So you want to start a blog, but don’t know where to start.
It’s not surprising with the overwhelming tips and advice available online. If used wisely, these tips will indeed prove worthy. However to the newbie, sometimes things can get confusing.
That’s why I decided to write a short guide to help you start a blog, from scratch.
Why you should start blogging
If you are unsure or still confused about starting blogging, here are some reasons to let you know you are going in the right direction. Here’s why you should build a blog:
(Of course, if you already have your blogging ideas in place, just hop onto my guide!)
- Blogging is a great way of communicating and spreading news. There are so many bloggers online voicing out their opinions on so many topics. With time and your own writing style and topic, there will others looking out for your blog too!
- Blogging is a great way to pen down your knowledge, and share it with others. Besides, as you write post after post you find yourself growing into a better writer by the day.
- Most importantly blogging is a great way to make money. And if you do things right, your blog can also be your passive income source!
5 simple steps to become a blogger
There are basically these five steps that go into starting a blog:
- Choose your blog name and platform
- Get your blog hosting
- Selecting a blog on your domain
- Design your blog using the appropriate themes
- Write compelling content that will have readers coming back for more!
I. How to choose your blogging platform and name
About the name, it’s up to you to decide. If you plan on monetizing your blog, it’s better to come up with a name that resonates with the niche you are targeting.
Supposing if you plan on selling something fitness or health related, these words should preferably be included in your blog title. You could even write your name’s fitness blog.
However if you are blogging for pleasure, then you can give it any name you like.
About choosing blogging platforms, you have numerous options.
Word press is the biggest blogging platform offering multiple plugging and add-ons to design and layout your blog.
A few other alternatives you have are:
- Blogger- second best to wordpress
- Wix blog- Wix has also recently released a Wix blog feature to use on your website
You can choose whichever platform you like. I use WordPress because:
- Easy set up
- Free to use
- Free themes and layouts
- Good customer support
- Looks and functions well, offering people interaction through comments and shares
II. Choosing blog hosting-free or self-hosting
This is a huge decision to make-if you want free or paid hosting.
While WordPress, Blogger and Wix offer free hosting it’s okay if you aren’t serious about blogging. However if you are serious, then paid options are better.
It’s because in case of free hosting:
- You can’t get your own domain name but you instead end up with ugly names like yourblog.wordpress.com or yourblog.blogpost.com.
- You can’t fully monetize it and upload all the videos and pictures you want to show.
- As you are hosting your blog on someone else’s property, they can delete it if they want to. They’ve done it, which means if this happens, all your hard work vanishes in seconds.
However self-hosted blogs with your own domain name make you the blog’s real owner. Besides,
- You can give it whatever name you want, and end it with your chosen web suffix
- You have unlimited bandwidth, meaning you can share all the videos, images and use all the free themes you want.
- You don’t have to pay much. It depends on the hosting provider, and is between $5 to $10 a month, less than money spent on pizza a month!
III. Starting a blog in your customized domain name if you choose self-hosting
You need to select a domain name you like and a hosting company that can host your chosen blog.
If you are confused about the terms,
- The domain is the URL of your website, like facebook.com.
- Hosting is the company that puts up your website for everyone to see on the internet. Everything on the website is saved here, like a computer hard drive on the internet saving your blog.
You have various hosting options to choose from like Hostgater, Godaddy and Bluehost. Choose a company that can host your blog, and whose price sounds right.
IV. Use appropriate themes to design your blog
It’s now time to design the blog as you want it to look. In case of WordPress, head to Appearance > Themes and install your free theme. You can alternatively buy and use a premium theme.
I like WordPress because it lets you change themes with a few clicks if you ever get bored of your existing one. You don’t even have to worry about losing your content or images in the process!
It’s better to look for a professional and easy to customize theme which most importantly reflect your personality and blog. For example, there’s no point in having a food-related theme if you are writing about cricket!
The theme should be easy for anyone who visits your website to navigate and move around. You can’t expect people to stay if your site is tricky and difficult to move around!
V. Start writing content!
Now that you have everything set up and ready, it’s time you started writing and adding content to your blog. There is no hard rule to follow while writing blog posts, but there are a few mistakes you can avoid, which I’ll mention in my next post.
Till then spend some time to finally start the blog you were dreaming about. You can either stick to one topic or mix a few topics. It once again depends on why you are writing. But I generally suggest sticking to a single topic, providing as much information about it and then either start another topic or another blog for it!
But of course, it’s not a rule!
I’ve tried to cover everything a newbie blogger may need to know to start a blog. However I’m a human, and may have missed a few pointers! Feel free to get in touch with me, or leave a comment if you need any more help with your blog!