How To Start A Blog In 2020

 Hi There! My name is Sahil and in this post, I am gonna tell you the steps to start a blog in 2020.

I will try my best to describe each step so you don’t face any problem while starting your blog.

 

If you are just a beginner and don’t know anything about blogging but still is curious then you must check out my post

 

What is Blog, Blogging, and Blogger – Blogging Guide for Beginner.

Now without wasting more time let’s check out each of the steps.

1. Niche Selection

 

This is the first and most important step when you start your own blog.

 

A niche, if I speak in my regular tone, can be said as a particular topic which you choose to start Blogging, Vlogging, or whatever you want.

 

There are also sub-niche or micro-niche after niche. For a beginner, like me, it is always better to do blogging on a micro-niche so that I can have a more clear idea about my blog-readers and will be easier to manage content.

 

This is the reason why you should choose a micro-niche as a beginner.

 

Now let me introduce you to the points which you should keep in mind while choosing a niche that is the best fit for you.

 

The 1^st point is Interest. I am sure that you have heard about it a couple of times till now if you are researching blogging for a time now. And that’s true too because if you write without interest you will get frustrated soon.

 

Before deciding your niche make a list of ideas, you will love to write about and see for which niche you can write most articles by yourself.

 

So Obviously, the niche you can write more about by yourself is the niche you will enjoy writing about.

 

That’s the first point, Interest. Now the 2^nd point is Profit.

 

Yeah! Profit is important and that’s why most of the bloggers start blogging.

 

So before selecting your niche you should check the competition and sources of income for the respective niche. You must check for the affiliate programs related to the niche you are going to select.

If it doesn’t have any, then it will be hard for you to make money from that niche.

 

Remember,

I said Hard, not IMPOSSIBLE.

 

So there are two points I told you about.

Interest & Profit

 

As UmerQureshi, the founder of Guide Blogging say about Interest and Profit,

 

“It is a Fail-Proof method to find a Profitable niche that will be a perfect fit for you.”

 

I think you now understand how to choose a perfect fit niche for you. Now let’s head to the next step.

 

Oh! Wait…

 

I just forgot to tell you the Importance of Niche.

 

Among all blogger, 90% quit blogging in the first six months, and you know what’s the main reason.

 

Yeah! Exactly, you guessed it right.

 

They started blogging in the wrong niche.

 

So be sure to find the best niche for you.

 

Now let’s head to the next step.

 

2. Choosing a Perfect Domain Name

 

Buying a domain name is not tough, not at all but matter so much that it should be chosen correctly.

 

First of all, What is a Domain Name?

 

“A Domain name is the name of your website with which you get searched and recognized on and by the Search Engine.”

 

For my website, the domain is helpingitout.blogspot.com.

 

There are a few points you should keep in mind while purchasing your domain name.

✔️ Try getting a domain name not so long because a short name will be easy to remember for you’re your visitors

✔️ Look for a domain name that includes a keyword in it, like if you are writing a tech related blog then it will be better to select a domain like ‘techclub’ or something else including ‘Tech’ name

✔️ Avoid involving numbers in it because make domain hard to remember

✔️ Always try to get a ‘.com’ extension it is a global extension that ranks globally.

 

These are the four points you should keep in mind while choosing your domain name.

 

Now, why does a Domain name matter so much? Let’s understand with some examples.

• TheHuffingtonPost changed its name to HuffPost, making it easy to remember and more attractive hence attracting more visitors.
• BloggingTipsTricks upgraded to MasterBlogging, hence changing their domain name to a premium domain.

 

There are tons of other examples I can give but I think you got an exact idea about the importance of a domain name.

 

If you are still searching for a perfect domain name then try Instant Domain Search for help

3. Choosing a Blogging Platform

There are different blogging platforms for different use. Like Shopify for commercial Store, Tumblr for the social site, but we are talking about professional blogging in which we can make money by sharing our expertise.

And with no doubt, wordpress.org is the best blogging platform to make money through professional blogging. 

So there is no need to know about other platforms at wordpress.com is the SOLE CHAMPION.

If you are still interested in knowing about blogging platforms then check out my post-

7 best blogging platforms to make money

4. Finding Perfect Hosting Provider

First, you need to know about what is hosting?

Hosting can be explained as hard disk of your website where all your content of website is stored and presented when accessed by any visitor.

It is always better to invest in the best hosting. There are free hostings too but if you are stepping in the field of blogging and marketing then you must understand the power of an investment.

So you shouldn't hesitate in investing in hosting because if your content is good and consistent your investment will sure Payoff.

Now let me make you understand the difference between cheap and expensive hosting.

For this give yourself the answer to the question:

Which site you will prefer, one with 2 second loading time or other with 8-10 seconds of loading time if they both share the same type of content?

💯 Obviously, the one with 2 second loading time, and that's what Google also thinks.

A website with a high loading speed rank higher than the website with slow loading speed.

And the speed of your website is mostly dependent on the hosting you choose.

Now the question is, which hosting should you choose?

In my opinion, SiteGround is the best hosting provider in the market. They are a bit expensive but the investment will show Payoff.

Hey Wait, you don't believe me, no-worry look at the reviews of the top bloggers of the decade and what they say about SiteGround,

Now I will be giving you the best Step-by-Step Guide on how to purchase web hosting.

ⅰ. Open siteground.com.

ⅱ. Now click on the Get Started button of Managed WordPress hosting.

Such an interface will be opened with three price plans mentioned.

Now if you are just beginning and have yet planned to run a single website then you should go with the Startup Plan.

ⅲ. Click on the Get Plan of the respective plan.

ⅳ. Now the next step is to choose a domain name for you.

If you have already purchased your domain from other sources then click on the I already have a domain, and fill the box with your domain.

If you still haven't purchased your domain, then my recommendation is to purchase the domain from Godaddy.com and not from siteground.com because godaddy.com provides you a discount on your domain for the first year.

When you have filled your domain, click on Proceed.

Ⅴ. The next step is to fill out the necessary information.

First, you have to make an account on siteground.com. Note down your password and email in your diary so you don't lose them.

The next is to fill the client information and then the payment information.

ⅵ. Now comes the next important part.

While choosing the period: Column, choose the 12 months plan as it will provide you a discount.

The question arises here,

Should you choose extra services or not?

The short answer will be

No, not needed.

Sitegroud has a superior server quality that is highly secured with the company's constantly releasing updates and also words on creating security patches for any latest Malware or Vulnerability found.

So your site is already very secure and hence you don't really need a security upgrade (as SG Site Scanner).

ⅶ. Now check the points mentioned and then click on PAY NOW.

You will be transferred to another page.

Go check your Gmail Inbox, if you received a mail then Boom! you successfully got the hosting for your website. 

But if you don't receive any mail then follow the instruction given on the page. 

5. Setup your WordPress Blog

Check out this video to watch the full process of Buying Hosting and Setting up your Website.

Setting up a blog on WordPress is so easy. Just follow the steps given below or watch the above video to get a clear idea. 

I will describe everything step-by-step so stay calm. 

ⅰ. Log in to your SiteGround account with the same email and password you used while purchasing hosting. 

Such an interface will be opened.

Click on the Setup Site.

ⅱ. A new window will be opened where two options are available.

One of starting a new website and the other migrating websites.

As a beginner, click on Select of the Start New Website column.

ⅲ. In this step, you have to select your blogging platform.

Click on the Select button of WordPress.

Now you will be asked for email and password to Sign-up in WordPress.

Again note down the email and password in your diary.

After filling the details click on Continue.

ⅳ. Again at this point, you will be asked to add SG Site Scanner.

As I mentioned before, you don't need it.

So left this page untouched and click on the Finish button.

A new window will be opened which says that your site is created.

Ⅴ. On this page, you are given two columns below.

The one with DNS

DNS is used to connect your domain name if purchasedfrom third party sites like GoDaddy.com to your Hosting provider.

In my next post, I will be providing you the Step-by-Step Guide on how to add DNS to your domain name.

But now let's set up your blog.

In the second column,

Click on the Manage Site button which will redirect you to your Site Tools Page.

ⅵ. On this page, you are provided with all the necessary information about your site's content.

Down below, you will find your Website's domain.

Select it and click on Go To yoursite.com

ⅶ. You will be redirected to your very own Website.

Now to open your WordPress DashBoard, click on your domain name in the search bar and add /wp-admin

then press Enter.

ⅷ. You will again be redirected to your hosting provider page

and click on Start Now.

ⅸ. Now you will be asked to enter the E-mail & Password.

These are the same which you entered while choosing WordPress as your Blogging Platform.

Click on Log In

and you will be redirected to your Website's Dashboard where you have total control over your website.

😓Sorry for using the REDIRECTED word so many times.

6. Choosing an Awesome Theme For Your Blog

Theme plays a very important role in your site's growth. A site's overall appearance depends on the theme and, an awesome theme leaves a positive impact on your readers and hence increasing your conversion rate.

A good looking and well-managed website rank faster in Google Search Engine Ranking, thus driving more traffic.

While choosing a theme, most of the bloggers try to choose a free theme among thousands of provided in WordPress's own store.

But...

Here is when most of the bloggers make mistake.

A free theme provides you no enhancements, so it is always best to invest in themes.

In my opinion, Generate Press is the best theme for Professional Blogging which I use for my Website.

Other then Generate Press, the themes I use in my other blogs are Astra, Newspaper, Jevelin, and Schema.

These are my personal favorites and if you want more choices then you can checkout mythemeshop or themeforest for a collection of over 100 themes.

Let me help you with applying your favorite theme on your blog-

ⅰ. Open WordPress Dashboard

ⅱ. Go in the Appearance ￫ Theme section

ⅲ. Now click on the Add New button and upload the zip file of your favorite theme

ⅳ. Now click on Install Now ￫ Activate

That's it, your theme is applied to your blog and now you can fully customize your theme in the Layout section.

Also, look for some tutorial of the theme to make your work easy.

7. Choosing Essential Plugins

Plugins can be referred to as apps or software that are used along with WordPress to make your work flawless, easy & more effective.

I am listing some plugins that I personally use in my blogs.

ⅰ. Elementor Pro

It is a page builder who provides you the option of drag & drop tools and hence vanishing the burden of editing HTML to customize your site, which means you don't need any coding skills to own an awesome landing page.

ⅱ. WP Rocket

It is the best WordPress caching plugin which allows you to instantly improve your website speed with no technical skill. There is a free alternative like WP SuperCache but it is not as powerful and easy as WP Rocket as Rocket automatically crawls & builds your website's cache which results in an instant performance boost.

ⅲ. Rank Math SEO

To grow your website traffic, you need to rank it higher in Search Engine Ranking and that is what dependent on the SEO of your website. Rank Math SEO was introduced in 2019 & is gaining popularity among professional bloggers. You may have heard about All-in-One Seo or Yoast SEO plugin but I don't recommend them as they lack a lot of features that Rank Math SEO provides.

ⅳ. Sucuri

The best WordPress security plugin available today is Sucuri. The one I am talking about is not it's free version but the pro version is actually the must-have. A security plugin is essential to keep your blog safe.

ⅴ. UpdraftPlus

Updraft Plus is by far the most popular free back-up plugin used by more than 2 million websites. Although SiteGround provides you Daily Backup of your blog but still for more security I use it as it supports scheduled backups as well as on-demand backups.

ⅵ. Optimole

Images play a major part in making your post more readable, but optimizing your post is also necessary for your website to load faster & this is where Optimole fits best. Its image optimization plugin is clean and modern with most of the tools running in the background.

ⅶ. Social Snap Pro

It is a social sharing plugin and is a relative newcomer to the WordPress Social media Plugin Arena, but due to its ease of use and effectiveness it is gaining popularity among bloggers. It provides a heap of options (in paid version) that helps me & will help you to drive traffic from Social Platforms.

These are the top plugins I use on all my websites.

Now it is the time to install the Plugins_

ⅰ. Go to WordPress Dashboard,

ⅱ. Go to Plugins ￫ Add New,

ⅲ. Now upload the zip file & click on "Install Now", 

ⅳ. Then click on "Activate" to start using the plugin.

Now the time comes to write your first post, so let's talk about it

8. Write Your First Post & Publish It

Let me help you to write your first post.

For creating a post you have to go: Dashboard ￫ Post ￫ Add New

Source: Tay Wilkins

This is the channel, I personally follow😀

Then you will be redirected to a new window where you can start playing with your content.

While writing a post, keep the following points in mind,

• Before writing a post, always do some keyword research and try to find some long-tail keywords with low competition and average traffic from 1K - 10K.
• Always try to make an attractive title for your blog with some number and keywords involved.
• Try to connect with your readers by using the words I & You.
• Use Tables of Contents in a long post to make your reader's experience excellent.
• Make sure to add some images in articles to express yourself better and do not use Copyright images even by mistake.

Okay! Now let's head to the FAQs section but before that,

Congratulations to all of you for your first blog all set up and ready.

Always keep learning, as setting up your blog is just the starting of your journey.

You have to learn many new things like Affiliate marketing and many more.

As with my personal experience, learning new things & implementing them with no hesitation is the best thing.

Okay! Now heading to FAQs

FAQs

🔍 What is the best way to get Free Traffic?

▶️ Try building free backlinks from the sites in your niche (and only in your niche) and develop an account on the social media platform that you are used to. Don't try to be everywhere, means on every platform, try to be specific.

🔍 How long should Blog Posts be?

▶️ There aren't exact rules on the length of a blog post but I recommend you always aim between 800 - 200 words in common. The emphasis though should always be on quality and detail.

🔍 What is the difference between a Blog and a Website?

▶️ They are really the same thing but the only and major difference is that blog is always updated by the bloggers whereas a website of business with a page never changes and is always static.

🔍 I am worried about having the confidence to put stuff online. Help!

Source: ProMarketingOnline.com

▶️ The only and short to this, If you really think about it - What do you really have to lose? I bet the answer when you really consider this question is - very little to lose, right?

You can develop & grow as you write on your blog, so don't hesitate.

So seems like its the END.

I hope you like this article and will help you to create your FIRST SUCCESSFUL BLOG today.