Are you planning to start a blog this 2022? If so, knowing how to set up a blog is a must.

 

But, how do you exactly set up a blog and grow this 2022? In starting your own blog, you’ll need a blogging platform to post your first blog post, like a WordPress blog. In addition, you also need your blog niche, blog theme, web hosting, and free domain name, all sorted out. 

 

In conclusion, to be a successful blogger shortly, you have to follow the following blogging step:

 

  1. Pick a niche you’re interested in.
  2. Select your blogging platform
  3. Pick a Domain Name and Get a Blog Hosting
  4. Start By Setting Up WordPress Blog
  5. Pick a Blog Theme and Design Your WordPress Blog
  6. Write and Publish Your First Post
  7. Do Search Engine Optimisation for Content to Rank on Search Engines
  8. Promote and Market to See Your Blog Grows
  9. Making Money through Blogging

 

In this article, we’ll direct these necessary steps to create your own WordPress blog, use search engines to your advantage, as well as google analytics to aid in having a successful blog. So, let’s get started!

 

Starting With Your ‘Why’

There are several reasons why people start a blog, and it’s essential to have yours cemented to separate yourself from the rest and help you keep going when things get hard. It could be that you want to use it as:

 

  • creative expression outlet
  • network with others
  • establish
  • build your online presence
  • enhance your writing skills
  • earn money or all of the above

 

Whatever your ‘why’ is, it’s a fact that a blog can achieve many things—inform, educate, promote and even sell a product or service. It generates many benefits and can be a great way to make extra earnings online. 

 

Step-by-Step Guide to Your Blogging Journey

1. Pick a Niche You’re Interested In

Before starting a blog, you have to pick a blogging niche. A blog niche is a particular topic area you’ll be writing about frequently or exclusively (e.g. finance, marketing, food, travel, etc.).

 

Finding the right niche is the most critical part of creating a blog. However, this often gets overlooked by other bloggers.

 

To help you select the right niche for your new blog, start by creating a list of all topics you like that excite you to talk about them. Think of things you love doing or things you’d like to learn in your spare time.

 

That way, writing blog posts won’t feel like an obligation but a passion that will push you through even when you feel like you’re not being compensated for your efforts. This is only natural, particularly when you just start blogging.

 

2. Choose Your Blogging Platform

Blogging Platforms

At this point, you have to choose from available blogging platforms, such as WordPress, Wix, etc. Currently, WordPress is the most popular or preferred platform for blogging among blog sites, with over 60.8% market share in the content management system market.

 

Install WordPress if you haven’t done it yet, and start setting up your blog.

 

You’ll set up your blog using a custom domain name and web hosting to have total control of your blog and its contents. This will cost just a few dollars each month in exchange for the web space (hosting account).

 

For most new bloggers, it’s tempting to start a free blog with free hosted platforms such as Wix, Blogger or even WordPress. 

 

However, using a completely free domain name and free WordPress themes in the blogging world always comes with limitations.

 

For instance, your blog name will automatically be set as a subdomain, like yourname.blogspot.com or yourname.wordpress.com. Furthermore, you’ll also be subject to their rules and restrictions.

 

Free options come in handy for other bloggers testing a blogging platform. But, if you’re serious about money blogging, you’ll have to start paying for complete services and a custom domain name sooner or later for a WordPress site.

 

3. Pick a Domain Name and Get a Blog Hosting

After choosing your blogging platform, it’s time to focus on getting your domain name in a reliable web hosting company.

 

Domain name 

web hosting

Your domain name will be the name you’ll be known online, so it should be short, catchy, and easy to enunciate and type. You can also combine terms (e.g. Xploited.media or food.blog).

 

The rule is to get a “.com” domain, but other extensions can also be used, such as “.net” or “.blog”. In the end, it’s about being memorable to your audience, so don’t be afraid to use a different extension if it helps you to stand out.

 

Web hosting 

After choosing a domain name, picking a reliable hosting provider will be the next most of the most important decisions you make. You’ll create a blog hosting account with that provider, which will provide your blog online with great functionality and performance.

 

The hosting provider ensures that your blog is available 24/7 to potential readers and possibly gain more website traffic.

 

4. Start By Setting Up WordPress Blog

The most significant mistake beginners make when starting a blog is choosing the wrong blogging platform. Fortunately, you’re here, so making that mistake can be avoidable.

 

As of 2022, 42% of users use WordPress (self-hosted platform and one of the free blogging sites) since it’s open-source—meaning it’s 100% free without any catch at all! The platform is free to use since you have to set up and host it yourself.

 

In simple terms, you need a domain name and web hosting.

 

A domain name is your website’s address on the internet and what people type to access your website. Meanwhile, web hosting is where your website files are stored.

 

5. Pick a Blog Theme and Start Designing

Blog themes govern the visual of your WordPress blog. Customising the look and feel of your own blog is by far one of the most rewarding parts of creating your WordPress blog.

 

There are a few thousand premade WordPress themes you can install on your site. Some of them are free, while others are paid premium themes.

 

You can modify your theme by going to your WordPress dashboard and clicking on it.

 

Your new blog’s appearance and overall feel rely on your chosen theme. Your first-time readers will see the overall appearance before even looking at your content. 

 

So, select a theme that not only looks great but also works for your specific needs.

 

After choosing your theme, you can do the following:

  • Blog theme customisation
  • Make your logo
  • Customise your blog (site identity, colours, cover template, background image, etc.)
  • Add plugins, such as Yoast SEO and other plugins you find valuable to your site.

 

6. Write and Publish Your First Ever Blog Post

Now that you’ve established your domain name, have your blog hosting site and set up a blog theme, you’re ready to go.

Now, it’s time to actually start blogging. 

 

Learn to write your first blog post and use valuable information or experience to share with your readers. It must be helpful, so people will interact with your blog and return for more.

 

Before you begin publishing posts on your blog, make sure you fill in all the essential static pages, along with content, such as Homepage, About Us Page, Contact Page and Products or Services Page.

How to publish a new WordPress page?

  • Log in to your WordPress dashboard admin using your username and password (login details) to make a blog page.
  • Click the “Pages” menu item on the navigation, found on the left-hand side of the Dashboard. Then, click “Add New,” and your blog title is catchy to get the attention of users who use google search to see the information they need.

 

7. Do Search Engine Optimisation for Content to Rank on Search Engines

Search engine optimization (SEO) is very crucial in starting a blog. It’s the process that website owners use to get more traffic to their web pages or blog post from search engines, like Google.    

 

SEO involves many different techniques and tactics to help boost your blog performance. As a blogger, it’s your job to get familiar with these things. As a bare minimum, you’ll have to perform keyword optimisation and add SEO meta tags on all your pages to boost your chance of having a successful blog. 

 

Keyword Optimisation

Keyword Optimisation is the process of researching and determining the right set of keywords you think internet users will type in a search to find the information they need, like yours online. It’s necessary to pick the main keywords and related words you want to target for each of your pages and ensure you include these in the content.

 

That way, it’ll be easier for search engines to understand your web page when they crawl it to have a better chance of ranking higher in search results (SERPs).

 

When you publish a new blog post, add SEO meta tags for each piece of content, such as SEO title and SEO description tags. These tags are what Google to understand better what your webpage is about.

 

The length of your title tag should ideally be between 50-60 characters, while the meta description tag should be around 50-160 characters.

 

8. Promote and Market to See Your Blog Grows

After starting a blog and creating your first ever blog content, it’s time to promote and market your content. But, before you start promoting your blog, do the following:

 

  • Ensure your content is live and prepared for promotion.
  • To check if the pages are opening correctly, do blog tests on different devices, such as desktop, tablet, mobile, and browsers, like Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Safari.
  • Review your contact info and try your contact form to see if it works okay.
  • Test your social sharing buttons so that users can easily and quickly share your content. 
  • Make sure to have internal links on your content so that people can smoothly find other important information on your blog.  
  • Set up Google Analytics to see and track how your blog performs, along with visitors.

 

Now, let’s look closely at the basic advertising and marketing efforts that you can apply to grow your audience after building a blog.

 

To ensure long-term term success:

  • Make sure to let everyone know about your blog. You can use social media to spread awareness about your blog.
  • You can also do guest blogging and social media marketing to have a greater online presence. 
  • You can also use paid traffic via advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, etc.

 

9. Making Money through Blogging

Monetisation is a process wherein you can turn your blog activity into earnings. However, you should keep in mind that blogging isn’t just about making money.

 

It is about producing helpful content and writing blog posts that attract readers for a long time. Think about adding more highly relevant content that will generate future income.

 

Below are some types of content that you can consider writing and adding to your blog:

 

  • How-to guides
  • Listicles
  • Tutorials
  • Product reviews 

 

Now, let’s go to how bloggers make their money via blogging.b Some of the ways that bloggers make money through their blogs are via:

 

  • Affiliate marketing
  • Running ads on your blog
  • Selling products and services
  • Sponsored posts

 

Now that we’ve come to an end, we hope that this guide helps you make your blog aspiration much easier! If you need help in building your blog and want a professional to do the job, you can always contact a reliable web design company, like Xploited Media, today.