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START A BLOG IN 2023 IN 7 SIMPLE STEPS
Free step-by-step guide for beginners to create a fantastic blog in an hour
So do you want to make a passive income through blogging but don’t know how to? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. In just 10 steps and less than an hour, your blog will be up and running.
Starting the blog is the first step that will lead you to success. Starting a blog was the best decision I have ever made in my life. So if you are willing to get started, here are the 07 simple steps I’m going to walk you through to create your professional blog.
Before we get a deep dive into it, some of you might be thinking at this point that why should we start a blog at all?
Well, I always prefer to say that 2021 is the best arena to start your blog. So many people out there got the awareness about blogging and started their blog, and now they are living a boss life. You must take a step forward before the competition gets so high.
Here are some undeniably mind-blowing benefits of blogging:
- You will get the chance to express yourself fully.
- You can make a handsome amount of money through blogging and can turn it into your full-time job. Imagine a life without having a boss. You are your boss. If you aren’t an early riser, you can work at any hour of the day. Waooo!
- You can make money while sleeping. Your readers will read your quality content from all over the world 24/7.
- You can make money from your blog by affiliate marketing or running ads, and there are so many other ways.
Now you get the idea of why you should start your blog right away.
So let’s get started!
STEP 01: PICK A BLOG TOPIC (MOST IMPORTANT PART)
If you have chosen the topic for your blog, you can skip this step.
But if you are not sure what you should blog about, don’t worry; I will guide you about choosing a blog topic.
It is excellent if you can find a topic that you are passionate about. If you don’t have such a topic, you should blog about a topic that most people are looking to read. This will be an intelligent approach. There will be a good chance of getting a lot of traffic to the blog.
- You must keep in mind that your blog must have a focus.
- You must have some knowledge about the topic you have chosen. That doesn’t mean you have to be an expert, but you must have some knowledge.
- Search Google using different keywords such as health blogs or technology blogs and go through multiple sites. If you find something that you like, such as a particular heading of any post, open a new document and start taking notes.
- Your blog name (domain name) should be simple enough to memorize.
- Never use numbers in your blog name.
When you visit so many blogs and roam around the internet, you will find many interesting ideas. You will have to choose only one idea. Once you got the idea now, you can create a unique blog name that reflects what your blog will be about and something you’ll still love years down the road.
HERE ARE SOME POPULAR TOPICS FOR BLOGGING:
Marketing
Travel
Beauty
DIYs
Food
Technology
Lifestyle
Sports
Health and Fitness
Fashion
And there are so many topics also.
Now, when you have chosen your blog name, let’s move on to the next step.
STEP 02: GET YOUR BLOG ONLINE (CHOOSE A HOSTING PLATFORM):
In this step, you will purchase your blog hosting. (A LITTLE investment is necessary to generate a huge bunch of money, so continue reading)
All content and files associated with your blog “live” in your hosting company. When someone types your blog’s domain name in their browsers, they will be shown your content on servers owned by your hosting company.
If your host has problems, you have problems. So, make sure to choose the best and affordable hosting platform to avoid future problems. Personally, I recommend going with BLUEHOST because:
- They offer free and easy installation of WordPress blogging software (Which I will show you in this guide).
- Bluehost also provides unlimited storage.
- Provide 24/7 support through email, phone, or chat.
- Provide reasonable prices.
- The server speed is too good.
- Bluehost currently hosts over 2 million websites.
- Provide a money-back guarantee.
So now I am going to walk you through the steps of getting started with Bluehost.
Jump across to the Bluehost home page and click “Get started.”
You will have to write a domain name at this point. If you already bought a domain, then write it in the Right box. If you haven’t bought your domain name, right it under the “Create a new domain” box and click next.
Continue down to the “Package Information” section. I will recommend selecting 36 months account plan because Bluehost charges the cheapest monthly rate on 36 months plan. But if you can’t afford it, don’t worry, go with the basic 12 months plan. All the plans have everything you need to get your blog up and to run. I uncheck the boxes in the “Package Extras” section. You can always get these extras later if you need them.
Now create a password for your Bluehost account.
You can now log in to your Bluehost account.
When you open your account for the first time, it shows you the option to choose a theme. (You can change the theme later). Skip this step, or you can select any theme for now. Now Bluehost will install your blog software WordPress.
Click the “Start Building” button. You will see this screen. In the left corner, you will see the “Users” tab. Select the option Add new from this user tab.
Fill out the information and make sure to change the role to “administrator” as it is more secure
Log in to your WordPress site by entering http://yourdomainname/wp-admin in your browser. You will be directed to this page. Enter the username and password you just saved.
CONGRATULATIONS ON LOGGING into YOUR BLOG FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. YOU HAVE DONE A GREAT JOB.
STEP 03: CHANGE YOUR BLOG OUTLOOK (MUST BE ATTENTION-GRABBING)
Your theme should be very eye-catching. You can lose much traffic if your blog look or design is not great. There are a hell lot of free WordPress themes available on the internet. Obviously, premium themes are more lightweight, but at this point, I will suggest you go with free themes. You can change the theme at any moment. To alter your theme click the APPEARANCE>THEMES tab on the left side of the screen. You will see multiple themes are already available to use for your blog. I recommend the use of one of these themes for the starting of your blog.
You can also use other themes and add themes on your own just write FREE WORDPRESS THEMES FOR BLOGGING on Google and go through multiple sites. You will see there so many free themes. If you like any theme, just download it; it will download as a .zip file. Just go to appearance>themes tab, select add “new”, then select “upload theme”, and choose the .zip file and install it. To use that theme again, go to the appearance>themes tab; you will see there your installed theme; hover your mouse to that theme thumbnail, you will see 2 options: ACTIVATE and LIVE PREVIEW. You can see a live preview first to see that if you use that theme, how your blog will look like. If you like the live preview, then activate that theme. It’s that simple!
STEP 04: INSTALL ESSENTIAL WORDPRESS PLUGINS:
WordPress is nothing without plugins. Plugins enhance functionality. Plugins provide you with extra functionality. There are millions of WordPress plugins, but we will talk here about only the essential ones you should install before starting your blog.
So, here is the list of my favorite plugins that I am using personally.
- Akismet. This plugin is used to reduce or eliminate spam comments.
- Elementor or Thrive Architect. These are the page builder plugins to design your page dream landing page through the drag and drop method.
- Yoast SEO. This plugin will help you create SEO-optimized blog posts to rank higher in search results.
- WP Rocket. This plugin will optimize your entire website and make it faster. No one wants to open a slow website. Speed is necessary for your website.
- W3 Total Cache. This plugin is also the best one to speed up your website.
- UpdraftPlus. For security purposes, the backup of your website daily is essential. Furthermore, you can create a backup of your website with this plugin and restore it whenever you need it.
- reSmush.it. If your article contains many images, then this plugin will optimize your images, and the website will load fast.
- Genesis Simple Share. A pretty and lightweight plugin to add social sharing buttons to your posts and pages. It is necessary to install this plugin because they help to drive traffic through a medium such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and many more platforms.
STEP 05: WRITE YOUR FIRST STUNNING BLOG POST
Now that your blog is up let’s start some blogging.
Hover your mouse to the “posts” tab and click on “add new”. You will land on the posting page that will look like this.
Now write your post title and start writing your very first blog post. You can add images and audio and video files in your blog posts. To attract the audience, you will have to write some compelling content. To write the best blog post, follow these simple tricks that the best bloggers write their epic blog posts.
- The title of the post must be strong and not too long.
- Tell a story that flows with your title of the post.
- Use images and videos but only the relevant ones and not too much.
- Your blog post must be easy to scan. Use numbering, bullet points and intelligent formatting throughout.
- Your post must have Only One focus point. Your whole post should build a robust case for that point.
- Must add social media icons and tell your readers to take action. Ask any question and ask them to answer you in the comment section, share your post on social media, etc.
STEP 06: PROMOTE YOUR BLOG
Creating a blog is so much easier, whereas running a blog needs commitment, pure dedication and effort. Creating compelling content is just the start, but you will need some time to promote it to get readers for your blog.
Tell your friends and relatives and everyone in your circle to read your blog. Encourage them to follow your blog and thank them in advance J
A great way to get the audience for your website is through social media. Create a Facebook page and Instagram account and connect with new people. Share your articles on social media pages.
Find out other blogs and engage with them. So many blogs allow leaving a link. First, comment on some blog, engage with people, inspire them, and leave your blog link there.
SEO IS THE KEY TO GET THE AUDIENCE
SEO is search engine optimization. Through SEO, you can rank your website on the first page of google. When your blog is SEO optimized, you get so much traffic. You should use these methods given below to rank your posts:
- Header Tags
Your headings and subheadings should be wrapped in header tags.
- Categorization
When your posts are categorized into specific and proper categories, it automatically ranks higher. In the post editor, you can add categories to your post by clicking “add new category” on the right corner of the page.
- Permalinks
Permalink is the end portion of your URL. By default, when you publish an article or post, the end portion of your URL is a number. You must change it to a proper URL. You can change it easily on WordPress by clicking the settings>permalinks tab. Select the “Post” name” and click “save changes”.
There are plenty of other methods to get your post rank higher, but these factors are the big ones.
STEP 07: SOME WAYS TO MAE MONEY THROUGH BLOGGING
There are several ways to make a handsome amount of money through blogging. For the first few months, make sure your first focus is on high-quality content creation. Once you’ve got this blogging thing under control, now you consider earning some money.
Are you excited like me?
If yes, then let’s dive into the list of ways to make money through blogging.
- AD REVENUE: Every blogger uses this method to earn money. Use one of the two leading websites Adsense or Media.net, to display ads on your site. To generate high income, your traffic must be very high.
- Affiliate Marketing: One of the most efficient ways bloggers use to make money online. Affiliate marketing means promoting various products on your site and add a link to that product’s website. If anyone clicks on the link and purchase, you will get a commission.
- Selling Your Course or Product: Before selling any product or any course, you must build trust towards your audience. If you have high traffic, then you can sell anything.
- Sponsored Posts: Team up with a company and write a post for their product. They will pay you on a “per post” basis.
Whew! That was a lot. Starting a blog might seem fairly cut and dry from the outside, but it is not impossible though. Just remember that if you want to earn a lot of money through blogging, you will have to keep patience, and you will have to put in a lot of hard work and effort, and then you will see your massive growth.
So now you are ready to start your blog right now. Thanks for reading my guide. I want to know how your journey learning how to start a blog is coming along too.