How To Start A Blog in 2024 [Blogging Guide For Beginners]
Want to start a blog and build a career as a blogger?
Yeah! It is possible to perform both equally!
After all, what’s better than following your love while earning a passive income?
People start blogging for many different kinds of reasons, the most common of which include:
- Sharing new learnings.
- Documenting your thoughts.
- Passive income and earning money
- Free gadgets and products for review.
- Offers include free travel or other benefits.
Yours could be one of the previously mentioned or for other reasons; in either case, blogging can help you attain your goal.
So, without any more delay, let’s see how you may create a blog today.
A couple of things:
This is a complete guide that includes both theory and practical knowledge. To get started with your blog, do some reading and follow the procedures.
This is just one item you need before we begin:
- The name of your domain.
You can always alter your domain name in the future if you choose.
This article will answer your questions and teach you how to establish your blog.
Here are the steps for starting a blog:
Step 1: Choose a blog topic Step
Step 2: Select a blogging platform
Step 3: Choose a domain name and hosting for your blog.
Step 4: Install WordPress on the blog (tutorial provided below).
Step 5: Set up the blog’s design
Step 6: Install the top WordPress plugins.
Step 7: Write Your First Blog Post
Step 8: Share your write-up with the world.
Step 9: monetize your blog.
Step 10: Drive traffic and increase knowledge.
Note: To make it easier for you to take action, I’m only providing a platform and hosting alternatives suitable for everyone.
How to Start A Blog From Scratch With No Experience.
This blog creation guide was created for individuals like you who are new to blogging and know little or nothing about it.
Your blog will be up and running within a few minutes.
Step 1: Select the Blogging Platform
The first question you should consider is where to start your blog.
There are many blogging platforms available, and opinions vary.
Most bloggers start their blogs using the WordPress platform.
WordPress’s popularity comes from its ease of use.
Here’s an amazing fact: WordPress powers 37% of all websites worldwide.
After you’ve finished testing, you’re ready to move on to more important tasks. Create a WordPress blog, and do not confuse WordPress.com with self-hosted WordPress blogs.
A self-hosted WordPress blog (WordPress.org) is what you need.
Step 2: What is your blog about? (Niche)
The very first thing to do is to identify your blog’s niche. Finding a niche refers to determining the topic of your blog.
I hope you do not intend to generate money by blogging about everything and everything. This is no longer effective in 2024, and blogging on a single topic increases your chances of success.
You may be a jack of all trades and wish to establish a blog on various topics, but this will only be effective if people prefer to subscribe to a blog that is an authority on a certain issue.
Moreover, Google, the largest search engine, loves websites focused on a particular topic.
Now, the most important question is
How can I find the topic of your blog?
Here are a few suggestions to help you get started:
- Choose a topic about which you are an expert. It does not have to be your current job; it may be anything. Consider the issue you enjoy discussing the most and can talk about for hours on end.
- The best strategy is to choose a topic that you frequently read about. You are interested in the issue that you read about regularly.
- Also, make sure you have a strong interest in a specific issue and can contribute value with your insights.
- For beginners, I always recommend using pen and paper to write down items in different categories that you enjoy. Examples include motivation, fashion, technology, finance, photography, scientific research, babysitting, and health care. Now, try to come up with five post ideas for each of these columns. When composing the post title, consider what you can write without using references. By the end of the fifth article, you will be able to identify the topic (Niche) that interests you most.
This is an important step before establishing a blog since it will help you choose a topic that you are most passionate about.
This will ensure that you do not burn out once your blog is up.
Conclusion- Selecting the appropriate niche is the first and the most important step in starting a new blog.
Step 3: Select a blog name and domain name for your blog.
Domain Name:
I usually follow 4 principles when choosing a domain name:
Easy to memorize.
Easy to type.
Simple to pronounce.
Easily brandable
A domain name is the URL that a visitor will use to access a blog.
For example; www.blogginginsight.com
Now, there are a few rules that can help you choose the best name for your new blog. Here are some of my experience-based tips:
- Prefer.com domain names over anything else.
- Your domain name should be easy to pronounce and type.
- Make sure your domain name does not confuse the listener.
Bluehost’s domain suggestion feature can help you determine whether or not your desired domain name is available. Simply input any word you’ve chosen for your blog, and it will display your available domain name options.
The name of your blog is, in my opinion, really important. You can also register a domain name in your own name, which is ideal for your personal portfolio or if you want to establish yourself as a brand.
However, I desire a generic name so that in the future, I may have people run it while still enjoying the benefits of solopreneurship.
My recommendation is to be innovative while adhering to the four criteria I mentioned before. Here are a few things you should not do while choosing a domain name for your new blog.
- Don’t use a too-long domain name. Try to keep it lower than 12 characters. Ex: ShoutMeLoud
- Don’t use domain extensions like .info, .net, and so on, because they tend to rank bad in Search engines. I always prefer and suggest to use a domain name extension like .com or .org.
Step 4: Picking the hosting to start the blog:
Now, let us build our blog on hosting.
WordPress will be deployed on the web hosting platform. This is a server that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and will save all of your future blog photos, designs, and other content.
This is how your website will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The good news is that hosting is cheap.
There are other hosting service providers, but for your blog:
Bluehost is the easiest pick because it includes everything you need to start a blog. Features such as:
- Free SSL
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited storage
- Free domain name (Saving of $12/year)
- Easy to use cPanel.
- Live chat support
- 30 days money back guarantee
And the best part, it only cost $2.95/month
If you only want to start one blog, choose the Basic plan; if you want to start multiple blogs, choose the Plus plan.
On the following page, you can claim your free domain name. If you haven’t decided on a domain name yet, click Choose Later.
On the next page, provide your contact information. Pay close attention to package extras, as you can skip a few items to save money.
Aside from Domain Privacy Protection, uncheck everything.
You can pay with a credit or debit card under the payment information, or you can pay with PayPal by clicking on More payment options.
Bluehost will begin building your blog within the following 10 minutes of your payment. This is done automatically, saving beginners a significant amount of time and work.
If you prefer to study by watching videos, these two will help:
Watch the video below to learn more about purchasing hosting and domain names.
Here’s the cool part.
Once you’ve purchased hosting and a domain name, Bluehost will immediately install the WordPress software on your domain.
That implies your blog has been set up, and now comes the exciting part, which every new blogger looks forward to.
But, before we get there, have a look at this little video to see how you should use the Bluehost dashboard.
Step 5: Build a website for your blog.
The best thing about Bluehost (as shown in the video above) is that it will automatically set up your blog for you. However, you are not finished because you still need to complete a few tasks before creating your first blog post.
To help you get started with branding your blog, I’ve included several guides:
Step 6: Design of your blog.
Blogging platform? Check!
What is your blog’s niche? Check!
What’s the domain name? Check!
“The first impression is the last impression” is the mantra we use for our blog.
Blog design is the most important part of your blog because a good design will ensure that your readers enjoy your content. In reality, this is how your readers will recall your blog. Imagine your blog design as you wearing a great outfit.
WordPress has a concept called “WordPress themes”. These are ready-made designs suitable for all types of blogs.
There are numerous free and paid WordPress themes available. I usually recommend using a premium theme because you will receive full support and a beginner guide, as well as a high-quality design for your blog.
Here are several simple modern theme clubs that I recommend you start with.
- Astra theme: This is a lightweight theme that provides a template for a variety of blogs. Once you’ve installed this theme, you may select a ready-made template and your blog design will be ready in 30-45 minutes. This is the ideal partner for every new WordPress blog. You may read the Astra review to learn more about this flexible theme.
- Genesis: This is one of the best theme frameworks available.
There are many other premium WordPress theme clubs available, but I recommend either of the two listed above for a professional start.
Step 7: WordPress Plugins.
There are thousands of WordPress plugins available. I’ve only mentioned the plugins that you should install from the start.
Here are the plugins you should install on your newly created WordPress blog:
- Rank Math
- ShortPixels
- Jetpack from WordPress.com
There are many more plugins available, but the ones listed above will ensure that you have all of the essential plugins loaded on your site.
If you followed all of the instructions up to this point, your blog is now live.
The next step is to add fresh content, which should be done over time.
Step 8: Plan your content.
Before you start writing your first blog post, create a content strategy.
You can use either Excel or a Trello board.
This Trello board also includes a checklist to help you write the perfect post. On the right sidebar, select More and then Copy Board.
Make a list of all the possible article topics. You can also make an outline of the material if you choose.
It’s best to complete this in one sitting, and then start writing your content (one at a time).
Step 9: Write your first blog post.
Now, the real fun begins: writing your first article.
I will offer some of the article links below to get you started, but here are a few suggestions to ensure you don’t make the common mistakes that newbies do:
When composing your material, pretend you’re sitting next to someone and talking to them. Write in the first person because just one person is reading your blog. For example, you are currently reading this blog post alone. That is why you may observe that my tone is “I” and “You”.
Your content should include all parts of the issue you’re writing about. Feel free to write over 1000 words.
Don’t copy photographs from Google. Instead, visit these websites to download free-to-use photos.
You can also embed YouTube videos.
If you want to stand out from the crowd and improve your blogging skills, This ensures that whatever you post will generate a lot of traffic from search engines.
Step 10: Add important pages to your blog.
Here are some important pages that you should include in your blog. You can add them progressively in the next weeks.
About Page: Contains information about your blog and you.
Contact page: A page that includes a contact form. To create a contact form on WordPress, use the free contact form 7 or Jetpack’s contact form feature.
Media kit page: You do not need it right now, but you should be aware of it. This is the area where you will discuss your blog traffic and possible advertising choices.
- Privacy policy page
- Disclaimer page.
- Disclosure Page
- Terms and Conditions.
Step 11: Driving traffic to your Blog
So, you have got everything covered and your first blog post is live.
Now, the next step is to drive traffic.
Now, there are many techniques that you can use to get traffic to your newly created blog.
Step 12: Getting social.
Once you’ve established your blog, make it social so that your viewers may join your community.
You only need to get started, and there’s no need to worry because I’m here to provide you with the best resources.
To promote your blog, you’ll need a Facebook profile, an Instagram account, and a Twitter account.
Now, Make money from blogging in simple ways.
There are many ways in which your blog can generate passive income for you.
Here are a few of the most popular methods:
- Google AdSense
- SetupAd
- Affiliate marketing.
- Sponsored content (Be paid to write about others)
- Amazon Affiliate Program
- Direct advertising sales
Own digital products such as ebooks and online courses.
What else do you need to get to the next level of blogging?
Learn SEO to drive free traffic
SEO is an advanced subject that needs more than one article to cover. Many newcomers try to avoid focusing on search engine optimization, which is a huge error.
Search engine optimization enables you to drive focused traffic from organic search, resulting in greater revenue. There are three key components of SEO:
- On-page SEO includes your content quality, keyword placement, and other criteria.
- On-site SEO is the crawling and indexing of your website.
- Off-site SEO refers to backlinks from other websites.
With the evolution of SEO, I would like to add two more here.
- Social signals: Social media can significantly improve your blog’s rating. Google Plus has been demonstrated to be the greatest social networking platform for improving rankings.
- User experience: New. Search engine optimization is all about providing an excellent user experience. Some major aspects of a good user experience include navigation, site loading, website design, readability, and so on.
Getting traffic to your blog
If you have completed all of the steps described above, you will begin to receive organic traffic from social networking sites. Remember, targeted traffic generates greater revenue.
Increasing readership and boosting your blog
One major difference between a normal blog and a good blog is the detailing.
An A-list blogger normally pays attention to every detail to ensure that readers subscribe to his blog and like being a part of it. This is what we call converting one-time visitors into readers.
In the blogging world, we always wish there was someone who could help us establish a new blog from scratch.
While this may not be possible, there are many resources available. Join blogging groups and forums and ask questions; there are hundreds of individuals available to help you.
FAQ about starting a blog?
Is it worth to start a blog in 2024?
Starting a blog in 2024 will certainly point you in the correct direction. That is because bloggers who adopt AI now will stay caught up to those who do.
How do beginner blogs make money?
It takes an average of 20 months to start producing money from a blog. However, many bloggers begin making money considerably sooner, while others never make any money at all. Here are a few things that can influence how long it takes to start generating money blogging: The niche you’re in.
How many posts should you post daily?
Long, engaging articles (about 1000-2000 words) produce higher results. Furthermore, if you are a beginner, you can start with 5-10 blog articles per week or at least 1-2 posts per day with optimized content to help your blog rank higher in search engines.
Does blogging have a future?
Blogging can be a profitable online business in 2024 and beyond, but if you want to secure your future, you should treat blogging as a serious business and ensure that your blog is a skills-based website.
What questions should I ask before starting a blog?
- Where should you start your blog?
- What niche should you choose? (Blog subject)
- What should your blog’s domain name be?
- How do I buy a domain name?
- Where should you host your blog?
- How can you get hosting for your domain name?
- How can you put your blog on a domain name?
- Design for your blog
- Essential elements for making your blog shine.
- How to write your first blog post
Welcome to the world of blogging.
I tried to cover as much as I could to help newbies get started, but if you have any further questions before starting your new WordPress site, please leave a comment.
Please share this start-a-blog tutorial with those who have wanted to start a blog for some time.
Without any doubt, I can see clearly that you have put in some serious effort. I also run two blogs and know how much effort it takes to write a blog post, especially, long-form blog posts.
Well done and keep it up. You have a high chance of growth.
Thank you sir.
My pleasure. You deserve it. Keep up the good work.