If you feel starting a blog for beginners is really difficult, then this guide is for you. It could be a personal or business blog. The guide will walk you through all the steps till the end. If there are questions, please contact us. You have heard of the terms “blog, blogger, and blogging”.
A blog is an online journal or an information website that displays information in an order where the last post shows first. This is where a writer or a group of writers share their views about a specific topic.
A blogger is someone who owns and controls a blog.
Blogging is the process of writing a blog or an online journal where you share your thoughts about a specific subject or topic with the readers. Starting a blog for beginners has been a hot topic and i felt i would like to share something too.
Note: Some links here are affiliated as we may get some commissions if you purchase with the links. It does not add an extra cost, but it will do well to support me and the blog. Thanks
Now you’ve known the difference between a blog, a blogger and blogging. Let’s head to the reasons why people start blogs.
People build blogs for
- To share your story and interact
- As a side income
- To increase awareness of their brand
Starting a blog for beginners Steps
For the case of this “starting a blog for beginners” guide, we will be building a WordPress website with Bluehost web hosting.
If you’re wondering what web hosting means, I will simply say it’s a place where a website lives or is stored. It hosts websites for clients and offers the facilities that are required to create and maintain a site, and it also makes it accessible on the internet.
Now let’s imagine you want to build a home, the first thing you have to do is to acquire the land where it is going to be built. So, the hosting here would be land LOL.
The reason I prefer Bluehost hosting is that
- It’s affordable and reliable.
- Its customer support is amazing
- It has a 30-day refund policy. So, if you don’t like it, you can cancel the plan.
- It’s recommended by WordPress itself. With just 1 click you can install WordPress on your Bluehost hosting account
- It gives out a free domain and email address for new signups
The first thing to do when planning on starting a blog as a beginner is to find the niche you are interested in. Looking for blogging niche ideas, I have written about different blogging niches ideas you can choose from read this
Go to the Bluehost website here and select your plans, you will see the pricing on the image below.
There are different plans, basic, pro, and online store. You can buy choose a yearly payment or 3 years which could save money in the long run.
Select your choice, if it’s a personal blog, you should go for the basic plan. If it’s a big establishment, then go for a better plan.
Now you have to set up your domain for your website. If you have then you can set it up by putting the domain in the “use a domain you own” form. But if you don’t have one, the good thing and bonus of Bluehost hosting is that they offer a free domain to new accounts. Create a new domain and see if what you have is available. Otherwise, you can go ahead to Namecheap to get it. But Bluehost hosting gives you a free one as a bonus. You can also skip it if you feel like setting it up later.
Now, you will have to complete your info and billing info.
Your hosting account is up and running. After the purchase is made, go straight to your email to verify your account. You’ll also get the details for accessing your Bluehost hosting control panel account.
When on the Bluehost control panel, with just a click, you can install WordPress.
After installation, you should want to design it to a good taste. You have to choose your theme. There are lots of free theme options to choose from. You’ll have to find the one best for your site
If you already have posts made down, log in to your WordPress and make a post. You can also play around with the control panel just to get familiar with them all.
Benefits of Having a Blog
1. Starting a blog can bring massive traffic
With blogging, you get to receive lots of website visitors. And this also has so many benefits. When people search the search engines for something they need, they get to read blogs to find solutions.
They could be clients who are in need of something you offer. Just imagine the number of people who are searching for a shop or business center nearby to them, then you could have a portion of the visitors when you have a website and when you list your business on “Google my business” your business will show in searches and the location and details too.
2. Bring opportunities
With blogging, you tend to get opportunities. When you get engaged with people you will get opportunities if they are similar minded.
If you own a blog about a topic that is relevant to your readers, it can establish you as an authority and makes you look professional in that field.
3. Brings sales from visitors
With blogging, you can turn visitors or traffic into leads. I won’t talk much about this. You would have had experience with this where you buy things from recommendations from websites. Now let’s say you go to a blog, read an article, and see an irresistible offer. You feel like “oh, I need this” and then you click on the call-to-action, and after that submit your details like your email address and name. They will have your email address which they can contact you anytime. You may receive emails from them which they could use to promote their business.
Blogging is one of the ways people make tons of email lists. I will talk about what email marketing is about soon.
4. Starting a blog can Improve experience in a field
Having a blog can increase your knowledge in a particular field. I would be a case study here. We just entered a new week and I will need to update my blog with a post. But what I’m I going to do now?
How’re my contents going to be, and what contents should I write about? These questions will make you want to go research for answers. And when you’re researching and writing down something, this will give you more knowledge in that field, and with time, you’ll become an expert on it. But this is only subjected to some particular fields though. Starting a blog for educational purposes would be worth it
5. Selling your eBook and online membership courses
Starting a blog as a writer would help introduce your books to the internet. If you are a writer, you can sell your eBooks or your products on your blog. If you’ve gone to top blogs, you will notice bloggers sell their products like eBook or their courses. This is one of the great ways to make money as you have to choose the price and be in total control of it.
You just have to compile the eBook and then get a good designer for the cover photo from Fiverr. And for the course, you can set up a membership course so you can make a passive income from it.
6. Make money online opportunity
A blog can make you good decent money. I’ve seen people who do this as their main source of income because there are several ways to make money online with a blog. If you do not have a business, you could sit down in your home and make a good income.
How to make money blogging for beginners
- You can make money on your blog from ad networks like Google AdSense, media.net, propeller ads, etc. Most of the blogs we see use Ads network to generate income for themselves. And it’s a passive income for people who continue to stay relevant and drive traffic to it. So as long as you’re getting visitors to the website, you’re making money.
- Native advertising is also popular among top blogs and worth it
- Affiliate marketing in my opinion is the best way to make money from your blog. I know a lot of you guys will agree to this. For some of you who are new or have no idea about affiliate marketing. Well, affiliate marketing is a form of digital marketing where you refer someone online to buy products, and when that person buys the products that you have recommended you receive commissions from it. The products are not yours. So, you don’t have to worry about anything, just make them purchase it through your link. Many companies have affiliate programs. It can be a passive income if you do this well. So, all you need to get started is to join an affiliate program, then pick a product you want to promote. You will be given a unique affiliate link which you should promote on your blog. So, anytime you get visitors or customers, you will be paid depending on the type of products.
Conclusion
Starting a blog for beginners does not necessarily require some coding knowledge. is worth it and if you already have a website for business, you should also learn how to blog. Your website can be stuck to zero visitors for a long time, if you do not do what is supposed to be done.
But all these benefits do not come along as soon as you get a blog. Honestly, nothing good comes easy, but if you work for it, you will get it. You will have to work hard to get it if you really want it badly as enough as you want to eat or sleep. But there are Just a few things we can ever want as badly as sleep and eat. With time i make a complete course for starting a blog for beginners and also some seo tips. We are still in the learning stage and with time we will have a reasonable amount of knowledge.
