Looking for How to Start a Blog and make money blogging? Okay, this is a guide for you.
Welcome, prospective blogger!
I will be active and 2 facts before starting:
- If you use it for a blog, please be very easy
- But it seems that the blog is successful, not easy
You might be interested in becoming a blogger after visiting several major blogs, then be amazed by them.
Or because you hear that blogs can make money.
Whatever the reason, this is the right guide for you.
I will not only teach you how to start a blog and create a new account on Blogger / Blogspot and how to install WordPress.
Only 5 minutes is finished.
I will teach you more important …
… which is how to start a blog that has a high chance of success.
After you finish reading this article, you will be able to create a cool, interesting blog that is not inferior to the best bloggers.
Please take a glass of tea or coffee, we will start soon.
… Before we start, one more thing:
Almost all new bloggers eventually fail after the first 1-3 months … only a few can succeed.
How come?
Because they make blogs carelessly.
The reason: the topic is mixed, the content is not quality, the promotion is not clear. The whole thing is messy.
Then because the blog is kept quiet, they are finally bored.
This is not want to scare …
… this really happens often.
Planning a blog is extremely important, so you don’t waste time, money, and energy.
Therefore, before we go into How to Start a Blog, we will discuss the preparation first.
This guide consists of several chapters starting from the preparation, installation, and use. Please go to the chapter that you want to learn from this table of contents:
- Looking for Blog Topics
- Determine the Platform
- Install WordPress
- WordPress Basics
Table of Contents
How to Start a Blog in 2021
1.How to Start a Blog With Determine the main topic of the blog
You might think this stage is trivial … just choose a topic. In fact, this stage is the most important in preparation.
Let me tell you 1 fact:
Every day there is 2.73 million new content published by blogs from around the world.
More than 70% of these blogs only get less than 5,000 visitors per month or around 150 per day.
It’s sad, right?
What is the cause?
This is the root:
- The topic of the blog is unclear, messy
- The topic does not appeal to many people
- The topic chosen was not mastered/interested so that the contents of the blog were also not qualified
This is …
Suppose you only had time to read 5 websites per day.
Are you going to open a website that has quality, interesting, and useful for you … or a website that only contains articles as long as you write?
Must be the first. Yes, right?
So you MUST be able to create better blog content than other blogs.
That’s the key.
Well, to be able to create good content, then you are required to choose topics that are of interest to you and are considered by many to be interesting.
If you choose a topic that you don’t understand, the result is:
- Making content feels heavy
- Content that has been made is not quality
- You will get bored quickly
Let’s just use logic. If we are not interested and do not know anything about a topic, is it possible we can teach the topic to others and make them interested?
Very difficult … especially for beginners.
Please read this guide to find the topic of your blog:
Which topics can make money?
Most of the people who are looking for How to start a blog apparently want to make money blogging.
Yes, blogs can indeed give you income.
But there is one legendary myth that states that only blogs in certain topics can earn income.
That’s a big mistake.
All topics can produce.
As long as the content you create is able to attract many people. Any topic can be made into a blog for income. Even blogs that contain funny things.
It’s a story from personal experience:
7-8 years ago I tried to make a blog on the topic of tax (taxation) because he said this topic could get a lot of money from advertising.
Even though I was not at all interested in taxes.
As a result … the content that I made was of very low quality. Every time writing content, it feels stressful. Finally, the blog was abandoned without getting visitors at all.
So, don’t choose a topic that doesn’t interest you.
IMPORTANT: If you want to be serious about blogging for the long term, don’t choose topics that invite legal problems. For example providing MP3 songs, movie downloads, adult content, and the like.
2. Choose the blog platform that is right for you
One of the hardest processes in starting a blog has been passed.
Now we go into the easier one.
Today’s technology is sophisticated. By using a blogging platform, you can write on a blog like writing in Microsoft Word.
These are the 3 most popular choices:
- Blogspot – hosted
- WordPress.com – hosted
- WordPress.org – self-hosted
There are still dozens of other blogging platforms, but I will not complicate your choice by discussing the less popular ones.
Note 2 this term: hosted and self-hosted.
What is that?
Hosted means your blog is ‘hitching’ on their website. So you won’t have a pure website of your own, and your blog’s address is like this: blogaya.blogspot.com
Self-hosted is the opposite.
You create a blog with a platform called WordPress. The website will be 100% yours, but you have to pay for the domain name and hosting.
If we compare it, like a house and apartment:
Hmm … okay, then which one?
The answers are discussed one by one in this guide:
In short, if you don’t want to move pages, these are the strengths and weaknesses of each type of platform:
Select the hosted platform (WordPress.com or Blogger) if you:
- Not at all want to charge out (although not much)
- Willing with limited features
- Willing with a view that is also limited
- Will your website name be like this: websitename.blogspot.com
- Will your website be deleted at any time (if you break the rules)
Instead, choose a self-hosted platform (WordPress.org) if you:
- Have capital of around $ 50 per year (for domains and hosting)
- Want to have a website that is 100% yours
- Want to be able to change the look freely
- Want to be able to add any features you need
- Want to create a blog that looks more credible
It’s just a glance.
Because it is very flexible, self-hosted WordPress is also often used for functions that are more than just blogs.
For example, selling online, business websites, communities, and others.
I personally always recommend that people who are serious about starting a blog and make money blogging use self-hosted from WordPress.org because it will be better in the long run.
But if your capital is really 0, it doesn’t matter.
Even though it’s a bit more troublesome, when your blog is successful you can move from hosted to self-hosted. Many do this, so you can still start from hosted.
The way to install a self-hosted WordPress will be explained below.
3. Determine the hosting service provider and domain
For those of you who have never heard of this term:
Domain: your website name/address. This blog is the domain of bbonlinemoney.com. Hosting: where your blog files are stored. Like a hard drive on a computer.
The original meaning is more complex, but don’t bother.
Both use a rental system. This means you need to pay every month/year when you rent a domain and hosting. There is no choice to pay once for a lifetime.
Its role is vital for blogs.
Surely you do not want the blog that you create often to experience problems such as sudden dea*h or can not be accessed suddenly.
So, choose a trusted domain and hosting provider.
These are some of the international domain and hosting services that are usually recommended for beginners:
- Domain: NameCheap
- Hosting: BlueHost or HostGator
4. How to Start a Blog With Determine the domain name
Domain names will always be attached to your blog.
Even though it can still be replaced, it will be troublesome, and if wrong it can be fatal. Therefore you should carefully determine the domain name at the beginning.
Here are 7 things you should pay attention to:
- Adjust to the topic of the blog
- Avoid names that are similar to popular websites
- Easy to write, remember and say
- As much as possible use .com
- Avoid dashes/minus (-) and numbers
- Don’t use someone else’s brand
- Also, check the availability of the username on social networks
Some people might not agree with me on point 4, because there are actually other extensions besides .com that are also good.
For example .org, .net, .co, etc.
But the reason I chose .com is because it is the most remembered.
I have a blog with the end of .co, .net, and .org, but in reality, there are also many people who mistype it … which they put in .com.
So first .com, use the others as the last option.
Oh yeah, avoid the dashes (-) and numbers in the domain because people will think of them as spam blogs. UNLESS if your brand uses one of them.
5. Installing a self-hosted blog with the WordPress platform
Now we enter the steps to create a blog.
In this article, I will use NameCheap, HostGator, and WordPress (self-hosted) as examples. You can use hosting services and other domains because it’s not much different.
how to start a blog hosted is not necessary for me to explain anymore because you only have to follow the guidelines that are already on the website:
Immediately, please go to the following guide to learn the complete process:
Step 1 – Rent a hosting service
for HostGator, read the guide below:
Please go to HostGator then click the yellow button “get started now”, you will be directed to the package selection.
I suggest choosing the cheapest package for beginners. So, choose the Hatchling Plan.
Choose the duration according to your needs, then click the button to continue.
Next, you will choose a domain …
If you don’t have a domain yet, you can all register at HostGator.
Whereas if you already have a domain, at the very top, enter the domain name that you want or select the tab “I Already Own This Domain”.
Continue to the bottom, in number 3 enter your personal data and select the payment method, credit card, or PayPal.
Then remove checkmark number 4 for services you don’t want.
If you have a coupon, enter it at number 5.
Usually, HostGator provides a different coupon each month, it’s a good idea to look for a discount coupon first on Google with the keyword “HostGator coupon code”.
Often the discount is up to 50%.
Check the agreement of the Terms of Service and click the Checkout Now button to continue payment.
After the payment is complete, you will be forwarded to the page above.
Click the yellow button to enter the Customer Portal.
Don’t forget to check your email as well to see your account details including passwords. Save this email because you will probably need it again.
Step 1a – Direct the domain to host this is only if you don’t buy the domain directly on the hosting site!
After buying hosting, you will get 2 or more nameservers via email. For example 3323.hostgator.com.
Write down these nameservers.
Log in to your domain register, in this example I use NameCheap. Then click the domain name you want to change.
- Click Domain Name Server Setup (if you use another domain service, usually the name can be DNS or nameservers)
- Enter the name server that you got from hosting
- Click save
Step 2 – Install WordPress
If you buy from HostGator according to the guidelines listed above, follow these instructions:
After buying hosting from HostGator, you will be sent an email in the form of a link to your CPanel address along with your username and password.
Open http://websitename.com/cpanel in your browser
(Change this website name according to the domain you purchased)
Enter the username and password provided, please change the password according to your taste. Or leave it, provided you can remember.
Then you will arrive at this page:
It seems complicated because there are lots of buttons and images, but don’t worry.
WordPress installation is only 2 clicks away!
First, click the button that I gave yellow in the picture above … you will enter this page:
Enter your new blog data, then click Install Now.
FINISHED!
Congratulations, you have successfully installed WordPress!
After that, you will be given a link to your WordPress installation Dashboard along with your username and password.
6. Understanding WordPress after installation
After the installation process above, you might feel confused about where to go to publish new content.
Here are some instructions for learning WordPress.
a. Enter the WordPress dashboard
A dashboard is a place where an admin manages his WordPress blog.
To enter the Dashboard, this is the default address:
http://www.blogname.com/wp-admin/
Enter the username and password that you registered earlier.
In this Dashboard, you can change blog settings, change views, add plugins, make comments in moderation, and so on.
b. Rename blogs, languages & other settings
To change the name and blog tagline, you can go to Settings> General.
Other settings such as permalink and the number of posts on the homepage can also be found in Settings.
c. How to Start a Blog With Change WordPress themes
New blog owners usually want to immediately change the appearance of their blog to suit their tastes. Fortunately, WordPress has thousands of ready-to-use themes.
The location is in Appearance> Themes.
To add a new theme, click the Add New button above. Then to upload a new theme, click Upload Theme above.
d. How to Start a Blog With Add WordPress plugins
Plugins are one of the reasons we choose WordPress.
With the help of plugins, you can add features as you want without the need to understand programming.
To see which plugins have been installed, click Plugins> Installed Plugins. Meanwhile to add a new plugin, click Plugins> Add New.
If you want to upload the plugin, click Upload Plugin.
Some plugins that you should install and activate:
- Yoast SEO: makes SEO easier
- UpdraftPlus: backups your blog data automatically
- Akismet: spam comment filter
- iThemes Security: improve security
The rest as needed.
You can directly search for and install these plugins from the WordPress dashboard.
e. Create a new blog post
Now it’s time to create content for your blog.
First, please go to Posts> All Posts from the left sidebar.
You will find a post titled “Hello World!”, Delete the post because it is only an example.
Then click the Add New button above to create a new article.
This is the description of the picture above according to the number:
- Write the title of your article here
- Button to add pictures or videos to your post
- Set the format like bold, italic, list & numbering, read more, and others
- A place to write your article body
- Put each different topic in one category to make it neater
- When writing is ready to be published, click Publish
Done! What is next?
Also Read:
- 100+ Best Free WordPress Themes
- Top 15 Successful Bloggers Who Make US$15.000 Per Day
- 15+ Personal Blog Examples That Will Get You Inspired
- 101+ Blog Post Ideas That Proven Success and Make Money
Congratulations, you have successfully created a blog with WordPress (or other platforms). At this point you already know how to start a blog:
- Determine the main topic of the blog
- Determine the right blogging platform
- Choose a domain & hosting service provider
- Choose a domain name
- Installing a blog
- Set WordPress to suit your taste
- Publish new content for blogs
- But your trip is not finished.
Actually, we are just starting!
Next, Chapter 5
In Chapter 5, I will explain how to make money blogging.
Click Here and go to the chapter.
Well, that’s how to start a blog that is easy and suitable for the long term
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