If you’re here then you are probably searching for a way to start a blog and make money
In this blog post, we will talk in detail about the things you need to do first before even getting your first hosting & domain
And after this, you will have your own website for both the free and paid option
Disclaimer: This content contains affiliate links – it will cost you nothing if you take action (purchase, or subscription) know more about my affiliate disclosure in my privacy policy
what is a blog?
A Blog or a website is a place online (web page) where you write articles to share with people who are searching for a specific topic
It could also be like a journal to share personal thoughts
why do I need a blog?
If you have a company or products you need buyers,
And that when a blog can be helpful for you because adding posts and information about your work can send traffic to your site
And these people or audiences can turn into leads and buyers in the future
Or let’s say you’re just someone who loves to write and share thoughts with other people,
For this, you will need a place to rant and what’s better than to have your own website
And if you learn anything related to blogging and SEO you can turn your hobby into a full-time job
How to start a Blog for beginners
I know that the first step is always the hardest, and I struggled with the idea of creating my own website for over a year
And in this time I watched so many youtube videos on this topic,
But I didn’t take any action because I focused on unrequired stuff instead of just start working
And this is what you need to do just start and be patient and accept that every small step will add in the future and on the way to growing your blog you will learn
Now take notes because I will mention some of the most important steps you need to take to start a blog and make money smoothly
find a niche
Before thinking about what hosting you want to use, you need to find your niche (general topic) that you want to focus on
It’s better to choose a big niche that can be divided into sub-niches later on when your site grows
And my advice for you is to start with something you love and are passionate about or else you will get bored and wouldn’t find the will to write
how to Find your niche
You have to brainstorm your thoughts first by listing your hobbies and what you love to do on a daily basis
Or write what your skills and how you can turn them into articles to help people and later on make money from it
But what if you got too many ideas and can’t find your way?
Then please take a deep breath and take a break from everything that stresses you out, because you’re struggling with a deeper issue than you think
Some people call it the shiny things syndrome
This is when you can’t stay focused on one thing and when anything new comes across you, all your thoughts and focus will turn to it
So how to choose my niche if I have too many ideas?
Ask yourself some questions to minimize the problem:
- What I love to do (hobbies)
- Is there anything that I am passionate about?
- What are my skills and how to make them useful to people
- Is there a topic that I can say I am an expert in it?
- Is this niche my best priority
After you answer these questions and make a list, it’s time to choose your best and top choice to start
If you have more than one idea just choose the one that can make money faster,
And leave the others to a later time when you gain some experiences
Now you have taken the hardest and the big step in your blogging journey which is choosing your niche 🙂
choose a domain name
The second step you need to take is to decide on the name of your blog or domain
Because it will be Your brand that represents you as your whole business and the main topics you will share with your audience
Tips on how to choose your blog name
Choose a simple name that is related to your niche (the main topic and not the sub-niches)
Make it short and easy to be remembered by users,
It is better if you stay away from numbers and special characters too
You could try online domain name generators like Godaddy & Namecheap
tip: make sure before buying the domain to check the availability of this name on social media accounts
create a blog logo
The niche is done, the name is done, now what should I do?
The next step is required because it will represent you as much as the name of your blog
This step is the logo creation
And it is not hard as you must think because nowadays there is a lot of free online software that can make our job easy
And you don’t need to hire a graphic designer for this matter but you have to do a little work
Now go to Canva and just choose a free template and play around till you create your desired logo
Or use Looka logo maker to display templates related to your niche
get your hosting & domain
After all the work you have done, now you’re in the serious area which is choosing your hosting company
And that is because there are a lot of hosting companies online and some of them are crappy
Since it must be your first time getting a blog so you must have good experience with the price and functionality of your hosting platform
And not to mention the support system in case you face some issues,
I had a big database error and when I contact my hosting company’s support system
They answered me within 15 minutes and for 3 days straight they kept on trying to fix my problem till it was done
So for this, I will recommend my hosting company which is Hostinger
Because I am truly enjoying my experience with them so far and I brought a premium plan for 2 years and for sure I will update it when it over
I posted an article about hosting companies that can be helpful for you (click here)
And also it contains great information and tips related to getting Google AdSense approval
Get your hosting with Hostinger with a 75% discount if you use my code
But if you want to start blogging without paying anything just join Blogger.com and get a free domain from Freenom
I know it’s still early to promote anything since you just got your domain, but you need to make sure you have the same name as your domain on your social accounts
So create them and forget about them for now
design your blog
When you get your hosting plan with Hostinger or Bluehost or even if you have your own hosting company
They will help you with instructions to install WordPress and link it to your domain
Just go to your WordPress dashboard and choose a free theme that can be editable with a plugin called Elementor
I recommend you these themes: OceanWp – Astra
Then start getting used to the WordPress dashboard by checking every menu and trying to design your theme the way you want
Your next step is to create your main menu and the technical pages
That you will need later if you want to get approval for applying to affiliate programs and advertising companies such as Google AdSense to make money
These pages are: privacy policy, disclaimer, terms and conditions, contact us, and about us
To make a page on WordPress click on pages then add new
Here are links to make those pages for free all you have to do is complete the form and get the HTML code then paste it as HTML code in the page editor
- Disclaimer page go to https://termly.io/products/disclaimer-generator
- Terms and conditions go to https://promoterkit.com/tools/web/terms-generator
- For privacy policy go to https://termly.io/products/disclaimer-generator
For the about me page write everything that describes you or your project so your audience knows a little about who’s running the website
As for the contact us page just put all the information details so people can reach out to you such as email – social media accounts and phone numbers if available
Don’t overdo it now because you can always add and edit pages so don’t stress yourself out
create content
Start making your content plan 2 months ahead so you won’t run out of ideas, especially in your starting days
Create your first blog post and don’t overthink what should I write or how to write
Just write about anything you have knowledge about and is related to your niche and can be helpful to people
Your next step is to stick to a posting calendar so when you upload at least 12 months you can finally launch your website
Tips for good design in your content
- Choose a good font with a size of at least 18 so it could be readable
- Make sure to add headers in every blog post to break down your work
- Add photos to your posts
- Use spaces between paragraphs
track your work
To track your work you need to create an account on Google analytic, google search engine and link them to your domain and WordPress dashboard
So you can know what posts are getting traffic and who your audience is and what devices they are using …etc
If you don’t know how to link it to your website just Click on plugins then add new,
Search for the Site kit plugin then install it and click on activate –> start setup –> sign in with your analytics Google account and click allow and proceed
To set up the plugin click Allow again and add Site Now then click Go to my dashboard
Simply link your analytics account automatically by clicking on connect service and signing in with your google analytics account then click on allow
The final step is to click on configure analytics and with this process, your analytics account is connected now
The same process can be done to link your google search console account
Monetize your blog
The final step is to grow your website by monetizing it so you can start making money
To do this start promoting your content on your social media accounts and forums to gain traffic besides your organic traffic from SEO
Option number 2 is to build your email list by using a free plugin (MailPeot) or a paid system
Option number 3 is affiliate marketing and this method can be used in your first blog post and on your pages
Option number 4 is the last one which is joining an advertisement company that allows you to display ad spaces on your website such as Google Adsense or Ezoic
learn how to join and get accepted by Google Adsense fast –> Click Here
final thoughts on how to start a blog and make money
To start a blog and make money you must do some preparations and planning first so you can stay consistent and focused
And by doing the steps we talked about in this article you surely will have a steady start
But the most important thing you need to know is to just start and don’t let insecurity and doubts stop you from working
And if you wait till you find the right moment you will never do
Don’t forget knowledge increases with sharing 😉
