The majority of web owners have the desire to create a WordPress Blog but shy away from thinking that the process requires technical know-how. This is partly true, you do need some technical skills but not when you are just starting a simple blog. The process of starting a WordPress blog is not so hard and anyone can do it and you don’t necessarily need to be an expert. To get started, you will require two things
- Domain name – You will require a domain name for visitors and search engines to find it
- Web hosting – This is where your blog lives on the internet when it does live
Another thing that I almost forgot is your focus and attention for 30 minutes. Yes, you got it right. You can start your WordPress blog in 30 minutes if you know that you are doing. In this article, we are going to take you through a 7-step process to create your WordPress blog. Therefore, sit comfortably and read for more insights.
Setup
By reading this guide, you will avoid the mistake that most beginners do, and that is choosing the wrong blogging platform. The best platform to host your blog is WordPress.org which is also called self-hosted WordPress. There several reasons why this platform is regarded as the best. People love this platform because you can freely use it, it allows you to install plugins to enhance functionality, and you can customize your design. Monetizing your website is also easy using this platform without any restrictions.
WordPress is free since you will need to set up and host it yourself with the help of a WordPress Developer. To do this, you require a domain name and web hosting. Your domain name is what your web visitors type in the search bar to find your website on the internet. In other words, it’s your web’s address. On the other hand, a web host is what houses your website on the internet, which is mandatory when you are running a website. An average web host will cost you $7.99 / month, while a domain name costs around $14.99 a year.
Install WordPress
After you have picked your domain name and chosen a web host, it’s time to install your WordPress website. Ignore the dozens of small icons for different services and features in the cPanel, since you won’t need them. Head straight to the WordPress icon, and click on it. If you chose Bluehost as your web host, you will be directed to the Bluehost Marketplace Quick Install screen for WordPress.
Once there, click on the ‘Get Started’ button. The next screen will ask you to select your domain name. From the dropdown menu pick your domain and click on ‘Next’. The next thing is to enter your site’s name, username, and password. When you are done, check all the boxes and click install. While the Quick Install will continue to install WordPress, you will be prompted by the marketplace to browse the available WordPress themes.
Selecting your WordPress Theme
Since the visual aspect of your WordPress blog is controlled by themes, and the default WordPress theme is not so appealing, you will have to pick a theme that looks appealing to your readers. The most interesting and fun part of creating your WordPress blog is customizing its feel and looks. WordPress has thousands of pre-made themes, some are free while others are paid for. Therefore, no matter what your budget is, you can still afford one.
To change the default theme, head over to your WordPress dashboard and click on Appearance » Themes » Add New. You will be presented with a search box where you will be able to search from over 5600 free themes found on the official WordPress.org themes directory. You can sort by featured, popular, or latest. There is also an option to filter according to industry, layout and more.
You can see a Preview button once you hover the mouse over a theme. Once you click on it, you will see how the theme will look like once you installed it. Hover the mouse on the chosen theme and you will see the install button. Click and wait for WordPress to install the theme. Click on the Activate button to activate the theme.
Creating Your First Blog Post
To generate your first blog, go to your WordPress dashboard and click on the Posts » Add New menu. An editor area will be provided to write your first blog post. When you are through writing, on the right side of the screen, click on the Publish button to publish it to and present your blog to the world. There are several sections on the posts screen to help you organize your blog posts. They include Tags and Categories. Use these sections to keep your workflow clean and organized.
Plugins & Customizations
You can’t resist the temptation of adding extra elements in your blog like contact forms, galleries, or sliders, once you have started publishing posts in your WordPress blog. To do these you need extra tools installed on your website called plugins. These are apps to help you gain extra functionality on your website. The beauty of using WordPress to host your blog is that it has over 55,000 in the free WordPress plugin directory only, meaning there is a plugin for anything you want to accomplish on your website. You can easily install these plugins on your website using installation guides available online.
Making Money from Your Blog
And now to my favorite part of a WordPress blog which is making money from it. Besides passion, monetizing a blog is the second motivation of running starting a blog. First, you need to understand that you can’t make ridiculous money overnight, using your blog. It takes time, patience and wits to successfully monetize your blog. Legit ways to make money from your blog is through ads, affiliate programs, and running online stores.
Mastering WordPress
The last step of starting a WordPress blog is learning and slowly mastering WordPress. This requires time, attention and plenty of online and offline resources. Fortunately, there are plenty of free online resources and courses to master WordPress. Although some of them have different analogies, they are all aiming to help you to clearly understand WordPress. By increasing your knowledge of WordPress and how to use it, you can become an expert on it and offer WordPress development services which are a highly lucrative industry nowadays.
Conclusion
WordPress is not the only blogging platform available online. There are a couple of other platforms but compared to WordPress, they have nothing on it. WordPress is the preferred choice for hosting websites since it provides plenty of customization options and freedom to run a blog.
