Are you looking for a free, easy, step-by-step guide on how to start a blog?
My free guide on this page will show you how to create a blog that is beautiful and functional, all in an easy step-by-step tutorial.
Ready to start the simple step-by-step tutorial?
I launched many of my own blogs at that time and helped hundreds of others to do the same.
Overwhelming and bullying, I know that starting a blog can seem. This free guide will teach you to be a blogger with only the most basic computer skills and bloggers for beginners. So if you’re 8 or 88, in less than 20 minutes, you can create a blog of your own.
I’m not embarrassed that I made a lot of mistakes when I first started to create a blog. You can benefit from over a decade of my experience so that when you make your own blog, you do not repeat these same mistakes. I have created this free guide so everyone can quickly and easily learn how to blog. And if at any point you ‘re stuck, please send me a message and I’ll do my best to help!
Table of Contents
What is a blog anyway?
Briefly, a blog is a type of website mainly focussed on written content, also called blog posts. We mostly hear about news blogs and celebration blog sites in popular culture, but you can start a successful blog about just about any imaginable subject, as you can see in this guide.
Bloggers often write from a personal point of view that enables them to contact their readers directly. Moreover, the majority of blogs also have a “comments” section where readers can match the blogger. The connections between the blogger and the reader are enhanced by the communication with your readers in the comment section.
One of the key benefits of beginning a blog is the immediate contact with the blogger. This link allows you to interact with people of the same mind and to share ideas with others. You can build confidence with your readers, too. With your readers’ trust and commitment, you can even make money from the blog, which I will explore in this guide later.
Should you start a blog?
One of the misunderstandings about starting a blog is that you have to be a brilliant blogger. Nothing should go beyond the facts. Blog sites are read to get a personal view, so many bloggers write in a very informal and conversational way.
Moreover, to have a successful blog you do not have to be an expert on your topic. For example, readers of a cooking blog don’t want to read a food scientist’s textbook, want to know the experiences of someone who has cooked real meals, mistakes, and everything.
There is only one need to succeed as a blogger: a passion for your subject.
Blogging is about information sharing with the community. The choice of a theme you love makes it so much easier to start a successful blog. It’s also perfect to write about more than one subject. As long as you write about the things you really want, your passion will shine through and interest your readers.
Then why are you going through blogging trouble? There are many explanations for this:
- Get money from home. Make money from home. If you do correctly, blogging can be very lucrative. The world’s top bloggers obviously earn a lot, but if the thing is handled correctly only a part-time blogger might make a decent income. The great thing about that is blogging is passive income as a blog post can only be published for a handful of hours a week, and then you can start earning money even after the blog post has been posted. Later in this guide, I will go into much more detail about how to blog money.
- Share your story. A blog allows you to have a voice and be heard. You can share your story with the entire world if you so choose. One of the most common ways blogs are used are as a diary where the blogger writes about their daily experiences so that friends, family, and others can all be a part of their lives.
- You or your business acknowledgment. Sure, regardless of your new blog entry, you certainly won’t have paparazzi behind you. But you can gain a lot of attention from a good blog in your field. Most bloggers only have their blogs recognized as authors, and others also make their websites using books and movie sales.
- Choose a culture. Seek a culture. It’s social to blog at your cores. You ‘re writing a blog post and people are talking about it. This is an excellent way to communicate with people interested in the same things that you are. Blogging helps you to learn about your experience and provides you a chance to hear about your audience.
The good news is that the internet is exploding with growth right now. More people than ever are online. This explosion in growth means more potential readers for your blog. In short, if you are thinking about starting a blog then there is no better time than right now.
So, just how do you start a blog?
How to Start a Blog in 5 Steps
Learn how to create a blog in about 20 minutes following these steps:
- Pick a blog name. Choose something descriptive.
- Get your blog online. Register your blog and get hosting.
- Customize your blog. Choose a free template and tweak it.
- Write & publish your first post. The fun part!
- Promote your blog. Get more people to read your blog.
- Make money blogging. Choose from several options to monetize your blog.
Let’s start your blog!
Step 1: Pick a blog name
You choose your topic as the first step towards finding a good blog name.
There are a few ways to find a good blog topic if you’re not sure what to blog about:
- Passions and interests. You ‘re excited about hobbies or other passions is a perfect starting point. The classic examples are food, flying, clothes, sports, and cars. But even blogs about darker hobbies can be successful because the Internet literally makes your audience anybody in the world.
- Life experiences. All have benefited from the experience of living. In similar situations, sharing this knowledge can be incredibly helpful. I helped a woman to start her blog recently as, for example, a firefighter ‘s wife. She has much expertise and information on this subject to share with others and it has helped her interact with other people in similar circumstances. This can apply to your families(e.g. a blog about a stay in your home mom), job, or other life events (a blog about a difficult time, like an illness, a breakup, aha, or more), and a blog about your children.
- A personal blog. A personal blog is a blog all about you. This will include a variety of topics, from things you do on a daily basis, to random thoughts and musings. This is a great way to share your thoughts with the world without having to stick to just one topic.
Once you have a topic it’s time to choose your blog name.
Step 2: Get your blog online
The program you need to create your blog is also available. In this guide, I will show you how to build a blog using blogging software from WordPress since this is the most popular, personalizable, and easiest to use.
SiteGround is my blog host and I’ll teach you how to use it in this article. I use SiteGround personally and recommend it to all new bloggers because:
- You’ll sign for free your blog name to make sure nobody else will recognize it.
- The WordPress blogging software is available for free and easy installation (that I show you how to use in this guide).
- Since 2005, they are recommended by WordPress and now host more than 2 million blogs and websites.
Step 3: Customize your blog
Logging in
If you are not already logged in, go to siteground.com and click “Login” on the top right to bring up the login screen. You can then log in using your domain name and the password you set in the previous step. If you have misplaced your password you can reset it by clicking the “Forgot Password” link.
Once you log-in you will be taken to your Siteground Portal. From the portal, you can click “Log in to WordPress” to be logged-in automatically to your blog.
Step 4: How to write a blog post & publish it
Now it’s time for your blog to actually do some blogging!
Click the “Posts” button from the menu on the left.
You’ll see that there’s a message already. This is a standard posting on any new WordPress blog and we need it not. Click on the “Trash” button below the post to delete it.
Click the “Add Fresh” button to start writing a new message.
Now you’re on the page of the post writer. In the top box enter the title of your post and start writing it in the bottom box.
Click on the ‘Add image’ icon to add an image to your post and click ‘Upload’ to upload an image to your computer. On the next page, you can change the image scale.
Publish Your Blog
Even after you have written a post your blog may still be showing a “Coming Soon” page.
When you are ready to make your blog public just click the “Siteground” menu at the top left of the menu in your administrator area then click the blue “Launch” button to remove the “Coming Soon” page.
Congratulations! You now know how to start your own blog and publish content!
Step 5: Promote your blog
Just the beginning is to create a well-designed blog and write great content. You’ll need to spend some time promoting your blog in order to get readers, especially if you start first.
One of my favorite ways to get readers to my blog is to post links to my Facebook and Twitter social media accounts. This is great, as your friends not only see the link, they also automatically multiply your readers if your friends share their link with them. If you create high-quality content on your blog, social media is an excellent way to make your blog viral.
You also want to make sure your current readers coming back as well as getting new readers to your blog. Email marketing is an important part of this. You will alert them when you post something new to your blog by gathering your visitors’ email addresses with their permission, of course. This keeps people going back to your blog, which not only helps you to establish better connections with your followers but also connects you with more visitors over time.
Email marketing is a topic too broad to address as well, but for those who want to learn, I have developed a special email marketing guide (hint: any blogger who needs more followers must read this guide).
For more tips on promoting your blog make sure to check out my in-depth guide to blog promotion.
Also Read: How to Write your First Blog Post & Publish