You’re an expert in the field of finance, but you might feel you don’t have the skills required to build a thriving finance blog. The truth is that you don’t need to have the best-looking blog on the market. When you’re first starting your blog, leave issues of design for a time when you have a greater level of disposable income. Right now, you just need a website with good content and the right marketing strategy to begin to build your follower base and compete in your niche.

Step 1: Get a Domain

Register a domain name that has your main keyword in the address. Having a domain name that specifically relates to your content can help you to achieve a higher overall rank. The domain name does play a small role in your website’s SEO.

If you use your own name in the address, try to include at least one of your more commonly used niche words somewhere in the address. If you don’t want to do this, you can always create a subdomain with your niche. For example, http://tax.myname.com would be an effective way to include a niche keyword into your main domain and increase your relevance in search engines.

Step 2: Get Web Hosting

Web hosting needs to be fast, efficient and provide you with the tools you need to build an effective blog. Don’t pay attention to promises of unlimited bandwidth. Instead, talk to your host about your intentions and ask how many visitors your blog could receive before it exceeds the limitations of the host. This is a more effective way of finding out what a hosting provider can give you. The best hosting providers will be able to give you this type of information, and they can also help you set up your site when needed.

Step 3: Build the Blog

You don’t need to be a designer to build a blog that functions well, but you do need to choose a platform that you’re going to stick with for the long term. Blogger, WordPress and Joomla are a few options for managing large amounts of content.

Joomla is designed more for the individual that runs a business or has an article directory. WordPress is more focused, but you’re going to have to spend quite a bit of time updating the software and keeping your platform secure. Blogger is often frowned upon by serious bloggers, but it has outstanding simplicity and you won’t have to ever worry about losing your blog content or updating it.

Step 4: Start Networking

Many blogs recommend that you communicate with others on forums and get involved online to boost your business. This is important, but the truth is that you’ll need to interact with people in the real world to build your following. Go to conventions and network with other professionals in your field.

Don’t sell yourself, but sell what you can do to fill a need. People will care about you only once you have shown that you care about them. Too many financial bloggers make the mistake of only talking about themselves.

Provide real advice and solutions to the problems that your potential clients need to solve. Only then can you get the type of influence and social proof needed to excel.

Step 5: Posting Content Regularly

Numerous studies have been conducted on the best times and how often to post content. You don’t need to post daily, but you do need to be consistent. If you post only once per week, then you need to post at the same time every single week. Your followers will eventually learn when you post, and they will begin to expect new posts on the schedule you have created.

If you post at least three times a week, then you’ll begin to notice that your posts get indexed by Google quickly. Very active blogs can see their posts appearing in search results within a few minutes. However, you need to produce quality content that isn’t the same old information on every other blog.

One trick is to make use of a scheduling tool to automatically post for you. Spend a few days each month creating all of the content for the upcoming month, and then schedule your posts. This will ensure that if you get busy, your blog continues to remain active.

Step 6: Consider Disabling Commenting

If you don’t have the time to comment on people who respond to your blogs, it may be better to turn off commenting. Research has shown that the comment sections in most blogs don’t tend to offer much value for the readers. If you don’t have a strong following to begin with, you may even lose trust with your readers. Coming to a blog with the “0 Comments” notification can make it seem like your blog isn’t active.

If you do decide to allow comments, wait until you’ve developed a daily visitor rate of about 30 to 50 visitors a day. This will ensure that your posts are getting some attention, and it may help you to avoid the impression that nobody is visiting your blog.

Step 7: Monetize Your Site, Eventually

Don’t start out with ads on your website. The truth is that providers like Adsense do work, but it’s better to build your blog’s brand first. Instill trust in your users and provide your visitors with sound financial advice. Once you develop trust and a large readership, you can begin to monetize your site.

If you have an eBook, you should aim to sell it from the very beginning. If you don’t have an eBook, then taper your posts down to one or two per week and start writing. An eBook is a good way to make extra money, and there are many services that will sell it for you for a nominal fee. Sites like Gumroad offer a way to sell your book without any hassle on your end.

Ultimately, there are no tricks to running an effective financial blog. You need to locate the best hosting provider you can afford to ensure that your website always runs well. Once you’ve got that, focus on writing high-quality content. Wait to hire a designer for your site until you’re listed in the search engines and you’re bringing in a large number of visitors. Be smart, post consistently and always provide content that your readership can benefit from. Do this, and you’ll begin to see progress.