If you’re reading this, chances are you’re at least considering starting a WordPress blog in 2023. That’s great news! And WordPress is an amazing platform that allows you to share your thoughts and ideas with the world.
In this post, we’re going to see how to start a WordPress blog in 2023, even if you have no tech skills or blogging experience.
How To Start A WordPress Blog in 2023
Starting a blog can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. Everyone has to start from somewhere. So also blogging is a LEARNING PROCESS.
Blogging is just like another task in life: when you start a new job you have no clue about it and then, after a while, you are able to manage it and smash it.
Think about your first job. Were you already good at it when you first started? Did you improve your skills month after month?
My best advice is to start, see how it goes, go with the flow and adapt to changes while still keeping in mind your ultimate goal.
EXPERIMENTING isthekey:see what works and what doesn’t. I’ve only recently started to blog but I’ve learned so many things and still learning something new every day.
If you want to start a successful blog, you don’t need to be an expert. But there are things that are good to have in the RIGHT PLACE already from the beginning. This will save you a lot of time – and headaches.
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policyfor more info.
Choose a topic/niche for your blog
First things first….
You want to choose a topic, talk about it and show yourself as someone who knows all about that topic!
Choose something you are familiar with, passionate about and you feel comfortable to talk about. Something that is at your heart. This way you can avoid coming along “heartless” or that you writing a newspaper article.
Your ultimate goal is to be THE EXPERT of that topic.
Choosing a topic/niche means targeting those people interested in it.
And here comes something that I cannot stop to stress about… You have to be VERY SPECIFIC about your audience.
Looking for some inspiration? Check this local news blog to get an idea about different topics and niches you can write about!
Being very specific about who you target
My top tip is to narrow it down as much as possible, understanding who your audience is and what they want to read.
For example, you want to write about mental health because is something you feel close to. And because of that, TAKE YOUR OWN SITUATION and use it to target those people.
For example, you’re a girl, in your mid-20s, that went through a lot of difficult situation because people around you couldn’t understand about mental health so you had to learn about it on your own and want to share your experience and also tips on the topic.
That’s great! Take this as an example of who you can target because YOU’VE ALREADY BEEN IN THAT SITUATION AND KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH IT. It’s like sharing a piece of advice with your best friend, but on a blog, you are speaking to hundreds of people.
Or, another example is, you are a broke college student but you found a way to travel all around the word for cheap and now you want to share your tips and tricks.
In this case, your tips will be useful to people who are in the same your situation: broke college students with a passion for travelling. You can even narrow it down to tips for female-solo college students who like to travel if this is your case and you know a lot about it! And much more…
Some of the most popular niches which you can start with are:
Health and fitness – everything from workouts, diet plans, healthy eating, supplements;
Lifestyle – it includes travel, home decor, organisation and everything that concerns personal interests and daily activities;
Parenting – everything from stay at home moms, working moms, tips & tricks, children recipes.
Find a name for your blog
Once you have figured out what you want to write about, you must give the blog a name.
It’s important that you choose something that reminds the topic/niche that you’ve picked. This will tremendously help you with SEO and people will find your blog on search engines when looking for the topic you write about.
Furthermore, you’ll use the blog name as
But… What is a DOMAIN NAME?
The domain name is the URL address of your blog, that string of letters, numbers and symbols which your blog will be recognised by in the world-wide
In order to associate your blog name to the domain name, you need to register the domain name. This will also make sure you’ve got that URL address and no one else can have it!
Keep your domain name with the same web hosting provider, so it will make things easier and you’ll be able to manage everything from just one platform.
One of my favourite web hosting provider, which most of my clients use and I’m happy to recommend it to you too, is Bluehost.
And, if you decide to get a domain name with my affiliate link here, you’ll get a FREE DOMAIN for the first year when you pay at least 12 months of web hostingup-front.
You can check if your name is available with this great tool below, provided by Bluehost.
Give your blog a space in the world-wide -web
Now that we are sorted with the blog name we can proceed to think about where to place your blog in the world-wide-web. This is when we start to talk about web hosting.
What is WEB HOSTING?
Basically, it’s the space where you will “store” the blog in the world wide web. Is the place where you will be able to upload blog posts, images and all the things you need to make your blog appear beautiful and catchy.
There are a lot of providers around. However, it’s important that you choose someone reliable to ensure a high standard of performances like page loading speed, protection, storage, etc.
To start your blog, you don’t need a lot of storage space or super professional features. This will make web hosting extremely expensive! Instead, you can opt for something more simple but still effective and eventually upgrade in the future.
Bluehost offers prices from just $3.95/month (or £3.25 if you’re in the UK) for the basic plan.
But you can get the “choice plus” plan for just $5.99 for the first year that is a great deal, considering that you’ll get unlimited features and free backups.
And, if you decide to use my affiliate link here, you’ll get a FREE DOMAIN and a FREE SSL certificate included.
>>> Make sure to use my affiliate link to get a FREE DOMAIN and a FREE SSL certificate included in your plan! <<<
Getting started with Bluehost
I’m going to show you, step-by-step how to get started with Bluehost and set your blog in literally less than 5 minutes.
If you click here you’ll see the homepage of the website like the one on the right.
Click on “get started” to proceed to the plans.
Select a plan
As I was saying before, they offer four different plans and it’s up to you which one to choose. If you are just starting out and want to budget, the basic one will be just fine for you. You can always update later on when your blog will grow.
If you are a small business owner, I would consider the plus or choice plus one as it gives you more unlimited features for just $5.95.
Click“select”and in the next step you will have to choose the domain name. As I said before, the domain name is FREE if you pay 12 months of web hosting upfront instead of month-to-month.
Click “next” once you’ve typed the domain name you want to use for the blog.
Payment information
Fill in all your personal information, choose the “account plan” for a minimum of 12 months and select or deselect the extras. Once again, you don’t need all this extra when you’re starting out. You can always add them later on.
PRO TIP: I don’t recommend to pay month-to-month for many reasons: for example, if your payment card expires when you have to renew your blog, it will automatically go down. This means visitors won’t see your blog anymore and you’ll lose traffic, sales, etc..
Instead, by signing up for a minimum of 12 months (you can choose up to 60 months), it will also guarantee you a lower price that you can’t get by pay month-to-month.
Fill your payment card information, check the “Terms one Service, Cancellation Policy and Privacy Policy” and then click on “submit”.
Set up the Bluehost account
Before installing WordPress on your blog, you need to set the Bluehost account up.
In the next page click on the “create your password” button and fill with the choose password. Check Policy and Term of Service and click on “next”.
You’ll be directed to a congratulation/confirmation page and you will also receive all the details via email. Keep it safe.
Start to set up WordPress
From the confirmation page click on “log in” to start setting WordPress up.
You’ll have the choice to pick a free theme or skip this step. Of course, you can always change it later and install a different one.
Sidney and Zerif Lite are good choice to start with. I’ve designed a website for some clients with those and they work fine as “starter”.
Whether you want to start a blog or a website for your business, I recommend to use a premium theme. It gives you much more freedom of customisation and they are super beginner friendly.
Some good places to find affordable and catchy theme are aTheme and Envato Market.
Once done, you’ll be directed to a new page “All done!”. Click on “Start Building” to proceed.
WordPress Dashboard
At this step, we are finally ready to give life to the blog!
We are now in the WordPress Dashboard that is where you have control of your blog.
The first time you’ll open it, it will ask you a few questions. If you want to go straight and start creating some content, just click “I don’t need help”.
Once clicked, it will show you the different option you can choose:
- Launch your site: to make your website live in the web;
- Blog posts: start adding a new post to the blog;
- Pages: add new pages to the blog;
- Navigation Menus: change the items of the menu area;
- Sell Products: if you want to sell stuff on your blog, you’ll need to install the WooCommerce plugin.
For now, we need to click on “Launch”. It will ask the Site Title and the Site Description (tagline).
If you need advice on how to complete this section and make it SEO friendly, check the 10 Essential WordPress Tips to start a blogin2019.
Click on “next step” to launch your blog.
Add new post and pages
Once the blog is live, go back to your dashboard to start adding content to your blog, like posts and pages.
Move the mouse on the left side of your screen to fine the tab “Posts” and “Pages” and select “Add New”. You’ll see something like this.
Now you only have to create great content to build and grow your blog or website. Happy blogging 🙂
Advantages of choosing Bluehost
Unlikely other web hosting providers, Bluehost offers some great advantages. No brainer it has been chosen to host OVER 2 MILION of websites worldwide.
- 24/7 Customer service – no matter where in the world you are based or what time you need help, you’ll be able to access their customer service at any time of the day.
- One click WordPress installation – no need to hire a professional or learn special skills to set up your blog.
- 30-day money back guarantee – not happy with Bluehost? They give you your money back if you cancel within 30 days.
- Recommended by WordPress.org – first recommendation out of three (DreamHost & Siteground).
Don’t forget the plugins!
Plugins are a great way to customise your blog. It also helps readers to have a better experience while navigating your blog.
WordPress literally offers infinite options when it comes to plugins. Security, anti-spam, contact form, nice bits and bobs here and there… Everything you need you’ll probably find it for free on the WordPress Plugin Directory. And if you think that a free plugin has got limited features, you can opt for a premium one.
They offer more customisation and they come with direct support from the developer in case you’ve got problems.
Because you have to treat your blog like a business, if you eventually want to make money, the first step to start looking professional is to add a contact form to your blog.
First, you need to install download and install the plugin. One of the best contact forms around is WPForms.
It’s easy to use thanks to the drag and drop editor so you can create the contact form “as you go” and without coding knowledge.
Download the plugin from here, install it and activate it. You’ll see the tab “WPForms” at the left of the WP dashboard.
Head over “WPForms and select “add new“.
This will open the interface when you can create your first contact form.
Create a name for the contact form and click on “Simple Contact Form” template.
By default, you’ll have a simple contact form 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’ve done editing and you’re happy with the contact form, don’t forget to click the “save” button on top of the template.
Now, head over to the desired page where you want to place the contact form. On the edit screen you’ll notice a “Add Form” button. If you’re using Gutenberg, you’ll find it in the blocks.
Select it and it will open a pop up for you to choose which contact form you want to use. Select the one you’ve created before and click on “Add Form” to add the shortcode to the page.
And… ET VOILA! You are ready to go!
Start a blog in 2021
I hope this step-by-step guide will help you to start a successful blog in 2019. I’d love to hear about your journey 🙂 let me know in the comments below if you have any question or just to share your thoughts.
>>> Click here to take advantage of this unique discount and start a blog from as little as $3.95 a month and, if you use my affiliate link, you will also get a FREE domain! <<<
