So, are you curious how to start a blog? I am so happy you are here at UpdatedReviews! Here I am going to share steps to create a successful blog. My main motive is to describe the mandatory steps to get off to a profitable and successful blogging start, no technical expertise needed.

HOW TO START A BLOG

I started my first blog in 2012 with little computer knowledge. I struggled a lot. This guide contains what I learned during my journey and is especially for the people who want step-by-step guidance in simplest and easiest format.

Why You Should Start A Blog

There are numerous of reasons you might consider. Below mentioned are a few most popular ones:

Note: If you already have a strong plan of the whys, then skip these steps and go straight away with the guide.

You can generate good amount of money while working from home. Many bloggers are making good money from full-time blogging. Making money with a blog is little bit difficult, but the barrier to access in blogging is very low.

Once you get into blogging, you will notice that you are becoming a good writer and thinker. Discovering good content requires creative thought. When you become fully expert in creating quality content for your blog, you can see improvement in the process of your writing, thinking and researching skills.

With blogging you can get more publicity for your current business. With a blog anyone from individuals to large organizations can reach large number of people at reasonable price.

Blogging is a great way to express yourself, communicating with others and also a fantastic way to share information and news with others.

The best reason to start a blog? You can make money doing it!

I am sure all of you already knew about all the points I have mentioned here, but it is great to be reminded.

One very last thing I want to tell you before we get started with blog:

Making your own or personal blog can take very little time, most likely up to 30 minutes. So take yourself a cup of tea, coffee or juice (whatever you want) and let us get stuck in. If you need any help or at any point of time you feel any trouble during the set-up process, feel free to get in touch with me and I will definitely help you.

The 6 Basic Steps to Start a Blog or Website

Below mentioned are the few major steps we are going to cover in this post. Take it easy, I will walk you directly through.

1. Choose a Topic to Blog or Decide what to blog about
2. Choose a Platform for your blog
3. Find a reliable web host
4. Pick a domain name for your blog
5. Install WordPress
6. Designing of your blog

Step 1: Choose a Topic to blog about

If you are creating blog for business, company or organization, this step will be very simple to determine. In that situation your blog should be related to your products or services you provide.

If you are an individual, you can choose a topic based on your interest, you have many choices to choose from. But the main factors to remember are:

You should blog about something with more than enough room for conversation. A perfect blog must have plenty of unique content to set in motion and to remain interesting.

Pick a topic in which you can set up yourself as an expert. You will most likely not be the first person to blog about the niche you pick. It's practically guaranteed another person or individual has already planned of it before you. You don’t have to worry about this, but put a question to yourself whether you have skills at formatting your blog better than all the others in the same niche.

Step 2: Choose Preferred Blogging Platform

There is broad range of platforms you can use to start your blog or website. You may be fascinated to go with a free option, however know you will be provided with limited resources. Opting for a premium or paid service is not much expensive. It's an easy decision as per my knowledge.

Which is the Best Blogging Platform?

There are many blogging platforms available but WordPress is, by far, the most popular platform (source). I am using wordpress for my 2 other blog and for this website I am using Joomla.

I am using WordPress as well and Joomla and appreciate their flexibility, functionality, performance, ease of use and broaden community of users who share lo of tools and ideas. Wordpress is an excellent choice for blogs and do not worry, if you are planning a website without having a blog, WordPress makes it very easy. Joomla is best option if you want to have a website.

Pay attention! Within WordPress, there are 2 different options available. Most of the people are typically confused by the 2 thus I will mention them here:

WordPress.com based blogs are generally referred to as Hosted WordPress web blogs.

WordPress.org based blogs are usually referred to as Self-hosted WordPress blogs.

My preferred choice is self-hosted WordPress blog and it will cost you little bit of money, but it will give you complete access and flexibility over your blog.

Now I a going to talk about the steps you need to follow to start a self-hosted WordPress blog.

Step 3: Find a Web Host

A web host is a service provider or company which provide you with server space on their server to make it accessible on the web. In simple words, without hosting no one can access your website and when a hosting provider provides you server space then only others or Internet users can access your site on the web. Check the list of Top 10 Web Hosting Companies.

Disclosure: Since I am a paying customer for around 5 years, few of the links you will find below are referral links, it means, you can save more by using referral links and I will earn a small amount as a referral bonus if you make a purchase using given links.

If you think you are ready to get started with your own blog, Start it here by Visiting Bluehost's website. I have used their service for more than 5 years.

Once you hit the above link you will landed on Bluehost’s official website

Now all you have to do is choose the plan as per your budget and needs. I would recommend you to go with the Advanced or Business plan because you get much features and resources. But if you are tight on budget then you can go with basic starter plan and in future as your website grow you can upgrade in any time.

May be you see slight changes in the images you see here because Bluehost continue improving their website.

Step 3: Choose a Website Domain Name

A website domain name will be the name by which your website or business be recognized on the web. A domain is the unique address/name of your blog on the web. Your domain name will be yours as long as you keep paying the annual charges usually costs around $5-15 yearly. But there are few best domain name registrars offering domains for just Rs.99 for the first and next it will renew at regular rates. To buy a domain name I would suggest you to check Bigrock Rs.99 Domain offer.

On this window you will either have to choose a brand new domain name for your blog or enter an already registered domain.

The people who aware of your domain/website URL (uniform resource locator) can directly enter it into their web browser's address bar and if you submit your blogs in search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing then others will be able to find your blog through search engines by typing keywords related to your keyword, service or business name.

These are many extensions are available for your domain like .COM, .Net, .Edu, .Org etc. Most popular domain extension is .Com. There are many other country specific extension are available like .In, .US, .UK, you can choose one based on your needs and requirements. If you want to target whole world then it is recommended to go with a .Com extension and if you are planning to target specific location or country you can choose country specific domain extension.

Few tips for selecting a Good domain name for your blog:

Your domain name should be easy to remember.

If possible always try to Go with a .com because it is highly popular extension worldwide.

Make it simple to pronounce and spell.

Avoid hyphens, numbers or other confusing words.

If you are not able to decide what to choose, your business, service, product or your name is a safest bet to start.

You can use domain name suggest tools to find domain name for your blog.

Step 5: Select a WordPress Theme and Install it

Once you buy web hosting you will be provided with control panel login details in your email, login into your cpanel with the the help of login details and install WordPress for your blog via clicking the Install WordPress icon available in your control panel. Also Check Best Web Hosting India.

Go ahead with the installation of WordPress

On next page you will be able to see a screen that looks almost similar to, Click the Continue/start Installation button to start the process of WordPress installation.

Select Domain to Install WordPress

On this step, select the domain name you want to install WordPress on it. Suppose the domain you opted during signup process does not display, just hit “Domain” option and you can easily choose it from available list.

Don’t enter anything in the directory field.

Enter User Information for WordPress Account

On this screen you have to enter your user info such as website Name or Title. Remember this is totally different than the name of your domain which ends in .In, .com, .Net or something similar. You will also have to enter Admin user name and password these details will be what you need to login to WordPress account once it is installed. Provide your preferred email id because all the information of your website will be sent through email. Read and check the terms and condition button.

Recap

Now you should have got two different welcome emails. One from Bluehost with the login info of hosting account. Second from WordPress with login info for your WordPress account. Save these details carefully.

Did you opted for new domain registration or entered existing domain name in Step 4?

If you chosen to register a new domain name in Step 4

Then anyone or any user on the web can access your WordPress website by typing your domain into browser.

If you have entered an existing domain name in Step 4..

Then your website will be not live on the web until you change the name servers of your domain. By changing your name servers you can point your web domain to the new web page.

To change the old name server of your domain to new name servers you need to login to your domain control panel provided by your domain registrar, first of all make a note of your new Bluehost name server details:

ns1.BlueHost.com

ns2.BlueHost.com

Even if you registered a brand new domain name or transferred an already registered one, you will realize you have done it successfully if you are able to access or see your website by typing it into any browser.

Step 6: Designing of Your Blog

Well done! Now you are a pleased owner of a self-hosted WordPress based blog. After finishing with WordPress installation you need to start with the process of designing your blog as per your desire. You can easily change the design of your blog with the help of Themes. By default Twenty Sixteen theme will be installed on your blog—although it's a good theme to get started. Whenever you wish you can choose a theme that looks good and matches with your blog niche. Your potential viewers and readers will foremost observe the complete appearance and features of the web blog, before even checking the contents of it.

Do you want to Make Money from Your Blog?

Read my article about ways to Make Money from a Website or Blog.

Also Read my article about Best Online Business Ideas You Can Start Today.

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