Why not stop procrastinating and start that blog now? The easiest way to start is to start. Do you want to start a blog for business or for personal reasons? In this post, I will walk you through simple steps to start a blog that you can monetize in 2021. Starting a blog can overwhelm beginners but relax, it is no big deal I’ll walk you through it swiftly. Blog is a constantly updated web page which can be used for business or personal purpose. It is usually updated like a journal or diary and; it is run by an individual or a firm. Blogs contained news, promotional information, business or individual portfolios, pictures or explainer videos. Some individuals use blogs to share their life experience and thoughts. Whatever may be your reason for a starting blog, ensure you have a plan before you start to avoid abandoning your blog in the long run because of the financial commitment.
So let’s get to work on how to start a blog in 2021.
Step 1: Pick a niche for your blog
Step 2: Choose a domain name
Step 3: Choose a blogging platform
Step 4: Take your blog online (go live)
Step 5: Customize your blog
Step 6: Create unique content for your readers
Step 7: Promote your blog
Step 1: Pick a niche for your blog
Choosing a niche is very important in starting a blog that will thrive and draw traffic. You should choose a niche that you are most interested in such that you will not get tired of writing and producing quality content on it. If you’re planning on making money on the blog, which I know is your motive, then ensure to pick a niche that has large audience interest. Also, endeavor to analyze and explore who your competitors are and the kind of content they are producing.
Step 2: Choose a domain name
Domain name is the name by which your blog will be known online that is your website name. If it is your personal blog, you can use your name. You may need to include the name of your niche or what your blog is about in the domain name in order to give your visitors an idea about your blog. Examples learnwithzona.com, kisswriters.com, cakealtar.com etc. For an annual fee of $10 to $15, you will own the right to the domain as long you continue to renew the name.
Step 3: Choose a blogging platform
The next stage is choosing a blogging platform. There are many blogging platforms that one can choose from when starting out, such as wordpress.com, wix.com, weebly.com, blogger.com, joomla.com, hubpages.com, and so on. I love wordpress.com because it powers over 40% of all the websites on the internet. As a beginner, don’t be tempted to use free content management system (CMS) like blogger.com because they have their limitations, especially when your blog grows to the level of monetizing. After you have picked a blogging platform, the next stage is to choose an online host for your blog.
Step 4: Take your blog online (Go live)
To run your blog, you must host it on a web hosting platform which allows your post to go online. There are many hosting companies such as bluehost.com, hostinger.com, hostgator.com, siteground.com, dreamhost.com, namecheap.com and others. I use Bluehost because of their great partnership with wordpress.com; they ensure your blog is online 24/7 and their Basic plan is a low as $2.95/month with free domain name for beginners for the first year. You can check it out later.
Step 5: Customize your blog
Customizing your blog involves connecting your domain name to the hosting platform and choosing a theme for your blog. Relax, I will work you through this. If you don’t understand any stage, ask your question in the comment section and I’ll reply you instantly. I will use WordPress and Bluehost to set up my blog in this article but the differences in the steps are not much if you choose different web host and content management system. So to do this, first visit bluehost.com and click on the green button written “Get Started Now”.
Next, select your hosting plan from Basic Plan, Plus Plan and Choice Plan. As a beginner, it is advisable; you choose the Basic Plan, but if you have a big budget, you can go for any of the other Plans. The next step is to choose a domain name. If you have bought a domain name from another web host, enter it in the second box titled “Use a domain you own” but if you haven’t which Bluehost will off you free for the first year, then enter your desired domain name in the first box and click next. If the domain is available, you will be notified.
The next thing is to fill out your billing details on the registration page, then select an account plan which usually come with extra packages such as Domain Privacy & Protection, Codeguard Basic, Bluehost SEO Tools Start, Sitelock Security Essential and 1 Microsoft 365 Mailbox–30-Day Free Trial. Depending on your budget, the most important extras are Domain Privacy & Protection, Bluehost SEO Tools Start and Sitelock Security Essential. When this is done, you enter your payment details and you are good to go.
The next phase of this step is to create a Bluehost account. Upon creating an account, Bluehost will work you through some steps to determine the kind of website that you want to create and to choose a theme. You can choose to skip some of these questions, as you can still edit them later. Click on “Launch My Site” and the system will automatically install WordPress.
Hold on, we are almost there. Your installed blog will carry The Twenty-Twenty One theme. If you don’t find the theme attractive, then it is time to customize your blog. In WordPress dashboard, click on “Appearance” tab. It will reveal a dialogue box click on “Themes”. It will open to pre-installed themes. Below them, click on “Add New Theme” and search for free themes. There are hundreds of themes to choose from, but you should choose a theme that is related to your niche, brand colour or is also catchy. After that, you edit other things such as add your blog logo, site identity, choose site colours, background images and others to personalize your blog.
Step 6: Create unique content for your readers
Before you create posts on your blog, there are some essential pages that must be created to give your blog identity. Note that pages differ from blog posts. I will discuss this in my next post. The pages are Homepage, About Us (Me), Contact Us (Me), Privacy Policy, Disclaimer Page, and Terms of Service. These pages give your blog authenticity, especially when you want to monetize the blog. To create a Page, go to WordPress Dashboard, click on “Pages”, then click on “Add New”
To create your first blog post, visit the WordPress dashboard, hover around “Post” and click on “Add New”. It takes you to an editor, usually a “Classic editor”. Add the title of your first post in the title column, then proceed to the body and type your post. When you are done, ensure to click on preview to see how your post will look like when published. There are other minor things that need to be done before publishing your posts, such as creating SEO meta tags, choosing category, creating SEO description, but they will not be covered in this post.
Step 7: Promote your blog
Congratulations! You have published your first blog post; it doesn’t really end there. You need to share your blog post so people can share in your experience and consume your content. It takes a while for Google to crawl your site post. So you can share your posts on your social media handles such as Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, on your niche forums, or as guest blogger on other people’s blog in your niche.
There! You have it; I believe and hope you find this helpful. I am going to discuss more ways to improve your blog on my next posts.
