How to Create A Blog In WordPress : A Step By Step Guide

Creating A Blog On WordPress

There are several reasons why I moved my blog from the free Blogger platform to WordPress.org. One of the many reasons was that; I have the option to use my blog for whatever purpose I deem appropriate. I mean, it becomes totally mine, and restrictions are done with in terms of the little templates provided by Blogspot.

WordPress, if not the best, is definitely one of the best website, blog and e-commerce builders there is online. Based on the recent statistics released by Kinsta, WordPress host 14.7% of the world’s top websites. 500+ sites are built each day using WordPress, while only 60-80 blogs per day are built on platform like Shopify and Squarespace. The WordPress Plugin Directory features 55,000+ plugins.

Hence, if your intention is to build a perfect business blog with less effort, advanced templates, SEO plugins, and a lot more, then I recommend that you choose WordPress.org. Its drag-and-drop features, coupled with its professional (understandable) dashboard, is quite a thing you can’t find somewhere else.

Hence in this article, irrespective of whatever you want to use your blog for, I will be teaching you how to set up a blog on the WordPress.org platform.

Take Note: There are two types of WordPress platforms.

The sites are www.wordpress.com and www.wordpress.org. The major difference between the two is .org is a self-hosted platform, which means you have total control. While .com is limited in performance and it is hosted on wordpress.com itself. 

Additionally, .org provides advanced customization and monetization options. while WordPress.com gives users a quick and easy way to get started for free, upon which they can upgrade or move to a better option later. 

So, in this post, you will be learning how to set up a wordpress.org (self-hosted) blog. The best WordPress plugins to use, how to drive traffic and how to monetize and use your blog to promote your business.

NOTE: This tutorial is quite easy, Even a 60-year-old grandma can do it. Nevertheless, if you are finding it difficult, you can reach out to our team for a free service.

What do you need to create a blog in WordPress?

There are two major things you need to create a WordPress blog:

1. A domain name (this will be the name (url) of your blog, e.g., wealthonnet.com) costs about $10 per year.
2. A website hosting account (this is where your website will be hosted on the internet). $2.75 monthly.

There are several hosting companies out there, however, Bluehost, not only is it recommended by WordPress, We have personally evaluated its dependability and functionality, and we boldly suggest Bluehost to aspiring WordPress bloggers.

Remember: When launching your own WordPress site on Bluehost, choosing a domain name is likely one of the most crucial choices you’ll ever make. 

Therefore, give it some attention, and keep in mind to choose a name that is memorable and easy to recall. Most bloggers subsequently regret choosing names that are either too long or too difficult to pronounce, which makes it tough to explain them to others.

With Bluehost, you may directly purchase your domain, greatly streamlining the procedure. If you get Bluehost web hosting for 12 months, you may also benefit from a FREE domain for the first year.

To save a significant amount of money and to receive the most benefits, we strongly advise you to sign up for hosting for at least 12 months. The free domain name is only an extra bonus because purchasing a year’s worth of hosting also guarantees lower monthly pricing. 

Similar to this, buying a 36-month plan results in long-term savings and even better value. So you may simply select the offer that best meets your needs and benefits you. If you’ve decided to receive a free domain, using Bluehost, let’s move on to the next stage.

Stage One: Purchasing hosting/domain from Bluehost

Step 1: Go to bluehost.com and select a plan.

Note: If you are just starting out, we recommend the basic plan, as it has everything you need to start a wordpress blog as a beginner.

Step 2: Click on Select to start: it will take you to the next page where you will have to enter your domain name as seen in the image below. You can brainstorm and pick a domain name of your choice. (Note: this is a free offer for you). 

NOTE: if you have an existing domain name that you want to use, use the next option. Once you insert your domain name, click next.

Step 3: Enter your account information

Enter account information

After filling the above information, scroll down to Package information section as seen below.

Account Plan: you choose the plan you want, be it 12 month plan or 36 as you deemed fit.

If you need the other services as stated in the list, you can check the boxes and they will be added to your bill.

However, on a basic level, all it requires is $35.30.

Step 4: Click on submit and you are ready to forge ahead. You will be asked to enter a password. Do make sure you enter a secure and remember-able password and follow the prompts that follows.

Stage 2: WordPress Software Installation

After you have made a purchase, you will receive instructions in your email inbox on how to log in to your Bluehost customer dashboard (Cpanel). Go ahead and click the link.

Don’t panic about the installation of wordpress software at all. It’s as easy as ABC. After clicking the link provided for you in your email. You will be taken to a Cpanel where you will install your wordpress automatically and in one click.

Alternatively: Manual installation method

Go to your Cpanel as seen in the image below:

On the left hand menu, click on my site with wordpress logo, after that, click create site. From thence, a new page will appear as seen below. 

Enter your site name: for example: as in my case I put Wealth On Net Blog

Site Tagline (Short Description): Making money doing online jobs and businesses. After that click next.

After the installation process, proceeds to your wordpress dashboard.

You can access your wordpress dashboard through: the domain name you register/wp-admin/.

In my case it goes thus: wealthonnet.com/wp-admin/ and to my site dashboard it goes.

After the Installation comes the next stage and you will be taken to dashboard as seen below.

Starting a blog using the free Blogger platform by Google has its own unique advantages.

Stage 3: Understanding WordPress Dashboard Parameters

Once you get to this stage, I congratulate you because your blogging journey has just begun. Now let me explain some of the section displayed above.

POST: This is the section you will click to write your new posts, Edit a post, select and add categories and tags.

MEDIA: This is where the images, videos etc. are stored. To access them and to upload, you click on media.

PAGES: This is where you get access to your static contents, like your homepage. The following are the first set of pages you should add to your website as urgently as possible:

• Privacy Policy Page
• About us page
• Contact us page
• Disclosure/disclaimer page.

In order to get these pages done in a blink of an eye, go to Termly.io and get it done in a few minutes.

COMMENTS: This is where you regulate comments on your blog. If you’d like to accept or reject comments, and other settings (as regarding commenters information and the kind of comments) you want.

APPEARANCE: This is the blog customization area.

From here you have the option to change your blog’s theme, customize the theme, add widgets (like header, sidebar widgets) ad menus (primary and secondary etc.). add premium themes: these are professional paid templates etc.

All you have to do is just take about 5 to 10, mins and hover or play around these sections. They are typically easy to do.

However, if you’re finding these basic stuffs hard a thing to do, you can always reach out to a freelancer on Fiverr to help you through. Better still you can reach out to me here for a hand. (possibly freely).

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BLOGGING: Learn how to start a money making blog.

Stage 4: Installing Themes and Plugins

THEMES

Just as I have explained above, hover your mouse over the appearance on your dashboard, click on theme, and you will see a lot of templates that you can download and install in Jivvy. However, for a beginner, I suggest that you search for and use the Astra theme, It is fast, elegant, and free.

However, if you desire a specific template for your blog, like professional templates (for real estate, lifestyle, magazine, news, portfolio, etc.), go over to Themeforest and you won’t be disappointed.

PLUGINS: Most Important Ones

Plugins add nice functionality to your blog. Below are some of the best and most important plugins you should have on your blog as a beginner.

• Yoast SEO: A must for those that use their WordPress site as a blog, as it helps you improve the overall SEO score for your content. Yoast SEO currently has over 176 million downloads.
• Akismet: A plugin made by Automattic to block spam comments. Akismet currently has over 133 million downloads, likely because it catches some 5 million pieces of spam per hour! 
• Jetpack: Another Automattic product, Jetpack helps you with marketing, design, and security. Jetpack has almost 120 million downloads.
• Wordfence Security: it has well over 121 million downloads, this plugin helps to protect your site by adding a firewall to it.
• Contact Form 7: helps you to create simple contact forms for your site. It integrates with Akismet to prevent spam and has about 112 million downloads.

Other important plugins you should have

PrettyLinks: This is a link management tool that you can use to cloak your affiliate link with its other unique functionalities.

Broken link checker: A broken link is harmful to your blog’s health. It hurts SEO. Hence, these plugins help you find broken links for you to remedy.

Yet another related post (YARPP) : this plugin helps you to automatically add posts from your blog that relates to the current one you posted.

Sharing Button: This button helps you add social sharing widgets to your website for people to easily share your blog on social media.

Updraftplus helps you back up your entire site regularly. Although making backups isn’t fun, always keep a recent backup of your blog at hand.

Monsterinsight: It is the free version of the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress, and it is the easiest way to add Google Analytics on your site (trusted by over 3 million websites).

One of the problems that faces bloggers is getting quality contents for their blogs. however, with the use of AI software, many has been able to fill their blogs with to quality contents. Check out our Jasper AI  reviews here, a top content writing AI that is being utilized these days.

How to monetize your WordPress blog.

There are several ways of doing so. The following are the top 3 ways:

• Generate sales from your business by promoting it on your blog. 
• Promote Affiliate products (learn how to become an outstanding affiliate blogger)
• Sign up for google adsense
• Sell stuffs on your blog e.g. Ebooks, software, services, etc. 

How to drive traffic to your blog.

I have written beforehand the 25 ways of getting traffic to your website. Nevertheless, i will share just a few of them.

1. Use Article Marketing : that is write articles and submit to articles directories with a link to your website. Click here to learn the secrets of Article Marketing
2. Do social media marketing: share your thoughts and websites on social medias like Facebook, twitter, Pinterest etc. Become a success bound social media marketer.
3. Guest blog on other sites that relates to your niche.
4. Use Google pay per click ads.
5. Use Facebook ads. 
6. Join and participate in online forums
7. Write keyword rich articles on your blog
8. Submit your site to search engines like Google and bing etc.

Concluding Thought

By now, i believe you have learnt how to create a blog in WordPress. Blogging is way good way of promoting your business online. In the eye of google and your blog readers it portrays you as an authority in your niche, it gets you direct traffic from google search and it is a good way of getting business lead and sales. Although, there are several other platforms to create a blog, like Blogspot, wordpress.com, site123, Podia, Medium, Tumblr, etc, WordPress.org is yet the best and advance blogging platform you can make use of.

NOTE: To create your own blog, do well to start with bluehost as we have suggested, by using our affiliate link here, you stand to get upto 70% discount in your purchase. Click here to start with bluehost.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The following are some of the most frequently asked questions by people about creating a blog in WordPress.

Can I create a blog without WordPress?

Definitely, there are other platforms you can use to build your blog like site123, blogspot, wiz, etc. However, wordpress is the best of all.

Can I build a blog without hosting?

No, . To start a blog, you will need your own domain and web hosting. The only option is if you will use other the free platforms, that host your site on your behalf e.g. Blogpost and WordPress.com.

How do I come up with a good blog name for my site?

Coming up with a good blog name can be tedious at times. If then, i suggest using your business name, or personal name. You can try this AI Software to get a clue.

How much does it cost to start a blog?

You can start a blog for free, using the free platforms. As low as $2.7 monthly, and about $30 a year plan..

Can I build a blog in my own language?

Yes, WordPress is available in various languages. During installation or through the Settings tab in the WordPress admin area, you can choose your language. More than 56 languages have been partially translated into WordPress, and dozens more have been entirely translated. There are numerous great WordPress plugins and themes that are multilingual. A theme or plugin that you want to employ on your website can also be translated.

Can I design a blog with no programming skills?

Absolutely. You don’t need any programming, coding, or design skills to create a professional-looking WordPress blog.

WordPress themes are easy to customize and you can just point and click to set up your theme. There are WordPress themes like Astra which comes with ready-made starter websites that you can import with one-click. 

Can I add a photography gallery to my blog?

Yes, WordPress comes with a built-in gallery feature that makes it easy for you to add photo galleries in your blog posts.

Professional photographers can also use premium WordPress gallery plugins to better showcase their photos and even sell photos to make money from their photography business.

Can I switch blogging platforms later?

When creating a blog for the first time, often beginners make the mistake of choosing the wrong platform like Medium, Tumblr, Blogger, or others.

Where do I find photos for my blog?

Envato elements marketplace it is a good place to go to get nice photos for your blogs.

Canva is a place to go for your various blog graphic designs. Its unique drag and drop feature is second to none.

Get free and paid royalty photos at shutterstock or pexels.