how to start a blog and make money

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How To Start A Blog In 2022 - Effective & Easy Guide For Beginners

Hey future bloggers, SO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU! We will show you how to start your blog from scratch.  Are you wondering how to start a blog and make money? – We will give you the answers. If the thought of creating your website is a bit overwhelming & you don’t know where to start, don’t worry about it – we’re here to make things extra easy for you.

All you have to do is follow the steps we are about to teach you.

Everything you need to know is right here.

We made sure not to miss a single step or any details. 

Besides guiding you in the process of creating your blog, you will get an effective, beginner-friendly SEO checklist.

Table of Contents

Pick Your Niche

pick a niche

Determinate your niche – what kind of content you will be creating.

Fashion blogs, lifestyle blogs, and food blogs are just a few ideas.

Choose a niche that you’re truly passionate about.  

That’s the only way you’ll be able to produce high-quality content for your audience & achieve great success blogging!

Choose A Name For Your Blog

Next, when it comes to learning how to start a blog properly and make money, is choosing a name for your site.

We want you to choose a name that has brand potential. 

BLUEHOST – a web hosting company we’re about to talk in step number 3 – gives you FREE domain registration for one year!   

You should come up with a few name options before actually choosing the right one, anyhow you can always change or update your domain name later, once you have a running blog.

Get Web Hosting

When you have your domain name – you need to pay a company such BLUEHOST to make your site viewable & live on the Internet. 

For beginners, we strongly recommend Bluehost, since we use it as well & couldn’t be more than happy with them!

We partnered with BLUEHOST to get you guys a 60% discount when you purchase their service through our link!
The price is super affordable, just for 3.95$ a month you get professional service – it doesn’t get better than this! You will also get 24h support + a free business email!
With Bluehost, you can install WORDPRESS in just one easy click. Their team will take care of everything, so you can focus on creating the content & designing your site.

Super Important

Bluehost is also the #1 recommended web hosting by WordPress.org.  

They power over 2 million websites worldwide as well as they offer one of the most popular & affordable hosting options.  

Why Bluehost Is A Perfect Choice?

Learn how to start your blog super fast and make money using BLUEHOST :
1. Remarkable & super fast customer service- the average time that took them to reply to any question or any problem you encounter is JUST 5 MIN.
2. Nothing beats the price, only 3,95 $ a monthfor the service you get is mind-blowing!
3. They are also one of the FASTEST Web Hosting companies. – Having a fast loading site is crucial for the user experience. ***Bluehost’s average loading speed is 419 ms & they will be able to carry around 500,000 monthly visitors to your web site.

What Do You Get From Them ?

– 1 Year Premium Bluehost Hosting $3.95/month

– Free domain

– Free SSL Security

– Unmetered Bandwidth

– 1 Click WordPress Installation

– Plus Unlimited Web Space On Plus/Pro plan

How to start your blog and set up Bluehost?

1. CHOOSE YOUR PLAN – Since you are a beginner who’s new to blogging, the perfect fit for you will be the basic plan, which you can later update.
BlueHost Pricing Plans - How to start a blog on WordPress

Anyhow, if you’re determined to commit to blogging full time, we strongly recommend their CHOICE PLUS or PRO PLAN.

2. REGISTER YOUR DOMAIN NAME – as we mentioned through Bluehost you’ll get one for free for 1 year use!
Set Up Domain form Bluehost - How to start a blog and set up Bluehost

Next, you will have to put your billing address & account details.   

As we mentioned above, we have a – – – – > link for you that will save you some serious $

The best way possible to get the ultimate deal is to choose 60 or 36 months option, however, if you end up choosing the 24 or 12 months options you’ll get pretty good savings as well!
The next step gives you an option to add some additional things to your package, you can skip all of them, but we recommend you to get the domain privacy protection which will protect your site from hackers as well as keep your personal Infos private.
You’re all done now – Your Blog is set up, Congrats!

Install WordPress

On your Bluehost dashboard , Click where it says ‘My Sites’ and then click the blue button ‘CREATE SITE’

WordPress will be automatically installed just with one click. 

Without a doubt, this is the very first reason why we recommend Bluehost – everything is just so easy, which is so convenient for beginners.  

Once logged in WordPress, you’ll be able to see your WordPress dashboard.

On the left side of the dashboard, you will see tabs to create pages as well as posts.

We want you to take some time in order to get familiar with the dashboard. If you are ready to launch your site just hit the button “Launch Your Site” on the dashboard.
If you don’t wanna publish your site until you get all the design ready then click on the orange “Coming soon active” sign at the top of the dashboard.

Create Your Business Logo & Choose The Design Of Your Site

This is super important!  

If you don’t have an idea about how you would like your site to look like, we recommend checking a few blog designs before making a decision.    

For example – we wanted a feminine & sophisticated website, so we use pink in 4 similar shades (we recommend you do the same – 3 or 4 colors MAX).

You also need a professional logo for your business.

Choose a Theme For Your Blog

You need to install a theme that will make your blog look professional. From your WordPress dashboard click Appearance » Themes  to go to the WordPress theme repository.
For our site, we use ASTRA THEME , which we recommend for you guys!

Why Choose Astra

1. Offers a free theme that looks nothing but gorgeous

2.ASTRA is the best multi-purpose WordPress theme 

3. There are tons of YouTube videos to help you proceed with the installation 

They have a free & a paid version. 

No matter which one you choose, you’ll get access to a library of professional, quality pre-build content for your website.  

If you’re passionate about the design of your blog & you want it to look nothing but professional, don’t hesitate to upgrade to ASTRA paid version since that’s the only way to have access to all the extra features you’ll need.

Even though the free version is also great, your web design options will be somehow limited.

Proceed with Installation

1. Install a plugin – Astra Starter Sites – which is a growing library with templates who are ready to use
2. Choose the page builder – We recommend ELEMENTOR – since we use it for our site as well.
Elementor is the world leading WordPress page builder since it’s simple, powerful & flexible. Using it – you don’t have to be a tech expert and know coding- this page builder will make things extra easy for you!
It will take your design vision & turn it into a stunning custom made website with simple drag & drop editing tools.
If you want to take the design of your blog to the next level , we strongly recommend upgrading to the paid version.

7. Install Secure Https

Bluehost provides free SSL certificates for you.

Here is how to activate your free WordPress SSL Certificate:

1. Log in to your Bluehost control panel (CPanel)
2. Click ‘My Sites’
3. Then click ‘Manage Site’
4. On the next screen, click ‘Security’ and then beside Free SSL Certificate, turn the switch to ‘on’ 

Change The Permalink Structure Of Your Blog

Before you start writing & creating your content, You have to change your blog’s permalink structure.

Click on “Settings” and then”Permalinks.”  

Then select the “Post Name” option & your blog will have the right structure.

By now, before step 9, we believe you already have a clear picture in your head regarding how to start a blog and make money:)

Install "Site Kit"

SITE KIT is the official word press plugin from google.

It’s the one stop solution to get insights about how people find and use your site, the 6 services that the site kit plugin helps you connect to are:

1. Analytics

2. Search Console

3. Google Adsense

4. Page Speed Insights

5. Optimize

6. Tag Manager

Add Plugins

This is very easy, all you have to do is go to  Plugins » Add New  from your WordPress dashboard and search for the plugin you want.
Click “Install” and then “Activate”.- all set, the plugin is activated now!
If you want to upload other plugins & you’ve downloaded some, we will teach you how to install them in just 3 easy steps:

1. Go to your WordPress dashboard and on the left side tab click where it says ‘Plugins’ and click ‘Add New.’

2. Next, you will see a button that says ‘Upload Plugin’ Click that and upload the plugin that you saved to your computer.

3. Once it has uploaded, you can go to your ‘Plugins’ tab, find where it is, and click ‘Activate.’ - all done!

5 Must-Have Plugins

1. SEO YOAST - SEO optimization 

2.BROKEN LINKS - detects link that are not working anymore

3. W3 Total Cache- helps you speed up the load of the site

4. Updraft Plus - backup/restore your site

5. Wordfence security - keeps your website safe, malware scanner, antivirus & firewall

Create Content

create content for your blog
Finally! It’s time to start writing blog posts & creating content.
1.When you’ll be creating the posts, always have your reader in mind – your targeted audience!
2. Make a researchwhat is trending at the moment.
3. Use popular keywords for your posts.

To get started you must learn the basics of SEO (search engine optimization) so that people can find your blog on the web. We recommend you have at least 5 blog posts ready before making your site public. Don’t forget to create your “About Me” Page, “Privacy Policy” and Contact Page”.

Conclusion

We understand that starting your blog can be a bit overwhelming – we’ve been there!
Don’t let these thoughts interfere with your dreams neither stop you going after the different lifestyle you’ve always wanted!
We’ll be here to help you every step of the way, feel free to contact us with any questions you may have regarding how to start a blog and make money!
Also have one more thing is mind, success doesn’t come over night, you need to be patient & work hard!
The average time that a new blog needs to start getting significant traffic it’s somewhere between 3-6 months – don’t be disappointed in the very first week blogging, as everything in life – things take time!
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF BLOGGING – You can do this!  We are so excited that you already made the first step that will undoubtedly lead you to great success!

As we promised, there is tons of content we will be sharing with you – we will teach you all the blogging strategies that work in 2022!
Stay on the lookout, xoxo!

Hope you have a clear picture how to start your blog from scratch and make money.  

For any other questions please contact us.

Cheers, Ivana & Sara

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