How To Start A Blog In WordPress(Step By Step In 2021)
Last Updated on 2nd August 2021 by Ajmer Singh
Are you someone with tons of ideas about a specific niche and you have no hint on how to disburse those ideas for the world to see?
On the other hand, you might be someone who has always wanted to start a blog with no idea how to go about it. This article on how to start a blog on WordPress in 2021 should guide you.
Starting a blog can be somewhat stressful especially if you will be doing it alone.
The thought of how to create content, how to get traffic, how to appear on Google’s first page, and lots more can make the journey entirely cumbersome.
But guess what? you are not alone as there are a whole lot of persons out there having the same thought as you and that is why we decided to provide you with a comprehensive guide on how to start a blog on WordPress in 2021.
Let’s proceed,
What do I need to start a blog? can I start a blog for free? how can I monetize my blog? These are questions that pop up in the mind of beginners.
But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
So, grab a cup of coffee and read until the end.
Check out our 15+ reasons why you need a WordPress website for your local business.
How To Start A Blog on WordPress in 2021
Before we dive deep, I will like to give a brief definition of some terms I will be using in this guide.
what is a blog?
A blog is basically just like an online diary, that is mostly maintained by one person or you can say a website where you can write articles/Blog Posts. Earlier, it was also called Weblog/We-Blog.
Blogger.com was the first Popular blogging platform which was later acquired by Google in 2003. (Also known as BlogSpot)
Also, WordPress was also released in 2003 and now it is the world’s most popular Blogging Platform with over 30% of all websites on the internet.
Why you should start a blog?
Yes, I know most people start blogging to make money. But there are other things also which you can gain with Blogging.
- Self Confidence
It improves your writing skills as well as your communication skills. I am sure, after writing 20-30 Blog posts, you will feel so confident that even it can improve your argumentation skills.
- Helps other people
you can help others by blogging. How?
example: Let’s say you write a blog about “How to lose weight ?” There are many people out there who are looking for help/solutions/advice’s/ideas/tricks to lose weight. your article/blog post helps them.
- Popularity
Yes, you may also gain popularity and fame all over the world. For example, Harsh Agarwal. Every blogger knows him & I am also a big fan of him.
What is a domain name?
A domain name is the address of your website. It is the name internet users type into search engines to visit your website.
What is Webhosting?
While domain stands for the address of a website, web hosting, on the other hand, is the home/house of your website.
It is a space on a web server allocated to you by your hosting provider, it is basically where your files are kept.
Read our article on the difference between a domain name and web hosting
what is CMS?
CMS is an acronym that stands for Content Management System. It is computer software that helps you create, manage and modify digital content on a website without the need of being geeky or techy.
Basically, CMS is computer software that helps you build a website without the need for any technical skills.
However, there are tons of CMS/blogging platforms out there, but for the sake of this guide, we will be making use of WordPress.
This is because based on popularity and usage, WordPress stands as the best CMS platform in the market.
Having said all that, let’s proceed to what is needed to start a blog in 2021.
What do I need to start a blog in WordPress?
Starting a blog is not as tough as you might have imagined, below is a list of what you will need to start a blog in WordPress;
- Niche
- A domain name and web host
- CMS
We will explain the following briefly
1. Niche:
A Niche is a topic you decide to be focused on, on your blog.
Choose a topic for your blog
Before starting a blog, you must have to choose your topic. this is because you can’t just start a blog and start writing on every topic. You have to narrow your content down to a niche.
People mostly subscribe to blogs with a niche topic.
For example, if you like my blog and subscribe to my weekly newsletters and the next blog post that pops up in your email is a post about health, food, or another thing, you will want to unsubscribe from my blog because food is not what you signed up for, you are here only for Blogging tips.
Choose a topic according to your interest. Like:
- Food
- Sports
- Travel
- Fitness
- Fashion
- Politics
- Music
- Finance
- Lifestyle
- News, etc.
Choose according to your interest. So that you don’t get bored after writing 10-20 blog posts.
However, if you are blogging for fun and not for money, then you can write about anything. This is because you do not need to be concerned about traffic while working on a personal blog.
2. Domain name and web host
To start a blog on wordpress.org, you will need a domain name and web hosting.
However, in your choice of a domain name, there are certain factors you should put into consideration;
- Your Niche: Your domain name which is the address of your website should tally with keywords from your niche.
For example, we provide tips and tricks about WordPress and Blogging, so according to us, find my tricks is a perfect name for our domain.
My advice is, after choosing your topic write at least 5 domain names on your notepad and select one which suits best for your blog. - Avoid the use of numbers and hyphens: Users find it difficult to assimilate these numbers and hyphens. what’s the use then?
For example, if you come across a domain name that looks like this; findmytricks18888-.com, what will be your reaction? if you are like me that dislike numbers, you will probably look away without trying to have a second glance as to what the content on the blog is all about.
3. Make it short and precise: Your domain name should be short, specific, and precise. it should be a name that can be easily memorized by users.
For example, findmytricks.com is short, precise, and can be easily assimilated.
3. Hosting
Choosing your hosting is not a difficult task. However, there are certain factors you should look out for in your choice of hosting.
- Scalability: if there is a spike in the traffic to your site, what measures will be taken by your hosting provider to handle it?
- Security: What are the necessary measures put in place by your hosting provider to protect your site from malware attacks, bot traffic, and other known attacks.
- Customer service: How responsive are they to customer’s needs?
- Speed: Speed is an integral part of SEO, what measures are put in place by your hosting provider to help improve speed.
Cloudways have put several measures in place such as dedicated firewalls, 24/7 customer services, dedicated cloud servers, etc, to ensure the successful performance of your site.
You should consider hosting your site with them.
4. CMS
Often beginners make the mistake of choosing the wrong CMS/blogging platform when building their blog.
Thankfully, you won’t be making the same mistake as we have selected the best CMS for you.
There are certain elements to look out for while selecting a blogging platform and they include:
1. Easy flexibility
2. Is the installation of plugins allowed
3. Are you allowed to customize themes
4. Can you monetize your blog.
Well, the best CMS platform that meets all the above-mentioned requirements is WordPress.org.
We strongly recommend WordPress.org, this is because it is free, you can install plugins as long as it is compatible with your WordPress, you can customize themes and monetize your website.
WordPress.org is the best CMS platform available in the market.
It is used by popular brands, small business owners, and much more.
For those looking to blog for free, they can make use of WordPress.com.
Read our article on the difference between wordPress.com and WordPress.org.
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How to start a blog
After you have selected what niche to go into, get a domain name and web hosting, it’s now time to start a blog
To start,
1. Install WordPress
You can download WordPress on the Google play store if you are using your mobile device, and you can as well log in directly online.
After installing WordPress, input your login details.
Once the setup is successful, you can proceed to the next step.
3. Select your WordPress theme
Basically, themes play a major role in the outlook of your site.
While choosing a theme, you might want to consider the design, colors, and other things.
Most importantly, what you should look out for while choosing a theme is its simplicity.
This not only makes the outlook of your site simple and clean, but it also provides a good user experience.
After you have found a theme of choice, it’s high time you click on the install button.
Upon installation, the install button will be replaced by an ‘Activate’ button.
Click on it, to activate.
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You might however want to customize your theme.
To do this, simply navigate to the Appearance menu on your WP admin dashboard.
3. Install plugins
A plugin is a software or extension that adds functionality to your WordPress site.
It eases the process of adding extra features to your WordPress site without being geeky.
Thankfully, there are tons of WordPress plugins out there, but we advise you to install the best and a selected few like the Yoast SEO plugin for SEO, Sucuri for security, Google analytics for tracking real-time visits, and much more.
Do you want to know more about what plugins is needed for your WordPress site? Read our article on ‘Must have plugins on your WordPress site‘.
To add plugins to your WordPress site, you should also see our article on how to install plugins on WordPress
4. Start a Blog Post
Congratulations, your blog is now up and running, it’s now time to create the content.
To create your first content, I will recommend you carry out keywords research on your niche.
Search for keywords with low KD, and high search volume
After this, you can build content around your keyword of choice.
You can also make use of the “People also ask” section on google to draft your subheadings.
For more details on keyword research, check out our article on keywords and it’s an SEO factor.
Doing Keyword research isn’t enough, creating top-notch content that your audience is glued to is.
Your ability to capture your audience’s attention gives you a win.
To create a blog post,
First, click on the post>>Add new menu on your WordPress dashboard.
How to set up Google Analytics on your WordPress site
Google Analytics helps you keep track of real-time events on your site.
It keeps track of real-time visits to your site, it goes further to keeping track of the geographical location of users, so you get to know where the majority of your traffic is coming from.
To set up Google Analytics on WordPress
First, Visit the Google Analytics website to sign up using your Gmail account, after which you should click on the ‘start measuring’ button.
On the next screen, you will be asked to provide your URL, input the URL of your blog in it.
Click on the “next button”
The next screen will request that you choose what you want to measure, select the “web” option since it is a blog you want to measure.
On the next screen, you will be asked to fill in some details about your website and this includes the name, the URL, category, and much more.
Once you are done, click on the “Create” button.
Finally, you will be given a unique javascript tracking code for your site.
Copy and paste the code on your site. You can make use of the insert header and footer plugin to add code snippets to your site.
Congratulations, you can now keep track of real-time events on your site.
How to monetize your blog
Now that your blog is running, you must have considered the possibility of making money from it.
In this paragraph, I will explain briefly the several ways you can make money from your blog.
1. Google Adsense
Basically, Google Adsense works based on CPC (Cost Per Click).
Their basic requirement is that your blog must be 3 months old, has original content, and you are 18+ and above
Here comes the fun part. After all of the above steps, start writing your first blog post or article.
For more details see our article on how to get approved for Google Adsense
2. Affiliate marketing:
Affiliate marketing is the second most popular way of monetizing your blog.
Basically, you write compelling and engaging reviews about products on your blog, when readers make a purchase, you earn a percentage commission.
However, there are several ways to monetize your blog, you can read our article on how to monetize a website for free for more details
Conclusion
We hope you have learned how to start a blog on WordPress successfully?
Remember, that blogging on WordPress.org requires a domain and hosting while blogging on WordPress.com is free, this is because they cover both hosting and domain name.
However, some limitations come with blogging on WordPress.com.
As you start your blog, there are times you will feel like giving up, keep going, keep pushing, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
If you encounter any issues during the setup, kindly use the comment section and do not forget to share.
We are waiting to hear from you.
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Ajmer Singh is the Founder & Author of Findmytricks. He is a Passionate Blogger, Content writer & WordPress developer. He loves sharing content related to WordPress and Blogging. He enjoys playing games in his free time.
CONTACT: support@findmytricks.com
Life Motto:
1. “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
2. “First, learn the rules, then break them”
