Blogging is one of the best ways to share your thoughts, knowledge, or experiences. It allows you to connect with like-minded individuals, build your brand, and make money from your writing. If you’ve been thinking about launching your blog, this guide is for you. This how to start a blog will guide your through the entire process.
With a few simple steps, you can have your blog up and running quickly. You can start working and even launch it today! I will walk you through launching your blog and give you the best tools to rank your blog faster.
1. Choose Your Blog Name and Niche
First step in starting your blog is to pick a blog name and niche.
The name of your blog will also be your domain name (later on this) and this is the first thing your readers see. Your blog name should represent the general topic/s of your blog. You can pick your name as your blog name if you want to create your personal brand. (Note: If you pick your name, it might be difficult to sell your blog later if you decide to.)
When picking a name, choose something catchy and memorable.
Blog’s niche represents the general topic area that your blog covers. For example, travel, finance, sports, business, marketing. It’s important to consider your expertise, interests, and the needs of your target audience.
You want to choose a niche that you’re passionate about and that you can create high-quality content around. If you know nothing about fishing, then you wouldn’t start a blog around that topic even if it can be lucrative business. Choose a niche that you care about and know something about.
Don’t worry if you can’t find the right name immediately. You can always change your name later and even get a domain. Don’t consider this step as an obstacle. Focus on the general topic first, and then the name will come natural.
The domain name and the blog name won’t determine the success of your blog. The quality of the content and promotion will rank your blog even if your blog name is somethingaboutsomething.com.
2. Pick Hosting (& Blogging Platform)
Now, let’s get a bit technical. What is web hosting? Web hosting refers to the service of providing the infrastructure and resources needed to make a website accessible on the internet.
In simpler terms, it’s like renting or leasing space on a computer server that is connected to the internet. But, you just need a company to this step for you. You just need to pick a package.
Luckily, there are numerous great options at affordable prices. My #1 pick for hosting is Namecheap Hosting. Why? Because it’s faster and cheaper than other hosting platforms. And it works perfectly with WordPress.
This is the step where you would pick your blogging platform. WordPress is the first choice (for most bloggers). Basically, when you pick Namecheap hosting it will automatically connect with WordPress.
- Read our article on why good hosting matters.
- Read our in-depth review of Namecheap.
EasyWP is the fast, affordable Managed WordPress Hosting solution for everyone. You can pick between being billed monthly or yearly.
Which is the best plan? Well, if you are serious about blogging, then I would pick a Namecheap yearly plan because you can save up to 38% the first year. And then you can pick between EasyWP Starter, EasyWP Turbo, EasyWP Supersonic.
Even though EasyWP Turbo is the best choice, EasyWP Starter package will also work. Best part of Namecheap hosting? You can get 30-day Free Trial.
Get Domain & Hosting at one place with Namecheap!How to set up hosting in Namecheap?
Let’s create your hosting using Namecheap:
- On Namecheap dashboard, click ‘Start for Free‘.
- Click on ‘Sign Up’. Fill out the form with your information.
- Select the payment method: credit card, PayPal. Click on ‘confirm payment’.
- Choose a website name. You can always change that later. Click ‘continue’.
- Choose a domain name. You can pick a free one or you can immediately register a domain with Namecheap. Click on ‘continue’.
- (Optional) Pick a theme. I will show you how to set up a theme later in this blog post. You can skip this step.
- (Optional) Pick plugins. I will show you how to install plugins later. You can skip this step. But if you want to install some plugins immediately, then Yoast SEO and Site Kit by Google are two plugins that you can pick from the list.
- Review all details and click ‘continue’.
- You are logged in your Easy WP dashboard. You can click on WP Admin to access WordPress dashboard.
- Explore WordPress.
3. Pick a Theme
Now you can focus on designing. Picking a theme is an easy part of this process. Theme is like a template of how you blog will look like. Luckily, there are numerous good, free, options.
When picking a theme, think about how you want your blog to develop later: how many links you will have, how many images, do you want to have a sidebar, etc. Treat your blog as a business – an opportunity to make money with it. You will probably have affiliate links on your blog and you will run ads. That is why you need a theme that supports all of that.
My favorite theme is Kadence – the ultra fast WordPress themes. Kadence lets you pick your own colors, typography, fonts, layouts, and so much more. Most importantly, Kadence is built with the best SEO practices for markup and schema where needed.
Check out all the starter templates here.
How to install your theme in WordPress?
Here are the steps to installing your theme:
- Log in to your WordPress account
- On the left side menu, click on ‘Appearance’ > ‘Themes’ > ‘Add New’
- Search for Kadence theme in the search bar and then click ‘Install’ and then ‘Activate’
- Head to ‘Appearance’ and find Kadence
- Click on ‘Starter templates’ at the top of the page
- Click on ‘Install Kadence Starter Templates.’
- Click on ‘Browse Kadence Starter Templates.’
- Pick a theme that you like.
- Edit your theme.
Remember, good design and theme build trust and confidence. Put yourself in your reader’s shoes and look at your blog from their perspective.
4. Add Plugins
Once you have your hosting and theme set up, you would need to install some plugins. Plugins are like helping tools. They support your WordPress account. If you need analytics, you would install Google Analytics for example.
Luckily, plugins are very easy to add and you can have as many as you want. You don’t necessarily need to add all of them at the very beginning. But, as you have more readers and subscribers some plugins would be needed. That is why you have this ‘how to start a blog’ article – to help you in this process.
Your WordPress account will come with some preinstalled plugins. However, you will need some additional plugins that will help you grow your blog.
What are the popular plugins when starting a blog?
Here is the list of plugins that are worth having:
WP Rocket
- Priority: High
- Price: $59/year
- Link: WP Rocket
WP Rocket is a caching plugin for WordPress that helps to speed up your website. It is a premium plugin that is easy to install and use, and it can make a huge difference in the performance of your website.
Site speed really impacts your rankings in Google. That is why you need to have a website that is loading fast on both desktop and mobile. However, sometimes that is very hard to achieve on your own, unless you know how to code. That is why having plugins such as WP Rocket can get rid of the stress within few minutes. Read our review of WP Rocket.
WP Rocket is definitely worth installing immediately when you start. You will rank better in Google search results.
OptinMonster
- Priority: Low to Medium
- Price: $9/month
- Link: OptinMonster
OptinMonster is an all-in-one lead-generation tool that will help you generate leads without hassle. It offers a variety of opt-in forms, exit-intent popups, and other conversion tools to ensure that your marketing campaign is successful.
It’s not just a tool for creating popups. This software can help you to generate leads, increase conversions, and boost your sales.
If you are thinking about which tool you need for your website, then OptinMonster is the first option for lead generation. It’s worth every penny and can help you monetize your site quicker than expected. Read our full OptinMonster Review.
Even though you won’t have a lot of traffic in the beginning, think about how you can incorporate lead generation tools later. It’s better to have it ready once your traffic starts to pick up. That way you won’t lose valuable leads.
Site Kit by Google
- Priority: High
- Price: Free
- Link: Google Site Kit
With Google Site Kit you will get insights about how people find and use your site, how to improve, and monetize your content. All of that will be available on your WordPress dashboard.
You will get everything from Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Ad Sense, and Page insights. Site Kit helps you set up and use easy-to-understand metrics to help you grow your online presence.
Yoast SEO
- Priority: Medium to High
- Price: Free – $99/year
- Link: Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is the first true all-in-one SEO solution for WordPress, including on-page content analysis, XML sitemaps and much more. This is definitely a tool worth having right from the start. It will help you write better blog posts. It tells you everything: how good is your headline, how many keywords you should use, what is your readability score. All of that impact website traffic.
With a Free plan you will get limited features. Yoast SEO premium will give you better options and better suggestions. It really is the number 1 tool for WordPress.
How to add a plugin in WordPress?
Here are the steps to installing any plugin:
- Login to your WordPress account and click on ‘Plugins’ > ‘Add New’ on the left side menu
- Use the search bar, at the top right, to find plugins and then click on ‘Install’.
- Click on ‘Activate’.
5. Write Blog Post
Now it’s time to express your creativity. You are ready to write and publish your first blog post. Your first blog post should align with your blog’s niche. If your blog is about fitness, then you can write about best foods to eat after workout, or best equipment.
Remember that your blog post should serve the reader. You need to focus on creating high quality blog posts that bring value. Instead of just writing for the sake of writing and filling out the page, your readers should be able to learn something from your blog posts.
You are in charge of generating interesting and high-quality material that is both entertaining and informative. Additionally, you must able to strategically apply keywords so that the content is SEO-friendly and can be quickly found through search engines. If you want to make money from your writing and your blog, then you need to focus on quality and applying SEO practices.
Steps to Writing a Blog Post
Here are the steps you should take when writing your first (and every) blog post:
Define Target Audience
Ask yourself: who is my target audience? You already know this when you picked your domain name and niche you want to focus on.
Also, ask yourself: what problem do you want to solve with this blog post? If you are in fitness niche, then do you want to educate your audience of quality foods, or best training equipment. Both are good ideas, but those should be separate blog posts.
Research Keywords
Researching keywords is the most important step. Your content is organized around your keywords. If you don’t know you keyword, you need to do a proper research.
Keyword research is a fundamental part of any successful online marketing strategy. Knowing which words to incorporate into your blog posts or webpages can be the deciding factor between success and failure.
Doing keyword research correctly can enable you to gain more visibility, rise your website’s search engine standing, and ultimately drive more traffic and conversions.
Read more- Advanced Strategy: What is Keyword Mapping? How to improve SEO score
Keyword Research Tools compared: Ahrefs vs SEMrush
You can easily utilize online tools to help you plan your keywords. For instance, Google AdWords Keyword Planner and SEMrush are both useful resources for keyword research.
Also, don’t forget about ChatGPT. ChatGPT can help you generate a list of keywords. Here is our guide on using ChatGPT for content writing:
Generate Blog Post ideas
Once you have keywords that you want to focus on make a list of blog post ideas containing that keyword. AI tools can be very helpful with this. ChatGPT can help you with that, but there are other AI tools that are more creative.
Writesonic can help you generate blog post ideas based on your topic or keyword. Instead of spending hours trying to figure out what is the best blog post, AI tools can do that process within seconds.
If these tools are not enough, Google Search can help you. You already have a keyword and topic in mind, then look at how other bloggers created content. The most successful articles will rank first in Google when you type in certain keyword. Go through these and try to mimic those.
- Read more: How to come up with blog post ideas
Generate Title
Good title does wonder, but the best titles can make you money. When you search for something on Google, which article do you click on? Compare these two titles and tell me which is better:
- Running shoes ranked
- 9 best running shoes for trail runners (under $200)
Yes, the first titles is good, but the second one is much better. It’s specific (running shoes) ; it identifies the target audience (trail runners, $200); it’s comprehensive (9), and SEO optimized.
You need to care about the audience and Google search algorithm. So your titles needs to be SEO optimized.
AI tools can help you again with this process. Writesonic can generate a long list of titles that are SEO optimized. Try Writesonic for free.
Outline Your Content
Think about how your blog post should look like. Think about subheading that you will include. How many paragraphs you will have and how many words you will have. Writing an outline will speed up your writing process later.
An outline provides a clear and structured framework for your blog post. It helps you organize your thoughts and ideas logically, making it easier for both you and your readers to follow the content.
In addition, outlining forces you to identify the main points and key takeaways you want to convey in your blog post. This ensures that your content remains focused on your intended message.
Outlining allows you to plan your target keywords and incorporate them strategically throughout the post. This can boost your blog’s search engine optimization (SEO) and improve its chances of ranking higher in search results.
Finally, having a clear outline helps you manage your time more efficiently. You can allocate specific time slots for researching, writing, and editing each section of your blog post.
Write a Blog post
Now it’s time to write your blog post. Ideally, you should have between 500 and 1000 words. 1000+ words are reserved for comprehensive guides and how to articles (just like this ‘how to start a blog’ article you are reading).
When writing, try to incorporate your own experience if possible. That can help you connect with the reader. Also, your blog will look much better in search results. If you are writing a review of a certain product or service, then your posts are more credible and trustworthy if you share your own experience.
If you are worried about this stage, don’t be! There are so many good tools that can help you with writing. AI tools has helped so many content writer to speed up content generation. However, use them wisely. You don’t want to for blog to be flagged as AI generated. Google does not like that. Use them to help you generate ideas, but always rewrite sentence and add your tone to it.
Best AI Writing Tools
Writesonic is my favorite tool when it comes to content creation. This tools offers many templates, and you can easily generate long-form blog posts, YouTube descriptions, Product descriptions, Landing Pages, and even Startup ideas. Writesonic has flexible pricing plans, and you can choose the plan based on how much content you produce each month.
WordHero lets you generate content in just 1-click. And the use cases are endless. From Amazon product descriptions to food recipes and cover letters, WordHero has something for everyone. WordHero has pretty good pricing; they are running Early Priority Access, and you can get a monthly subscription for $49.
Rytr is an all-in-one writing tool that has been constantly recognized as the leading brand in AI writing. There are over 40+ use cases that will produce high-quality content, and you can use all of that for FREE. Yes, Rytr comes with a free plan, and you can generate 10k characters per month and test out all use cases.
Best AI Writing + SEO tools
Surfer SEO empowers you with the knowledge to make informed decisions about your content strategy. This exceptional tool meticulously evaluates your article, revealing the precise keywords that will skyrocket your visibility. It guides you on using the most impactful headings, while comparing your content against industry benchmarks, ensuring you stand out from the crowd.
Growthbar is the magical tool that will unravel all your SEO challenges, leaving you with remarkable results. You can craft captivating articles that captivate both readers and search engines, while optimizing existing content to perfection. Effortlessly generate compelling meta descriptions that entice visitors and boost your click-through rates.
Content at Scale can cut content production time and costs by 10x. Their high-quality SEO content writer is built to meet Google’s EEAT requirements. Which means that you can rank in Google fast. Content at Scale’s AI takes what is already working based on top ranking content for your target keywords. Then, it writes completely fresh content modeled off of that. You will get quality content in seconds.
Texta.ai : Do you ever find yourself struggling to find the perfect word? If the answer is yes, then Texta.ai is a perfect solution for your blog. This tools is similar to Content at Scale, but with better pricing plans. You just need to type in your keyword, and Texta will write content for you. Even if you are stuck, Texta’s AI-powered brainstorming will give you new ideas and content.
Don’t forget to check your grammar and spelling once you finished with writing.
How to Add a New Blog Post in WordPress?
Here are the steps to adding a new post in WordPress:
- On the left side menu, navigate to ‘Posts’ > ‘Add New’
- Add title and content in WordPress editor. Copy and paste the content that you generated before. Use a plus button to add blocks (images, spaces, headings, etc.) to your blog post. At the bottom of your screen, type in your focus keyphrase.
- Analyze your headline results on the left side and edit it if needed.
- Analyze Yoast SEO results at the bottom of the blog posts. Fix issues in order to rank better in search results. Hit Publish once you are done.
6. Promote Your Blog
You have your blog set up and now you should promote it. This is the most difficult part. You need to get traffic. As you add more blog posts search algorithms will slowly recognize your blog and you will start getting traffic.
That is why it’s important to always have SEO optimization in mind when you are writing blog posts. Don’t neglect the previous steps that we mentioned in this ‘how to start a blog’ guide. As a remainder: Use relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and alt tags for images. In addition, focus on creating long-form, informative content that ranks well in search results. You can always use AI tools such as Surfer and GrowthBar to speed up this writing process.
There are other ways how you can promote your blog without breaking the bank.
Promote on Social Media (Free)
You can always utilize social media. You probably have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn profile. Use them.
You can share your blog posts on your social media profiles. Also, use relevant hashtags to reach a wider audience. You can engage with your followers and respond to comments and messages.
If you don’t have a large following on these platforms, then you can always hire a freelancer on Fiverr. This method can help you get some traction.
Email Marketing (Free, Paid)
Email marketing is a great way to promote your blog. You can build an email list of subscribers interested in your niche. Then you can send regular newsletters featuring your latest blog posts and other valuable content. You can read more on Email Marketing trick here.
However, you first need to have a list of subscribers. You can always purchase 100 or more leads from others. But focus on other methods first and slowly build your own list.
Guest Blogging (Free, Paid)
You can (should) write guest posts for other blogs in your niche. This can help you tap into their audience. You are basically writing articles and blog posts for other people and they will publish it on their website.
With guest blogging you can include a link back to your blog in your author bio. This will also help you backlink score. It’s a win-win situation for both. They get a new article and you get a backlink and traffic.
If you are unfamiliar with backlinking, read more about this on our blog.
You can also read our article on: How to outrank other bloggers
Content Syndication (Free)
With content syndication you are republishing your content on platforms like Medium, LinkedIn Articles, or niche-specific content aggregators (with proper attribution). This can help you reach a broader audience because your articles and domain will be visible.
Online Communities (Free)
You can also participate in forums and online communities relevant to your niche. Think Reddit. You can share your expertise and link to your blog when it’s relevant to the discussion. Reddit, for example, has many different communities and you can easily find a niche that you are interested in. However, avoid spammy self-promotion; focus on providing value.
(Paid) Advertising
If nothing works then you can consider using paid advertising options like Google Ads or social media ads to promote your blog posts. You should target your ads to a specific audience to maximize ROI.
Don’t spend too much on this. Start with a small budget and then scale if you see that you are getting traffic.
7. Monetize/Make Money
The final steps (most important step) is monetization. You created a blog to make money. Monetizing your blog can be a rewarding way to generate income from your content and hard work. Here are several methods you can use to monetize your blog:
Display Advertising
Yes, you can display ads on your blog. Google AdSense are not strict and you can join very soon once you register your domain. You need to have over 50 blog posts written and your domain has to be 180 days old. Once you satisfy these requirements, you can fill out Google Ad Sense form.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest way to make money from your blog posts. What is it? Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing where a business rewards affiliates (that can be you) for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts.
You, as an affiliate, are a middleman where you promote certain business and their products and services and if a visitor clicks on a particular link and then purchases a product or performs a certain activity you receive a commission. You earn a commission for each sale or action generated through your affiliate links.
There are so many affiliate marketing programs that you can join. Read our blog post on Best Affiliate Programs to Join.
Also, if you want to earn big bucks, then check out the list of High-Ticket affiliate programs that you can join.
Sponsored Content
Companies usually partner with bloggers in order to promote their products or services. You don’t have to have a large following and a lot of traffic. One company contacted me when my blog was only 3 months old, and they paid me $70 for a sponsored article. Easy earned money!
Basically, you just need to write an article reviewing certain product or service or just mention it in one paragraph. If you can write about your own experience, that is even better.
Note: ensure transparency by clearly disclosing sponsored content to your readers.
Sell Digital Products
When you already have the entire blog/website set up – use the potential. You probably have expertise in some area. You can create and sell digital products like e-books, online courses, templates, or printables that cater to your blog’s audience. For example, if your blog is about travelling, you can create a checklist template in excel and sell that to your readers.
Freelancing and Consulting/Coaching Services
If you have expertise in your blog’s niche, offer consulting or coaching services to your readers. Use your blog to showcase your knowledge and attract clients. When you are already writing blog posts about a certain topic, then you can offer consulting as well. Your readers will see that you are expert in some area (through your writing) and you can charge for your expertise.
That also applies to freelancing. You can advertise your freelance services on your blog if they relate to your niche. For example, if you’re a travel blogger, offer travel planning services. In about me section, I have placed a link to my Fiverr profile. I create YouTube videos and online courses and my clients can see my entire portfolio.
Further reading: How to track results from your blog
Summary
This is it! You are ready to start your own blog. It will take you some time to set up everything, but stay consistent with your writing. Here is the quick overview on how to start a blog:
- Pick a niche
- Pick hosting
- Pick a theme
- Install plugins
- Write blog posts
- Promote your blog
- Monetize
Good Luck!
