How to Start a Blog in 7 Steps [For Beginners]

Do you want to start a blog and looking for a simple process to quickly set up your blog? This guide will provide you with the complete information and help you to start & set up your blog today.

You might be thinking that starting your blog is a tough job, however, it is simple to start a blog. You just need to make it clear in your mind that you want to start your blog that can make passive income.

The information and resources that you will need to start your blog are discussed and explained in this post. You can easily start your blog by following the 7 steps mentioned in this guide.

It is useful to understand that starting your blog as a beginner is not a simple task for you. Therefore, we will help you in this, through a systematic process to set up your blog website with the best resources.

This guide will provide the complete information that you need to start your blog from scratch. So, follow the process and create your blog today with the best resources to make money with blogging.

Disclosure: If you purchase after clicking links in this article, I may make a referral income, at no cost to you.

Brief Introduction to Blogging:

Blogging means creating content in the form of blogs to provide useful and insightful information to your audience. It is an effective way to start your online business with small steps and limited investment.

There are different types of blogging like professional blogging, personal blogging, and blogging for business. You can choose anyone to start your blog and achieve your personal & business goals with your blog.

What do you need to start your money-making blog:

• Brand & Domain Name
• Web Hosting Platform
• WordPress Theme
• WordPress Plugins
• Content Planning

Blogging helps you to get organic traffic on your website from the search engines with your content and keywords. It is one of the best methods to attract free and organic traffic to your website with SEO.

You get multiple opportunities with Blogging to make money and to develop your personal & professional brand. It is a useful method to earn passive income with your knowledge and good quality content.

It’s simple to start your blog and to make money with blogging. Check the following process to quickly start your blog.

Check this Smart Blogging Sheet to Quickly Start a Blog:

These are the most important components of a blog that you need to start a blog. If you are looking to start your blog right now! Check the following:

#1. Blog Domain Name

The name of your blog is the key to your blog because the right domain name will help you in many things. It includes Blog Promotion, SEO, Audience Targeting, and Brand Awareness.

Check – Namecheap is the best place to find the right domain name for your new blog with multiple options at the best price.

#2. Website Hosting

Web Hosting helps your blog to host the content and make it accessible on the internet for your audience. You need to pick the right Web Hosting because it will help you to make your blog successful.

Check – Bluehost, which is one of the best web hosting platforms for the new blogs and websites at the best price.

#3. WordPress Theme

WordPress Themes are the ready-to-use website layout that you can use to create your blog or website. It provides easy-to-use editing and designing options without any requirement of website code editing.

Check – Thrive Themes is the best WP Theme provider for your blog or website. It also provides a free website editing tool – Divi that makes website editing easier for beginners.

#4. WordPress Plugins

WordPress Plugins are the software functions developed for WordPress websites that help in managing and editing the WP websites. Plugins help the users to easily manage a WordPress website.

Check this list of best WordPress Plugins for Blogging that will help you to effectively manage your blog and make it successful.

Check These 7 Steps to Start Your Blog:

These are the 7 steps that you need to follow to create a successful blog. You can easily set up your blog on WordPress by following these simple steps. It will also help you in setting up your blog simply and easily.

Let’s start creating your blog with:

Step #1: Find Your Blogging Niche

Blogging Niche means a particular audience that has some specific need or wants for a particular item or product. It is your audience who will be visiting your website and reading the content to get useful information.

The right blogging niche is essential to make your blog successful in the long term because of multiple factors. Some factors are competition, knowledge about the niche, target audience, earning opportunities, and more.

You need to find a good and profitable blogging niche to make a successful blog. You can check the following mentioned points to get some good ideas to choose the right niche for your blog.

Check the following details to choose the best blogging niche:

• Your Passion & Interest
• Audience of your Blog
• Competition in the Niche
• Your Expertise & Knowledge
• Future Demand for your Content
• Monetization Opportunities

There are two types of topics that you can choose for your blog niche – single topics and multiple topics. Each one has its pros and cons that you can check to find the best option for your blog and content planning.

You can choose a single topic-focused niche as a beginner because it will help you to develop your online brand. There are multiple benefits of a blog focused on a single topic like quality content, thought leadership, and limited competition.

However, you can also explore the niche-focused on multiple topics to create a broad information-providing blog for your audience. Some of the best examples of blogs focused on multiple topics are newspaper and magazine websites.

Step #2: Blog Domain & Web Hosting

When you have found the best blogging niche for your blog. You might be looking for the step to start your blog without any delay – it’s getting your Web Hosting. This step will help you to set your blog on WordPress with Bluehost.

There are two most important things that you need to start your blog which is Domain Name and Web Hosting. Your domain name provides a unique identity to your blog and web hosting helps you to host all your content.

Thus, web hosting and domain name are very important for you to start and develop your blog. Bluehost provides one of the best Web Hosting plans for your website with a FREE Domain Name which is also recommended by WordPress.

Why Bluehost is the best web hosting for beginners:

• Free Domain Name
• Free SSL Certificate Protection
• Easy WordPress Installation
• Unlimited Disk Storage
• Unmetered Bandwidth
• Free Site Migration
• WordPress Website Builder
• 24*7 Customer Support
• MySQL Databases & PHP 7
• 30 Days Money Back Guarantee

If you are a blogging beginner and looking for the right web hosting option at the best price. You can go with Bluehost (75% off) and get the features like Free Domain Name, Free SSL Certificate, and 1-Click WordPress Installation.

Check the following process to start your blog with Bluehost:

You can follow this step-by-step process to create your blog on WordPress right now. Let’s create a blog with Bluehost.

Get Started with Bluehost: You can click on the link to go to Bluehost.com and claim the exclusive offer – Free Domain + WordPress Hosting. It will take you to the Bluehost website and the web hosting page. Click on – Get Started.

Choose the Best Plan: There are different web hosting plans available and you can choose the best hosting plan for your website. However, if you are a beginner and looking for the best option.

You can go with the BASIC plan because it provides all the features that you need as a beginner.

Get your FREE Domain: The next step is to set up your domain with your web hosting. You will get a FREE domain name with Bluehost that you can choose now or later. Bluehost also facilitates you to set up an already existing domain.

Fill in the Account Information: Next, you have to fill in the account information and details like your name, address, city, country, phone number, and email. Bluehost will send the receipt of payment to your email.

Check your Package Information: You can check the package information that you will get with Bluehost hosting plan. It includes the details about the pricing of hosting, domain name, and an SSL certificate.

There are package extras also available that you can skip to reduce your cost and to save some money. You just need to pick Domain Privacy to make your domain information secure.

Choose the Payment Option: There are two options available that you can check to make payment for your web hosting plan. You can click on the more payment options to make the payment with your Credit Card or PayPal.

Make the Payment: Once, you make the payment and it will get successful. Bluehost will set up your blog in the next 10 minutes and you can create your account on Bluehost.

Create your Password: The next step is to create and save your password for your Bluehost account. You can create a strong password and check Bluehost’s Privacy Policy & Terms of Services.

Login into Your Account: You are now ready to log in to your hosting account and install WordPress with Bluehost.

Set up your Website: You will get the option to create your website with the following questions to get useful recommendations from Bluehost.

• What kind of site are you creating?
• What type is it?
• Who are you creating a site for?

Then, move to the next step with the Continue button.

Choose your WordPress Theme: Now, you need to choose a WordPress Theme for your website. A WordPress Theme defines the layout, colors, and look n feel of your website. You can check and go with Astra Themes and move to the next step.

Note: Changing a website theme is very easy, you can easily change it later whenever you want.

Install WordPress on Bluehost: Finally, you are all set to install WordPress with Bluehost. In a few minutes, your WordPress website will be ready and you can set up your blog.

Check your Bluehost Dashboard: Once, WordPress is installed, you can check your Bluehost dashboard and explore all the details of your WordPress website. Also, you can Log in to WordPress to check the backend of your website.

Note: Sometimes, it takes time to completely set up and to make your website live, so it might take a few minutes to show your website live on the internet.

You do not need to worry because it will automatically start showing your website live after some time. It is part of the process. Once, your website gets live – you can set up and customize your blog with new themes and plugins.

Step #3: Set up your Blog on WordPress

You have successfully created your blog website and it’s live now. There are some important things that you need to follow next like designing your blog and installing the important plugins for your website.

After the installation of WordPress, you can see the layout of your website looks very basic and simple. You can use other WordPress Themes to make your website look more attractive and appealing to your audience.

Using the right WordPress theme is important for your blog because it will help you in SEO and Blog designing. You can easily customize and design your website according to your plan with the right WordPress Theme.

WordPress Themes: To Design your Blog Layout

There are many beautiful WordPress themes available that you can explore to find the best one for your blog. You can go for free themes with a basic layout or use the premium themes with advanced features.

It is useful to make the right decision about picking the right WordPress Theme for your blog. If your blog does not look beautiful to your audience, it will not attract your audience even with good content.

Thus, it is important to choose wisely the best WordPress Theme for your blog. Some of the best Free & Premium WordPress Themes with great features for your website and blog are:

• Astra Theme – Advanced Blog Layouts
• Thrive Themes – Conversion Focused Theme
• Elegant Themes – Advanced Visual Builder
• GeneratePress – Premium Features & Support
• StudioPress – Powerful Site Creation Tools

Check this – The Complete List of WordPress Themes for Your New Blog

You can check the Astra Theme for your Blog which offers both options – free themes and premium themes. It is a lightweight theme that provides different types of templates for all kinds of websites and blogs.

Astra Theme will provide you with a wide range of WordPress Themes with multiple templates for your web pages. You can easily customize and design the theme with a website building tool like Elementor.

Suggested Reading for You:

• How to Develop & Customize a New WordPress Website [Step-by-Step]
• How to Install a WordPress Theme on your Website

WordPress Plugins: To Add New Features

WordPress Plugins are the tools that make WordPress powerful and simple to use for blogging beginners. There are thousands of WordPress Plugins available with different features for WordPress websites.

These are some basic and useful WordPress Plugins for a new blog:

• Elementor – WordPress Website Builder
• MonsterInsights – WordPress Analytics Plugin
• AIOSEO – WordPress SEO Plugin
• WPForms – Contact Form Plugin
• WP Rocket – Website Caching Plugin
• Sucuri Security – Website Security Plugin
• UpdraftPlus – Website Backup Plugin
• Smash Balloon– Social Media Management Plugin

Check this – The Complete List of WordPress Plugins for Your New Blog

WordPress Plugins can help you in multiple things like customizing your website, creating a contact form, improving website SEO, and more. You just need to find the right plugins and install them into your WordPress website.

Related Article – How to Install a WordPress Plugin in your Website

Set up the Basic Website Pages & Details:

These are some basic website pages that you should add to your website. It will help your audience to better understand your blog and to communicate with you.

• About us Page: It includes all the details and information about your blog.
• Contact us Page: It shares your contact details like Business Email with your audience to communicate with you.
• Privacy Policy Page: It informs your audience about your website’s Privacy Policy.
• Disclosure Page: It informs your users about something of relevance to them so that they can make informed decisions.

Related Article – 11 Essential Website Pages for a New WordPress Website

Step #4: Write your First Blog Post

It’s time to write your first post after setting up your website on WordPress with the right theme, plugins, and basic web pages. You can prepare your guidelines to create a good blog post with a systematic process for your blog.

Creating and writing a good blog post is a systematic process in which you need the right ideas and tools. You can check the following list of Blogging Tools to create a perfect blog post for your target audience.

Some Useful Tools for Creating your First Blog Post:

• Grammarly – Write Good Blog Post Content
• Semrush – Keyword Research for Blog Post
• AIOSEO – Optimize your Content for SEO
• Visme – Design your Graphics for Blog Post
• Depositphotos – Get Unlimited Stock Images for Blog

You can start the process by finding new ideas for blog posts on information-sharing platforms like Reddit and Quora. It will give you the best ideas that your audience is interested in and looking for on these platforms.

Then, you can find the right keywords for your blog and create the blog title & body. Your content should cover all the details and information for your audience. So, they can get the best information from your blog post.

It will help you to attract more website traffic and to develop a loyal base of blog readers & followers.

Step #5: Content Planning for Blog

Content Planning means creating a perfect plan to develop useful and traffic-generating content for your blog. It will help you to find the best content ideas for your blog and to convert them into blog posts.

You can make your blogging more effective with content planning because it gives you the complete guidelines to create content. The right content plan helps you to get high organic traffic and sales conversion.

You can check the following steps to get a basic idea about Content Planning:

Create your Content Calendar: It is useful to create your Content Calendar to manage the content ideas for your blog. You can use the work management tools like HubSpot, to effectively manage your content calendar.

Define the Blogging Goals: There are different blogging goals that you can achieve with the right content planning. Some of the most common goals are Brand Awareness, Organic Traffic with SEO, and Conversion.

Find the Right Blogging Ideas: There are multiple methods available to find the right blogging ideas for your content and target audience. You can explore tools like Google Trends and Google Search Console to find more relevant blogging topics.

Develop your Content Strategy: Content Strategy is an essential part of blogging because it helps you to achieve your blogging goals. It helps you in the planning, development, and management of your content.

Regular Content Publishing: It is a good blogging practice to publish your content on a regular and continuous basis. Regular content publishing also helps you to improve the SEO of your website with regular content updates.

Content Planning is an important concept for blogging beginners to create good quality content for their audience. It makes the content creation for your blog easier with the right ideas and effective content planning.

Thus, it is useful to work on your Content Planning to make your blog successful in the long term. You will get great benefits from Content Planning because it will help you in creating all your blogging content.

Step #6: Promote your New Blog

There are two major parts of Blogging that help you to make money with blogging – Content & Website Traffic. Your content helps you to attract organic traffic to your blog website and to convert it into Recurring Income.

Blog Promotion is useful to reach your audience and potential customers to effectively monetize your content. You can use different methods to reach your audience and attract them to your blog to explore your content.

These are some of the most helpful methods to promote your new blog and to reach your audience:

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) means the optimization of your website for the search engines like Google and Yahoo. It helps you to get a higher rank in search engines and to attract organic website traffic.

We can divide SEO into three parts to make it simple and more effective for your blog website:

• On-Page SEO
• Off-Page SEO
• Technical SEO

You can also check some of the best SEO tools like Semrush and KWFinder, to create SEO-optimized content. It will help you to improve your website SEO and to get more organic traffic from the search engines.

Related Article – WordPress SEO: Get Organic Traffic on your Website [For FREE]

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing means the marketing of your website on different social media platforms. It helps you to publish your content and to reach your audience on multiple social media websites.

The most popular social media platforms for the marketing of your blog are:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest

Also, explore some of the best Social Media Marketing Tools for beginners:

• Sprout Social: Social Media Management Solution [30 Days Free Trial]

Email Marketing

Email Marketing means the use of email as a direct marketing message to reach your audience for promoting your content. You can share your marketing message directly with your audience through Email Marketing.

You can check the following Email Marketing platforms for your blog website:

• ConvertKit: Best Tool for Content Creators [Free Plan]
• GetResponse: Automate your Marketing [Free Account]

Email Marketing is the top online marketing method with the highest ROI from your marketing campaigns. You can also use Email Marketing for promoting your content and to increase your conversions.

These were some of the most common methods used by bloggers and marketers to reach their audience. You can also utilize these methods to promote your blog and to attract the audience to your blog with your content.

Step #7: Monetization & Money Blogging

Finally, you are ready to convert your website traffic into passive income and to make money with blogging. It is simple to make money and passive income with your organic traffic that can attract your potential customers.

There are multiple options available that you can explore to make money with blogging. However, these are some of the most useful and common methods that you can check to make money with your blog:

Google AdSense: Google AdSense is one of the most popular online advertising platforms that many of us know very well. It is a program run by Google to help content creators make money with their content.

You can convert your high organic traffic into passive income with Google AdSense. It is a reliable and well-known brand that offers many features and blog monetization opportunities to beginners.

Media.net: Media.net is a contextual advertising network for content creators to make money with their content. Contextual ads help you to make higher revenue with the rights ads as per the search intent of your audience.

You can easily Sign up for Media.net [FREE] and start making money with your organic website traffic. It also offers more content monetization options to you like Display Ads and Native Ads for your website.

Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate Marketing is the process in which an affiliate earns a commission for selling affiliate products & services of a company. You can make affiliate income as per your blog performance and website traffic.

It is completely based on your performance and how much money you can make with Affiliate Marketing & your Blog. If you attract the right audience, create useful content, and help your audience, you can easily make a good Affiliate Income.

Sponsored Content: Sponsored Content is the content on your blog or website that you publish to promote other brands for a payment. It helps sponsors to promote their brand and the publisher to earn money with their blog.

It is a useful content monetization idea to add a side income source to your blog with main income sources. You can use your blog or website content to promote sponsored content and help the sponsors to reach their audience.

Online Course: Creating your online course is a good idea to monetize your blog if you like teaching other people about any subject. It enables you to create and promote a product that you can sell to make maximum profits.

You can use platforms like Udemy and Teachable to sell your online course to the people who need them. It will provide you with a wide audience that will be interested in your online course and might purchase it.

Sell Digital Products: Digital Product is an e-Good that provides some value to its users and solves their problems. Digital Products are very popular these days because it is easy to use and available anywhere with the internet & mobile.

There are different types of Digital Products that you can create for your audience and sell on digital platforms. Some of the most common digital products are eBooks, Digital Templates, Images, Music, and Web Elements.

Get more useful and amazing ideas to make money with this Money Blogging Guide.

Final Words:

As you have started your blog, it is important to understand that blogging is a serious business. You need to put your efforts & hard work to make it successful in the long term with a strong Blog Marketing Plan.

This is a quick summary of the 7 steps to give you a brief:

• Get your Web Hosting & Free Domain with Bluehost (70% off).
• Choose the best WordPress Theme for your Blog.
• Pick all the important and right WordPress Plugins.
• Write your first blog post to start blogging.
• Create a Content Plan for your Blog.
• Promote your blog on different channels.
• Explore the Money Blogging ideas to make money with Blogging.

The next and most important step after starting your blog is to create your content plan to write useful content. It will help you to systematically develop & grow your blog and to earn money with blogging.