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If you have landed on this page you are ready to start a blog. Whether you are wanting to create a blog for a creative outlet, a source of income or a combination of both – this quick step-by-step guide will get you set up quickly to start creating content!
I first began my blog in hopes of one day turning it into a full-time job. I know this is where I am supposed to tell you I started because I had a passion for writing, but you’ll learn I am a very honest person. I saw a pin while scrolling Pinterest about how this woman made $50k per month blogging and thought “THIS is what I need to do!”
In my eagerness to start making the big bucks I may have missed the part where this person may or may not have mentioned that she had been blogging for YEARS before seeing such a huge income.
I am not telling you this in order to discourage you from starting a blog. I’m actually telling you this to further encourage you to start NOW.
I am now 4 years into this blog and can finally say with some pretty solid certainty that I know what I want to share about. I thought I had my niche nailed down from the start, but I have found over the years that it is easy to get discouraged or distracted from the things you thought you wanted to share.
The sooner you start your blog, the more time you have to make the mistakes I have made and the more time you have to grow into the blogger you are destined to be!
It is impossible to base the success of your blog on my experience or the experience of any other blogger. There are so many variables including the niche you choose, the amount of time you spend sharing and promoting your posts and the methods you use to monetize your blog.
I’ll share some tips for each of those as we move through the steps of setting up your blog!
Getting Started: Choose a niche
I think it is definitely possible to start on a blog without your exact niche nailed down, but you will not successfully grow until you have it figured out.
I started by sharing a little bit of everything and nothing really took off. But once I was able to hone in on my focus, my blog started to grow and earn more consistently.
The moral: do you need a niche? Yes. Do you need to have it all figured out just to get started? No. Just don’t let a slow start discourage you before you figure it out.
Getting Started: Name your blog
You’ll want to keep your niche in mind and choose a name that clearly conveys it or is broad enough to leave you room to evolve.
You don’t want to pigeon hole yourself into a very specific topic if you don’t have a lot of information to share. On the other hand, you don’t want to go too broad that it’ll be difficult to gain a specific and dedicated following.
Personal example: with These Days of Grace I left room to discuss various aspects of our lives but focus on financial topics with a play on our last name and a reference to “days of grace” or “grace period”.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when thinking of a name for your blog:
- Brainstorm a list of all possible names that come to mind
- Check if your domain is available
- Check if the handle is available on all social media you may use in the future
- Choose a name that is easy to spell and easy to remember
One way to check if your domain is available is to visit Bluehost, find Domains in the top menu and type in your ideas to see if they are available. You can purchase your domain now or later when setting up your blog.
Setup your blog
Let’s jump into it. Because let’s be honest, this is what you’re here for.
You can set up a blog for free on a number of platforms or you can choose to purchase your own hosting for your blog. The one I use and recommend is the latter option.
Self hosting will allow you the best options for monetizing your blog down the road. It is a small investment to start with, but investing in a website that will look and perform to notch is important if you want to successfully grow your blog.
Bluehost is a popular hosting platform for bloggers. I use it to host all of my websites. I do not consider myself to be tech savvy, and hosting with Bluehost is very easy to setup and use.
1: SET UP HOSTING
The first thing you will do when you click “Get Started” is choose your plan. You can start for as low as $3.95/month through my link. You’ll also get your domain name for free for the first year.
I recommend signing up for at least the 12 month plan. The basic package is perfect for getting started.
When I started, I purchased the 36-month basic plan based on the value. This gave me plenty of time to experiment with my blog. I have since upgraded to host multiple domains.
2: CHOOSE YOUR DOMAIN
If you have already purchased a domain name you’ll be able to add it to your hosting here. If not, this is where you will pick your domain name, or your “.com”.
If you get started through this link your domain registration will be free for the first year.
Once you’ve completed the checkout and setup your hosting account you’ll be ready to get started on the fun part!
3: INSTALL WORDPRESS
Bluehost makes it easy to install WordPress onto your site. For those new to blogging, WordPress is where you will actually set up your layout and do your writing.
You’ll be guided through the steps to choose a theme. You can choose to start with a free theme or purchase a custom design.
I suggest starting with something free and basic to get started. Once you have set up your pages, menus and posts it’ll be easier to play around with different themes to see which one looks best with your content.
4: GET FAMILIAR WITH WORDPRESS
It took me months of playing around on WordPress to figure out what everything meant and how to use it. Here are some key things to know to get your started:
- Posts: pretty self explanatory. This is where you will come to add new posts. The right hand sidebar is where you can customize the URL slug for the post, set a featured image and excerpt that will show on your home screen.
- Pages: used for your “About Me”, “Privacy Policy” and other things you’ll want to include on your page that wouldn’t necessarily go into your blog post archives.
- Plugins: add-ons to your page. Social media plugins will allow you to have buttons your readers can click to direct them to your Twitter or Instagram pages. Some important plugins to consider are a cookie notification and insert headers and footers. These will be important especially if you plan to monetize your blog.
- Widgets: elements that can be added to certain areas of your blog layout. Many widgets can be used in your sidebar or footer. For example, an about me widget can be used to show your photo and a brief bio in your sidebar.
- Permalinks: found in settings and allows you to edit how URLs for your page are setup. It is important to choose a format for your URLs before you start sharing links to your page, especially for things like pins on Pinterest. If you change these down the road, any pins you have shared will no longer link properly to your page.
5: CREATE AWESOME CONTENT
Now that your page is setup it is time to start filling it with awesome content.
You can either make your page live right after your first post or wait to publish until you have some more content. That is entirely up to you.
The one thing I would recommend if you do go live right away is to continue to publish content as frequently as you are able to. Your readers may enjoy your posts and look for more. Be sure there is content for them to continue reading.
Congratulations on getting started with your blog!
This is a huge step whether you are looking to share your knowledge or generate income. It will definitely be an investment of time and hard work, but I assure you, if you WANT to be successful in blogging you can make it happen!