If you want to start a blog but have no clue how to begin, you have just landed in the right place.
Blogging can be a great way to build an online business if you are ready to spend the required time and effort.
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How To Start A Blog (Step By Step)
What Is a Blog?
A blog is a type of website that contains published content about a particular subject. Blogging is an avenue to share helpful information with others, especially if you are an expert in that field.
If you have been putting off starting a blog because of the fear of coding and graphic designs, this easy-to-follow guide for beginners will help you overcome that fear.
Why You Should Start A Blog
- A blog is a great place to share helpful and valuable information with people. In addition, you may share your experience, challenges, and success stories so others can learn and make amends where necessary.
- Starting your own blog is a great way to show your expertise and authority in your niche.
- Blogging is an avenue to build a successful online business and generate some income from it over time.
- Writing consistently on your blog improves your written and communication skills. Creating at least a blog post per week will have a fantastic effect on your writing skills.
- Finally, blogging is an avenue to learn and relearn. You learn new skills every time you research your blog topics.
I, at a point, had some misinformation about blogging.
I thought I wouldn’t achieve anything without coding, and I never knew how creative I could be with graphics until I started my blog.
How To Start A Blog in 6 Simple Steps
Step 1: Select a niche
Step 2: Pick a domain name
Step 3: Choose a blogging platform
Step 4: Get a web hosting
Step 5: Customize your blog
Step 6: Write great content
Step 1: Select a Niche
When starting a blog, you need to think of what you want to write on your blog. Be sure it’s something you are passionate about and love doing.
Think about what you enjoy doing and will be happy writing about it for a long time. Google trend is a powerful resource for discovering keywords related to your niche. In addition, it gives you insight into how people search for that topic over time.
Step 2: Pick a domain name
After you have chosen your niche, it’s time to select your domain name. Again, please keep it simple so people searching for your business online can find it easy to locate when picking a name.
If you have a tough time choosing a domain name, you may consider using your name rather than getting stuck at this stage.
Step 3: Choose a Blogging Platform
You might have heard about free web hosts like blogger Wix. However, I suggest you get a shared hosting service like wordpress.org instead, as there are many restrictions on those free platforms.
WordPress is one of the largest content management platforms in the world. It’s free, user-friendly, and easy to use. Statistics from Kinsta.com show that WordPress is the largest blogging platform fueling 34% of all websites on the internet.
Moreover, WordPress is easy to set up, and you can create and manage your blog post without fear, as there are many tutorials and videos available online to guide you through the process.
Step 4: Get A Web Hosting
When it comes to web hosting, you find many options, but while choosing your host, ensure they have a reliable service where you can get issues to solve quickly.
I will recommend Bluehost for these reasons:
- Bluehost supports more than 2 million websites worldwide and offers a money-back guarantee.
- It’s affordable, especially for a beginner on a low budget.
- Moreover, they have an excellent customer service system: 24/7 phone, chat, and a ticket to help you resolve any issue you may encounter through the setup and further.
Let’s head on to Bluehost.
Input your domain to be sure it’s available. If you have a domain already, slot it in the domain box and continue with the registration.
When you Sign up for Bluehost, you have three plans to choose from; Basic, Plus, and Choice Plan.
The plan you choose depends on how many sites you want to set up. If you are new to blogging, the basic program has everything you need to get started.
When you sign up using my special link, Bluehost gives you a free domain for an entire year worth $15 and a reduced price on any plans.
Next is to fill out your account information and make the payment. Again, many options are available for you; pick what suits you.
Here you can relax while Bluehost installs WordPress for you. Rest assured, your blog will be ready to receive some colors and content in a few minutes.
See what I mean; now login to WordPress.
Step 5: Customize Your Blog
It’s time to customize your blog to suit your brand colors. First, pick a good WordPress theme.
A theme is a tool to change your website’s layout, appearance, and color.
- Go to the dashboard backend where you manage your blog.
- Click on Appearance
- Add theme.
- Install and activate
Choose what is best for your specific need from thousands of available themes.
Then customize the theme to suit your brand color. If you are at a crossroads here, go to youtube. You will find various videos on how to set up the theme.
Next is to add a few plugins
- Go to the Dashboard
- Click on plugins
- Click add new.
- Install and activate
Yoast SEO: is one of the best SEO plugins for WordPress, with millions of users. Yoast SEO will help you optimize your website to perform better in search engines.
Contact Form 7: customize and manage multiple contact forms
Akismet: reduce spam on your site.
Google Analytics: Analyze visitors on your website to get insight into their activities while on site.
Social share: Enables your readers to share your content on social media platforms.
Image Optimizer: Compress your images to increase your site speed.
Step 6: Write Great Content
Before you write a blog post, you should add some pages to your blog so your audience understands what your blog is about and can easily connect with you.
Create your Home, About, Blog, and Contact pages.
- Go to the dashboard backend.
- Click on pages
- Add new
Now it’s time to bring out your creativity: write your first post. Let me say here that it doesn’t need to be perfect.
Again head onto your dashboard.
- Dashboard
- Click Post
- Add new
Start creating valuable and helpful posts to help your audience solve their problems and lead to organic traffic.
Next is to allow the effort and time you put into creating the posts to pay off by promoting them. Share on social media right after publishing. And include links to your blog post in your emails.
Helpful articles
50+ Blogging tools and resources to grow your blog
20 blogging tips for increasing your blog
Checklist For A Successful Blog
You did it!
Now use this checklist for more helpful tips to start your blog on a solid foundation.
How To Start A Blog: Conclusion
The key to success is to create helpful and valuable content that helps your audience solve their problems.
When you have helpful content on your blog, and you have readers frequenting your site. You may start to think of monetizing your blog. You can do that by creating digital products, eBooks, online courses, product reviews, affiliate marketing, and gift guides, among others.
Now you know how to start a blog. If you follow these steps, you can create your blog quickly. But if you are stuck, ensure you get in touch.
Start your blog with these simple steps
- Select a niche
- Pick a domain name
- Choose a blogging platform
- Get a web hosting
- Customize your blog
- Write great content
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Great insight 😊
Thank you, Fasas.
This is a well written and informative post for anyone starting a blog for the first time. It can be confusing to those who’ve never written a blog post and you’ve covered everything perfectly. I never realised WordPress.org accounts for 34% of websites and not surprised. I’ve always used WordPress as it’s so easy to use and improving all the time. Bluehost is a great hosting company and I’ve used them in the past. I was always impressed at how fast you’d get help if needed. Thanks for sharing:)
WordPress is one of the best options out there because of its flexibility to create all types of websites. And Bluehost, their support is top-notch. Thank you for reading.