Do you also want to start a blog? Then this article is perfect for you! This is a step by step guide on how to start a blog – both for you who want to start a free one or a more professional blog with an own domain name.
Starting a blog doesn’t need to take a lot of time or be hard. Just with a little knowledge, some hard work and around 2-5 $ a month – you can easily start a blog and start earning some money.
Follow my step by step guide and I promise you that it will be up and running in no time!
Perks of using WordPress for your blog
There are many portals that let you start a blog for free, but most of them are quite limited and can also be difficult to style and change its design when using these portals. That’s why you should use WordPress, which is the portal that I use for my blog!
- Hundreds of thousands of themes to choose from (appearance)
- Lots of plugins available (additional features)
- Liked by Google (Going higher up in search results)
- You can switch to a private domain name and web hosting without having to obtain a new blog
If you only want to have a simple blog for your friends or family to read, then you will probably settle for a free version of WordPress, at WordPress.com, just to keep them updated.
But if you’re serious about blogging and want to earn some money off your blog, then you will need more than just a basic free version blog. To be honest, you will have to put in some real effort to create a successful blog – but it’s totally worth it!
Do you want to do it all from the beginning? It will only cost you around 2-5 dollars a month with your own domain name and hosting. This is a small amount if you compare to the possibilities you have for making money on it and partner up with brands and companies.
The advantages to blog on your own domain and hosting:
- Sell Advertising space and sponsored posts/links
- Optional appearance
- Own domain name – www.yourblogname.com
- Provides a professional impression
- Access to your own address – yourname@yourblogname.com
- Ability to influence SEO and how high it ranks in Google search results
With all that said, now it’s time to get started for real. Here is my step by step guide on how to start a blog with your own domain!
Step 1: Choose a name and buy your domain name
It is important to choose a good name for your blog since this name will be your identity and brand. Try to think of something unique – that’s both easy to spell, pronounce and remember. The last thing you want is to choose a name that reminds people of someone else or a name that no one will remember.
Try to avoid odd spelling, since it can make your visitors a bit confused.
Just look at my name; Christine Abroad. My name is Christine and I’m most of the year traveling abroad. It’s a beautiful name, it’s connected to what I do, and it’s easy to remember.
On this page, it’s possible to check if the domain name is available
Step 2: Find a good web hosting company
When you have found your perfect domain name, it’s time to choose web hosting. To make things relatively simple, I have selected two web hosting companies that are user-friendly and cheap. The first one of the two listed below comes in several languages, and the second is the one host that WordPress themselves recommend.
- One.com – Web hosting with several language options from 2$ a month
- Bluehost – Web hosting company that WordPress recommends from 3.95$ a month
Both of these hosts are good and give value for your money, especially when you are just about to start a new blog. It’s simple to install WordPress, and only minutes away from the confirmed payment your blog will be up and running!
If you’re looking for the option that is the cheapest and most easy (still good though and possible in your own language), then I recommend One.com, which only cost around 2$ a month.
Currently, the Professional Plus Package is now on sale, so the total amount will only be 5$ dollar more for a whole year. So make sure to pick that great offer instead while it’s still available!
Step 3: Install WordPress
In this guide, I will show you how to install WordPress on your blog when using one.com.
- Visit www.one.com
- Click Control Panel (upper right corner)
- Enter your E-mail and password
- Click Login
- Click WordPress 1-click
When you have logged into the control panel and opened the WordPress section, then you’re ready to install.
- Click on New Installation.
- Choose language
- Click on Install
Wait until the installation is complete.
- Click on WP admin
- Enter a name for your blog.
- Enter a username, email address and password for the administrator.
When you are done with this final step and have clicked on ”Install WordPress”, then you will be redirected to a new page with your username and password. After that, click on log in and then you can call yourself a blogger! Congrats!
Step 4: Style your blog
When you are done with installing WordPress, then it is time to style your blog. WordPress is like I have mentioned before, just the base and CMS.
Now the fun begins – to style your blog and to publish your first posts!
A standard theme is already installed from the beginning, but if you want to make your blog a bit more personal – then I would suggest you to change it to another theme and style it as you desire. WordPress offers thousands of free themes for you to choose from, which works well in your early days as a blogger!
You can find free Themes here or under ”Appearance” -> Theme, when you’re logged in as WordPress-admin.
In the future, you will probably want to use a more professional theme, and then you will have to use the premium themes, which costs around 50 dollars. Don’t worry, this is a one time fee and will be money worth spending if you aim to create a more professional blog.
On Themeforest you will find the biggest range of Premium Themes for WordPress. There you will, for sure, find something that you like!
In the video below you can see a step by step guide on how to get started using the standard theme of WordPress!