start a wordpress blog

Home / All

How to Start a WordPress Blog in 2024: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners

Starting a blog can seem daunting, especially if you’re not tech-savvy. But trust me, it’s easier than you think. With over 15 years of experience in the digital world, I’ve helped countless individuals launch their own successful blogs. Let me guide you through the entire process – from choosing your blog name to monetizing your content. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know to start a WordPress blog in 2024.

What You Need to Start a WordPress Blog

You need three simple things to get your WordPress blog up and running:

  • A domain name idea: This will be your blog’s name, like wpbeginner.com. It’s your digital address.
  • A web hosting account: This is where your website files are stored on the internet.
  • Your undivided attention for 30 minutes: Yes, you can create your blog in this short time.

Let’s dive in. Here’s what we’ll cover:

  1. Pick Your Blog Name and Platform
  2. Install WordPress Blogging Software
  3. Selecting Your WordPress Theme
  4. Creating Your First Blog Post
  5. Plugins & Customizations
  6. How to Create a Contact Form in WordPress
  7. How to Set Up Google Analytics Tracking
  8. How to Optimize Your WordPress Blog for SEO
  9. More WordPress Plugins and Customizations
  10. Making Money From Your Blog
  11. Mastering WordPress
  12. Bonus Tip: Explore Niche Blogging Resources

Step 1: Pick Your Blog Name and Platform

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen beginners make is choosing the wrong blogging platform. But, since you’re reading this, you’ll avoid that.

WordPress.org, or self-hosted WordPress, is the best choice for most users. It’s open-source, free, and allows you to install plugins, customize your blog, and even make money without limitations.

WordPress is the most popular website platform in the world. Nearly 43% of all websites are powered by WordPress! You can learn more about WordPress in our comprehensive WordPress review.

Why is WordPress free? What’s the catch? There is no catch. It’s free because you handle the setup and hosting yourself. You will need to get a domain name and web hosting to get started.

A domain name is your website’s address, like wpbeginner.com. Web hosting is where your website files are stored.

A domain name typically costs about $14.99 per year, and web hosting is around $7.99 per month. This can add up quickly, especially when you’re just starting out.

Luckily, Bluehost, a hosting provider I trust and recommend, offers our readers a free domain name and a great discount on hosting.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

You can also use other trusted hosts like SiteGround or Hostinger and still follow along with this guide. However, I recommend Bluehost for beginners. They’ve been around for a long time, and I use them for many of my websites. They host millions of websites, making them a leader in WordPress hosting. Plus, Bluehost has been working with WordPress since 2005 and gives back to the community.

Bluehost has promised that if you follow this guide and can’t get your blog online within 30 minutes, my expert team will finish the setup for you—for free. Bluehost compensates us for helping you, so it won’t cost you anything. Just contact us for free blog setup help.

NOTE: I believe in transparency. If you sign up with Bluehost through my referral link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. In fact, you’ll save money and get a free domain. While I could earn a commission from any WordPress hosting company, I only recommend what I use and trust to benefit my readers.

Let’s get started with your domain and hosting purchase. Open Bluehost in a new window to follow along.

  1. Click on the green ‘Get Started Now’ button on their homepage to begin.
  2. Choose the hosting plan you need (Basic and Choice Plus are the most popular).
  3. You’ll be prompted to choose your domain name.
  4. Fill in your account information and finalize the package to complete the process. I recommend the 12-month plan for the best value.
  5. On the order page, you’ll see optional extras. I generally don’t recommend these right away. You can add them later if needed.

Once your purchase is complete, Bluehost will send you an email with login details to your hosting control panel (cPanel). cPanel is where you manage everything from email to FTP access. Most importantly, it’s where you install WordPress.

Step 2: Install WordPress Blogging Software

When you sign up with Bluehost using my link, they will automatically install WordPress for you so you can start building your blog immediately.

  1. Simply log in to your Bluehost account.
  2. Click the ‘Edit Site’ button to get started.

You can also log in to WordPress by going to yoursite.com/wp-admin/ directly from your browser.

If you are using a different WordPress blog hosting service, such as SiteGround, Hostinger, Dreamhost, or others, then you can see our comprehensive guide on how to install WordPress for step-by-step instructions for those providers.

Most of the above blog hosting companies now automatically install WordPress to help non-techy users kickstart their blogging journey.

Once WordPress is set up, you’re ready to create your blog pages, customize your blog’s design, and start blogging.

Step 3: Selecting Your WordPress Theme

The visual appearance of your WordPress blog is controlled by blog themes. When you first visit your blog, it will look something like this:

Most users find this out-of-the-box experience isn’t very appealing. However, customizing your blog’s look and feel is one of the most exciting and rewarding parts of creating a WordPress blog.

There are thousands of pre-made WordPress themes that you can install on your site. Some of them are free themes, while others are paid premium themes.

  1. To change your theme, go to your WordPress dashboard and click **Appearance » Themes**.
  2. Click on the ‘Add New Theme’ button.
  3. You can search for 11,000+ free WordPress themes available in the official WordPress.org themes directory. You can sort by Popular, Latest, Block Themes, and other feature filters (i.e., industry, layout, and so on).
  4. Take your mouse over to a new theme and notice a Preview button. Clicking on it will open the theme preview, where you can see how the design looks on your website.
  5. The preview of your theme may not look exactly as shown in the screenshot, which is normal as you will get to customize and set it up later. Look for design, colors, typography, and other elements.
  6. The best tip I’ve learned about selecting a WordPress theme is to strive for simplicity in design. This will help you keep things clean and clear while offering an excellent user experience.
  7. If you need help selecting a theme, then please refer to our guide on what to consider when selecting a perfect WordPress theme.
  8. When you find the theme you like, move your mouse over it, and the ‘Install’ button will appear. Click on it and wait for the theme to be installed. After that, the Install button will be replaced with an ‘Activate’ button. You need to click on it to activate the theme.

Once you have installed your theme, you can customize it by clicking on the ‘Customize’ link under the Appearance menu.

Depending on the theme you choose, your blog’s design will be tweaked with built-in widgets and customization options.

Note: If you cannot see the customize link under the Appearance menu, then this means you are using a block theme. Block themes use the WordPress block editor to edit and customize a WordPress theme. You can edit a block theme by visiting the Appearance » Editor page. For details, see our complete guide to full site editing.

You can get even more design control with a WordPress page builder like SeedProd or Divi, which lets you create a custom header, footer, sidebar, and more without writing any HTML code. These plugins give you more design control than Wix or Squarespace while allowing you to enjoy the full freedom of the powerful WordPress content management system.

Step 4: Creating Your First Blog Post

To write your first blog post, click the **Posts » Add New** menu in your WordPress dashboard.

You will see an editor area where you can write your first blog post.

WordPress uses a block-based editor that allows you to create beautiful content layouts for your blog posts. To familiarize yourself with the editor, see our WordPress block editor tutorial.

Once you’re done writing, click the ‘Publish’ button at the top-right corner of the screen to make your blog post publicly available.

On the posts screen, you will notice several other sections, such as **Categories** and **Tags**. You can use these to organize your blog posts into sections. We have a great write-up on the difference between categories vs. tags, which I highly recommend that you read.

To utilize all the features on the posts screen, you should read our article on adding a new post in WordPress (video included). It covers embedding videos, adding blog images, headings, tables of contents, subheaders, bullet lists, call-to-action buttons, social media posts, and all other shortcuts you need.

Often, beginners are confused between the **Posts** and **Pages** menus in the WordPress dashboard. That’s why I’ve also written a complete guide on the difference between posts and pages in WordPress.

If you need help brainstorming new blog post ideas to write about, then here are some helpful resources:

Many pro bloggers choose their specific topics strategically by doing keyword research. This helps their content rank higher in Google search and get more traffic. I have a step-by-step guide for beginners on how to do keyword research using the exact same method that I use on WPBeginner.

Step 5: Plugins & Customizations

Once you’ve written your first blog post, you should probably add other usual elements to your website, such as a contact page, galleries, sliders, email lists, forums, and more.

To add all these additional features, you need to use plugins.

Plugins are like apps for your WordPress website. They allow you to add new features to your site (without writing any code).

Over 59,000+ WordPress plugins are available in the free WordPress plugin directory alone. This means no matter what you want to accomplish, there is a plugin for it. We have a step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Let’s examine how to use plugins to add some essential features to your WordPress blog.

How to Create a Contact Form in WordPress

Every website needs a contact form, allowing users to email you directly. Since WordPress doesn’t come with a built-in contact form, you will need a WordPress form builder plugin to add one to your site.

I recommend using the WPForms Lite plugin. It is a free version of the popular WPForms plugin, which is #1 in our list of best contact form plugins for WordPress. Over 6 million websites use WPForms!

  1. To install the plugin, go to **Plugins » Add New** page and type **WPForms** in the search box. Next, you need to click ‘Install’ and then ‘Activate’.
  2. Upon activation, head over to the **WPForms » Add New** page to create your first form.
  3. This will open the WPForms builder interface. First, enter a name for your contact form and click on the ‘Simple Contact Form’ template.
  4. WPForms will now create a simple contact form for you with all the required fields. You can click on any field to change it or add a new field from the left column.
  5. Once you have finished editing the form, click the save button at the top right corner to exit the form builder.
  6. You can now create a new page in WordPress by going to **Pages » Add New Page** and naming it ‘Contact’.
  7. On the edit screen, you need to add the WPForms block into the editor.
  8. After that, select the form you created earlier from the drop-down menu.
  9. WPForms will load a live preview of the form in the editor.
  10. You can now save and publish the page and visit it in your browser to see your contact form in action.
  11. It’s best practice to test your form to make sure you’re receiving the notifications. If you don’t get the notifications, you should see our guide on how to fix WordPress not sending emails.

If you need more detailed instructions, see our step-by-step guide on how to create a contact form in WordPress.

As a blogger, the best part about WPForms is that it grows with you. Aside from simple contact forms, you can also use it to create reader surveys, polls, guest post submission forms, and more.

How to Set Up Google Analytics Tracking

Google Analytics helps you see how many people are visiting your blog, where they are coming from, and what they are doing on your website. It’s best to install Google Analytics when starting your blog so you can see how much it has grown over time.

  1. First, you need to visit the Google Analytics website and sign in using your Gmail account.
  2. Once you are logged in, you can go ahead and sign up for a free Google Analytics account.
  3. You will be asked to provide your information and website URL. After that, you will be presented with your Google Analytics tracking code.
  4. You can stop here because we will be using a plugin to automatically fetch and add this code to your blog (along with setting up proper WordPress tracking).
  5. Switch to your WordPress admin area to install and activate the **MonsterInsights** plugin. 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).
  6. Upon activation, you need to visit the **Insights » Settings** page to configure the plugin settings.
  7. On the settings page, click on the ‘Connect MonsterInsights’ button to connect Google Analytics to your WordPress site.
  8. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup. Once done, you will be able to see your website analytics report straight from your WordPress dashboard under the MonsterInsights tab.

For detailed instructions, see our article on how to install Google Analytics in WordPress.

How to Optimize Your WordPress Blog for SEO

Most beginners don’t optimize their blogs for SEO or search engine optimization when creating them. SEO helps users find your blog in search engines. If you want more traffic, it’s crucial to optimize your blog for SEO from the beginning.

  1. To get started, you first need to install and activate the **All in One SEO (AIOSEO)** plugin. It is the complete WordPress SEO plugin that will help you optimize your blog.
  2. The plugin comes with a quick configuration wizard to help you walk through the setup. It will help you configure a WordPress sitemap, write proper keywords and meta descriptions, add schema markup, and more.
  3. I also recommend you follow our complete step-by-step WordPress SEO guide to set up your blog’s SEO.

There are other SEO plugins, such as Yoast SEO and RankMath, but I recommend AIOSEO because it offers the most beginner-friendly interface for new bloggers. I use it on all my blogs, including WPBeginner. See our complete All in One SEO review to learn more. The free version of AIOSEO is pretty good and is used by over 3 million websites.

Aside from a WordPress SEO plugin, you can further optimize your blog content by using a keyword research tool. These SEO tools help you develop new content ideas that people are searching for around your topic. You can even see the keywords your competitors are ranking for, so you can create better content and outrank them. This will help you maximize the traffic on your new blog site right from the beginning.

More WordPress Plugins and Customizations

There are many other WordPress plugins that you can install. Often, beginners find searching for the plugins they need a bit overwhelming. At WPBeginner, I often feature the best WordPress plugins to help you add the functionality that you need.

Here is my expert pick of the best WordPress plugins that you should check out:

  • Backups: Duplicator is the best WordPress backup plugin. You should create regular backups of your website in case something ever goes wrong. (Duplicator review)
  • Security: Sucuri Security is a free security scanner for WordPress. I have a complete step-by-step WordPress security guide for beginners that will help you secure your blog.
  • Performance: I recommend using either WP Rocket (premium) or WP Super Cache (free) to speed up WordPress. For more on this topic, see our article on WordPress speed and performance with step-by-step instructions.
  • Design & Customization: I recommend using either SeedProd or the Thrive Architect page builder to customize your homepage design, create custom landing pages, or even create custom themes (without writing any code). For more on this topic, see our article on the best WordPress page builders (compared).
  • Traffic & Subscribers: I strongly recommend using push notifications by PushEngage. This lets you connect with visitors after they leave your website. It’s my top 5 traffic source on WPBeginner. For more details, see how to add push notifications in WordPress.
  • Email Marketing: I recommend using Constant Contact or HubSpot as your email marketing service. To get more email subscribers, I recommend using the OptinMonster free plugin to create high-converting popups, scroll boxes, and calls to action.

Need a WordPress plugin or tool but not sure which one to use? Take a look at WPBeginner’s Solutions Center. It is a curated library of the best WordPress plugins and tools, hand-picked and thoroughly tested by my WordPress experts.

If you are curious about all the plugins and tools that I use on my website, then check out WPBeginner’s Blueprint. That list contains all the tools that I use to grow the WPBeginner blog.

Need more recommendations? See my expert pick of the must-have WordPress plugins and tools for all websites (hand-picked by me, Syed Balkhi).

Step 6: Making Money From Your Blog

Now that you’ve created your personal blog and customized it to your liking, you probably wonder how you can make money blogging. There are a lot of different ways to successfully monetize your blog. However, there is no such thing as a get-rich-quick scheme. Don’t be fooled by the pictures of expensive cars and mansions because those are all fake.

Unlike other “make money online” articles, I’ve created the most comprehensive guide on how to make money from your blog using WordPress. That’s a 4000+ word guide that everyone who wants to make money with their blog needs to read. I’ve shared my 15+ years of online wisdom in that ultimate guide. You’ll reap the reward if you’re willing to put in the hard work and effort. Remember, there are no shortcuts.

Here are some of the best ways to make money from your blog:

1. Google AdSense

Many bloggers make money by showing ads on their blogs. If you make a blog with monetization in mind, then Google AdSense is the best way to do this. It is the largest advertising platform for bloggers and publishers. Acting as a middleman between you and the advertiser, Google allows advertisers to bid for keywords matching your content, allowing you to get the best rates possible for the ads.

For more details, see our article on how to properly add Google AdSense to your WordPress blog.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the second most commonly used monetization strategy among bloggers. Basically, you recommend your favorite products/services to your readers, and when they make a purchase, you get a referral commission. The key to affiliate marketing is to recommend high-quality products and services you already trust.

Plenty of affiliate marketing plugins and tools for WordPress can help you make more money when promoting affiliate products. I recommend using PrettyLinks or ThirstyAffiliates.

I also have a complete step-by-step affiliate marketing guide for beginners that will help you get started by choosing the right affiliate program and strategies to monetize your blog.

3. Online Store

Many bloggers make money by selling things directly from their blogs. This could be physical products or digital downloads like ebooks, artwork, music, etc. Some bloggers even offer consulting services.

If you’re looking to sell digital products like eBooks, then I recommend Easy Digital Downloads. This is the plugin that I use myself. It has all the features you need to sell digital downloads.

If you’re planning to sell physical products, I recommend using WooCommerce. It is the best eCommerce plugin for WordPress. It is also the most commonly used eCommerce platform in the world.

For detailed instructions, see our guide on how to easily create an online store using WordPress.

Some bloggers don’t want the hassle of creating a store to sell their products, so they create an Amazon affiliate store, which lets them sell other people’s products from Amazon and earn a commission.

On top of the three methods above, you can do so much more with your WordPress blog. You can make WordPress blogs specifically for reviews, fashion blogging, food blogging with recipes, and more. Each of these blog types brings you more unique opportunities to make money.

You can also turn your blog into a membership site to offer premium content and courses. We have a detailed guide on how to create and sell online courses with WordPress.

Step 7: Mastering WordPress

WPBeginner is the largest free WordPress resource site for beginners. At WPBeginner, my main goal is to provide cutting-edge, helpful WordPress tutorials that are easy to understand for small businesses, bloggers, and non-techy WordPress website owners.

To expand your WordPress knowledge, you should check out:

For more discussions, you may want to join our free Facebook group, WPBeginner Engage. With more than 98,000 members, the group is focused on helping beginners and non-tech users do more with WordPress.

You can also subscribe to WPBeginner’s YouTube Channel, where we regularly share video tutorials to help you learn WordPress: https://www.youtube.com/user/wpbeginner/

Lastly, you can use Google to type your question and add WPBeginner in front of it. Our users find this trick always helpful because it makes it easy to find the right answer to their WordPress questions.

If you don’t find an answer to your question, don’t worry. Simply use our contact form to send us a message. Our always helpful, full-time WPBeginner support team will be happy to assist. We love helping users get started with WordPress.

Bonus Tip: Explore Niche Blogging Resources

With countless blogs on the internet, focusing on a specific niche can help your blog stand out and attract a dedicated audience. By honing in on a topic you’re truly passionate about, you can help your blog stand out and stay motivated to keep creating great content.

The following are a few guides focused on exploring different blogging niches. These resources will show you how to differentiate your blog from others and succeed:

Frequently Asked Questions About Blogging (FAQs)

Having helped thousands of people start blogs, I’ve answered many questions. Here are the answers to the most frequently asked blog creation questions.

Can I create a blog without WordPress?

Yes, there are several other blogging platforms available. I’ve compared them all, and WordPress is by far the best website builder solution in the market for making a blog with complete ownership and freedom.

Can I build a blog without hosting?

No, that’s not possible. Web hosting is where your website files are stored. All websites need web hosting. To start a blog, you will need your own domain and web hosting.

Is it free to start a blog on WordPress?

WordPress itself is available for free. However, you’ll need to pay for hosting and a domain name. Alternatively, you can start with a free blog on WordPress.com, keeping in mind the limitations of WordPress.com and how it differs from WordPress.org.

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

Most personal blog names are named after their creator. Other blogs are named after the topic or industry they are in. We have an AI-powered business name generator that you can use to come up with blog name ideas.

What is the best blogging niche?

Choosing the right niche for your blog makes it easier to create engaging content and make more money online. My experts have researched the best blogging niches that you should consider when starting your blog. I’ve also created a list of the most popular types of blogs to help you get inspiration.

How much does it cost to start a blog?

The cost depends on the add-ons you buy. We have a complete guide on the cost of a WordPress website as well as tips on how to save money. Most blogging tools are either free or come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try them risk-free.

Can I create a blog without my parents knowing about it?

Yes. You can make your WordPress blog private and hide it from the internet. Here is a Posted in All by admin

Need help for wordpress ?
Contact me
https://whatreligionisinfo.com/ https://uniquefunnynames.com/ unique funny names https://howdidcelebdie.com/