How to Start a Blog From Scratch In 2023 (Beginner’s Guide)

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Are you looking for ways to make money online?

Maybe you just want to start a blog like mine and make money blogging. If that’s what you want, then you have come to the proper place!

Blogging has changed the lives of hundreds and thousands of bloggers and content creators all over the world. You can create your own blog for just a few dollars of your money today, and it’s super easy too. 

In today’s blog post, you are gonna learn how to start a blog from scratch, then we’ll move to how you can monetize your blog in the next blog posts.

First thing first you are gonna need hosting for your WordPress Blog, we recommend using a self-hosted WordPress website on Bluehost. This is the same web hosting company I am using for my blog. It’s the best option for beginners who want to start their own website for cheap.

I know you’re probably thinking you can start a blog for a free blogging platform such as Blogger, but this is a big mistake!

You do NOT want to choose a free blogging platform because they don’t allow you to make money from display advertising or affiliates. this is ESSENTIAL to making money from blogging.

It’s nearly impossible to make money from free Blogger websites. Many advertisers don’t view them as professional as self-hosted WordPress blogs. That’s why I always recommend starting your blog the RIGHT way to anyone who wants to make money online.

I have included discounted pricing that I personally negotiated with Bluehost in order that all of you’ll start a blog for cheap. It only costs $2.95 per month to start your own blog when you sign up for the Basic Plan, You will also receive a FREE domain name through my link too. Just click the button below.

Click the link below to buy hosting for your very first blog, then follow the tutorial below for easy directions.

P.S. Act quickly though because I’m not sure how long these low prices will last!

Should you start a blog?

If you’re passionate about a particular topic and enjoy sharing your thoughts and ideas with others, then starting a blog could be a great way to earn some extra income. Not only can you make money blogging, but you can also use your blog as a platform to build an online business.

However, before you start a blog, there are a few things you need to consider. In this article, we’ll give you a step-by-step guide on how to start a WordPress blog on Bluehost, and help you decide if blogging is right for you.

Are you passionate about a particular topic? Do you enjoy sharing your thoughts and ideas with others? Can you commit to writing quality content on a regular basis?

If you answered yes to all of the above, then starting a blog could be a great way to earn some extra income. Not only can you make money blogging, but you can also use your blog as a platform to build an online business.

What is a blog anyway?

A blog (short for ‘web log’) is a website or section of a website where an individual or organization writes about topics that are relevant to their niche. A blog can be about anything, from politics to fashion to food. And there are no limits to what you can write about.

Blogs usually consist of a series of articles (also known as blog posts), which are displayed in reverse chronological order (with the most recent post appearing first). Most blogs also have a commenting system, where readers can leave their thoughts and feedback on individual posts.

Many bloggers see their blogs as a way to share their thoughts and ideas with the world. Others use their blog as a platform to build an online business. And there are many bloggers who do both.

Now that we’ve answered the question “what is a blog,” let’s take a look at how to start a WordPress blog on Bluehost.

7 Easy Steps to start a WordPress blog on Bluehost

First of all go to the Bluehost homepage if you haven’t already, then click the Get Started button.

Step 1: Decide What You Want to Blog About

So, what do you want to blog about?

If you run a business, you should blog about the topics that your customers would be interested in. Even if you don’t post directly about your products, by creating content that your target customers want, you can get them to learn about your brand.

If you’re writing for yourself, you can be more creative with your blog and what you share. Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind:

• Blog about what you love. It’s more likely you’ll want to actually write (and your blog will last longer than a week) if your blog is about a topic you’re passionate about. The best blogs are written with passion and enthusiasm — no one wants to read a boring blog!
• Blog with a unique angle. Thinking about starting a blog about vegan cooking? Consider this: When you google “vegan cooking blog” there are 250,000,000 results. That doesn’t mean you can’t create a successful vegan cooking blog — it just means that you need to find a unique angle to help yourself stick out.

No matter what you choose to blog about, you probably won’t be the first person to do it (and if you are nice work!). But don’t let this put you off! Think about how you can approach your chosen topic from a fresh angle. Ask yourself, “how can I make my blog better than all the others?”

Whether you’re writing for your business or for yourself, your goal for your blog should be to become the go-to resource for your topic. This means sticking to your topic, blogging regularly, and establishing yourself as an authority.

Step 2: Choose a Blogging Platform

There are a ton of different blogging platforms such as Bluehost, Wix, Squarespace, and Medium, among others.

But I’m going to make it easy for you: Just go with self-hosted WordPress.

If the last 10 years of blogging have taught me anything, it’s that WordPress is the best tool — hands down — for blogging. Whether you’re a beginner who’s starting a blog for the first time or a business owner who wants to take content marketing seriously, WordPress has all the tools you need to create an amazing blog and even make money with it.

I used and recommend self-hosted WordPress on Bluehost.

Basically, there are two types of WordPress:

• WordPress.com — This option is free but you’re limited to what you can customize.
• WordPress.org — Also known as “self-hosted WordPress,” this option costs a few bucks a month but gives you so much more control over what you can do with your blog. With a self-hosted WordPress blog, you can customize your site all you like and increase your earning potential.

I can guarantee you, even if you start with some other blogging tool, you’ll eventually end up using WordPress, just like 95% of all the bloggers in the Top 1 Million websites.

What’s more, more than 35% of all websites are powered by WordPress, which is just an incredible number.

Beyond being used by virtually every successful blogger, self-hosted WordPress is a great decision because:

• Easy to set up, as I’ll show you in this guide.
• You can control how your blog looks and add new features without needing any special technical knowledge.
• Lots of resources are available to help you when you get stuck and when you want to customize your site.
• Highly scalable, meaning you can start with a small blog and grow it into a global publishing company.
• Self-hosted WordPress is free! There are a few costs beyond the WordPress software, but you’ll still be able to run your blog for well under $100 for an entire year.

Time to start setting up your WordPress blog!

Step 3: Choose a Web Host and Domain Name

First things first: you need to choose a web host and a domain name.

What’s a web host? Basically, when you set up a blog it needs to live somewhere on the internet. And that somewhere is a web host. Web hosts provide server space (i.e. hard drives) that can store the files that make up your blog so that it can be accessible to anyone using the web.

Then, your domain name is basically your blog’s permanent address on the Internet. It’s what connects your visitors to your web hosting. 

You might want to use your name, business name, or something catchy and memorable. Only one person can own a domain name at a time, so you’ll need to check whether or not your idea is available. For example, you can’t go out and register Gooogle (dot) com because it’s already taken! 

You’ll be able to register your domain name from your web hosting company during the signup process, which makes everything simple and non-technical. Better yet — if you use the web hosting company we recommend, you’ll get your domain name for free!

With that being said, there are lots of web hosting companies, and choosing one can be overwhelming.

We personally recommend Bluehost because they’re affordable and they make it super easy and non-technical to create your blog, which is great when you’re a beginner.

Bluehost is one of the largest hosting companies in the world, and they’re an official WordPress partner. That means they offer a number of features specifically for WordPress users, including:

• 1-click WordPress installation
• a free domain name for 1 year
• free SSL certificate
• 24/7 WordPress support

Plus, Bluehost is one of the most affordable hosting providers on the market. Their basic shared hosting plan starts at just $2.95 per month (when you sign up for 36 months).

For more information on Bluehost, check out our in-depth Bluehost review.

To get set up with Bluehost:

1. Go to the Bluehost website.
2. Choose a hosting plan for your site. Bluehost offers three different hosting plans to suit blogs of all shapes and sizes. If you’re not sure where to start, the Basic plan is more than enough. The Choice Basic is enough for most new bloggers because it provides all the essential features needed to start a blog, including a free domain name, 50GB of storage, unmetered bandwidth, and a free SSL certificate.

1. On the next screen, you’ll be asked to enter your domain name. Again, Bluehost gives you a free domain name for your first year, which is another nice bonus.

If you already have a domain name, you can also choose that option instead and enter your details.

For this tutorial, I’m going to select “Create a new domain name” If you’re setting up an existing domain, no worries! The process moving forward is almost the same so you can continue following these instructions.

Click Next to continue.

1. Lastly, you’ll be asked to enter your billing details and choose the length of your billing term. You’ll get the best price if you pay for three years upfront, but you can also just pay for one year if you don’t want to commit to three years. For one year of hosting on the Basic plan, you’ll pay JUST $35.5 or ($2.95/month).

Bluehost will also try to encourage you to pay for Package Extras. However, you don’t really need any of these services to make a blog, so feel free to uncheck all of those options to save some money:

Once you’ve made all those choices, click the Submit button to finalize the process and create your Bluehost hosting account. Now, you’re almost at the point where you have a working blog!

Congratulations! You now own your very first blog and hosting!

Easy, right?!

Step.4: Customize Your Blog

The next few steps will guide you to Install WordPress on Bluehost.

So, just follow along with me.

After you create your password, Bluehost guides you thru exactly what you need to do in order to start a blog.

First, Bluehost will ask you to select a theme. there are many free ones to choose from. find one that you actually like. You can change it later so it’s not a big deal or jor simply scroll to rock bottom and skip this step.

Save Time and Get a Better Design with a Paid Theme

If you’re ready to invest a little more to go a long way, Divi is one of the best beginner themes on the market.

It’s a little on the pricey side, but you make it back with the insane amount of customization and user-friendliness of this theme. It also comes with a no-questions-asked, 30-day money-back guarantee.

• Divi theme is the #1 most beginner-friendly and customizable theme on the market.
• You get access to over 70 other themes when you purchase Divi because it’s part of the Element Themes package.
• You can easily customize the design of any page on your website and they have great customer service. 
• They also have a no-questions-asked, 30-day money-back guarantee, so there is absolutely no risk to trying it!

If you want to invest in your blog from the begging, I highly recommend the Divi Theme.

Now your WordPress blog will be installed. Once the installation is complete click the “Start Building” button to be logged in to your blog.

On the next screen, you can choose “Business” or “Personal” – it’s up to you. Or, you can click the “I don’t need help.”

Setup Google Analytics Tracking

Assuming you’ve already signed up for Bluehost and installed WordPress, you’re almost ready to start blogging! However, before you begin publishing content, it’s important to take a few minutes to set up Google Analytics tracking. This will allow you to track the success of your blog posts and make sure that your content is reaching your target audience.

There are a few different ways to set up Google Analytics tracking for your WordPress blog. The most popular method is to use a plugin like Yoast SEO or Google Analytics for WordPress. These plugins will allow you to easily add your Google Analytics tracking code to your WordPress site without having to edit any code.

Another option is to manually add the Google Analytics tracking code to your WordPress site. This is a bit more technical, but if you’re comfortable editing code, it’s not difficult to do.

Once you’ve added the tracking code to your site, you’ll be able to see detailed statistics about your blog traffic in the Google Analytics interface. You can use this information to track the success of your blog posts and make sure that your content is reaching your target audience.

Add Plugins to Your Blog

You have made it so far and added Google Analytics tracking to your blog, great job! The next step is adding plugins to your blog.

Plugins are essential for any WordPress site, and there are literally thousands of them to choose from.

While there are many great plugins available, we recommend starting with a few essential plugins for any WordPress blog.

These plugins will help you optimize your site for search engines, add social sharing buttons to your posts, and back up your site in case something goes wrong.

Here are a few essential plugins that we recommend for any WordPress blog:

Yoast SEO – This plugin is essential for any WordPress site that wants to rank well in search engines. It helps you optimize your site for the keywords you want to rank for and gives you tips on how to improve your site’s SEO.

WPForms – This plugin allows you to easily add forms to your WordPress site. Forms are essential for any site that wants to collect leads or gather data from users.

Social Warfare – This plugin allows you to easily add social sharing buttons to your WordPress posts. Social sharing is essential for any site that wants to build an audience on social media.

UpdraftPlus – This plugin helps you easily back up your WordPress site. Backups are essential for any site that wants to protect its data in case something goes wrong.

Once you’ve installed these plugins, you’re ready to start creating content for your WordPress blog!

WOOHOO! You now have a WordPress blog. You will have to work on the design of your blog and produce high-quality content, of course. Good luck!

Step.5: Write Your First Blog Post!

Now that your blog is up and running it’s time to actually do some blogging!

• You can add and create new posts by clicking on “Posts” on the left-hand side when you are logged in.
• If you want to add an image, click on “Media” on the left-hand side.
• You can go to “Appearance,” then “Widgets” in order to add items to your sidebar, footer, and so on.

Step.6: Publish Your Post To The World

Once you’ve finished writing your blog post, you can publish it so that other people can see it.

To publish a blog post, just click the Publish button at the top right corner of the page.

Yayyy!

Now you have published your very first blog post.

Step 7: Get Traffic to Your Blog

At this point, you’re ready to make your blog public and start attracting visitors. Remember, Bluehost makes your site private by default, but you can make it public by going to the Bluehost area in your WordPress dashboard and clicking the Launch your site button.

Getting traffic to your blog requires a whole post of its own, but there are three basic strategies that most new bloggers use to get traffic (though these are not the only ways):

1. Search engine optimization (SEO) — you optimize your blog posts to rank in Google. When people search for topics that you blog about, they can find your site.
2. Social media — you share your content on social media and/or encourage other people to share it (with the ultimate goal being to go viral or at least reach new people).
3. Referral — you get other websites in your niche to link to you through partnerships, guest posting, or just generally writing awesome content that they want to share with their readers.

As your blog grows, you might also get into paid promotion, like using Facebook Ads to boost your content on social media. That can be tough to do at the beginning without an advertising budget, though.

How to Optimize Your WordPress Blog for SEO

If you want your WordPress blog to be successful, it’s important to make sure that it is optimized for search engines. There are a few simple steps that you can take to make sure that your blog is well-optimized for SEO.

First, you need to choose a good WordPress theme that is designed for SEO. There are a number of great SEO-friendly WordPress themes available, so take some time to find one that you like.

Once you’ve chosen a theme, you need to make sure that your blog is well-structured and easy to navigate. This means that you should have a clear hierarchy for your content and easy-to-use navigation menus.

In addition, you need to make sure that your blog content is well-written and keyword-rich. This will help your blog posts to rank well on search engine results pages.

Finally, you need to make sure that you’re promoting your blog content effectively. This means submitting your blog to social media sites and directories, as well as building backlinks to your blog.

By following these simple SEO tips, you can make sure that your WordPress blog is well-optimized for search engines and that your content is reaching your target audience.

I Have Started My Blog, Now What?

Some final words from us…

We know it can be overwhelming and confusing when starting out. Not too long ago, we were right there looking at our computers sitting in the same seat you are right now.

The most important thing you can do is to get started, and you’ve done that today!

Once you’ve started your blog, and gotten a little more comfortable with WordPress and designing your blog, these are the next important steps you should take with your new blog:

Write Content

The very next thing you’ll want to focus on is writing content.

Remember that you’ve just started a blog, and the main content of your blog will be the articles that you write.

They will help you attract an audience, connect with that audience, eventually sell products, and more.

Get Visitors

After you’ve written a few articles, it’s time to get some visitors to your blog to READ your content!

There are a few different platforms to do this, including Google, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Our personal recommendation for most beginner bloggers is to start out on Pinterest. It’s one of the best places to drive the most organic (free) traffic to your blog.

Most other platforms are:

• less than ideal for getting people to actually read blog posts (YouTube and Instagram)
• or are very competitive and require paying for ads (Facebook)
• or just take much longer to get organic traffic (Google)

Make Money

But what about the money!?

Most new bloggers get overly focused on trying to make money right out of the gate.

We get it. You’re ready to run a blogging business and you’ve just invested some money into that business.

But it’s important to set up your foundation correctly and build your blog the right way first.

And that means writing content and getting visitors to your blog FIRST before you worry about making any money.

That being said, it’s good to get some ideas of ways that you can make money blogging so you can have some direction as you move forward!

What are the dos and don’ts of blogging?

When it comes to blogging, there are many things you can do in order to make your blog successful. However, there are also some things that you should avoid doing if you want to maintain a successful blog.

Some dos of blogging include:

• Choose a catchy name for your blog
• Post regularly
• Pick a subject you’re passionate about
• Make use of social media
• Engage with your audience
• Be yourself
• have fun!

Some don’ts of blogging include:

• Don’t plagiarize
• Don’t over-post
• Don’t neglect your blog
• Don’t forget to proofread
• Don’t be afraid to experiment

Now that you know some of the do’s and don’ts of blogging, you can start creating content for your own blog! Just remember to have fun and engage with your audience, and you’ll be on your way to success.

How to Start a Blog FAQs.

How much does it cost to start a blog on WordPress?

The cost of starting a blog on WordPress can vary depending on your specific needs and goals. At the minimum, you will need to purchase a domain name and hosting, which can cost anywhere from $50 to $150 per year.

If you want a custom design for your blog, you may also need to invest in a premium WordPress theme, which can cost anywhere from $30 to $200. And if you want to add additional features or functionality to your blog, you may need to purchase plugins or hire a developer, which can add additional costs.

Can I start a blog for free?

Yes, you can start a blog for free on WordPress.com, but there are some limitations to consider. For example, you will have limited design options, and you will not be able to use your own domain name. You will also have limited storage space and may not be able to use certain plugins.

How do I start a blog and make money?

Starting a blog and making money from it requires a combination of planning, hard work, and patience. Here are some steps to get started:

1. Choose a niche or topic for your blog that you are passionate about and knowledgeable about.
2. Define your target audience and understand their needs and interests.
3. Choose a domain name and hosting that best fits your goals and budget.
4. Set up your blog using WordPress and customize it with a theme and plugins.
5. Start producing high-quality content that provides value to your target audience.
6. Build an audience by promoting your blog through social media, guest posting, and other marketing strategies.
7. Monetize your blog through advertising, sponsored content, affiliate marketing, and other income streams.

How long does it take to start a blog?

The amount of time it takes to start a blog can vary depending on your level of experience and the amount of time and effort you are willing to put into it. On average, it can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to set up your blog, customize it, and start producing content.

How often should I blog to make money?

The frequency of your blog posts will depend on your niche, target audience, and the type of content you are producing. Some bloggers post multiple times a day, while others may only post once or twice a week. The key is to consistently produce high-quality content that provides value to your target audience.

How do bloggers get paid?

There are several ways bloggers can get paid, including advertising, sponsored content, affiliate marketing, and selling products or services.

• Advertising: You can place ads on your blog and earn money every time someone clicks on one of your ads.
• Sponsored content: You can work with brands and businesses to produce sponsored content in exchange for payment.
• Affiliate marketing: You can promote other people’s products or services and earn a commission for each sale made through your unique affiliate

How to Start a Blog (Conclusion).

Starting a blog is a great way to express yourself, share your thoughts and ideas, and engage with an online community. Whether you’re looking to start a blog for personal or professional reasons, there are many options available to you, including both free and paid platforms. WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms and offers a variety of features, including customizable templates, SEO tools, and monetization options.

Blogging can be a rewarding experience and a great way to build a following, share your thoughts and ideas, and connect with like-minded people.

Whether you’re starting a blog for personal or professional reasons, the most important thing is to have a clear plan and to be consistent in your efforts. With the right approach, you can build a successful blog that grows over time and becomes a source of income and fulfillment.

If you have any questions feel FREE to ask them in the comment section or you can contact us HERE!

Happy Blogging!

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Disclosure: There are some affiliate links above and I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post (of course at no additional cost to you). but these are all products I highly recommend.

I won’t put anything on this page that I have not verified and/or personally used.