Whether you’re starting a side hustle, a full blown business or simply looking for a hobby, blogging is a great way to share your voice, build a brand and grow your audience.
There’s more good news. You don’t need to know how to code or be a tech genius to launch a blog!
So, let’s get started.
What You’ll Need to Start a Blog
- A blogging platform (we recommend WordPress)
- A hosting provider (to keep your website online)
- A domain name (like yourblog.com)
- A theme (for design) and a few plugins (for features and security)
Don’t worry, we’ll walk you through each of these, one at a time.
Step 1 – Deciding on a Blogging Platform
You can think of the blogging platform as the software that your blog is made with. There are many options like Blogger, Wix or Ghost for example. But you’ll be stuck with their hosting and pricing forever, or in the case of Ghost, you can host it yourself, but it’s super technical.
As you already know, we recommend WordPress. It’s free and open and has a large (almost infinite) ecosystem of themes and plugins to extend the functionality of your blog.
You also won’t be stuck with a single hosting provider. Don’t like your current host? You can move your WordPress blog anywhere.
Step 2 – Get Reliable WordPress Hosting
Every blog needs a place where it’s stored on the internet. That’s what hosting is. There are many generic web hosting providers. But you’ll have to install and setup WordPress manually if you choose one of those.
Since this is a beginner friendly guide, we recommend sticking to Managed WordPress Hosting services which come with WordPress already set up so you only have to select a theme and start writing.
WPZee’s Managed WordPress Hosting is especially built to be beginner friendly with a simplified hosting panel (if you have ever used standard web hosting, you’ll know).
You can find the plans here: https://wpzee.com/wordpress-hosting/#pricing
The “Starter” plan is more than enough for starting out a blog. If you end up getting a lot of visitors or you need more space, you can always ugrade later on.
Step 3 – Pick a Domain Name
Your domain name is your blog’s address on the internet – like thepointswanderer.com.
Most hosting providers let you register a domain while buying hosting, So you might have already reached this step if you’re following along. Go ahead and register your domain.
Just remember to:
- Keep it short and memorable
- Avoid using numbers or hyphens
- Try to reflect your niche or personality
- A
.comor your local domain (like.com.aufor Australia) might be easier to remember if available
Step 4 – Choose a WordPress Theme
If you follow through with buying the domain and hosting, you should now have a WordPress blog. How exciting is that!
If you used WPZee for hosting, it’ll let you select a name for your blog and then take you straight to the theme selection. You can search and select a theme that you like.
Choosing a theme is a personal thing. So we’ll leave you to it. But make sure to check the Popular tab.
If you’re not on WPZee, or if you want to change it later on, go to Appearance > Themes from the WordPress sidebar and click on Add Theme to find a new theme.
Step 5 – Install Essential Plugins
WordPress plugins are like additional features that you can add on to your blog.
Again, if you’re with WPZee, these (or better, paid alternatives) are already set up for you and you can skip ahead. If not, we recommend the following plugins. You can go to Plugins > Add Plugin from the WordPress sidebar to search and install these.
| Plugin | Purpose |
| Yoast SEO | Improve your search rankings |
| WPForms | Contact forms |
| Akismet | Block comment spam |
| W3 Total Cache | Speed up your blog |
As an additional tip, Disable Comments is a plugin you can install if you don’t want to deal with comments on your blog at all.
Step 6 – Start Writing!
Go to Posts > Add Post from the WordPress sidebar and start writing your blog!
Here’s some inspiration to get you started:
- Your personal story or the reason for starting the blog
- A how-to guide on your niche or product
- Or, simply write about your favourite movie
Write like you’re talking to a friend and focus on helping your readers.
Final Thoughts
Your blog is live. You can now share it on social media or on niche forums or communities. You can also start a newsletter to keep your readers interested and returning for more posts.
Blogging is one of the most powerful things you can do to build an online presence. So start today, not someday.
Starting Your Blog with WPZee
Before you go, we’d like to touch on some of the helpful features of WPZee’s Managed WordPress Hosting.
- WordPress and essential plugins are already pre-installed for you
- You’ll get a free subdomain to use until you decide on a paid domain to buy (or to use forever, it’s up to you!)
- WordPress and installed plugins and themes are automatically kept up to date. Outdated versions are what lead to blogs getting hacked
- We automatically scan for malware on your website files and remove/quarantine them. Any vulnerable versions of plugins and themes are also patched meaning you get the best security for your blog
- You’ll get AccelerateWP a premium, paid WordPress optimisation plugin included for free with your hosting
So if you’re interested, you can start here: https://wpzee.com/wordpress-hosting/#pricing
