So you want to start a blog? Huh

Wondering where to start from? there’s a lot of guides around the web telling you how to start a blog. different people,different things,different objectives.

Damn, maybe you should just forget it – it’s too confusing!

I was also a newbie blogger back in 2014 when I started my first blog on the web, I knew less than nothing in the starting.

Now I know a ton about them. It’s not calculus but it’ll take a little time.

Hold on, I also used to face a lot of problems. I was exactly at your position a few years back but now my blog is running successfully with more than 15000+ page views per month.

During these years, I transformed from a beginner to an intermediate level blogger( Not terming myself a pro ).

My blog helped me in building a successful online business that helped me financially as well as socially.

Back to the topic. I promise it’ll be simple, relatively easy, and definitely easy to understand. Sound good?

Awesome, let’s move on.

 

Start A Blog In 5 Steps:

You’re just 5 steps away from setting your blog. If you follow this guide exactly, you’ll get your blog set up in less than 30 minutes.

1. Choosing Your Blogging Platform.
2. Choosing Domain Name
3. Setting Up Web Hosting
4. Painting Your Blog.
5. Useful Resources for blogging.

We have made it simpler for you. Breaking it in simpler

 

Choosing Your Blogging Platform

Huhh !! So the first step, To choose the right blogging platform for your blog. The blogging platform is the base of your blog and will also decide the future of your blog.

There are a dozen platforms available out there. But the most popular are Blogger and WordPress.

Yoo!!! heard it right.

According to my experience, the Most blogger starts their blogging journey from the Blogspot platform.

But I’ll recommend you to use WordPress to start your blog.

According to sources, WordPress covers 39% of world websites. WordPress is an open-source CMS that provides you a hell lot of options to optimize and build your website.

 I had also shared a brief comparison on Why I Recommend WordPress Over Blogspot For Blogging?

I’ll guide you on how to start a blog on WordPress. Of course, there are other ways to build a website if you don’t want to use WordPress. For example, you can build a website by using website builders (for the guidance check Website Advisor, these guys reviewed most of the popular builders). But at this point, let’s stick to WordPress.

 

Choosing Domain Name

You are going to set up your own brand, and the domain name is going to be the name that is going to give you worldwide recognition.You are going to be remembered by your domain name.

So you should be very cautious while selecting a domain name for your blog.

In my case, I selected www.BlogsGeek.com as my domain name. I’m known by this name in the industry.

Some points you should keep in mind before buying a domain name

1. It should be small
2. It should be easy to remember
3. I prefer having .com domain names, so I recommend you to do the same.

GoDaddy is the best place where you could get your domain name. This is one of the world’s largest domain provider with a huge customer base worldwide.

I always buy domains from GoDaddy.

You can go to GoDaddy.com and start searching for some good domain names.

Tough time Deciding your domain name?

For more refer to my article on 9 Tips to find a perfect domain name for your blog.

 

Choosing a good hosting service

In case, You opted for WordPress. This is the third step before you could start your blog. i.e Setting Up A Web Host where you are going to host your blog.

Your hosting is a pillar where your blog will stand. This is a server where all your data is going to save online. All the images, texts, videos are going to save on this server when you write anything on your blog.

A good web hosting should have

• cPanel to control everything easily
• Add unlimited domains on the server to run multiple blogs
• Unlimited bandwidth & Storage
• Unlimited email accounts
• Affordable Too
• Security & Backups

Luckily, Bluehost is such a hosting service provider that meets all the needs. It is also one of the best and leading web hosting providers online.

How to buy hosting from BlueHost?

Step 1: Open the official website using this link (this link will activate a special discount for you).

Step 2: Click on Get started now button.

Step 3: Select the PLUS package (the package in the center).

Step 4: Enter the domain name if you have already bought one. Otherwise, grab a new domain name from BlueHost itself.

Step 5: Complete Your Payment.

Installing WordPress

So you are going to use WordPress as your CMS i.e Content Management System

In Bluehost, you can install WordPress in just a few clicks. They have given inbuilt scripts on your server.

You just need to select the domain where you want to install any script, in our case, we will select WordPress, and click install.

Let me guide you on this.

Before anything. You need to create a secure password on Bluehost.

Fill up your details and create a password for your web hosting as well as domain.

Once you’ve created a password. You’re all done and can start building your blog on WordPress. 

 

 

 

Painting Your Blog

So after setting up everything. The fun part starts i.e Designing your blog

Do you know?

Better designs/Landing pages help in increasing your conversions.

You need to be creative while designing your blog.

Wait!! You’re not a web designer?

Don’t worry. WordPress is so easy that anyone can build up professional blogs & websites using it.

Let’s make your blog the way you want.

The first step is to choose a beautiful & responsive theme for your blog

To choose a new theme, you can either head to Appearance > Themes and install a free WordPress theme

But those are free themes and you’ll be limited using them.

I suggest you head to a premium theme website like ThemeForest.net and buy a theme for around $40.

Having a premium theme will help you in building a more influential and professional brand.

Pro Tip- You’ll get a lot of paid WordPress themes for free on the web. Never Use Those Free Themes, they are nulled themes and will make your website prone to hackers

Keep in mind that your blog represents you as well as your personality. Try to choose a relevant design or theme for your blog

There’s no point in having an e-commerce theme if your blog is about cooking, understand?

Points to be remembered while designing a blog

• It should be easy to navigate if you want people to stick around.
• The design should be responsive & fast (Google hates sites with high loading time)
• Clean and Professional

The design is a subjective art; meaning everyone likes different things.

Basically, you have to give a better user experience to your blog visitors and that’s it. You can make a logo of your brand for free online using these free logo makers.

Last step! Woo!

Important WordPress Plugins

WordPress is famous for the variety of plugins it offers to its users. There are a lot of important WordPress plugins which can help you a lot. I mean, with plugins your work can be simplified. So, I’ll be listing a few plugins that are very important for your WordPress website.

WPForms- Drag & Drop Form Builder

If you’ve started your website then now you need a form builder plugin to capture queries and leads from your blog/website. When it comes to creating Forms in WordPress, the only plugin everyone relies on is WPForms.

They are considered to be the best WordPress form builder plugin. I’ve been using them for 2 years now.

Don’t know to create forms?

Well, WPForms have a super user-friendly interface so that a kid can also design amazing forms. I’ve also published a guide on Creating A Form With WPForms, You can also create signature forms with WPForms. They have a hell lot of other features.

Don’t forget to get their pro plan which includes some more amazing addons.

 

Akismet

The second and the most useful plugin in WordPress that helps bloggers to protect their blog from spams and protect your blog even you sleep. Akismet is being used by almost 1 million+ bloggers, that means about 99% of the WordPress bloggers use Akismet to protect their blog from spam comments and links.

It automatically detects the spam and filter it out for the spam section of your blog and gives admin the choice to choose whether it’s spam or not.

 

RankMath 

The most important plugin from the SEO point of view is RankMath before I’ve been using Yoast SEO for my websites but after migrating to RankMath. Things have changed for me, I mean it’s a super simple SEO plugin.

It was launched just a few months back in 2018 and now have over 700k+ installations. I’ll recommend you to go for this one.

 

W3 Total Cache

The next but the most important WordPress Plugin that helps users to enhance their WordPress blog performance. W3 Total Cache improves the user experience of your site by increasing server performance, reducing the download time and providing transparent content delivery network (CDN) integration.

 

 

 

Resources For Your Blogging

You decided to start a blog so you can share what you know about?

Right?

Bloggers come in the blogging industry with their various & wide range of experience and expertise.

But, We all are humans and we commit mistakes. I was also a newbie a few years back and that’s why I know where you might be stuck.

I have written some articles that might help you as a newbie blogger  in growing your blog

• 7 Beginning Blogging Mistakes You Can Fix
• 9 Steps To Successive Blogging + Tips For Beginners
• What I Learned From 3+ Years Of My Blogging Life?
• 7 Cool Websites To Create A Free Logo Online

That’s it!!!

By now your blog is ready and you can start writing blog posts on your blog

If you’re having problems or you want to know anything about how to create a blog, just get in touch with me or leave a comment below. I’ll help you out asap.

Enjoy your new blog!