Blogging for beginners is a fantastic way to write about things that you are passionate about, help other people with the knowledge that you have, all while simultaneously earning an income from home. Before I started blogging, I had no clue it could be so profitable.
But, setting up a blog can be overwhelming if you have never done it before (and if you are not technically inclined). In this post, I will make it so easy to create a blog, you’ll wonder why you’ve not done it before. Between my step by step video tutorial to all the screenshots walking you through it, you will have no trouble setting up your own blog. And the best news is, that it costs VERY LITTLE to begin!
Ready to start a blog site of your OWN?
To Get Started, I’ll Walk You Through These Steps to Make Them Much Easier For You:
Getting a Hosting Account
In order to have a blog, you need a host for your website, someone that allows you to rent a space on the internet (think of it like leasing or buying land to build a house on). A good host can make or break your blog.
Now keep in mind, there are a few free sites where they will host your blog for you, like Blogger, but I make way too much money every month in coaching when people come to me and want to switch from Blogger to WordPress, so best to do yourself a favor and start out RIGHT!
With the free sites that host for you, you will not solely own your blog and will not have as much control over it. Some free sites also do not permit web ads. If you plan on growing your blog into a business, want better traffic and SEO options (SEO is basically the way to get more traffic), it is essential to have a self hosted site.
I recommend using the host site Bluehost.
Purchasing a Domain Name
You are going to want to start by going to the Bluehost webpage. You can access it by clicking here or by typing https://www.sarahtitus.com/bluehost into your browser.
After clicking through, this is what you’ll see:
Ready to sign up? Starting a blog is super easy and literally takes less than 5 minutes to do. Click here to get the best deal available online when you take that step, along with a full tutorial and video to help you get started. Please note: this low offer is the absolute lowest pricing they offer online. I wish it were this cheap when I started MY blog!
Right now, you can get hosting as low at $2.95/month! They have you pay upfront and yes, you absolutely WANT to do that, so you don’t lose your domain name forever. It’s yours and no one can take it from you for as long as you purchase it in advance (I have 9 years on SarahTitus.com!)
The pricing is as follows:
- $2.95 for 36 months –> $106.20 (so cheap seriously! I pay more than that for ONE month on my blog now because my blog is so big; I’m jealous. LOL)
- $3.95 for 24 months –> $94.80 (great deal!)
- $4.95 for 12 months –> $59.40 (but I wouldn’t recommend this one because I see no point in starting up a blog if you’re just going to do it for a year and these prices next year WILL GO UP! Better to pay less now all at once).
Remember that you MUST click HERE in order to get this special deal and I’m not just saying that. Do your homework. The deal isn’t available everywhere. They’ve given me special pricing for a limited time to pass on to you!
Then….click the green “get started now” button.
The first page it will take you to is the plan selection page as shown below.
Here is where you will decide which hosting option is the best for you. If you are just starting out, you will probably want to go with the starter or the plus plan. The starter plan is the least expensive because the longer you sign up for, the better deal you get. You will pay upfront, but again remember, no questions asked and you get your money back from them. They are not a hassle at all if you need to do so from what I’ve heard directly from Bluehost.
If you already have a blog that you are moving over from WordPress or Blogger, you might need to go with one of the larger plans as you’ll have more content and need more resources. But for this tutorial, I’ll assume you are new to blogging and continue walking you through it with that option in mind (the starter plan).
Your next step is to choose your domain.
The domain is the name of your site, or in my case, the SarahTitus in www.SarahTitus.com. Take a lot of time and thought with naming your blog. It will be the first thing people see for your site, and it will be what people use to look for you online.
It is best to avoid weird spellings because of this and I almost always recommend it be your first and last name (unless it’s incredibly hard to spell–otherwise, your name is best because you will no-doubtedly change the direction of your blog a few times before really getting a sense of your final direction).
Even after a year and a half of blogging, I just changed my direction as well. Bloggers are always growing and evolving (for lack of a better word). But chose carefully as this will become the name of your brand and what you are most known for.
Next, you will fill in your personal information.
You will then select your package plan.
Purchasing hosting service longer is less expensive. This is your best option, because even if you do decide to cancel, Bluehost will refund your money for all of the months of hosting you did not use. The one extra feature that is mandatory you’ll want to select is domain privacy.
This will prevent your new site and email from spam as well as preventing everyone online to be able to SEE YOUR ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER!!! For your own privacy, it’s a really good idea to keep that stuff private. Where this wouldn’t apply is say a business like JC Penney or Macy’s. Obviously, they want people to know their address and phone number.
I’d also recommend Site Backup Pro. As you’re setting up your blog, if something should happen, you will lose all your work if you are not have routine site backups. Think of this like your computer backups that save routinely. I have my blog save every single day! Should something ever happen, I can restore to the last save and not lose all my hard work.
Then, you will enter your payment information. Be sure to read and click that you confirm. Then, click the green submit button.
And congratulations! You now have a hosting account!!!!
Setting Up Your Hosting Account
The next step you’ll want to do is to install WordPress on your site. Think of this like the building frame to your home that you put on your land.
You can do this very easily on your Bluehost dashboard!
Immediately after clicking submit above, it will take you to your Bluehost dashboard. It will look like this:
Installing WordPress on Your Blog
And you will want to scroll down to “website” and click “Install WordPress.”
That will walk you through the steps to install WordPress to your blog. It will take a few minutes to load and the voila! You have WordPress!
From here, you will be able to login to your blog directly on WordPress. Your login page will be yourblogname.com/wp-admin. You can type that in to get to your login page!
The home screen when you want to log in to your site will look like this:
After you login, the next page it will take you to, will be your site’s dashboard.
Your dashboard will be the place you spend the most time. It is where you will write, edit, and craft all of your blog posts.
Picking and Installing a Theme That’s Right For You
If you want to start making money from your blog, which is why I assume you are setting up a blog with a hosting site, you will want to purchase Genesis and a child theme. You do NOT want to go with a free theme.
In fact, once you purchase Genesis and a child theme, be sure to go back and delete all the other themes on your blog. A very popular hack is getting in through those freebie themes.
You can get Genesis by clicking here. For a child theme, you can purchase any one you want, but I highly recommend paying for it for many reasons. My favorite child themes are:
Modern Blogger and Modern Blogger Pro – this link includes Genesis, so you don’t have to buy it twice!
Think of the child theme and Genesis like the walls in your new home. After that, you are completely set. If you want plumbing and electricity, think of those as plug ins. Anything you want to do on your blog is possible with the right plug in. Just don’t install too many as they suck up resources and make your site run slower.
To get the full list of plugins and a ton of other resources and recommendations for a blogger just starting out, click here to access my recommendations page.
Creating Your First Post
To start a post, you simply go to the left side bar and find “Posts.” Under that it will say “Add New.”
This is where you will do your writing/editing/blog work. There is a spot for the title of your post
And the body is below that. That is where the actual content of your post will go.
Most bloggers now have pictures in their posts. These are good to have so readers can pin your post to Pinterest. To add a photo to your blog post, go to “Add Media” above the body.
Where to Get Pictures for Your Blog
And from there, you can upload pictures from your computer to your blog post. Make sure to always give credit where credit is due for the images you use if you are using free images from a site that allows you to use their photos.
Here’s one popular site that offers free photos. I would highly suggest, as soon as you are possibly able to, to purchase a picture subscription as pictures are super important on a blog. Here’s the company (IngImage) I’ve gone through for a long time and absolutely adore them! They don’t require attribution, which is major in my opinion.
How to Schedule a Post
When you are done with the post, you can either publish your post right away, or you can schedule it to go out on another day and time of your choosing.
To schedule your post, you will want to go to “Publish immediately” in the right sidebar under “Publish,” and then click “edit.” From there, you will be able to set the time and date for your post to be published.
To publish your post immediately, you will just hit the blue “Publish” button.
And that’s it! You are now on your way to writing your very own blog! It can seem overwhelming and difficult at first. Take your time and get to know your WordPress Dashboard.
Use YouTube video’s to research things and as always, come back here often to see more blogging tips and tutorials! Once you know where everything is, writing and editing on your site will not be difficult at all, and you can focus on getting your awesome content out there and building traffic to make money online, which we can cover at a later date.
