How to Create Your Own Blog – A Complete Guide

How to create your own blog is a question that many novice webmasters ask. In this guide we will answer it!

By the way, creating your own blog, becoming a blogger and maybe even an opinion leader is one of the best ideas today. Whether you own a small business, an online store or just want to do something new, blogging will give you many advantages:

1. Personal Growth. Many people start with a blog as a way to express their ideas and improve their knowledge. A well-designed blog can showcase your abilities and expertise if you are looking for work or are a freelancer.
2. More people will learn about your brand. If you are launching a business, large or small, working on brand awareness should be an important part of your business. When used properly, this powerful content marketing tool can take your business to the next level.
3. Blogs can be a platform for potential customers. Channels to attract new customers require investment (e.g., GoogleAds). Developing a blog takes time, not money, but once your traffic starts growing, you’ll have a solid platform for new sales and higher conversions.
4. Increase search engine visibility. Blogging is one of the best ways to get more organic traffic. Remember, maintaining a steady stream of traffic is a vital part of any online project!

In this article, we will look at all the nuances you need to know about in order to create your blog and successfully develop it, among other things:

• What platform to choose to create a blog?
• How to choose the right hosting?
• How to create your blog and successfully develop it?

How to create a blog

The process of creating a blog can be broken down into stages:

1. Choosing the topic of the blog
2. Searching for hosting
3. Registration of the domain name
4. Setting up a platform for a blog
5. Publishing content and blog development
6. Promotion of the blog
7. Blog monetization

We’ll look at each of these in more detail and give you some tips on how to make your blog unique and interesting.

1. Choosing the topic of the blog

If you are a startup or a business, blog about services and products, about the company and its goals. That way you will attract people who are interested in your business. It’s a win-win for everyone!

If you want to start your own personal blog, there are even more options. The world around you is full of possibilities. From travel, technology, news, to food, music and shoes, there are a huge number of areas you can choose as the main topic of your blog.

Since this is one of the most important steps, try to avoid making hasty decisions. Devote some time to researching your options and finding your topic. It will be so much easier!

It’s best to write about what you love, though. When you’re doing something you enjoy, it’s much easier to succeed. Plus, your audience is sure to notice and appreciate it.

If you still haven’t decided what to blog about, don’t let that stop you. The most successful blogs have tried many approaches and topics before they reach their goal. Our advice is to dive deeper and never look back!

2. Searching for hosting

Now you need to choose a blogging platform. A blogging platform is the software or service you will use to publish your content. But before you start your search, you need to decide whether you will use a free platform or your own paid hosting service. We’ll talk about each option below.

Free Blogging Platform

A free blogging platform is a good option for first-time bloggers or those who are just trying their hand at blogging. But such a solution has its own limitations and rules. For example, the URL of your site (vashsait.nazvanieplatformy.com) will not only contain the name of your blog, but also the platform on which it is hosted. Moreover, ads can appear on the pages of your publications, for which you will get neither money nor loyal readers, because they often do not correspond to the subject of the blog. That’s why if you are serious about creating your own blog, we recommend using a platform with your own hosting.

Platform with hosting

Such platforms allow you to create a blog with your own domain. And that means you won’t have the name of a foreign site in your URL. What’s more, you’ll be able to choose a content management system, or CMS, to manage your blog.  The most popular CMSs for blogging are WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. It is with their help that you will be able to create the blog of your dreams.

However, running a blog on your own hosting is not free. Since you’re securing the title and using the web space, you’ll have to pay a few dollars each month to a web hosting company, or to put sites online. As for the site itself, you can use a CMS to create it, which is usually free and open source.

When it comes to choosing a blog hosting platform, there are a few things to consider:

• How much traffic are you counting on?
• How fast will the installation be?
• Is there support available?
• What special features will you be provided to improve your blog?
• What is the cost?

The cool thing is that you don’t have to go far, because we already have exactly what you’re looking for! And you can choose from the following options.

Shared hosting

One of the best options for starting a blog is shared website hosting, it can be compared to public transportation or student housing.

This is when many sites are hosted on one physical server. All resources (such as disk space, RAM, traffic) are shared between sites.

However, the servers are perfectly set up and monitored around the clock by specialists to make sure they run smoothly!

Here’s what you need to know if you decide to set up your blog on shared hosting:

Benefits:

• Accessibility and ease of use.
• Up-time and server updates are provided by the provider.
• Online user support.
• 1-click installation feature of the blogging platform.

Disadvantages:

• You share resources with others.
• Limited customization options.
• No root access.

VPS hosting

VPS is short for virtual private server, which means virtual private server. A unique solution that gives you more freedom and control.

However, if you are not “at ease” with server management, this solution may be too complicated for you.

If you are only planning to run a simple blog, another solution would be better.

But, if you’re planning to deploy a serious operation with multiple projects running, a virtual server will allow you to set up the perfect environment for that.

Advantages:

• Super-user access (root access) is granted.
• Dedicated IP and resources.
• The most flexible of all solutions.
• Ability to change any settings on the server side.

Disadvantages:

Requires technical knowledge.

Server management skills are required.

No support provided.

High entry threshold.

3. Domain name registration

Every site has a URL, also known as a domain name. Choosing a domain is not the easiest task, as there are many different factors to consider. If you need help, try using a domain name generator.

Once you’ve decided on a domain name, be sure to check it with a domain checker to make sure it’s free. After that, choose a suitable extension and place your order.

If you are not sure which domain extension is right for you, read this guide.

4. Setting up the platform for the blog

The next step is to choose the platform on which you will work. Since blogs mostly consist of content, you will most likely decide to use a content management system (CMS).

Choosing a CMS as your blogging platform will allow you to:

• Create a blog without programming knowledge.
• Successfully publish and create new content.
• Pay attention to the writing, not the technical aspects.
• Easily add new functionality with plugins and modules.
• Choose a design using a huge library of free themes.

The top 3 platforms we recommend for creating a blog:

1. WordPress
2. Joomla
3. Drupal .

Let’s look at each platform in more detail, so you can find the best fit for your blog.

WordPress:

With the status of the most popular CMS in the world, WordPress is a reliable platform for creating your blog. It is very easy to configure and use, and does not require programming skills. In addition, there are many materials on the Internet about how to create your blog on WordPress.

Advantages:

1. Suitable for beginners.

2. Huge library of free plugins and themes.

3. Easy SEO and management.

Disadvantages:

1. Frequent updates.

2. Requires maintenance from time to time.

Joomla

Joomla is another open-source platform that powers a large number of blogs around the world. It is also one of the biggest competitors to WordPress.

Installing the CMS is quick and doesn’t require any programming knowledge. Some have even noted that publishing content is much easier than on other platforms. But you can check for yourself.

With a wide collection of free extensions and plugins, Joomla is the right place to create any kind of blog.

Benefits:

• Suitable for beginners.
• Clear control panel.
• Multilingual (more than 70 languages).

Disadvantages:

• Less flexible compared to WP or Drupal.
• There have been security issues in the past.

Drupal

One of the most advanced content management systems, Drupal has a special place in the heart of every web developer.

It is very flexible and customizable when it comes to implementing complex features. Although you will need additional skills and knowledge of web development to do so.

If you love programming and want to have a very flexible blog, Drupal is the perfect fit!

Advantages:

• Focused on developers.
• Provides the necessary capabilities to add sophisticated functionality.
• Flexible and secure.

Disadvantages:

• Higher threshold of entry.
• Requires technical knowledge.
• Used by fewer bloggers.

If you have hosting and a domain, then you are close to launching your blog. There are only a few steps left to take.

Since we’ve highlighted three platforms for blogging, let’s see how to do a basic setup for each of them. You can skip this section if you choose a different way to create a blog.

How to create your blog on WordPress

Choose WordPress and follow the instructions of our installation wizard, which will do all the work.

Site Administration Area

To make it easy for you to manage your blog, WordPress provides an intuitive console.

You can access it by going to yourdomain.com/wp-admin in your browser.

Themes

In the Appearance section, you can find many free themes and choose the design you like.If you’re in doubt about your choice of theme, our review of the best free WordPress templates will help you.

Plugins​

The Plugins section offers an extensive library of free extensions. These are a kind of add-ons that expand the functionality of your blog.

Here’s a list of the 3 most useful plugins that every blog should install:

• Yoast SEO will allow you to easily optimize your publications according to the latest SEO standards.
• Akismet Anti-Spam will keep your comment section clean of spam.
• Jetpack offers a whole host of security features, performance boosts, statistics gathering, and more!

Creating blog posts and pages

The Pages section is just about that. You can use it to create your blog pages, such as About Me; Contacts and others.

The Entries section will be the most visited, since you will create all new blog posts here. Just click Add New, and then in a new window, start creating your publication.

5. Content publishing and blog development

Now you know how to create your blog using the three best CMS platforms. The next step is content creation.

What should your content be?

Once you figure out who your target audience is, you can start creating content. Your publications should carry valuable information. Try to be useful to your audience. You don’t want readers to get the impression that you didn’t try hard enough when you were writing.

Make your content accessible and easy to understand. Visitors to your blog should want to read what you write and come back again for more. Add photos, graphics or other visuals if it suits your style.

Also, encourage your readers to interact with you and other visitors through comments. Ask them what they think of your blog or ask them to write about what they would like to see in future posts.

Since content management systems help you create publications effortlessly, your focus should be on posting as many good quality articles as possible.

Remember that it usually takes some time before your publications start producing results, so the earlier you start, the better.

Ideally, you want your blog to generate traffic and grow. To achieve this goal, you need to think outside the box and be willing to work hard.

Pre-published content:

Before you start publishing posts on your blog, you must prepare static pages. These are the pages that always remain and are available to your readers on the site. Here’s a standard set of static blog pages:

• About Us/Author – This is where you can tell your story, who you are and why you have this blog. Depending on the type of blog you have, the story can be personal, entertaining, or about business.
• Contacts – A page where visitors can contact you. This can be a simple page with your email, social media accounts, newsletter subscription form, or information about any other means of contact you have.
• Sidebar/Menus – A column on the side of the page or a bar at the top of the site. Put your blog categories, ads, other static pages, etc. here.

Published content:

• Blog posts are your brainchild. This is where you publish content: text, photos, videos, or a combination of everything.
• Evergreen content – this kind of content stays relevant long after it’s published. You have to update it in time and make sure the information it contains is accurate.

What is a content strategy for a blog?

A content strategy is a plan for blogging over the long term.

Without it, you may find it difficult to publish posts regularly and attract readers. Standing out among other bloggers without a strategy can be difficult, too, since there are more than 4.4 million articles published every day!

An effective content strategy for a blog should answer the following questions:

• Why are you blogging and creating content?
• What kind of content should you create?
• How can you achieve your goals with your content?

How to create a strategy

Here’s a short guide to creating a strategy that really works:

1. Define your goal. What do you want to achieve with your blog? Be specific. For example, a startup’s goal might be to get 3,000 site visitors by the end of the month or to rank two posts on the first page of search engines within two weeks.
2. Do your audience research. Who are your readers? Find out what content they like, what problems they face and what social media platforms they use.
3. Come up with topics and keywords. Decide what keywords you want to be found by. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs Keyword Explorer and SEMrush Keyword Research to simplify the process. Keep your subject matter in mind when doing so.
4. Create an editor’s calendar. Make a schedule for writing articles and blog posts, and specify deadlines. This will make it easier for you to be more productive and consistent.

Publish, promote, and analyze. Share your publications through social media, newsletters, and backlinks. Monitor how they affect your blog’s performance with Google Analytics.

6. Promoting the blog

Let’s say you already have great content that your readers are sure to like, what’s next? How are you going to attract an audience if they don’t know about your blog? Once you have your first readers, word of mouth will start working, but there are other ways to promote.

• Friends and family – Tell everyone around you about your new blog. Ask them to share the link on social media, tell others about your interesting content and sign up for your newsletter.
• Submit your blog for indexing – tell search engines about your blog so they can add it to their list of sites faster. Log into your Google account, then submit the URL to Webmasters Tools. You can send the URL to Bing and other search engines the same way.
• Keep up with updates on your topic – visit similar blogs, social media pages, forums, etc. Blogger communities are a great way to expand your audience and connect with other bloggers.
• Be active on social media – it’s become a popular and common way to spread the word. Follow pages that match your subject matter, comment on other people’s posts and get to know each other.
• Guest Posting – Offer to write a guest post on someone else’s site. Make sure the site has a good reputation and is in the same niche as yours.
• Mailing list – Start writing your readers about new articles or special offers. The more people look forward to your content, the better they will respond to your promotions.
• Advertising and Paid Traffic – You can always help your blog with paid advertising on Google AdWords or Facebook. But if you’re not ready to spend money on advertising yet, hold off on this method of promotion for later.

7. Monetization of the blog

Now that your blog is up and running, has great content and a good audience, you can start making money from it. Monetizing a blog is a personal matter for everyone. You can just enjoy creating content and interacting with your readers, but if you don’t mind having an additional source of income, you should definitely give it a try. Below are some popular options for monetizing your site.

• Blog advertising – you can choose ads that are useful to your audience and fit in with the theme of your blog. If you are interested in this option, you can start with Google Adsense.
• Affiliate programs are when you partner with vendors to promote their products and services. You will receive a commission for this. To become a member, you must have a lot of visitors who trust you. You will also probably want to indicate that affiliate links are used on your site.
• Selling products and services – If you have your own products and services, you can easily sell them from your blog. Add an e-commerce plugin like WooCommerce so your audience can search for items, add them to their cart and buy them securely.
• Advertisements – When your blog traffic grows, you may be approached to place ads on your blog. Not for free, of course.

How to run ads on a blog

There are two ways to run ads on a blog – Google AdSense and the direct sale of advertising space.

To monetize your blog with Google AdSense:

• Start by registering and creating an account.
• Connect AdSense to your blog and wait for a confirmation email.
• Create an ad unit and place its code on your blog via a widget.

For more on how to add AdSense to your WordPress blog, check out this guide.

How to start selling ad space directly:

1. Create an attractive presentation showing your blog stats and basic information.
2. Send it to potential advertisers. Let them know you have advertising space and offer to collaborate.
3. Manage your ads with Google Ad Manager.
4. Delight your business partners by providing accurate reports on ad performance or offering discounts.

Affiliate program

You don’t have to own your own products to sell online. As a blog owner, you can receive commissions from sellers of products or services related to your niche. To do this, you need to join an affiliate program.

Once you sign up, you will receive various marketing materials such as affiliate banners and links. Feel free to post them on your blog pages or insert them in your publications. You will get paid every time visitors click on your link or make a transaction.

What is a blog?

Still not sure what a blog is? It could be a digital journal, a diary, reviews, an educational platform, etc., anything.

These days, typical blogs combine text, images, videos and other pages on the Internet. People can leave comments and communicate with the author of the blog.

Thus, a blog is a type of site with publications or articles consisting of text, videos, photos or a combination of these. The newest entries on such sites are usually displayed first or at the top of the page.

What is a niche in blogging?

Most searches on the Internet address specific problems, resulting in the formation of individual niches. A niche brings together content on a particular topic. If you want to keep up with fashion trends, you follow a fashion blog. If you’re looking for new music, you read blogs about young talent. So, how do you choose a niche for blogging?

Once again, a niche is the topic around which you will create content. It’s best to write about what you’re good at. For example, if you’re a musician, your blog’s niche might be music.

It’s also worth remembering that the narrower the topic, the better. Depending on your interests, you might focus on hip-hop or pop music reviews.

How do you choose a niche, or theme, for your blog?

Choosing the right niche can take some time, but in general it’s not difficult.

Here’s a short plan that should help you:

• Think about what you’re interested in and what you’re passionate about. It could be your job, a hobby, or your daily life. For example, gardening.
• Research your competitors. Find blogs related to a certain topic. Research the market, try to find areas that can be improved. Take notes on what type of content others are publishing. This could be glossaries, tutorials, or project cases.
• Narrow down the subject matter. Gardening is too broad a topic. You can find plenty of authoritative blogs that have already gained traction in this niche. Narrow it down to subtopics like vegetable gardening for beginners or gardening for kids.
• Make sure the niche is profitable. Check to see if AdWords has products related to your niche, and also see if your competitors’ blogs have ad space or banners.
• Choose something you know and love. Readers love the passion and excitement in the blogs they read. If you’re not willing to spend the time and effort and really dig deep, then this isn’t for you.
• Look for holes. Analyze the blogs you read and think about what’s missing from them. If you can fill that space with interesting content, don’t miss that chance.
• How to choose keywords
• Keyword selection is an extremely important part of blog SEO promotion. If you want your content to be at the top of search engine results pages, it must be written based on targeted keywords.

The first thing you need to do is familiarize yourself with your niche. Join online communities and read many different blogs on your topic. Then you’ll understand the problems people face. Make a list of problems and issues, and start brainstorming key queries that your potential readers might be looking for answers and solutions to.

Another way is to use the Google Keyword Planner. It’s free. You just need to have a Google AdWords account. The tool will compile a list of keywords and ideas based on your niche.

You can also use paid tools like Ahrefs Keyword Explorer and SEMrush Keyword Research if you need comprehensive keyword analytics. They’ll give you a wealth of keyword suggestions, as well as show you search volumes for those queries and other SEO metrics.

The best platform for blogging

Choosing a blogging platform depends on several factors. You need to consider your level of technical skills, as well as how much effort and time you’re willing to put into creating and managing your blog.

The platform should have the features you need to achieve your blog’s goals and objectives. Last but not least, it should give you plenty of room for creativity, regardless of your budget.

WordPress.org.

For those who already have some technical knowledge and a budget, you can choose a content management system. WordPress.org is a popular choice; it’s a free system. However, you will need your own domain and hosting to use the platform.

The platform has a fairly high threshold of entry. Before you can finally publish your blog, you will have to put in some time and effort. However, there are many online resources whose job it is to help WordPress users.

In WordPress, you can customize the look of your blog with free and paid themes and an online editor. For example, you can use the Gutenberg editor, which contains many useful features, to create pages and publications.

What do bloggers earn? 

One of the most common ways bloggers earn money is by placing ads on their blogs. Most often through Google AdSense. The platform uses a pay-per-click advertising model in which you will be paid based on the number of readers who click on the banner ad on your blog.

You can also sell ad space directly to companies that offer products or services related to your niche. Depending on the contract, you’ll be paid for clicks, visits or transactions.

If you’re a great writer, you can offer your writing services, hold paid online seminars or become a freelance writer. Use your blog as an online portfolio.

Some experienced bloggers also sell digital products. Often they sell different files to print or download. These can be audio, artwork, photos, software, books and more.

If you don’t have your own products, you can offer and promote other people’s products by joining affiliate programs or creating promotional posts.

Can you change the name of the blog?

Yes, you can. But changing your blog name has consequences, so make sure you’ve thought this through.

Here are situations where you may need to change your blog name:

• The current name isn’t unique or doesn’t reflect the essence of the blog.
• A mismatch between the blog name and the URL.
• You are changing the subject line of your blog.

Disadvantages of changing your blog name:

• It can confuse regular readers, you may lose your online position.
• External links on other sites leading to your blog will be affected.
• You will need to set up a 301 redirect.

What kind of traffic does a site need to have in order to post sponsored content?

There is no definite answer here. You can get a sponsored article even if your site has fewer than 1,000 hits. If your blog is growing and you’re serious about maintaining it, you can start getting sponsors.

Here are some tips on how to get a sponsor for your blog:

• Create a well-designed media kit. Your presentation to advertisers should include brief information about you, your blog and its mission. Don’t forget to add contact information, statistics, number of unique visitors, page views and ratings, and analytics about readers.
• Actively seek sponsors. If you don’t have a lot of traffic, don’t expect them to come to you on their own. Tell them you’re interested in advertising on your blog.
• Create a list of affiliates. Research potential sponsors thoroughly before you start communicating with them.
• Join advertising networks. Acorn and TapInfluenc are examples of such networks. Just fill out your profile and you’ll be matched with companies that might be interested in working with you.
• Do I need to know about web development to create a blog?
• Anyone can set up a blog these days. You do not need any technical knowledge or programming skills.

There are website builders, such as Zyro, with their user-friendly control panels, WYSIWYG visual editors (what you see is what you get), and drag-and-drop ready-made features. You also won’t need to design your blog. Website builders usually have a library of customizable templates.

To create a blog, newbies can also use a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress. It can take some time to get used to its interface and all of its features. Nevertheless, there are many guides, forums and tutorial sites.

For those who just want to publish content and don’t want to figure out how to create their blog from scratch, Medium will do.

What does the success of a blog depend on?

A successful blog is one that keeps growing and has traffic.

Keep in mind that you need to publish articles all the time. That is why it is better to choose a topic that is interesting and not boring to you.

Also, every blogger has gone through a stage when the results did not meet expectations. So having a specific goal can give you the necessary motivation to keep going.

As for content, it’s important here to be consistent and not deviate from the topic. You need regular readers, not occasional visitors.

Make sure that your content is valuable, informative, of high quality, and interesting. Then people will want to come back to you. Also, by encouraging interaction, you automatically create a community around your blog.

Also, pay attention to your blog’s SEO. You want your publications to rank at the top of the search engines. If one of your pages ranks first in a regular Google search, you’ll get an average click-through rate of 31.7%.

The visual appeal of your blog is just as important. The design and layout of your blog is what people notice first. Whether or not they linger on the site also depends on first impressions.

Marketing also plays an important role in the success of a blog. You’ll need to actively promote your content, target your audience, and track your results.

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