Are you starting a blog and looking into how to create a blog?
Creating a blog can seem overwhelming to someone without the experience and skill set in the niche. But, it's not as difficult as it sounds. Platforms like WordPress make the task a lot easier, as you don't have to write code and build your website from scratch.
All you need to do is research how WordPress works to set up your blog. I give you this informative article to help you along the way. So, take a deep breath and carefully go through the 10 steps below.
Why are you creating a blog?
This question seems fairly simple but requires dedicated thought and attention. Several reasons may be driving your decision, such as making money or sharing personal experiences. Or why not both?
Depending on your current expertise and hobbies, you should choose a niche that you are passionate about. Passion means inspiration, and you should feel inspired while working on a new project. What's the point of doing something you're not passionate about, for now?
But passion and inspiration are not enough. Your blog niche and the topics you write about should intrigue your audience. You should research your topic to see if it deserves the traffic.
Yes, traffic volume is indeed the keyword in a successful blogging process! You should also carefully consider whether you want to make money from advertising. In such cases, aim for a broader niche that attracts a higher amount of traffic.
Of course, there are no absolute truths, the only certainty here is that it should be investigated in detail before starting the process.
Follow these beginner tips
Here are some other helpful tips for the first stages of your blogging journey. :
Consider your knowledge, experience, and expertise. It may be wiser to use your current knowledge as the basis for your project. Here, what you have as experience is put into practice and you have room for further development as you move forward.
You can also set up your site to expand your horizons and make money while doing fun things.
Consider the possibility that you may want to sell your site in the future. A site with a good domain name and a clear purpose can run from hundreds to thousands of dollars. You may want to analyze the demand and hence the likelihood that someone will buy your blog.
This means analyzing topics to look for future popular trends, such as virtual reality, nanotech, electric vehicles, IoT (Internet of Things), etc.
Consider choosing a profitable niche for your blog. Choosing a niche for your site is a very important subject. According to the marketing model of “penetration range”, newer and Targeting a less developed niche means easier penetration, so it may be easier to succeed.
Also, you are much more likely to stay on top of Google results.
What are you willing to invest in creating your blog? Having a clear idea of what you are willing to pay for your site is a very important step.
And we're not just talking about money, but we've also invested time. If your site is improving month after month, time and money as these are strong indicators of future success must continue to invest in
Choose WordPress as your CMS platform
Despite the fact that there are many content management systems (CMS), we highly recommend using WordPress.
After all, it is the most popular and widely adopted platform.
According to W3Techs statistics, WPCMS is used by 62.7% of all websites with a known CMS. This makes up 35.9% of all websites on the web.WordPress version 5, in particular, is used by 72.5% of the platform of all websites use.
Historical trends also show that CMS deployments are growing steadily and the platform is being used by more websites when compared to Joomla and Drupal. With this choice comes another important decision that will shape your future blogging experience.
Should I use WordPress.com or WordPress.org?
What is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
WP CMS platform is one of the most popular software platforms for building blogs and websites. It's free and open source, so both experienced and inexperienced bloggers can easily modify it according to their needs. The core software package is available on WordPress.org for everyone, and can also be installed as part of a package by your web hosting provider.
WordPress.com also supports core software. A company called Automattic, created by one of the founders of WordPress, has created a . COM domain for hosting WP-based websites.
Remember if you use .com, you don't need to install any software as it is already included.
If the end result is the same, you ask, " Why does it matter which of the two I choose? "
The answer is that it is very important as it defines your control over your site or blog. is to go to the self-hosted WordPress.org platform. Remember that having a self-hosted website is like owning your own home. I mean. The advantage is that you can do it anytime, anyway you see fit. A self-hosted website has its own domain name and is hosted by a provider with specific space reserved for such self-hosted sites. You can customize your site at any time.
Short story, WordPress.com is a prime example of a hosted platform running on the aforementioned WordPress software. However, WordPress.org offers downloadable WordPress site packages so you can run it on your self-hosted site. .
Features of WordPress.com and WordPress.org
Theme
Every WordPress site out there tries to be unique.A theme is one thing that allows you to instantly change the look of your site by choosing one from a list of pre-made themes. If you don't pay for the premium, we'll stick with the themes made with WordPress.
WordPress.org allows users to freely install and customize themes. , Themes can also be obtained from external sources.
Free and premium themes can be modified from the admin dashboard, or experienced designers can tamper with the files directly for deeper customization.
Premium themes have more features than the free ones, which makes them preferable in most cases.
Plugin
When it comes to plugins, WordPress.com has limited options. Plugins for social media sharing, limited Google Analytics, contact forms, and other basics are available by default and come with all plans.
But I can't install other plugins.
Self-hosted WordPress.org is a great option in this regard as it comes with powerful Google Analytics. , you can install any plugin you want, with no restrictions.
WordPress community developers have also added some code designs to add more specific features not available on WordPress.com.
Plugins are used for various functions:
- creating contact forms;
- building an online store;
- Add gallery;
- Add captcha.
So, in the end, if you want a quick setup that works, requires little maintenance, and is easy to set up, WordPress.com should be your choice.
On the other hand, if you want freedom of choice, deeper customization, better analysis, and more tinkering with your site, then you should definitely stick with WordPress.org.
Hopefully, this post has provided enough information to make it easier for you to decide which one to use. .
Either way, WordPress is hugely popular and big, so no matter which of the two platforms you choose, you still have the option to build any site you pick up, in your own colors.
For more information on both versions of WP, check out our dedicated article. WordPress.com vs. .org .
How to Create a Blog: Initial Steps
How to choose the right domain name
Choosing a domain name for your first site can be fun and rewarding. This is the name by which you will be known and discovered online, so choose carefully.
As long as you keep paying the annual fee, you will own this name. It should be noted that the most competitive domain names end in “.com” expansions, and they can be unavailable or quite expensive there is.
Nevertheless, this should not discourage you as there are more than 450 domain extensions at your disposal.
In fact, your website domain name can be country- or niche-specific. Whatever you do, you need to think in an SEO-friendly way.
Think SEO
Stuffing your domain name with the most necessary keywords doesn't work. In other words, (lots of) keywords in your domain name, this doesn't help your blog at all from an SEO point of view.
Building a keyword list and strategy is another task (and another tutorial topic, for that matter).
So, which domain should you go for? If you are starting a personal blog, you can always use your own name. Otherwise, it should be catchy and easy to remember.
The best-case scenario is to choose a self-explanatory and memorable domain name. Here are some tips you can follow; they work in almost every situation:
Domain names should be short;
The domain name should be easy to remember;
You may want to choose words that are easy to spell;
We recommend choosing a “brandable” domain;
Check your domain history to make sure it's clean;
A domain name can be associated with a particular blogging niche.
So, let's elaborate a bit on some of the points above.
What is a brandable domain?
Depending on your overall strategy, you can go for a brandable domain. As explained by Novanim, “A brandable domain name is one that has been created and registered but is still owned by the company. A web address that is not used as a website.
These domain names are designed with uniqueness, catchiness, and imagination in mind, ready to be adopted by the right brands. Most importantly, they already exist, that Although the eponymous business does not. ”
Why choose domains that are easy to spell?
If you create and maintain a blog, you will definitely notice that there are 3 main types of traffic for people to reach your website:
Search traffic, coming from search engines such as Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo;
Referral traffic, coming from clicking links to your blog;
Type-in traffic, which is when a user types a domain name into their browser's search bar.
Typo traffic
Type-in traffic, though, is especially attractive to website and blog owners. This means users know your site by name.
However, this type of traffic carries the risk of typos, including missing dots and missing characters, transposed characters and "next characters".
Typing the name of your blog wrong, visitors are a lost cause. .
Alternatively, a typo could be redirecting a potential visitor to malware on a phishing website. How can you avoid all these bad scenarios?
So-called “typo traffic” can be avoided if you decide to invest a little more money and time in collecting the most common typos associated with domain names. .
After you discover them, you can register them too, then apply free domain forwarding to redirect mistyped traffic to the correct domain name.
Regarding domain names related to your niche, I think this is self-explanatory. You want your readers to associate your site's domain name with its content.
What is shared hosting?
The term shared hosting refers to web hosting services where a single physical server hosts multiple websites.
Because many users utilize the resources of a single server at the same time, their costs are low. If the website is built on shared hosting, its files host information for several other websites It will be saved on the server.
This means that the same server is responsible for providing information for all websites hosted on that server. A shared server can host hundreds of users.
Each shared hosting server customer has access to features such as databases, disk space, monthly traffic, FTP accounts, email accounts, and other add-ons according to personal plans.
The method of sharing system resources is on-demand, with each customer getting a certain percentage of RAM and CPU resources.
Long story short, shared hosting is the most budget-friendly way to get your site online, as there are more people contributing to the cost.
This type of hosting is very suitable for small blogging websites that don't require advanced configurations or high bandwidth.
You can jump to our dedicated article on the best shared hosting providers in the world .
It can also guide you through the process of installing WP on shared hosting .
Choose Hosting Locally
If the blog you are starting is tied to a local business, then you should definitely consider the best hosting options for that particular market.
In other words, what you need to know first depends on whether you are starting a local website or an international website. , there are different approaches to consider and implement.
The first tip is very logical: look for a server or data center located in that particular country. For a local audience, location is very important, to ensure speed and reliability.
It can even improve the SEO of your website. Local currency and regulations should also be considered.
Each country has its own peculiarities when it comes to laws and regulations, and you should get to know the ones in the country where you are looking to grow your business and audience.
Choosing the best option in terms of value for money ratio is very important, support, and additional benefits for customers.
After choosing a hosting provider, keep in touch, and ask for all the help you need – changing DNS settings, uploading and indexing websites, connecting FTP programs.
Also, note that the initial placement of the files is likely included in the package you plan to pay for..
How to set up web hosting and domain name?
Simply put, web hosting services allow people just like you to access your website through the web.
These companies are created to provide space on servers that are owned or leased for use by clients, as well as providing Internet connectivity, usually located in data centers.
Once you have chosen your domain name and feel comfortable, the moment comes to choosing your hosting service.
Remember that the performance of your blog depends on your hosting provider, which is your site's responsibility so it's always available. It's also where all your files are stored online.
Did you know that most hosting companies offer free domain registration services?
Of course, you can decide to keep your domain name with a registrar company, which means it will be separate from your hosting account. We believe it's easier to put it all together in an account (hosting account).
If you decide to use WordPress.org, then you should be looking for the top 10 best WordPress hosting companies rated by TrustPilot” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>WordPress hosting.
The reason you landed on our article is to learn how to start a blog, and we safely assume that you are a beginner.
My advice to new bloggers is to use a managed WordPress hosting account (shared hosting), as an investment in more expensive hosting services (VPS, dedicated servers, etc.) Don't pay when you're just starting out.
The typical price for web hosting is around $10/month so get a special price on SiteGround , and you can get the fastest managed WordPress hosting for just $5.99/month with free SSL, CDN, PHP 8 , etc.
Note. We would like to make sure the hosting link is an affiliate. We charge a small fee for each purchase at no additional cost.
In exchange, you get hosting at a special price with a free SSL certificate, CDN, and a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can feel free to try the hosting for a month.