How To Start Your Own Blog
Ever since I began making money online, one of the number 1 questions that my friends and family members ask is “How do I start a blog?” Since I can be “heavy-winded” and tend to talk on a highly technical level concerning this, I decided it would be best to map out a strategy on building a blog that anybody can follow. Now when the question arises I will have a place to send them to read and assist them on setting up their own blog. With this instructional website, you should be on your way to having your own weblog in as little as 5 minutes. Ready? Here we go!
What do you want to blog about?
Before you can set a blog up, you need to decide what the topic(s) of your blog will be. Will this be a blog about your personal life, business life, both, neither? Once you figure this out, the rest is a breeze.
Finding a domain name
Once you have your topic(s) that you want to blog about, you will need to come up with a domain name. For example, this websites domain name is howdoistartablog.net. You can check and see if the domain name you would like is available at the following link. Once the page loads, you can follow the directions on the illustration below to see if your domain name is available.
Check Availability Of Your Domain Name
Signing Up with a Web Host
Once you have found your domain name, it is now time to sign up for a web host. Since I am showing you the quickest and easiest way to set up a blog, I recommend signing up with Bluehost. They provide excellent customer service including 24/7 toll-free telephone and online chat. Not only this, they provide you with unlimited domain hosting in case you expand at a later time. Also, they are very reasonably priced with packages starting less than $7 a month.
Install WordPress from Cpanel
- Scroll down and click on the icon called “Simple Scripts” within the category “Software/Services”. (figure 1)
- Scroll down and click on “WordPress” under “Blogs”. (figure 2)
- Find and click the green “Install” button. (figure 3)
- Follow through the instructions, agree to the terms and conditions, then click on the green “Complete” button.
figure 1
figure 2
figure 3
Logging In to your WordPress Blog
Once WordPress is installed, you will be given a username and password for your blog. Save this information to a secure place as you will need it any time you would like to log in. The url to log in to your new blog is:
http://www.yoursite.com/wp-login.php
Go to this url, fill in your username and password, and click “Log In”. It is optional to choose “Remember Me” but I always do so you don’t have to log in every time you go back to your site.
Once you are logged in, it is now time to customize your blog. There are many things you can do to make your weblog unique. The most common things people choose to do when they set up a new blog are change the theme, add plugins, and change the permalinks settings. I will explain how to do each.
Changing Your Theme
On the left hand menu, hover over the option “Appearance” and then click on “Themes” in the sub-menu that pops up.
Here is where you can manage your current themes or add additional themes. In order to add a theme, click on “Install Themes” and then you can search and install a theme from WordPress.
Extending your Blog with Plugins
Plugins allow your site functionality that it does not have with the basic install. You can almost have any functionality you desire with over 20,000 plugins to date. You can find plugins here. To install plugins, hover over “Plugins” on the left hand menu and click on “Add New”.
You can search for and install plugins from here.
Change the Permalinks Setting
Changing the permalinks settings on your blog will allow your urls to be “pretty” and more seo friendly. It will also allow your visitors to find your blog posts much easier. Find and hover over “Settings” on the left hand menu then click on “Permalinks”.
On this page, click on the url structure that you desire and click “Save Changes”. I usually choose the “Post name” option.
Start Blogging!
Now that you have your blog set up and ready to go, you are free to start posting. It might seem a little hard at first to blog but you will find it easy within a week or two. The best way to learn how to blog is to start writing posts and playing around with the settings. You will find your groove and your preferences and become an expert blogger in no time!
