How to Start a Blog Today

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.

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

1. Click to Bluehost.com.
2. Click “Get Started Now.”
3. 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.
4. Fill in your personal information.
5. 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).
6. Special offers: get them if you want, however, I recommend skipping and hitting “no thanks.”
7. Generate a password. Write it on a piece of paper or a secure document on your computer and save it in a safe place.
8. When the pop-up appears, hit “Setup Your Website”.
9. Install WordPress.
10. Choose your domain from the drop down and then select “check domain.”
11. 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:

1. Altitude Pro Theme
2. Digital Pro Theme
3. Executive Theme
4. Foodie Pro Theme
5. Parallax Pro Theme
6. Magazine Theme
7. Showcase Pro Theme
8. Aspire Pro Theme
9. Glam Pro Theme

Note: All the links above include prices for the Genesis framework + theme, you will need both.

Next Step: Successful Startup

Ready to turn your new blog into a business?

Your site is now partially set up but there are still so many details left – it can feel overwhelming and be very time consuming if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Successful Startup removes those frustrations by giving you easy-to-follow instructions on exactly what to do when to do it all the way to getting paid! You’ll know what to spend your time on (and what not to waste your time on) so you can get to the money-making stage pronto.

It will show you how to finish setting up your blog, including creating your menu bar and sidebar, making a DIY logo, and more. Then, you’ll learn the secret sauce – what it takes to make your blog stand out.

• How to gain and keep loyal followers.
• How to craft amazing posts that attract lots of readers.
• How to grow a strong email list from the beginning.
• How to promote your posts the right way.
• How to set up multiple income streams.

Successful Startup has 12 sections, 30 lessons, worksheets, video tutorials, bonuses and a private Facebook group! Learn more about the course, scan the FAQs and read about the bonuses by clicking here.

Successful Startup is a fast track. It will save you hours and hours of time. It will get you where you want to go quickly and efficiently, and it will all be done the right way.

I’ve kept the price totally do-able for you so it’s a no brainer to say YES to.

Click Here to Enroll in Successful Startup 

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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.

P.S. Are you looking for extra side income? I make over $85,000 a year blogging part-time—check out this easy step-by-step tutorial on how start a blog (no tech knowledge required).