Creating your first blog can seem daunting, with WordPress it’s easier than ever to set up your first blog and you can do it in 15 minutes or less.
As simple as it is, it’s still important you’ve got a good deal of knowledge behind you to get started. There are lots of tips and tricks to make the process as easy as possible for you.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on setting up your first blog.
1. Purchase Hosting And Your Domain Name
Firstly, you need to decide your niche, what are you going to write about? once you’re certain which route you want to take it’s time to think about Hosting and Domain.
you can purchase your hosting and domain at the same time so there’s no need to worry about the nitty-gritty. before you do this, you need to purchase a WordPress host. I recommend Bluehost as it’s perfect for blog newbies. Bluehost is very affordable and you even get a free domain when you sign up. It’ll cost you about £25.00 to host your blog at Bluehost for the entire year, there is also a 30-day money-back guarantee.
2. Install The Free WordPress Software
If you’ve followed the last step and signed up to Bluehost, you should receive an email from them instructing you on how to log into the Bluehost Customer Area.
As soon as you log in for the first time, Bluehost will give you a simple wizard that takes you through installing WordPress on your new site. Then you’ll be asked to fill in all the important details for your site’s name and the username/password that you’ll use to manage your WordPress blog. Once the installation is complete, you’ll be able to access your new blog’s dashboard by going to yourdomain.com/wp-admin.
3. Go Ahead And Write Your First Blog
Now you’ve installed WordPress, you’re probably itching to get writing. If you hover over “Posts” and click on “Add new”, this will launch the WordPress Editor, which lets you write your blog postings using a really intuitive block system. To add text, you just click and type. For other content like images or an embedded Youtube video, you can add ‘new blocks”.
4. Change How Your Blog Looks
Once you’ve got to grips with navigating around your blog, you might be thinking of dressing up your site. one of many benefits of WordPress is that you get access to WordPress’s huge collection of themes and plug-ins.
As soon as you create a WordPress blog, you already have a theme active. This will either be the default WordPress theme or the theme that you chose during the Bluehost setup wizard.
There are thousands of blog themes available for WordPress sites, so you’re certainly not limited to the small selection of themes Bluehost shows you.
You can search for free themes in the official WordPress.org theme directory. For premium themes, you’ll need a slightly broader approach, you can search for premium ones in ThemeForest or Themeelsle, these are two good examples of where to look for premium themes.
To install a theme, hover over ‘Appearance”, select ‘Themes” and click the “add new” button. If you chose a theme that’s free on WordPress.org, search for the theme by name and click install. If you chose a premium theme, click the upload theme and upload the ZIP file you should have received when you purchased the theme.
Once you’ve installed your new theme, you can further customize it by using the WordPress customizer (which is something resembling a website builder). This interface lets you make certain tweaks to your theme to improve your web design without needing to know code or HTML.
5. Add Functionality To Your Blog
While themes are focused on the appearance of your blog, plug-ins are focused on functionality. When you first create your free WordPress blog, you are pretty much limited to writing blog posts and creating pages.
Plug-ins are what allow you to add more advanced functionality like contact forms, social network buttons, backups, improved SEO, and many, many more.
If you can think of a feature, you can bet there’s probably a plug-in for it. WordPress community offers over 50,000 free plug-ins and thousands of premium plug-ins too.
The best place to look for free plug-ins is in the Official WordPress. org plug-in directory. If you’re looking for premium plug-ins I recommend searching on Google for something like ‘X best plug-in” and buying from a well-known developer.
To install new plug-in go-to plug-ins and click add new. If you chose a free plug-in, search the plug-in by name and click the upload button. If you chose a premium one, click the upload button and upload the ZIP file you should have received when you made a purchase, and click upload.
Loading speeds are key to a well-run website with high user retention rates. I would recommend checking out our article on the Top 10 WordPress Plugins to improve your site speed.
So there you have it, hopefully creating your first blog isn’t too daunting now you know some tips and tricks and steps to refer to when you decide to go ahead. Good luck.