Do you want to learn how to start a blog?

Hi there , my name is annie. I have been blogging for more than 2 years and i love blogging. blogging help me more to make money online and continues to be my lucrative side-gig.

In 2018 when i was learning how to create a blog , I spend a lot of time searching for help full information online. I was only able to find it piece by piece on a variety of websites. To save you time , I've create this free step-by-step blog tutorial to teach beginner how to make a blog quickly and easily. It's not not as complicated as many people think!

NOTE

This guide takes about 15 20 mints to read more than 8K to 9K words. I know this is a lot of reading, but I tried my best share everything new bloggers should know for starting a blog.

I will show you how to build a WordPress blog with a one Click install.

If you have any question about this guide or get stuck with the steps, I am more than happy to assist you you can get in touch with me and ask for free advice.

ASK ANY QUESTION

A quick primer Blogging for beginners

There are five main steps you need to know for creating a quickly. We will focus on how to start a blog on WordPress Later.

Picking a niche and name

Your blog’s niche is the particular market (topic) you will be targeting. Choose a topic you are passionate about. Also, make sure your niche has enough interest around it and that people search for topics related to your niche.

When it comes to naming your blog, you have countless choices. You can use your own name, last name or some combination of the two. Or, you can use a descriptive combination of words.

Selecting the best blogging platform

The next step is to find the best-suited blogging site to start creating your own blog. There is a wide selection of platforms with all kinds of different features.

I recommend using self-hosted WordPress.org or blogger.com if you are serious about blogging.

Lets Start a Blog in 8 Easy Steps

Step_1 Select a perfect niche for your blog

To start and run a successful blog, you have to select the right niche for your blog.

First, make sure to pick a niche that you are the most interested in – the one you are passionate about. That way you will follow your passion and enjoy your blogging journey.

Second, you must pick a niche that has enough audience interest.

Once you select a niche, I also suggest you validate it. Below is a 3-step formula to confirm your niche for success.

A 3-step blog success validation process:

Check niche size.
Explore competitors.
Analyze monetization potential.

This process will help you obtain a clear idea of the size, competition, and monetization potential for your proposed niche. If you are not sure how to select and validate a blog’s niche, read our detailed guide.

HOW TO FIND VALUABLE KEYWORDS

Step_2 Chose a blogging plate form
At this stage, you’ll need to look at the best blogging platforms out there and determine the type of blog management software you are going to use. I recommend that you make your own blog using the self-hosted setup that I show in this guide. When it comes to popular blogging sites, you have the following options:
Hosted blog solutions (free or freemium plans).
Self-hosted blog solutions (free open-source software).
Blogging statistics for top blogging platforms in the United States

WordPress 96.02%

Blogger 2.78%

Tumblr 0.81%

Ghost 0.16%

MovableType 0.08%

Pagekit 0.01%

Posthaven 0.01%

Svbtle 0%

Blog Engine 0%

Anchor CMS 0%

Source: BuiltWith.com

For many new bloggers, it’s tempting to use free hosted platforms such as WordPress.com or Blogger.com.

It’s important to understand that “free” always comes with limitations. First, your blog name will be set as a subdomain (examples: yourblog.wordpress.com or yourblog.blogspot.com). Second, you’ll be subject to their rules and restrictions. Free options come in handy if you want to test the platform. But, if you’re serious about blogging, you’ll have to start paying for full services and a custom domain name sooner or later.

Self-hosted blog solutions

You have several choices when it comes to self-hosted systems (also called a Content Management System or CMS). The most popular is the free and open-source system WordPress.org.

Self-hosted platforms allow you to set up and run your blog using your own domain and web hosting. You’re fully in charge of your blog and its contents. It will cost just a few dollars per month for the webspace (hosting account), and around ten dollars per year for a custom domain name. The actual blogging software is free.

If you plan to run ads, sell products, or services via your blog, then this is the best way to go. Many hosting providers can help you maintain an e-commerce blog.

Note

To create a WordPress blog, you need to decide on two important things: a domain name and a web hosting provider. If you are a new blogger, you should try using Bluehost, a company that powers over 2 million websites worldwide.

I was able to negotiate a special deal only for my visitors that includes:

Free domain name
Discount price of $2.75 per month
30-day money-back guarantee period

Click here to Find out more hosting recommendation

Step_3 Pick a domain name

Domain name ( website address e.g yourname.com ) is not depends on your niche. This is blog's unique address on the internet. if you are using blogger account you have an life time free domain with .blogspot.com or if you want yourname.com domain you need to pay. Your domain will be your as long you pay for a .com domain

Users who know your domain (/URL – uniform resource locator) can simply type it into their browser’s address bar. Others will be able to discover you through search engines such as Google and Bing, so you definitely need to find a unique moniker.

Your domain name may be the highly popular “dot com,” or it may be country or niche-specific. The general rule is to go for a “dot com” domain, but some of the other extensions can work. For example, “dot net” or “dot blog”.

My recommendation to buy domain name

godaddy.com.pk
namecheap.com
pk-domain.com

Step_4 Get a web hosting account

After choosing a domain name, selecting a reliable hosting service will be one of the most important decisions you make.

To a great extent, the functionality and performance of your site will depend on your blog hosting. The host makes sure your site is available 24/7 to potential readers and it’s where your contents and files are stored online.

Most hosting companies will also provide you a free domain for the first year when you buy their services.

The wrong web host can cause many problems with your blog. Just imagine choosing a mobile company that has no reception. Your web host is a major piece of the puzzle to creating a successful blog; therefore, you must choose a reliable provider.

Based on our our research and information available on the official WordPress website, Bluehost is a top choice in the opinion of many blogging experts.

Step_5 Start a blog on WordPress
This section provides detailed information to help you sign up for your web hosting account and set up a WordPress blog. As an example, I will show you how to make a blog with Bluehost. I have included screenshots of the pages that you need to go through.

1. Visit Bluehost homepage

Go to the Bluehost.com website. Then click the green “Get Started Now” button.

2. Select your hosting plan

You will start by picking a hosting plan. If this is your very first blog, you can go with the Basic plan. Later, you can easily upgrade to a Plus or Choice Plus plan once your blog starts growing. Explore what each plan offers, e.g. Choice Plus plan comes with Domain Privacy and some extras. If your budget allows, go with the recommended plan.

Next, as promised, I’ll show you how to find the right theme for you, and how to customize your blog.

Step_6 Select a theme and design your blog

The first thing your blog needs is a face (design and layout).

Installing and setting up a new WordPress theme is exciting and fairly straightforward.

Inside the WordPress dashboard, under the “Appearance” tab, click “Themes”. You will be presented with some popular options. You can click on the WordPress.org Themes button and search for free themes. There are more than three thousand themes available on WordPress.org.

The look and feel of your new blog relies on the theme you choose. Your readers will first notice the overall appearance of your blog before they even take a look at the content. Select a theme that looks great, but also works for your specific content needs.

Here’s a quick guide for choosing your theme by searching within the WordPress dashboard:

Read the description – Most themes come with a short description of features and functionality. Reading it can help you to figure out if the theme matches your needs.
Preview the theme – Preview the theme (demo) to get an idea of the overall look, layout, and how customizable it is.
Check the ratings – Star ratings will be visible in the preview and under theme details to give you a clear idea of how good the theme is.

You should download themes here for free

If you can’t find a theme that you absolutely love, don’t worry. Settle on one that you like, and you can always change it in the future.

Once you install a theme, don’t be surprised if it still doesn’t look quite right. It is just a skeleton of your blog. To make it appealing, you’ll have to fill it in with content (text, photos, videos, etc.).

Should you choose a free or premium theme?

In my opinion, there are more than enough free WordPress themes to choose from for any blog topic.

If you don’t feel like searching through thousands of themes, you can easily start things off with either Twenty Twenty or Twenty Twelve themes. Both free themes are presented by WordPress.org and are popular with creators.

Remember, you can always pick a different theme later as you continue to customize your blog. All of the content pages and unique content that you create will be transferred automatically to a new theme layout.

If the current stash of free themes does not satisfy your particular desire, you can check the available premium themes. These themes are usually designed by third party companies and sold on different WordPress theme sites. The price range for single-use licenses ranges from $30 to $500, depending on which premium theme you choose.

Recommended Sites for buy themes

Blog theme customization

Remember, your WordPress dashboard is the back end location where you will manage your new blog. It provides you with fast access to all of the tools you need to add content and fine-tune your blog functionality for the ultimate user experience. Your first step towards mastering WordPress is learning the dashboard.

WordPress has unlimited customization options so it’s impossible to cover everything in one guide. Instead, I’ll cover the first most important changes you should apply to your blog.

Make your blog’s logo

Inside your Bluehost account, you can find the “Make your logo” tool. If you didn’t do it yet while launching your blog, now is the time to get it done.

Once you click the checkbox, you will be taken to an AI-powered logo maker. It’s an easy to use tool that you can use to create a beautiful logo for your blog in seconds. Start by entering your blog name and slogan (if you have one), the tool will automatically generate different types of logos.

Select one logo you like the most, click on it, and further customize it according to your taste.

When you are done with your logo design, click the Download button and a new page will show up with your logo files ready to be saved to your computer.

Customize your blog

Now, let me show you where you can do general customization of your blog. That includes: uploading the logo you just created (or will create in the future), editing blog title and tagline, changing blog colors, uploading the background image, and making homepage settings changes.

As I’ve mentioned, I’ll be showing you how to apply these changes to the Twenty Twenty theme. If you picked a different theme the process could be slightly different. However, in most cases, all themes have similar customization options.

To start customizing your blog, go to the WordPress dashboard. Locate the Appearance tab on the left-hand side and choose the Customize option.

Each WordPress theme will customize a little differently. In my case, I’ll show you the customize options for the Twenty Twenty theme.

On the left-hand side, you will see the following Customizing menu options:

Site identity – Upload your logo, change site title and tagline, and upload site icon.
Colors – Change your blog’s background color, header and footer colors, and customize primary color.
Theme options – Select if you want to show a search icon in the header of your blog and show an author bio for your posts.
Cover template – Make additional changes to the page template such as the overlay background color, overlay text color, and overlay opacity.
Background image – Upload any custom background image you want to use for your blog.
Menus – Customize your blog’s menu, social media menu links, and change locations where they are displayed.
Widgets – Customize your footer content, add a blog description and how to find you if you have a physical location.
Homepage settings – Choose what’s displayed on the homepage of your blog. It can be your latest posts (classic blog), or a static page.
Additional CSS – Add your own CSS code to customize the appearance and layout of your blog (advanced option).

You can also check how your blog looks on different devices by using the menu at the bottom with three icons: desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.

Note: Many themes (e.g. the Twenty Twenty theme) come with the new Gutenberg editor that revolutionized the way users build pages and write posts inside WordPress.

Gutenberg is a visual editor that works on a blocks principle. So, when you decide to add a new paragraph, heading, image, video, or anything else, there is a block you can quickly add to your new page or post. This way, it is much easier to create new content for beginners, whether you’re building a landing page or writing a new article. Blocks can be rearranged into a layout you like, and they’re here to make your life easier.

Add plugins to your blog

Plugins are bundled pieces of code that affect the way your blog looks and functions. They can add new functionality to your blog, extend your theme’s capabilities, and customize your blog as a whole or in part.

While the majority of plugins are free, there are many that are offered for a fee, based on their unique functionality. At the moment, WordPress.org has more than 57,000 different plugins in the repository.

By default, when you set up your blog, Bluehost will automatically add some plugins they think are important for any blog. You can review blog plugins on your WordPress dashboard and add new ones by clicking the Plugins tab on the left-hand side

Here you can install new plugins, deactivate, delete, and update them.

Below, I’ll show you some suggested plugins that you should be using.

List of recommended plugins for bloggers

To save you time, I’ve selected some important plugins (free) for your immediate blogging needs:

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics plugin for WordPress, to monitor and analyze your website traffic.
Yoast SEO – A comprehensive SEO plugin for your blog, to optimize your content for search engines.
WP Super Cache – Helps with the load time of your WordPress blog and delivers content to your readers faster.
Akismet – Protects your comments and contact form from spam and prevents your site from publishing malicious content.
Contact Form 7 – A contact form with flexible email options. It supports CAPTCHA and Akismet spam filtering.
Disqus – An alternative to the basic WordPress comment system with advanced administrative and comment capabilities.
YARPP – Creates a related posts list at the end of each of your posts automatically to encourage people to continue browsing your site.

Congratulations

you just learned how to customize your blog and make design changes!

Step_7 Write content and promote your blog

So far, you’ve established a domain name, chosen your blog hosting site, set up the blog theme, and you are ready to go. Your framework is complete.

Now comes the moment of truth. You must learn how to write blog content. In the blogging world, any useful information that you share with readers is called “content.” Your content must be something valuable that people will want to interact with and come back for more.

Your next step is to determine what content to make for your new blog and the best practices to follow. It’s time to decide if your blog will be composed of words, photos, graphics, audio, video, etc.

Three things your content should do

Your content will be the bait that draws your online crowd. Truthfully, few will come just to see your new site. Without great content, even the most well-designed, tightly-structured blogs will ultimately fail.

Your content should speak to a specific audience and provide value to them in a significant way. If this sounds suspiciously like our Commandments, you are correct. Drill the idea into your mind and never forget it: It’s not about you; it’s about them.
Your content should be easily accessible and attractively presented. Your presentation must equal the quality of your content. Don’t cut corners on low-quality graphics or designs. Everything about your blog must attract your visitors and encourage them to interact with your content.
Your content may be commercially purposed, but should never be commercially focused. Never greet your visitors with pop-up ads and giant banner ads. Greet them with content and reasons to engage with that content. Let them know you are there to help them, not to use them.

As a blog owner, you might get overwhelmed by all of the available types of content and the ways that you can deliver it to your readers. You have to remember that the content delivery method is less important than the actual content and its quality.

Wondering how you can create quality content? It’s simple.

Here is a simple 3-step approach to making great content of any type:

Point – State your main idea and point you are covering.
Prove – Give an example of the idea you are covering.
Perform – Give a simple way to execute the idea.

There are two blocks you need to worry about,

pre-launch contents
post-launch contents

Pre-launch content

Before you start writing your day-to-day blog posts, you will want to make sure that static pages (such as About us, Contact, etc.) and other parts of your blog (Sidebar, Footer, etc.) are filled with suitable information. Let’s explore each of those content areas:

Homepage – This depends on what type of blog layout you choose. As I described above, when customizing your blog you can choose to display the homepage of your blog as a static page. In that case you will have to prepare content for it.
About us – The most traditional page on any blog is the About Us page. This page tells new visitors to your blog what it is all about, who you are and why you run a blog about your niche topic.
Contact – This page allows visitors to your blog to communicate with you. It can be a straightforward page with your email address plus your social network links, or you can use a simple contact form that visitors can use to communicate with you.

Post-launch content

Posts – A blog post is an entry (article) that you write on a blog. It can include content in the form of text, photos, infographics, or videos.
Pages – A blog page provides static content or information to the readers. Standard pages that bloggers use include: Products, Services and Resources. A blog page also can be a cornerstone (or evergreen) content with information that continues to be relevant to its readers. For example, this guide you are reading right now.

Note: When you publish any blog post or page, you will need to add SEO (Search Engine Optimization) meta tags on them. These are SEO title and SEO description tags of each page (not seen on the actual page, but you need to have it ready). This will help search engines to identify what the content is about and include it into search engine results.

Start promoting your blog

You can write the most compelling copy in the world and design a blog interface that would sell people their own shoes. However, if no one sees the blog, all your work is in vain. Marketing and promotion happen every time you engage with your current and future readers. The success of your blog promotion will depend on your ability to engage in your chosen niche.

Let’s look more closely at the variety of promoting and marketing activities you can take to become an authority online and a successful blogger:

Let your friends know about your blog

Inform everyone you know about your new endeavor. You should include your blog name and URL in your email signature, list it on all of your social media profiles, and use every opportunity to get the word out about your new undertaking.

Submit your blog to search engine

Having your blog indexed on search engines is a quick and useful task. To submit your blog URL to Google, sign in to your Google Account and go to the Submit URL option in Webmaster Tools.

Submit your blog to bookmarking sites

Bookmarking sites can offer your content to a lot of potential viewers who are searching for content within your niche. You should do this every time you publish a new blog post to spread the word. Some popular social bookmarking sites are Scoop.it, Reddit, etc.

Be active in your niche

Get active on relevant blogs, forums, and social pages. Blogger communities are a good way to connect with other bloggers within your niche. You can engage, build friendships, and help each other in spreading content. Commenting on other relevant blogs is a great way to build relationships with top bloggers within your niche.

Be active on social networks

Your business is unique, and you should make use of the social media avenues that best fit your own niche and style. Choose the one (or ones) that best fit your needs and become an expert at leveraging them to help reach your goals. Some of the most popular social networks that bloggers use on a daily basis are Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Guest blogging

Take the relationship a step further and offer to write a guest post for another website. Just be sure your work goes on reputable sites and that the content is directly related to your niche. Guest blogging is an excellent way to build an online presence.

Start building your mailing list

Once your blog gains new fans and readers, it’s a good idea to collect the email addresses of those who want to be notified of new articles and offers. As people come to know and trust you, they will respond better to your promotional efforts.

Read more: The Complete Email Marketing Guide

Advertising on the web (paid traffic)

Appropriate and well-informed use of paid media can help you to gain exposure and attention before your organic (naturally derived) traffic takes hold. Paid traffic avenues include Google AdWords, and Facebook.

Remember that you can always find other ways to promote your new blog. Rely on the blogging fundamentals: a clear and well-functioning blog, focused and helpful information, engaging conversation, and practical advice. Your authority will come from helping and giving advice to other people, your fans, or readers.

Read more: How to Promote Your Blog (In-depth Guide)

Step_8 Make money blogging

Monetization is the process of translating your blog activity into earnings. You should keep in mind that blogging isn’t just about making money. Blogging is about creating useful content that will attract readers and make them come back for more.

After producing great content for some time and by engaging with your niche market, you will become a recognized expert who will be able to build a significant list of followers and visitors to your blog. In the meantime, you could consider adding content that will generate income.

Blog monetization channels

How can you monetize a blog? There are several options from which to choose:

Running ads on your blog

There are seamless possibilities for you to run ads on your blog. Regardless of your niche, you can opt for ads that are specific to what you are writing about or ads that simply better serve your advertiser’s purposes. Google Adsense is one of the most popular choices for ads.

ads-network for instant approval

https://adsterra.com/

Enrolling in affiliate programs

Affiliate programs are ways of teaming up with retailers to promote their products and benefit from successfully carrying out sales through a commission.

Some things that you need to consider when enrolling in affiliate programs:

The number of affiliate sales will strongly rely on the number of visitors you have.
You need to be credible enough for your visitors to click on your links.
You may want to consider placing a notice on your Terms of Use page that you do use affiliate links.

There are a few popular online platforms that offer affiliate programs that you can enroll in such as Amazon Associates, ShareASale, etc.

Selling your products and services

If you are more on the creative and entrepreneurial side, you may want to consider using your blog as a venue for selling your own products and services. This is an option especially when your blog gains in readership, authority, and popularity.

There are plugins that you can easily integrate into your blog and start using to sell, such as the WooCommerce plugin. It comes with product pages, cart, checkout, secure payments, etc.

Writing and selling an Ebook

Another great opportunity to make money is to gather existing content from your own blog and offer it as a downloadable ebook. Your ebook can be sold independently if your blog has a commercial platform (such as Bigcommerce), or it can be sold elsewhere. A great publishing opportunity is offered by Amazon and their KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) program.

Sponsored posts

Advertisers are always looking for exposure and are willing to pay you for placing a sponsored post on your blog. Those posts usually promote advertiser products or services and are a good way to earn some additional income from your blog. In the future, if you’re able to build a popular blog and become an authority in your niche, the advertisers could approach you to publish their posts.

As you can see, there are numerous ways to monetize a blog.

Consider the possibilities, and then choose the method or methods that best suit you and your audience. As a minimum, you should – from the very start – begin compiling an email list of your readers through subscriptions. Then, when you are ready to recommend products, you will have ready access to those who want to hear what you have to say.

How to start a Blog in few steps Free blog learning and earning tips

Do you want to learn how to start a blog?