How To Start A WordPress Blog | Benefits Of Blogging

Since I started my blog, I have had many friends ask for guidance and help with starting their own blog. I decided to write this post to explain the steps I took to help many of you who have been wondering how to start their own blog. In this post, I’ll show you how to create your blog in less than one hour.

Note: You don’t need to know how to code or have any technical experience to create your personal blog. I ‘googled and youtubed’ (Wow, those are now verbs) how to do everything I have done on my blog. I made many mistakes, recovered from them and have learned a lot in the process.

In 2013, I moved with kids to live with my husband in Ghana where he worked. It was really tough for me to get a job there. Hmm, could you imagine that I had a stamp on my passport that read “Permitted to reside in Ghana under so so so regulations? No occupation or business for reward permitted”. Really? That was the most devastating part of staying in that country.

That didn’t deter me. I turned to the internet to learn ways I could make an income. My friend, Nkiru, recommended freelancing on elance.com now Upwork and blogging. I worked as a freelancer in many ways but thought I could never be a good writer to maintain a blog. I love everything STEM but ran away from everything that involved writing. When I started getting jobs to write articles for blogs for a few dollars, I was convinced that I could actually have my own blog. After all, blog writing is not supposed to be like those technical and creative writings you did in school that had stringent rules. All you need to do is write articles that will provide value to people. Be consistent and make money from it.

Nevertheless, you need to work on your blog especially at the early stages. At least 10 to 20 hours a week (Just kidding). You can actually put in as much time as you can but you must make out time for it.

Here’s Why You Should Start a Blog (Benefits)

• Form a community around your interest
• Help and inspire people
• Build a portfolio of your skills and projects to enable you to get freelance or consulting jobs. For folks interested in building a career in the technology space, a blog is an easier way to document your software development projects and add to your resume. You can just send recruiters the link to your blog or website. This will give them first-hand information on your skills and capabilities. This speaks more volume than any paper certificate you may be carrying around when looking for a job.
• Unleash your creativity and get your voice out there
• Make extra income from it (It’s a side hustle, baby!)
• Here we go, let’s dive into the easy step-by-step process of creating your blog

How To Start Your WordPress Blog

Step 1: What Do You Want To Talk About On Your Blog?

We all have value we want to share and give to the world in many different ways. Yes, you might think that someone already has a blog on your idea but that shouldn’t stop you. You can add flavour to a boring topic or bring in a different approach to what other people have been offering. I believe in this Wayne Dyers’ quote “Don’t die with the music still in you“. 

Here are suggestions on what you may blog about.

• If you have a business, you can use your blog to talk about your products and services. You can offer tutorials on how to use your product or address some pain points your customers face.
• Is there a topic you wish you someone has taken the time to address? You could be the person to provide such content through your blog.
• Blog about your special interests. You may have travelled to over 20 countries and have a collection of awesome photos, videos and experiences from your travels. Don’t let those photos just occupy space in your hard drive or Dropbox when you can talk about them on your blog. Blog about what you derive joy in and a topic you would want to talk about even if you don’t get paid for it.
• You can share your technical skills on your blog to teach others. For example, if you are learning to code, you can start a blog and document your learning process. You can put all your projects on your blog. Your blog will serve as your portfolio which you would add to your resume. When creating your resume, add the link to your blog which is part of your personal projects. Employers in the technology space want to see that you can build something from scratch and not necessarily how many degrees you have.
• Now, you’ve got the idea on how to choose your blogging topic. Choose a topic you can talk about for a long time without running out of steam. 
• Don’t overthink the topic. You can start with the first one on your mind. You can make a change later. The hardest part of anything is making up your mind to start. Just start. Today.

Step 2: Choose a Domain Name

This one is tricky because there are many bots on the internet that have colonized almost all the awesome name combinations you may think of. They just hike up the price of those domain names waiting for people to pay thousands for the name. But don’t panic yet. You can use a combination of your first and last name to get your domain name. You don’t want to use your name yet? Okay, I get it.

Now, get a pen and paper. Start by writing down any name that comes close to what you want your blog to be. Make a list of up to 20 domain names. For example: myawesomewebsite.com, myawesomeestwebsite.com, myawesomewebsite.org. Shuffle the name around.

The mistake I made when I started was not to search thoroughly on the internet if anyone uses my name of choice for any business or as a trademark. I only just searched for the domain name. Alas! it was available and I paid for it. A friend told me that a large multinational company uses that name for their corporate social responsibility projects. I had to abandon my first domain name and got the current one I’m using.  

Please make sure you search the name on Google first so you don’t run into problems in future.

Now, head on to namechk.com or namecheck.com. Type in your most preferred name and hit the search button. If .com is not available, you may want to use the .org or .net version. If you insist on using a .com domain name, then keep searching. Plug in all the names you have until one of them fits in. You may need to add one more character to the name if your preferred doesn’t fit.

Do you notice how my website name has a red band on the left edge while the other ones not ending in .com are still green? This is because the name is already taken.
So try yours. Woohoo! You got a name. Nice. Let the journey begin.

Step 3: Choose a Blogging Platform

Now, I hear you say, “I’m in”. Great. Before you publish your first and shiny new blog post, you need these two things.

• Hosting: First, a platform where you will host your blog. Hosting platform is where all the posts and contents of your website will be stored.
• Domain: Second, a domain name which is equivalent to your street address on the internet. According to website.com, “A domain name is your website name or the address where Internet users can access your website.” For example, my domain name is www.mindsetnuggets.com. Yours could be “www.yourgreatwebsite.com” (I don’t even know if this random website I just quoted here exists. It could).
• WordPress: Many bloggers use Wordpress because of the community around it. There are many answers to the questions or troubles you may encounter. Great plugins are available to help you set up your website.

You have to pay for the first two things. However, you can start your blog for free but I will explain briefly why free ones may not be the best for you. In our Nigerian Pidgin language, we say “Free things dey run belle”, which means ‘things you get for free may cost you a lot of resources or cause great damage’. 

Yes, you can start with free ones like Blogger which is Google’s free blogging platform or use WordPress.com free version. You will notice that your website will have www.yourgreatwebsite@blogger.com or www.yourgreatwebsite@wordpress.com.

Here are the disadvantages of using free platforms:

• This means you do not fully own your blog. 
• The company can decide to do anything with your blog tomorrow or scrap its free platform for any reason. All your work will just be in vain. 
• Monetizing your blog is a little more difficult on free platforms. 
• You will not have many options to create awesome stuff on your website. 
• You will be stuck with plain themes and designs because the company isn’t getting anything from you, so why would they want you to enjoy premium value from them.
• It will make you not to take your blog seriously because it doesn’t cost you anything, you may just easily abandon it along the way. Paying for your self-hosted blog may just be the kick you need to make it work.

When I started my blog, I made the mistake of waiting for so long on the free WordPress.com. If you want to make money with your blog early enough, it will be to your advantage to use WordPress.org which will be hosted by Bluehost. Bluehost ranks as one of the top hosting companies used by bloggers and web masters. With Bluehost, you can start with the Basic plan which pretty much provides you with what you need as a beginner. You can upgrade to other packages or plans in future when your blog traffic has grown significantly.
You can start with as low as $3.95 per month. If you sign up using my link, you will get a free domain and free SSL certificate (extra security for your shiny new website). You will have to sign up for 12 months or more. I recommend you start with 12 months plan to test the waters. Even though, you get a more discounted price if you sign up for 24 or 36 months. You can choose whichever duration works for you. For me, I only paid for 12 months which is subject to renewal.

Self-hosting your WordPress blog is the best way you can start and easily monetize your blogging efforts quickly. Keep reading to learn how you can start a blog on WordPress.

Reasons why I prefer using Bluehost for my blog instead of blogger/blog post or other free platforms

• Bluehost is affordable with lots of free add-ons.
• They have 24/7 support by chat and phone. If you get stuck at any process, they will be happy to help you no matter how long your questions take.
• Self-hosting makes you more professional than free platforms.
• You don’t have to pay for WordPress. It is part of the hosting package.

Step 4: Create Your WordPress With BlueHost

Click here to Start Creating Your Blog. Below are the processes to follow:

1. Go to Bluehost and click on “Get Started Now”
2. Click on the plan you are willing to start with. Select duration (12 or 24 or 36 months).
3. Enter the domain name you found available through namecheck. Bluehost will provide add the domain name for you for free.
4. Enter your personal and payment details. Pay for your hosting.

Select any of the plans. You may want to add Domain Privacy Protection when you are signing up so that you don’t have your full home address displayed on the internet. It is optional but may be worth it.

Enter your preferred domain name. Make sure you have passed the name checking stage before now. Enter the name in the new domain space. The box on the left. If you have previously paid for a domain name outside of Bluehost, let’s say from GoDaddy, then enter the domain name in the box on the right which reads “I have a domain name”.

Enter your payment details at this stage. PayPal is also accepted. If you have a PayPal account, you may use your PayPal email address here. 

Now, you got your Bluehost account set up. The next step is to build your WordPress blog. 

Follow, the guidelines Bluehost will provide you. First, choose a theme that appeals to you. Pick a free one. No need to pay for a theme now. You can also skip this step and do that later. 

Click on “Start Building”. It may take a few minutes before your WordPress blog platform comes alive. Great things are happening in the background to get your blog ready. Go grab a drink. Do a little happy dance. Come back and check the progress. Follow the remaining to complete your blog set up.

Choose any one, “Personal” or “Business”. You can choose “I don’t need help”. It’s still fine. 

The black side-bar on the left is your WordPress dashboard. You can click on each tab to see what it contains and what it does. This is where you create your posts, add widgets, change your settings, add plugins, and many more.

Step 5: Design Your Blog and Publish Your First Post

Designing your blog may feel daunting. Like everything else, the first steps are the hardest. Just start. Gradually, everything will come together.

1). If you didn’t choose a theme initially, you can look through different themes and select the one that appeals to you or the one that looks close to what you want your blog to look like.

2). On your Dashboard, click on “Post”, then “Add New”. Start writing your first post. You may have to write a considerable number of posts before you publish so that your blog can take a good shape. More posts in your blog will help you see how your design looks.

3). Before publishing your first post, make the following changes in your blog settings:

4). On the same dashboard on the left, Click on “Settings” > “Reading”. Under Reading Settings, you will see a line “Your home page displays”: make sure “Your latest posts” is selected. I’m sure you don’t want a static page.

5). For the line that reads “For each article in a feed”, select “summary”. Having your post showing the full text will slow down your load time. When you publish your post, your subscribers will read all your posts in their emails without having to come to visit the website. Selecting summary will make your the beginning part of your post to show in social media and email platforms with “Read more”. So when a reader clicks on “Read more”, they will be directed to your website. I’m sure you want them to keep coming to your blog, right? 

6). Create a Privacy Policy and About pages. This will make your blog more authentic.

Remember:

You have the option to cancel within 30 days of payment if you later discover that this blogging “thingy” is not for you.

If you have any questions, contact Bluehost support immediately. You can also leave me a message using the contact form here.

There are thousands of tutorials on Youtube and Google Search on how to do everything on the WordPress blog. Use those resources to navigate your way around your blog. You don’t have to get everything right at first. Keep working on your blog. You will get familiar with how things work. Learn as you build. I wish you success in your new venture. 

 If this article has helped you, leave me your thoughts in the comment section below. Share with your friends who want to start a blog. Cheers.

Disclaimer: There is an affiliate link in this article so I may get a commission if you sign up using my link.