Starting your own website can feel like a bit of a rollercoaster ride. If you enjoy writing and connecting with people, then blogging is likely something for you. Getting started may feel a bit overwhelming with so much information out there, so I'd like to take a moment to make my experience as simple as possible.
13 Simple steps you'll want to take to set up a new blog:
- Establish what it is you're going to write about
- Decide on a blog name… whether you use your own name or you choose something different
- Choose a Domain (the web address) your website will be found at
- Choose a website host to host your website for you
- Decide on a theme (what you're website will look like)
- Create your About Me, Contact Me, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Use pages
- Upload the RankMath and Mediavine Grow plugins to help you with your social media sharing and being found on search engines
- Ensure your website is ADA compliant
- Begin writing content, and don't forget to add your main keyword in the RankMath keyword block
- Review your work on websites like TFIDF, Text Optimizer, or RankIQ
- Create graphics for each blog post to be viewable on social media websites and Pinterest.
- Decide on ways to monetize your blog
- Consider joining a blogging mastermind (yes, even for beginners)
Domains and Hosting
Before you can get started with your own blog or website, you need a domain name. This can be your name or a special blog name. There really are no hard and fast rules to choosing a blog name. When you start your initial search, use something like the URL checker offered by BigScoots or NameCheap.
Free or cheap isn't always the best
Most websites catering to new bloggers will show free options and the cheapest options. Having started free and upgraded to cheap blog hosting, just to upgrade again to more expensive blog hosting, I can tell you the only free blogging you should be doing is over on LinkedIn's Articles or as a guest providing articles on someone else's website.
Free blogging options include Google's Blogger platform, ThriveGlobal, Medium, Tumblr, WordPress.com, and others. However, using one of these options is a lot more difficult to get them ranked on the first page of search engines, where 90% of blog traffic is found, and even more difficult to monetize.
Free hosting will not allow you to monetize your blog.
In fact, you do not own your website when you use the free host options. If you're blogging for free, the platform owns your website and content. They will and can shut you down at any moment without notice, causing you to lose all your hard work. These free blogging websites do not allow you to use your blog to make money. I've seen many bloggers experience their website suddenly taken away just because they charged for a coaching program, or promoted a network marketing company. Most ad companies will not approve applications for websites that are hosted for free.
So if you decide to start with a free platform for blogging, be very conscious of their user policy.
Plus Google and other internet search engines usually will not rank these free websites in internet searches because they aren't taken as seriously.
I strongly suggest hosting your own domain.
This means having your own .com (or similar) website address, and “hosting” it through a company that provides hosting services. This means you own 100% of your content and have the freedom to talk about anything you want with the ability to add ads, affiliate links, digital items for sale, physical items for sale, paid memberships, etc.
I host my websites through BigScoots, and can't recommend them enough.
Originally I used Blogger through Google because it was free and I wasn't sure if blogging was something I wanted to do. It has some massively limiting features that I found to be incredibly underwhelming and almost stopped entirely because I saw no results from it. Then in 2014 I decided to give in to the itch to start writing again online and restarted my blogging adventures using Blue Host for my website hosting, as most bloggers who blog about blogging recommend.
I left Blue Host after 3 years feeling sick over how much my website was down and inaccessible because of server problems.
Literally, my website was inaccessible more than it was accessible because of BlueHost's servers not being able to keep it running. I received numerous notifications every day that my website was unattainable for anywhere between a few minutes to several hours. This was not at all acceptable, especially for the $400+ I spent every year for their services.
I switched to SiteGround in 2017, excited to only have experienced a whopping 2.5 minutes of downtime in the two years they hosted my site. As for cost, they're very similar. The SiteGround plan I chose cost $3.95 per month for the first year to get started with a WordPress account or to utilize their site-builder program. Unfortunately, after the first year with SiteGround, my bill shot up to $39.93 per month. I thought that wasn't a big deal… until I looked at my page speeds while working on optimizing my website for Google and taking my blogging more seriously. Some of my website pages took 7-15 seconds to load! That is an eternity in internet time! No wonder few people actually read anything and most stuck around for less than 30 seconds!
In 2019 I decided to change again to BigScoots. Siteground was very good to me while I had them (with the exception of page load speed), but I knew for the same price after their introductory rate, I could have a substantially faster website load time, which is a major factor in Google rankings and having people continue reading through my website.
With BigScoots, I pay $20 per month for much faster service (yes, I SAVED money while experiencing BETTER services). You can start with them for as low as $5 each month too through their shared hosting, depending on the plan you choose (plus they don't hike up their prices after the first year). So… I saved money while massively increasing the speed my website loads… plus everything is managed, so I ended up forcing myself to stop DIYing everything with my website. Now I just send them a message about what I need to be done, and they handle everything for me. All I need to do now for my blog is focus on writing and creating graphics. This just saved me easily 10 hours a month.
Getting Set Up
When you have your domain chosen and you've settled on where you're hosting your website, it is time to choose what it will look like.
I highly recommend WordPress. WordPress.org provides numerous paid and free themes that will determine what your website will look like. It is very simple to set up… Just click on Appearance in the left side menu, select Theme, and select Upload A New Theme at the top. This will give you a searchable list of themes so you can choose which layout you like the best. The themes are templates where you just plug in what information you want where. This makes it easy for anyone to use, even if you're not overly tech-inclined.
** WordPress.org is different than wordpress.com. WordPress.com is a free hosting service. WordPress in this context (the .org) is opensource software that runs the actual blog that you self-host somewhere on your own server or places like BigScoots.
Your First Pages
Once you have a theme chosen and applied, I recommend writing your first few pages. What you'll need to start: About Me, Contact Me, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Use pages
About You
Your “About Me” page should have a little information about you, what you do, what you like… etc.
I strongly recommend writing your “About Me” page as a way for your readers to get to know you… but take a different perspective. Instead of just the typical resume summary, really focus on who your ideal reader is, and what problems they have that you solve.
This post by Melyssa Griffin is my favorite resource for how to draft an excellent About Me page.
Contact You
Your Contact Me page should have a way for your readers to be able to connect with you. I suggest adding a form for your site visitor to fill out with their name, email, website, and message.
I removed the Contact 7 forms that originally came with WordPress because it slows down my page speed more than necessary. Instead, I use my email forms and Ninja Forms plugin. They embed simply and easily, and I receive an email each time someone fills them out. They're also fully customizable to provide you with exactly the info you need, with a design that fits your branding.
If you would like to see an example of how I use it, head over to my Contact Me page.
Plugins
Plugins are pieces of software you can integrate into your website to enhance your capability, track your posts and readers, and more.
To access them, click on Plugins in the left side menu of your WordPress dashboard. Click the button Add New button at the top. Then search for the following plugins and install them. These plugins are all very well known to honor fast page load speeds, whereas most plugins will weigh down your website and cause it to load slowly… which causes people to exit before even reading your posts.
- Rank Math(optimize your website to be found on search engines, and integrate services like Google Analytics)
- Grow by MediaVine (for your share buttons)
- Loginizer Security (to help keep out people you don't want logging in)
- Anti-Spam (to help sort through all the spam comments)
- ConvertKit (to collect readers' emails so you can continue to keep in touch with them)
- Ultimate Add-Ons for Gutenberg (this allows you to have more page-building options without slowing down your website)
- PrettyLinks (to track your affiliate links, if you choose to monetize that way)
- LinkWhilsper (helps with internal linking within your website)
These plugins are all free, though they do offer additional features for a fee.
Rank Math
RankMath is the plugin to use for being found on Google. Using keywords on there helps Google understand what you're writing about and to whom to show your content. This plugin also helps you to choose which photo will show up with your post when it is shared on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites.
RankMath also sets you up with sitemaps for search engines to crawl, has space to integrate Google Analytics so you can better track your website (most ad companies require the use of Google Analytics), pushes out new posts automatically to search engines like Google and Bing, and has options for optimizing Web Stories.
Grow by MediaVine
Grow by MediaVine isn't 100% necessary, but it is my favorite for adding social media sharing buttons on your website. Plus, you can choose to show share count numbers and track share count numbers, which encourages people to take your site more seriously and are more inclined to share (just turn this feature off for posts with less than 100 shares).
I also like this plugin because it shows me in my posts page how many times each post has been shared on social media. This is important because you'll know which blog posts are resonating with your audience and what topics to post more about. You'll also see which topics no one cares about and stop posting about those, or better optimize them for search engines.
They also offer “hidden pin” settings (with the paid version) that allow me to have additional Pinterest Pins without them being everywhere all over my site. They have a free option and aren't very expensive for the paid option. I feel it is definitely worth having.
Loginizer Security
Loginizer Security helps prevent people from logging in that shouldn't be logging into your site.
Having had a small, largely unknown website hacked in the past, this is very important to mention.
Anti-Spam
Anti-Spam helps with reducing spam comments. This is massively helpful as there are many bots out there who comment with inappropriate links and messages, along with many paid services who post irrelevant comments onto blog posts to help promote other websites.
I have no problem with self-promotion, as long as it continues to serve the readers and is relevant to the post and comment conversations. But when a comment comes on my site offering a hyped-up comment for a dating service on a post talking about DIY skincare, that is blatant spam, and probably from a bot. The Anti-Spam plugin helps prevent those from showing up on your website.
Ultimate Add-ons for Gutenburg
Ultimate Add-Ons for Gutenburg takes away your need for plugins like Elementor, Brizzy, or other landing page builders that slow down your site.
There is a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to create gorgeous landing pages and sales pages with just your basic WordPress website and the Ultimate Add-Ons for Gutenburg plugin.
Pretty Links
This probably isn't necessary for beginner bloggers, but after starting without it and adding it 7 years later, I can see the value of using it early, especially with the free version.
Lessons I learned the hard way:
7 years into my blogging journey, I had published over 400 posts all of which were monetized with affiliate links. My main affiliate company was linked to almost every page and decided to change its deep-link structure, causing me to need to update over 800 links. This took me a solid month of not publishing content to set up new links for all those pages.
Pretty Links is a one-and-done system. You add custom links in your Pretty Links tab in your WordPress dashboard, where their clicks are also tracked. Instead of linking to your affiliate in your posts, you link to your PrettyLink for that affiliate link.
Then any time you change affiliate programs or your links update, you only need to change it one time using the Pretty Links tab. This saves you time, reduces your stress, and prevents you from losing revenue. One link change for each product or service instead of taking time to run broken link scans on your site to find all the broken links to update like I needed to, which also causes you to lose revenue if people are clicking on those links before you have a chance to update all of them.
Work smarter, not harder.
Link Whisper
Link Whisper is a plugin that helps you identify posts you already have published that you can link to and from with new posts you're creating. In your main posts page, it will also show you how many internal links you have to and from each post, and how many external links you have in each post. There is a goal to have no “orphaned” content, meaning you want every post to contain at least one internal inbound and outbound link within each post you make.
This saves a lot of time and reduces a lot of stress involved with remembering which posts you have that would be perfect to link to. It is a good search engine optimization habit to always have at least one or two links in each post linking to other posts and pages you have published on your website.
While this isn't necessarily needed for new bloggers, it is beneficial. Once you have more than 100 posts, you may want to consider upgrading to the paid version.
Begin Writing Your Content
Now all that is really left is to start writing. What you write about is really up to you and what you feel will resonate with your readers (or future readers). I suggest starting with a keyword or a key phrase in mind. And use those keywords and key phrases several times in that document, including in the title, URL, image alt tag, and “meta description” found in your RankMath block under the body of your content. No one will see that block except for you and Google.
Once your post is written, use a tool like RankIQ, TFIDF, or Text Optimizer to help see what keywords and key phrases are related to your main keyword that you may be missing. These are all paid services, but absolutely worth having. I do use all three on every post I write. To help save money, the TFIDF and Text Optimizer tools are offered for free from the blogging mastermind I subscribe to.
Add A Graphic To Your Post
Once your keywords are set and your post is done, you'll want to add a few graphics. At the minimum, have a header photo. This header photo should be placed in the document's Featured Photo block on the right-hand side menu in your post's draft, and can also be used in RankMath's social media tab for Facebook and Twitter. Having the photo in those three blocks will enable that photo to show up on all social media shares.
I also strongly suggest adding another graphic on your website specifically for Pinterest. Be sure to fill out the photo's Alt Text. This Alternative Text will show up as the writing under a Pinterest Pin for people who share your pin directly from your post. Adding keywords in that Alt Text will also help people on Pinterest find you (Pinterest is a great search engine to share content in.. my #2 traffic source… #1 is Google).
The easiest way to create these graphics is by using Canva. Canva has a free option and tons of templates that help you decide on a size and layout. You can choose to create a Pinterest or Facebook graphic. My go-to sizes are Pinterest and Blog Header. I use that Blog Header for Facebook and Twitter too.
Decide on ways to monetize
There is no shortage of ways to make money with a blog…
- Create digital downloads or ebooks to sell
- Enroll in affiliate programs (like Share A Sale) to earn commissions from selling other people's products, subscriptions, or programs (this also works with Network Marketing products)
- Establish a membership program or online course… either as a membership site, using social media groups, or even an online magazine
- Dropshipping (creating designs that a manufacturer places on a product and ships the product to the customer for you, giving you the profits)
- Sell a service you provide, whether it is coaching, something technical, administrative skills, graphic design… etc…
Having an idea of what you will be writing about will help you to determine who your ideal reader will be and which products and services will best serve them.
When thinking of monetizing, think about what problems your readers experience that you can help them solve? Then find a program that best fits in with that theme.
For more info on monetizing a website… head over to my Make Money Blogging post.
Consider Joining A Mastermind for Bloggers
I always thought blogger masterminds were only for owners with established blogs, not for beginners. But after finally joining a blogging mastermind, I've learned how wrong I was. There is so much value to immersing yourself in a community of bloggers from all stages of their blog life sharing about what is currently working. Blogging and website management is one of the fastest-changing career paths to embark on. What worked last year doesn't necessarily work this year. What worked 5 years ago doesn't work today. Keeping up with these trends and lifting each other up at the same time is massively helpful.
The mastermind I joined is Money Mix Insiders. It's a culmination of finance blogs, gaming blogs, parenting blogs, travel blogs, natural wellness blogs… and more varieties are added routinely.
In this mastermind, we share not only website tips, marketing tips, social media tips, and other day-to-day blogging tasks, but we also share each other's content and syndicate to larger websites including AP and MSN.
Additional perks of being a member include access to Ahrefs or Moz for keyword research, TFIDF and Text Optimization tools, premium Astra WordPress theme and plugins, WPRocket plugin for making your site speed faster, and early access to a premium ad network, among other bonuses and benefits.
Putting it all together
Now you know what you need to do to get started… it is time to put it all together. All of these steps are needed prior to being able to monetize your blog.
- Establish what it is you're going to write about
- Decide on a blog name… whether you use your own name or you choose something different
- Choose a Domain (the web address) your website will be found at
- Choose a website host to host your website for you
- Decide on a theme (what you're website will look like)
- Create your About Me, Contact Me, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Use pages
- Upload the RankMath and Mediavine Grow plugins to help you with your social media sharing and being found on search engines
- Ensure your website is ADA compliant
- Begin writing content, and don't forget to add your main keyword in the RankMath keyword block
- Review your work on websites like TFIDF, Text Optimizer, or RankIQ
- Create graphics for each blog post to be viewable on social media websites and Pinterest.
- Decide on ways to monetize your blog
- Consider joining a blogging mastermind (yes, even for beginners)
Keeping your audience engaged
Once you start receiving traffic to your blog, you'll want a way of keeping in touch with your readers who want updates from you as you expand your articles. There are a few ways to do this:
- Social Media Posts – regularly post to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Parler, Snap Chat, MeWe, or whichever other social media platform you use the most. Knowing who your ideal readers are and where they hang out online is a great start.
- Email Newsletters – a great way to keep in touch with your readers who want to keep hearing from you, and provide them with updates to your blog posts. I highly recommend using MailerLite where you can start for free, or a more advanced option using ConvertKit (which is what I use).
- Create Your Own Social Network Group (I LOVE using the Mighty Networks or Telegram apps to do this with)
This post was originally written and published on GracefullyAbundant.com
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Nicole
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