So, you are thinking about starting a blog? That’s fantastic everyone has a unique story to tell.  Whether it’s about cake decorating, your favorite food or about cats. Starting a blog is easy, you can get up and running in no time and on the cheap. However, staying the course will require some work. Honestly, when I started my blog, there were so many things I did not know. That’s why I’m writing this post to let you know how to start a blog the right way from the beginning.

Remember when I said there was a lot of things I didn’t know? Well… One of the things was research.  I didn’t conduct any research on the minutia of blogging. What…(eye roll) Instead, I chose a FREE template, wrote my first post and hit publish. Don’t do it this way OKAY.  If you know me, this is the total opposite of anything I would do. Soon I discovered I didn’t know what I was doing at all.  Instead of starting all over, I just implemented changes as I went along.

When my site went live, neither Google Analytics nor any social media channels were set up. Oops. Once, I found out I needed to do all these things, it was absolutely mind-blowing. I was basically playing catch up.  So basically I started my blog in reverse.  If that’s you, don’t feel bad you can make changes later on. I have certainly learned a lot along the way (the what not to do). That’s why I am writing this tutorial so you don’t make the same mistakes I made.  Let’s be honest we all want to be successful right?.

This page may contain affiliate links which mean that if you make a purchase from any links directed from this website I may earn a small commission.  I only recommend things that I use and love and classes I have taken.  Thank you very much for your ongoing support.

Here are some easy steps to get you up and running in no time.

How to Start a Blog:

Decide what blog niche/topic you would like to cover

The first step in starting a blog is to decide your niche. A blog niche is an area or topic that you plan to blog about. It is a good idea to choose a niche that has a good audience. However, make sure it is something that you absolutely love.

Research the topic that you would like to cover by performing a quick Google search to determine if it is a topic people are searching for. For example, if you would like to start a blog about cats, a quick search on “how to take care of cats” shows all the search terms for this topic.  That’s a good thing it shows people are searching for other things about cats as well.   These could you be your first blog posts. It doesn’t matter if there are a million blogs on the same topic, there is room for you in the blogging world.  Your experiences and voice are unique to you.

Hosting

Once you have decided on your blog’s topic/niche. It is time to choose a blogging platform. I use Bluehost for all my websites and highly recommend them. Bluehost is affordable with plans starting at just $3.95 per month (you will need to pay for 2 years of hosting for this plan). Plus, they have great customer service.  They can guide you through setting up over the phone.

To set up Bluehost go to their website and select get started now:

Select which plan works best for you:

Add your domain name or sign up for a free domain name (choose the latter).  You will have to pay domain registration which is different from buying the domain name.

Enter your personal information and billing information and you are ready to go:

Choosing a domain name

When choosing a domain name make sure it is something that people can remember and spell. Even though there are popular websites with misspelled words, I would try to avoid it. My website name is a mouthful, if I knew this beforehand I would have chosen a different name. When you sign up for Bluehost you get your domain name for free.

Also, I highly recommend paying the extra money for domain privacy. Domain privacy hides your personal information from the public database WHOIS. Without domain privacy, others can see your mailing address, email address, and telephone number. You really don’t want the whole world to know where you live right?

WordPress.com versus WordPress.org

WordPress.com is a free site, however, the free version has WordPress in the domain name. Free means you have no control over your website and don’t own it.  Another limitation is if you plan to monetize your blog, you might not be allowed to do so. According to their website, only blogs with large page views get this option. For your blog I suggest WordPress.org, it is free and is self-hosted. Bluehost took care of the installation for me over the phone.

Setting up your website

Once you have purchased a domain name, purchased hosting and have WordPress installed it is time to set up your website. The WordPress dashboard is very easy to navigate. I suggest these plugins to start: Jetpack, Sumome (an email opt-in), Google analytics and Yoast SEO. Now it is time to write your first blog posts.

Also, you need to select a theme.  You can select FREE themes, but you don’t get any support from them.  For themes, I like template monster or MojoMarketplace.  They have themes listed by your topic and any theme can be customized for you. Template Monster has great customer service, they are always available for questions and for any issues that arise. Another great feature is they can install your theme for you for a fee of course. If you are busy, this is a great option.

Selecting a theme is very easy to do: go to your dashboard. Then select appearance.

Go to themes, then select your theme.  I am using the daisy theme from Lazatheme.

Select plugins then under the search for plugins, add and activate the following plugins: Jetpack, Sumome, Google analytics, Shareaholic and Yoast SEO.

Setting up Google Analytics

In order to start receiving search traffic, you need to set up Google Analytics.  Don’t worry it’s for free.  Go to the Google Analytics website (you are going to need a Gmail account) and set up following the instructions below. Then install the Google analytics plugin on your WordPress site, add your Google ID and website. Once completed you will need to upload your sitemap. The sitemap is easily generated from the Yoast SEO plugin.

• Enter your account name, website name and website address (from the domain name above). Then select your industry for cake decorating choose ‘food.’

• Select your timezone and the data sharing settings.

• Select the user for the account.
• Once completed you are going to get a Tracking ID. This is listed under tracking code.
• Add this Tracking ID to the Google Analytics Plugin on WordPress.
• Give it some time to start pulling information or to crawl your website.  Google does display any errors you might have on the site.

How to monetize your blog

You have to decide when you want to monetize your blog.  The best practice is to monetize from the beginning so that your readers get used to the ads etc.  This avoids any trouble later when you do decide to do so.   There are some affiliates that you can sign up for right away, meaning they do not require minimum traffic to apply.  This means you can start your blog today and become an affiliate today for free.  The main ones are Amazon Affiliates, Shareasale, Rakuten Linkshare and Google Adsense.

Amazon Affiliates

A great way to monetize your website is to sign up for Affiliates. There are a few you can sign up for right away. You can sign up for Amazon Affiliates the same day you start your website. Once you receive approval you can begin linking to products.

Shareasale

Shareasale has many merchants on their site, fill out the application and once approved you can get started applying for affiliate programs.

I am currently signed up for:

• • Craftsy (which I love and they just started Bluprint for unlimited cake decorating tutorial).
  • Pretty Witty Cakes,
  • Creative Live (they have great photography courses),
  • Flirty Aprons and
  • Grammarly (this is one of the best grammar tools available). I don’t know what I would do without this Grammarly tool.

Google Adsense

Google Adsense places ads on your website in what they call empty spaces.  To sign up for Google Adsense go to their main page. Click the sign-up button, enter your website URL and your email address.  Select whether you would like customized messages from Google Adsense about your site or not.

Enter your name and address.

Select your country and accept the terms and condition.

Now it is time to connect your site to Adsense.  Copy the code, and add to the header section of your website.  There are other ways of doing this but this is as far as my technical skills go.

Once your account is activated you get to choose the types of ads you want to show on your site.  Go to my ads and play around with the settings.  For Auto ads, you will have to set up and add additional codes to your website. You are all set up for Google AdSense. Try not to click on your own ads (Google doesn’t like that).

That’s it for how to start a blog.  Now it’s time to add blog posts and set a launch day.  Any questions let me know. Until next time.