A good way to start a freelancing career is to start a blog. You can add this to your portfolio or showcase your works there especially if you have no experience working remotely with clients.
In this article, I will help you on how to start a blog or your own website. I have listed down this detailed step-by-step guide that is easy to follow and understand. This guide applies to all kinds of blogs and service-based website that you might want to start.
Step 1: Find your Niche
If you want to start a blog and be successful in running it, you need to find a topic that people are interested in. It doesn’t make sense to run a blog and write about a topic that attracts no reader. This can be a challenge for a lot of people. I struggled too.
When I started my first blog, it’s all about travel lifestyle. My content was all about my DIY travels and giving tips for travelers on a budget. All my followers were budget travelers. So, I can’t add luxury travel content on my blog because they won’t be interested in it.
So, in order to attract a good audience right from the very start, you would need to establish yourself as an expert in a specific field. As a Beginner, you should find your niche because it will help you grow your blog easily and your following quicker.
Here is some list of blog niche and sub-niches you might interest in.
Lifestyle Niches
- Health
- Fashion
- Travel
- Beauty
- Parenting
- Fitness
Business Niches
- Investing
- Entrepreneurship
- Business Ideas
- Business Tips
Food Niches
- Restaurant Reviews
- Recipes
- Baking
- Food Photography / Food Videography
- Fine Dining
Popular Niches
- Food & Travel
- Parenting & Travel
- Health & Fitness
Step 2. Think of your domain name
This is where your creativity comes out. It’s time to create your domain name. It’s a unique ‘address’ of your blog on the internet. For instance, my blog’s domain name is bhebshernandez.com and this address will be my domain as long as I continue to pay an annual fee.
To be able to get these .com names, you would have to pay — don’t worry, it will just cost you very cheap like for only $16 or Php 800+ per year. So if it’s just going to be a hobby, you can always go for the free platforms like WordPress.com, and Blogspot. But just to remind you, free platforms won’t give you the full control of your website and no earning opportunities (well, who doesn’t want to earn money?).
In thinking of a domain name, make sure that it is catchy and easy to remember. Don’t forget to check the availability on GoDaddy. Don’t mind the prices that you will see yet because we will process your domain later.
Step 3. Buy Your Domain Name and Get Good Hosting for your Blog
To be able to start a blog and run it, you’ll need somewhere to host your site. This is called a web host. It’s a place that hold’s all your blog’s data, posts, photos, and more. So where can you get your hosting? There are a LOT of providers out there. For example, Bluehost, Hostgator, Siteground, Hostinger, and more.
Most new bloggers are purchasing Bluehost for their blog. Despite its popularity, I always go back to Siteground. And I absolutely recommend Siteground to anyone especially for new bloggers. Here’s why:
- Offer quality hosting for a VERY affordable price. For a basic plan in SiteGround, it can only cost $3.95 per month!
- User-friendly and beginner-friendly. They have user-friendly interface and very easy to understand. Also, they have a large and easy-to-understand knowledgebase full of resources that can answer any question that you may have.
- Amazing customer service. Customer service is important because as a new blogger, you might accidentally touch something you’re not supposed to and cause your site to malfunction. You need a great team to get you back up and running as quickly as possible. You can just ask them anything and they will do their very best to assist you – ASAP. They have a ’24/7 Live Chat’ feature, So you NEVER have to wait for too long.
To start with SiteGround, simply follow the steps:
1. Go to SiteGround and sign up through this link — it will give you 50-60% OFF discount on the regular price!
2. The landing page will give you four options to choose from. Choose “WordPress Hosting” by clicking the “Get Started” button.
3. The first step is choosing a plan. Choose the “Startup” option — it’s the cheapest and the only package you’ll need as a beginner. But, you may pick the best plan for you depending on your needs.
Once you decide on the plan that you want, click the corresponding button “Get Plan”
4. This will lead you to the order page. Buying the domain name is the second step! Make sure that you select “Register a New Domain”. Type in your blog name without spaces, and in the dropdown beside it, ensure that you have selected .com. I always recommend that you use a .com extension. Now click “Proceed”
5. The next page will be the billing section. Simply fill the boxes with your account information and client information. And then input your credit card details on Payment Information. At the bottom, you will see the Purchase Information section.
If you have the money to spend, I suggest that you go for the 36-month option in the dropdown selection since it’s the maximum plan that you can get wherein you can enjoy the 60% discount. However, if you can’t afford the total bill for a 36-month, the 12-month option should be fine for a start.
The 2 checkboxes:
- Domain privacy: select this if you want to protect your personal information on the web (specifically your name and address that you had input in the Contact Information section)
- SG Site Scanner: for added protection from malware, hacking, and more — this is an extra that you would like to avail.
You’re free to order those extras to better secure your personal information and your website.
6. After carefully selecting your options, click “Pay Now” to process your payment. Now you own your domain and have your hosting account set up!
Step 4: Install WordPress
1. After placing your order previously, you should have received an e-mail notification confirming your registration with SiteGround. There will also be a separate email that will give you your username and password details. In each of these emails, there should be a link that says “Add Website”. Or if you’re still on Siteground page, just click “Proceed to Customer Area”.
2. You should see a page that looks like the below. It’s called the Website Set-up Wizard. Click “Set-up Site”
3. Select “Start a new website” and WordPress as the software. On Installation details, you will create your WordPress login details for your blog. First, enter your personal email address that will be attached to your WordPress account. And then second, create a password — make it as complicated as you can, but make sure that it’s something that you will remember. Then click “Continue”
4. Next you will see this. Just click “Finish“.
Congratulations! Now your blog is running! But before anything else, let’s add SSL to your website to protect your visitors. Don’t worry because it’s FREE!
5. Select “SSL” by clicking “Add”
6. After adding SSL, on the next page scroll down then click “Activate”
7. Then on the next page you will install your SSL. Select your domain, and then on the next box, select “Let’s Encrypt” then click “Get“.
8. Below that, you should see the status as “Active”. Then click the 3 dots and select “Enforce HTTPS” or you can go to “HTTPS Enforce” on the side menu. Enable the HTTPS Enforce and you should see a notification that says you successfully enable it for your website.
Now, your website is fully secured (lock icon with “https”) which means your visitors are protected! You can check your website if there’s a lock icon on the address bar. If something went wrong along, you can always ask for assistance on Siteground through their 24/7 Chat Support.
9. Let’s now go to your WordPress dashboard by clicking “Websites” from the main menu. Then click that little arrow icon.
10. You will be redirected to this login page. Bookmark this page in your browser so you don’t need to login to Siteground to go here. Put your login details to login.
Viola! Here is your WordPress dashboard. It’s your time to explore and design your blog!
There are free themes available on WordPress.org. But if you’re not satisfied with them, you can always buy a premium theme. If you’re planning to buy a theme, I will personally recommend Themeforest.
Step 5: Secure your name on Social Media Channels
Start being ‘social‘ online. With your blog name, register it on the social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Google+
TIP: Try to keep the usernames the same as your domain name because it’s definitely easier for your followers to access your profiles in this way.
Step 6. Start creating your basic content
It would be hard to design your blog if it is empty except if you purchased a premium theme for your blog. So, I need you to create the following:
- Pages. Create these pages so that you can add them on your main menu and footer.
- About – Introduce yourself, add some pictures if you want. Make it very engaging so that people will follow you.
- Contact – You can show here your email address and social media links where people can contact you. Also, you can add a form using contact form plugins.
- Privacy Policy, Disclaimer, or Terms of Use – this will protect your rights and will be your protection from any liabilities.
- Footer. This is the bottom part of your website. Some bloggers just leave it blank, while others put subscription forms, popular posts or recent posts. Check mine at the bottom. You can get some inspiration on other bloggers’ website.
- Sidebar. This appears beside your blog posts or even your pages if you want too. You can remove or add widgets that will show here by going to your widgets section at Appearance > Widgets. For this, try to put your:
- About – Make it short and then include your photo on it along with a link that leads to your about page.
- Newsletter – Encourage people to subscribe to your updates, this can be made possible if you sign up for MailChimp. After your registration, display a newsletter sign-up widget on your sidebar by installing Mailchimp for WP plugin.
- Social Links – Promote your social media accounts! You can use icons like what I have here on my blog and that would link to your account by using a plugin like Social Media Feather.
Step 7. Create your very first Blog Post!
It’s time to create your blog content. It’s ideal to post regularly. Others commit to post 3 times a week (which I recommend) while some only post once a week and that’s fine. This will keep your readers updated and will help your Google rankings. You can do this by going to Posts > Add New.
If you plan to post like 3 times a week, make sure that you will post quality content. Remember that quality is better than quantity.
Here’s a bonus for you…
To make it more professional, you need to setup your custom email with your domain. I am talking about yourname@yourdomain.com email. So follow the instructions below.
1. Go to your Siteground dashboard then click “Site Tools”
2. Go to “Email” then “Accounts“. Under “Create New Email Account“, put your desired account name. For example, it can be info for info@yourdomain.com, or your name, etc. As for the password, it doesn’t need to be too complicated, just take note of it as we need this for the setup of your Gmail aaccount. Once done, click “Create” and that’s it!
3. Now Go to your Gmail account. Click the gear icon on the upper right corner and in the drop-down list, then select “Settings”.
4. Select the “Accounts and Import” tab, locate the “Check mail from other accounts:” section and then click “Add a mail account”
5. A pop-up should appear. Enter the full e-mail address that you have set up on SiteGround (example: info@yourdomain.com) and then click the button “Next Step”.
6. Fill up the fields. Tik only “Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail”
7. Click “Add Account”
NOTE: For POP Server, please double check your SiteGround account since this detail could differ depending on your plan and location. To verify this, under your email accounts in your site tools, click the three dots on the corresponding email that you have created and select “Mail Configuration“.
A pop up shall appear with the details of your mail configuration. Select “Manual Settings” and here you will see your server details. Whatever information you see under the highlighted section in the image below should be the data that you use for POP Server.
8. Next, it will ask if you would like to send mail as info@yourdomain.com. Go and click “Yes, I want to be able to send mail as…” This setting will enable you to write messages in your Gmail using your customized email. On the next page, enter your full name in the “Name” field, and then check the box for “Treat as an alias”. Click “Next Step”.
9. Fill up the fields again but with the information below then select “Secured connection using SSL (recommended)”. Click “Add Account” when you’re done.
10. The next is you need to verify it using a code. The code will be sent to your Gmail account.
Don’t close this window and just wait to receive an email. Once you receive the confirmation email, copy and paste the code into the still open popped-up window. Click “Verify” and… you’re DONE! You now have your own professional customized email for your domain name!
If you need help with setting up and designing your website, I am offering a WordPress Design Service. Just contact me here.
There you go! I tried my very best to be as detailed as possible and I hope this will help you to start your own blog. Any thoughts? I love to hear from you. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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