So you 're thinking about starting a blog but you don't have an idea where to start? You have come to the right place. When i started I didn't have a clue either. The good news is, you are not required to have special skills everything you need is just basic.
The steps below will guide you on how to start a blog the right way.
- Decide your niche/ blogging topic.
- Choose your blogging platform.
- Choose a domain name.
- Choose a web hosting platform.
- Design your blog.
- Start creating content.
1. Decide your niche
One of the first decisions you make after deciding you want to start a blog is to figure out what you will blog about. Some new bloggers fall into the trap of writing about everything that comes to mind.Yes, blogging is about sharing your thoughts, research, and experience, but if you are interested in professional blogging that thought must be targeted at a clearly defined audience.
Your blog should be about your interest and passion. It should be about a topic you are happy discussing. It should be about something you are passionate about.
The are Various topics you can write about for example.
- Travel
- Food
- Lifestyle
- Technology
- Politics
- Business
- Sports
2.Choose your blogging platform
Firstly what is a blogging platform? It is simply an online software that enables you to create and maintain a blog. There are many blogging platforms such as WordPress, Blogger and Tumblr. WordPress is the most popular with over 54% of websites running on it.On this guide I recommend you start with WordPress as your platform. But incase you have limited resources you can try Blogger.
It's important to note the WordPress I'm referring to, is not WordPress.com but self-hosted WordPress.org.
3. Choose a domain name
Once you decide which blogging platform you are going to have your blog on, it's time to choose a custom domain name for your blog.What is a domain name? Well, it's simply your blog's central address on the internet for example www.yourblogname.com.
When choosing a domain name it's important to have in mind the following.
- The domain name should be short preferably between 10-30 characters.
- Choose a domain name that is limitless.
- Avoid using other people's brand names and registered names this is to avoid legal troubles.
- If possible add a keyword to your domain name.
After you decide which domain name to adopt for your blog, you will require services of a domain name registrar. This will cost you about $10 to get your domain name registered.
There are a number of good domain name registrars. The widely used ones are Go daddy and Name cheap.
4. Choose your web hosting platform
You have chosen a domain name, well we are almost there. Now it's time to host your blog.When we talk of web hosting platform it is the space where all the files, images and articles from a blog are stored. They are accessible to blog readers through a domain name. Think of web hosting as the hard drive of your personal computer.
There are many web hosting companies out there. The best ones are Blue host, Host gator and Site ground. Their hosting plans starts from as low as $3 per month, I recommend you start with the cheapest and you can upgrade as your blog grows. Their hosting plans usually come with free domain, so don't need to buy one.
On you decide where to host your blog visit their website;
- Signup with the web host.
- Choose a Free domain name.
- Choose the basic plan.
- Make payment to complete registration.
- From here you will login into your account using the details sent to your email address.
- From the control panel install WordPress
5. Design your blog
Now you have successfully installed WordPress, it's time to log into admin area of your blog and begin to tweak the design.The first task should be choosing a theme to use for your blog. There are plenty of free themes, settle for one you feel represent your brand.
Once done with installing the theme move to the plugins section and install the necessary plugins such as Jetpack, Yoast SEO, W3 super cache, Akismet, Contact form and Wp Smush. Plugins are important for the functionality of your blog. You will need to activate the plugins after installing so that they function.
6. Start creating content
You are through with designing your blog. I know it looks great, but it must be fed with meaningful content to make all your efforts in the previous steps worthwhile.When creating content you should keep in mind the following:
- Make sure your content is unique. Be original and avoid copying other people's work.
- The content you create should answer a specific question(s) and should also be easy to understand.
- Incorporate keywords in your content this is for Search engines optimization(SEO).
- Integrate you content with relevant images.
What else you need to do?
You have created content but that's not the end, you need to market it. No matter how great your content is, it needs an audience. There are various ways to get an audience for your blog.One of the most popular ways is by integrating your blog with social media. You should open social media accounts for your blog. And with these accounts you share updates of your latest work.
The second way is through optimization of your content for Search engines. This entails simple things like incorporating keywords in your content.
When you have enough people visiting your blog, now you can start making money from your blog. There are various ways to generate revenue from your blog for example, placing Adsense ads on your blog, Affliate marketing and many more ways. I will not get into details as below guide will ensure that you end up making money from your blog.
Read - 10 most common ways to make money with your blog