HERE’S HOW TO START A BLOG
Blogging is a popular pastime for many creatives around the world. Although not as popular as it was back in the day, you can still find thousands of blogs all around the internet. There is a blog for everything!
If you are thinking of starting a blog and showcasing some of you out there, this is the article for you. We have put together ways in which you can successfully launch a blog along with strategies for your blog’s success.
PLAN OUT THE ENTIRE BLOG!
The first thing to figure out when starting a blog is what it is going to be about, the ‘niche’ of your blog so to say. Unless you are running an information site (like ours), it is better to keep the blog concise, especially if it is a personal blog. The mroe specific your blog is, the more depth and nuance it will have.
Next you need to come up with a unique and catchy name for your blog. You can either use your full name or you can come up with a different creative name.
As soon as you have decided on a name for your blog, check if the username is available on other social media sites. PLAN AHEAD. You will need to decide on a theme for your social media and match it with your actual blog so that everything is streamlined and easy later on. Decide on pages and what kind of articles are going to be there, plan out everything.
Create your Blog
Now for the main part. Take a deep breath. Unless you have a technical background it is completely normal to be intimidated by everything thar you will see. We have listed important terms below and given a step-by-step guide on creating an website.
You will have to either make a free website from wordpress or wix, or self-host wordpress. We recommened self-hosted wordpress because this way you own the website and can make money from it later. Though it takes a very tiny amount of investment, it is worth it.
Here are some unfamiliar terms you may come across when making your website.
Domain: Your domain is your web address, your home on the internet. When people type your domain into the web address bar, they’ll land on your blog.
WordPress: WordPress is a web-creation platform which is installed to your hosting account. It’s where you go to run your blog, just like opening a program on your computer. It allows you to create a blog, change the look of it, publish posts, pages and run an online store.
Hosting – Web hosting is the service that makes your blog appear live online at your domain. If you didn’t pay for web hosting and went straight to your domain, nothing would be showing there. All your website files (your theme, posts, images, content) that you upload to WordPress are pushed live by your hosting.
Using Bluehost
Bluehost is a great place to start. If you sign up for hosting with Bluehost, they’ll include your domain for free and connect it with your blog straight away – you don’t have to worry about purchasing your domain somewhere else and any other complicated technical steps. They also install WordPress for you as you’re signing up. Go to blue host and a pick a plan suitable to you.
Choose a domain for your blog
After picking a plan, you will have to choose a domain. It can be annoying sometimes since your domain needs to be unique. Keep it short and sweet but relavant to your blog topic.
After choosing domain, youll have to fill in some info and create your password. After all of this is done and you have put in the payment method, you’re ready to design your website.
USING WORDPRESS
After your password has been created, Bluehost automatically installs WordPress. You will be asked to select a theme – choose what you think expresses your blog best. If you want you can install third-party themes or even design your own inside wordpress. If you are artsy then the latter can be a viable option. Otherwise just choose from thousands of wordpress themes available in the web.
After putting in your theme, your website is ready to go.
STYLING AND POSTING TIPS
You should add an about page to your blog as well as a contact info so that viewers get an idea of what your blo is about. Add profile piuctures, share widgets to your articles and some pictures. Make the website attractive!
It is a good idea to design or have someone design a logo too. Decide what you want to keep in the sidebar and put in all the necessary pages (you can find it in your wordpress dashboard).
Your blog is now ready to go, promote it as much as you can in social media. Post articles that are heartfelt and true to you. You can even advertise it in social media to get more traffic. (Social media advertising is surprisinlgy cheap). After this point, the more effort you put into your post, the better your blog will be.
We hope this article helped you out and cleared most of your confusions about starting a blog. Best of luck, we are rooting for you!
