The step-by-step guide on this page will show you how to start a blog in just a few minutes with no web programming skills required.
When you complete this guide, you will have a blog that is ready to share with the world and from which you can earn income.
The first question you should ask yourself is…
Should you start a blog?
One of the misconceptions about starting a blog is that you need to be a specialist in a particular subject or be a great writer to be successful. None of this is necessarily true. People read blog sites to get a personal perspective on things, so most bloggers write in a very informal and conversational style.
And because of the format, many successful bloggers will write about a variety of topics on the same blog.
To be successful as a blogger, there is only one requirement: a passion for your topic.
How to start a blog?
1 – Choose a niche for your blog
Before you start blogging you will need to select a blogging niche.
In simple terms, a blogging niche is a specific topic area that you will write about most frequently, or even exclusively.
To begin the task of choosing a suitable niche for your blog, it is recommended that you make a list of topics that you are passionate about.
There are no restrictions: you can include any personal or professional interest in this list.
Think about the things you like to do in your free time.
Think of all the things you would like to learn.
2 – Choose a blogging platform
At this stage, you’ll want to look at the blogging platforms currently available and determine the type of blog management software you’re going to use.
When it comes to blogging sites, you have a few options.
WordPress is the most popular platform today and one of the easiest to use. With this platform, you will be able to set up your blog using a custom domain name and choose a web host.
3 – Choose a domain name and get a web hosting service
To make your blog using WordPress.org, you need two important things: a domain name and a web hosting company.
Domain name
Your domain name will be the name by which the blog will be known online, no matter what niche you choose. It is your blog’s unique address on the Internet.
A good blog name should be descriptive so that potential visitors can instantly tell what your blog is about from the name alone.
Here’s what you should consider when choosing a blog name:
- It should be short and catchy, and easy to pronounce and spell.
- You can also use combinations of your first and last name in case you are looking to build your brand and talk about different topics.
- The general rule is to get a “.com” domain, but you can also use some of the other extensions. For example, “.net” or “.blog”.
Hosting
After choosing a domain name, selecting a reliable hosting service will be one of the most important decisions you make.
To a large extent, the functionality and performance of your blog will depend on your hosting provider. The hosting provider ensures that your blog is available 24/7 to potential readers and is where your content is stored online.
There are dozens of options. One of the best-known and best values for money is Hostinger.
Some of the reasons why you should be sure to go with this company:
- Ease of use: with Hostinger, you can set up your blog with a few clicks of a button.
- Good value: you get reliable service with excellent customer support at an affordable price.
- Room to grow: they offer a great set of features you need to start, run and grow your blog.
- Used by many: It is one of the most used providers by bloggers.
4 – Install WordPress
You have several different options for blogging platforms, but as we said above, WordPress is the most convenient (plus, it’s free!). This platform is very easy to learn and use. In addition, it offers a wide variety of themes and has an online community and a lot of plugins that make blogging accessible to everyone.
You can read complete instructions for installing WordPress on your new blog here.
5 – Choose a blog theme
Now we’re getting to the fun part! Your theme determines the look and feel of your blog and you have a lot of options to choose from. There are a lot of free and paid themes available. Many of the most popular themes offer a simple free version and give you the possibility to get more features in the future by paying for the advanced version. The latter we believe is the best option for someone just starting with their blog.
Whatever you choose from the variety of themes, you should make sure that it is responsive, which means that it automatically adjusts to look good on any device, be it a computer, cell phone, or tablet.
6 – Create a blog header
I think it’s always worth getting a custom header for a new blog.
Both your blog logo and header can easily be created with free services like Canva or can be purchased for a few dollars on sites like Freelancer.com or Fiverr.
7 – Customize the look of your blog.
Once you’ve set up your domain name, customize the look and feel of your blog to reflect the theme of the content you plan to create and your brand.
For example, if you are writing about marine wildlife, blue may be a color to consider when designing your blog.
8 – Write your first blog post.
Once you have your blog set up, the only thing missing is the content.
While design and layout are fun and functionally necessary, it’s the content that will engage your readers and keep them coming back. So how do you go about writing interesting and engaging articles?
How to write and publish your first blog post
1. Generate Ideas
Coming up with winning ideas is often the hardest part of blogging, so it’s critical to spend time thinking creatively.
To get started, consider your goals, niche, your target audience, and what you want to offer readers and customers. Start by writing down the types of stories your readers might be interested in. Who are they? What are their concerns? Where do they live? What topics might offer them value?
2. Create an outline
Now that you have a lot of ideas to write about, it’s time to choose one and create an outline.
For your first publication, it is advisable to research in depth the topic you want to develop and make a good article with the necessary length to cover the topic properly.
Develop your story idea by detailing the sub-points of your topic and listing important supplementary information.
3. Write your publication
Once you have developed your ideas, start writing.
Use your unique voice, keeping your audience in mind. Our audience will change whether we are running a blog with scientific information or one that talks about video games. You should keep in mind who your audience is so you can better reach them when writing articles.
4. Edit grammar and content
The ease of blogging allows content to be shared quickly and easily, but you will lose credibility and page views if you ignore the step of proofreading and fixing to make the content more attractive.
On the internet everything happens very fast, if your article is not interesting in the first paragraph, your audience will abandon the blog. You must make the readers feel attracted by the article and want to continue reading.
5. Create your headline
It’s time to start thinking seriously about your headline.
The title of your blog post is more than a catchy turn of phrase to grab readers’ attention; it’s a critical part of getting search engines to see your content. Plus, your title is essentially a virtual guide map, setting readers’ expectations of what they’ll get in your post.
6. Add images
Images are often what draw readers to your post in the first place, and give them an idea of what you’re going to offer in your post.
7. Optimize for SEO
An important step in creating content is to optimize it for search engine discoverability, which involves strategic use of keywords, URLs, titles, and templates, and adherence to readability standards. Many plugins help with this. Make sure your content appears at the top of search engine results.
8. Publish it!
Before you hit the publish button, remember: whether you’re going to publish once a day or once a week, it’s crucial to commit to a consistent and regular publishing schedule.
9. Share it
It’s time to share your work and invite readers to participate. The best way to do this is to use social networks to spread the word about your articles and your blog in general.
10. Repeat
Consistently creating content will attract more readers to your site and establish your authority within your field, so according to your schedule, create a routine and repeat these steps.
9 – Build an audience
Getting 1000 real fans means that you can dedicate yourself completely to yourself. You can quit your job, work from wherever you want, and be in control of your life. All for reaching a very reasonable goal of 1,000 true fans.
With your blog, you can build your audience of 1,000 true fans slowly and steadily.
As long as you keep at it, you’ll get there. It usually takes a few years.
This is what you should focus on to get there faster:
- Always post at least once a week. Never skip a week.
- Start posting 2 or 3 times a week if you can.
- In each post, push the quality as much as you can.
- Find your voice and be authentic so people can get to know you.
- Allow your readers to comment.
- To push yourself even further, stay active in other online communities. Post in Facebook groups, subreddits, Twitter, and others.
- Be as helpful as you can in these communities.
10 – Monetize your blog
There are three ways blogs make money.
Yes, only three. They are:
- Selling info-products. Online courses, webinars, e-books, etc.
- Affiliate programs. You work with a brand to promote its products and get a share of the sales.
- Freelance and consulting. You use your blog as a platform to find clients for your services.
Here’s a quick primer on how they work:
Selling info-products.
Here’s the model:
- Get people to visit your site.
- On your site, give them a reason to subscribe to your email list.
- Once they subscribe to the email, run them through a launch funnel. These are email funnels designed specifically to sell info-products. Typically, these are courses that include a lot of video lessons.
- Depending on your volume and target market, you’ll convert about 0.5% to 1% of new email subscribers into a customer at $500-$2,000 for your course. In volume, that adds up quickly.
How affiliate programs work
It’s pretty simple: try to build as large an audience as possible. Then, throughout your content, you recommend products that are useful to this audience.
When your audience clicks on the link in that recommendation, they get a special tracking code. If they end up buying, you get a cut of the sale.
The main drawback is that only a small percentage of people will click and an even smaller percentage of people will buy. So it helps to have a large amount of traffic to make enough money with your blog.
How freelancing and consulting work.
While info-products and affiliates are the main ways to make serious money, you also need serious traffic to make them work. At least if you want them to work well enough to make good money per year…..
Another excellent option for when you start is to offer your services online.
To make money quickly, this is by far your best option. It is also the easiest to do.