How to Start a Blog: A Simple, Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Yay, you want to start a blog! *jazz hands*

Then you’re in the right place. This page is a full on, hand-holding guide to setting up your very own blog.

I remember when I set up my very first blog.

I was in tears. Literally crying in frustration. I almost didn’t make it to Publish because I just couldn’t figure the whole process out. Now, I’ve been running websites for nearly 8 years!

No tears for you!

Before We Go Any Further… Let’s Get This Out of the Way

Many people starting a blog wonder which blog platform they should go with. You essentially have two choices: self-hosted (you host your own site via a hosting company) or hosted (the blog platform hosts it for you).

Hosted platforms are often free, but more limited in what you can do with them (ex. Blogspot, WordPress.com, Squarespace). Some of them – like WordPress.com – don’t let you monetize your site via ads AT ALL. Plus, a hosted site isn’t yours per se; it’s the host’s. And if someone were to flag your account for spam or copyright infringement or a host of other things, the host can shut down your site in a snap. Yes, it’s unlikely this would happen if you’re doing everything right, but it’s still their discretion.

A self-hosted platform (WordPress.org) allows you room to grow and customize your blog. Consider it the gold standard of blogging. You pay a host a small monthly fee, or an upfront yearly fee, and that’s all you have to pay if you want! Many bloggers make the mistake of going the free route, only to have to make the cumbersome process of moving to a self-hosted platform later on. Go with self-hosted from the start and you’ll save time and headaches in the long run!

The 4 things you need to start a blog

For less than $15, you can get started with a site of your own. *fist pump*

To start a self-hosted blog, you need four basic techy things:
1. A domain name
2. A place to host your site
3. WordPress (the self-hosted version)
4. A theme for your blog design

How do they all work together? My house analogy should help:

Host: Your web host is land where you’re building your dream home. Most bloggers will be on a shared server at their host, like you might buy land as part of a neighborhood development. But that little part of the neighborhood is all YOURS, baby.

Your domain name (URL): This is the address of your house. In order for someone to get there, they need to know the address.

Website with WordPress: This is the house which sits on your land. WordPress is like the framework for making your website easy to use, much like your house has doors, walls, and other basics. Much better than a house that’s nothing but an empty box inside, right?

Theme: Your theme is like your home’s furniture and decorates. While thousands of people have WordPress sites, your theme give your site a custom look with specific colors, fonts, and more than make your house a HOME.

I’m going to show you each of these steps!

1. Get Your Domain Name

I imagine if you’re reading a page like this, that you already have something in mind to blog about. So now it’s time to find a domain name to fit. A domain name is the URL that someone types into a browser to visit your blog.

But if you’re still unsure, or you’re trying to narrow it down, then take a second to jot down the answer these questions.

What topics are you passionate about?

What makes your point of view unique about these topics?

Can you solve a need around these topics?

Once you have your answers, narrow down the topics to a key focus area.

This Bluehost Domain Searcher will help you find the perfect domain name (and if you host your site using Bluehost too, you can register this domain free)!:

Extra Help

If you need help domain name ideas, be sure to read my step-by-step post on naming your blog.

If your ideal domain name isn’t available, try Name Mesh to come up with something similar.

If you have your name and are ready to vet it (so it doesn’t come back to haunt you), run through this quick vetting checklist.

2. Secure a Place to Host Your Site

Next, you need a place to HOST your site. Again, this is the land where your website lives on the vast, vast Internet.

There are a few types of hosting, but as a new website, you want to stick with shared hosting.

Shared hosting means that your site is hosting on a server, along with other websites. I’ve been blogging a long time and still use shared hosting. Down the road, you might switch to VPN or dedicated hosting when you’re rocking that blog traffic, but for now, you don’t need it.

BlueHost is an affordable, popular choice for shared hosting.

Why BlueHost?

First of all, they’ve been one of WordPress’s most recommended hosts since 2005. They also host over 2 million sites and have 24/7 customer support (you’ll need them in the odd hours of the night at some point). Plus, as I mentioned earlier, you can register a new domain name for free if you host through them, saving you about $10.

The Step-by-Step to Getting Your Site Set Up on BlueHost

Visit BlueHost then click the Get Started Now button, then walk through the steps.

By clicking the link and setting up your account, I get a commission. It doesn’t cost you anything more, but it helps me keep this site up to provide awesome resources like this!

1. Enter your super fab domain name.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve already purchased it from elsewhere or registering for it now. Just pick the box that applies to you, then select Next.

2. Fill in your name, address, and phone number below.

3. Select your plan.

Start with the Basic or Plus for now. You can always upgrade later when you really start crushing it!

After you select your plan, you’ll be asked if you want to add on any additional domain names. Don’t worry about any of those. Just skip it.

4. Create a password for you to log into your BlueHost account, then use it to log in.

This is different than the password you’ll create for WordPress to log into your site. This is solely to login at BlueHost.com.

After you create your password, just log in.

5. Close out of the welcome screen because you’re gonna do this yourself (with a little help from me).

And of course, if you get stuck, they can always help you!

Awesome, now you’re ready for the new big step: install WordPress!

3. Install WordPress in a Snap.

Now comes the fun part. This screen is called your cPanel. It’s essentially a control panel for all the parts of your website. Luckily, once you get WordPress installed, you don’t have to do much here.

Click the WordPress button from your cPanel to get started.

Now click the Start button to install WordPress…

And wait…

Then just select your domain name from the dropdown menu and click Check Domain.

Last step to get WordPress up! 

Enter your website name in the first field. This isn’t your actual URL, but just your blog name. So I’d enter Blog Clarity, not www.blogclairity.com.

Then create a username. Don’t use ADMIN! That’s an easy way for hackers to get into your site. Instead your first name or email address works just dine.

Next, create a password (this is different than your BlueHost account password, but you can make it the same to keep it simple) and enter your email address.

Finally, click to read the terms and conditions then click Install Now.

Oh yeah, you did it!

Once it’s complete, you’ll get a congrats and a look at your WordPress details.

TIP! Visit your Admin URL and bookmark it in your browser for easy access1

When it’s time to log in, visit your admin URL (http://www.yourblogname.com/wp-admin) and enter your details.

WordPress will take you straight to the Dashboard.

While it might look overwhelming at the moment, it’s not too bad!

Get familiar with the Posts, Pages, Appearance, and Settings tabs first, then worry about the rest.

4. Install a Theme to Pretty It Up!

Now that you have your land, your home, and your address, it’s time for the fun part… your decor!

A theme is what gives your blog personality. WordPress comes with a theme already installed, but it’s fairly generic. If you go to Appearance > Themes in your WP dashboard, you can search through free themes to start with. However, a buying a theme (called a PREMIUM theme) right from the start is going to have some benefits:

• Quality: Developers will typically spend more time developing a premium theme so you will have a higher-quality product that is up-to-date with the latest in web standards.
• Customization: Free themes often give you limited ways to customize the design unless you’re savvy with CSS. With premium themes, you’ll have lots of ways to easily customize the design to make it your own.
• Security: Free themes are often packed with malicious code. If you go through the WordPress search under Appearance>Themes you should be safe, but don’t trust free themes from elsewhere unless you trust the designer.
• Support: A theme designer can help answer questions you have about the theme and basic set up. If you’re using something that’s free, the theme’s creator isn’t going to go out of their way to help.

As a new blogger, my biggest piece of advice with picking and customizing a theme is this: KEEP IT SIMPLE. Don’t pick a super basic theme, then fumble through designing something yourself. Pick a theme with a design you already love, then just do some basic customizations like changing colors and images.

Two of my favorite theme designers are Restored 316 and Angie Makes.

Restored316 makes CHILD themes for a very popular, robust theme called Genesis. Genesis is VERY powerful, but it’s a framework theme. Meaning unless you know a lot about CSS, you need to buy a child theme as well to pretty it up.

Think of Genesis as the PARENT and a Restored 316 theme as the CHILD that works with the parent.

AngieMakes also creates beautiful themes, but here stand alone and don’t need a parent theme. I just adore this Honeycrisp theme.

When you purchase a theme, it’ll come as a ZIP file. Leave it like that, because you’ll upload it that way to WordPress.

To install a theme, go to Appearance>Theme, then select Add New.

Then add your theme as a ZIP file.

Once it’s loaded, you can start customizing it with your own colors and style. You can make changes my going to Appearance > Customize if you aren’t taken directly there after you installed your theme.

Start customizing and have some fun!

You Did It!

You set up a blog! Feel proud, friend. That’s no small feat.

Now comes actually writing that content. If you need ideas for blog posts, try this little brainstorming trick. And if you need some blog design tips, check out my list of quick design tips. Now go forth and blog!