How to start a Blog and make Money

How to Start a Blog (and Make Money) in 6 Steps:

A Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Blog and Making Money in 2022

• Choose your blog name and location.
• Get your blog online (web hosting)
• Design your blog with a free WordPress theme.
• Write your first blog post.
• Promote your blog and get readers.
• Make money from your blog.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission. When you purchase hosting using my Bluehost affiliate link, I get paid by them, which helps create a step-by-step guide for you to start a blog and make money for free. Please know that I only recommend products and services that I have personally used and stand behind.

Follow these 6 steps to start a blog today and learn how to make money:

If you’re ready to take the leap and learn how to start a blog that can become a source of real online income, let’s dive right in.

Choose your blog name and location.

First, it’s time to choose a name and location for your new blog.

Your blog name is the first thing readers will see (like yourblog.com), so it should ideally represent the general topics you’ll be writing about—or your blog. Your name, your business, can be a clever combination of words. . , or otherwise.

Your blog niche is the general topic area that you will focus your content on. Examples include blog topics such as travel, food, fashion, lifestyle, technology, and others. Adding a word or two within your blog name (like fashionbyjane.com or hikewithryan.com) that clearly indicates what your content is about—to your future blog readers. Will be very helpful.

2. Get your blog online (web hosting)

The second step to starting a blog is actually getting your blog online. This is what a web hosting company will do for you. In this step, you will choose the blogging platform and web hosting plan that you will use to get your blog online.

The combination of blogging platform and web hosting that I personally use (and that other bloggers use) is a WordPress blog hosted by Bluehost. WordPress is a free publishing platform that has been around since 2003 and now powers over 60% of all blogs on the Internet. Bluehost is one of the most established, trusted companies in the blog hosting industry. This combination is what we will use to start your blog. Now, let’s set up your hosting.

Choose your web hosting plan.

First, you’ll choose a hosting plan (entering your blog name comes next). Personally, I recommend choosing the Choice Plus plan because it comes with Domain Privacy, which keeps your personal information (your full name, email address, phone number, and home address) on anywhere. Will keep the line from being published.

Your plan selection will look like this here. Just click the green “Select” button on the plan you like:

As I said above, I recommend choosing the Choice Plus plan, so you’re getting the domain privacy feature that will keep your personal information safe online, but none of these plans allow you to access your blog. will work as soon as it is launched. Add domain privacy later during the checkout process for about $1/mo.

Choose your blog domain name.

Next, you’ll reach the page where it’s time to choose your blog’s domain name:

Once you get to this step in the checkout process, just type in the name of the domain name you want to put on your blog (mine is ryrob.com).

If the domain name you like isn’t available, you can either try another option that comes to mind—or (which I recommend) select the option to choose your own domain name and then add the rest of your options. After squaring the account and taking some time, select More time to think of a name. Also, later in this guide, I expand a bit more on how to choose the right name for your blog if you haven’t decided yet.

This is where you can click to select your domain later (this is a popup that will appear if you hover over the page long enough or move your mouse over the page):

After either choosing your domain name or choosing it later, you’ll be taken to the final step of the sign-up process—creating your account.

Create your BlueHost account

Start by filling in your account details such as your name, email address (it is extremely important to use an up-to-date email address as this is where your login details and account information will be sent) and address . If you don’t want to enter your information manually, you can link your Bluehost account to your Google account. Either works!

Choose the right hosting plan package.

This is where you’ll choose an account plan based on the price you want to lock in and how much you’ll pay upfront to host your blog.

Note that Bluehost only offers options for you to pay 1, 2, 3 or 5 years upfront. They don’t offer a monthly payment option (because most hosting companies that do offer monthly payments tend to charge a bit more). Even still, with whichever plan you choose, the price works out to be a great deal for starting your own blog and getting it online today.

Which web hosting plan and pricing is best for starting a blog?

Personally, I recommend choosing “Prime 36 Month Price” if you want to lock in the lowest possible price for your new hosting plan. This is what I use. And it secures your blog hosting at its lowest rate (and gets you domain privacy) for the next 3 years. And since this low price for new customers only applies to your first payment, if you choose a 1-year plan, your prices may increase after that first year.

So if you opt for a 36-month plan, your pricing will be locked in at that rate for 3 years. For this reason, I recommend that you go with the longest-term plan that your budget can stretch to.

Choose the right blog hosting plan package extras (skip all but one)

I recommend keeping Domain Privacy Protection as an extra, but you can get away with leaving the rest on. Later in this guide, I’ll show you a number of free and inexpensive plugins and tools you can use for things like SEO optimization, additional security, and site backups, among many other package add-ons. No need.

As I mentioned earlier, Domain Privacy Plus keeps all your personal contact information (your name, email, phone number, and address) private. Now, if you chose the Choice Plus plan on the previous screen, your Domain Privacy Protection will be listed as “Free” as shown in the screenshot above—it’s included in that plan…

If you’ve chosen the Basic or Plus plan, you’ll want to check the box to add Domain Privacy Protection to your order for about $1/mo.

What you will see tomorrow is the amount you are going to pay today. But remember, you won’t have to pay again for 1, 2, 3, or 5 years depending on the package you choose. Plus, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee in case things don’t go as planned with your blog.

Enter your billing information.

You will now enter your billing information, check the box that you agree to Bluehost’s Terms of Service and then hit the green “Submit” button.

Wow! It’s time for a little celebration

You have officially completed the first major step of starting a blog.

After the initial signup process is complete, it’s time to move on to the next step of fully setting up and optimizing your blog.

On the next page, you’ll be guided step-by-step through the process of installing Word Press on your blog via BlueHost – and later in this guide, I’ve got lots of useful tips for optimizing your blog. , free. And cheap plugins you can install to help make your blog look great, and more.

Now, if you haven’t set up your web hosting yet and want to look at some other options – there are other web hosting providers worth considering.

2 Best Alternative Blog Hosting Platforms Worth Considering

DreamHost — I’ve hosted literally dozens of websites on DreamHost over the years (and I still do). All the similar features like 1-click Word Press install, free SSL certificate, and site security aside, one of the biggest advantages of going with Dreamhost over other hosting companies is that they offer a genuine plan that You can pay monthly. You pay monthly to host your blog with no strings attached. There are some other web hosting companies that also offer monthly payment plans and have a 30-day money-back guarantee.

HostGator — What sets HostGator apart from other hosting companies is their excellent level of customer support and the fact that they also offer a true monthly payment plan (which helps if you have your own blog and. Starting on a budget). HostGator is one of the largest hosting companies, now powering more than 8 million websites worldwide, making them a great partner for scaling your blog over time.

If you still want to review more of the top blog hosting providers, visit my breakdown of the best web hosting plans for bloggers to review this year. And if you’ve already taken care of your hosting with BlueHost, here’s where you can log into your hosting account with them.

Now we’re at the point in this guide where everything from here on will be built on the assumption that you’ve already registered your domain name and chosen the right hosting plan — so if you haven’t already Yes, so just a few minutes to set it up quickly.

Ready to register your domain name and set up blog hosting?

I created this in-depth video tutorial to walk you through the entire process from choosing your web host to starting your blog and publishing your first blog post in the next 10 to 15 minutes. has made

Disclosure: Please note that when you purchase hosting using my Bluehost affiliate link, they compensate me, helping me create the ultimate guide to starting a free blog for you. Know that I also use Bluehost hosting, and I would never recommend a product, tool, or service that I don’t personally use and advocate 🙂

I know first hand that starting a blog on Word Press can be a daunting process.

3. Design your blog with a free Word Press theme.

So, if you need a little more detailed guidance, I have a free master course that expands all of this work into a series of action-packed lessons and goes into even more granular detail than this tutorial.

While the first important step in starting your blog today is registering your domain name and setting up hosting, my free course extends to actually growing your blog. During this 7-day course, you’ll go from zero to publishing (and promoting) your first blog post. I can’t recommend it enough.

Now that we’ve gone through the important setup phase of starting a blog, it’s time to have a little more fun.

Designing your Word Press blog is when you start to feel a little overwhelmed by the process though (if you’ve never worked on a blog before), but I promise it won’t be too technical. .

Plus…the last thing I want is for a very minor technical aspect of starting a blog to derail your progress today. That’s why, in my free course How to Blog in 7 Days , I break down this technical setup process into an even more actionable, step-by-step checklist for you.

WordPress is the best blogging platform if you want to start a blog and earn money from it.

Let’s cover some basic terms, so you understand why Word Press is the right platform (also known as a content management system or CMS) to run your blog.

• What is a Content Management System (CMS)?
• What is Word Press?
• Should I start a blog on Word Press (and is Word Press free)?
• What if I want to blog with Wix instead?
• What is a blogging platform?

Since I first started blogging over a decade ago, I’ve been running my blog on Word Press and I couldn’t be happier with the flexibility, control and long-term growth potential this decision affords me. And while it’s been a fun ride, make no mistake—blogging is hard work.

Now, one thing you need to be careful of, is that Word Press comes in two completely different platforms. There is WordPress.com and WordPress.org. They have almost the same name, but there are huge differences between the two:

WordPress.com:

• Free to use (with heavy restrictions)
• Does not allow you to choose a custom domain name
• Very limited monetization options
• Doesn’t let you upload plugins
• There is limited blogging theme support so you are stuck with a very basic design.
• You have to pay to remove the Word Press branding and get your own domain like yoursite.com.
• Limited SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Analytics

WordPress.org:

• Fully customizable design (using Word Press themes), unlimited plugin options, and no branding.
• Your own custom domain name (eg ryrob.com) to run your blog on
• Complete control over your own monetization efforts
• Powerful SEO features with great plugins (so people can find your site easily)
• Let’s start or add an e-commerce store or membership site.
• Small monthly fee (from the cheap hosting plan you use to get your blog online)
• A free domain name during signup (with most blog hosting platforms)

While the choice is yours, if you want to get the most out of your blog, be able to grow it with you and eventually make money from it, WordPress.org is the way to go (and the exact process we followed Who is this guide? This is the CMS of choice that will power your blog while sitting in the background.

How to Install Word Press (and Configure Your Blog Settings)

Here’s a step-by-step video walkthrough on how to install Word Press on your new blog, start building your blog pages, and configure the right settings:

Naturally, in this one video, we don’t cover everything about Word Press, but remember that these are the basics you need to cover first.

Spend time familiarizing yourself with the admin area of your Word Press blog. You’ll develop a deeper understanding of how Word Press works and what you can quickly change about the visual look and functionality of your site over time.

Choose the Best Free Word Press Theme for Your New Blog (3 Options)

When you’re still new to starting a blog, I generally don’t recommend buying a paid Word Press theme right away. Once you have some traffic and can justify the investment, it’s smart to choose a premium theme with more features and options. For now though, a complicated blog theme will distract from your most important priority of driving readers to your new blog.

Word Press comes with a ton of free blogging themes to choose from, so without wasting too much time on it, start with one of your favorite options in Appearance > Themes > New Theme > Popular. You can always come back and change it later.

I recommend choosing Elementor for Kadence WP, Word Press or Astra (these are all 100% free blog themes — they’re fast and have the ability to upgrade to their premium theme versions later at cheaper price points) .

I love these three fast Word Press themes the most because they’re crisp, clean, simple and will get you set up without needing to invest in a paid blog theme because you’re just starting your blog. Later, you can review other Word Press themes out there or upgrade them to their premium themes for more features.

Why is blog design so important when starting a blog?

Even if you don’t really care about the design yourself, your readers will change their behavior dramatically based on the features of your blog’s layout. In fact, during a 2012 study by Google and the University of Basel, researchers found that users evaluate a website’s aesthetic beauty and perceived functionality in 1/20 – 1/50th of a second. Plus, thanks to a little psychological bias called the halo effect, people will spread that judgment to all aspects of your blog.

Good blog design builds trust. It tells people that you care enough about your blog to make it look good. This doesn’t mean you need crazy animations or tons of fonts and colors. In fact, the best designs are simple, clear and easy to read.

Once you’ve decided on the right theme for your Word Press blog, it’s time to dive into the world of Word Press plugins to help unlock more customizations to your blog’s design and functionality. This is essential prep work so that your blog has a chance to grow into a real business over time.

9 Essential Word Press Plugins You Should Install on Your Blog Today

Word Press plugins play an important role in how your blog will perform, and dialing in the most essential plugins is an important step to both serving your audience and performing well for search engines.

The only problem with Word Press plugins is that there are thousands of different plugins and blogging tools to choose from. To help you cut through all the noise… these are the must-have Word Press plugins to install when you start blogging today:

Yoast SEO: The more people can find your content, the better your blog will perform. The Yoast SEO plugin for Word Press helps you optimize your blog post titles, descriptions, content length and other elements throughout your blog so that you can be easily found by search engines. It is by far the most established, best SEO plugin on the market, and is worth installing on your blog first.

WPForms: You’ll want your readers to be able to contact you easily, which I highly recommend—as it will encourage other bloggers who want to collaborate with you to have an easy opportunity to reach out to you. WPForms is an easy-to-use plugin that allows you to drag and drop a contact form onto any page of your blog.

Site Kit by Google (Analytics Dashboard for WordPress): This is a 100% free plugin created by Google that gives you all your relevant Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google AdSense and page speed data directly to your WordPress dashboard. Allows to see inside. . Connect the plugin to your Google Analytics and Search Console accounts (you can sign up for a free Google Analytics account here) to see who’s visiting your site and how long they’ve been around are, and what are your most popular blog posts. . .

UpdraftPlus: Again, sometimes things will go wrong on your blog (and it won’t always be under your control). It’s always smart to have a backup plugin that will save all your hard work on a regular basis, and this free one tops the rest.

WP Rocket: Faster websites rank higher on Google and provide a better experience to your readers. WP Rocket is a plugin that saves your blog pages, reduces your file size, and does more to make sure your blog loads faster for everyone. be

MaxCDN: Speaking of speed, MaxCDN also loads your blog’s images and other static elements faster, earning this plugin high marks as a complement to using WP Rocket.

Insert Header and Footer: Sometimes to modify your blog’s theme, you need to add snippets of code to your header or footer (it’s not as scary as it sounds). However, doing this in your theme’s code can cause problems. This plugin lets you easily add small pieces of code to select locations around your blog.

Lightweight Accordion: If you like how to create collapsible (accordion-style) content boxes in this guide and in the FAQ section at the bottom of this post, I recommend installing the free plugin , which I use to fetch these content widgets. For Life: A Lightweight Accordion. In just a few clicks with this plugin, you can instantly add collapsible FAQ box functionality to your Word Press blog.

Mighty Share: Automatically Generate Social Share Images in Word Press for Free Instead of having any boring social share image your blog uses by default, this free plugin automatically generates beautiful social images using multiple templates, fonts, color choices and strong customization. It includes support for all post types, multiple templates and new templates added monthly.

How to Install Word Press Plugins (Quickly) on Your New Blog

The fastest way to install a Word Press plugin is to find it in the plugins directory after logging into your blog. To do so, follow these simple steps:

1. Go to Plugins > Add New:

2. Find the Word Press plugin you want to install:

In this example, I’ve explored the Yoast SEO Word Press plugin (an essential search engine optimization plugin you’ll want). If it wasn’t already installed on my blog, you’ll see the big “Install Now” button where it currently says “Active” here:

3. Click Install Now on the plugin of your choice:

Once you’re ready to install the plugin you’ve searched for on your Word Press site (or browse the charts at the top to see what’s popular), the “Install Now” button Click and it will be added to your blog. The last step is to click on “Activate” after the plugin is installed successfully.

Basic Word Press blogging platform settings to get familiar with now

There are many different reasons to start a blog and just as many unique blogging goals that you may have in mind. Regardless, it pays to have a basic understanding of the broader aspects of how Word Press works, so you can control the visual appearance of your blog.

Let’s explore some of the major image settings you can find in your Word Press dashboard.

Permalinks (URLs)

• How to Optimize Your Word Press Permalink Settings

Clear your default site URL.

• How to clear your default site URL

Set your blog homepage (custom page or latest blog posts)

• How to Set Your Blog’s Home Page

Set up your blog menu (header and footer menu)

• How to set up a menu on your Word Press blog

Well, we’ve covered the basics of dialing in your blog’s Word Press settings.

Create main pages for your blog: About, Contact, Hire (on Word Press blogging platform)

From the moment you start a blog, you’ll want to reveal some basic information about yourself. Who are you. Why should people listen to you? How they can contact you if they have questions or want to work with you.

All of these pages are pretty standard, but they’re also a great way to have some fun and get to know your readers. In fact, I use the About page to not only tell who I am and my story, but my value proposition (to potential clients who want to hire me as a freelance content marketer). Used to describe and show recent achievements.

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to write an About Me page that does the same on your blog:

How to write an about page for your blog

You might not think much of it, but your About page is one of the most popular pages on your blog.

• How to Write an About Page for Your Blog

Use your About page to show the value you’re creating for your readers — and work hard to get that attention.

How to Write a Contact Page for Your Blog

Another often-overlooked page you’ll want to add early on when starting a blog is an easy way for people to contact you.

While mine goes more in-depth, your contact page can be as simple as listing your email and social media accounts on the page.

• How to Create a Contact Page for Your Blog

Think about the type of content you want to share with your readers and the communication you want in return — then use your contact page to quickly set those expectations.

New to starting a blog with Word Press? 10 Word Press Blogging Platform Technical Lessons

If you’re starting a blog on Word Press and want to spend a little more time tuning things and experimenting with all your settings, check out these quick Word Press tutorials:

• How to Change Font Size on Your Blog
• How to change font color on your blog
• How to create a clickable link
• What is a 301 redirect?
• What is an RSS feed?
• How to Add Images in Word Press
• How to Create a Word Press Table of Contents
• How to Highlight HTML in Word Press
• 12 Blog Layout Examples (and Best Practices)
• 20+ Blog Examples (Case Studies of Successful Blogs)

What is a blog?

In the early days of the Internet, blogging was more akin to journaling. Some of the earliest blogs were used as a way to express one’s personal perspectives and experiences.

Blogging has since become much more than a form of digital record keeping. Nowadays, both businesses and individuals alike blog to share information and bring in sales or commissions.

7 Reasons You Want to Start a Blog

There are many reasons to start a blog. You may want to try a fun hobby, generate some side income, build a community or start a blog for any of the following reasons:

1. Documenting what happens to you

The word “blog” is actually a shortened form of “weblog,” a nod to its origins as a way to document what’s going on. You may want to create a blog to have a place or way to store your thoughts and images in one central place.

2. Having a creative outlet

Blogging involves writing, editing and to some extent design. This makes it a very creative pursuit. If you’re looking for a relatively low-cost way to express yourself, blogging is a great option.

3. Sharing your thoughts and experiences

No one else is you—which means you have thoughts and experiences that are uniquely your own. A blog is a platform through which you can share your thoughts with others, interact and build real connections while doing so.

4. Connecting with people

Blogging is a great way to connect with others, whether they are other bloggers, content creators or your target audience. Blogging opens doors to meet people you might not have come in contact with otherwise. The blogging community is very active on sites like Facebook, Instagram

5. To get better at written and digital marketing

Blogging is a skill. If you want to improve your writing skills, writing for a blog daily or weekly can be beneficial.

Similarly, running a blog requires a lot of work behind the scenes. Bloggers are often their own webmasters and social media marketers in addition to content writers. If you want to develop expertise in these areas, starting your own blog will give you valuable experience.

6. To build your brand and reputation

Creating a blog can help you build your brand and establish yourself as a credible expert in your niche or industry. Your blog content can show how knowledgeable or experienced you are on certain topics.

7. To bring in sales or revenue

Blogging can be used to drive sales—whether it’s for your existing business or a brand new one. In fact, bloggers bring in an average annual income of $37,073.

Misconceptions about blogs

You don’t need to be famous to start a profitable blog. Anyone can blog, regardless of experience. Here are the most common misconceptions people have about starting a blog:

Blogging is expensive.

You can start a blog for free, as long as you have an internet connection. Even if you decide to pay for a custom website, domain name or photography, these costs are relatively small compared to the money you could potentially generate from your content.

Blogging is a dying medium.

Blogging is not dead or dying. It’s more saturated now than it was a decade ago, but that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. Building a profitable blog these days may take more effort and initial investment than if you started earlier, but that doesn’t necessarily deter you from starting.

Every blog post needs to be perfect.

You should publish blog articles that you’re proud of, but don’t let the fear of your content being “good” or “perfect” enough hold you back. Blogs are editable, so if you find you’re not happy with something once it’s live, you can always go back and change it.

To start a blog you must have an existing following.

You don’t have to be a celebrity or a current social media personality to start a blog. In fact, many now-famous bloggers, including Joy Cho, Carly Riordan and Blair Eddy, weren’t famous until after they started blogging.

Blogging is easy.

Blogging may seem simple in theory: write the words, hit the post, be done. But in reality, unless you have a staff or have outsourced the marketing or webmaster aspects of running a blog, you’ll be spending more time than just writing.

Depending on your niche or goals, you may also need to spend a lot of time researching your topic or creating complementary assets like photos or videos. Blogging isn’t necessarily easy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t enjoyable or rewarding.

Blogging is a fast way to make money.

While it is true that blogging can be used to generate income, it is not something that will help you get “rich quick”. Before you can start making any money, you need to build an audience that wants to buy products from you.

Counseling or coaching

Your blog is a great source of free information, but your readers may be interested in learning more from you. If you start receiving requests for specific advice or guidance, it’s a good sign that you’ll be able to make money with one-on-one consulting or coaching sessions.