Want to learn how to start a blog? Great!
You have come to the right place, in this blog post we will cover how you should start a successful blog…
This guide is different than other guides on the internet. How? Other guides just suggest you start your blog without thinking much and don’t tell you the steps you need before starting a blog. (It’s one of the reasons many blogs fail too soon.)
No matter what your reason is, if you want to start a blog and don’t know how to, this guide will be beneficial for you. This guide is made for everyone who wants to start a blog for any reason. And it has everything you will need to know.
In this step by step guide, I’ll teach you about starting a blog. Also, there’s no need for you to be an expert in coding, you don’t even need to know a single line of code. Even I don’t know anything about coding yet I’m doing great!
You will have your blog ready in no time. And, if you’re an expert at coding, that’s a bonus!
Special Offer – Get your blog ready with 60% discount on Web Hosting. (Limited Deal)
So, What’s a Blog?
In simple words, a blog is an online journal or diary which is updated frequently by people who want to write something about their field of interest.
Blogging Loop is an example of a blog. Here, I write about blogging, SEO, etc.
Here’s a detailed post explaining the terms – blog, blogging, and blogger. (If you don’t know already, read this post.)
Why Do People Start a Blog?
There are lots of reason why people start blogging. Some of the reasons why people start a blog are –
- To make money with their blogs.
- Just for fun and entertainment.
- Educating others.
- Networking and getting more exposure.
Only when you know why you want to start a blog, then you are ready to go. The biggest reason people start blogging is for making some money. (And it isn’t bad, everything is done for money nowadays!)
So, can you really make money some serious money blogging?
Well, that depends on how much effort you’re willing to put. But the answer is a – Yes! You can make a lot of money with blogging. There are some blogs which earn millions of dollars per year. (Seriously!)
Making a successful blog is a dream for many people. In recent times, blogging is emerging as a great career choice. Blogging not only allows you to express yourself & help others, but it also helps you to establish as an industry expert and earn money.
Blogging is the best way to leave your soul-sucking job, do a side hustle or travel the world without worrying about your bank balance. Travel bloggers even get free tickets to places so that they can write about them.
Even if you just want a side job that pays the bill, it’s possible with blogging. But it won’t happen overnight, blogging isn’t a get rich scheme. It’s only for those who want to create a passive income online for a long time.
On an average, it takes 1 year for a blog to become profitable. Why am I telling you this? Because if you’re looking forward to making money with a blog you should know it requires some serious effort.
What do you need to become a successful blogger?
Many bloggers are work hard continuously and generate a regular income from their blogs. The top bloggers earn in 5 to 6 figures monthly. However, they earn so much is that they’ve been working hard for many years.
For some, blogging is just a hobby. For some, it’s everything. There are a lot of people who blog and it’s their main source of income, including me. Not everyone can earn in millions but it’s certainly possible to earn a living with blogging.
If you start now and work hard ( + smart) then you can also become a successful blogger. Surely it will take time for you to learn about many things like – SEO, Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, etc.
You can say simply having a plan and acting on it makes a person successful. If you apply this to blogging, then surely you will be at least be able to make a living yourself with blogging.
You will also struggle a lot but it’s OK to struggle. After all, only those who try something are able to achieve much more than those who do nothing. Right?
I will teach you how to start a blog in no more than 20 minutes. In the next 20 minutes, you would have started your blog, customized it and published your first post.
How to start a blog in 6 steps
I’ll tell you about how to start a blog, it will take you just 6 steps to launch your dream blog.
The 6 steps you should follow in order to make a blog are –
- Selecting a Niche
- Choosing the right blogging platform
- Getting a domain name and website hosting
- Installing WordPress
- Customizing the look of your blog
- Writing your first blog post
Following these steps is crucial, as without them you won’t be able to build a successful blog. So without further ado, let’s get to the first step…
Selecting a Niche
Selecting a niche is the first and most important steps while starting your blog. Choosing a niche is one of the “secrets” for making a successful blog.
In simple words, niche means a specific topic on which you will write your blog like – entertainment, technology, marketing, health, dating, etc. It’s a simple concept – only choose the niche you are comfortable with.
If you’re a technology geek you can easily create a blog about the latest tech news rather than starting a blog about fitness.
Or, If you’re a marketing expert you can create a blog about marketing rather than starting a blog about technology, etc.
You should only choose a niche according to your interest. If you are interested in a particular niche then you’ll surely have good knowledge about it and you’ll never run out of ideas to create high-quality content.
When you’ve selected your favorite niche, you are free to write anything about it.
Your niche should also have good searches and low-medium competition so that you can get some traffic. There should also be more than one way to monetize your blog.
Make sure that you only choose the right niche, if you choose the wrong niche you’ll feel bored (as you’ll run out of ideas) after sometime and it won’t be better than a regular job.
It’s also impossible for you to earn anything from your blog if you’re just writing on any possible topic. The blogs which earn in millions are always focused on a single topic.
There are many blogs that earn in millions. Want to know their secrets? One thing they did from the start was that they never lost focus from their main niche. And now, they are one of the industry leaders.
Only if you’re focused on a single niche, you can make it to the top. If you are not focused and blog about everything then it’ll be difficult for people to trust your credibility. You will be a jack of all trades and master of none!
You should pick the niche, that –
- You’re very interested in
- You have got knowledge about
- Has good searches
- You can monetize in more than one way
- Has little competition
If you have found a niche for your blog that has all the features mentioned above then you shall select the best blogging platform… Let’s do it.
Choosing the right blogging platform
When you want to start a blog, the second step is to choose the right blogging platform. There are many platforms which you can choose from like – WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, etc. but only some are good.
Why you should not use free blogging platforms?
Many of the blogging platforms allow you to create a blog for free, but it’s not good to have a free blog as you’re not the owner there. Your free blog could be shut down anytime without any warning.
Why use WordPress?
WordPress(.org) is an open source content management system (CMS) which means it is free to use. WordPress is by far the largest blogging platform in the world with approx 60% share of blogging platforms.
Many of you would be thinking what is WordPress? (Don’t get confused with WordPress.com or WordPress.org. We will be using self-hosted WordPress.org)
WordPress(.org) is used to create self-hosted blog. Having a self-hosted blog means that you own everything on your site – you are the real owner of your blog.
Although WordPress is free you must purchase a domain name and website hosting to make your site live and running.
Domain name means the name which you will be giving to your website. E.g., google.com or BloggingLoop.com.
Website hosting means a space where your website is situated. Website hosting companies provides space on its server at some price. We’ll cover about this in Step #3.
5 Reasons to use WordPress –
- It’s free to use (you only need a domain name and hosting).
- It’s very easy to use even if you’re a beginner.
- Thousands of free themes & plugins.
- It’s easy to customize your blog as you want.
- You can design your blog professionally.
Now that you have decided that you’re going to choose WordPress as your blogging platform we’ll go to the next step.
Buying Domain & Website Hosting
Buying a good domain name and website hosting is very important for setting up your blog. Before we buy a domain name and website hosting for you, let me clarify the meaning of a domain name and website hosting –
Domain Name
A domain name is the URL of your website. In simple words, it is the address of your blog on the internet – for e.g., BloggingLoop.com is the name of this blog. You can also use your name for your blog.
A great domain name should be –
- Easy to remember
- Easy to spell
- Short & sweet
- Should not include special characters
One other thing: you should stop being a perfectionist. It’s impossible to find a perfect name and it doesn’t matter. You can get any domain name and make it a brand.
In this guide, we’ll be buying your domain name from the web hosting company which will host your blog. (For less trouble.) However, if you still want to go with other domain registrars, we suggest you get a domain from Namecheap.
Website Hosting
Website hosting is a service that lets you keep your blog online. These companies store all of your blogs files, images, and content on their servers. Without using a website host no one will be able to see your blog on the internet.
There are two kinds of hosting companies – good & bad. It’s necessary that you go with a good website hosting provider. You shouldn’t go with cheap web hosts because “they suck” too much.
Yes, there are also free web hosts but we suggest that you avoid them completely. Why? Because they have too many cons. You will always pay more by choosing free web hosting with your time, solving their hassles. Nothing is free!
What most of the cheap hosting companies do is – they provide very cheap hosting but their servers are overloaded with tons of sites. Your blog will take way too much time to load if you go with them.
And, you don’t want that to happen. Right? For that, you must select the best web host.
Which web hosting should you get?
You can go with any web host, but I suggest you buy your domain name and website hosting from SiteGround. You can also buy from other companies but they’re a little bit costly.
In the end, it’s your choice! But I’ll only suggest the best option for you, as a new blogger you can’t waste too much money and also can’t compromise on the performance.
If you need a web host that isn’t expensive and also have 99% uptime, then SiteGround is the perfect choice for you. They also have one of the best support, and if you face any problem you can contact them via live support or email.
Apart from 99% uptime, they provide features such as SSD storage, FREE SSL certificates, website migration, and 30 days money back guarantee.
You can start your blog for less than 3.95$ / month (with SiteGround). That’s a lot less when you compare it to people who pay hundreds of dollars to other companies just for hosting their blogs.
SiteGround is, and will always remain our first recommendation to new bloggers. However, they don’t have many payments options except debit card/ credit card and PayPal.
A2 Hosting is also a great choice for beginners. For countries like India (from where I belong), they have got more payment options like net banking, wallet, etc.
So, If you don’t have a debit card and want to start a blog, we recommend A2 Hosting.
Who you should use SiteGround?
Simple & short answer – It’s the best web host for beginners. Sure, there are other cheap web hosts but have you ever seen something that’s cheap and long lasting?
I’ve never seen anything like that, and it’s still affordable. If you are a new blogger who wants a stable hosting the this is the best option. SiteGround is the most stable web host.
SiteGround is also an official WordPress recommended hosting provider and they have agreed to give our readers a big discount on web hosting. ( Our readers get 60% OFF on Web hosting for a limited time. )
Read our SiteGround review to know why we recommend them to new bloggers.
So, without wasting much more of your time. Let’s get started…
→ Click here to Claim this Exclusive SiteGround Offer (60% Discount!) ←
First, Go to SiteGround
This is what the homepage looks like, then click on Get Started.
Choose your hosting plan
Now you have got 3 plans to choose from, you can also compare all these features –
- StartUp – one website and 10,000 monthly visitors, 3.95$ / month
- GrowBig – multiple websites and 25,000 monthly visitors, 5.95$ / month
- GoGeek – multiple websites and 100,000 monthly visitors, 11.95$ / month
If you’re just starting out then I’d recommend you to select the StartUp plan. You can upgrade anytime later (when your traffic and earnings will grow).
P.s. If you also want to get managed WordPress hosting from then visit here.
Register a new domain
Click on register a new domain. I’m guessing that you’ve found a great domain name for your blog. If you have purchased your domain name from Namecheap, click on I already have a domain.
If you wish to buy the domain name from SiteGround, enter the new domain name. Then click on Proceed!
Fill your account & client information
Account Information –
Enter your email address & confirm your password.
Client Information –
After filling out the account information you’ll need to provide additional details like your name, country, company name, etc.
Enter all the information and then scroll down…
Fill out your payment information
Now you have to enter your credit card details. You need to enter the card number, card expiration date, cardholder name and CVV code (secret number present at the back of a card).
Don’t worry if you don’t have a credit card. You can also make the payment from any international debit card.
Check purchase information & make your payment
Hosting Services
First, confirm the plan you want to purchase.
Then choose the data center which is the closest to your location.
SiteGround has 5 data centers located around the world –
- Chicago (USA)
- Amsterdam (NL)
- Singapore (SG)
- London (UK)
- Milano (IT)
“The closer you’re to the location of a web server, much faster your blog speed will be.”
Extra Services
The domain name that you purchased is a part of the extra services that are offered.
If you want to make your information private then select domain privacy,
Buy SG Site Scanner if you’re too worried about your site safety. Else, there is no need to buy it if you can protect your site.
Then…
Click on I agree to terms and conditions. After that click on Pay Now!
Congrats, you’ve purchased your own domain name & hosting.
Installing WordPress
Now, there is no need to download WordPress software and get into the technical stuff to install it, SiteGround will do it for you.
You can sit back and easily install WordPress while having your tea (or coffee) by following the instructions given below.
However, if you have purchased your domain from other registrars, you will have to install WordPress through Cpanel. Read this guide on connecting the domain name to the web host.
Now, let’s get back to our installation process (when you have purchased domain name through SiteGround).
WordPress Installation
#1 Login to user’s area
#2 Enter Login id & Password
Put your email id and password to login… Which you created when filling out the account information.
#3 Setup your hosting account
Now, you have to set up your website (or blog). You have to choose from 3 options –
- Start a new website ( build a new site from scratch )
- Transfer a website ( they will provide free migration from another host )
- Don’t need help now
Select > Start a new website…
#4 Select a software
After selecting Start a new website.. you’ll need to select which software you want to install.
Select WordPress and then fill out your login details.
Admin email – (enter your WordPress login email address )
Username – ( enter your WordPress username )
Password – ( enter your login password )
Re-type password – ( enter your login password again )
.. and then click on Confirm.
#5 Complete Setup
Skip Enhance Your Account.
Click on I agree to terms and conditions
.. and then click on Complete Setup.
#6 Login to WordPress dashboard
Go to YourDomainName.com/wp-admin ( Replace YourDomainName.com with your domain name ).
Enter your username & password created above, and you will be taken to your WordPress dashboard.
Since have passed through the hardest part of setting up your blog, we’ll now design and customize your blog. It won’t take much time.
Customizing the look of your blog
Now that you’ve installed WordPress, it’s time to tell you about WordPress blog basics. I’ll tell you about how to –
- Change the design of your blog
- Installing new plugins
You’ve already completed the most difficult steps. More than 80% of the work in starting a blog has been done.
Now we (you & I) will design & customize your blog together.
Designing your blog ( Layout & Themes )
WordPress uses design templates known as “themes”. These themes provide the look of your blog.
You can change the look of your blog by changing its theme. There are more than 2 thousand free themes available for you to choose from.
However, if you want your blog to look more clean and professional you should purchase premium themes. But the average cost of one premium theme is around 50-70$.
We’ll stick with free themes for now. You can purchase premium themes later after you have started earning money from your blog.
If you want to go with Premium themes from the start, we recommend Elegant Themes.
#1 Login to your WordPress dashboard
First, you will need to login to your WordPress dashboard.
This is the WordPress dashboard. From here you can edit anything on your blog.
#2 Go to Appearance
Move your mouse over the “Appearance” tab. Then click on Themes.
#3 Select your theme
Here you will see the themes that are automatically installed on WordPress. The default theme will be twenty-seventeen. We will change the theme to Twenty Fifteen.
This way you will learn how to change WordPress themes. First, click on the Twenty Fifteen Theme.
Select one of these themes or click on “Add New” to find more themes to install them. The “upload button” in the “Add new” page is only useful when you have the zip file of the theme
Click on the install button and the installation screen will appear. (There will be nothing to preview as your blog have no posts.)
After this click on the “activate button” and you will have a new theme on your blog.
Installing new plugins
Plugins are software that adds more functions to a WordPress site.
WordPress plugins make it easy for new users to add more features without knowing a single line of code.
Like themes, there are also thousands of free plugins for WordPress. There are also premium WordPress plugins but they also cost around 30-40$ on an average.
#1 Go to WP Dashboard
Move your mouse over the “Plugins” tab. Then click on Installed Plugins.
#2 Click on Add New
Click on “Add New” to install new plugins.
#3 Install Plugins
From here you can install all the free plugins available. Some of the must-have plugins are Yoast SEO, W3 Total Cache, etc.
We will give you an example by installing and activating the Contact Form 7 plugin…
First, we’re going to the popular plugins section. Here are a lot of popular plugins. But click on the “Install” button located right to Contact Form 7.
In the next screen, you will see that the plugin is installing. You need to wait till the time it’s installed.
As of now, the plugin is installed, the only thing you need to do now is to activate the plugin. Which is easily done by clicking on the “Activate” button.
You can do the similar with all plugins. however, some plugins are much harder to configure.
At the moment you have learned about both the design (themes) and features (plugins), now it’s time to learn how to write and publish blog posts.
Writing your first blog post
Now, you just need to write your first blog post. But you might be wondering how? I’ll explain but before that, there’s one thing you need to do. WordPress version 5 comes with a new editor which kind of sucks right now.
Go to Plugins > Add New > Install Classic Editor Plugin.
That will install the classic editor, which is easy to use for beginners. The new editor is great there’s no denying that, but it has more of a learning curve. And, has a completely different layout.
After installing the classic editor plugin, you need to follow the following steps –
#1 Go to WP Dashboard
Move your mouse over the “Posts” tab. Then click on “Add New”.
#2 Write your blog post
#1 Blog Post Title – This is the area where you will write the title of your blog post.
#2 Blog Post Content – This is the area where you will the main content of your blog post.
#3 Add Media – This is the option to add images/videos to your blog post.
#4 Publishing – This the area from where you can control how and when your blog post will be published/scheduled.
Feel free to write whatever you like. It will take you much time to learn about WordPress as there is so much to learn.
CONGRATS! YOU HAVE JUST STARTED YOUR OWN BLOG.
But this is just the starting… Setting up a blog is the easiest thing to do. The real work is making it successful, so to make your blog a success you will need to do a lot of work. Don’t worry, we are here to help you through the journey.
Most of the blogger quit within a year, make sure you are determined enough. There are tons of reasons why bloggers quit. But I’ve my faith in you that you will be able to achieve your goals if you stick to them.
FAQs About Blogging
There are a lot of questions that new people like you want to ask about blogging.
Here, I have listed out some of the most frequently asked questions about blogging/how to start a blog –
Starting A Blog
How much does it cost to start a blog?
It will not cost you more than 60$ to 100$ to start a blog for the first time.
Which hosting should I buy?
You should buy web hosting from SiteGround. Why?
Because they are the best one of the best hosting providers. WordPress.org also recommends SiteGround.
How do I design my blog? Do I need to hire a web designer?
NO, there is no need to hire anyone as you’re using a WordPress blog. However, if you want to you can always get a web designer.
You can use free themes or purchase premium themes. There are many great themes available for WordPress.
How do I customize my blog?
Customizing a WordPress blog is very easy. You can easily do whatever you want from the admin dashboard.
Most of your work can be easily done with the help of WordPress plugins. You don’t need to worry about lack of technical knowledge.
Which are the best WordPress plugins?
There are many free and paid plugins available for WordPress. However, only some of the plugins are useful.
Thrive Architect, OptinMonster, Yoast SEO, W3 Total Cache are some of the best WordPress Plugins.
Creating Quality Content
How can I become a better writer?
Becoming a good writer takes time. Even if you’re not good at writing, continuously publishing new blog posts will keep you at practice.
“Practice makes a man perfect”, applies here too. When I started, even I wasn’t decent at writing blog posts. Writing comes naturally with time.
In which language should I write my blog posts?
You can use any language on your blog. A blog can be written in written in any language, whether it’s in your Native Language or in English.
When you’re creating a blog whose target is your local audience, then you should write in your Native Language.
According to me, you should write your blog posts in English. Why?
English is the most common language in the world. More than 1.5 billion people speak English. When you write your blog in English, you can target a global audience. People all around the world understand English.
What should be the length of my blog posts?
An average length or your blog posts should be around 1,000 words. In a research done by QuickSprout, it’s shown that longer blog post gets more backlinks, social engagements and also rank better in search engines.
However, this does not mean short blog posts aren’t effective.
“A blog post is like a mini-skirt:
It has to be short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover the subject.” – Content Marketing Institute
An ideal blog post should not be more or less than needed. If you can easily cover the subject in 1,000 words there is no need to extend it. But if you can’t explain your topic in less than 6,000 words, then it should not be less than 6,000 words.
How often should I update my blog with new blog posts?
How much regularly you should update your blog depends on your schedule and niche.
If you’re having much time to focus on your blog then it’s easy to publish new posts in a short span of time. When you don’t have much time to focus on your blog you can update it twice or thrice a week.
You should update your blog daily if your blog deals with the news. sports, tech, entertainment. You don’t need to update your blog daily if your blog deals with fitness, motivation, personality development, etc.
What type of blog posts should I write?
There are many different types of blog posts that you can write about.
Some best types of blog posts that work are –
- Tutorial & How-to Guides
- List Posts
- Case Studies
- Reviews
- Interviews
Publish each type of blog post at a time & compare what type of post gets the most engagement. Publish more of the blog posts that get more visitors.
Right now, I’ve only told you about 5 kinds of blog posts.
You can read this article to learn about other kinds of blog posts – 21 Types Of Blog Posts To Drive More Traffic To Your Blog.
Getting Traffic To Your Blog
How do I get visitors to my blog?
Getting visitors to a new blog is one of the hardest things to do. But don’t worry, I’m with you, I’ll tell you ways to get traffic to your blog. There are many ways to get visitors to your blog like through emails, direct visitors, advertising, etc.
But the most common 2 ways to get visitors to your blog are through –
- Search engines ( SEO )
- Social Media
Search Engines – Search Engines are the best way to get targeted traffic for your blog. You can get traffic from Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. It’s kinda hard to get traffic from search engines.
Social Media – Getting traffic through social media is easy when compared to getting traffic from search engines. You can share your posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter groups according to your niche.
The more ways in which you can get traffic are mentioned in our other guide, read them here.
How do I get organic traffic from search engines?
You can get traffic from Search Engines by doing Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ). SEO means optimizing your blog for getting visitors from Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing etc.
Implementing SEO on your blog is a hard task. The time it takes to get visitors from Search Engines is around 6 months. However, it’s best to focus on SEO in the long run.
It’s much easier to do SEO when you’re using SEO tools. Some of the best SEO tools are – SEMRush, KW Finder, Ahrefs, etc.
Should I also use social media to get more traffic?
Of Course, Yes. You should use social media to get traffic.
It can be very useful when you can get visitors according to your niche through social media websites. Getting targeted visitors through social media is not so hard.
But you can get visitors by joining groups according to your niche. Help other people and give them a reference to your blog while solving their problems.
Some [Other] Helpful Resources
Here is a list of more articles that will help in starting your blog & becoming a successful blogger –
- 10 Blogging Myths That Every Blogger Should Avoid! – Avoid these myths at all costs.
- How To Become A Successful Blogger [ From Day One! ] – Some tips to become a successful blogger.
- 15 Most Common Blogging Mistakes [ And How To Fix Them ] – Avoid these mistakes, or your blogging journey won’t be a long one.
- 8 Blogging Skills You Must Have For Becoming A Pro Blogger! – Skills that are necessary to become a Pro Blogger!
- 9 Things That Every Blogger Must Do After Launching A Blog! – Launched a new blog? Don’t forget to follow these tips.
Good luck! for your blogging journey… Keep coming back to learn more about blogging.
[ Note – This post contains affiliate links, i.e if you purchase something from our links we will receive a small commission. This will be at no extra cost to you. Please read our disclosure for more info. ]