step 10: Final Thoughts: Blogging Consistency Is the Key to Blogging Success!
The one thing I have internalized over the 6 months of building this blog is that blogging consistency is the key to blogging success.
If I took off a day, or a week, from blogging, then that would take my blog’s success and mess with it.
When you blog like it is a day job, and stay consistent day in and week out, then you will find success comes naturally.
If you blog consistently, with a regular schedule that you do not break, then you will achieve blogging success.
Sure, some people take breaks, and that is okay, but when you get back to your blog, you will want to be consistent.
Like practicing hockey, you do not want to skip a single day of practice.
It is the same with blogging.
Day in and day out, be so consistent so that you can take your blog to the next level.
Not everybody can be a pro hockey player, and not everybody can be a pro blogger.
Though you might be closer than you think, with hard work and consistency.
Start at your level, and then keep practicing, and you will find yourself ever closer to the pros in no time.
Blogging consistency is the key to blogging success!
Summary
You should now have an excellent starting point for a successful and profitable hockey blogging career.
As we started with, this article is a buyer’s guide, so you know exactly what you’ll need to start a successful hockey blog.
In summary, here are what you’ll need.
- Domain name from GoDaddy and Google Domains
- Web hosting from GreenGeeks or DreamHost, alternatively Kinsta or WP Engine
- Here you’ll install WordPress and link your blog to your domain name with nameservers
- Email marketing from GetResponse
- SEO tools from Serpstat
- WordPress themes from StudioPress
- Online courses platforms from Kajabi, Podia, and Thinkific
- Social media management platform from Tailwind
- Online blog analytics platform from MonsterInsights Pro
Thank you for reading and best of luck with your new and successful hockey blog!
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