5 Easy Steps to Start a Blog ⋆ Little Miss Martha
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So I’ve been doing this for a pretty long time now. Some people might call me a blogger, although I’m the first to say I don’t have it all figured out yet. But over the years, I have figured out a few things and I think a blog is a great creative outlet to have so I figured I might as well share how easy it is to get started with one. So here we go with 5 easy steps to start a blog! You got this!
STEP ONE
Pick a Topic to Blog About. Picking your blog niche is one of the most important decisions you will make and can be quite a hard one to nail down. Some people know what they want to write about right off the bat while others it takes a bit to drive down to their true niche topics. Whatever you decide, make sure it suits you and you are passionate and/or knowledgeable about it — at least enough to write about it!
Think about all the things people ask you advice on or what people come to you with questions on. Write down everything you are interested in and see if those match up with what people feel you are an expert on.
STEP TWO
Choose your domain name. Your blog name is very important. It should be easy to spell, easy to remember and give the reader an idea of what they’ll be seeing when they visit. If you really want to get started and can’t think of anything you like, you can always start with your name (dot) com until you can come up with something perfect! Choose wisely though because you don’t want to keep changing your blog name and identity. When you start your own blog, pick something and stick with it!
STEP THREE
Register your domain name and choose web hosting. If you are looking to just do this as a hobby, go with a free domain — that just means you might see yourname.wordpress.com instead of yourname.com. But, if you are ready to dig a little deeper, go with self-hosting. There are two parts to this -the domain and hosting. The domain is basically the URL. For example, hellomissmartha.com is the domain here. The hosting is basically you renting space on the internet. It’s for sanity purposes, especially as you grow.
There are a lot of sites out there that you can do both of these with, but while I started with Go Daddy, I currently use SITEGROUND and it’s been the BEST experience! They are amazing! I also have hosting with them too. I HIGHLY recommend them. Great customer service and they are truly lovely and patient with technical dummies like me!
STEP FOUR
Now it’s time to install WordPress. While there are other sites you can use that might be a little bit easier to use, most people will direct you to WordPress. Just start there and get used to using it. Besides being rather large, it’s free to use and easy(ish) to set up. Plus there’s LOTS of themes and layout options. Most hosting sites will also have a setup wizard to use that makes getting started a piece of cake. And like I said before, with SITEGROUND, they were super helpful should you need support!
And you can pick themes outside of WordPress too that are easy to install! I have used Restored 316 for a couple of websites now and I love them. Easy instructions and great help when you mess something up — like I tend to do! Plus, their themes are super cute!
STEP FIVE
Now is the fun part! There are lots of great free wordpress themes out there, but don’t feel like you can’t purchase a theme too. Pick one that you can start with and then get to finishing up the prompts to get your blog going. If you want to change it later, you can! And while you can find some on wordpress, there are a lot of great designers out there. I love the options at Restored 316 — I used to use one for Maeve and now use one for this blog! I am loving this Glamour Theme she’s currently got! Gahhh! Most of the time, the paid designs will offer more flexibility and ways to customize.
And you are off!
There are a few other things that I have come across over the years that I use to help me with blogging and
might be beneficial for you to start your own blog too!
A Beautiful Mess
*For editing photos. I love their filters and ease of use.
Tailwind
*For sharing blog posts to pinterest for more traffic! This is an easy way to help increase traffic to your site.
PicMonkey
*For editing photos and creating collages.
Blog Success — The $9,000/mo Blogging System
*If you are looking into building big, find a good course that can aid you in your journey! Check out this one!
Lazy Blogging
*And here’s another if you are looking for something that might not seem as involved, but still help you along your blogging path!
Originally published at http://hellomissmartha.com on August 11, 2020.
