How to start a blog in 2022, the right way

How To Start A Blog In 2022, The Right Way

 

Are you thinking of starting a blog, and you don’t know where to start?

Not too long ago, I was in the same predicament.

At first, I was so excited to start my blog; that I never put too much thought into how everything will pan out in the long run.

Along the way, I made many mistakes.

Mistakes that caused me a lot of frustration and many sleepless nights.

It has taken me months to re-brand and undo everything I did wrong.

In this post, I will take everything that I have learned, and I will share my tips on How- to start your blog the right way in just a few easy steps.

So let us get started! 

Contents:

• Learning from my mistakes
• What is a blog
• Choosing your niche
• Choosing your blog name
• Getting online
• All about WordPress hosting
• Pricing
• Time to write and publish for your first blog post
• Conclusion

Learning from my mistakes

When I first started my blogging journey, I understood almost nothing about the dynamics and intricacies of blogging.

 All I knew was that I had a passion for it, and I wanted to share my stories with the world. 

The biggest blunder that I made; was that I did not put much thought into the niche I chose.

 There are tons of advice on the net that are very valuable for a newbie blogger, and that is why it is so important to do your research first.

 What is a blog?

A blog is a narrative of an individual’s thoughts, opinions, and experiences they publish online for visitors to read. 

It is a personal diary or journal that a person maintains for public viewing.

A blog means keeping a record of a person’s thoughts, experiences, opinions, and news items.

Choosing your niche

 

What is a niche, and why it’s needed to start a successful blog?

A Niche is very simply the topic of your blog.

The only exception to not needing a niche is if you decide that you want to blog for fun.

 It is similar to an online diary for you, your friends, and your family.

However, if you want to pursue blogging as your career and even monetize it, then; having a niche is VERY IMPORTANT. 

Believe me when I tell you that I have learned this lesson the hard way.

You can blog about anything, but make sure it is something you are passionate about and have some knowledge on that subject.

The thing is that for you to succeed, you need to gain a trusted audience.

You cannot just post random things.

People will skim over your work and leave. 

You need to keep them engaged and coming back for more.

 Having a specific niche helps draw a targeted audience.

In turn, you get higher traffic and more organic traffic from Google.

Since your blog is in the right niche and is about one topic, you attract like-minded users that are more likely to stick around.

Another bonus to picking one niche is that as you spend time daily learning about that subject, you become an expert in that particular field.

When you have a focused blog, your marketing endeavors become a little easier than an unfocused blog.

You would see more profitable results with fewer efforts.

 Once your blog begins gaining traction, advertisers will approach you. 

At this stage of your career, it would become a game-changer.

Your initial niche selection will help you make more money.

To create a successful blog- you need a clever strategy; otherwise, it can be challenging to make your brand stand out and gain a following or turn into a profitable online business.

Choosing your blog name

 

Now that you got your niche sorted out, it is time to choose a name. 

Make sure you choose a name that is descriptive of your blog.

Blog names play a pivotal role in how thriving they become. 

It sets the tone for how people, aka your readers, perceive and feel about your blog.

Try writing down different variations, and you might be surprised by some of the ideas you generate.

You can also use a blog name generator. 

You only have to type in a few keywords, and the generator will come up with a list of names for you.

You can try Masterpiece Generator.

Not only is it a blog name generator, but so much more.

”Masterpiece Generator is a set of tools used to quickly create content, such as songs, plots, and poems. 

The options range from; completely random; to highly structured, often with a parody element.” How awesome is that!

Nameboy is another that I would recommend.

”Nameboy is the oldest and most popular blog name generator worldwide.

Search for new blog name ideas and get your domain name instantly!” 

Many more blog name generators are available, but I chose these two because I used them in some capacity during my creation process.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate for Bluehost, and I will receive a commission if you sign up through my referral link at no additional cost to you, and you will get great pricing and a free domain name through my link. 

Getting online

Now that you got your niche and blog name sorted out, it is time for the exciting part, getting your blog online. 

It is time to register your blog and obtain your hosting provider.

For this, I would highly recommend Bluehost.

Bluehost is in a league of its own, and this is the reason why:

Firstly you need to understand what Bluehost is all about.

Bluehost is one of the 20 largest web hosting companies globally. 

It hosts over 2 million domains. 

Apart from that, Bluehost also provides marketing training, SEO services, social media marketing, content creation, graphic design services, email, domain names, and local business listings to grow traffic.

It does a great job streamlining and demystifying the procedure of setting up a website for newbies, mainly if you want to use WordPress.

 All plans include a free domain for the first year, a free CDN, a drag-and-drop website builder, and a free SSL certificate.

Bluehost has one of the best security standards on the market. 

All Bluehost security components are efficient and give you peace of mind, which is especially needed; for complete beginners.

Bluehost presents quite a few web hosting-related products that cater to most users.

 

Before I get to the hosting part, I would like to share my personal experience with Bluehost; and why I would highly recommend it.

When I first started, I was like a fish out of water.

I honestly did not know much about getting my blog online. 

I took a chance and got in contact with the Bluehost help center. 

There I was aided by a helpful and proficient assistant. He checked for the availability of my domain name, proceeded to have it registered, which then gave me immediate access to WordPress. 

All that was left for me to do was customize my WordPress site.

I was online and good to go with my first blog post within a few hours.

All About WordPress Hosting

Bluehost and WordPress go together, and there is no more suitable way to run your website than with its official WordPress hosting

Bluehost formulated this distinctive hosting package to promote your website, including resources and tools that seamlessly merge with WordPress.

With the highest compatibility with any WordPress website, this hosting plan will work best for blogs, websites, or online stores.

 

Bluehost offers features such as; automatic WordPress installation, automatic WordPress updates, and Google My Business verification.

The Bluehost marketplace offers you a choice of a unique range of themes and templates that are tailor-made for WordPress. 

You get absolute design freedom with customization features and easy-to-install plugins.

All Bluehost plans come with resource protection. 

For an additional $2.99 per month fee, you get CodeGuard which will help you with daily backups and monitoring while notifying you of any changes.

 

The most basic version of this security feature comes with 1GB storage space, daily backup and monitoring, and three restorations per month. 

However, for the more expensive plans like Choice Plus and Pro, you can expect free automatic backups for one year and 24/7 network monitoring.

Another exceptional feature of Bluehost is its comprehensive and fast customer support system. 

Customer support is vital for any web hosting service to have- however, finding a service that has speedy and efficient support can be a rare find.

It does not matter where you are in the world; the support is available 24/7. 

The main disadvantage is that the waiting times may vary. 

Not only is Bluehost known for its outstanding features and products, but it is also easy to use. As a result, this makes Bluehost THE most popular web hosting service on the market.

 With an intuitive interface, it will ask you to fill out a form that includes your website goals, what you want to add to your site, and what you want your name and the tagline of your site to be. 

After answering these questions, you get to choose a theme of your choice from the Bluehost Marketplace, and then it automatically installs WordPress for your ultimate convenience.

All that is left to worry about is customization, while Bluehost takes care of the backend and the technical nitty-gritty. 

 Pricing 

The wonderful thing about Bluehost is that it has a wide assortment of options at affordable prices, which include three main business niches with pricing plans tailor-made for said niches.

All options include shared hosting, online stores, and managed WordPress.

Pricing plans include a free domain for one year, free CDN, free SSL certificate, custom themes, and 24/7 support.

The Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro plans have unlimited websites, SSD storage, and free Office 365 for 30 days.

However, all plans include top features like one WordPress website, 200+ global edge servers, free SSL, built-in high availability, staging environment, and best for up to 50,000 visitors per month.

 Also included are daily scheduled backups, malware detection and removal, and domain privacy and protection.  

• Basic: $2.95/month
• Plus: $5.45/month 
• Choice Plus: $5.45/month

Time to write and publish your first post

So, now you have your niche, blog name, domain, and hosting provider, it’s time to write and publish your first post. 

The beginning of your journey as a writer starts now. Everything that you worked for up until this point was for this moment, to get your blog published and online.

Nothing compares to that feeling when you see your blog online for the first time. It feels almost surreal.

The wonderful thing about blogging is that you can write what you want when you want.

But, remember one vital piece of advice that I will give you; whenever you sit down to write, always have your audience in the forefront. Simply put, you are writing for your readers. 

Conclusion

Well, there you have it, folks- my tips on ‘how to start a blog in 2022, the right way.’

I know that if you are thinking of starting a blog for the first time, it can be a bit daunting and exciting at the same time.

Make sure that you do all your research beforehand. Once you find your niche, everything else will fall into place. Choosing the right hosting provider is also VERY important. Your website needs to run as smoothly as possible. That is why I recommend Bluehost with its automatic WordPress installation.

Watch out for my future posts, where I will give You tips on how to write your first blog post and how to monetize your blog and earn an income.

If you are about to embark on this exciting journey, I wish you all the best, my friend!

Cheers!