There is plenty of room on the internet for everyone. People like to share ideas, voice their thoughts, and maybe even try to reach a global audience. How are you positioning yourself to achieve these goals? Well, one way to do this is to start a personal blog. Blogs are super effective for several reasons. Most important among them is that 77% of internet users read blogs, so your potential audience is already out there. Furthermore, creating a WordPress personal blog is not difficult, so why not give it a try?
How do I start a personal blog?
As mentioned before, everyone reads blogs.
Reading: How to create a personal blog for free
If we take a closer look at the stats, most people blog using WordPress. The data tells us that the WordPress platform powers more than 30% of the internet (as in the number of websites built with it).
However, if you are new to blogging or web development, then you maybe don’t you know that WordPress comes in two flavors: WordPress.org (aka the self-hosted) and WordPress.com (which includes hosting but doesn’t have the same flexibility).
There are many others Differences between the two platforms. I’ll summarize the most important ones below to give you an overview.
Check out the full comparison between WordPress.org and WordPress.com here.
In short, if you like If you have full control over your website and want to make sure it stays with you over the long term, WordPress.org is a better choice here. That being said, you don’t actually have to go to the WordPress.org website to get started with the platform. Do this instead:
The Technical Setup of Starting a WordPress Personal Blog
Let’s talk about the actual process of building a personal blog. The very first step in creating a personal blog is hosting. Since there are many good hosting companies, each offering different and attractive packages, it can be difficult to choose one that best suits your blog.
Before we dive into how to set up a personal is starting a blog, below is an overview of the process. Give it a try, then read on as we go into the details of each step:
- Sign up for web hosting (we recommend Bluehost).
- Choose a hosting plan.
- Choose a domain name for your personal blog.
- Finish your hosting registration.
- Make sure that WordPress is registered during the setup of the hosting account has been installed.
- Sign up and write your first blog post.
When you’re ready to sign up for a web hosting account, make sure for using any of the Bluehost links on this page. This is because we’ve teamed up with Bluehost to have a special discount for our readers, which means you only pay $2.75 per month when you first sign up. You will not get this discount if you visit the Bluehost website directly. It’s our thanks to you for choosing us as your go-to source for trusted WordPress-related information and news.
The other nice benefit of using Bluehost is that they install WordPress for you – or if you prefer, let you do it yourself via the user panel. Because of this, you don’t need to go to the WordPress.org website. Installation is done directly through your hosting provider.
All you have to do is select who this hosting provider will be, click the sign-up button, and then follow the procedure. Almost all reputable hosting companies have easy-to-follow instructions for installing WordPress on your blog, and some – like Bluehost – will even pre-install it for you.
You can think of a domain name as a sort of “digital address” for your blog. This is how visitors will identify and access your website. For example, our domain is themeisle.com.
Once you have completed the hosting package registration, you may still need to set up WordPress. As mentioned, this depends on the host you choose. Similar to Bluehost, there are other hosting companies that also offer “WordPress Installation Included” packages, or they give you a one-click installation option when you sign up. The process is very simple. All you need is to fill in some basic information like your site name, your admin username and so on.
What Elements Make an Effective WordPress Personal Blog
If you enjoy writing, having your own blog can be a great outlet. You can create content about anything you want, whenever you want, and share your thoughts with your friends, your network, and complete strangers. If you’re feeling entrepreneurial, you can even use your personal blog to network in your field by writing about the latest developments and your own insights.
Once you start a personal blog, you can add any features and information you deem necessary. However, there are a few elements that all the best personal blogs have in common, such as:
- A focus on blog posts. Unlike static WordPress websites, you want your blog posts to be the center of attention.
- Some personal information about yourself to connect with your audience on a more intimate level.
- Links to your social network, media profiles and general contact information for visitors who follow or want to contact you.
- A blog post format carefully chosen to make each entry easy to read and engaging .
Fortunately, all four of these elements are easy to integrate into your blog. In practice, this means you probably won’t have to use a fancy premium theme or pay extra for all the bells and whistles. Instead, you can opt for free alternatives that are more budget-friendly.
Which theme should you install?
We’ve talked about how to get your personal blog running smoothly in the backend. But now let’s talk a little about the design, which is extremely important for the future readers of your personal blog. First of all, your site navigation should be intuitive. You need to make it easy for people to search your site by providing an organized navigation structure.
The same goes for your post layouts. It doesn’t matter how great your written work is if the way you present it is hard to follow. Your visitors shouldn’t be confused or upset when they land on your posts. Proper presentation is absolutely critical to blogging success.
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One of the most fundamental elements of this presentation is the theme you choose for your blog. Luckily, adding an aesthetic, easy-to-navigate theme to your personal WordPress blog is actually very easy.
It only takes a few quick steps.
The hard part is making the decision which theme to actually go for, because WordPress has a lot of options – and that’s an understatement. Whatever personal criteria are important to you – be it free, good-looking, feature-rich, responsive, minimalistic or something else – you will find several themes to fit your needs. So the answer to the question of which theme to install is quite simple – which one suits you best.
How to install your WordPress theme
When you go to your dashboard , look for the tab labeled Appearance. Click on it and then select the Themes option. This will show you all the themes that WordPress comes preinstalled with:
These themes are free and offer decent startup options for a personal WordPress blog. However, you’ll probably want to use a theme that’s a little less simple and more customizable, like B. Our own Hestia:
This particular theme is based on material design guidelines, giving it a very modern look. It also includes all of the core elements we discussed earlier (like contact information and a personal bio). To set it up, all you have to do is follow a few simple instructions. These instructions also apply to other WordPress themes.
Great tools to improve your personal blogging experience
Besides choosing a hosting provider and a WordPress theme, these are the basic requirements, so to speak When you start a personal blog, you also have access to many additional tools designed to optimize your website.
Some can be used directly from your internet browser, but others require you to use them via Install WordPress dashboard. Fortunately, most of them are very intuitive to use. It certainly helps you to start and maintain a personal blog.
Jetpack
Revive Old Post
Blog Topic Generator
This is a nice online tool created by Hubspot that generates content ideas based on the keywords you are interested in. You write three keywords that you think are relevant to what you want to talk about, and the tool returns five related headlines.
Here’s an additional guide from us on how to come up with good blog post ideas.
BuzzSumo
Another great free tool that tells you which ones themes are popular. Enter a topic you want to write about and BuzzSumo will analyze what content is best for each topic. This tool also shows you the most successful content published by a specific blog. Just enter the blog’s URL and you’ll be presented with a list of the most shared posts.
Grammarly
Install the Grammarly extension in your web browser, then start writing of your post in WordPress. The tool marks almost every mistake in your work. So make sure you check your grammar before hitting publish.A great utility for anyone planning to start a personal blog.
MyStock.Photos
Each blog post requires images. While you can certainly use some of your own images, in most cases you will be using free images found on the internet. MyStock.Photos is Themeisle’s photo collection, and it offers some fantastic, high-quality stock images to use anywhere you want. All of them are free, so please help yourself!
SEO for your personal blog
One of the most overlooked aspects of starting a personal blog that beginners create is ignoring it of SEO (search engine optimization). Simply put, SEO is how a new blogger like you gets more readers to visit their site by improving how posts appear in search engine results.
Let’s say for example you are a dog lover and you start a personal blog about your life with dogs. You write a few posts on various subtopics related to dog care – but then what?
Who will read them besides people in your own social network?
To expand your target audience , your posts on these topics need to show up in search results when people search for them on Google (or other search engines). That’s what SEO is for. In other words,
If the end goal is to get more readers to your personal blog, then SEO is a means to that end.
If all this SEO talk is new, isn’t it If you only vaguely know, then be sure to read our beginner’s essentials for getting started with WordPress SEO.
Choosing a Good SEO Tool
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It’s a comprehensive toolkit that gives you provides access to keyword research tools, backlink checkers, PPC optimization suggestions, competitor ranking tracking, social media stats tracking, and more.
If this is your first time starting a personal blog, you may not know what these terms mean – except maybe “social media statistics”. However, as you spend more time developing your blog, you will quickly become familiar with them. Not only will you become familiar with them, but you’ll likely use at least some of them to grow your audience and increase the impact of your personal blog.
At the very least, you’ll need to use some sort of SEO Site audit tool to check your own website and that is another feature included in SEO Power Suite. All you have to do is register an account with them and you can be using their collection of website auditing tools in minutes.
Did we mention that they have a free mium version?
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Time to write your first post
Once you’ve chosen your WordPress theme and possibly added some plugins, all you have to do is start writing your first blog -Start post. First, look for the Posts → Add New option in your dashboard. This will take you to the WordPress Editor:
Here you can set a title for your post, write about whatever you want, and include images and other media. When you’re done, you can save your work as a draft or publish right away – it’s up to you!
Is a personal WordPress blog a big commitment? How often should you post?
There is no hard and fast rule here. After all, this is also called a “personal blog”.
You don’t have to follow any rules or meet tight deadlines, but you should still try to post at least once a week if possible (but there are also many opposing opinions).
Of course it depends on what you use the blog for. If you’re only using it to get your thoughts down on paper (screen), then you should write every time a great topic comes to mind. If you’re using it to talk about hobbies and want to build a community around it, try to post frequently and on a reasonably reliable schedule – at least weekly.
A personal blog can help you professionally
As said before, even starting a personal blog about your hobbies, for example, can help you shape your thoughts and connect with other people who have the same Love things you do.
But another big reason you should have a personal WordPress blog is professional presence. You might not create your blog just for this purpose, but it can be a nice, unintended side effect.
For example, when you send a resume to a company, including a link to some relevant content you researched yourself and written, you can score some credits with HR, the hiring manager, or whoever is going to interview you. You might even be approached for job opportunities if the right person comes across your site and your content somehow resonates with them.
A personal WordPress blog can also sometimes help you in your career as it will help you build it Personal brand helps your career.
According to a survey by Domain.me:
When you have accounts on different online platforms and social media channels, it can be difficult to create a clear separation between the “personal me” and the “professional me”. Today, companies tend to thoroughly review a potential candidate’s online presence before interviewing or hiring them.
According to CareerBuilder, 40% to 60% of hiring managers use social media to analyze and to gain an overall opinion of potential employees. If they search for you that thoroughly, chances are they’ll find your personal blog.
In short, a good personal blog can help you make a good first impression and increase your chances of getting a Landing increase new opportunities. Potential employers are likely to find your personal blog, making it a solid tool for standing out in a crowded job market. While you may not start a personal blog with that intention, it’s certainly a positive benefit.
Conclusion
Finally, while it’s nice to read other people’s opinions and Stories, it’s very rewarding to create your own content and share it with the world. All your discoveries, your thoughts, your stories… they all can lead to something great. Aside from allowing you to connect with like-minded people who share the same hobbies and interests as you, a personal blog can also open the door to new professional opportunities.
So how do you start a personal blog ? Here’s a summary:
- Choose a platform between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. We recommend the former as you have full control over your website.
- Choose the right WordPress hosting. You don’t need the biggest fish out here for a personal blog. Cheap WordPress hosting is fine.
- Choose a nice theme. There are some beautiful free personal blogging themes to choose from. Install, test and customize various. You can play with their design and find one that ideally suits your website.
- Install some free tools and plugins that will make blogging easier and more efficient.
- Write your first blog post.
- Think about the range of topics you want to tackle. If you don’t know yet and just want to write about random things, that’s a start too. Remember – blogging is a way of expressing yourself.
- Try creating a personal calendar or notebook to keep yourself accountable for a posting schedule. You don’t have to post every day. Once a week is enough. The key is to be consistent.
* This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on any of the product links and then purchase the product, we will receive a small fee. Don’t worry, you’ll still pay the standard amount, so you won’t be charged.
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