Hey, my friend,
I appreciate your decision about starting a blog. Identifying your goal and making a decision is your half-success. You know what, the blogging business has become so popular that anyone and everyone wants to get their hand on this.
Since the time blogging has begun, it is continuously evolving. Initially, it was an online journal. But now every person or business is using blogging seeing its great potential in reaching a wider audience and earning.
Now, do you still think, is it worth starting a blog in 2024? Trust me it is so worth it if you realize its potential and start early.
A Little Background About My Blogging Journey
Even I was in dilemma thinking about what to start, as my side hustle. Also, I had done a lot of research to find options that suited me. I am interested in writing and was searching for relevant options.
Then, I ended up learning about blogging. One day, I was working on LinkedIn related to blogs and bloggers. While I was doing that, I found a person who mentors people who are serious about starting a blog.
Immediately, I reached him and scheduled a connection to learn more about the mentorship program and shared my vision and interest in blogging.
After the discussion, with the mentor’s help, I started analyzing my goals and checked whether blogging fit my lifestyle or not, and I found this as a perfect fit for me.
Finally, at the beginning of 2023 with my mentor I took my 1st step and started my blog.
Since then, I have gained some hands-on experience with blogging. However, many people experience initial struggles, which lead them to take a step back and also quit blogging. I was in the same situation.
But I want to help beginners, like you to get rid of the questions, “How to start a blog? and Should I start a blog?”.
This article has some easy-to-follow steps that will help you start a blog successfully in 2024 without worrying much about the process.
Let’s dive in!
Beginners Guide to Start a Blog – From My Journey
So, as we discussed earlier, blogging has a huge earning potential. If you want to make it a full-time career or as a side hustle like me, it works well for anyone.
But if you are serious about professionally developing your blog, you need to follow every step, which I will discuss in the coming sections, and beware of common blogging mistakes beginners make.
Also, it is so important to set up your blog before you start writing. Everything has its set of rules and basic steps, and blogging does too.
Now, if you carefully clear your basics, you will be able to start your blogging business right this year in 2024. Let us see what they are.
1. Discover Your Passionate Niche
The first step to starting a blog in 2024 is to find a blogging niche based on your research and experience. A niche is a topic on which you want to write content on your blog.
Moreover, there are numerous topics in our lives and on the internet. But the biggest problem is where to start.
After, I ended up Googling about blogging for beginners. I got to see a huge number of related topics and blogs.
Thus, this leads to frustration and confusion. Also, we cannot write about anything and everything on our blog, right? There can be topics that you need to be made aware of.
— If you learn and start writing about multiple topics, it takes a huge time.
So, what I recommend is, to identify your area of interest and start with one or two areas.
Because, if you choose what interests you, then you will be able to write without any hassle. And you will be able to gain more knowledge in less time.
Let me give you, my example. Same as you, I too got overwhelmed by seeing the huge topics list and blogs.
— I wanted to start a blog based on my interest in writing and my passion for designing. So, for my blog, I chose both these as my niche and wanted to give my 100% best in learning more about these and becoming an expert.
Now it’s your turn to analyze, research, and decide on the Niche.
2. Claim Your Unique Address: Picking a Domain Name
The next step is to get a domain name for your blog. For blogging, I have a mentor who helps me in every aspect of blogging. With his help, I ended up with an easy, creative, and unique domain name – designandpen.com based on my niche.
It acts as your blog’s address in this digital space. Assume this as your house address. If it is simple or easy to remember, people can find you easily. If not, some extra effort is needed to find you.
Similarly, when creating a domain name remember that it should be –
- Unique
- Easy to use
- Descriptive
- Short names
- Eye-catching
- Included with keywords
- Related to your blog’s goal and audience
Let me give you an example. If your niche is cooking, you may use cookwithabc.com (ABC: your name). You can use your creativity to come up with unique ideas.
Now, with this simple name, I can easily find you on Google and it is related to your niche too. In my case, my niche is writing and design as I said earlier.
Once you have selected a domain name, you need to check if the same name is available for you to use or is it taken by someone else already.
For this, click here to check the domain name availability and if available, register for it.
3. Secure Your Blog’s Space with Shared Web Hosting
To host your website, there are so many hosting providers available online. Web hosting is when a hosting provider allocates your website a space on a web server so that you can store your files.
I have taken my mentor’s help here and went with the decision of shared web hosting. There is nothing wrong with taking help when we are not sure. Let me tell you why.
In hosting you get levels from basic to advanced. The basic and starting one is shared web hosting. As the name suggests, you are sharing your space with other websites on the web server.
Initially, this type of web hosting is sufficient. Later, once you and your blog grow you can upgrade to any web hosting as per your needs.
In the beginning, I got lost seeing all these web hosting and its features. Did not know where to start and what to use for my blog.
If you want to take a domain and hosting from a single provider, I recommend RajSoftech Solutions.
They have a very budget-friendly pricing. For domain name in .com it costs you around Rs. 950.00 per year, and basic shared hosting for 1 website is around Rs.89.00 per month.
Even I use the same for my blog domain and hosting. These are some beginner blogging tips that I am sharing in this article to guide you so that you can get some idea on how to start a blog in 2024.
I hope this cleared your thoughts on how to start a blog for free. Well, there are many free blogging platforms for you to start.
But if you want to turn blogging into a business, do not think of this as an expense to purchase domain and hosting. Think of it as your initial investment for a successful business.
4. Install WordPress With a Few Simple Clicks
A platform is necessary when starting a blog. There comes WordPress for you to serve as your platform. Using WordPress is so simple that even a newbie can download and install it without any technical knowledge.
Let me take you through the start a blog guide steps that you should follow after you purchase the domain and hosting.
Step 1: Log in to the c-panel page of your blog
Step 2: Check for WordPress
Go to Cpanel -> Softaculous -> WordPress
Step 3: Click on WordPress
- Once you click, you be taken to the page below to install WordPress for your blog.
- Click on Install
Step 4: Installing WordPress
Here you will find a form where you need to fill in your details such as Installation Location, username, password, database name, password, etc.
Finally, choose a theme and click on install as shown in the below image.
Now it will take some time to install and wait for it. Your WordPress blog will be ready in a few minutes.
5. Designing Your Blogging Space
Great, now that you have installed WordPress, it is important to set it up fully before starting a blog. Based on the theme you’ve selected, you will need to create a few crucial pages for your blog.
Let us move to the next section to find out what they are.
5.1. Getting Started: Core Pages Setup
My blog’s header contains the main pages which I am going to share with you. With this inspiration, you can start creating for your blog too.
Core pages are the main pages that appear on your blog and are crucial for your readers. With this, your readers will be able to navigate themselves freely on your blog.
They are:
- Home Page
- Contact Page
- About Page
You will have to decide the text and design for these pages, and how these should look like. Take a day or two to research and keep a few options you like handy.
Now, try to use free designing tools like Canva, to design your pages to get an idea. Your pages will be set up based on the theme you choose. But this sample designing process helps you to be creative and use the options you like apart from the theme.
5.2. Rules and Regulations: Policy Pages Setup
If you visited any blogs or websites previously, you may have noticed that websites will have their policy pages.
Even I have created one for my blog as you can in the below image. True, having those pages is so crucial that you are adhering to privacy laws to protect your reader’s data.
You need to create pages like:
- Privacy policy
- Terms of Service
- Disclaimer
I used termly.io to create these pages for my blog. This is so self-explanatory and you will be able to create by filling a few forms. Once done you need to insert that into your WordPress and those pages will be appeared like the below on your blog.
5.3. Guiding My Blog with Yoast SEO
I like using the Yoast SEO plugin for my blog for SEO. It provides all the suggestions needed to optimize your post.
Once our blog is fully set up, now comes the interesting part. Search Engine Optimization SEO and installing its related plugins.
I want to share some beginner blogging tips for early newbies related to SEO.
Apart from writing great content, it is crucial to optimize that blog for search engines. With this, your blog will appear when users search for a query related to your article.
There are many free plugins available in WordPress. But this is my favorite plugin. Once you write an article and move to WordPress, you will need to ensure it is well-optimized.
— This plugin analyses your article and gives you suggestions on where you can improve to make SEO friendly article. Not only that, it shares your blog readability score too. Will your readers find it easy to read or not?
Let me share an example from my blog with you.
You may feel free to explore different plugins and find what suits you the best.
6. Unleash Your Creativity: Brainstorming Blog Topics
Congratulations we have completed 60% of the process of starting a blog now. To start writing your first article, you need to create your own plan and content calendar.
This is a process that I follow every time I write a blog and I like to brainstorm my ideas almost every day and whenever I come across topic ideas while researching online.
Yes, preparing everything ready before you start makes a huge difference. We will prepare a content calendar in the next section. But before that, we need to have some ideas to put into the calendar which we will do now.
— What are these ideas exactly? I hope you have selected your blog niche as I said in the previous sections. Once that is done it’s time to prepare a content list around that.
Firstly, create topics from your thoughts. Think about what comes to your mind when you think of your niche. Next, take inspiration from online to get some ideas. Here what you can do is:
- Do your competitor research
- Google search your niche and find ideas from autosuggestions
- Take ideas from the “people also ask” section
- And from the “related searches section”
You should try and get your ideas for at least 2-3 months at a stretch. Dedicate 3-4 days a month to get topic ideas, perform research, generate keywords, and check volume.
The process flow should be like: Topic -> research -> find keywords from topic -> check volume
Also, every day or whenever you get an idea, note it somewhere separately to track it later. This will be helpful when preparing the calendar.
7. Time Management: Your Content Calendar
I will share a template that I use so that you get an idea and you can prepare one for yourself.
To prepare a content calendar, you can choose any tool you prefer or do it in a notebook. Try to create a template on your own as this helps in starting a blog so easily.
So, once you do the activities said in the brainstorming blog post ideas section, preparing this calendar will be easy for you.
Fill out every detail in the template you make based on the research you have done. Think of the day you want to publish in a week and stick to it (Example: Tuesday) and fill in the dates accordingly in your calendar.
8. Start Your Blogging Adventure: One Post a Week
Awesome, now you have content and a plan to follow. Now it is time to execute it by writing great content. In the beginning, you may find it difficult not to know what to write and where to start.
Do not worry. For this to overcome, try to dedicate specific time to writing every day. This helps you to be consistent in writing and you will be able to write easily.
I set aside around 30 minutes to 1 hour every day to write content for my blog. This helps me to be consistent and publish posts as per my schedule.
Lastly, aim to publish one post a week. But along with writing a post, there are lots of activities you will need to do to get your post live.
Hence, finish your writing in 3-4 days, including proofreading and editing. Next, dedicate days to designing images, formatting, performing SEO, etc. Finally, on day-7, publish your post.
9. Get Noticed: Tips to Promote Your Blog
Once your post is published, spend time promoting it. Because, in the beginning, many people may not know about our blog, right?
Even I faced the same situation. No one knew about my blog when I started. Therefore, what I have done is, after publishing my post, I used to share it on all the social media platforms.
Also, shared on the online groups in my close circle; my friends and family. Do not underestimate this process when you are in the initial stages. So, share your blog on all your social media platforms and promote it. Never hesitate to do it.
Remember, promotion is equally important as starting a blog.
If you are writing a post on “how to write a blog example”, take this as a keyword and promote it. Another way to share your blog is to re-purpose your article.
You may have written a 2000- or 3000-word article. It is impossible to share fully on social media. Hence, take a snip at it and promote it interestingly. So that you can bring the audience to your blog to read the full article.
In this starting a blog for beginners stage, we aim to increase your online presence and attract more visitors to your blog.
10. Blogging with Purpose: Making Money
Here comes the interesting part – monetization. The ultimate goal of starting a blog is to earn money from what you love, correct?
I started blogging as my side hustle and want to earn income. When I researched about this, I got confused seeing so many options out there.
However, I tried to gain a better understanding of all the options so that when my blog is ready, I can use the monetization strategy I want and see which best suits it.
To be able to do it better, you need to know all the options you have to earn money from blogging. But remember, from day 1, you may not be able to monetize.
However, it is important to have full knowledge of the options that generate an income. By this, you can work on the option that suits your blog from the beginning itself.
Key Takeaways of Starting a Blog in 2024
To summarize what we have learned so far:
- Know your niche before getting started
- Your domain name should be easily searchable and eye-catching
- Shared web hosting is sufficient in the beginning
- WordPress can be installed easily
- Core pages for our blog should be set without fail
- Brainstorm your ideas frequently
- Prepare a content calendar to stay consistent
- Have a goal of publishing one post a week
This is what I always follow for my blog. Following every step carefully leads you to a successful way of starting a blog. Think of this as a sequence process to follow. Setting up your blog is a one-time process for you to follow.
The remaining process is what you do day in and day out when writing and publishing your articles.
Once you’ve set up your blog, the next crucial step is learning how to promote your blog effectively to reach your target audience. Hence, carefully complete your basics and initial steps. So that you will have a strong foundation.
Conclusion
Finally, we are at the end of our journey of starting a blog. Every newbie has a thought – “How can I start blogging as a beginner”, which stops them from taking action further.
The future of blogging after AI is going to evolve more rapidly. So, do not think of blogging as fully technical stuff, and only who knows can start blogging. No, as I said earlier, the initial stages until you set up your blog are the main processes you should take care of.
In my opinion, the rest of the process does not need any technical knowledge to find ideas and prepare a content calendar. Also, it is better to know the cost of creating a blog prior.
— I hope these simple steps of starting a blog gave you confidence enough to start your blog in 2024.
Before taking action, you can check my previous blogs on the “Benefits of Blogging” and “Ways to Monetize the Blog” to fully understand them.
