How to Create a Successful Blog from Scratch: A Step-by-Step Guide

Want to start a highly successful blog of your own, but don’t know where to start?

You’re at the right place.

Too often, people get scared of the idea because they think it’s all too technical.

Or that setting up a blog takes too much time.

Well, we’re here to tell you none of that is true.

In fact, we’ve put together this super easy, detailed step-by-step guide to help you start your own blog in mere minutes.

But wait. Here’s the best part:

This guide will not only walk you through the process of setting up your blog, it will also show you how to do it RIGHT so it’s actually worth the trouble.

This means along with the basic stuff, you’ll also learn how to design your blog, fill it with great content, and show it off on the right channels to help it stand out from the crowd.

Why is that important?

Because going that extra mile is what ultimately makes the difference between a GREAT blog (that actually makes money) and one that simply gets lost in the sea of useless stuff on the internet.

How to Start a Blog in Six Steps

1. Decide on a niche
2. Pick a blogging platform
3. Register a domain and get hosting
4. Install, design, and set up your blog
5. Create/publish your first post
6. Start promoting your blog

Step 1: Decide on a Niche

Before anything else, you need to know what exactly you’re going to blog about.

Without a solid sense of direction and purpose, your blog will never be as good as you want it to be.

If you’re a business, pick a topic related to the products or services you offer.

For individuals, the options are endless. You could blog about travel, technology, food, fashion, or even origami.

The key is to pick a niche you really care for and genuinely enjoy talking about.

In fact, it’s even better if you pick a topic you know a lot about already.

This doesn’t mean you have to be an expert or anything.

You can always start discussing something you’re passionate about and build it up as you go.

But remember, keeping a blog up and running in the long-term is hard work. The only way to do that without getting fed up is by being truly in love with your niche.

Now, here’s the thing.

In 2018, there are estimated to be 30.7 million bloggers in the United States alone.

Chances are, you’re not the only person blogging about your niche.

To make sure your blog stands out, do some research and find out what’s already being covered online. Next, try to come up with a unique angle for your chosen topic.

Once you’ve decided what to blog about, it’s time to move on to the next step.

Step 2: Pick a Blogging Platform

Great, you’ve decided what you want to blog about.

But, where are you going to do it?

Choosing the ideal blogging platform is a big deal.

You have to pick one that’s flexible and customizable, yet still easy to use and comfortable enough for the average, non-techy newbie.

We’ll recommend using WordPress.

It’s the most popular blogging platform out there. And for good reason.

Here is a study showing the blogging platforms used by the top 100 blogs:

 

 

What makes WordPress so special is it’s incredibly easy to set up and completely free to use.

It also has gazillions of customizable themes that let you design your blog however you like.

Plus, there are tons of plugins available for WordPress to help you promote, run, improve, grow, and manage your blog.

Now, WordPress offers two different kinds of products to its customers.

 

 

WordPress.com is a free website builder that also hosts your blog for you.

The problem is it comes with a lot of restrictions.

True, you don’t have to worry about paying for hosting or managing your site or anything.

But you won’t actually own your blog or content. They can shut you down any time they want.

Also, it’s very difficult to monetize free blogs as you can’t run any third-party ads on your site.

WordPress.org is the same (downloadable) software without all the limitations of a free blog.

A WordPress.org blog is self-hosted, and offers flexibility, customization, and a lot more monetizing potential. We’ll tell you how to set up one with your own domain in the next steps!

 

 

Step 3: Register a Domain and Get Hosting

Now comes the (slightly) techy stuff.

But don’t be scared. Getting a domain and hosting is actually pretty simple.

Domain

This is basically the URL of your blog. Like “www.yourblog.com”. Try to get a domain that’s easy to remember, type, and relevant to your blog content. You can also use your name if you want to.

Hosting

WordPress is only a software. You need it to design and set up your blog. But to make it go live, you need to get server space from a hosting company.

Now, it’s time to find a host. Most, if not all, hosting companies also let you purchase a domain when you sign up with them.

We’d recommend you go for BlueHost or SiteGround. Both are budget-friendly and work great. For the purposes of this article, we will be using BlueHost as an example.

Here’s how to register a domain and get hosting using BlueHost:

1. First of all, you need to choose a plan.

We’d suggest you go with the cheapest one (basic: 3.95/month) for now. You can always upgrade later.

2. Once you press select, you’ll be taken to the domain page.

Here, you can either get a new domain or transfer an existing one.

If you can’t decide on one right away, BlueHost lets you choose later by giving you domain credit instead.

3. Next, you’ll be taken to the ‘create an account’ page.

Fill out your personal account information.

Scroll down to find some extra package details and checkboxes. These are just some add-ons you can buy along with your basic plan. For now, you can leave them unchecked.

Finally, fill out your payment details at the end of the page and proceed.

4. After you’ve made your purchase, you need to choose a password.

 

 

That’s it! You’re done setting up your account with BlueHost.

As stated earlier, as an alternative, you can use SiteGround for your domain and hosting needs. Check out our side-by-side comparison of both platforms here. 

The next step will show you how to install WordPress, and then design and set up your new blog.

Step 4: Install, Design, and Set Up Your Blog

Now that you’ve finished the sign up process, you can go ahead and log in to your blog.

 

 

Once you log in, you’ll be asked to select a free theme.

 

 

You don’t have to worry too much about the theme yet. You can always change it later.

In fact, you can even skip this part altogether. For now.

Once you pick a theme (or skip the step), BlueHost will install WordPress on your blog and you’ll now be able to build your site.

 

 

Click on “Start Building” to end up here:

 

 

This is your blog’s main dashboard.

From here, you can customize your blog, add pages, create/publish new posts, add plugins, and do pretty much everything.

Take some time to familiarize yourself with the tabs on the left.

Here are a few important ones:

Posts: Add, view and edit your blog posts.

Media: The library of photos or videos you’ve uploaded.

Pages: Create and edit blog pages.

Comments: Manage the comments on your posts.

Appearance: Design your blog, change themes, etc.

Users: If you want multiple users to manage your blog, this is where you can set up different user accounts.

Plugins: Add or remove plugins for your blog.

Design Your Blog

Remember how you just picked a random theme (or skipped the step) during the initial installation?

Now’s the time to fix that.

Head over to the Appearance tab on the left, and click on Themes.

 

 

You’ll see plenty of professional and fully-customizable themes here. If you’re looking for more premium options, ThemeForest is a great resource.

Set Up Your Blog

Once you’re happy with the way your blog looks, it’s time to officially launch it.

BlueHost shows a “Coming Soon” page on your blog before launch, so you can have enough time to make it ready to go live.

To launch your blog, navigate to the BlueHost tab at the top of your dashboard, and click on “Launch”.

Congratulations! Your site is now live.

Next, you need to tweak some basic settings to make sure your blog is SEO-friendly, clean, and organized.

Here’s what you need to look at:

1. Permalinks

Search engines DO NOT like cluttered URLs like https://www.yourblog.com/archives/2015/04/yourpost.

They like cleaner ones, like https://www.yourblog.com/yourpost.

This is exactly what the Permalinks setting is about.

To clean up your default URLs, head over to the Settings tab and click on Permalinks.

 

 

Select “Post name”.

2. Spam comments

Sooner or later, you’ll end up getting lots of spam comments on your posts.

To make sure they don’t ruin the credibility and SEO-friendliness of your blog, it’s better to moderate each comment before it gets published.

Head over to the Settings tab again, and click on Discussion.

 

 

Make sure you select the two options highlighted in red.

For now, you’re all set to create and publish your new post. Let’s start writing!

Step 5: Create/Publish Your First Post

Now that your blog is all designed and set up to go public, it’s time to create your first post.

Head over to the Posts tab.

Here, you’ll see an already published post titled “Hello world!”

This is a default post by WordPress on every new blog, and you need to delete it. Go ahead and click on Trash under the title.

Now, click on Add New to create a new post.

Pretty easy, isn’t it?

Go ahead and write your post title and body, and format it using the buttons on the ribbon.

You can also add/upload images by clicking on Add Media.

Once you’re done, click on Publish.

You can also Save Draft and get to it later, or Preview it before publishing to see how it’s going to look once it goes live.

Tips for Creating Great Content

• Make your content easier to read. Break up long paragraphs into short ones, and use bullet points and subheadings where possible. Online readers don’t like to linger and work too hard, and long, chunky text gets boring very quickly.

• Write an eye-catching title. It’s the first thing your readers will see. If your title is not attractive enough, chances are they won’t even bother to open your post.

• Add images to your post. Visuals are much easier to digest than big blocks of text. Place relevant and aesthetically pleasing images throughout your article to keep readers interested.

• Optimize the URL and keep it short. Omit the useless words, and keep the keywords people are likely to search for. For example, if your post is called “6 Ways to Use Your Old Clothes”, you can shorten the URL to https://www.yourblog.com/use-old-clothes.

Step 6: Start Promoting Your Blog

The hard part is over. Your blog is up and running, and you’ve just published your first post.

Does this mean your blog will be successful?

Absolutely not.

Setting up a blog isn’t enough. Traffic isn’t going to pour in on its own.

You need to promote it using the right channels so people can actually get to know it exists.

Here are some blog marketing essentials you need to take care of:

1. Get on Social Media

 

 

Don’t expect your blog to function in isolation.

To get more traffic and exposure, you need to be where your readers are spending most of their time: social media!

Now, don’t just create an account on every social media platform out there.

Find out who YOUR audience is, and what platforms they use the most.

If your blog is targeted at business executives and professionals, LinkedIn is a great place to promote your content on.

Similarly, Instagram and Snapchat are very effective for visual-intensive niches, especially if they cater to a younger audience.

Once you decide on what social media you’re going to use, create an account on each one and customize it to reflect your blog’s theme and content.

Feel free to share your posts on social media, but also remember to place a link to your blog in the about or bio sections.

Kaizen Sigma, LLC offers hassle-free social media marketing solutions to take care of your blog for you. We help you pick the right platforms, run high-converting ads, and drive traffic to your blog.

2. Set Up Email Marketing

 

 

There’s a reason marketers all over the world love sending out emails to their customers.

Email marketing has a 4x higher ROI than most other marketing channels, including social media, paid search, and direct mail.

Integrating email into your marketing strategy can do wonders for driving traffic and engagement to your blog.

Here are some quick tips on how to set up email marketing for your blog:

Grow your list. To send out emails, you need email addresses. Make sure you place a nice-looking opt-in form on your blog to collect emails. You can also import contacts from other platforms you use.

Pick the right service provider. There are tons of email marketing companies out there. Read reviews, and compare pricing plans and features to pick the ideal one for you. Nearly all ESPs offer pre-designed templates and personalization features to make your emails more effective. Bonus tip: We recommend and use GetResponse ourselves.

Test out variations. It’s a good idea to create multiple variations of an email and test it out on a limited audience to see which one brings you the best results.

Track and analyze results. Sending out emails is great, but your job doesn’t end there. You also need to monitor how well your emails are doing so you can create better ones in the future.

3. Develop a Content Marketing Strategy

Without a proper content plan, your blog will lack direction and focus. It’s similar to simply shooting in the dark.

Every serious blogger develops a content marketing strategy that outlines their priorities, plans to integrate different channels, and a schedule for posting the right content at the right time.

Moreover, if you want your blog to show higher up on search engine results, you need to have an SEO plan under your belt.

Kaizen Sigma offers tailored SEO services to get your site at the top of SERPs with minimum effort on your part.

4. Set up Google Analytics

 

 

Marketing is a wonderful thing, but it’s not free of cost.

If you’re going to spend so much time, effort, and money into promoting your blog, you need to know if it’s actually working.

Google Analytics helps you keep track of performance by giving you access to a range of metrics. For example, you can see where most of your traffic is coming from.

Monitoring how your blog’s doing can help you identify problem areas and facilitate constant improvement. Plus, it’s always great to know where you’re spending all your money. And how much return you’re getting out of it.

Ready, Set, Launch!

Congratulations! You’re now a proud owner of a blog ready to jump headfirst into the game.

Setting up a blog is easy. But it takes a lot of dedication, time, and effort to grow it into a successful one.

Follow the steps above to start your own blog in just a few minutes, and learn how to promote it the right way.

Or get in touch with us today and let us take care of all your blog design, setup, and marketing needs for you.

Got any suggestions or feedback? Feel free to let us know below!