Published on September 22nd, 2017 | by Guest

Beginner to Master: How to Create a Blog in Five Simple Steps

Having your own blog is a great way to share information with others, connect with a like-minded audience, and even make money! Best of all, creating a blog is easy for even a complete non-technical newbie – and absolutely no prior knowledge or coding experience is needed. If you can follow a simple set of instructions, you can be up and blogging with as little as 20 minutes setup time.

1. Pick a Name for Your Blog

Assuming you already know what you want to blog about, you need to choose a good name. Your blog name should be unique as well as memorable, and not easily confused with existing blogs. Brainstorm a list of original names that you like and check with a domain registrar such as Namecheap or GoDaddy to see if the domain is available. Stick with the more common and recognizable domain extensions like .com, .net, or .org. Once you’ve decided on a domain name, write it down but don’t buy it until you’ve selected a hosting company.

2. Choose a Hosting Company

A web host basically provides the hardware that connects your blog with the Internet. While you could eliminate the expense (typically less than $5 per month) of a hosting company by going with a free blogging platform such as blogger.com, these free platforms typically have some serious disadvantages such as

No personalized domain name
No control over ads (or revenue sharing) that they choose to display on your blog
Limited editorial and navigation features
Removal of your blog at any time and without cause

Read online reviews and compare features as you shop for a hosting company. Specifically, you should be concerned with load speed, reliability (uptime), and 24/7 support. Finally, check to see if your final choice offers a free domain name with hosting – many do!

3. Select a Blog Platform

WordPress is an obvious top choice for your blog platform. It’s one of the most popular platforms out there, it supports hundreds of theme options and plug-ins to customize your blog to your heart’s desire, and best of all – it’s free to use except for some premium themes and plug-ins. Many hosting companies even offer easy one-click installation of WordPress sites. As if that’s not enough, Google absolutely loves WordPress because the platform’s architecture permits fast and easy indexing of sites for SEO purposes.

4. Set Up Your Blog and Start Writing

Once your blog is installed, you can start customizing it with your choice of theme design. You should choose a theme that is mobile responsive, fast loading, and optimized for SEO. With your theme in place, you’re ready to start writing your first post.

Remember that content quality is much more important than quantity. The more useful or entertaining your content, the more likely you are to attract followers who in turn will share your content with others.
Create a publishing schedule and stick to it.
Use relevant visuals to break up the text and make your content more interesting to read.

5. Start Driving Traffic

There are a number of techniques, both free and paid, for driving traffic to your blog. Here’s a few ideas to get you started.

Share your content across your social media networks.
Ask your followers to share your content with their friends. Be sure to add social share buttons to your blog.
Add a plug-in such as Yoast to help improve your blog’s search engine visibility.

Once your blog is up and running, you might consider monetizing it by adding Google AdSense ads, affiliate links to relevant products, or links to a squeeze page promoting your own products.

Tags: beginner, blog, master, steps