Starting a blog is so easy. Monkeys will no doubt be starting their own blog in a few short years from now! It’s really easy. Though, it’s important to keep in mind that a blog is anything but a road to guaranteed wealth.
Starting a blog has never been easier, with so many out-of-the-box platforms making building a site as easy as using a smartphone.
Reasons to start a blog
There are a bunch of different reasons someone might choose to start a blog:
- To market an offline business online.
- To sell products and services online.
- To share their thoughts/feelings on a specific or general set of topics.
- To grab hold of the MMO (Make Money Online dream) in the hopes a blog will take off and start attracting advertisers.
There are obviously several other reasons one might choose to start a blog. Whatever yours might be, you came here to see how easy or hard it is for a complete beginner to transform an idea into a unique blog of their own.
Easy step-by-step process to start a blog of your own
1. Decide on your blog’s purpose
If you just want to blog about a topic you have expertise on, or to get a dialogue started about a given subject, you already have the hardest part about making a blog covered: Ie., the purpose of the blog. If you want to build a blog to market your business, you’ll want to become familiar with Neil Patel and the loads of advice he offers about deciding upon and building an online branding strategy in order to make the blog successful.
If you’re starting without an idea, finding a niche and exploiting it is anything but easy, but there’s loads of advice out there to get you going. The blog idea doesn’t have to be something you have a distinct passion for, but you do have to be able to commit to creating or outsourcing content, or success will always be out of reach.
2. Choose a name
“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare asks. For a blog, it’s pretty much everything. Sure, your blog posts may be stellar, but choosing the right blog name can take your content a long way.
Your blog’s name is your brand. The name refers to you and your personality. That’s why it’s a bad idea to choose a blog name for SEO purpose. While SEO is important, quality and brand recongnition give legs to your blgo posts, allowing them to go as far as they can go on the crowded blogosphere.
Try to come up with a memorable name. See what other bloggers do with their blog names. You may also want to try using a Blog Name Generator, to give you some ideas – fast.
3. Decide on a budget
Unless you’re creating a blog on WordPress.com, you’ll want to decide on how much money you’re willing to spend. WordPress.com and other free platforms like blogger aren’t recommended because they don’t offer the customization ability a blog of your own offers. And, you’re putting all your eggs in one basket with respect to who has control of your content. They also limit your ability to montetize (make money) with the blog, which completely defeats the purpose of going with a free option.
Typical costs of blogging:
- Domain name: Around $10 yearly for a .com on Namecheap or similar — other extensions will vary from cheaper to more expensive. However, .coms are still considered best for search engine optimizing.
- Hosting: Hosting should be sourced separately from the registrar (Ie., the source you purchase the domain name from. This is an issue of control, where if one company controls your domain registration and hosting together, this could lead to issues that can lead to expensive legal fees to figure out. There are lots of good options from Hostgator to GoDaddy and many others starting at just a few dollars a month.
- Outsourcing: Outsourcing costs can be zero or limitless. Most people will want to outsource things like custom logo and header creation. If you want custom videos created, or to pay a writer to write content for you, these things all cost money and you get what you pay for (almost always!)
4. Choose a host
Recommendations were made in the previous section, but it’s important to weigh the pros and cons of each host available. Reputation is important, but so is getting the best options possible for the money you’re spending. For instance, spending a few dollars a month with a host might seem like a good idea, but often a dollar or two a month extra will give you much more growth options.
Take a look at what an extra dollar or two per month will get you on Hostgator. For around $3/mo you get the ability to host a single domain. Less than $2/mo more and you can host unlimited domains and park as many as you like, too. Beyond that, a little extra monthly and you get options like free private security certificates (necessary for HTTPS and its benefits). Beyond this, you’ll want a host that can grow consistently with you as you expand in popularity, and need more bandwidth, support and other options.
5. Choose a blogging platform
Most hosts will offer a number of blogging platforms to install. WordPress.org is most popular. Wix is great. So is Ghost for less elaborate blogs. Others include custom platforms which offer their own hosting and support such as Squarespace and Weebly. There are many options. WordPress.org (not .com) is still the most popular, with arguably the best support out there.
All of these options are either included automatically with the plan you choose with your host, or are a one-click install that requires little effort on your part. Make sure to choose a host that offers 24/7 free support in case you need help with anything.
6. Start writing!
You’ve made it! You’re ready to roll. All you need to do now is start performing keyword research and optimizing the wonderful content you’ll release in order to start getting the search engines sending people to your site. This is easier said than done, and there’s no guarantee people will want what you have to offer.
Building a blog of your own is a huge learning experience, yet very rewarding when you get to look back at the fruits of your labor after a year or two has passed by. Don’t hesitate to start a blog of your own if you’ve been thinking about it.
There’s no time like the present!