Starting a blog has been one of the best things I’ve done in my life. I started my very first blog in 2009 and it was called “Chasing the wind.” A random blog built on a wordpress.com free template, I just needed a place to share snippets of my writings at that time. That blog evolved over time and I changed the name and the themes as it grew to over 5000 community members who were following along.
I learnt so many lessons from blogging all these years and blogging has allowed me to be able to stay home with my children and still have an income and a creative outlet. People have often asked me how they can start a blog of their own, specifically one that can help them make an income. So in this post, I am going to share with you in detail how you can go about starting your own in 2023. I want to help you build a successful blog, so I am going to share with you my favourite platforms that I’ve used over the years as well as the strategies that I’ve learned from other bloggers along the way.
Make sure you pin this post and bookmark it as it is packed with so much valuable information that you are definitely going to want to come back and look through it often.
Table of Contents
There are 9 simple steps to follow when starting a blog:
- You need to decide what it is you want to blog about. (Your niche)
- Once you know what you want to talk about then you need to choose a name for your blog. (Your Domain)
- Then once you have your domain you have to choose a blogging platform. (Your blogging platform)
- Pick your host (Hosting)
- Once that’s covered then you need to set up your WordPress blog and choose a theme. (Your Website Design)
- Once your theme is set up and your website is designed the way you want it, then you can start your blogging journey by adding your first post. (Get Blogging!)
- Promote, promote, promote your blog! You did not do all that work just to keep it a secret, you need to let the world know what you have been working on. You can do this by sharing on your social media platforms. Especially Pinterest, if you do not have an account get it now! (Let’s Pin)
- Start an email list – As soon as you begin your blog you should have a way to capture emails. Building an email list is one of the most important thing you can do to grow your community and nurture your audience. (Start an email list)
- Make money from your blog. There is an affiliate market for almost every single niche in this world. There are so many ways that you can monetize your blog and I will be sharing so many ways on this website. (Make money on your blog)
So before you start your blog you need to know your WHY? Blogging is hard, it’s a lot of work but when done right it can be very rewarding. So knowing your ‘why’ will help you pull through those hard times. So why do you want to blog?
I sarted my blog back in 2009 because I wanted to create a network and a platform for like-minded women who were pursuing Christ. I wanted a community to inspire, motivate and encourage them to be the very best version of themselves and live their lives to the fullest. I didn’t expect to make money from that blog because that wasn’t the goal. It was beautiful to watch it grow and become what I envisioned. With time this blog presented opportunities for me to get paid and that is how I became a full-time blogger and ventured into web design over the years. Some popular reasons why people become bloggers are:
- To have full control of your schedule.
- To make money while working from anywhere.
- To build a solid online community.
- To learn new skills and add those to your resume.
- To document your life, maybe for the benefit of your family and children.
- To improve your writing skills and inspire your audience.
….and so many more!
Now that you have thought through your ‘WHY’ we will begin on the first step on your journey to setting up your very own blog.
STEP ONE: Find your niche
A blog niche is a specific topic or area that you wish to specialize in and write about on your blog.
One of the very important things I’ve learnt over the years is that for you to grow a blog that is profitable and sustainable you need to be passionate about it. Think of what you are passionate about?
What topic can you talk about, read about, research about without getting bored?
Is this a topic that you love to do and can do in your free time, during the kid’s naps and everything in-between?
Do you have a particular skill that you can share with others? Something that you would like to continue learning and sharing about? Like photography and cooking? Evaluate what you like doing, what your passion and skills are? I have written a full detailed post about the different niches that you can blog about. Some niche examples are:
- Personal Finance
- Fashion
- Food
- Parenting
- Lifestyle
- Pets
- Business Marketing Advice
- Travel
- Photography
- Relationships
There are so many more and these niches can be further broken down into subcategories until you really niche down to something specific if you like. Once you have decided on a niche and you know your final goal is to make a profit from your blog then it’s important for you to have a look and see if there is a market for what you want to write about. Is it something people are searching for? Is there a need for it? Are there other bloggers doing something similar to what you have in mind? These are important questions to ask yourself if you want to move your blog from just a hobby blog to a profitable blog in the long term. It’s good to have this figured out from the beginning so you know exactly where you are heading. One great way to figure out if your niche is in the market is to do some keyword research. There are various tools that you can use for this like the google keyword planner, Ahrefs Keywords explorer, answer the public and google search console just to mention a few.
So once you’ve gone through the above steps and have decided on your niche now it will be time to move onto step two – choosing your domain name.
STEP TWO – Choosing a domain name
Choosing the right blog name can be challenging, this is the part that I personally spend so much time on because I don’t want to regret the name and l want something that will be easy enough to remember but also something that relates to the niche topic that I have chosen. There are some questions that you can ask yourself that can help you in picking out a domain name.
Questions to ask yourself are:
- What is your blog about? If you have chosen a niche then this one is easy to answer.
- Will you be building your brand around your blog name?
- How does it sound in it’s domain URL format?
- Is it easy to say or spell? You don’t want a domain name that is complicated and difficult to spell or one that uses a play on words. It may seem clever but this doesn’t always work out best.
Jot down some ideas on a piece of paper and once you have a list of names you can put these through a domain name finder like this Bluehost one, this will let you know if your domain name is available. My advice is to keep it simple, readable and brandable.
STEP THREE – Choosing your blogging platform
There are so many blogging platforms out there but personally, I use WordPress. And that is the platform that I am going to walk you through. There are two basic types of WordPress platforms – the hosted option and the self-hosted option.
Some examples of hosted platforms are:
- Blogger
- Wix
- Squarespace
- WordPress.com
And an example of a self-hosted platform is:
- WordPress.org
The main difference between the two is that with a hosted platform, one company runs the show. You buy the domain from them, that’s where your website “lives” and they sort out everything for you. Whereas with a self-hosted platform you buy a domain name, get a hosting company to host your website then install wordpress.org on their servers and start blogging. An easy way to understand is thinking of a hosted blog as renting a house and a self-hosted blog like buying a house. Both require some form of payment but with the self-hosted blog you own the space so you can do whatever you want.
Both these options have pros and cons but If you are looking to grow your blog I strongly encourage you to go with the self-hosted option simply because you have so much more control over your website. You can do pretty much anything you want, the sky is the limit! There is so much flexibility in terms of design, plugins you can use, and the money you can make. So many options with a self-hosted platform. So if you are starting your blog with the goal of growing and making money then a self-hosted platform it is!
STEP FOUR: Picking your host
This is probably one of the most important decisions that you are going to make. A web host is a company that keeps all your website files safe and accessible. There are a lot of platforms that you can use to host your website. My top favourites are Bluehost and Siteground. In this post, I am going to show you how to start your blog hosting with Bluehost.
This was the very first hosting platform I started my blog with years ago. Firstly, their hosting prices are so reasonable and their customer service is impeccable. I highly recommend them for these reasons:
- Affordable hosting.
- 24/7 customer service.
- Reliable track record.
- Prioritizes speed and security.
- One-Click install for WordPress.
- You get free domain registration in your first year.
- Free Business Emails.
- Free SSL Certificate.
- You can have multiple domains in one account.
- 30-day money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied.
- They are endorsed by Bluehost.
And so much more!
I have written a detailed, very easy to follow Bluehost tutorial on how to get set up. This tutorial will walk you step by step through the process. You can click through to the tutorial then once you have completed it, you can come back to this page and we can start designing your new website.
STEP FIVE: Designing your new website
As a web designer, this is the most exciting part for me, when I first started blogging in 2009 I had no idea of how to custom design a website so I was very thankful for WordPress themes. There are so many WordPress themes on the market now in 2023, it is almost overwhelming. When I first began blogging I spent hours sifting through mountains of themes, I purchased so many themes only to try them for a month and realise they were missing functionality that I wanted and the customer service wasn’t great. After lots of trial and error, I finally found my sweet spot and that propelled my blogging journey further.
My advice to you is to go for reputable theme developers who have great support and lots of examples of how other bloggers have used their themes. You can check out my highly recommended list of premium WordPress themes.
A few WordPress theme sources I highly recommend for bloggers and small business owners are:
- 17th Avenue designs
- Restored 316 Designs
- BluChic
- Lovely Confetti
Those are my top recommendations for beautiful feminine themes that are functional and stylish! There are full instructions on how you can download and upload their themes once you have purchased one. Most of these theme developers offer you the option to set up your theme for you at an extra cost or you can click over to my Design Services Page and I will be more than happy to help you set up your new blog.
STEP SIX: Start Writing!
Once your website is up and running, it is time to start writing. Congratulations! There are a few things you should do before you launch your blog. One of them is to have at least 5 – 10 posts written. The best posts to start with are tutorial-based posts and list posts, the “how” and “why” type of posts usually rank well on google. Write posts that will help your audience, answer their questions and add value to them. Use headlines that capture attention and pique the interest of your reader. I have written a list of blog post ideas that can get you started.
STEP SEVEN: Promote your work
When I started my first blog l was so nervous about sharing my blog with anyone so for a few months, I blogged anonymously and only shared my website link with my two sisters. There was no growth or movement on my blog until I got the courage to share it on my personal Facebook. So sharing your blog posts is very important. Utilise social media, especially Pinterest, It is such a gold mine for bloggers. Find out where your target audience hangs out and share it there. That is the only way your community will grow, therefore bringing more opportunities to your blog.
STEP EIGHT – Build your email list
Building an email list is one of the most important things you can do to grow your community and nurture your audience. If someone comes to your blog, reads your content and leaves they may not necessarily remember to click back again unless they come across it again. So an easy way to remind people about your blog is to get them to join your email list by offering them value in exchange for their email address. This way you can now stay in touch with them and nurture your relationship with your audience. You can check out my blog post on how you can grow your email list.
STEP NINE: Monetize your blog
Once you have promoted your website and you have some traffic coming through you can consider monetizing your blog. There are various ways to do this, I have written a detailed post on how to make money from a blog. But basically, a few popular ways to get started are:
- Google Adsense – great for a beginner with very little traffic.
- Sponsored Posts – A company pays you to write about a particular topic on your blog.
- Affiliate Marketing – You share link of products and services that you already use and love.
- Ad revenue – Once your blog has a lot more traffic you can apply to ad networks that pay high premiums to advertise on your blog.
- Digital Products – You can package all your knowledge into an e-book, online course, planner or some printable that people can purchase.
And that’s a wrap!
Those are my top 9 tips for starting a blog. It is not easy but it is one of the most rewarding journeys you can embark on if you are passionate about your expertise on a particular subject!