How To Create A Sports Blog In 8 Easy Steps

Why wait when you can start your own sports blog now?

Sit back, relax and take 15 minutes to follow these 3 easy steps to get your sports blog online.

....and we have kick-off!

THE STEPS TO SPORTS BLOGDOM:

Thought about what you want your domain name to be? If not give it some thought and let yourself brainstorm with a couple of ideas before making up your mind. 

Now head to Bluehost to check if the domain name is available by entering the name in the box that says ‘new domain’ then click ‘next’. 

Click Here To Get Started With Your Domain On Bluehost 

(Opens In New Window)

 

OK! So what happens if you already have a domain? No problem click on the 

'I have a domain name' below

You will be prompted to pick a plan. The starter plan is the one recommended for anyone who’s not already a familiar blogger

 

 

Next you need a host for your domain name. Hosting is basically renting a space on the web to display your blog. Bluehost has great rates and will provide you with the domain name for free - if you use them as your host.

I found this is the best deal available for hosting websites and blogs.

See the screenshot below for the package settings chosen in the example.

The ’Domain Privacy Protection’hides your personal address and phone number from being displayed publicly.

 

 

 

WordPress is a blog and website building software. Many known sites are made with this amazing software. Don’t worry, it’s really easy to use and even easier to install on your website.

Login to your Bluehost account, navigate to the ‘MOJO Marketplace’ section inside the cPanel, Click One-Click Installs and Choose WordPress

On the next page click Install button.

 

Select your domain and click the Check Domain button.

 

 

Check the box that says Terms and Conditions then click Install now.

 

Once the installation is complete, on the top part of the screen, you will see a message with a link to “View Credentials” - These will provide you with the Address, Username and Password you need to login to your WordPress Admin Panel.

If you haven’t changed them during the installation you want to save your credentials somewhere you can find them. After login you may change these to something more memorable.

Simply type your Admin URL into the web browser. You will see a login screen same as the one below. Enter your WordPress Username and Password you saved from the previous step.

 

 

 

You are now officially logged into your own blog. Hurrah!

 

 

Congrats, you now have your very own food blog. Isn’t this a great feeling? Welcome to the world of online blogging!

Only one more step is left before you can share latest creations, knowledge and love for food with the world.

Keep those pans off the stove for just a few more moments. You still need to pick your WordPress theme. The theme will determine your blog’s looks, structure and navigation.

Make it shine and pop to grab your reader’s attention.

WordPress provides many free themes you can pick from. You can browse them here.

View Wordress Themes

Alternatively, you can find premium themes available for purchase with more customized looks and features.

Here are a few special ones that we love:

 

"This theme is for Sports like Football, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Hockey, Tennis and clubs and societies. Club Sports WordPress Theme have teams, players, Sports news and fixtures options that can be maintained very easily."

Learn More / Download | View Demo

 

 

"A beautifully designed multi-page multi-purpose website template, perfect for clubs, community centres, sports and non-profit websites. Sport is clean, minimal, modular and flexible making it amazingly customizable."

Learn More / Download| View Demo
  

 

"You can use it for football clubs, any kind of sport, basketball, tennis, volleyball clubs.

Template is well documented and easy to use."

Learn More / Download | View Demo

 

SPORT CUP

So you want to be a sports blogger? Millions of people love sports. both men and women, so surely there is a built-in audience ready to devour your content. If only it was that easy. Sports blogging is work, and it takes a certain level of dedication to make a sports blog successful. For every one successful sports blog out there, there are probably 10 to 20 failed blogs because the bloggers didn't put in the work or take the necessary steps to raise their chances of success.

Fortunately, you can achieve success in sports blogging. Here are five tips to follow to get your sports blog to rise to the top of the pack.

 

 

 

Let's face it. The internet is populated with thousands of sports blogs, and many of them are redundant. There are multiple blogs that cover the New York Yankees, for example, but if you are a Yankees fan and want to start a blog about them, what can you do to stand out from the crowd of other Yankees blogs? Maybe you have a special interest in the draft or up-and-coming young talent. Maybe you love to speculate about trade rumors and make predictions. Do more than just rehash games and obvious things; leave that to the newspaper and beat writers. Find something unique to bring to your sports blog.

You can also stand out from the crowd by letting your personality and voice shine through in your blogging. Sports blogs are fun, so keep your writing conversational, and be yourself. Use humor if it's something that comes naturally for you.

 

 

The sports world is full of "hot takes" - opinions on anything and everything, from whether a coach should have run a different play at a crucial point in the game or whether a team in a pennant race should trade their top prospect for a bullpen arm. Put some of your own opinions in your blog posts. Blogging is not journalism; you're allowed to speak your mind. Opinions spark conversation which generates attention and traffic to your blog.

Don't be afraid of expressing controversial or unpopular opinions. This will surely result in some people disagreeing with you, but dissenting opinions will also generate comments and traffic on your blog. However, don't confuse controversy with trolling. You can be controversial and opinionated without being cruel. There is a fine line between generating discussion and garnering negative attention; make sure you understand this if you are going to blog about an unpopular opinion.

 

 

Sports blogging is highly dependent on timely content. Things move quickly in the sports world and the topics that are relevant and being discussed today are tomorrow's old news. Make sure that what you're publishing on your blog is relevant today. Otherwise, you'll be missing out on a lot of potential traffic when the majority of readers have moved on to what's current.

Setting up and keeping a blogging schedule will really help you when it comes to producing timely content for your sports blog. If you know that you want to blog about a football game that takes place Sunday afternoon, set aside time to write on Sunday evening and get your new blog post published as soon as you can. People may still be reading about yesterday's football game on Monday morning, but by Tuesday they will have shifted their attention to another sporting event or the preparations for the next weekend's game. If your blog is going to be worthy of a sports fan's attention, it should be relevant to what fans are thinking, reading, and talking about that day.

Successful sports blogs have a lot of content and are updated on a regular basis. Readers will lose interest if they revisit a blog and find that it doesn't have fresh content somewhat regularly. Many people start sports blogs and are excited about it for the first month or two, but eventually the frequency slows down and blogging stops. Set a blogging schedule for yourself and stick to it. This consistency is the main difference between sports blogs that succeed and sports blogs that fail. 

 

A sports blog is not a novel. Even if you love writing long sentences full of flowery descriptions, your blog should be easy for someone to quickly scan and read. We live in a fast-paced world where many people skim through social media feeds on their smartphones and do not take the time to read a blog post that is 3,000 words long. Studies have shown that more than half of people spend less than one minute on a particular web page. If your content cannot be skimmed in a minute or two, you're writing too much. A range of 300 to 600 words is a good, quick read that should give you plenty of space to get your point across without overdoing it.

Keep sentences short and break up your text into short paragraphs as a "wall of text" is very unpleasant to look at and cannot be skimmed quickly. Use formatting to make your content more efficient to read. Subheadings, numbered lists, and bullet points engage readers more than plain text.

Also, make sure your blog theme is mobile friendly. More and more people are viewing content on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, and a mobile friendly theme can be the difference between someone reading your blog or moving on to something else. A mobile friendly web page optimizes the design of the page to make it easy to view on a mobile, touch-screen device.

 

 

Sports blogging is a genre that is fueled by fans interacting with each other, and the best place to do this is via social media. Most sports bloggers are fans themselves, so getting involved with other fans on social media is a great way to gain some visibility in the sports blogging world. This doesn't mean join Twitter and tweet out a bunch of links to your blog, however. Follow people and interact with them while keeping the self-promoting to a minimum. You will gain more blog followers from coming across as genuine rather than appearing desperate for clicks.

It is also a great idea to follow other sports bloggers and comment on their blogs. You can't view other bloggers as the competition and as your enemy; they are quite the contrary. Networking with them can only help you. Forging relationships can go a long way in any business, and sports blogging is no different. Offer to guest post on other sports blogs or collaborate with other bloggers. Getting your work in front of a new audience will only bring more visibility and readers to your own sports blog.

Sports blogging can be a very fun and rewarding venture if you take the right steps to make it successful. Follow these five tips, and you are well on your way.