If you are serious about starting a successful and profitable blog, I want to help get you started on the right foot. Blogging has changed my life and I am so thankful for all of the bloggers that helped me along the way. If you want to start your own blog and aren’t sure where to start, I’d love to do the same for you with this guide. I will teach you how to start a blog when you have no idea what you’re doing.
How to Start a Blog {when you have no idea what you’re doing!}
This post may contain affiliate links.
There are thousands of posts about how to start a blog out there about how to start a blog in 7 minutes flat, or how to start a blog that makes a thousand dollars on your first day, yadda yadda yadda. If that’s what you’re looking for, let me burst your bubble. Blogging is not a get rich quick scheme. You are not going to make a thousand dollars a day right out of the gate. And do you really want to rush through laying the foundation for your blog and business in 15 minutes?
So, instead of those sensationalized, too good to be true messages about blogging, I want to tell you this: blogging is a slow and steady wins the race career.
If you stick with it and do the work you can absolutely be successful. The key is to lay a strong foundation for your blog that will lead you to a successful, profitable business. Yes, your blog is a business.
So, let’s get it started on the right foot.
Who this guide is for – and who it’s NOT for
This guide is for a new blogger who is just starting out and wants to create a blog that they can eventually profit from. It is not for someone who wants to start a hobby blog “just for fun”.
I mean, that’s awesome if you do, but that’s a totally different thing and I have no idea how to do that.
This guide is going to teach you how to set up a blog that can make you money.
Of course, your blog can be an awesome hobby that also makes you money. If that’s what you’re looking for, stay tuned.
Now, I am not the most tech savvy person out there. When I was just starting out I had no idea what I was doing or what any of the technical terms meant. I didn’t know a plugin from a permalink. So, if you ARE super technical, I am probably not the person you want to be learning from.
On the other hand, if you aren’t great with computers and you need things explained in detail step-by-step-by-step, you are in the right place.
If you’re in the right place, take a deep breath and remember this moment before you completely changed your life by starting a blog.
Ready to get started?
The first thing you have to do is…
Decide what you want to blog about and choose your topic
You need to think about what you might want to write about. Think about things that you know a whole lot about and could tell other people. And most importantly, think about what topics you enjoy talking about. You want to find a topic that you can write, and write, and write about without getting sick of it.
Be sure to choose a topic that you have first-hand experience with because you want to be able to establish yourself as an authority.
And pick a topic that you enjoy, because you’re going to have to write about it A LOT.
You don’t need to be 100% accurate with your topic, but you need to have a general idea. Once you start getting into the nitty-gritty of writing, you might find that what you thought you wanted to blog about isn’t at all what you actually want to blog about.
When I started Happy Humble Home I thought I would blog about DIY projects AND recipes AND saving money AND taking care of my home.
Then, I started writing and discovered that all of those topics were just too much.
(Hint: you’re going to have to focus in on one thing, you cannot blog about everything under the sun.)
I knew I wasn’t ever going to be the best recipe blogger, so I let that part go. And I while I did a few DIY projects here and there, I knew I didn’t do enough of them to have endless ideas for blog posts. So, I let that go.
Eventually I started realizing that I had a whole lot to say about saving money. Once I started thinking of ideas, they just kept coming.
Plus I had a unique but relatable personal experience with money. Here’s the short version: I used to be terrible with money and now I’m much better with it.
Because of that experience I had something to teach my readers.
That doesn’t mean that I can only ever write about saving money. Sometimes I write about other things. But in general, my blog has a frugal theme running through it.
Here’s the moral of my story: Choose something that matters to you, that you enjoy, and that you can’t stop talking about.
Name your blog
Picking a name for your blog can be a fun, yet frustrating, process.
Think about your blog topic and then try to think of a related blog name that is short and catchy so your readers will remember it.
Write down as many ideas as you can think of.
That was the fun part. Now, here’s the frustrating part.
You’ve got to pinpoint a blog name that is available as a domain because you want your blog name and your blog domain to be the same. For example, my blog name is Happy Humble Home and my domain is www.happyhumblehome.com.
This is really important because you want your readers to be able to find you easily.
Be sure to choose a domain that ends in .com. These are much easier to find online, but more importantly, you don’t want to pick a domain that doesn’t have the .com version available because that means that someone else already has the .com. You want to have a unique blog name and domain just for you. You do not want to confuse your readers (or face legal copyright issues) by using a different version of a domain that someone else has.
I want to warn you that your first choice for a domain is probably already taken. It might take you a few tries or 50 tries to find a domain that you love and is also available.
Don’t give up!
You can use this domain checking tool to help you:
Oh, and this is super important. Do not pay a fortune for your domain! Your domain should be free (if you follow my hosting instructions below). If you go with a different hosting service, your domain should cost about $15. If you see a domain that costs thousands of dollars it is because someone is trying to sell it for a crazy profit and you don’t want it. Just keep looking.
Once you’ve found a name and domain that is available, it’s time to…
Get hosted!
Hosting is the service that puts your blog out onto the internet.
I think of it as a bus driver. Your blog is sitting on the bus but the host is what is taking your blog to all of the places that it needs to go.
Remember, I’m not super techy.
If you are new to blogging, the easiest way to set-up your hosting is through Bluehost.
They are what I currently use for hosting my blog and they’re the host that almost everyone recommends for beginners.
Bluehost is awesome because they are easy to use, they have excellent customer service, and they are very affordable. I’m very happy with my choice to use them and if my best friend were starting a blog I’d definitely tell her to go with Bluehost.
Choosing Bluehost will also save you money in the long run because your domain name is included and they also include an email address for your domain (like yourname@yourdomain.com) which is going to be very helpful later on.
Bonus: If you purchase Bluehost through my special referral link, you can get it for $3.95 per month!
Bluehost has 3 levels of plans available. You can go with the basic plan. That’s all you really need for a new blog that’s just starting out.
I picked the 36 month plan and I’m really glad I did. Not only does it mean a lower overall price, but I haven’t had to worry about hosting since I set it up. It’s one less thing to worry about.
And if you’re wondering about all the extras that are offering during check out, the only one that I chose was domain privacy (so that my home address wouldn’t be available for just anyone to look up.)
When you’re just starting out, you don’t really need the rest of that stuff.
If you ever have a question about your hosting, or get confused, you can call Bluehost. They have excellent customer service and they can walk you through what you need to do right over the phone.
You can sign up for Bluehost here.
I need WordPress too?
Yep!
So, I’ve seen a lot of new bloggers in Facebook groups asking questions like “Do I really need Bluehost and WordPress and Genesis?”
And the answer is yes, because those are all totally different things. I know it can sound confusing at first, but my goal for this guide is help you understand all of these different layers.
So, remember how Bluehost is your bus driver getting your blog out there into the world?
Well, WordPress is where you build your blog.
It is the link between you and your blog. WordPress is where you will type in your posts, format them, and publish them.
Here is another tricky but VERY important thing.
Just to confuse us all a little bit more, there are two things names WordPress. One is WordPress.com and the other is WordPress.org.
WordPress.org is what you want. That is what will allow you to create your own blog on your self-hosted website.
WordPress.com is a totally different thing (it’s similar to Blogger) and you do not want that if you want to ever make money from your blog.
You can get the WordPress you want here.
After you download WordPress you need to connect it to your host. So, if you followed my advice and went with Bluehost, you’ll just login to your Bluehost account and follow the instructions on your dashboard to connect WordPress. There should be easy-to-follow directions on your Bluehost dashboard, but remember that you can always call them if you get confused.
How to log in to your blog
I’m making a special section for this because on my first day as a blogger it took me a while to figure this out.
Once you have connected WordPress to your host, you need to log in to your blog using WordPress.
This is a different thing than logging into your host.
I kept trying to get to my blog from my Bluehost dashboard but that’s not how it works.
You access your blog through your WordPress dashboard by typing in your domain with /wp-admin on the end of it. For example, www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin. This will bring you to the place where you login to WordPress and you can start working on your blog.
Design your blog
Next, you will need to choose a framework and child theme that will determine what your blog looks like.
WordPress does come with a few themes installed. However, I highly recommend that you invest a small amount in your blog upfront and design it with a better looking theme from the start. It is so much easier to just do it right from the beginning while you’re already in set-up mode than to go back and redesign a month or two later.
A quality WordPress theme will give your blog a professional look and make readers take you seriously, even as a new blogger.
You may not really notice the difference right now, but once you “get it” and you’ve been looking at blogs for a while, you will definitely start to notice different themes and understand the importance of having a premium theme.
You need both a theme framework and a child theme.
The theme framework is the base that designers use to create their themes.
I’m sure there are a lot of theme frameworks out there but the primary one that every knows and uses is Genesis. That is what you want.
Here’s a blogging tip: You’re going to have plenty of opportunities to pave your own road and make your blog unique with your content. So, if every blogger out there seems to be using the same thing to run the technical side of their blog (like Genesis), there is probably a reason (like it’s the best) so it makes sense to follow in their more experienced footsteps.
You can get your Genesis Framework here.
Once you have Genesis installed (just follow along with the instructions it comes with), you are ready for a child theme.
Choosing a Theme
The theme is what will determine the layout and structure of your blog. Things like colors can be changed later so try to look past that.
It’s just like when you’re house shopping and you need to look past the hot-pink bedroom that you can repaint later and focus on the bones of the house. That’s what you need to do when you’re looking for a theme.
Here are the basic things you want to look for in a theme:
- Lots of white space – this makes your blog look clean and professional
- Easy to read font – by the way, your theme will also determine your font for your whole blog
- East to follow structure – will your readers be able to find what they’re looking for?
- Will it be appealing to your target audience? Choose something feminine if you’re writing to mostly women and something more plain if your audience is mixed or mostly men.
Where can I find the best themes for my new blog?
Feminine Themes
If you’re going to be writing to mostly women, you want to go with a clean, feminine theme.
Restored 316 is the most well-known and beloved designer of beautiful, feminine themes. Everyone who uses them absolutely loves them because of their high-quality product and their phenomenal customer service.
Each of their themes comes with step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow even if you are completely un-technical. As an added bonus you also get access to the Restored 316 community Facebook group, which allows you to ask other bloggers (who are using Restored 316 themes) for design and set-up advice. It’s pretty cool.
The theme on my blog right now is a Restored 316 theme – Delightful.
I could not be more happy with my Restored 316 experience and I highly recommend them to everyone I know.
Browse the Restored 316 themes here.
However…
If you’re not writing to mostly women, you probably want to choose a plain (and less pretty) theme.
You can find many well-designed, high-quality themes in the StudioPress store. StudioPress is the creator of Genesis and their themes are known for being excellent and they have a whole lot to choose from.
You can browse the StudioPress store here.
Logo
The last thing that you need to complete your first blog design is a logo.
Once you start making money from your blog, you should invest in a professional blog logo (mine is from Ramble Road Studios and you can find many blog logos on Etsy too.)
But you don’t need to invest in a logo right away! You can just make yourself a simple one.
This is what my first homemade logo looked like:
I just picked some cute fonts and added a little overlay on the side. It took about 15 minutes.
Making your own first logo a good way to start practicing your graphic design skills.
I always use PicMonkey for any kind of photo editing or image creation. I love PicMonkey because they are so easy to use – and that’s exactly what I’m looking for!
You can get started for free with PicMonkey here.
You’re blog is designed and ready to go!
Once you have your hosting, your WordPress account, and your blog is designed with your theme and logo, you are ready to go!
All that’s left to do now is start writing.
Log in to your wordpress dashboard (remember, that’s www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin) and get started!
Leave a comment below to tell me what your new blog is about. I can’t wait to check it out!
Psst… If you’re not sure where to go from here, grab your New Blogger’s Resource Guide now!
Leave a Reply