How To Start A WordPress Blog

How To Start A WordPress Blog

Do you want to start a WordPress blog?? Guess what you are not alone. Having helped over 20,000+ users create a blog, we have decided to create the most comprehensive guide on how to start a WordPress blog without any knowledge.

You need to start a WordPress blog????

• A domain name idea
• A web hosting account

You through the whole process, step by step.

In this Steps, we will cover:

• How to Register a Domain Name for Free
• How to Choose the Best Web Hosting
• How to Install WordPress
• How to Change Your Theme
• How to Write Your First Blog Post
• How to Customize WordPress with Plugins
• How to Add a Contact Form
• How to Setup Google Analytics Tracking
• How to Optimize Your Website for SEO
• How to Make Money From Your Blog

Step 1: Setup

The biggest mistake beginners make when building a blog is choosing the wrong blogging platform. Thankfully you’re here, so you won’t be making that mistake.

There’s no catch. It’s free because you have to do the setup and host it yourself.

In other words, you need a domain name and web hosting.

A domain name is what people type to get to your website. It’s your website’s address on the internet. Think noendofknowledge.com

A domain name typically costs $15.99 / year, and web hosting normally costs $8.99 / month.

Bluehost is one of the oldest web hosting companies, They are also the largest brand name when it comes to WordPress hosting because they host millions of websites including our own.

How to purchase your domain + hosting.

Open up Bluehost in a new window and follow along.

On the next screen, select the plan that you need (basic and plus are the most popular).

After that, you will be asked to enter the domain name for your website.

you will need to add your account information and finalize the package info to complete the process.

you will see optional extras that you can purchase. It’s entirely up to you whether or not you purchase these, but we generally don’t recommend purchasing them right away. You can always add them later on, if you decide that you need them.

you will receive an email with details on how to login to your web hosting control panel (cPanel). This is where you manage everything from support, emails, among other things. But most importantly, this is where you install WordPress.

Step 2: Install WordPress

In the cPanel, you will see dozens of small icons for different services and features. This can be a bit overwhelming.

You will be redirected to the Bluehost Marketplace Quick Install screen for WordPress. Click on the Get Started button.

next screen, you will be asked to select your domain name. Choose the domain from the dropdown and then click Next.

After that, you need to enter your Site Name, username, and a password for your site. You also need to check all the checkboxes and then click Install.

The QuickInstall will start installing WordPress. The marketplace will prompt you to browse WordPress themes, while WordPress is being installed.

Once WordPress is finished installing, you will see the success notice in the top header bar.

Click on the Installation Complete link, and it will take you to the screen with your WordPress login URL and password.

Click on the WordPress login link to login to your dashboard.

Step 3: Selecting your WordPress Theme

The visual appearance of your WordPress blog is controlled by themes. When you first visit your blog, it will look something like this.

Customizing the look and feel of your blog is by far one of the most exciting and rewarding part in the journey of creating your WordPress site.

There are thousands of pre-made WordPress themes that you can install on your site. Some of them are free, while others are paid.

You can change your theme by going to your WordPress dashboard and clicking on Appearance » Themes.

Go ahead and click on the Add New button.

On the next screen, you will able to search from 5600+ free WordPress themes that are available in the official WordPress.org themes directory. You can sort by popular, latest, featured, as well as other feature filters (i.e industry, layout, etc).

You can take your mouse over to a theme and you will see a Preview button. Clicking on will open the theme preview where you can see how it would look on your website.

The preview of your theme may not look exactly as shown in the screenshot, which is normal as you will get to customize and set it up later. What you need to look for is design, colors, typography, and other elements.

The best tip to select the perfect WordPress theme is to strive for simplicity in design. It helps you keep things clean and clear while offering a good experience to your users.

When you have found the theme that you like, simply bring your mouse on it, and it will show the Install button. Click on it and wait for the theme to be installed. After that, the install button will be replaced with an Activate button. You need to click on it to Activate the theme.

Once you have installed your theme, you can customize it by clicking on the Customize link under the Appearance menu.

Step 4: Creating Your First Blog Post

To write your first blog post, click on the Posts » Add New menu in your WordPress dashboard.

Once you’re done writing, go ahead and click on the Publish button on the right to publish your first blog post to the world.

On the posts screen, you will notice several other sections such as Categories and Tags. You can use these to organize your blog posts. We have a great writeup on the difference between categories vs tags, which we highly recommend that you read.

Step 5: Plugins & Customizations

Once you have written your first blog post, you probably want to get started with adding other usual elements on your website such as contact forms, galleries, sliders, etc.

To add all these additional features, you need to use plugins.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to use plugins to add some essential features to your WordPress blog.

How to Create a Contact Form in WordPress

Every website needs a contact form. It allows your users to contact you directly. Since WordPress doesn’t come with a built-in contact form, you will need a WordPress form builder plugin to add a contact form on your site.

You can install the plugin by going to Plugins » Add New page and typing WPForms in the search box. Next, you need to click “Install” and then “Activate”. Upon activation, you need to head over to WPForms » Add New page to create your first form.

First, you need to enter a name for your contact form and then click on ‘Simple Contact Form’ template.

  

WPForms will now create a simple contact form for you with all the required fields. You can click on any field to change it, or add a new field from the left column.

Once you are done editing the form, click on the save button at the top right corner and then exit the form builder.

You can now create a new page in WordPress by going to Pages » Add New and call it ‘Contact’. On the edit screen, you will notice a new ‘Add Form’ button.

When you click on it, it will bring up a popup where you need to select the form you created earlier and then click on the add form button.

WPForms will now add the form shortcode into your page. You can now save and publish the page and visit it in your browser to see your contact form in action.

How to Setup Google Analytics Tracking

Google Analytics helps you see how many people are visiting your blog, where they are coming from, and what are they doing on your website?

It is best to install Google Analytics when starting your blog, so you can see how much your blog has grown over time.

First, you need to visit Google Analytics website and sign in using your Gmail account.

Once you are logged in, you can go ahead and sign up for a free Google Analytics account.

You will be asked to provide your information and website URL. After that, you will be presented with your Google Analytics tracking code.

You can stop here because we will be using a plugin to automatically fetch and add this code to your blog.

Switch to your WordPress admin area to install and activate the MonsterInsights plugin. It is the free version of the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress, and it is the easiest way to add Google Analytics on your site.

Upon activation, you need to visit Insights » Settings page to configure the plugin settings.

On the settings page, click on the ‘Authenticate with your Google account’ button to connect Google Analytics to your WordPress site.

Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the setup. Once done, you will be able to see your website analytics report straight from your WordPress dashboard under the MonsterInsights tab.

How to Optimize Your WordPress Blog for SEO

Most beginners don’t optimize for SEO when creating a blog. SEO or search engine optimization helps users find your blog in search engines. If you want more traffic, then it’s crucial that you optimize your blog for SEO from the beginning.

To get started, first you need to install and activate the Yoast SEO plugin. It is the complete WordPress SEO plugin that will help you optimize your blog.

Upon activation, you will see a new menu item labeled ‘SEO’. Clicking on it will take you to the plugins settings page.

The plugin comes with a quick configuration wizard to help you walk through the set up. You can also follow the instructions in our Yoast SEO guide for manual set up.

Step 6: Making Money From Your Blog

Now that you’ve created your blog and customized it to your liking, you are probably wondering how can I actually make money from my blog?

There are actually a lot different ways to successfully monetize your blog. However there is no such thing as a get rich quick scheme.

Don’t be fooled by the pictures of expensive cars and mansions because those are all fake.

That’s a 4000+ word guide that everyone who want to make money with their blog needs to read. We have shared our 14+ years of online wisdom in that ultimate guide.

As long as you’re willing to put in the hard work and effort, you’ll reap the reward. Remember, there are no shortcuts.

Here are some of the best ways to make money from your blog.

1. Google AdSense

Many bloggers make money by showing ads on their blog. If you make a blog with monetization in mind, then Google AdSense is the best way to do this.

It is the largest advertising platform for bloggers and publishers. Acting as a middleman between you and the advertiser, Google allow advertisers to bid for keywords matching your content. This allows you to get the best rates possible for the ads.

For more details, see our article on how to properly add Google AdSense to your WordPress blog.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the second most commonly used monetization strategy among bloggers. Basically, you recommend products and services to your readers and when they make a purchase you get a referral commission.

The key in affiliate marketing is to recommend high-quality products and services that you already use and trust. There are plenty of affiliate marketing plugins and tools for WordPress that can help you make more money when promoting affiliate products.

3. Online Store

Many bloggers make money by selling things directly from their blog. This could be physical products, digital downloads like ebooks, artwork, music, and more. Some bloggers even offer consulting services.

We recommend using WooCommerce because it is the best eCommerce plugin for WordPress. It also the most commonly used eCommerce platforms in the world.

That’s not all you can do with your WordPress blog. You can make WordPress blogs specifically for reviews, fashion blogging, food blogging with recipes, and more. Each of these blog types brings you more unique opportunities to make money.