So, do you want to create your own space online but don’t know how to start blogging? With all of today’s scripts and technology, it’s easier than you think! Here are 7 steps to starting a blog that will get you up and running:
1. Decide what you want your blog to be about
The first thing you should decide is what you are going to write the blog about. Want a general blog about your rants and praise? A blog on how to train your dog? A blog about your self-sustaining garden? Deciding on your topic is key because you’ll need to do some keyword research to find some good phrases to target, as well as a good domain name.
2. To host or not to host
If you don’t have money to start a blog, you can use free services like Blogger, Free WordPress, Tumblr, Weebly, or many of the other free platforms. However, I do not recommend this because at any time these services can delete your blog and all your hard work will be in vain. The best route to take, especially if you plan to make money from your blog one day, is to buy your own domain name and get your own hosting.
3. Get your domain name
You want to choose a domain name that is relevant to your topic. Yes, I know you’ve probably heard of getting an “exact match” domain name based on a keyword phrase that you’ve decided is worthy of it, but they’re really not as advantageous as they used to be, so I’d go for it. Don’t worry too much about it. It is much more important to find one that describes the general theme of your blog.
You must register your domain name with a registrar. I use namecheap.com. Just go there and click the “Domains” tab at the top left, then choose “Register Domain”, then type your phrases in the giant big box below. This will tell you if your domain is available. You want to go for a .com domain if you are serious about blogging.
If you’re using one of the free services mentioned above, you don’t need to register a domain, but you’ll need to choose a name that’s relevant to your topic before you can start blogging.
4.Getting accommodation
If you have followed my advice and bought your own domain, you will need hosting. If you didn’t follow my advice, you can skip this part (although you may regret it later!). I recommend HostGator. If you think you’ll really love blogging and plan to have more than 1 domain, you should go for the “Baby” plan, as it will allow you to host an unlimited number of domains for around $7 per month.
5. Connect your domain and hosting
For many people, this is one of the most confusing aspects of learning how to start blogging. Your domain is like a placeholder on the internet and you need to “point” it to a server that contains your website or blog files. Your files are stored on your server (at HostGator or whatever hosting service you have chosen). Domains point to servers that use something called a “Domain Name Server” or DNS for short.
If this sounds too technical, don’t worry, it’s pretty easy. When she registered for their hosting, she received an email from them telling her what their nameservers were. Simply log in to the place where you registered your domain and fill them out in the appropriate place.
6. Install WordPress
You’re almost ready to start publishing on your new domain, but first you need to set up WordPress. Sounds scary I know, but it’s actually very easy on most hosts because they have a script that does it for you at the click of a button. Log into your cPanel and search for “fantastic” or “Simple Scripts”. If you can’t find any of them, ask the support people how you can install WordPress and they’ll point you in the right direction.
7. Start blogging
So, what are you waiting for? You already have your domain, your hosting and the WordPress configuration, now you just need to start making publications. You can use the default template that WordPress gives you for now, of course, eventually you’ll want to get a better template for your blog, but I’ll cover that in another post at some point, for now just start posting, if you need to learn. how to start blogging with WordPress there are many free tutorials online!