HOW TO START YOUR FIRST KICKASS BLOG TODAY

HOW TO START YOUR FIRST
KICKASS BLOG TODAY

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“Blogs are whatever we make
them. Defining ‘Blog’ is a fool’s
errand.”
— Michael Conniff
Contents [ hide ]
Why Should I Trust You To Teach
Me Blogging?
Before We Learn How To Start A
Blog…
What Is A Blog, Exactly?
How Is It Different From Blogging?
Blogs Vs Websites: What’s The
Difference?
Why Do People Blog?
What Topics Do People Blog About?
How To Start A Blog
Step #1 – Find Web Hosting
Step #2 – Choose a Domain Name
Step #3 – Choose a Blogging
Platform
Step #4 – Set Up Your WordPress
Blog
Step #5 – Publish Great Blog
Content
Step #6 – How to Write A Blog Post
What Makes A Successful Blog?
Beyond The Basics Of Blogging
What’s Next?
Need Help Starting Your Blog?
Here’s an overview of our step-by-step
guide:
1. Find web hosting
2. Choose a domain name
3. Choose a blogging platform
4. Set up your WordPress blog
5. Create a content plan
6. Write your first blog post
Why Should I Trust You
To Teach Me Blogging?
We run some of the biggest websites for
webmasters in the world. In addition to
Blogging.com, we also run HTML.com,
Digital.com, and many more.
In fact, our sites have become so popular
that they’ve been featured in newspapers,
magazines, and websites like:
Our carefully crafted guides – just like this!
– are read by many millions of readers every
month in hundreds of countries around the
world.
Finally, we’ve been doing it since way back
in 2006 (a whole century in internet years) !
Before We Learn How
To Start A Blog…
How we keep the lights on: While we teach
you how to start your blog, some of the
services we recommend pay us a “ referral
fee ” if you buy their service.
This doesn’t cost you a penny – in fact, you
will often save money with some special
deals we’ve negotiated.
What Is A Blog, Exactly?
Blogs are, in many ways, the Swiss Army
knives of the internet.
Starting out as online diaries in the 90s ,
blogging has grown into a massive,
endlessly varied form of communication.
Blogs can be short story collections, recipe
hubs, role-playing games, or records of UFO
sightings. They can help businesses
advertise, educate customers, inform
shareholders, or inspire community
interactions.
Chances are if you can imagine it, there is a
blog about it somewhere. Probably hundreds
of them!
Blogs are one of the last level playing fields
on the web. What are you waiting for?
How Is It Different From
Blogging?
Blogging is simply the act of starting and
writing a blog!
Blogs are so ubiquitous because anyone
who’s able to put type can become a
blogger. You don’t need to know how to
type fast; you don’t need to be able to see
or hear. You can’t be too old or too young to
blog. You don’t even need to know anything
about computers or the internet!
Blogs Vs Websites:
What’s The Difference?
Blogs are a type of website. So what makes
a blog? Blogs are typically:-
Updated regularly
Display the most recent post first
Usually (but not always) allow readers
to add comments
Help! I Want To Make A
Website, Not A Blog
Relax! The process to make a
website is the same (at least
initially) as starting a blog, and
WordPress is still your best choice.
You can follow the same step-by-
step guide as the bloggers!
Why Do People Blog?
People blog for many reasons. Blogging can
help you become a better writer, can make
you some money on the side, or give you a
platform for sharing your ideas.
Some of the most common reasons people
start a blog include:
As a way to network with people
sharing a common interest.
To market or advertise a business.
To make a difference by sharing
political and social issues.
As a resume for highlighting expertise.
As a way to express creative ideas .
To share knowledge with others that
want to learn a new skill.
To make money as a side hustle – or
even as a career.
What Topics Do People
Blog About?
Sometimes figuring out what to blog about
is the hardest part. Luckily, we have some
great ideas to get you started:
Fashion – makeup, clothing, hair, and
beauty products.
Travel – vacations, best places to visit,
your own travels, restaurants,
entertainment or even RVs .
Technology – software, programming,
web development, web design, and
startups .
Business – industry updates, real
estate , expert tips, and best practices.
Content marketing – how to market
your business, SEO best practices,
email campaigns.
Food – recipe sharing, restaurants,
kitchen equipment.
Finance – industry happenings, ways to
make and save money, budgeting.
Health and Fitness – sports
equipment, nutrition, exercise, dieting ,
fashion.
Lifestyle – gardening, home
improvement, organization, travel,
survival.
Personal Development – time
management, health awareness,
mindfulness.
Parenting – child development, product
reviews, tips for age stages.
Professional & Academic – colleagues
and peers discuss their fields of
expertise, like CPAs
Instructional – tutoring, how-to’s,
guides.
Entertainment – humor, memes, video,
music, podcasts .
How To Start A Blog
What to expect from our guide: You’ll need
about 20 minutes or so to get started. We
suggest building your blog in one session, if
possible.
Step #1 – Find Web
Hosting
Web hosting is the service that puts your
blog on the internet. That means good web
hosting can make or break your blog.
You need to think about four things when it
comes to web hosting:-
1. Cost. What does it cost per month?
2. Speed. Your blog needs to load fast.
Speed is important as users move to
mobile.
3. Uptime. Every website goes offline
sometimes. But a good web host will
help minimize problems with
downtime.
4. Technical Support. Boring, but super-
important.
What Type of Web Hosting Do
I Need?
Shared hosting is the cheapest and most
basic form of hosting available. You store
your website on a server shared with other
customers of the hosting company. You also
share the resources – such as bandwidth
and disk space – of the server as well.
You’ll also notice that some hosting
companies have WordPress hosting . These
plans typically run on shared servers but can
also be offered as cloud and VPS-based
hosting. WordPress hosting is optimized for
running the platform and will give you the
most seamless WordPress experience.
(There are many other types of hosting – like
cloud, VPS or dedicated – but you can ignore
them starting out)
But if you’re looking for the cheapest
hosting possible, go with a basic shared
hosting plan. Just make sure you can get a
one-click WordPress install to make your life
easier.
What Features Are Important
For Blog Hosting?
Here are some of the most important
features to look for when you are choosing
which hosting provider to go with:
Disk space and bandwidth depending
on the amount of traffic your website
gets
Security features like malware
scanning, daily backups, and 24/7 site
monitoring.
One-click installations.
Uptime guarantees against server
crashes and maintenance issues.
Speed and performance so you know
your site is always giving the best user
experience.
Support types such as email, support
ticket, and live chat.
Affordability – quality web hosting
doesn’t come for free.
What’s The Best WordPress
Hosting?
We recommend BlueHost as the perfect
WordPress hosting service for new
bloggers.
BlueHost has been recommended by
Automattic – the team of geniuses behind
WordPress – since 2005, and BlueHost’s
parent company is one of the investors
behind Automattic, so you know you’re in
good hands.
As well as making it effortless to install
WordPress, they also include a content
delivery network (CDN) to provide faster
website loading for people located
geographically farther from their servers.
And, all websites get a free SSL certificate to
reassure your site visitors that their
information is secure.
Bluehost’s WordPress-optimized plans may
be more expensive than you’re willing to
pay. They start at about $20/month. In that
case, personal bloggers will have absolutely
no problem with their cheaper shared
hosting plans.
You’ll still get adequate resources for your
new blog, and a free domain name!
Go and signup now at BlueHost.com before
moving to the continue with the next step of
the tutorial.
Get your WordPress hosting now at
Bluehost »
Image
Image c/o WordPress.org
PRO TIP Don’t worry about fancy
web hosting for a new blog. If you
need more bandwidth or disk space
in future, your host won’t be shy
about offering upgrades!
Is BlueHost’s Uptime Good
Enough?
Despite Bluehost’s lack of uptime guarantee,
we’ve been very pleased with the reliability
of their hosting. We’ve consistently had at
least 99.9% uptime from them. Compared to
other hosts that experienced much more
frequent downtime, Bluehost’s reliability is
impressive.
If, however, you do experience extensive
downtime with Bluehost, they’ll let you pull
out of your contract early. If you do this,
they’ll issue a pro-rated refund for the
remainder of your subscription.
Here’s BlueHost’s uptime graph vs nine
other hosts we’ve been tracking long term.
Remember, an uptime of 99.9% is the
industry standard.:-:-
Image
Image c/o Down.com
How Fast Is BlueHost?
We can’t stress enough how important your
page load speed is. Many site visitors will
leave immediately if your page takes longer
than 3 seconds to load. Talk about
impatient, right? With so much information
available online, people aren’t going to wait
for it from a website that takes too long to
load.
Bluehost claims that their shared hosting
plans provide a load time of 372ms
(milliseconds). Their cloud hosting will give
you 151ms. Our experience with Bluehost’s
shared plans has shown that they
consistently provide load speeds of less
than 3 seconds. Great!
This graph shows how fast BlueHost is vs
nine other hosts we’ve been tracking long-
term:-
Image
Image c/o Down.com
Why Technical Support
Matters Most
The final point – technical support – is
boring, but it’s also really, really important.
When it’s 1am and you don’t know why your
blog is offline, you need somebody you can
speak to!
Specifically, you need somebody you can
call by phone – not send an email and wait
a week for a reply.
Image
Image c/o BlueHost.
How Much Money Does Web
Hosting Cost?
BlueHost usually costs $7.95/month.
However, we’ve negotiated a special deal for
Blogging.com readers. Take a look here for
the latest pricing.
If you’re prepared to make a long-term
commitment, BlueHost costs as little as
$2.95/month . The longer you commit to,
the less you pay each month. It’s your call.
Get your WordPress hosting now at
Bluehost »
Image
Image c/o BlueHost.
Help! I Can’t Afford To
Pay For A Year’s Web
Hosting…
When starting a blog, we think it’s
important to make a commitment
– just like joining the gym. But we
also know that not everybody is
able to make big financial
commitments just like that.
If you need a “Plan B” who offer
month-to-month billing, we
recommend HostGator , owned by
the same parent company as
BlueHost.
How To Start a 100% Free
Blog
In our opinion, WordPress.com is the only
show in town for a free blog. Sure, there are
plenty of other services, like Google’s
Blogger.com or Yahoo’s Tumblr. But they’re
severely limited next to WordPress for a free
blog service.
You’re not going to get the fancy features of
full-blown WordPress, but it beats the
alternatives hands down.
Go signup now at WordPress.com before
continuing with the next step.
Which Web Hosting Plan Is
Best For Me?
Most hosting services offer multiple plans.
BlueHost’s cheapest shared hosting plan is
fine for beginners, and allows plenty of
bandwidth and disk space for your blog to
grow.
Image
Image c/o BlueHost.
BlueHost’s cheapest shared hosting plan
offers WordPress as a “one-click install” .
Just find this button in your control panel
(called cPanel) and click it to set up your
new blog. It’ll be ready in seconds.
Need More Powerful
WordPress Hosting?
Already got an existing site or blog that
needs upgrading? If Bluehost doesn’t sound
powerful enough for what you have planned,
we recommend WP Engine.
They offer high-end WordPress hosting… but
with prices to match. WP Engine starts at
$29 per month, so is about 10x the price of
BlueHost.
However, we’ve negotiated a special deal for
Blogging.com readers. You can find the
most up-to-date pricing here
WP Engine is 100% focused on hosting
WordPress sites. Their hosting is best
suited to small businesses that need a
higher level of service, or for personal
bloggers with a substantial existing
readership.
WP Engine provides added power for
growing blogs or business websites.
If you’re just starting out, grab a cheaper
plan from Bluehost instead. You can always
migrate your website to WP Engine later if
you outgrow Bluehost.
If you’re looking for more powerful
WordPress hosting — Use WP Engine »
Image
Screenshot c/o WP Engine .
Step #2 – Choose a
Domain Name
Your domain name is your blog’s identity on
the web. This is the URL that people type
into their web browser when they want to
visit your blog.
Ours is Blogging.com, for example.
This is your chance to stand out amongst
the millions of blogs that exist online!
Before you register your domain name, here
are some guidelines to follow . Your domain
name should:
1. Be memorable
2. Be easy to spell (aka “ pass the radio
test“)
3. Be descriptive (i.e., describes your
blog’s topic or establishes a brand
name)
4. Be short and sweet , if possible
For example, if you’re a passionate collector
of vintage guitars, “VintageGuitars.com”
would be better than
“MyMostFavoriteGuitars.info.” It fulfils all of
the criteria we mentioned.
However, VintageGuitars.com is likely to be
a very expensive domain indeed. (More on
that in a moment.)
Keywords are words or phrases that describe
your niche. Think about the words that
people might use to search for your content,
and bear them in mind when choosing a
domain name to register.
Finally, remember, you can’t use spaces or
punctuation (except hyphens) in a domain
name.
How To Choose A Great
Domain Name
To get a better idea of what makes up a
good domain name, we’ve come up with
some examples:
For a blog on caring for pet budgies,
“friendly-birds.com” is a bad domain name:
This domain uses a hyphen. Many
users forget hyphens when typing
domain names.
The name name doesn’t explain that
the blog is about budgies!
Instead, “healthybudgie.com” could be a
much better choice. The domain name is
specified, contains keywords, is short,
memorable, and easy to spell.
A domain name for a Spanish language
learning blog of
IteachPeopleLanguages.com may be
specific, but it’s long, wordy and easy to
misspell. Whereas DynamoSpanish.com is
shorter and more descriptive.
Read more about choosing good names in
the Blogging.com domain name guide .
Stuck? Try A Domain Name
Generator
If you’re really stuck finding a domain name,
you can try using a business or domain
name generator. We’ve rounded up the best
around on our sister site, Digital.com.:
Domain Name Generators at
Digital.com
Business Name Generators at
Digital.com
What Extension Is Best For My
Domain Name?
The choice is yours! We love .COM domains
(hence Blogging.com) , but they can be
expensive (more on that in a moment) .
That’s because almost any domain you can
think of that’s meaningful has already been
registered with the extension .COM.
PRO TIP: If you choose a new
domain extension, be sure to make
sure your domain still passes the
radio test! Most people are not
familiar with new domain
extensions, which is why we
suggest caution.
What Domain Name
Extensions Are Available?
The world’s most popular domain extensions
(or TLDs) include…
Worldwide Country
Specific
"New"
TLDs
(2014
Onwards)
.COM .CO.UK .XYZ
.ORG .DE .CLUB
.NET .US .ONLINE
.INFO .FR .NINJA
.BIZ .ES .ROCKS
How To Register A Domain
Name
Bluehost offers a free domain when you sign
up for a shared hosting plan. So you can
buy your hosting and register your domain
name at the same time.
Image
Image c/o Bluehost.
Want To Use A Different
Domain Registrar?
If you can’t find the exotic domain extension
you want, or if you’d prefer to register your
domain elsewhere, we also use and
recommend Go Daddy .
They’re the world’s biggest domain registrar
(Nearly 17% of all domains registered
WORLDWIDE ) , and you’ve probably seen their
ads on TV. They offer almost every domain
extension in existence.
You’ll find their domain search form here .
Image
Image c/o GoDaddy.
Help! My Domain Name Is
Already Registered!
PRO TIP: it usually costs a lot of
time and money to buy a domain
name that’s already registered – if
it’s even possible.
If you’re feeling ambitious, we have an
excellent guide at WhoIsHostingThis about
how to buy a domain name that’s already
registered .
If you’re very lucky, the domain might be
listed for sale at a domain name
marketplaces. Some of the biggest domain
marketplaces are:-
BuyDomains (a sister company to
BlueHost)
Sedo
Go Daddy Auctions
Uniregistry Market
We’ve bought and sold premium domain
names with each of these platforms, and are
happy to recommend them. The bad news?
1. You might need to spend A LOT of
money
2. You may spend weeks or months
negotiating
3. The whole process will likely take
much longer
However, you could end up with a killer
domain – like Blogging.com!
Premium domains can start at $500-
$1,000+, but some change hands for
$100,000s – or even millions of dollars!
Before you fall in love with your dream
domain name (and have to remortgage the
house) , you have been warned!
Step #3 – Choose a
Blogging Platform
To start your blog, you need a blogging
platform for your site. While there are many
platforms to choose from, we think there’s
only one serious choice.
It’s called WordPress.
WordPress: The World’s Most
Popular Blog Platform
WordPress is the world’s most popular
blogging platform and CMS (content
management system) . It powers 27%+ of all
websites online today, and an even larger
percentage of blogs.
(You’ll find more insane WordPress statistics
over here ).
WodPress is used by everyone from digital
natives to tech-illiterate seniors.
Graph c/o Pingdom .
“Blogging is to writing what
extreme sports are to athletics:
more free-form, more accident-
prone, less formal, more alive. It
is, in many ways, writing out
loud”
— Andrew Sullivan
10 Reasons We Love
WordPress
WordPress lets you customize your layout,
create content, and expand your blog’s
functionality over time.
We love WordPress for lots of reasons,
including:
1. It’s 100% free
2. It’s super-easy to install
3. There are lots of awesome WordPress
themes & plugins available (and most
are free)
4. There is tons of free help online (like
at Blogging.com !)
5. WordPress is simple enough for
beginners, but powerful enough for
experts
6. It has infinite customizability with plug-
ins and themes
7. It’s mobile Friendly
8. It’s great for SEO
9. WordPress is constantly being
updated. As long as you update
promptly and be careful with themes
and plug-ins, you shouldn’t run into
many issues
10. WordPress boasts a huge free, online
support community
Image
Image c/o WordPress.org
WordPress.com Vs
WordPress.org: What’s the
Difference?
There are two WordPress platforms to
choose from: WordPress.com and
WordPress.org. Here are the key
differences:-
WordPress.org
Software is 100% free…
…but you need to pay for WordPress
hosting
Thousands of WordPress plugins (free
and paid) to add features
Thousands of WordPress themes (free
and paid) are available
WordPress.com
Annual fee (Starting at $48/year)
Your site is hosted by Automattic,
WordPress’ parent company
(ie, No web hosting needed)
No software to download, install or
maintain
Themes & plugin selection much,
much more limited.
Here’s a table to compare the differences:
WordPress.com WordPress.org
Cost Free The WordPress
app itself is
free, but you
must pay for
hosting.
Hosting Hosted by WordPress Self-hosted,
meaning you
can choose
any hosting
provider you
want.
Installation Pre-installed. Installation
required, but
many hosts
offer 1-click
simplicity.
Domain Name Free, but you're limited
to a subdomain like
"mysite.wordpress.com."
You can
purchase your
own domain.
Customization Choice of plugins can be
limited.
Unlimited
Themes Limited Unlimited
Functionality Basic Unlimited
Backups Automatic Check with
your hosting
provider.
Personal Use Yes Yes
Business Use No Yes
Tech
Experience
Needed
Anyone Comfortable
with DIY
Who is it best
for?
Those who want to try
WordPress out before
you purchasing their own
hosting.
Anyone
Website Builders: The Most
Popular WordPress Alternative
You may have heard of website builders , like
Weebly or Wix .
If you only a very simple website, website
builders may be a good solution. They’re
web apps that offer drag-and-drop
functionality and a WYSIWYG editor to build
a blog or website.
However, the vast majority of bloggers
choose the flexibility of WordPress.
WordPress is much more powerful, scalable,
and flexible than other website builder.
WordPress the ability to do almost anything
you want: total freedom to create the blog
you want.
If you are terrified by the idea of WordPress,
website builders may be worth a look. But
our advice is to stick with WordPress, if
possible.
Learn more in our rundown of the top
options for website builders for bloggers.
Can I Use WordPress
With Wix Or Weebly?
No. Website builders require you to
use their own proprietary apps to
build your websites and blogs.
You’re locked in for life with that
one website builder.
Step #4 – Set Up Your
WordPress Blog
Luckily, installing WordPress is very simple
once you have a web hosting service.
How To Install WordPress
Lucky for you, WordPress is famous for their
“5-minute install” .
Better yet, many hosting companies will
even install the blogging platforms for you
(look for “one-click installs”) . Just follow the
step-by-step instructions – you can’t make a
mistake!
The only decision you need to make at this
stage is to give your blog a name. Don’t
worry, you can change it later easily enough
(unlike the domain name, which is much
more hassle to change) .
How to Login To WordPress
Once WordPress is installed, you’ll receive
an email with your…
Username (“admin” by default)
Password (whatever password you
entered)
WordPress Login URL
(This will look something like like
http://blogging.com /wp-admin/ )
If you can’t find the email, check your spam
folder. The WordPress login page looks like
this:-
Image
How To Use WordPress
Dashboard
After login, you’ll see the WordPress
dashboard, the control panel for your blog.
This let’s you handle everything from the
design to publishing blog posts.
Image
In a few short moments, you’ll be ready to
create your first blog posts or pages, like
your contact page or other “must have”
pages .
How To Set Up WordPress
Good news: WordPress works great right out
of the box – even if you do nothing else!
But there are three simple housekeeping
tasks you ought to take care of before you
publish your first post:
a) Check Your Blog’s Name
You chose this when you installed
WordPress – now’s your chance to make
any changes. In Settings > General ,
customize your:
Site Title (eg, Blogging.com)
Tagline (a strapline displayed below the
logo in many WordPress themes)
b) Double Check Your Email
Address
Check that your email address is correct, for
when you need to reset your password in
future.
If there’s a typo, you’ll be locked out of your
blog!
a) Set Up Permalinks
“Permalinks” are the strings of words that
appear in the URLs of your blog. They help
search engines, like Google, find and
understand your blog posts more easily.
Whatever permalinks you choose, be
prepared to stick with it: changing them
once your blog has started to gain an
audience can have catastrophic
repercussions for your blog traffic!
In Settings option of the left-hand menu, go
to Permalinks. They’ll be set to “Plain”. We
suggest you use:-
“Post name” (eg, blogging.com/
sample-post/)
But if you prefer, you can opt for one of
these alternatives:-
“Day and name” (eg,
blogging.com/2017/12/03/sample-
post/)
“Month and name” (eg,
blogging.com/2017/12/sample-post/)
How To Choose A WordPress
Theme
“Don’t focus on having a great
blog. Focus on producing a blog
that’s great for your readers.”
— Brian Clark
WordPress has countless free themes to
choose from to get your blog live ASAP.
Your choice of WordPress theme allows you
to get creative, and make your blog look
and feel just like home.
The good news is WordPress makes it
super-easy to chop and change your
WordPress theme. You can change it every
day of the year if you want to!
So: should you use a free theme or pay for a
premium WordPress theme?
New Blogger? Use A Free
WordPress Theme
For new bloggers, free themes offer total
freedom to experiment. If you’re not used to
using WordPress, we recommend using a
free theme until you know which features
matter to you most. WordPress has its own
repository of free themes.
You can install them right from your
dashboard; just click on “Appearance” and
then “Themes.”
Some of the most popular free WordPress
Themes include…
Twenty Seventeen
Twenty Sixteen
Twenty Fifteen
…and usually, arrive by default when you
install WordPress. You’ll probably recognize
them all because these blog themes are so
widely used.
For example, Twenty Seventeen looks like
this:-
Screenshot c/o WordPress.org
Free WordPress Themes: The Pro’s &
Con’s
1. Freedom To Be Fickle. You can switch
between free themes as frequently as
you like, without having to pay.
2. Experiment. Try out lots of different
color schemes and layouts
3. 100% Free with all the basic
functionality you need to start blogging
4. Generic. You may find that thousands
of other blogs use the same
WordPress theme as you
5. Less Professional. The sad truth is it’s
harder to make your blog look
professional with a free theme
6. Less Customizable. Free themes
usually offer less sophisticated
customization. This will be more
important as your blog builds an
audience and gains traction.
Experienced Blogger? Upgrade To
Premium Themes
Premium themes often offer a more
stylishlook out of the box. Our favorite sites
to buy premium WordPress themes include:-
Genesis by StudoPress.com is a suite
of several dozen premium themes
Envato Elements . 1000s of premium
WordPress themes for one monthly
subscription – like NetFlix for themes!
Elegant Themes
Image
Screenshot c/o StudioPress.com
How Much Do Premium WordPress
Themes Cost?
Expect to pay from $29 to $99 for a typical
premium theme..
Some super-deluxe options will cost $150+
if you buy a developer license, but you only
need that if you plan to use the theme
across many blogs.
How to Install A New WordPress
Theme
WordPress makes it simple to alter the
theme of your website:-
1. From your WordPress dashboard, go
to Appearance > Themes > Add New
2. Now you’ll see all of WordPress’s
featured themes. You can choose one
of these or search for the names of
themes you’ve heard about.
3. To narrow your search, use the Feature
Filter to select the layout, your desired
features, and your blog subject.
4. Once you find a theme you like, you
can preview it with your content. If you
don’t have any website content or the
plugins necessary for the theme, this
preview might not look like anything
like the final product.
5. Once you’ve picked a winning theme,
just click Install and Activate, and
you’re done!
All of your blog content will appear in the
new theme, and you shouldn’t need to do
anything else to get the new theme up and
running.
How To Customize WordPress
With Plugins
Plugins are extensions that add features and
help unleash the power of WordPress.
Popular plugins do things like add:-
Improve SEO (making your blog appear
higher in the search engines)
Speed Up Your Site with “Cacheing”
(making your blog faster)
Add fancy forms
How to Install WordPress Plugins:-
1. Click Plugins > Add New from your
WordPress dashboard
2. Check out the featured plugins on this
page for the most popular options.
3. Use the search function to find plugins
for the specific features you want to
add to your website.
4. When you find a plugin you like, just
click Install Now.
5. Activate the plugin and you’re good to
go!
3 Free WordPress Plugins You
Need
In our opinion, there are three “must have”
WordPress plugins that every blog should
have. Go ahead and install these for your
blog right away. On the WordPress
dashboard, go to “Plugins” , then “Add New”
and search for them by name.
1. Akismet , to prevent junk comments
filling your blog. It’s free & built by the
same team that made WordPress,
Automattic.
2. WP Super Cache , to speed up your
blog. It’s also by Automattic.
3. Yoast SEO , which makes it really easy
to optimize your blog for search
engines.
The free version of Yoast SEO is fine – you
don’t need Yoast SEO premium.
Image
2 “Must Have” Premium
WordPress Plugins
There are a handful of premium WordPress
plugins that we think every blog should have.
You’ll need to pay for these ones.
1. Jetpack , which is also developed by
the WordPress team, and adds
features backups for a small fee
2. Sucuri, a security plugin that protects
your blog against hacking and
malware. It’s owned by GoDaddy .
Each of these plugins is built by a respected
contributor to the WordPress community.
PRO TIP: No longer using a
plugin? Delete it via your
WordPress dashboard to stay safe.
WordPress Plugins: How To
Stay Safe
Plugins are a critical part of WordPress. We
use them extensively on Blogging.com. But
you need to be careful when adding plugins
to your blog because:-
1. Speed. Too many plugins will slow
WordPress down A LOT. That makes it
difficult for your readers to navigate,
and for search engines to crawl it.
2. Security. Out-of-date plugins are a
security risk that could get your blog
hacked.
PRO TIP: Remember to keep your
WordPress plugins up-to-date!
You’ll get a reminder in the
WordPress dashboard.
Step #5 – Publish Great
Blog Content
Even personal bloggers should have a good
idea of what they want to write about before
they dive in. Don’t fret! Content planning isn’t
rocket science. We’ll walk you through it
every Step of the way.
Who Is Your Blog’s Target
Audience?
You need to be clear about what you want to
say, and it helps to imagine who your
audience will be. Pick a topic that you are
truly passionate about, and think about the
needs of your blog’s readers.
Blogs exist on more or less any subject you
can think of under the sun, from trading
cryptocurrency to rearing chickens.
One quick and easy way to figure out your
target audience is to imagine that you’re
writing letters to a particular type of person.
Ask yourself questions like these:
1. Are you talking to men or women?
2. Children or adults?
3. Where do they live?
4. What activities do your audience
members participate in?
5. What type of work and hobbies do they
do?
6. What does a typical day in their lives
look like?
Example: Say I’m creating a blog for “ pet
parents.”
They can be of any gender or age.
They love to do things with their pets,
like walking dogs or playing with cats.
They can live anywhere in the world.
Significant chunks of their daily lives
involve interacting with their pets
(walking, feeding, playing, snuggling).
They consider their pets to be part of
the family, more so than those who
merely call themselves “pet owners.”
Choose a Niche For Your Blog
Niches are pretty important for your blog.
Some big websites, magazines, and
newspapers can target huge audiences
because they have massive amounts of
content and a stable full of writers to create
it. Huffington Post , Sports Illustrated, and the
Wall Street Journal fall into this category.
However, you’re not going to get far
competing with those heavyweights, so you
need to drill down into your target audience
and focus on a subset of your audience. By
narrowing your focus to a niche, you stand a
chance of building the best blog on that
topic.
Possible niches for our example audience
include:
Dog park reviews
Pet hotels or pet travel guides
Handmade pet toys
I’m going to go with “ handmade pet toys .”
We can write about where to find them, how
to make them, toy safety, toys based on
your pet’s personality, etc. I can also tell
stories about my own pets, start an
Instagram or Twitter to feature pet photos,
and review toys. Once you choose a niche, it
should be a bit easier to come up with a
good name for your blog.
Let’s call my new blog, Fuzzy Family Fun.
Step #6 – How to Write
A Blog Post
High-quality content is critical to gaining
traffic for your new blog. But if your content
is merely average, you may not attract much
traffic – or even none at all! There are a
million blogs on the internet. You need to
make yours stand out from the competition.
We’re going to show you exactly which
buttons to push to get your first blog post
online in a flash. Here is a preview of the
process, which we’ll explain in-depth below:
1. Create a new blog post
2. Write your blog post
3. Add images
4. Add categories & tags
5. Press “Publish!”
1. Create A New Blog Post
In the WordPress dashboard, you’ll see a
sidebar with menu items that will take you
to various parts of your website. To start a
new blog post, click Posts > Add New.
Add a new post
This will take you to the WordPress editor
screen, which is where you will do your
writing.
2. Draft Your Blog Post
In the WordPress editor, your first task is
write a headline for your post in the title
section.
Next, write some content in the body of your
blog post. You will notice that there are two
tabs, one labeled “Visual” and the other
labeled “Text””.
Stay within the Visual editor if you are new
to blogging and are not familiar with HTML
code. This will give you a more “visual”
look at what you are drafting when it comes
to header sizes, font styles , and formats.
How Long Should a Blog Post Be?
The length of content on the internet is a
hotly debated topic. Word-count is a key
contributor to your search ranking results.
Longer content typically ranks higher on
Google. In fact, the longer the better when it
comes to search ranking. This is because
longer articles will contain more keywords,
more topics, headings, links, and pictures.
At the very least, your blog posts should be
more than 300 words for Google to rank it.
The ideal length of a post for general
reading is 1,000+ words.
And that’s just fine too. Just make sure that
your long posts are extremely easy to read
and to skim. Avoid walls of text at all costs!
If you’re aiming for a solid number, then
between 1000 and 1500 word posts should
be a perfect starting point. But feel free to
experiment and find what works best for you
and your audience.
3. Add an Image
If you want to add an image , click on the
Add Media button. This will bring you to the
Media Library where any images you have
downloaded onto your site are saved for use
in blog posts.
After you click on Add Media, select the
image you want to insert into your blog
post.
Don’t forget to fill out things such as the
title, alt text, and description so when your
website is indexed by search engines, your
site is ranked properly in search engine
results and potential visitors find you.
You can also add a caption if you want a
short description to appear on your blog
explaining the image to readers.
Click Insert into post.
Your blog post will now look like this after
adding an image:
4. Add Categories and Tags
Categories and tags help organize your blog
so readers can find what they are looking for
Look to the right-hand side of your editor
and notice the two boxes, Categories, and
Tags.
Categories describe the topics that can be
found on your blog. For example, if you have
a personal blog, you may choose categories
such as Music, Travel, and Food.
Tags are more specific descriptions of your
posts that help readers drill down to smaller
topics. When you write a blog post, you first
choose a category.
In this example, we’ll choose Food. Then,
for your post’s tags, you might enter
something like pizza, breadsticks, chocolate
cake.
Simply click the category you would like to
use for your blog post, input tags you want
to assign and click on Add.
After you have created your blog post, you
can preview how it will look when you
publish it by clicking on the Preview button
in the Publish box. This will open the public
face of your blog, and show you what site
visitors will see when they visit your
website.
5. How To Publish Your Blog
Post
If you are happy with your blog post, head
back to the WordPress editor and locate the
Publish section.
Here you can either click on the Publish
button and post your blog immediately, or
schedule to publish it at a later date. If you
choose to publish it at a later date, simply
choose the date and time and save your
changes.
And there you have it! You’ve published your
first blog post.
What Blog Topics Should You
Cover?
Here are some ideas for coming up with
blog topics to write about:-
Google Trends – Do a search on your
niche, but also look at news headlines
and see if there’s a place where they
intersect your niche
Mind-mapping – Draw out branches
from your main topics to see how
many more ideas you can split off
from them.
Social media – What’s happening on
Twitter or Facebook that you could use
to create new topics?
Example: My brainstorming helped me come
up with these post ideas around handmade
pet toys:
The history of dog toys in the White
House
Knitting or felt patterns for toys
Pet toys around the world
Toys that might be harmful to your
pet’s health
How To Find Your Blog’s Voice
Blogging is usually less formal than other
media. It’s easiest to just be yourself!
But one way to “niche” yourself is with a
unique style of writing. You can probably
think of lots of examples where humor, style,
or oddness make a particular blog
memorable.
Example: For my Fuzzy Family Fun blog, I’m
just going to write like I talk, since I’m also
a pet owner. Readers will connect better
with my personal stories if they come from
my authentic voice.
How To Write Awesome Blog
Content
“The currency of blogging is
authenticity and trust.”
— Jason Calacanis
There’s no magic formula to determine what
your content should look like. It depends on
your niche, and what your passion is. And it
depends on what your readers are looking
for.
Some blogs focus on breaking news or viral
stories from the web. These blogs can gain
a lot of traffic very soon after publication.
The articles tend to have a short lifespan.
Other blogs contain in-depth articles that are
written with longevity in mind (what we call
“evergreen content” ) .
These articles tend to be longer, more
detailed, and aim to attract traffic for many
years – or even decades!
Look at other blogs in your niche and look
at the things they do well. Try to find gaps
in their strategy, and capitalize on those
opportunities.
How To Create a Blog
Schedule
Setting a schedule for your blog will help
you build traffic – and keep it up over the
medium and long-term.
Scheduling is important for two reasons:
1. Building Readership. You’ll encourage
your readers to visit your blog
regularly.
2. The Power Of Habit . You’ll get into the
habit of regular writing – and stick with
it. Just like going to the gym!
How Often Should I Publish
Blog Posts?
There’s no right or wrong frequency for
publishing new posts. It depends on…
Your blog’s topic (eg, breaking news vs
history)
Your audience (eg, young vs old)
Your goals (eg, a hobby vs a job as a
professional blogger)
One of the best blogs we know publishes a
new post just once a month.
No matter how often you update your blog,
it’s a good idea to space out your posts,
instead of publishing lots of new blog posts
all at the same time.
You don’t have to sit down and write every
blog post just before you intend to publish.
WordPress lets you schedule blog posts in
advance.
This gives you the freedom to plan a
complete blogging schedule, write the blog
posts ahead of time, and then publish them
at regular intervals.
That might be once a day, once a week or
once a month – the choice is yours.
What Makes A
Successful Blog?
There are many routes to blogging success.
However, you can’t go wrong in
implementing these suggestions.
1. Provide content that your audience
values.
2. Make sure you understand SEO. (And
keep up to date with it.)
3. Post on a consistent schedule.
4. Use social media to promote your
blog.
5. Interact with your hardcore readers –
they’re your best promoters!
6. Don’t be afraid to fail.
That last one is probably the most
important one. Experiment to see what both
you and your readers like. If something falls
flat, don’t give up – just try something new.
What Do Your Favorite
Bloggers Do?
It can help to take a look at your favorite
blogs with a critical eye to figure out why
they succeed. What do other blogs do that
stops you coming back?
Are they sending out regular emails to their
readers? Do they offer merchandise? Do they
have ads? Is there a pop-up newsletter box
every time you click? Do they update
frequently? How do they interact with
commenters? What are they doing on social
media?
Beyond The Basics Of
Blogging
Already mastered the basics of blogging?
Here’s what to think about next.
How To Build Traffic to Your
Blog
“Not only are bloggers suckers
for the remarkable, so are the
people who read blogs.”
— Seth Godin
Once you’ve got your first blog posts live,
the next step is to get visitors to read your
blog. This isn’t as hard as you might think.
Most bloggers rely on four key sources of
traffic:-
1. Search engines, like:
1. Google
2. Bing
3. Yahoo
2. Social media , including:
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Google Plus
4. LinkedIn
5. Pinterest
3. RSS (You can read more about RSS
subscriptions here ) .
4. Email newsletters
5. Direct traffic , or people typing your
domain name. You’ll not have any
when you launch your blog!
How To Get Your Blog Ranking
In Google
Search engines like Google add new blogs
to their index when they discover them
mentioned (in the form of links) on other
websites. Effectively, the more links your
blog has (from high-quality, popular sites),
the higher Google rank you.
Want to know how to get your first link to
your new blog? Read on below!
There are some basic SEO skills you can
apply to any blog post you publish that will
help improve your search engine rankings.
Have a Good Title. The closer your title
relates to keywords people are
searching for, the higher your content
will rank.
Internal Linking. Internally link to other
content on your blog to organize it
better for web crawlers. In addition,
aim to have other websites link back to
your website (through guest posting,
blog comments, or just by publishing
quality content others want to mention
on their own site ) so Google and other
search engines can reward you for
being authoritative and rank your blog
posts higher.
Keyword Research. Take the time to
find out what keywords relate to your
content so that when people search for
them, your website appears as one of
the most relevant results. Add
keywords to the title of your blog post,
in the content body, and in metadata
such as image alt text.
Publish Consistently. Teach web
crawlers to come back to your site on
a regular basis and improve your
rankings over time by publishing
regular content for site visitors to
enjoy. Ranking higher in search results
will help, and becoming a source to
rely on for consistent content helps as
well.
Let People Subscribe With RSS
Feeds
An RSS feed is a tool to tell people that
your blog has updated with new content,
without them having to visit your website to
find out. RSS is built into WordPress – all
you need to do is tell your readers about it!
Every WordPress blog will have a feed that
looks like this…
https://blogging.com /feed/
…that your readers can subscribe to via their
favorite RSS feed reader.
Email Newsletter For Bloggers
We recommend capturing your readers’
email addresses and sending regular
newsletters helps keep them up to date.
This builds loyalty and brings readers back
for more .
You’ll need a service to do that. We
recommend Constant Contact , which we
review here.
Checkout our guide to email marketing for
bloggers.
Social Media For Bloggers
You cannot underestimate the power of
social media .
Give your readers a way to share their
favorite content with those they know and
watch your blog’s traffic boom. In addition,
provide links to your social media accounts
so loyal readers can follow you and either
interact with you on social media or again,
share their favorite stuff with everyone else.
Two of the most popular social media
platforms in use are Facebook and Twitter.
You can add native videos to Facebook and
cater to those that love to watch videos, you
can Tweet instant updates on Twitter and
invite followers to check out your new blog
post. And most importantly, no matter which
network you use, you can expand your reach
to an audience base you never even knew
about.
You’ll want a matching name to your domain
name on Facebook and Twitter.
Social networks can drastically expand your
blog’s audience. If you have a presence on
Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, you have a
better chance of getting found, so you
should be thinking about them as part of
your blogging strategy.
How To Make Money Blogging
You can turn your WordPress blog into a
fully functioning e-commerce store , if you
want to. You can sell physical items,
services, digital downloads, and even accept
donations via WordPress.
Some other ideas:
Become an affiliate and make money
for promoting products and services.
Sign up for Google AdSense, display
ads on your website, and make money
every time someone clicks on one.
Sell ad space to others in your industry
so they can promote their products and
services to your audience base.
Create a membership site and save
your very best content for those willing
to pay for it.
Check our out guide to make money
blogging to learn more.
Happy Blogging!
That’s it. We ask for your help with three
things:
1. Spread The Word . If you found this
guide helpful, please consider sharing
it on Twitter, Facebook or by email to
anybody you think might need our help.
2. Share Your Blog With Us . Please be
sure to email us and share your new
blog. We’ll be featuring the best new
blogs with our readers.
3. Sign Up For Our Newsletter. for tips
and advice on how to grow your
readership & even earn money from
your blog.
What’s Next?
We’ve got great content that can help
bloggers of all experience levels. Here are
some of our most popular posts.
Learn About Blog Design
How To Make A Logo For Your Blog
The Best WordPress Themes
How To Add A Favicon To Your Blog
Learn About Creating Killer
Content
Evergreen Content Defined and
Examined
7 Types of Evergreen Content
What is 10x Content?
How To Write Better Blog Posts
HTML for beginners at HTML.com
Learn About Building An
Audience
The Bloggers Guide to Email Marketing
Learn About Hosting For Your
Blog
Best WordPress Hosting
Need Help Starting Your
Blog?
Email us and we’ll do our best to help.
We promise to respond to every message
we receive, but please be patient: we tackle
your questions in the order we receive them!
Natalie Mootz
Natalie has been blogging since before
the word “blog” existed. Her work has
been published on Engadget,
Laptopmag.com, Tom’s Guide, and
About.com. She lives in Southern
California with her husband, their feline-
American children, and a banjo.