Welcome Back To My DoFollow Blog! I’d Like to Extend a Big Thank You to You and Give You FREE Access to my 101 Ways to Connect for E-commerce” Report. Discover NEW Key Ways to Reach Your Audience! ~ Christine Brady
Publishing your first blog is an incredible moment of opportunity. Blogging is a way to connect, a way to share and a way to start a business. But whatever your “why’s” or goals are with your blog actually getting it out there, on the Internet, is a challenge by itself.
Not to worry –the process can be broken down into steps, which makes it much more manageable.
How to Start a Blog
Here are some essential steps to make the process more user-friendly:
Step 1 – The first step in setting up your blog is to pick out your domain name. Go to GoDaddy and start typing in domain names that you’d like to use for your blog. I’m not going to go into choosing a niche for our purposes here, but reference how to find a profitable niche if you are wondering about it.
If profitability is not a concern for you, then just pick out a domain name that you want to be using to build your blog, think long term here too!
Step 2 – Next, you need a way to get connected online. This is where a hosting provider steps in to fulfill that need. A web site host is basically your gateway to the Web. Now, there are other free options as alternatives to a paid website host – use these with caution though. Whether you’re blogging for a hobby or a business, a blog is a real opportunity to see lots of success online.
Step 3 – The third area to focus on in our seven “how to start a blog” steps is, to get your blog installed. If you use Hostgator, they will have a button on your file manager called Fantastico. Click on that icon and when it opens, you will set up the admin panel – select an admin user name and password. You’ll also be able to name the site and install it on its new domain.
There you have it – once you have bookmarked the URL to login you can start on your blog design.
Step 4 – There are thousands of themes or designs, available online for your blog. But going through them makes it extremely difficult to choose just one. The one I recommend to get you started quickly and in the right direction is the Flexibility theme. I have used probably 20 different themes in the past and this is one of the best. It is easy to configure and offers lots of customization.
Step 5 – Install and configure your plugins – The essential ones are: Akismet, All-in-One Seo Pack, XML Sitemaps, Comment Luv, FB Traffic Jacker and a social buttons plugin. Those plugins arm your blog with the necessary tools and functions to operate socially and SEO friendly – there are many more like Do Follow, Author Box, and a host of other fun plugins, just a search reveals hundreds.
A word of caution – installing too many of them can bring problems. Website code is preferred over a plugin.
Content, content, content
Step 6 – Start writing! Yes, just start writing your posts. Get all your ideas out on paper – so to speak. With a new blog, you want to get content going as quickly as possible. Content is what your blog is made of, so start off on the right foot and create lots of it! Articles, videos, reports, audios, books, courses, everything that you can create about your niche.
One of the biggest roadlocks that many new bloggers face is having the confidence to keep publishing content.
You may have no idea where your blog is going, and uncertainty is a tough thing to conquer, but just know that everyone starts somewhere. Every blog started with an idea and took off from there. Yours will too.
Step 7 – The last step to take in how to start a blog in 7 easy steps is to get involved with others. I cannot stress this enough. Whether it’s on Facebook or Twitter or other blog communities or forums, getting involved with other bloggers is a crucial step.
You hear how great teamwork is and how you need to be part of a team – well, I can tell you that having a blogging community to reach out to brings you readers, and without readers, the Internet’s a pretty lonely place.
Blogging for Success
There are your 7 steps on how to start a blog. Starting a blog can be one of the most rewarding challenges in establishing your online presence.
But the sooner you do it, the sooner you’ll experience the rewards of a successful blog.
Great tips for the beginner, thank you for sharing. And I love that you listed all those plugins – that’s super helpful, also the final tip about networking with others – SO important, otherwise you end up as a lone voice.
mrs green @littlegreenblog.com recently posted..When illness makes you rethink your eating habits
Hi Mrs Green,
Thanks for the kind words -
So glad you stopped by!
Thanks Christine for the tips. I agree that without interactions blogging is just like teaching in an empty class.
Anne Egros recently posted..Top Five Regrets of the Dying, Grief and Loss – AARP
Hi Anne,
Great analogy
Gotta love having people to interact with!
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi-great post. What about if you use something like blogger (Google)? I didn’t pick a domain name or anything like that, I just created my blog there and started writing. Why do you think you have to have a domain name? I ask because perhaps I need to switch things up a bit :p Also, I’m always looking for new & fun ways to advertise & be socially (media) connected. Networking is VERY powerful. I blog & sell online. You have some very good key things here-keep up the blogging
Hope to be reading more from you as I’m sure there is much I can learn. Cheers!
Hi Jaime,
Great question – The reason you want to have your own domain and your own hosting is because it is YOURS. With Blogger, Tumblr, even WordPress.com, everything that is published is on their platform. Although it is highly unlikely, but if those sites ever went down, your blog goes down as well!
And the best part is – it is very affordable! Domains are about $10/year and the hosting will be about $5 -10/month.
Thanks so much for stopping by – hope that answered your question!
Christine, your title might have been more apt if it was “How to Start a WordPress Blog”.
Great step by step instructions for those choosing to begin their blog journey with WordPress.
Mallie Dein recently posted..Excise Resize
Christine, great points. I had someone tell me today her husband started a blog and he had one hit. He doesn’t want to be on social media. OK. That seems to me like a waste of time! Your point about networking is very valid, as you have to create ways to distribute your blog links. I find Twitter, Triberr, LinkedIn and Facebook great places to do that.
Dorien recently posted..Ticker Suitor or Facebook Stalker – Toeing The Line
Hi Dorien,
Absolutely! For people like me, who are discovering the benefit of social media every single day – it is truly a skyrocket in terms of business!
Thanks for stopping by!
Great overview with actionable steps – very helpful! Glad I found you on the Ultimate Bloggers Challenge!
Tor Constantino, MBA recently posted..Golf, God and Free Will
Hi Tor,
Thanks so much for stopping by – glad you liked it!
Many thanks!
Great info for the beginners. Thanks for sharing.
Armi Niemi recently posted..Imagination
Hi Armi,
Thanks so much!
Glad you stopped by!
Hi Christine,
Great post! It is so easy to assume knowledge but there are thousands of new bloggers getting started every day. Not addressing basic processes like this is a missed opportunity. And let’s face it, we were all there once!
Love that you’ve put step seven into action by sharing in the Successful Work At Home Women Facebook group. Building relationships and supporting each others’ blogs is essential to achieving our goals.
Keep up the quality posts!
Caylie
Caylie Price, Better Business Better Life recently posted..Leaders Of The Pack: Online Mentors
I love your Seven easy steps and the illustration. For me we use or at least soon will be using, WordPress.org if I can figure out how to use it.
I just need to spend some time with someone who know the ropes. I have enjoyed reading others blogs and have been asked to be a guest blogger too, but seem to be a bit overwhelmed with other social media and work. Dorien has a great plan outline for scheduling, that seems to be my next task.
Hi Joel,
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
What do you need help figuring out? Are you installing a WordPress blog? WordPress.org is a domain/hosting platform like I mentioned -
And yes, I don’t know how I would run my business without scheduling!
Great, easy to follow steps! Well done for giving your knowledge so freely, I hope this helps a few nervous beginners! As and old hand at blogging now I can honestly say it’s changed my life and I’d encourage anyone to start blogging
Gemma Thompson recently posted..How Social Media Small Talk Can Mean Big Bucks For Business!
Hi Gemma,
I feel the same way
It’s a whole world of opportunity!
So glad you stopped by!
I totally don’t think longterm sometimes. I did that with my blog about social media and blogging. I had a domain name and decided to make a blog about blogging so now I have http://blog.beethomas.com. Okay, what’s that all about? I’m starting to get some traffic but I could have called it Great Blogging Tips or something else. I guess I could always change the name of it, but the domain will most likely never change since I love how high I rank for some terms like, “Purpose of Twitter.”
Do you think since I didn’t think longterm, I could actually get a good domain name eventually and just have the good domain name forward to my blog? If you saw that as a visitor, would it turn you off or would you judge the site only on the content, or would you even read the content?
Thanks,
Brian
Brian recently posted..Order Pizza Online
Hi Brian,
Thanks for stopping by!
To answer your question – I wouldn’t necessarily be put off by the domain name – Ideally, yes, you would want a great name, but realistically, things change and over time your focus may change as well.
So even if you had a domain name you liked at first, your blog evolves and then a change is necessary.
Do you have a host for your blog? If so, you could always just move the site to a new domain name and point your old one to it…
That would keep your content as well -