How to Start an Amazing and Successful Blog You Love

So you want to start an amazing and successful blog? You have words you want to share and you have ideas and images you want to express in your own spot on the internet. Did you know that it can take less than 1 hour to setup a website that you like?

In this blog post, I’m going to walk you through the seven steps you must accomplish in order to start a blog now. Today.

Step #1: Choose a Domain Name You Actually Like

Your domain name will be with you for a very long time. It’s your brand and it’s the first thing people will think about when they think about you and your blog. 

With that said, think about what your blog is about. Do you like beauty? Think of words that relate to the topic like makeup, skin care, lip gloss, glossy, mascara, lashes, glam, etc. You get the idea. Okay, so maybe you don’t like to talk much about beauty, but you want to start a blog where you share your faith and lifestyle with God as a Christian. Think of words that relate like faith, grace, seeds, gentle, hope, growth, blooming, “becoming”, destiny…it can be really anything related to this topic that appeals to you.

Here’s a pro tip: go to Thesaurus.com to find the right word to describe your brand and how you want it to come off to others. 

Step #2: Buy a Domain Name

Once you buy a domain name, it is yours. You want to claim it as soon as you have a name you love. Where do you buy a domain name? Great question. There are many places you can buy a domain, but I recommend that you use a website called BlueHost for the easiest setup. 

BlueHost

What is it? Have you ever used Google Drive for your class projects, or maybe iCloud to store your photos on your phone and computer? Well, BlueHost specifically stores files for your website. When people type in your domain name, you don’t want them to end up on a blank page. Right? This is where BlueHost comes in to play. When someone types in your domain name, because BlueHost holds your website files, your website will look something like this.

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Alright, so go ahead and buy your domain. 

1. Go to BlueHost.com 
2. Once you’re on the home page, click on the green “Get Started Now” button.
3. They will ask you to Select a Plan. For most blogs, I recommend that you select basic.
4. Next, it will ask you whether you want to transfer a domain or create a new domain. You want to create a new domain. Type in your domain and see if it’s available. If it’s not, you will need to return to Step 1 of this tutorial. If it’s all good to go, congratulations! 

Pro Tip: Check if the Domain is Available as a Social Media Username

Here’s a pro tip: once you have your domain name, I think it’s a good idea to see if this name is available on other social media platforms. There’s a website called “namechk.com” where you can see if your name is available. If it’s not, don’t fret. You can (1) change your domain so that you have an available name on social media and on your domain, or (2) modify your social media name slightly so it’s similar to the domain name or your actual name. The reason why this is important is so that you can keep your brand consistent and memorable. If you can be found under a name on one platform, there’s a good chance people can easily find you with that name on another platform.

Step #3: Buy a Website Hosting Plan

Fill in Your Personal Information

Don’t leave the BlueHost domain registration page just yet. Once you’ve confirmed your domain, click next. This will lead you to a page asking you for some personal information like your name, email and address. Fill out the details. 

Choose the Length of Your Hosting Plan

At the bottom, this is where you can decide how long you want your hosting plan to be. It can be 12 months, 24 months, 36 months or 60 months. Did you know that the longer plans will actually be more affordable to you in the long run? To clarify, this is because BlueHost, and other hosts, offer a special discount for new users. This discount includes a free domain for one year and a lower monthly rate for web hosting. For example,  I usually purchase 36 months for a website because it gives me time to set the website up, and monetize the website so it can pay for web hosting itself.

Pro Tip: Invest in Domain Privacy Protection for $0.99/Month

Pro tip: There’s a good chance your website will be fine without Sitelock Security, Codeguard Basic and Bluehost SEO Tools Start. These are additional costs that I usually uncheck. The only one worth investing in is Domain Privacy Protection. WHOIS.net is a website that keeps the name and address behind every domain registration. Consequently, you can research any website, and find the registrar’s personal information behind it. To hide your personal information, invest in Domain Privacy Protection. This will replace your personal information or hide it.

The final step is to pay. Woo!

Step #4: Install WordPress on Your Blog

To sum up, you’ve purchased a domain name and a website hosting plan. Now, you’re ready to blog. But wait, where do you write your blog posts? Well, behind every website is a content management system. A content management system manages your content. In other words, it’s basically where you write, edit and publish content to your website. There are a variety of content management systems, but we’re going to focus on a popular one called WordPress.org.

Overall, WordPress.org is used by the majority of bloggers on the internet because it’s steadfast, reliable and allows you to customize your website to your personal liking.

Since you’ve purchased website hosting with BlueHost, you have an advantage. BlueHost allows you to install WordPress on your blog with 1-click. I’ll show you how below.

Find the ‘Install WordPress’ Icon

1. Login to your BlueHost account.
2.  After that, it should direct you to your control panel, but if not, click here.
3. Navigate to a heading called “Website”. Below you should see “Wordpress 1-Click Install”. Click it.

Install WordPress to Your Website

1. Once you click on the icon it will direct you to a page where you can install WordPress to your website. I recommend that you select your new domain and leave the ‘Directory’ blank. This way, when you log in, it will be “yourwebsite.com/wp-login” instead of “yourwebsite.com/wordpress/wp-login”. See the screenshot below for further clarification on what you should do here.
2. Click next, and you will be asked to create login details.

Pro Tip: Change the Username from Admin to a Unique Username

Here’s a pro tip: change the username from “admin” to a unique username, and make your password complicated so that it’s not hackable. A combination of capital letters, special characters and numerical letters will make your password strong. You can change these login details later, but for now, write this down on a piece of paper so that you can remember your login information.

Click next and your WordPress website should be installing. You should see a progress bar inch quickly up to 100%. 

The final step is to log in to your WordPress website at “yourwebsite.com/wp-login.php” or “yourwebsite.com/login” or however you set it up. You can view your credentials once your WordPress site has been installed.

I recommend that you favourite or bookmark this Your WordPress Dashboard URL in your bookmarks bar so that you can access it all the time. This is where you’ll spend the most time when creating content for your website.

Congratulations! WordPress is now installed on your website. You’re now able to write, edit, and publish content. Also, you can add website themes and plugins to your website to make it personal and unique. 

Step #5: Install a Website Theme

If you go to your website, you’ll notice that WordPress has installed a default theme to your website (or a coming soon page). You can skip to Step 6 and start publishing content now if you like the theme. Learn how to change your website theme below if you don’t.

What is a website theme?

A website theme is the visual appearance of your website. It’s the way in which content is organized on a web page and how colours, images and design interact with each other to make a website readable and accessible. In the past, people would have to code a website themselves using HTML, CSS, PHP and JQuery or hire a website designer/developer to create a website for them. I did both. I used to create websites from scratch and I’ve hired a website designer/developer once for my fan site. Today, this is unnecessary. Content is king. This means that it makes a lot more sense to focus your time on writing instead of coding a website, especially if you’re not interested in the latter.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Content is king. This means that it makes a lot more sense to focus your time on writing instead of coding a website, especially if you’re not interested in the latter. https://www.becomingtia.com/amazing-and-successful-blog” user=”becomingtia” hashtags=”#blogging #techwithtia” template=”qlite”]

Where to find website themes?

Here’s a list of 10 websites that I recommend for WordPress themes. 

1. CreativeMarket.com
2. ThemeForest.com
3. Etsy.com
4. Pipdig.co
5. Hello You Designs
6. CityHouseDesign
7. Elegant Themes
8. StudioPress
9. WordPress Themes in your Appearance/Themes/Add New section…
10. The footer of your favourite blog. Head down to the bottom of a blog you like. There’s a good chance that the person has given credit to the person who has made their website theme. You can try it now with this blog. 

Tips When Purchasing a Website Theme

When you purchase a website theme, here are things to look out for to determine whether the theme is good or bad quality.

1. Star ratings – Ensure that the theme itself has five-star ratings. Four-star ratings will give you a four-star theme, which means that the quality of the website will not be that reliable. Five-star ratings will give you a five-star theme, which is the best return on your investment (especially since themes are somewhat expensive). 
2. Live preview – Always live preview the theme you want to buy. When you choose a theme on a search page, there should be an option to see the website theme on a live website. This will give you a chance to explore and interact with the theme as a user. Ask yourself: Does the theme layout content in a way that I want my content to appear? Does the theme lag? 
3. Is the theme responsive? – Shrink the browser small to see if the website shrinks too. This will give you a good idea whether it is mobile-friendly or not.
4. Customer Support – Any good theme you buy should come with documentation or have quick customer-support. Usually, you find out a theme has documentation when you purchase and download the theme. There’s usually a folder called documentation with a link to a web page or PDF that explains how to install and setup your theme. It’s VERY important that you have this document so that you can set up your theme correctly. If you don’t, it’s important that you can contact the seller of the theme for help and they have a good response time. 
5. Popularity – Have I seen other bloggers use this theme? Have they recommended it? Do I want to have a theme that may look like everyone else’s?
6. Customizability – Did you know that a good WordPress theme allows you to customize the theme, too? We’ll go into brief detail later about where in your WordPress dashboard you can customize a theme once you install, but for now, look for whether or not the theme is customizable. 
7. Features – Do you want to sell products or clothing? You may not now, but you may want to in the future. Most themes that are sold on reputable websites are compatible with shopping plugins like WooCommerce (which allows you to add a store to your website). Think about the type of features you’d like your website to have. Some themes might have an abundance of features. This is why it’s good to test the theme in live preview mode.

How to Install A WordPress Theme

This is the quick how-to on installing a WordPress theme. Once you download your theme and unzip it (make sure there’s a zipped folder with your theme inside), then follow the steps below.

Add a Theme to WordPress

1. Go to yourwebsite.com/wp-admin/themes.php or click the Appearance link in the left sidebar in your WordPress Control Panel. 
2. Click the blue “upload” button. On this page, it will show you WordPress.com’s selection of themes. You can choose a theme from WordPress’ curation and click install when you hover over the theme. If you want to upload your own theme, however, then click the upload file button and locate the theme (it must be in a zipped folder) and upload it.
3. Once it’s uploaded, it will ask you to activate the theme. Activate it, and your theme will be live.
4. From this point on, please refer to your theme’s documentation on correct setup instructions. Just like human beings, every theme is different. 🙂

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Customize Your WordPress Theme

If you’d like to customize the theme, under Appearance on the menu, there will be a link called “Customize”. Click this and it will lead you to an easy-to-use page to customize your theme. 

How to Create a Zipped Folder

PRO TIP: If your theme is not in a zipped folder, it will not upload. It will fail. You can quickly zip your theme on your computer if you right-click on the theme’s folder and choose “compress”. This will create a zipped folder. 

How to Remove the Default Maintenance Page

ANOTHER PRO TIP: If your website is not live, or it’s showing a coming soon page or an automated maintenance page, click on the bright orange “Coming Soon Active” link in the top bar. To remove the coming soon page, simply click launch your site. 

Step #6: How to Write, Edit and Publish a Blog Post

The final step is to start writing blog posts. How do you do that? It’s simple. 

1. Go to your yourwebsite.com/wp-admin which will be where you manage your website. 
2. On the left side, there is a menu with a link to Posts. Here you can view all the posts on your website. WordPress automatically creates a “Hello world!” post for you. You can delete this post by checking the box and selecting “delete” from the drop-down menu at the top of the page. 
3. Click the “add new” button at the top of the page to write your first post.
4. This page follows the anatomy of any blog post: title and body. With the new WordPress post editor, every line of text or paragraph of text you write can create its own block. If you hover the block, it will allow you to customize the purpose of the block to be a heading, paragraph, image, video, or other. To read more about how to use WordPress’ new post editor, read this tutorial here. 
5. On the right side of the page, find and click the blue publish button to publish the post. If you would like to keep the post unpublished, and just save it, click the save draft button. If you would like to publish it, but keep it private or password-protected for your eyes only, choose the options below on the left side of the page.
6. Once you save the post as a draft or publish the post, the page will refresh. You can continue to edit and re-save the post multiple times. If you would like to edit the post or a post you wrote previously, simply head to the Posts page and click the link of the post you’d like to edit. 

Step #7: Familiarize Yourself with WordPress Features

My final word of advice is to practise, practise, and practise some more. Explore the WordPress dashboard and the BlueHost control panel. Get used to all the tools that are available for you to use on your website. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Honestly, all errors are fixable if you keep a backup of your posts (and entire website as a whole).

Check out the various WordPress plugins, the custom email addresses that BlueHost allows you to create, and learn about SEO so you can get your website ranked in the search engine. 

There are so many different methods to create a website. This method is the fastest method to create a strong, stable and high-quality website in a short amount of time. If you have any questions about anything related to creating a website, write them in the comments below. I will make videos or blog posts answering your specific question.

Also, what website are you thinking of creating after reading this blog post? Link it below or share your idea for myself and others to check it out now or in the future. 

It’s easy to setup a website, and the best thing is that once you do it, you have your own place on the internet to share a message with people. Use your blog for God and share your gifts with the world, because you have a special message that needs to be shared with the world – it could just save someone’s life. So, do it today! Do it now. Don’t wait anymore. You’ll never be as young as you are today and that’s your biggest gift. 

Bon chance!

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