How to Start a Blog with WordPress

There are many reasons why people start online blogs in the first place, some just to document their lives, and others to offer the world with knowledgeable information and make a bit of money by doing so.

But how do you even start blogging, and more the point, how can you make money from it ?

Like anything in this world, to start by creating your own personal touch / online presence, you need to start by purchasing 2 main things.

1. A domain name, and
2. Web hosting

There are hundreds of different options available to choose from, but after being in the industry myself for over 20 years, I have found two of the best options available on the market today.

The two best web hosting companies to start blogging with are:

• Bluehost, and
• SiteGround

I personally use SiteGround as they provide the easiest and best way to start a blog with WordPress in under 10 min. From a nerdy tech point of view, they also tick all boxes to offer a seamless WordPress experience. In the following steps, I will show you how to begin your blog using SiteGround.

So let’s look, step-by-step of how to start a blog with WordPress.

Purchase a domain and web hosting

First, we need to set up a SiteGround account. The link to their website can be found here – SiteGround Web Hosting.

There are 3 options to choose from on SiteGround. I use the GrowBig plan as I run multiple websites, but if it’s only one blog that you will run, then start with the StartUp plan.

Choose StartUp:

Enter your domain name (or if you don’t have one, buy direct from SiteGround):

Next, add your details. One important factor to look at is towards the bottom of the sign up form, the data center. Choose the data center that is the closest to where you think most of your audience will be. If your blog is aimed for worldwide, I recommend choosing the Chicago, USA server.

Once you’ve entered all your details, you’re ready to go !!

You will receive an email from SiteGround with your details and address where to log into your account.

Setup your FREE SSL certificate

Once logged into your account you want to enter cPanel and begin the WordPress installation.

But first, you need to set up the FREE SSL certificate for your domain. This is a must for all websites wanting to rank on Google.

Go to cPanel, then down to Security, Let’s Encrypt.

Choose your domain, then choose Let’s Encrypt Wildcard SSL.

It may take up to 1 hour for the certificate to be available.

Install WordPress in less than 5 minutes

Now the fun begins. Go to cPanel Home, Autoinstallers, WordPress. This will take you to the Softaculous page.

• IMPORTANT. Select the small down arrow next to install. Here we can customize our WordPress installation.

• Select Latest Version (default)
• Select https://www. (IMPORTANT ! not http://www.)
• Choose your domain

• Name your site, and give a description
• DO NOT use ADMIN as your Username. Enter your first name, or a name you choose. Using ADMIN can cause hacking issues in the future with your WordPress blog.
• Choose a strong password and enter your email address.

• Leave all other options on default and press INSTALL at the bottom. The installation shouldn’t take more than 20-30 seconds.

You’re DONE !! You now have your own WordPress blog up and running. Hooray !

Select your Free WordPress Theme

Now it’s time to finish the setup, select a theme, and adjust some settings.

Go to https://www.your-domain-here.com/wp-admin and choose from a list of themes you’d like to start with.

For this example, I’m choosing the FREE “Personal Blog” theme.

The next step depends on which theme you’ve chosen, but important plugins to choose are:

• Contact Form, Jetpack, and

• Google Analytics and Optimize for SEO.

The settings for these plugins will be discussed in detail in a future article.

Clean up your WordPress Dashboard

To keep things nice and clean and less distracting, it’s best to change the following settings on your Dashboard.

• Go to the bottom of the page and click switch to default

• Select Screen Options at the top of the page
• Untick all options except At a Glace, Activity, and Quick Draft.

Start your blog

Before you begin blogging, you want to remove the sample blogs that were installed with your theme.

• Go to Posts and Select all posts, then Move to Trash

Now it’s time to start blogging…