How To Start A Blog In 2024: Step-By-Step Guide For Beginners
You know you want to start a blog and maybe even make some money online. But doing it all alone without any help can seem like a daunting task!
How to start a blog in 7 steps: A Beginners Guide
Are you searching online How To Start A Blog In 2024? If your answer is Yes! then you came on the right website. In this blog article we will share the important information and step by step guide about how to start a blog, how to start a blog for free, how to create a blog for free, how do i start a blog, how do you start a blog, how to make money blogging, how to blog and make money, how can i start a blog, how to create a blog website for free, how can i make money by blogging.
You may be asking yourself…
- What if I spend hours and hours creating my blog and no one reads it?
- What if I get scammed and throw away my hard-earned money on training or hosting that doesn’t work? And I get zero real help and support?
- What if I’m a complete failure at blogging? I desperately need this to work!
Don’t worry. You can put your mind at ease because you’ve come to the right place!
This easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide will walk you through everything you need to do to start a blog.
I recommend saving this guide for later just in case you get busy and don’t have time to finish in one sitting, having a printout to take notes on can be really helpful.
Listen. The first thing you’ll quickly realize when you start a blog for the first time is that there’s a TON of stuff “you don’t know that you don’t know”.
You see, we made A LOT of money with blogging and affiliate marketing. So we decided to give back by helping other people do the same thing. We used to promote old-school web hosts like Hostgator and BlueHost to our readers because they are excellent hosting companies with great affiliate programs.
BUT… They fall WAY short when it comes to helping new bloggers! We got truly tired of watching our loyal blog readers struggle, and give up in frustration when trying to start a blog time with these services. They simply do not provide the step-by-step training and one-on-one support that new bloggers need! Not even close…
This free “How To Start A Blog” guide is the first step in our journey.
Our goal is to help you become a truly successful blogger, and we will be with you at every single step. You are not alone in this any longer.
The really awesome news is that you get to take advantage of what we’ve learned over the last several years and avoid the sand traps that we had to dig our way out of.
Decide to start your blog right now – Today!
Just get started… That’s the best way to tackle any new goal!
TODAY. No, not tomorrow, not next week, and not next month. Tomorrow always feels “safe” because you’re not having to make a decision.
The power of today is that you make that commitment to yourself. And that is the first step to success.
This step is the most critical one, and it’s where most people get stuck. Don’t dream, wonder, and get stuck in “analysis paralysis”. Just do it!!!
“The best way to live the life of your dreams is to start living the life of your dreams Today, in every little way that you possibly can.”
Avoid The Biggest Mistake That Almost All New Bloggers Make
Starting a blog can feel intimidating, even frustrating…
It’s especially frustrating when 9 out of 10 “How To Start A Blog” articles on the internet are nothing more than affiliate marketers trying to sell you old-school web hosting like BlueHost and HostGator.
Those articles show you how to sign up for web hosting, but provide zero help when it comes to actually teaching you how to start a successful blog.
The biggest mistake that almost all new bloggers make is trying to start a blog with a traditional web host and not getting the “how to blog” training, help, and support they need.
Don’t get me wrong… BlueHost is excellent at what they do – web hosting. But, trying to start a blog with a web host is like buying the shell of a house. You’re going to have to build all the walls and install the plumbing yourself!
You don’t have to feel this way! We are here to help at every step…
How much time do you want to waste trying to do this all by yourself with a traditional web host?
- What you really want is a blog that just works from the start without having to install WordPress, plugins, and themes.
- You want a step-by-step plan that you can follow from the very beginning all the way through building a successful blog and eventually making some money if you want to.
- You want someone to guide you, help you when you get stuck, and answer all your questions along the way.
How to Create a Blog Website Free in 2024 – Step-By-Step Guide For Beginners
In this blog post we will share the helpful information and step by step guide about how to start a blog, how to start a blog for free, how to create a blog for free, how do i start a blog, how do you start a blog, how to make money blogging, how to blog and make money, how can i start a blog, how to create a blog website for free, how can i make money by blogging.
How to Start a Blog in 7 Easy Steps: A Beginners Guide.
Step 1 – Select a Blogging Platform
Selecting the right and best blogging platform depends on blogger’s experience, skills, planning and strategy. Here are some popular and best blogging platform options in 2024.
1. WordPress
2. Blogger
3. Medium
4. Wix
5. Squarespace
Step 2 – Select a Web Hosting
Have you ever thought about the difference between owning a home and renting? This may not seem related to blog hosting, but it really is a good analogy.
When you rent a home or apartment, you are paying someone else’s mortgage, but more importantly, you have no ownership over your own space.
If you plant a tree in the backyard, you don’t have ownership over it. Maybe you decide to put tile down in the bathroom, but you can’t take it with you one day when you leave. Renting means that you are living somewhere at the approval of another person.
Owning, on the other hand, means that you can do what you want because you own the space. You can paint, put down hardwood floors and fence the backyard. Sure, you might have some neighborhood covenants that govern certain things, but, for the most part, you are the captain of your own ship.
With blog hosting, many people make critical mistakes when it comes to choosing how and where to host their blogs.
Free Web Hosting
There are free blogging services like Blogger and WordPress.com that you can use (don’t confuse the WordPress.com free web hosting with the very popular WordPress.org blogging software – which we use AND highly recommend). In fact, many people start out using these free services because they want to “test the waters”.
However, there is a big danger in using free services if you want to build a long-term business as a blogger.
Just as with renting, you can be “kicked out” of your free blog in a heartbeat. Let’s say you spend 6 months building up a blog with tons of fantastic content and a following of faithful readers. Then, one day out of the blue, you realize your blog has been wiped clean.
As unbelievable as it may sound, it does happen and is not a good surprise. When you build rankings to a free blog, you are paying someone else’s mortgage payment in a way. You are building rankings for something you do not own which can be wiped out at any time for no valid reason at all.
Did You Say You Want To Make Money With Your Blog?
Also, some free services like WordPress.com prohibit the use of affiliate links on your free blog, meaning you can’t make money with your blog. Which really makes “free” into a pretty bad deal…
When you use a free blogging service, you have to follow someone else’s rules. If you break those rules, or they even think that you did, they can click a button and kill your business in a heartbeat. It is like building a house on sand.
- They run whatever ads they want on your blog.
- They’ll take down your blog if you say something they don’t like or if you get too much traffic.
- They fail to provide help and support when you’re struggling.
- They do not teach you how to blog or help you with the techie stuff related to blogging.
Who needs or wants the stress of wondering if your business will still be there tomorrow? This is why we never recommend going with a “free” blogging service if you’re serious about blogging.
Paid Web Hosting
This can be an excellent option for those of you who are a little more techie. Web hosting is very inexpensive (less than $7 per month for basic services) and will allow you to be the ruler over your own virtual “real estate” – but as the owner, you are responsible for the construction, upkeep and repairs of your home.
As you learn how to start a blog and grow into and experienced blogger, you will be able to write what you want and build your business without constantly worrying about the possibility that someone will remove your content tomorrow.
However… You better be a techie and ready to roll your sleeves up to get into the nitty-gritty details of your blog! Things like installing plugins and themes, running database backups, customizing CSS code to make your blog look the way you want… That list goes on and on…
Step 3 – Find the Right Niche
Choosing the right niche for your blog is depends on your interests, hobbies, expertise, and target audience. Here’s some best niche for your blog in 2024.
How To Pick The Best Topic For Your Blog
What will your blog be about? This is your niche, your focus, what you will blog about the most. This will drive everything you write about and share on your blog.
There are two schools of thought on picking a topic.
- You should choose something you are passionate about because you will want to wake up every morning and write quality content.
- You should only pick topics that are known money makers whether you are interested in them or not.
I say it should be both…
You want to be certain that thousands (if not millions) of other people share your enthusiasm and interest in the topic and will pay money for products and/or services that you have to offer in the niche from time to time. Even if you’re not interested in making money from your blog, I am assuming that you at least want other people to read it – yes? Then the same rules apply.
Here are a few examples of titles and taglines to get your brain going…
Titles And Taglines
- My Awesome Blog (Title) – Blogging Is Awesome (Tagline)
- Puppy Training 101 – Well Trained Puppies = Happy Pet Owners
- Recipes & More – Healthy, Everyday Recipes, and Cooking Tips
Here are a few examples for our recipe blog above…
Main Topics That You’ll Write About
- Paleo Foods
- Pasta Dishes
- Fabulous Desserts
- Egg Recipes
Step 4 – Select a Domain Name
Do You Need A Custom Domain Name?
In short, yes.
We used to say this was optional, but no longer and here’s why…
Custom domain names average about $15 per year and are completely separate from your blog. At least, that’s what I recommend. That way it’s yours to do with as you please rather than being tied to your blogging service. If you ever move from one service to another, your domain name can easily be switched over to the new service.
What are the other benefits of a custom domain name?
- It makes your blog easier to reach, i.e. you can give your friends and visitors an easy to pronounce and type address, e.g. “digitalnehathakur.in or digitalneha.com.”
- It shows your visitors (and search engines) that you’re serious about your blog, enough to not only start a blog but also secure your own name on the internet.
- It “should” help you with SEO as well. SEO is a very complex topic with many factors, but you want every advantage you can get. If it’s my blog, I always opt for a custom domain name.
- It makes your blog portable. If you decide to move from one blog host to another, you just take your blog content AND your domain name with you. That way you don’t lose the links you’ve built over time. If you didn’t have a domain name, you would lose all the “search engine rankings” and “link value” you’ve built up so far – so in a sense, you’d be starting over.
Without your own domain name, your blog address will either be some crazy address (http://YourIP/~ControlPanelUsername/) or a sub-domain (nehathakur.wordpress.com). While there’s technically nothing wrong with a sub-domain, you will lose the portability mentioned above.
IMPORTANT! If you plan to have an email list…
If you plan to create an email list, and we strongly recommend that you do, you’ll need to add an email address to your domain.
The major email services like Gmail, Yahoo, and AOL have made some recent changes that you need to know about. Going forward, you will need to have a domain specific email address that is connected to your custom domain. If you plan to send emails to your readers and you don’t have a domain email address, your emails are going straight to the SPAM folder!
How Do I Get A Custom Domain Name?
Before you click on the link below, take a moment to brainstorm a few options just in case your #1 choice is not available.
Example Domain Name Ideas
Continuing our recipe example from above, here’s a quick list…
- recipesbyneha.com
- paleoonabudget.com
- puppyfoodrecipes.com
- modernfoodblog.com
- perpetualpasta.com
Don’t worry if you can’t find a “.com” domain name or if the “exact” name is not available. Other popular domain extensions like “.info”, “.net”, or “.org” will work just as well. You can also add words like “best”, “first”, “the”, or “my” to the domain name. Be creative and you’ll find a good domain name. 🙂
Step 5 – Set Up and Design Your blog
Everything you need to start a successful blog is already there, ready to go! There are, however, a few “tweaks” you’ll want to make so that your blog is “production” ready. This includes things like setting up categories, menus, and widgets – stuff that makes it easier and better for your readers.
We’ll cover each of these individually in the next steps…
Add Categories To Your Blog
In this section, we’re going to add some categories to your blog. But first, let’s make sure you understand the difference between categories, subcategories, and tags – and when you should use each one.
Categories And Subcategories
These can be a bit confusing at first, so here are some examples that will help clear things up.
Categories
- Subcategory 1
- Subcategory 2
Here’s an example for a blog about dogs…
Categories And Subcategories (Example)
Dog Breeds
- German Shepherd
- Poodle
- Yorkshire Terrier
Dog Food
- Traditional Dog Food
- Raw Diet
- Natural Treats
Dog Training
- Puppy Training
- Aggression Issues
- Leash Walking
Categories Vs. Tags
A tag is like a keyword for your post. They’re one or two-word descriptions of what your post is about. Tags will help you organize your posts more easily and will allow you to group together similar posts.
While categories can be compared to the table of contents for your blog, tags would be like the index of your blog…
They might include things like: leashes, poo bags, kibble, treat training, biting, barking, etc. – specific words that provide additional explanation of what the post is about.
Here’s an example of how all this might look for a specific post.
Categories, Subcategories, And Tags For A Specific Post
Post Title: How To Train Your German Shepherd To Walk On A Leash
Post Category: Dog Training
Tags: German Shepherd, Leash, Heel, Flexi-Leash, Cotton Leash – any specific words used in your posts that are not broad enough to be the main category.
Try to limit yourself to no more than 5 tags per article – it’s easy to go “tag crazy”!
I hope these examples are helpful, but if you need additional clarification, just let us know. We’re happy to help.
Create Categories And Add Them To Your Blog
Next, let’s create categories for your top 3-5 blogging topics.
Click on “Posts > Categories” in the left menu of your dashboard.
Create your categories (and sub-categories if you have them).
Add Menus And Navigation To Your Blog
Next, we’ll use those categories to set up the menus and navigation for your blog.
A menu is basically a set of text links that go to the various pages and categories on your blog. Setting up clear navigation on your blog makes it easier for both your readers and the search engines to find what they are looking for.
NOTE: Each theme has different menu locations. Some, like the default theme, have just one. while others have as many as 3 possible menu locations. We will use the default theme for this tutorial to keep things simple.
In the WordPress Dashboard, click on Appearance > Menus in the left menu.
There are several things you can add to the menu – pages, posts, categories, custom links, etc.
In this example, we’ll create a new menu and then add categories and a “Home” link to the menu.
Remember… If you add new categories later, you will need to update your menus as well. New categories are not added automatically.
Add Widgets To Your Blog
There are many pre-built widgets you can add to your blog.
A widget is a small block of predefined functionality you can add to your blog. They do things like display featured posts, email subscribe forms, or social media buttons.
You can add these widgets to your blog sidebar, footer, homepage, or other widget areas on your blog.
NOTE: Available widgets also vary by theme. Different themes provide additional widgets that may not be available with the default theme.
To manage widgets, go to Appearance > Widgets in the left menu of your dashboard.
You can easily drag and drop widgets to add, remove, or change the order. Each widget comes with its own options and settings.
If you’re more visual and need to see the changes right away, you can also manage your widgets from the Customize page. (Go to Appearance > Customize, and then select the Widgets section.) We’ll go over the Customizer in more detail in the next section.
Customize The ‘Look’ Of Your Blog
The Customizer is a framework for live-previewing any change to your blog. It provides a simple interface for you to customize various aspects of your theme and blog, from colors and layouts to widgets, menus, and more.
We’re not going to get into the details of the awesome power of the Customizer in this tutorial. We’ll save that for our advanced training… But here’s a quick tutorial to see how you can change the color of the default theme to give it a little more pizazz!
Stay tuned! Very soon, you’ll be able to set up your blog in the “live” view and see exactly what your readers will see. Front-end drag and drop editors are still very bleeding edge, but the next year will be a very exciting time for blog setup and design!
View Your Live Blog
Now it’s time to see the results…
There are several ways to view your live blog.
You can view your live blog from the post edit screen.
From the post editor, click the “View Post” link that is available when you save new changes.
You can view your live blog from the toolbar at the top of your blog dashboard.
From the top of the dashboard, hover over the site name (in this case “My New Blog”) and click “Visit Site.”
And here are the results…
BEFORE: (This is a completely functional blog. It’s just a little boring…)
AFTER: See how just a few tweaks can make a huge difference? (and we didn’t even change the theme :))
Here’s a summary of the changes we made:
- New title and tagline and added some color
- Added a menu with categories and home link
- Updated widgets
- Added a new post with a featured image
Starting a blog does not have to be hard or complicated. With our help, you can start blogging today. This is just the beginning! Keep reading to see how to take your new blog to the next level and become a truly successful blogger.
Step 6 – Write Your First Blog Post
Let’s be honest… You really haven’t TRULY started a blog until you’ve written your first post.
Before we get into the details, let’s clear up a big sticking point for all new bloggers…
Posts Vs. Pages And When To Use Each One
Posts
Posts are the main content of your blog. They are displayed in reverse chronological order on your home page (or other listing pages like categories). Posts usually have comment fields beneath them and are included in your site’s RSS feed.
Pages are similar to posts, but there are some key differences.
- Use Pages for content that that doesn’t change very much. Think of your About or Contact pages – they don’t change often.
- Pages are for “non-blog” content. If you were to remove all of your blog posts and leave just the pages, you would have a standard static website.
- Posts can be associated with categories and can be assigned tags – pages cannot
- Pages are not included in your site’s RSS feed.
How I Write Blog Posts
I’m very organized by nature, so my writing style is very structured and organized.
Here are the steps I follow:
- Select the keyword phrase to target
- Write a great heading (include the keyword phrase)
- Follow the main heading with 3-5 related subheadings (include the keyword phrase when possible)
- Create an engaging introductory paragraph
- Write 2-3 paragraphs under each subheading
- Finish up with a strong conclusion and call to action if applicable (1-3 sentences)
How You Can Write Great Blog Posts
Regardless of whether your style is more like mine, find what works for you. Here are a few more tips…
- Make your posts somewhere between 1500-3000 words. Less is too short and more is too long…
- Always pick a category. Nothing should be “uncategorized.”
- Use featured images. (More on that later…)
- Don’t get stuck on trying to be perfect – be yourself.
- Do think about the keyword (topic) and how it relates to your overall blog topic.
- Add lot’s of white space – more than 2-3 sentences together is hard to read online. Yes, I know this goes against everything you learned in high school – get over it!”>Add lot’s of white space – more than 2-3 sentences together is hard to read online. Yes, I know this goes against everything you learned in high school – get over it!
- Add lot’s of white space – more than 2-3 sentences together is hard to read online. Yes, I know this goes against everything you learned in high school – get over it!”>Use subheadings to make your posts skimmable. Online readers love to skim!
Congratulations! You should now have a fully functional blog with your first post completed. Now, it’s time to get to work!
Step 7 – Make Money Blogging
Make Money Online With Your Blog
Your blog does not have to be just an expense…
- The top 5 ways to make money online with your blog
- Affiliate marketing 101
- The best affiliate products for new bloggers
- Getting started with Google AdSense
- Google AdSense alternatives you should consider
- The best places to put ads on your blog to make the most money
How To Grow Your Blog And Become A Successful Blogger
Now that you’ve got your blog up and running…. it’s time to get to work.
But what’s next? How do you go from “brand new mostly empty blog” to “successful blog with great content and tons of followers”?
No problem – that’s where digitalnehathakur comes in…
Most of our members come to us brand new, wanting to start a blog, but with no idea where to begin or where to go from there.
That’s what we specialize in… Helping new bloggers succeed!
Become A Successful, Money-Making Blogger With Our Exclusive Step-By-Step Blogging Success Plan
We will walk you through how to build your blog, how to come up with a never-ending list of post ideas, show you how to promote your blog and get it out there, how to get readers and followers, and how to monetize your blog so you can make some money for your efforts if you’re so inclined…
What You’ll Get In The Step-By-Step Blogging Success Plan…
Mastering The Basics…
You got started in the free “How To Start A Blog” guide above, but now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and become a blogging master.
- When and how to change your theme
- How to change the title and tagline of your blog
- Managing categories and tags
- Setting up custom menus and navigation
- How to set up ALL of the widgets you need to be successful
- How often you should publish content
- Headline templates that really work
- Working with images in your posts
SEO, Social Media, and Email Marketing
- What SEO is and why it matters
- Writing good content for readers and SEO
- Social Media 101
- 5-Step Social Media Marketing Plan
- Why you MUST have an email list
- How to set up your email subscribe form
- How to notify your subscribers when you make a new post
