Updated January 25, 2023
Looking for an easy guide to starting a blog?
Reading: How to create a blog that’s user run
The step-by-step guide On This page will show you how to create a blog in 20 minutes using only the most basic computer skills.
After completing this guide, you will have a beautiful blog to share with the world.
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This guide is specially made for beginners. I’ll walk you through each and every step, using lots of pictures and videos to explain everything perfectly.
If you get stuck or have any questions at any point, just send me a message and I will I will do my best to help you.
Ready to start? Click here to skip the introduction and start creating your blog now
My name is Scott Chow and today I’m going to show you how to start blogging. I’ve been creating blogs and websites since 2002. During that time I’ve started several of my own blogs and helped hundreds of others do the same.
I know that starting a blog can be overwhelming and intimidating. This free guide is all about blogging for beginners and shows you how to become a blogger with just the most basic computer skills. Whether you’re 8 or 88, you can create your own blog in 20 minutes.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I made a lot of mistakes when I first learned how to create a blog. You can benefit from more than a decade of my experience so you don’t repeat the same mistakes when creating your own blog. I created this free guide so that a complete beginner can learn blogging quickly and easily.
So how do you start a blog?
In you’ll learn how to start a Blog created about 20 minutes by following these steps:
How to start a blog in 6 steps
- Choose a blog name. Choose a meaningful name for your blog.
- Bring your blog online. Register your blog and get hosting.
- Customize your blog. Choose a free blog design template and tweak it.
- WriteYou write a post and people comment on it. This is a good way to connect with people who are interested in the same things as you. Blogging allows you to educate these people based on your experience and it gives you the opportunity to learn from your readers too.
- Try a different domain extension. If the .com version is already registered, you may still be able to get the .net or .org version of the name .
- You register your custom domain name for free and make sure no one else can take it.
- They have a 30-day money-back guarantee if you are unsatisfied for any reason.
- They offer a free, automatic installation of WordPress blogging software (which I’ll show you how to use in this guide).
- They provide reliable web hosting recommended by WordPress since 2005 and they currently host over 2 million blogs and websites.
- They have helpful 24/7 customer support via phone or web chat.
- If you already have a domain name and want to use it for your blog, enter Enter your existing domain name in the right field and then click “Next”. Only use the right field if you have previously paid to register a domain!
- Each BlueHost account plan has everything you need to get your blog up and running, including a free custom domain name, a simple WordPress -Installation, web hosting and custom email addresses (e.g. [email protected]).
- I uncheck the boxes next to the package extras except “Domain privacycom/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/create-account.jpg” alt=”Set up account and password” />
Once you have done this, you will be taken to an installation wizard. Since you following this tutorial, you can just click “Skip this step” on the next few pages to go directly to the dashboard.
7. Install the WordPress blogging Platform .
See also: How to Start a Blog
Now the system will automatically install WordPress. Once the installation is complete, click the “Login to WordPress” button at the top right to log in to your blog’s admin panel.
Are you having problems? b when installing your blog? Get help here.
Step 3: Customize your blog
How do I start a blog? You can watch me build and customize a beautiful blog from scratch here:
The video above should answer many of the questions you may have about setting up and customizing a blog. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of some of the things I show in the video.
Sign In
If you’re not already signed in from the previous step, go to Bluehost.com and click “Login” at the top right to enter the login screen. You can then log in with your domain name and the password you set in the previous step. If you’ve misplaced your password, you can reset it by clicking the Forgot Password link.
Once you’ve logged in, you become your BlueHost portal forwarded. From the portal, you can click the blue “WordPress” button to be automatically logged in to your WordPress blog.
Changing Your Blog Theme
Once you log in, you are in the WordPress dashboard. This is where you can make any changes you want to your blog.
Everyone has a different idea of what their blog should look like. One of the great things about WordPress is that you can change your entire layout and theme with just a few clicks.
In WordPress, blog layouts are called “themes”. What is a blog topic? Themes control the overall design of your WordPress blog. To change your theme, click the Appearance tab in the left menu.
You will see that several free WordPress themes are already installed on your blog: Twenty Seventeen, Twenty Sixteen, etc. These are well-designed, clean-looking themes that can work for almost any type of blog. In fact, many of the world’s top bloggers use one of these themes.
If you don’t have a very specific design in mind for your blog, I suggest that you use one of these themes to start . Let’s use the Twenty Sixteen WordPress theme for our example. To activate the theme on your blog, hover over the theme and click the Activate button. That’s it! You changed the entire theme of your blog in just one click!
If you don’t like one of the themes already installed, you can easily choose from thousands of other free WordPress themes. To install a new WordPress theme, click the Appearance tab in the left menu, then click Add New Theme.
This is the WordPress theme search screen. There are thousands of themes to choose from. You can change your entire theme at any time simply by activating a new WordPress theme. To find a topic you like, I suggest you click on the Popular tab and start browsing. If you find one you like, click the blue Install button.
Once the theme is installed, click Activate to activate the theme on your blog. To see your new theme in action, go to your blog and take a look!
Changing your theme is the easiest way to customize your WordPress blog, but there are many other customizations you can do you can do. Check out my full post on customizing your WordPress blog for a detailed step-by-step guide. You can also watch the video above to see how I completely customize a WordPress blog from scratch.
Step 4: How to write a new blog post
You will see that there is already a post there. This is a standard post on every new WordPress blog and we don’t need it. To delete it, click Trash just below the post.
To start writing a new post, click on the “Add new” link.
You are now on the post editor screen. Type the title of your post in the top box, then start writing your post in the bottom box.
If you want to add an image to your post, click the Add Image icon and click “Upload” on it to upload an image from your computer. The next screen allows you to make adjustments to the image size. When you’re done, click “Insert into post” to add the image.
Once you’ve finished your post, simply click the “Publish” button at the top right of the screen to publish the new post to publish.
Content your blog should contain
There are two main types of content your blog should provide: static and dynamic content.
Static Content: Your blog should contain some essential pages that are specifically designed to provide the visitor with the tools they need. The content of these pages is static, meaning the content doesn’t change, or at least not very often. These are primarily top-level pages that can be accessed from a menu on your blog.
These static content pages should be in place well before you launch your blog globally.
Important static pages to include:
- About me (us) – This page should contain a biographical summary of the author(s) and a mission statement. Think about the answers to these questions: How did your passion for the subject develop? What do you want to convey to the world? What is your ultimate goal?
- Contact me (us) – A contact page provides a place for the visitor to reach out to the author, which in turn gives them peace of mind that you are a real and available writer. You can add your physical address, phone number, and custom email address. Or you can use a simple contact form to keep your personal information private. This is also where you should put links to all your social media profiles.
Besides your blog, which is usually featured on the home page/main page, these two extremely important pages should be visible in your top menu (header) and easily accessible. You can see how I included these pages in the header menu at the top of this page. Check out this detailed guide on customizing your blog menus if you need help.
Other static pages that are equally important but less commonly considered are:
- Disclaimer Page: If you intend to monetize your blog, you must describe how you intend to generate revenue. This is an absolute must have site that should not be overlooked as per FTC guidelines. For example, if you want to discuss and support a product and benefit from it by linking to the product, that relationship must be disclosed.
- Privacy Policy: If you collect data from your visitors in some way, you need to add a privacy policy that tells visitors exactly how you collect data, how you use it, and whether you share that data. If you implement Google Adsense or a Google Analytics account on your blog, a privacy policy must be used. This page is required by CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and is included by default on your WordPress blog.
- Terms of Service : If your blog also runs a shop or offers services, it’s a good idea to have a Terms of Service page to reduce your potential liability.
These required static pages are usually linked in a blog’s footer menu. They should at least be visible and accessible from the home page. Take a look back at the bottom of this page to see how this works in practice.
There are other static pages you can include depending on what suits your blog and business. Common examples of static pages include an advertising page to solicit paid advertising, a donation page, a resource page to direct visitors to your favorite links in your space, and an idea and content submission page.
Dynamic Content: Your dynamic content is your blog and the most important content you have to offer.Here, as the creator, you will fill the blog with your brand’s informative content that will provide your audience with knowledgeable tips, facts, opinions, and stories. Here’s how to engage your visitors and keep them coming back.
Your blog content should be submitted at regular intervals. Waiting months for content creation will never build a following. Posting content weekly and driving traffic to those posts will help build your brand.
How to write great blog content
Every post should be long, informative, and engaging. Coming up with new blog post ideas on a regular basis isn’t always easy, and you’re free to change the tone and even the subject to keep things lively and interesting. After all, it’s your space. But there are a few elements that every piece of content should contain.
Define the content: Create an engaging post title that sparks curiosity and encourages clicks. Use the first paragraph of your post to clearly define the topic of your article and to provide a potential hook to keep the reader reading.
The longer the better – but break up it on: The more information and details you provide, the better. But visitors will start skimming if the content contains miles of paragraphs and will jump out faster than they got in. Visitors enjoy treats. Keep your paragraphs short with spaces between them, use lists and prominent citations, use images, and always add headings and subheadings so visitors can find what they’re looking for.
See also: Create or edit a hyperlink
Engagement The Reader : At the end of each post, a common visitor retention tactic is to ask your audience a meaningful question and ask them to respond in the comments. This simple action can increase engagement tenfold.
Original content: Your content should always be original. Never plagiarize – you will eventually be pointed out and could even face consequences. Your content should come from your heart, your brain, your knowledge base and your experience. You can get topic ideas from others in your field, but make sure the content is yours.
Original Photos: While it’s easy to incorporate stock images from free image sites , but it’s even better to include your own photos and graphic work. Another idea is to take free images and edit them with a free image editor.
Edit your work: Your blog content should be sufficiently edited. Nothing says unprofessional like multiple typographical and grammatical errors. If you need a few grammar refresher courses, consider using a writing application.
Publishing your blog
Even after you’ve written a post, your blog may still show one placeholder page.
When you’re ready to start publishing your blog for the first time, simply click “Home” in the top-left menu of your WordPress dashboard, then click “Start with Confidence”. Click the blue “Launch Website” button to remove the placeholder page and launch your blog.
Congratulations! Now you know how to start your own blog and start publishing content!
Step 5: Promote your blog
Creating a well-designed blog and writing great content is just that Beginning. In order to attract traffic to your blog, you need to spend some time promoting it, especially when you’re just starting out.
The following strategies will help you get your blog in front of more readers. You don’t have to use every strategy – try a few and see what works for you.
Notify your inner circle
The very first people to notice yours should blog are your closest circle. This includes family, friends and colleagues in your area. Encourage them to follow, ask them to mention your new blog, and most importantly, thank them.
Use social media
You want it but don’t overdo it still want to create accounts on the “biggies” like facebook, twitter, youtube, pinterest and instagram. You should post a link to your most recent content in your accounts, but you can also post relevant news and links to other sources that your readers might find interesting. Don’t forget to use hashtags and engage with your followers!
One of my favorite ways to get traffic to my blog is by posting links on my social accounts like Facebook and Twitter. This is great because not only do your friends see the link, but when your friends share the link with their friends, your number of visitors automatically multiplies. If you’ve created quality content on your blog, social media is one way for your blog to go viral.
Comment on other blogs
Find other blogs in your community and engage with them. Introduce yourself in the comments section and leave engaging and constructive comments. Many allow you to post a link to your blog.After you develop relationships with prominent bloggers in your community, you’ll quickly find yourself among their ranks.
Interact with your visitors
When your readers leave comments on your posts, engage you always with them . Respond to their comments and questions, give them likes and affirmations. Of course, if it’s obvious that the author cares about his/her community and readership, visitors are encouraged to come back.
Collaborate with other bloggers
Connect in yours blogging community by collaborating with respected members of your field. Collaboration includes guest posting, promoting each other’s blogs and products, and regularly interacting via comments and social media.
Regular Posting
Regular posting of content. Create an editorial calendar and stick to it. A good blogger starts out by posting at least once a week. If you have long breaks between posts, your followers will drop and your growth will be severely hampered. Posting on a schedule isn’t easy, but it’s important to stick to it.
Build an email list
You don’t just want new visitors to your blog win to ensure your current visitors keep coming back. This is where email marketing plays a big role. By collecting your visitors’ email addresses (with their permission, of course) you can notify them when you post new content to your blog. This keeps people coming back to your blog, which not only gets you more readers over time, but also builds a closer relationship with your visitors.
Email marketing is too big a topic to cover it well here, so I created a separate guide on email marketing for those interested (tip: any blogger who wants to get more readers should read this guide).
Optimize your blog for search engines
You want your blog to appear in search results as quickly as possible.
Google: Sign up to be a Google Webmaster account and open Search Console. To add your blog, click Add Property and follow the steps to add your blog.
Bing: Sign up for a Bing webmaster account and add Add your blog.
Submitting your blog is the first step in a process known as search engine optimization (SEO).
Remember, your traffic will come with a brand new Blog will be minimal from the start. However, this will change over time as long as you continue to add informative and relevant content on a regular basis.
To streamline this process, each page of your blog should contain the following basic elements:
- Header tags: Section headings and subheadings should be enclosed in header tags. To do this, click on the left element of the block you are writing in and change it to “Heading”. You can then choose between H1, H2, H3, etc.
- Categorization: Your content should be clearly classified into specific and relevant categories. On the post editor screen, click “Document” in the right menu, then go down to “Categories” and “Add New Category”.
- Permalinks: Each blog post is “slug “. the end part of the URL. You want to make sure each post has a defined slug and doesn’t end with an article number. You can easily change this from your WordPress dashboard by going to “Settings” –
I go into the full details of setting up Google Adsense for your WordPress blog here.
Sell Affiliate Products
An affiliate program is one Commission-based way to advertise. When one of your readers clicks a link on your blog, they’re taken to an advertiser’s site, and you get a commission if they buy something. Affiliate links are a great way to generate revenue by leveraging product reviews. However, you must remember to indicate that you are an affiliate of the product.
Sell products and services
Selling your own products and services directly on your blog is a great way to to grow your income. As your blog grows and you start reaching a wide audience, your products and services will sell themselves.
Use your blog’s sidebar to increase the visibility of your offering with visual images and a link to increase to your storefront page.
Sell digital downloads
E-books, video tutorials and e-courses are the most common digital materials sold by bloggers. With little to no overhead and no shipping costs, you can keep the price low and inviting.
If you’re very knowledgeable in your field, an e-book can practically write itself. Give it a try, you might be surprised!
Sell Memberships
Another way to make money is to create membership options on your blog. This allows you to offer members more exclusive content that is only available with a paid membership. For example, you could offer unlimited downloads of digital goods, free consultations, a private network or forum for community members to share, and private content available only to members.
There are many options How a Blog Can Profit from Popularity and Traffic. Choosing how to make money from your blog depends on your goals and the purpose of your blog. For example, those who sell services, physical goods, and digital goods may not want to participate in affiliate programs where traffic could be lost to another website.
For more information, see my full money-making guide here blogging
Need more help?
I hope this guide has answered any questions you had about starting your blog, but if any of the steps were unclear to you, you can do Find a more detailed version of each step using the menu at the top right of this page (or at the bottom of this page if you are using a smartphone).
Other specific tutorials can be found on my blog page. Here are some of the most popular tutorials from my blog:
- How to add custom logos or images
- How to see how many people are visiting your blog
- How to switch from WordPress.com to WordPress.org
- How to build a website with WordPress
- How to automatically share your new content on Facebook and Twitter
- How to choose the best website builder
- How to link to other websites from your blog
- How to change text size and color
- So create your blog private
Contact me if you have any problems and I will personally reply to your email. The step-by-step Instructions on this site should give you everything you need to get started, but if you run into any problems or just want some personal advice, please don’t hesitate to contact me anytime. Blogging is my passion and I’d love to talk to you about it!
Blogging FAQ
Do you have some unanswered questions about blogging? Below are the most common questions I get about starting a new blog. If you don’t find the answer to your question here, feel free to email me through my contact page or leave a comment below.
Click on a question to read the answer:
See also: How to Add a Database to a Website
What makes a successful blog?
What do you need to start a blog?
What should my blog be about?
How do I find a profitable niche for my blog?
What do I name my blog?
What do you do if your domain name is taken?
Where is the best place to start a blog?
How much does it cost to start a blog?
Do bloggers make money?
How are bloggers paid?
Should I start my blog on WordPress?
Is WordPress free?
How often should I blog?
Why do blogs fail?
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Ready to start? Click here to go to step 1 of the guide
What is a blog anyway?
In short, a blog is a type of website that focuses primarily on written content, also known as blog posts. In popular culture, we mostly hear about celebrity news blogs or blog sites, but as you’ll see in this guide, you can start a successful blog on almost any topic you can think of.
Bloggers often write from a personal perspective, which allows them to connect directly with their readers. In addition, most blogs also have a “comments” section where visitors can correspond with the blogger. Interacting with your visitors in the comments section helps foster the connection between the blogger and the reader.
This direct connection to the reader is one of the main benefits of starting a blog. This connection allows you to interact and share ideas with other like-minded people. It also allows you to build trust with your readers. The trust and loyalty of your readers also opens the door to making money from your blog, which I’ll cover later in this guide.
The good news is that the internet is exploding right now. More people than ever are online. This growth explosion means more potential readers for your blog. In short, if you’re thinking about starting a blog, there’s no better time than now.
Let’s start your blog!
Step 1 : Choose a blog name
If you’re not sure what to name your blog or what topic to blog about, skip ahead to the next section.
If you already have an idea for the name of your blog, you can check if nobody has registered it yet:
Check if your blog name is available:
Note: It cannot use spaces or punctuation other than hyphens in a domain name.
If you find that the name you want is already taken, there are a few things you can do:
Add small words. Words like “a”, “my”, “best” or “the”. For example, this website is called TheBlogStarter.com instead of BlogStarter.com.Add hyphens between words. For example scott-chow.com
To select a blog topic
If you plan to create a personal blog where you will discuss a variety of topics, I recommend using your name or some variation of it, as your blog is all about you. For example, I own the blog scottchow.com. You can also add your middle name or middle initial if you find your name is already taken. Or you could use a variation like “Scott Chow Blog” or “Blogging with Scott”.
Can’t decide on a good name for your blog? Contact me and I’ll help you personally (for free)!
Once you have some name ideas, you need to choose a domain extension. A .com domain extension is most preferred, but .net or .org will also work. It’s also important to note that for the purposes of a blog domain, you can’t have spaces between words. So Blogging with Scott becomes bloggingwithscott.com
Step 2: Put your blog online
Now that you’ve chosen a name, it’s time to start your blog to put online. This may sound harsh or technical, but the following steps will walk you through it and make the process easy.
To get your blog up and running you need two things: blog hosting (aka web hosting) and blogging -Software. The good news is that these usually come packaged together.
A blog host is a company that stores all the files for your blog and delivers them to the user when they type in your blog name. You must have a blog host to have a blog.
You also need the software to create your blog. In this guide I will show you how to create a blog using WordPress blogging software as it is the most popular, customizable and easy to use.
The web host I recommend and the one I recommend Showing you how to use it in this guide is BlueHost. I personally use BlueHost and recommend it to all new bloggers because:
Use any BlueHost link on this website to get the special discount price of $2.75 per month.
Disclosure: BlueHost compensates The Blog Starter if you make purchases through this link, so my services are free to you! If you have any trouble setting up a blog with this tutorial, just contact me and I’ll do it for you (it’s free!).
1. Click here to get the special price of $2.75 per month on BlueHost, then click “Start Now”.
2. Choose your plan. I recommend the Basic plan for beginner bloggers. Click Select to choose your plan.
3. Enter your domain name in the left field, then click Next to begin the registration process.
4. Enter your billing information on the registration page.
5. You’ll also need to choose your hosting plan and options.
