Starting a blog can be a daunting task, or confusing to set up for those who aren’t familiar with the process. There are four main steps when learning how to start a blog that we’ve simplified and listed for you below.
4 Steps to Starting a Blog
1. Hosting
Your website will need to be hosted, which is basically just saying that it needs its “place” on the Internet. You pay a service to reserve the space, which is called hosting. There are many hosting companies on the internet that have competitive pricing. Shop around and choose a plan that suits your blogging needs. We recommend the “starter” plans, which usually also include a free domain name.
2. Domain
The next thing to do is to choose your domain name, also known as your website or URL. You should pick something flexible so you can grow into it and focus on branding.
Once you’ve selected the starter plan (in the previous step), there’s an option to check for domain name availability.
Once you’ve decided on your domain name, you’ll enter your account information, and choose which hosting plan you want. For most hosting services, you can pay in larger yearly chunks to save money. You should consider adding the “Domain Privacy Protection” which shields your name, address, and phone number from being publicly displayed as well.
Then, once you’ve completed the sign-up process for your domain, then it’s time to install your blogging platform.
3. Weebly, WordPress, or Wix
The most popular blogging platform in the world is WordPress, but there are several others that are worthy of mention. Installing them for your blogging website is easy. Log in to your hosting account, then click on “Install WordPress” if there is an automatic option for your platform of choice, otherwise, upload the program file into your back office. On the next page, click the “Install” button and then click the “Check Domain” button, where your domain name will be populated. When the installation completes, click on the “View Credentials” button and then write down or copy and save the admin URL, username, and password.
Remember to follow any instructions that are emailed to you during the set-up process and proceed to log into your new blog for the first time.
4) Theme
The way to make your blog look like a real blog is to apply a theme to it. There are tons of great free themes, and you can browse through them online or through your blogging platform. You can also purchase themes that are regularly upgraded and include extra tools and functions, but paying for something doesn’t always mean it’s better. Shop around, or practice with a free template if you’re just learning to blog.
After that, it’s really just a matter of making customizations, upgrades, and applying plugins to your site. You’ll want to pick a niche that you have in mind and can blog about, but the best thing about learning how to start a blog is that once set up properly, it becomes as unique as you are.