How to Start Blogging in 2023 [Blogging Guide for Beginners]

Want to write a blog or make a career in blogging?
Yes… both can be done at the same time!

After all, what’s more, important than following your passion and making passive income together? let me explain to you how to start blogging in 2023 and earn passive income.

Quite often people start blogging for various reasons, and the most popular ones are:

• Sharing new learning stuff
• Documenting their thoughts
• For making money or passive income
• Review of Free gadgets and stuff
• Sharing experience & free travel

And many more.

You also might have the same reason from the above, or any other reason depending, on blogging can help you fulfill your goals.

So, without any further delay, let’s see how you will start blogging today.

NOTE: This is going to be an in-depth guide with some theory and practical practices. A step-by-step guide for starting your own blog.

The first thing you need before you start:

• The name of your domain/website. (e.g. www.kamalpunera.com)

Note: you can always change your domain name only if required.

In this guide, you’ll find answers to all major or any of these questions and you will be ready to start a blog.

Here are the stepping steps to start a blog:

1. Step 1: Picking the best suitable blogging niche/topic.
2. Step 2: Select the right blogging platform.
3. Step 3: Chose a domain (website) name & hosting for your blog.
4. Step 4: Installing Word Press for the blog. (Tutorial is given below)
5. Step 5: Set up the design or layout of the blog.
6. Step 6: Intro of a few best Word Press plugins.
7. Step 7: Start making content for your first blog post.
8. Step 8: Share your content with the world.
9. Step 9: Monetize your blog.
10. Step 10: Drive traffic to your website & gain more exposure.

Note: Well I have shared these tips only on the basis of getting started with ease of platform, hosting & features that are working well enough for all.

Have No Experience in writing a blog from scratch?

If so then this is going to be one of the best blog starter guides for users like you who are just starting up and knows little or nothing about blogging.

Within some time, you’ll probably have your blog up and running.

Step 1: Select a Blogging Platform for yourself.

Where do you want to create your blog? Most likely the first question.

So there are many blogging platforms, and everyone has their own opinions about each of them.

Most people start blogging on the WordPress platform because it’s easy to use.

The interesting fact about WordPress is that 37% of the websites in the world are developed upon WordPress.

Once you have crossed the testing period, you are ready to do something more meaningful. Start a WordPress blog, and don’t confuse yourself with WordPress.com and a self-hosted WordPress -blog.

A self-hosted WordPress blog (WordPress.org) is what you would like.

Step 2: Find a niche for your blog like what is it about?

The very first thing you should do is find a niche for your blog. By niche, I meant finding a subject/topic that your blog is all about.

I guess you won’t decide to blog for every random thing and make money. This doesn’t work for 2023 and your chances of success are better with one kind of topic.

You might be a jack of all trades, and need to start out a blog on multiple topics, but it’ll not be fruitful, as people wish to subscribe to a blog, which has authority on a specific topic.

Moreover, Google prefers to promote a website that is made on one topic. For example, our topic is “blogging,” and that’s how you got us.

Now, the big question is

How to find a topic for your blog?

Sharing a couple of tips that will help you to get started:

• Find a topic that you are really good at. It could be anything. Try to believe the subject that you simply most wish to write or learn, and you’ll comfortably do it for hours.
• The best idea is to pick a topic that you usually read or write about.
• Things that you have a keen interest in a particular and you can add value to those topics with your own insights.
• For starters, my recommendations for blogging niches. For eg: Fitness, Motivation, Fashion, Technology, Finance, Photography, health care, and so on. You can start working on the subject (Niche) that you like the most.’

This is a crucial step before starting a blog because it will decide the flow of your niche/subject that you are most hooked into.

This will keep things moving when your blog goes live.

So, I assume that you’ve selected the niche for your blog which may make some money for you.

• How to choose a niche for your new blog in 2023?
• Single Topic vs. Multi-Topic Blog: Which is Better and Why?

Conclusion- Selecting an acceptable niche will be the first and therefore the most vital step for starting a replacement blog.

Step 3: Pick a Blog name & domain name for your blog

Domain Name: There are 4 rules that I usually follow while choosing a domain name:

1. Easy to remember
2. Easy to type
3. Easy to pronounce.
4. Easy to promote

A domain name is the website URL (www.kamalpunera.com) of a blog which a visitor will click to open it.

For example; www.kamalpunera.com

A custom domain name is like www.kamalpunera.com, for which we need to pay approx $13/year. Well, I have shared a trick below which will help you save these $13 on domain purchases.

Now, there are a few rules that will help you to choose the best domain name for your new blog. Hence sharing my experience:

• Go for .com domain names above everything else.
• Your domain name has to be really easy to type and pronounce.
• Your domain name should not sound confusing to the listener.

And even you can use the Bluehost domain suggestion feature to check the availability of your domain. Simply put the name that you have chosen for your blog and it will show you available domain name suggestions.

The name of your blog is very crucial in my opinion. You can also have a domain name under your own name, and it’s great for personal portfolios or if you plan to make yourself a brand.

Be creative and follow the four rules that I have shared above. Few things you should note down while selecting the domain name for your new blog niche:

• Fins short domain names. Try to keep it below 11 characters. Ex: ShoutMeLoud
• Ignore these domain extensions like .info, .net, and so on, because they lack to rank in Search engines. I always prefer suggesting a domain with extensions like .com or .org.

Step 4: Pick the hosting to start the blog:

Now, let’s look for a hosting server for your blog.

The hosting server is where WordPress or any other site will be placed or installed. These are the server that stays online 24*7 and all your upcoming blog images, your blog design and everything will be stored within the hosting server.

And that’s how your website will be running up 24*7.

The good thing is, the hostings are cheap.

There are plenty of hosting service providers in the market choosing the best for your blog:

Bluehost is the best choice as it offers everything you need to create a blog. Features like:

• Free SSL
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Unlimited storage
• The free domain name (Saving $13/year)
• Easy to use cPanel.
• Live chat support
• 30 days money-back guarantee

And the best thing, is it costs $2.95/month

Grab Bluehost hosting for a special price

Step 5: Set up your blog

Once you are done buying hosting + domain name, get over to the Cpanel you have got from your hosting provider; there you will find a one-click install for WordPress.

This means your blog will be installed in a few minutes and now comes the cool stuff which is something every new blogger enjoys.

But, before we get there, have a look at this quick video to understand how you should be using your Cpanel dashboard to install WordPress:

However, you are not done yet, as you need to complete a few more things before you can write your first blog post.

To start setting up your blog design for branding and making it look cool enough, I have shared a few guides which you can always refer to get started:

Step 6: Design of your blog

Blogging platform? Check!

Blog niche? Check!

Domain name? Check!

You must have heard the saying “The first impression is the last impression”, the same thing applies here too.

Blog design is the most important part of your blog because a better design will ensure that your visitors will love your blog layout. In fact, this is how your readers will remember your blog. Imagine yourself and your blog design with a nice outfit.

In WordPress, there are ready-made template concepts called “WordPress themes”. Readymade designs for all types of blogs.

There are various types of Free and premium WordPress themes. My suggestion is to always go for premium themes because you will get a nice quality structured design and the entire support and starter guide, and lastly, you will get a quality design for your blog.

Here are easy-to-use modern theme options which I would recommend you to start with.

• Astra theme: This is an overall optimized theme that offers the template for all kind of blogs. Once you put in this theme, you’ll pick from the ready-made template and your blog design is going to be ready within 30-45 minutes. This is an ideal solution for any new WordPress blog. You can read Astra’s review to find out everything about this versatile theme.
• Genesis: This is one of the best theme nice frameworks. You will have to buy the theme, and customize it accordingly.

There are many more premium WordPress themes out there, but I would recommend any of the above two for a better start.

Step 7: WordPress plugins

There are more than thousands of WordPress plugins out there. Below I have mentioned a few plugins which you can install from day one.

Even you can read this tutorial to know more about installing a WordPress plugin.

Here are a few plugins that are a must for a newly created WordPress blog:

• Yoast SEO
• ShortPixels
• Jetpack by WordPress.com

Read more here to find a list of the best WordPress plugins.

There are numerous plugins, but the above plugins will make sure that you’ve got all the stuff on your blog.

If you have followed, all the steps till now, your blog is ready to go.

Step 8: Plan your content

As soon as you begin writing your first blog post, you should make a content plan.

Using an excel or a Trello board can be a great plan. Trello board is a free content planning tool that you could use.

The Trello board also comes with a checklist to help you write the article.

In the article ideas, try to write down all the content that you simply could write. You can also create an overview of the content if you wish.

It’s an honest idea to try this in one sitting and next time you’ll start writing your content (one at a time).

Step 9: Writing your first Blog post

Now, this is where all the fun begins, writing your first article.

Here is the guide to help you decide what your first blog post should be about.

I have shared some article links below to get you started, but here are a few tips which can make sure you don’t make mistakes:

• While writing your content, imagine there’s a person sitting next to you, and you are talking to him. Write as if you are talking to the person because there’s one on one that is reading your blog. For example, you’re reading this blog guide alone. That’s why you would possibly notice, my tone is “You” and “I”.
• Your content should cover all the information about the topic you are writing about. Try to write about 1000+ words.
• Do not simply copy images from Google. Use these sites to download free and paid stock images.
• You can also embed YouTube videos. Here is an explainer of how you can do that.

If you wanna move ahead of the crowd and level up your blogging tactics, then must read my guide for SEO copywriting. This will make sure whatever you write will help you get maximum traffic from different search engines.

Step 10: Add a few important pages to your blog.

Listing a few important pages that you can add over a period of the next few weeks.

• About page: Contains all the details about you and your blog.
• Contact page: A page with contact information and a form to fill. You can use free contact form 7 or form builder to create a contact form on WordPress.
• Media kit page: You don’t really have to need it now, but you should know about it. This page is more about your blog traffic and available advertising options.
• Privacy policy page
• Disclaimer page
• Disclosure page
• Terms and conditions

Step 11: Driving traffic to your Blog

So, you’ve got everything covered and your first blog post is live.

Now, the next major step is to drive traffic.

Follow the steps mentioned over here and that will help your blog to be visible in the top Google searches.

To get traffic to your newly created blog there are many techniques you can use.

Step 12: Getting social

Once you’ve got your blog established, make sure your blog is socially available so that your readers can join your community.

You have just started and say no to stress, as again I’m here to guide you with the simplest resources.

To get on social with your blog, you will need a Facebook page, Instagram account, Twitter account, etc.

So, here are the resources, which will help you to get started.

• How to create a Facebook FanPage for your Blog
• How to create a Twitter profile
• How to create a community out of your blog

Now, Make money from blogging with these easy steps

These are some ways by which your blog can help you in earning a passive income for you.

Here are some of the most popular ways:

• Google AdSense
• Media.net
• Affiliate marketing
• Sponsored content (By getting paid for writing about others)
• Amazon affiliate program
• Direct ad sales
• Your own digital assets like eBooks, Online Courses, and webinars.

I have covered these aspects of blogging money during this exclusive article: the way to make money blogging.

What Else do you need to reach the next level of Blogging:

Learn SEO to drive free traffic

SEO is an advanced topic and it’s quite hard to explain and complete it in a single article. Many freshers try to not include search engine optimization, and it’s an enormous mistake.

Search engine optimization SEO helps in getting a targeted audience from organic search, which will successively make extra money for you. There are three major parts of SEO:

• On-page SEO: Your content quality check, Keyword planning and placement, and other factors.
• On-Site SEO: Indexing and Crawling of your website.
• Off-Site SEO: Creating Backlinks from other websites.

With the evolution of SEO, there’s one more important factor I would share:

• User experience: Giving a great user experience is preferred in new search engine optimization.

Some of the key aspects of a good user experience: Navigation, site loading, website design, readability, and so on.

Here are a few articles, you would definitely read to find out more about SEO:

• Dummy keyword research using the Google Keyword tool
• How To Write SEO-Friendly Content?
• What is a backlink for SEO?

Getting traffic to your blog

If you’ve got done everything mentioned above, you’ll start getting organic traffic from different sources. Note: Targeted traffic makes more money.

In the world of blogging, we always wish that there was someone who can guide us right from scratch when we start a new blog.

While this will not be possible but there are many resources available. Join the group and forums associated with blogging and get your doubts cleared, there are thousands of individuals who will surely assist you or you simply reach out to me for any clarification.

Welcome to the world of Blogging!

I tried to cover almost everything for a fresher to get started, but if you still have a question in your mind before starting your new blog on WordPress, do not hesitate to reach out via any channel.

Do share this how-to-start blog guide in 2023 with others who wish to write a blog or want to make a carrier in blogging.