Looking for a simple way to learn how to start a blog?
In just 15 minutes, and with little more than basic computer knowledge, you can get up and running your own blog thanks to the detailed instructions provided on this website.
After following this tutorial, your blog will be beautiful and ready to be published.
You are in the right place, as this manual was written with beginners in mind. I will show you each step by step in a very simple way.
Drop me a note if you get stuck or have any questions, and I’ll do everything I can to help you.
Free blogging platform
The fastest option is to make a free blog on wordpress.com or blogger.com. It can be done in five minutes. All you have to do is fill in some personal information and choose a theme. Then you start writing and publishing right away.
The disadvantages of using free platforms
There are a few problems with starting a blog on a free platform:
- You don’t get a nice URL for your blog, like johnnyhalim.com. The name of the blog platform will stay within your domain. So you get a web address like johnnyhalim.wordpress.com or johnnyhalim.blogger.com. This looks a little less like a business.
- You also have less control over your blog because the technical parts are taken care of by the blogging platform. For instance, you can’t choose which ads show up with your articles.
- There are also only a few themes to choose from.
- You can’t install any plugins. These plugins can add extra features to your blog, like a pop-up window or an online store.
Creating a professional blog? Just follow these 4 steps.
If you want to blog professionally, it’s best to set up your blog at a hosting company.
It takes a little more time to start your blog, but it’s still easy. With the four steps below, you can create your blog in 15 minutes.
Step 1: Choose a domain.
This is the URL where people can find your blog. In my case, it is www.johnnyhalim.com. A domain doesn’t cost very much. You can get a URL for a year for a few bucks. If you buy a hosting package from the same company as the domain, the domain is often free.
Want to start a blog but don’t know what to write about? Then choose a URL that can take you in many different directions, like your own name. If you buy the domain www.cutedog.com for a blog about dogs but later decide to blog about gardening tutorials, you made a bad purchase. You can change the topic a hundred times without having to buy a new domain if you use your own name.
You can go to namecheap.com to see what domains are still available.
In the search bar, type the name you want to save. For example, affiliatemarketing.com is already taken, but as you can see, affiliatemarketing.market and affiliatemarketing.marketing are still available. Note: You can register a new domain in just a few minutes.
Step 2 choose web hosting.
Now that you’ve got a domain name picked out, it’s time to get your blog online. This might sound hard or technical, but the steps below will walk you right through and make the process easy.
Simple steps to help you get your blog up and running. You’ll need two things: blog hosting (also known as web hosting) and blogging software. The good news is that these are usually packaged together.
A blog host is a company that stores all of the files for your blog and delivers them to the user when they type in your blog domain name. You must have a blog host to have a blog.
You also need to have the software to build your blog. In this guide, I will be showing you how to build a blog using the WordPress blogging software, because it is the most popular, customizable, and easiest to use.
How do I find the best web hosting for my blog?
When you compare web hosting services, here are things you should consider:
Prioritize
Everyone has different things they need. For you, the price might be the most important thing, but for someone else, it might be speed, efficiency, or reliability.
If this is your first website or blog, you should use shared hosting. As your site grows, you can switch to a virtual private server, a dedicated server, or even a better hosting company.
Costs per month
Some Web hosting companies may try to get you to sign up by offering low monthly rates, but you shouldn’t fall for it.
They’ll try to win you over with low prices, but it’s likely that they’ll only be low for a short time, like during the promotion period or because you had to sign a three-year contract. Before you start, make sure to check carefully.
Bandwidth per Month
Many companies offer “unlimited bandwidth.” as a marketing strategy. This is because they know that most websites rarely use more than a few gigabytes of traffic.
Server bandwidth limits how many people can visit your website. Always keep in mind that every time a user does something on your site, some bandwidth is used. Here are some high-bandwidth activities:
- Post a high-resolution image or video and save it to your website.
- Provide software and/or documents to be downloaded by visitors.
So bandwidth is not only affected by the size of your web pages, but also by how much traffic you have and the number of pages they visit. Based on an average page size of 100 KB, an expected 10,000 monthly visits, and five pages per visitor, you need 5,000 MB (or 5 GB) of bandwidth each month.
Allocated disk space
You can think of disk space as the total amount of space your website files can use. Depending on the service you want, the hosting company may offer very different offers for the same amount of money.
A WordPress blog requires about 1 GB of space for themes, plugins, databases, and uploaded files. You don’t need to spend a lot of money when you’re just starting.
As your site grows, you will need more space on your hard drive. It’s very easy to add this to your subscription. You can talk to your hosting company’s support staff or look on the admin page for upgrade options. You don’t have to worry about downtime because there is none.
Custom domain email address
It is very important to have an email address that matches your domain name so that you appear credible. If your domain is “johnnyhalim.com,” for example, you’d want the email address “[email protected].” For business purposes, you should not provide your personal email address.
You can set up an email account with your own domain through a web host. Some providers only let you set up one custom domain email address, but others let you set up as many as you want.
Free domain name
This is a marketing strategy that web hosts use to get new customers, but if you’re just starting with your first website, you should use it.
But if you want to change hosting, you should buy your own domain. so you aren’t tied to the web hosting.
During the setup process, you’ll be asked if you want to register a new domain or use one you already have.
Customer support
If you value customer service, you should attempt to contact web hosting customer care before signing up with them.
Most web hosting companies feature live chat customer service. You may also get answers to your questions by visiting their websites.
The time it takes the help desk to react to your email is another method to measure the kind of assistance you may anticipate.
Backups
Make sure your website has a backup in case anything goes wrong. You should ask about the hosting company’s backup and restoration options. Here are some questions you may ask:
- How often do you make a copy of my site? (hourly, per day, per week)
- How do I get my backup site up and running if I want to?
- How long does it take to restore?
- How much does it cost?
WordPress users have greater control over backups when they use a plugin like UpdraftPlus.
Money back guarantee
Most web hosting companies provide a refund policy. If you are unhappy with their service, you may be able to get a refund.
The majority of hosting firms have a 30-day money-back guarantee, but some go as far as 45 or 90 days.
Uptime
When you’re looking for the best hosting service, you’ve probably heard the term “uptime”. The word refers to how long your website is up and running in a certain period of time. You’ll be happier if the number is higher.
Your hosting plan often comes with a service level agreement (SLA) that guarantees a minimum amount of time your site will be online (the amount of time your website is accessible to visitors). Most hosting companies maintain their sites up to 99.9% all the time. From time to time, your site may be down while they are performing server maintenance, updates, or repairs.
Read the fine print of the contract to find out how they will compensate you if they don’t achieve that goal.
Use a third-party service such as Uptime Robot to monitor the availability of your website. This free tool checks your website every five minutes and sends you an email if it goes down.
Ready to switch hosting
Most web hosting is good enough. But changing times, management, merging, and technology upgrades can cause your web hosting agreement to change. In other words, you shouldn’t be locked into a host.
To switch a web host, all you have to do is put your backup on another web host and connect your domain name to that service. Make sure you own the domain name.
Keep in mind that the type of hosting you choose should suit your current needs. You can also add hosting space or switch to another plan later.
Step 3 Install WordPress on your site.
After you buy a domain name and web hosting, you can install WordPress. Log in to your hosting account and click the “One click install” button. After that, enter your domain name and select a username and password.
Step 4: Start managing your blog.
If WordPress is already set up on your domain, you can start publishing right away. It should be easy for you to find your site’s URL and log in. Here’s what you need to do: If you have registered “makemoneyonline.com” as your domain name, you can access the admin page by typing: www.makemoneyonline.com/wp-admin.
After entering your username and password, you will be sent to your blog’s Dashboard (see image below). In that area, you’ll find tools to help you write blog posts, change the look of your blog, and do a lot more. In short, you are ready to start your blogging journey now.
If you want to generate money online with your blog, read my detailed tutorial on how to get started with affiliate marketing.
