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Have you finally decided to start a blog? If you have, this is for you. Starting a blog is not as complicated as it may sound. However, it is important to get the basics right and set a strong foundation if you want to build a money-making blog.
I am taking you through the steps you need to start your blog without stress, spending money unnecessarily or getting soaked in confusion.
This is a step by step guide and tutorial on how to start a blog quick and easy.
Since I want to help you start your blog the right way, I am approaching this right from the bottom where you have no idea what to do till the end where you launch your blog with useful content; therefore, this post is quite lengthy.
I have made this as simple as it can be, but do not get worried if you do not understand any of the steps. Just contact me and I will be glad to help.
Are you ready? Here we go!
Before you Start
- Reflect on why you want to start a blog.
Some people blog as a hobby, while others blog to make money. The exciting thing about blogging is that you can blog as a hobby while you make money alongside.
Whatever the end goal is, the value that your blog provides must be desirable and appeal to your readers. It must help them solve problems and provide them with relevant information.
I suggest you start your blog with monetization in mind. Blogs have become very popular and those who set them up to monetize are able to turn their fortunes around if done the right way.
If you can blog as a hobby and make money alongside, that would be great. After all, you have nothing to lose if you set your blog up with the future in mind. Setting it up to monetize includes giving your blog a beautiful look and a professional appeal. This makes readers take your blog more seriously.
- Three qualities you need to start a successful blog
Before you get to the actual process of building your blog, it is important to understand and appreciate these three qualities before proceeding: Time management, Patience, and Persistence.
Blogging is not always going to feel like surfing social media and having fun. If you want to get quality traction to your blog while you provide value, you must spend a lot of time on it, especially at the beginning. You would also need to be patient while your blog takes shape because not all blogs take off overnight. Lastly, make sure you do not give up. Be persistent. Blogging requires commitment and hard work, especially at the early stages.
If you can work on these three, you are on your way to becoming a successful blogger.
I have explained the three qualities you need to start a successful blog in detail here.
- Things to do before you proceed.
Before you purchase a hosting plan, there are several things you can do to make setting up your blog easier and more organized. These are a few: Know why you are blogging, what you want to blog about, find a name for your blog, write at least 10 blog posts, and find images for each of the posts.
In order not to make this post too lengthy, I have explained five things you can do before you start a blog here.
Start a Blog!
This is the most exciting part; I know you have been waiting for this. This should only take a few minutes. Let’s get into the process.
1. Choose a hosting service provider for your Blog
This is where you start the actual process of building a blog. You need to sign up for hosting. First, there are certain things must understand.
What is Hosting?
Imagine your blog as a house. To build a house, you need land or a space to build it on. The area or land that your house is built on, in this case, is the host. Think of hosting as a space on the internet where your blog is housed (the place that your blog is run online).
There are some technical explanations for hosting, but you and I are not racking our heads trying to understand all that. All we need is to get a good hosting service. 😊
Why should you sign up for hosting?
I would like to explain why you should pay for hosting and not start your blog on a free host like blogger.com. Please do not use a free hosting platform (I’m literally begging you not to).
I’ll give you three reasons why.
First, you want to be sure your blog will always be there and not disappear. This is because Google or whichever company is hosting your blog for free can decide to shut down that site or take your blog from their hosting site at any time. With a paid host, you are assured of your blog’s security and know it will not disappear at any time.
Secondly, chances of monetizing your blog decrease with a free hosted site like blogger. Advertisers and brands may not trust your blog to promote their products, which could affect your monetization. With a hosting service, you will be able to customize your blog and give it the look and feel you want (with a paid host) to be able to attract the right audience and monetize properly.
Thirdly, you want to be taken seriously. Imagine this blog’s URL was beautyforbliss.blogspot.com or beautyforbliss.wordpress.com. You probably wouldn’t have thought twice before leaving this blog.
Now that you have good reason to get hosting, let’s move to the next stage.
Which hosting service should I use?
This is a big decision for every new blogger. You have finally made the decision to sign up for a hosting plan. There are lots of hosting services out there to choose from.
The host I use is Bluehost. I have been using their service for some time now, and I have no regrets signing up for their service.
I opted for Bluehost because most of the experienced bloggers I followed and admired at the time of starting my blog, had their blogs hosted by Bluehost (and still do).
There are lots of hosting companies out there that you can opt for, but since I haven’t used their services I cannot recommend them to you. I highly recommend to you what I know, use and love, which is Bluehost. Honestly, I am glad I joined the Bluehost family.
Click here to select an affordable hosting plan on Bluehost.
You can start your blog for as low as $3.95 a month. The good thing about Bluehost is that they have affordable plans to cater for every pocket. I am on the 12-month plan and I suggest you sign up for that plan when starting out on a budget.
There is a live chat button at the top bar of the homepage, where you can leave your questions and concerns. Lots of bloggers have expressed how Bluehost has excellent customer service (and that is what we all need).
When I first started my blog, I personally did not have any issue which required any contact with them, so I did not get the chance to experience the amazing customer service everyone was talking about. But when I did engage with them, I was delighted. What I personally love about the customer service is how personal it feels.
The best part about being hosted by Bluehost is this. You will get a FREE domain when you sign up for hosting with Bluehost, at an affordable price.
2. Choose a Domain Name
What is a Domain Name?
This is what visitors will type into the browser when they are searching for your blog online. For instance, my blog’s domain is beautyforbliss.com.
You need to think about this thoroughly because your blog must be easily found by people who are searching for you online. For instance, if your name is Mary and you want to start a recipe blog, using marydeliciousrecipes.com as your domain name will be better than using thegirlwhocancookgoodfood.com.
This is because when people who do not know your name online are trying to find you and take a wild guess by typing in your name (Mary) plus the word recipes, your blog is more likely to pop up than if you had used thegirlwhocancookgoodfood.com.
Bear in mind that there have been conversations about whether a blog’s name is important or not, but just to be safe, I suggest you choose a domain name which will easily pop up in search results.
How can you get your domain name?
To make the process easier, I suggest you choose Bluehost as your hosting service, so you can get a FREE domain. Another advantage is that you can purchase your domain name and host from the same provider.
First click here or go to bluehost.com. When you do, you will see the page below. Click on get started now.
Immediately afterward, select a payment plan.
Choose your FREE domain name.
Key in the name you want to use as your domain name (or URL) and click next. When you click the next button, the system will need to verify the availability of the name you have chosen.
When choosing a domain name and you do not want it to end with dot com(.com), click on the drop-down menu and you will see other alternatives. For instance, if you do not want to use marydeliciousrecipes.com, you can choose to have marydeliciousrecipes.store as your domain name. It’s totally your call.
3. Create an account
The next step is to create an account for your hosting package. Here, you are required to enter your personal information and select a package (Basic, Plus or Business Pro) which suits your budget and the service you need. I suggest you go for the basic plan.
When you get here:
1. Fill in the appropriate information. 2. Enter your payment information. 3. Follow the instructions to create a password.
After entering the above information and entering your payment information, it is time to create a password.
Make sure the password is secure and kept safe. You can write it down or type it somewhere, just so you do not forget, but make sure you keep it at a safe place.
Yass! You’re almost there. I hope I’m not losing you. Stick with me. 
When you get to the above page, click on ‘log in’.
Pick a theme for your Blog
You will be asked to pick a theme. Do not worry. You can pick any theme and change it later if you want to.
Click on ‘Start Building’. The next screen asks you to choose “Business” or “Personal (it is your choice, but I would choose business).
Note: Make sure you write the passwords and other details you use, for when you need to use them.
4. Install WordPress Software on Bluehost
It is time to connect WordPress to your blog’s hosting site. This is where your blog actually comes to life. This is the long-awaited step. 😊
When you choose Bluehost, they make it easy to install WordPress directly for FREE once you purchase your hosting plan.
With Bluehost, as soon as you create a password, you will automatically be logged in and taken through the process.
From the processes above, just follow the instructions. You may not even notice the transition to WordPress because it is so easy to do.
Bluehost is always there and you can contact them if you need any assistance at any point.
Alternatively, simply visit https://wordpress.org/ for details on how to connect WordPress to your site, if Bluehost is not your hosting service provider.
Done?
Yayyy!!! You have a WordPress blog. Congratulations!
To get access to your blog, you can copy and paste your website’s URL into your browser or type it in manually. Make sure you add ‘wp-admin’ to your URL when you want to log in. For example, marydeliciousrecipes.com/wp-admin.
Related: 5 Facebook Groups You Must Join as a New Blogger
5. Setting up your New Blog- Theme
Woohoo! You have a blog! When I was setting up my blog and got to this part, the feeling was out of this world.
It is time to customize your blog and give it the look you prefer.
Choosing a theme is one of the important decisions you need to make when starting a blog. This is because your blog’s theme influences the look and feel of your blog. You can either use the free themes WordPress provides or purchase a theme for your blog.
For most newbie bloggers, the decision to invest in a theme after spending money on hosting weighs deep on their pockets. On another hand, paid themes can give your blog the look and feel you have always desired. It allows you to customize your blog the way you want it and makes your blog look more professional than a free theme could.
I suggest you save some money and get a paid theme. There are some affordable themes you can buy and use. It was tough for me too at the time of starting my blog, but the feeling of getting my blog to look and feel the way I wanted it was the reason for my decision to purchase a theme.
Meanwhile, I also understand that when it comes to finances, our stories vary. If you are in a position where you cannot afford to invest in a theme at all, choose one of the beautiful free WordPress themes and roll with it.
One important tip to make your blog look good whether you are using a free or paid theme is to make sure it does not look clumsy with a lot of images and text all over the place. Make it look clean and simple. That makes your blog look much better than you can imagine.
The goal is to get people to fall in love with your blog. A clumsy and disorganized blog will not keep readers coming back to your site since there are so many other blogs out there to choose from.
6. Write quality content for your blog
Once you are done working on your theme, it is time to write your first set of blog posts.
I suggest you write 20-25 fresh valuable content on your blog when starting out. This is because you want your blog to be filled with amazing content so that once you launch, readers will not come, read one blog post and bounce off. They can stay longer and read more of your posts.
On the other hand, when people find two or three articles just tossed in there, they will imagine you are a newbie blogger who does not know what she is doing. Chances are, they will bounce out of your blog quickly.
When I was first starting my blog, I had 20 blog posts before I launched. This helped me because people took my blog more seriously than they would have done if they had found only two or three blog posts.
Plan the content for the various categories you have on your blog to keep all the categories on your blog’s menu filled.
The most important thing is to make sure your blog post is solving a problem or adding to knowledge. Make your content useful and valuable and you can optimize your blog to make money when you get there.
7. Add images to your posts
Once you are done writing your blog posts, you need to add images to your posts. You can get free stock images on Pixabay or Freepik. Find at least two images for each blog post.
Use one picture as the featured image and the other picture in the middle of the post (you can use more than one picture to break the text). This prevents reading your post from becoming boring because it only contains long blocks of text. You can design the images by adding the headline of the blog post to it. You can do this using Canva.
This is an example below.
8. Upload your blog posts with the images
Now that your posts and graphics are ready, upload them onto the site. Make sure your headlines are appealing and can attract readers. However, do not exaggerate your headlines. Just make sure they hit someone’s pain point enough to make them want to read.
9. You have a Blog. Yaaaay!!!
Congratulations if you made it to this step. Make some tweaks and changes and make sure your blog looks good and presentable. You can give yourself a little treat for how far you have come. 😊
10. What Next?
It can get confusing because I got stuck when I first arrived here. What you must do now is create social media accounts for your blog. Pinterest is one huge source of traffic for most bloggers, so do not take it for granted.
Focus your energy on which social media platform directs the most visits to your blog.
Finally, my friend, you have a blog which is worthy of being monetized. As you move along this journey, you will make some additions and subtractions to your blog depending on your preferences or the need to do so.
For now however, your blog is all set. Best Wishes.
Which part of starting a blog is difficult for you. Let me know and I will assist you once I can.
