How to start Blogging: There are two biggest platforms available online for blogging i.e. Blogger and WordPress. Blogger is a Google product where you can create your blogs and the same is WordPress. Blogger is a free platform, but its quality is not as good as WordPress. WordPress provides quality features and themes. For starting a blog, WordPress is the best platform where you can start blogging without much professional help. Using WordPress for creating a blog is not only easy but also straightforward and quick.
In this article, we will provide a comprehensive and detailed guide on starting a blog and resources that you will need to start a blog without any technical knowledge.
Why WordPress for Blogging
WordPress is running over 1/3 of the blogs on the internet and this platform can be used to build any kind of website. It is the most popular CMSs where you can start blogging with unlimited plugins and themes to customize your blogs without much coding. WordPress is best for beginners and do not need much technical knowledge.
It has a friendly interface and is cost-effective, SEO ready. WordPress provides complete ownership on your blogs and you can customize them at your ease. Moreover, it offers simple integration for content syndication and social media along with responsive web design.
Free blogging on WordPress
If you want to start blogging on WordPress for free then this article will help you to increase your knowledge on starting free blogging on WordPress. Before starting a blog, you must know that there are two versions of WordPress i.e., WordPress.org and WordPress.com .
WordPress can be downloaded on your pc and it offers to host your own blog.WordPress.org is the website where you can download the software for free and then you have to organize all the installation and web hosting yourself. Here you have complete control and flexibility over the themes you want to install and do customizations. It is a flexible and scalable platform.
Requirements for Starting a WordPress Blog
For starting a blog with WordPress, you need to fulfill certain requirements which are as follow;
- Web-hosting
- Domain Name
Hosting plan and Domain name are the most important requirements for starting a blog. Hosting plan power your blog and make it live. While a domain name is an identity or the main URL of your blog.
Start a WordPress Blog Step by Step
Now it is time to start working on creating a WordPress blog step by step. The below guide will help you to get started. Just follow the below steps;
Step 1 – Web Hosting/ Hosting plan
As discussed earlier, WordPress.org is a self-hosted version of WordPress which offers you complete control over your website and its customization. While WordPress.com is a paid version that customized many features for you. We recommend using WordPress.org. WordPress.org recommends certain Web hosting providers that ensure your security and manage updates and backups. The recommended web hosting providers are, Bluehost, DreamHost, and Site Ground.
While choosing a hosting provider, keep in mind the add-on features provided by each hosting plan and provider. These features may include, free domain name, email account, FTP, and maintenance package.
Step 2 – Choosing Domain Name and Registration
The second step in starting a WordPress Blog is choosing a domain name and then its registration. The domain name is vital because it is your identity, your brand name which can help people access your blog.
Keep your domain name simple but attractive, short, and easy to remember. You might get a free domain name while choosing a hosting plan or you will have to purchase one which can cost you up to $14.99 per year. You can start picking a domain name by searching for it first that whether it is available or not.
After clicking on Search button, a list will appear, showing the available domain name ending with .com, .org, .net, .tech, .blog, .co etc. From the list, you can select a domain name which best suits your blog and purchase it.
Click on the proceed button to continue the further process. After completing the process, check the box for the email you used for registration where further instructions will be given.
Step 3 – Installing WordPress
The next step is installing WordPress on your Web Hosting. Sign in to your web hosting account. The main page of your hosting account will appear. Look for the option install WordPress and click it to proceed further.
Your web host page may appear different depending on your web host provider. After the installation process, you will be directed to the WP login page. Enter your blogs’ login details and click login.
You can also access your blog on WordPress directly by simply putting ‘/wp-admin’ after your blog URL in the browser i.e. examplewpblog.com/wp-admin
Step 4 – Adding Blog Title, Logo, and Favicon
It’s branding time now. You need to add a title, logo, and favicon to your blog. The title is the name of your blog site and makes sure to keep it simple and connected to your domain name. It will represent your blog site and will help in its branding and growth. To add/change your blog site title, go to Settings from your dashboard and then click on General.
From there you can edit your site title and can also add a tag line to your site.
Step 5 – Customizing Themes
Themes play a vital role in your blog appearance. Chose a theme that is appealing and eye-catchy. There are thousands of WordPress Themes which let you customize your blog site appearance. To add a theme to your blog site, navigate to Appearance, and then click on the Theme option. Now click the button Add New. A list of thousands of themes will appear.
You can also click on Preview to check the theme. From the list choose the theme which best suit your blog site, install and activate it. After activating your theme you a now customize it too.
Step 6 – Adding Plugins to Your Blog Site
There are thousands of plugins available on WordPress. Plugins add extra features to your blog site such as adding galleries, contact forms, coupons, and newsletters, etc. Most of the WordPress plugins come in both Freemium and Premium versions, making it easy to test the plugin before upgrading to premium form. Few recommended plugins are;
- Yoast SEO – which can help to optimize the search engine of your blog content.
- JetPack – to enhance the security of your blog content.
To install plugins, navigate to the Plugins option on your dashboard and then click on add new.
Step 7 – Adding a Post
Once you have done the necessary customization on your blog site, it is now time to finally add a post or blog content to your blog site. To add your first blog content, click on the Pages option from your dashboard menu and then click on Add New;
A new page will appear where you can add a title to your blog content and start writing your blog.
Once you are done, click on the Publish button. You can also schedule it to publish later or can choose to publish it immediately.
Conclusion : How to start Blogging
Starting a blog using WordPress might look difficult at first but by following the above steps you can see that it is very easy to start blogging with WordPress in no time. Moreover, WordPress allows you to customize your own blog site which makes it more fun to start with.
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