So you want to start a blog, but looking for the cheapest way since you are on a budget or not sure how this will work on. Then look here, and you will know how.
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Hi there, my name is Richard, and in this article, you will learn the cheapest way to start a blog.
When I first started a blog was on a free site like WordPress.com. I remember it was easy to register and start writing on my new blog.
The problem was that I was very limited. There were plugins I was unable to install. I had to choose between the themes WordPress.com allowed me to use.
I also got a bit tired of having the constant reminder that this blog was free since many places in my admin dashboard had a message that I need to upgrade my account to get this functionality.
Now I could upgrade my account and get a domain name, but then I need to pay more than doing this yourself. And you can do this very easy!
Best and cheapest way to start a blog
So let's take a look at the best and cheapest way to start your blog. What I recommend you to do is creating an account at Bluehost.com.
Why use Bluehost?
- You will receive your first domain name at no extra cost.
- Receive a one-click installation of WordPress, the most used and best blogging software in the market.
- WordPress is open source software and free, no extra cost.
- You will receive support from Bluehost if you have questions.
- Bluehost has one of the most affordable plans without a big sacrifice on quality. Google and readers don’t like slow blogs.
- 30 Day money-back guarantee with no questions asked if you want a refund.
Step 1: Choice your niche
When you start to write, you want to write about a topic. Very few people will follow someone that is writing about many topics in multiple broad niches. You can't write about football, watches, and dogs on the same blog. You need a topic to follow.
Even popular personal blogs try to follow a main topic, and it can be family life or fashion and makeup. I write in the make money online niche that maybe is too broad.
This can best be described as you are writing to a particular person. If you start to write to multiple people, then fewer people will follow you. Google will also struggle to understand what your blog is about, and people will not find your blog as easily.
So find a topic, because you need to think about this when you are choosing your domain name.
Step 2: Register at Bluehost
The first step is to go to Bluehost.com and select your plan.
You can start with Basic plan with lowest cost. This plan is very good when you start a blog. If you want to have more websites or blogs later, you can upgrade your plan.
Then its time to register your domain. Remember that your first domain is free.
You need to brainstorm a bit regarding domain name. If you want personal blog, yourname.com is the best choice. If you want a bit of anonymity, you can pick a domain that describes what you plan to write about. I also recommend you to choose .com, always.
If you are stuck, you can do this step later, but then you probably need some help from the BlueHost support.
Then finish your registration.
Now its time to choose the packet information. You need to pay upfront for a minimum of 1 year. This is the industry standard. To pay the least upfront, you can go for a 12-month plan and pay around $60. If you want to have the lowest effective cost each month, you can choose 36 months.
You can disable all the package extras. "Domain Privacy Protection" may be nice to have if you want to avoid spam, but most spam filters will stop these types of emails regardless.
What "Domain Privacy Protection" does is that Bluehost will put their email address and name in the public domain information for your domain. So you will be anonymous.
Enter your payment information and read and agree on Bluehost's legal information.
Now it's time to set your password for your account. Remember to use a unique password.
Step 3: Install wordpress
Now its time to install WordPress. WordPress is the most used and also the best software for blogging or websites in general. WordPress is also free to use. Bluehost has made it very easy to install WordPress, so follow the mini-steps below.
You need a theme, and a theme is how your blog will be presented for the viewers. This is not that important in the beginning, so choose one that fits you. You can change this later.
You have chosen your theme and now is the initial customization of your blog. You can change this later if you want to.
Now you have to choose between business and personal blog. Business is the recommended choice.
Write your site title and site description. Try to make the description short and catchy.
Below is the welcome screen inside Bluehost, but this is not the one you want to use and log in every day.
Step 4: Log on your new website
When you want to log in to your website, you don't want to go through Bluehost. You go directly to your site by typing: [yourdomainname]/wp-admin/ in your URL field on your browser. Bookmark that page so you will find it easily in the future.
Then go to settings and change your settings, so they are the same what I have in the red boxes below. I have one exception, and this is the "Your homepage displays". In the beginning, you want to use "Your latest posts". After a while, you may want to create a static front page where you present yourself and your blog properly instead of 10 latest posts.
wp link settings
Before you start to think about how to present your blog and create a beautiful design, you need people visiting your blog. To get people to your blog, you need to have something for them to read. So you need to write 10+ posts before you start with the design, I will recommend you write as many as 30 posts. That way, Google has enough posts to read and understand what your blog is about.
Step 5: Start writing
Now its time to start writing content to your blog post. If this is a personal blog where you have not a goal that your posts will rank high on google, then you are free to start writing.
If you want to rank on google, then follow the next step.
Step 6: How to research what to write about
Keyword research is a critical step to do before you start to write. That way, you know how difficult it is to rank on the first page on google.
Go to Answerthepublic and write down your topic. You will find a lot of questions about your topic that people are searching on google. Write down those who you want to write about. Try to pick the ones that seem easy to write.
Hopefully, you also have some knowledge about your niche. So write down some questions you think people may have about your niche.
Then go to Ubersuggest and enter the different topics, one at the time. Write down if there is search volume and how easy it is to rank for. Remember this information is not accurate and is just a guideline.
Then do a google search for each question or topic you have on your list. Open the top 5 links if they are relevant and skim through the post.
Go to Wordcounter and copy/paste the link to find how many words the different posts have.
Then write down in your spreadsheet what the average word count is, do they answer the question and how easily do you think you can write something better. Modell what others have done, and you will be fine.
Remember if the average word length of the articles is 1000, then you need to write a post that is 1000+ long. If the average article is 2500 words, you need to write a 2500+ words long article. This rule applies if they stay on topic and answer the main question.
I recommend you start with the easy questions. Maybe the first 10 posts will answer the easy questions and will be about 1000 to 1500 words.
Then go for those you think will have medium and hard difficulty.
Step 7: How to monetize your blog
You have now created your blog, you probably want to make some money on it. This can best be done by affiliate marketing.
You can read a post I have written on how to start with affiliate marketing here.
Another option you have is by ads. If you want to have advertisements on your blog, you need some traffic first. Don't do it right away, because this can limit how high you will rank at Google. Most people don't like ads, so why put them there when you try to get more people to your blog.
Another issue with advertising is that if people don't click on the ads, you won't make money. And without much traffic, you will not get clicks on your ads. So wait a bit before you try this.
