Would you like to start your own blog but don’t know how? In this article I’ll show you how to start your own blog and what it takes.
Make the decision to blog
First of all, you should be really sure that you want to start your blog and that you will fill it regularly. Even if you only want to start the blog because you like writing, and you don’t care if the blog is successful or not. Sooner or later, you won’t enjoy it anymore when you see that your painstakingly written texts are not read or not read enough. And therefore, the most important thing is to blog regularly. This doesn’t mean that you have to write a new article every day from the beginning, but there should be a certain regularity like at least 1x per week. If you manage to do it more often than 1x a week, all the better.
You should simply be aware from the beginning that a blog also costs time and therefore you should know from the beginning that you should schedule time accordingly if your blog is to be read by many people and become successful.
Choose topic and niche
If you are now sure that you want to start your blog, then the next step is to choose your topic and niche. You may already have a topic that you want to focus on. Don’t keep your topic too general, but try to find a niche in it. So instead of blogging about garden design, you should make it more specific like garden design for small town homes.
Why would you narrow down your topic?
So that you can firstly address your readers specifically or get a narrower target group, which will probably become regular readers – on the other hand, if the topic is written too generally, only a small part of your articles will always be interesting for your readers. And secondly, there is already a blog for almost every topic.
Now how can you make a niche out of your topic?
Either your topic can be narrowed down, or you can make your topic personal by always bringing in your point of view or possibly writing about your personal experiences or adventures. However, it should be noted that your articles should still have enough added value for your readers.
Find a name for your blog
Your blog topic or niche is found and now you should decide on a name for your blog. At best, the name of the blog should already contain the topic. So when you read the name, it should already be recognized what your blog is about.
However, it is also possible to use a proper name for your blog to make it unique. If your blog is mainly about you and what you do, then of course you can use your own name. However, it is even more important that the quality of your posts are high enough. Because in the beginning, very few people will search for your name, but rather for a topic.
No matter which type you choose, your name should be short and concise. Your readers should be able to remember it well and the name of your blog should be easy to use as a domain. So no one will remember domains that are too complicated.
Web hosting and domain
Now what is technically necessary? In order to start your blog, you first need:
- domain (your blog must be accessible under a domain)
- webhosting (the place where the files of your blog are located)
- a database (this is included in most webhosting packages). Among other things, your blog articles are stored in the database)
You get all three things from one provider! Here are a few suggestions for providers with whom I have good experience:
There you can choose a package. So it is important that you have a webspace, a database and a domain.
Install WordPress
Of course, you can use any blog software you like. But WordPress is not for nothing the world’s most popular content management system. It’s very intuitive to use and especially suitable for blogging. And on top of that, WordPress is free. You can download it here and then install it on your web space. Many web hosting providers give you the option to install WordPress from the web hosting package – then you don’t have to worry about FTP. So if you want to do it that way, check out your web host’s admin panel.
How do I install WordPress now?
You have now downloaded the zip package from the WordPress website. Unzip the zip package. This must now be uploaded to your webspace.
You should have received FTP access from your web hoster. If you don’t have one yet, log in to their administration interface. There you can either view or create the access. Many web hosts also offer a possibility to upload the files via the administration interface. If your web host does not have this possibility, then you need an FTP client like FileZilla or CyberDuck. This is a program with which you can upload the files. These programs are available for free. With this program and your FTP access data from your web hoster, you can now upload the files from the previously downloaded ZIP package to your web space. The easiest place to do this is in the root directory of your webspace.
After all files have been uploaded, open your domain in your browser, or your domain + the subdirectory if you uploaded the files in a subdirectory. So e.g. www.thisismydomain.com/folder_blogname
You will now be guided through the installation of WordPress and by means of the access data of your database (also received from the web hoster or can be viewed/created in their administration interface) you can now install WordPress on your web space in a few steps. In addition to the specification of your database, you choose your username and password. After the installation, you can log in and land on your WordPress administration interface.
Select and set up blog design
Theoretically, you could start creating your pages and blog articles right now. WordPress comes with 2 to 3 different themes you can choose from by default. You can set this under „Design->Themes“. But the default theme of WordPress doesn’t look very exciting, so you can change that either by getting a different theme or by using a PageBuilder like Elementor.
Use another WordPress theme
If you don’t like the default theme, you can add other themes to your WordPress installation. If you google a bit, you will find free themes quickly. However, I would advise you to go for a paid theme, because they are usually updated regularly to close security gaps. You can get different themes e.g. here: WordPress Themes on Themeforest
These themes usually give you several settings such as different displays, fonts, colors, etc., to customize the design of your website (your blog) a bit more.
Build custom designs with Elementor
Instead of setting up the design with a predefined theme, you can also build your pages individually with a PageBuilder. I recommend and use Elementor for this. With it, you can design your website and blog completely yourself. With Drag&Drop you can easily drag and drop different elements (widgets) into your page and customize them visually. In the Pro version of Elementor are then many more widgets included.
Here in my blog as well as on my Youtube channel you can find some info, tips&tricks about Elementor.
Blog away!
You’ve installed WordPress, set it up and customized your design. Well then you’re ready to go and nothing stands in the way of blogging. You can now divide your blog into categories and place your articles into those categories when you create them.
Make sure to check under Settings->Read if your website is also enabled for search engines. Otherwise, these were the most important points to start blogging. The whole thing can then be extended with various plugins such as for SEO or analysis tools. But the most important thing is done, so you can fill your blog with articles.
