Do you have a dream of starting a blog? You should do it!
This post may contain affiliate links for things I highly recommend and love.
Click here to get started (it will open in a new window) then follow the step-by-step tutorial below.
Disclosure: We are an affiliate for Bluehost, which means we make a commission if you sign up—at no additional cost to you. I only recommend things that I have used and love. Bluehost is where we started our blog and where we recommend all our friends, family members and blog readers start. We’ve been able to negotiate a special discounted price for all our blog readers—you will get discounted pricing and a free domain through our link.
1. How to Decide a Topic & Name
Decide your topic.
What are you passionate about? What’s something you can talk about day after day and never get bored of. That’s your topic/niche!
- Love art… start an art blog
- Are you always in the kitchen… start a food blog
Don’t worry, you can always adapt as you go. Your topics can always change after you start, mine did! So don’t stress too much about it too much.
Decide your name.
Give yourself enough room in your name to write about all the topics you want to cover. You want it to be…
- Catchy
- Easy to remember
- And not too long
Don’t get too caught up in this step. It’s less important what direction you go and more important that you actually start. Sometimes the only way to figure it out is to begin the journey. So many people get so caught up in this step that they never start a blog because of it. Don’t let that be you.
2. What You Need to Know
When you’re ready to start a blog, it’s important that you are self-hosted. That means you own your website address.
A self hosted site look like this: www.yoursitename.com
Free hosting looks something like this: www.yoursitename.blogspot.com
The top one you own, the bottom one you don’t. A self-hosted site is reliable, monetizable and yours to do whatever you want with. You can get a self-hosted site through Bluehost (the same place I started my blog) for as little as $2.95 a month (that low price is only available through my link). It’s worth every penny to start with a self-hosted site and will save you a huge headache later trying to migrate over to one.
3. Step-by-Step: How to Start a Blog Today
- Click to Bluehost.
- Click “Get Started Now.”
- Enter the website address you want — if it’s unavailable they will suggest alternatives. Remember, don’t over think it and never start your blog because of it.
- Fill in your personal information.
- Choose your account plan — basic is fine, you can always upgrade later. I also highly recommend Domain Privacy Protection (it helps keep your personal information private).
- Special offers: get them if you want, however, I recommend skipping and hitting “no thanks.”
- Generate a password. Write it on a piece of paper or a secure document on your computer and save it in a safe place.
- When the pop-up appears, hit “Setup Your Website”.
- Install WordPress.
- Choose your domain from the drop down and then select “check domain.”
- View credentials. That’s your back end login information. Go ahead and login and then you’re ready to choose a theme. See below.
Note: If you have an existing website you can still migrate it to Bluehost by clicking below, hit “get started”, select your hosting plan, and fill in your domain under “I have a domain name.”
Don’t Forget to Verify Your Account:
You’ll be getting an email from Bluehost with the subject “Action Required: WHOIS Accuracy Verification For yoursite.com.” All you have to do is click the link in the email to verify your account. It takes 1 second and you’re done.
4. Select a Theme
When you’re ready it’s time to select a theme. There are a lot of options out there. We started with a free theme (called Sugar and Spice) and it totally worked but if I was doing it over I would start with the Genesis framework and a Genesis theme (which is what we use now). Genesis themes are very clean, professional and better for SEO (stands for search engine optimization) AKA traffic from Google.
Don’t get so caught up choosing a theme that you don’t start. Here’s a great list of Genesis themes to choose from, choose your favorite and go. This is where I would start, with one of these 9:
Here are 9 Best-Selling Genesis Themes:
- Altitude Pro Theme
- Digital Pro Theme
- Executive Theme
- Foodie Pro Theme
- Parallax Pro Theme
- Magazine Theme
- Showcase Pro Theme
- Aspire Pro Theme
- Glam Pro Theme
Note: All the links above include prices for the Genesis framework + theme, you will need both.
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Disclaimer: Blogging is a wonderful business with a very low start up cost but it’s not a “get rich quick” scheme. How successful you will be will depend on how much time, commitment, marketing knowledge, resources and investment you put in.
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This has rly inspired me. Thank you!
In your sponsored post, what exactly are you sponsoring? I don’t see any external links. Great blog you have here. I am sure I don’t have to tell you 🙂
Each sponsored posts has a different brand that I featured in the content. I recommend only saying yes to brands that you would be talking about anyway, ones you absolute love and would recommend to your nearest an dearest friends. Stay true to yourself in what sponsored work you take and your readers will love you because of it.
Thank you so much, Alida! I am so new in the game and it’s a whole lot to take in. I have so many lovely products that I’d love to share with my readers I just have to get organized.
Your welcome. Feel free to come join us in our blogging tips Facebook group: http://facebook.com/groups/momentrepreneur/ and also subscribe to our free blogging newsletter: https://app.convertkit.com/landing_pages/60262?v=6
Great information and has inspired me to look into creating a blog.
There seems to be a lot of choices in the startup section. The third option has domain privacy. Do i just start with the basic startup or should i pay for the upgraded packages. Is basic all i need?
I would just go with basic and you can always upgrade later if/as you need it. The domain privacy is the only extra that I recommend but it’s up to you.
Hi Alina, I’m interested in becoming a blogger. I have some ideas that I’m trying to nero down. I’m curious though how you make money or an income from the blog? I currently work full time but would love to be able to be home more often with my family. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Hey Jasmyn, I would reccomemd checking out my income reports for ideas on ways to make money on a blog.
Hi Alida, I’m very interested in starting a blog but I live in Nigeria. Will Bluehost work for me or is it better to look for a local hosting service?
Should work just fine. Best of luck on your new adventure!
Hi. I am new to your site. Starting a blog is something that I have always been interested in doing however my family is on a very tight budget. How much would you say it cost to start a blog?
Hi Kandice! That is so exciting! I completely understand tight budgets and family always comes first. However, using the link in our post as a special offer, you can start a blog for only $2.95 a month! This will include how to get you started, and create the webspace that you need. You will also need to purchase a domain, but you can actually get that for free if you pay for 12 months up front. All other blog expenses you can wait on as you can afford them/ your blog grows. Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck!