Learning how to start a blog has the potential to drastically change your life.
For some, blogging is a way to blow off steam after a hard day at work.
For others, it’s a fun side hustle. One that allows them to make money on top of their normal day job.
And still, for others, blogging has become a business. One so profitable they’re able to quit their jobs, travel the world, and live life on their terms.
All because they started.
You see, blogging is a low cost, zero risk way to open new doors of opportunity that weren’t previously there before. Doors that don’t involve selling the latest fad toothpaste, LuLaRoe leggings, or Thirty-One bags to your friends and family on Facebook.
No, we’re done with all that. In this article I am going to walk you through, step-by-step, how to start a blog in 15 minutes or less, even if you’re a total beginner.
Before we dive in though, let’s take a quick moment and look at the reasons why people start a blog.
Why do people blog?
People often have very unique reasons for wanting to start a blog. Some are compassionate in nature — perhaps they want to educate others on a rare form of a disease they, or a family member, are struggling with. Others are informative — they want to chronicle a weight loss journey and inspire others to do the same.
And others (reasons) are as straightforward as they get. They aren’t really sure what to blog about, but they’ve seen other people make insane money and wonder if they can do the same.
No matter your reason for wanting to start, with the right strategies, your blog can:
- Connect you with millions of people.
- Get your ideas out into the world.
- Make you more money than you could ever make at your 9 to 5.
Think it can’t happen to you?
Think again:
Just a few years ago Ben and I started this blog with no experience. We had no idea how to start a blog, nor did we really even know what to blog about. Needless to say, things have changed in a very short time.
If you’re wondering “should I start a blog?” — the answer is a resounding yes.
Learn from other top money making blogs
In our last monthly income report, we made over $17,500 blogging. It was a total dream come true.
More recently we had our first $25,000+ month and now we’re shooting to crack the $30,000/month barrier for the first time. And believe it or not, that’s pennies compared to other successful bloggers.
Take Michelle at Making Sense of Cents as a successful blog example.
In just 4 years Michelle went from making $672/mo to making over $100,000 per month from her blog.
Take a look:
Or there’s Melyssa, who made over $173,000 recently from her blog and online business:
It takes a lot of hard work to reach the elite ranks of Michelle and Melyssa, among other blogger sites, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying.
It’s 100% feasible to start making a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars per month within just a few months of starting. We’ve done it with this website, and you can too.
How do bloggers make money?
The cool thing about blogging is that there is a near limitless number of ways to make money.
How to make money with a blog for beginners:
- Use display ads
- Allow companies to buy sponsored posts on your website
- Affiliate marketing
- Sell courses, ebooks or trainings
- Consulting
- Provide a service, coaching or mentoring
- The list goes on and on…
For newer bloggers, the easiest of these is typically display ads and affiliate marketing. Both allow beginner bloggers to quickly and easily start to monetize their blogs, even if they only have a few hundred readers per month.
Other forms of monetization, such as selling courses or consulting, will typically require a more established site with a large(r) email list of potential customers. This typically comes after months or even years of building a database of quality content on your blog and gaining trusted readers (who may be willing to purchase products or services from you).
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
If you we’re wondering how to start a blog for free, the following steps won’t be of much use to you. At Breaking The One Percent, we only recommend the paid-version of WordPress (versus starting a free blog).
Why? Because frankly, the free version has nearly zero customization features and it looks terrible. It will leave you feeling frustrated and you’ll likely give up long before you ever make any money blogging.
We can’t stress this point enough.
Here are but a few reasons you shouldn’t choose a free blogging platform such as WordPress.com:
- No custom themes (you’re stuck with the default WordPress themes)
- No plugin support (nearly impossible to have a successful blog without these)
- Only 3 GB of storage space
- You cannot choose a custom domain (your site name will be YOURDOMAIN.wordpress.com)
- WordPress branding is unremovable
- No SEO control (your site is less likely to be found on search engines)
- Limited analytics (can’t install Google Analytics)
Do yourself a massive favor. A few dollars per month for the paid-version is very much worth it if your end goal is to turn your blog into a business.
How to Start a Blog on WordPress in 10 Simple Steps
Before you start raking in cash from your blog, you first need to create your blog. And that can be a pretty intimidating hurdle for a lot of people, especially the non-tech peeps (like me). That’s why I’m going to walk you through, step-by-step, how to start a blog on WordPress using HostGator (opens another tab).
Why HostGator? Well, in my experience, they are the best all around hosting company for new bloggers in terms of performance and cost. They’ve also got a great infrastructure to accommodate your blog as it grows, which is really important.
And with the 42% off coupon code for you in Step 6, HostGator’s the best bang for your buck, bar none.
Are you ready to get started pursuing something awesome? Open HostGator in another tab and follow along with me.
Step 1: Choose Your Hosting Plan
By opening the link above you should land on a page that has three hosting options to choose from (Starter, Standard, and Business).
Assuming this is your first website, there’s no need to go with anything other than the Starter Plan. It’s the cheapest plan and has more than enough resources for a brand new website.
This is a Managed WordPress hosting package; meaning it was built and optimized specifically with WordPress in mind. It makes your website faster, secure, and more reliable.
It costs slightly more than a traditional web hosting package, but the slight extra cost (we’re talking $1/month here) will save you a headache down the road. More on that later.
Step 2: Choose Your Domain Name
Once you hit the “Buy Now!” button, you’ll be directed to the order form. The first item on the list is the most important one: your domain name!
This is the one and only name for your website, so give this some thought.
It can be tricky coming up with a name that isn’t already claimed.
Tips for choosing your domain name:
- Stick to just .com endings. Don’t bother using .biz, .info, .org, or any other endings.
- Make your domain name simple and easy to remember.
- Leave out numbers, dashes and anything else other than letters.
Step 3: Enter Your Hosting Plan Information
This step determines your approximate initial cost to start your blog. It’s worth noting that HostGator offers a 45-day money back guarantee.
No matter how much you spend, if you end up deciding that blogging isn’t for you within the first 45 days, you can get your money back, no questions asked. (Hence why blogging is an amazing opportunity to start your own business at a relatively low cost, with zero risk involved).
In order to lock in the biggest discount, I recommend taking advantage of one of HostGator’s 36-month hosting plans.
It greatly reduces the overall cost of your blog, and you can typically get prices lower than $5.00/month (even lower when they’re running special promotions).
I mean what other business can you honestly start for less than that? None.
You’ll also need to set up your HostGator Security PIN which you’ll use to access the back end of your site. Write this down somewhere safe.
Step 4: Enter Your Billing Information
A pretty straightforward step. If you can’t figure this part out, maybe this whole online business thing isn’t for you. ?
Step 5: Choose Add-ons That You Want
Fortunately, most of the add-ons that HostGator offers are already included in the price of the package. The only question is whether or not you need to tack on a SSL certificate when you start a blog (click the link if you want to learn more about SSL certificates).
That being said, the answer to that question is yes (you should add one).
Browsers are now displaying a small warning to users, when they first visit a site, if it is not secured with a SSL certificate.
There’s no better way to scare someone away from your site than a browser telling them they’ve landed somewhere unsafe.
If money’s tight, you can forego this option till a later time, but I do recommend adding it now (there are also technical headaches that can be avoided down the road by getting one now).
Step 6: Enter Your Coupon Code
Having been around the blogging circle for some time now, we’re privy to insider information about when blogging platforms will be offering sales, discounts, or new coupon codes.
As such, we’ve negotiated a special discount for our readers that will never expire. By using BTOP42 at checkout you’ll save 42% off any hosting package, no matter the length.
That being said, we want you to save the most money. If we see (or you know of a HostGator coupon code) that could potentially beat our deal, we’ll add it to the list below.
Some confirmed HostGator coupon codes to try are:
rsosaveaw2new – up to 53% off.
SNAPPYW579 – up to 56% off.
Step 7: Review Order Details and Submit
Once you’ve completed all the steps above, go through and make sure everything is the way you want it.
I won’t include a screenshot since everyone’s checkout page will look slightly different based on their choices.
Here are some other options:
- Use coupon code BTOP42 for 1 month and forego the SSL certificate (not recommended). The total cost will be $8.67.
- Use coupon code BTOP42 for 1 month and choose the SSL add-on. Your total will be $28.62.
- Use coupon code rsosaveaw2new for 36 months with the SSL add-on (to get the full discount). Your total will be $186.76.
You’ll inevitably pay more out of pocket for the lengthiest hosting plan, but you’ll save 53% off the total cost of 3 years worth of blogging. There’s no incentive for us to recommend one length of time over the other, you’ll simply save the most by choosing the longer plans (plus you can always get a full refund, no questions asked).
You’ll also notice that there are a few other free perks: 24/7/365 Phone, LiveChat, Email Support and, again, the 45-day money back guarantee if you decide blogging isn’t for you.
Once you’re all set, go ahead and hit “Checkout Now!” to create your blog and let’s get rolling.
Step 8: Install WordPress
Oh wait, you don’t actually have to. That’s one of the perks of purchasing a Managed WordPress plan.
As far as blogging platforms go, WordPress is in rare company. In fact, WordPress sites now comprise more than 30% of the entire Internet. You could learn how to create a blog with a smaller platform like Tumblr or Blogger…or you can go with the content management system (CMS) chosen by:
- New York Post
- USA Today
- CNN
- Fortune
- Time
- Spotify
- TechCrunch
- CBS
- NBC
If those sites use WordPress, I think its safe to say you’re choosing the right blogging platform.
Basically, if your website does not appear right away, don’t be alarmed, it just takes a few minutes for HostGator to create something awesome.
In the meantime, take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the HostGator Customer Portal.
Click around from tab to tab and learn where everything is.
Although you won’t need to check in here frequently, it does contain important information about when products may expire, allows you to setup email accounts, and is the go-to spot if you need to upgrade your hosting as your blog grows!
It’s also a good spot to get technical support if necessary.
Step 9: Log Into Your WordPress Admin Dashboard
Once your WordPress site goes live, you’ll get an email confirmation message from HostGator giving you the info for where to access your WordPress login, your username, and a randomly generated password to sign in (you can change this later).
Your WordPress Admin Dashboard can be found at http://yourwebsitename.com/wp-admin/ (Hint: You’ll need to place your domain in the URL).
And that’s it! You’re all set up and ready to go with your new site.
Step 10: Monetize Your Blog
As you may have suspected, this is the hardest part. And to be perfectly honest with you, it’s going to take time.
If you just got done with the steps above, your initial focus should be on customizing your blog, creating content, and growing your audience, all before you start thinking about making money. To get you started I’ve put together the exact blueprint for you to follow to make your first $1,000 blogging.
Furthermore, here are a few parting tips I have on how to start a successful blog:
- Start learning about the different ways to monetize your blog. Choose the ones that sound interesting to you and start digging deeper into those topics.
- Make sure you’re writing in a way that’s easy to read. What do I mean by that? Be conversational, use short paragraphs, and use short sentences. Oddly enough, this is way harder than it sounds, especially for new bloggers. The way you learned to write in high school and college is not the way you want to write for your blog. I can’t stress that enough.
- Your content needs to help people solve a problem. If it doesn’t do that, then it better be entertaining. If you aren’t doing either of these things, you’re going to have a hard time getting readers to stick around.
- Use social media (like Facebook) to promote your blog posts. I personally recommend starting with Pinterest as it typically the easiest way for beginner bloggers to get traffic to their website. Check out our comprehensive Pinterest guide.
Any more questions on how to start a blog? Let me know in the comments and I’ll respond!
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Related:
![[Blueprint for $1K] How to Get Your First $1,000 Month as a Blogger](https://www.breakingtheonepercent.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/earn-1k-feature.jpg "[Blueprint for $1K] How to Get Your First $1,000 Month as a Blogger")
50 Responses
Jeff, this is great tutorial for someone that is just starting out. It is nice to have the screen shots, it makes it easier for someone new to follow. Good job!
Thanks Roy! Appreciate the kind words 🙂
Great post! I just got ads on my site and I was so excited. I’ve made 2 cents but every bit counts! I’ll get there 🙂 Once my kids are older it will get easier 🙂
Congrats, Bekah! Hey, we all start out with a few solid 2 cent months 🙂 haha I know I sure did. Best of luck to you!
This is such a brilliant and detailed explanation; nothing is left out and, as mentioned in the post, if you cannot follow this and get started, then online is probably not the place for you.
Thanks John! Yes, I really just want people to know that starting a profitable blog is totally within their reach!
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for this quick startup guide.
I created a wordpress.com blog several years ago, which I did not continue, can I transfer it to wordpress.org?
Congrats on getting started back up! Yes, you can easily transfer from wordpress.com to wordpress.org. Here’s a really clear article on how to do just that. Let me know if it helps or if you have any other questions! 🙂
This is such a thorough and useful post! I’m researching how to start a blog and this tutorial makes it far less intimidating. Thank you for the thoughtful tutorial!
Of course, Brigid! After you get set up, come back and drop us the link- I would love to check it out! And shoot me an email if you run into any issues or have any questions 🙂 Best of luck to you in your blogging journey!
Hi, Jeff! Great article. I followed it step-by-step and just waiting for HostGator to verify my billing info so I may proceed.
I’m looking forward to getting started and creating my blog, and next, I’ll be reading your Pinterest Guide! Thanks again!
Awesome, Cammi!! Sounds like you are off to a better start than 99.8% of new bloggers out there 🙂 Best of luck to you- let me know how it goes!
Thanks the the simple explanation, Jeff! I did all of the “start-up” last week and wrote my first blog post. I will be adding more blog posts in the next month to build up my site before I start sharing on Pinterest and other social media. Would you be willing to offer suggestions on what ad companies you used to start earning cash? Thanks!
Hi Chelsea! Glad to hear you’re getting started with your blog!
Do a search on our site for “Affiliate Networks”; these are the top 3 that I recommend. I would also add that right now, your main priority should be building up your social media presence and getting consistent traffic (5-10k hits per month). Until you are at that point, I think the making money aspect is a bit premature (plenty of people will disagree with me on that, so take it with a grain of salt).
Hope this helps!
Another question for you, Jeff! I’m still working on building my website, writing blog content, going through the steps, etc. How many blog posts (or how much content) do you recommend having up on the site first, before trying to draw attention to it through social media, etc.?
Good question! I have a somewhat unpopular opinion on this… I think you should “launch” your blog after just your first post. I think developing the habit/skill of promoting your blog on social media is just as important as writing the blog content itself, which is why I push for doing it right away. And the 4 people who see your blog on Day 1 and aren’t impressed because you only have 1 post don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
Now, when it comes to building up your Pinterest account (the most important social media for bloggers IMO), I DO think you should have at least 20 or so high quality pins before you reach out to group board owners. But with 2-3 pins per article, you can get away with having under 10 articles before contacting board owners. You also want to have at least 500 or so followers before you reach out so you at least LOOK somewhat established, but this can be done pretty easily (even without many pins).
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for the detailed tutorial I just started a blog a month ago. Currently working on getting content before pressing the scary publish live button!
Your response above and article are giving me some courage to just do it – hopefully by the end of this month the site will be live. Thanks for the honesty and detailed tutorial!
I’m rooting for ya, Thalia!! Let us know when it launches, and be sure to join our blogging Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1524863557557043
Hey Jeff! Found your post on pinterest! Great site you have here, I’ve recently started my about 7 months ago and so far love it! I’m hitting that 5-10k hits range pretty consistently now and would love to guest write or just here more about how your monetizing your site. Keep up the great work!
Hi. Any advice for those of us whose brains jump from topic to topic? I would love to blog, but my interests change all the time. I actually started blogging about keeping chickens, which I still do and love, but sort of ran out of ideas of what to post next… I got bored focusing on my chickens for more than a few minutes a day, you know? Thanks in advance!
Chikkenbone
Can you maybe take a step back and, instead of having a blog about chickens, have a blog about anything and everything related to farm life? That gives you a lot more options for things to write about, but still keeps your blog somewhat focused on a similar theme of topics.
That’s what I would do, at least. It’s tough to have a blog about everything under the sun- I think the only way to really do that successfully is if you were to create your own personal brand. Even still, though, personal brands usually have some sort of overall thesis (ie, Lisa is the chicken/farming gal).
I realize this is a pretty old post and I followed all of the steps on how to create but now I am really struggling trying to download wordpress or install it. I didn’t even touch the directory (slap after domain name) and when I am finally ready to click install it tells me every time that my directory is full and I need to send it to an empty directory. I then click the help button where it walks you through and I did the same exact steps but this time with a computer that knows what steps to take and it still tells me the same thing…. Help?
Hey thelifeofagirlwho,
I’m sorry you’re having a hard time getting WordPress installed.
It sounds like their may be some sort of timeout issue where Hostgator attempted to install the application for you but it failed/timed out during install and now there is a directory created without all of the install files making it in there.
Try clicking “manage installs” on the “quick install” screen there and see if there any application installed- if so you can try to delete whatever WordPress application is there and reinstalling it afresh.
If that doesnt work or you dont see anything there I dont mind Skyping/screen sharing with you and trying to help you out/walk you through finishing the install!
Hope this helps.
Thank you for this great contents, it is really helpful especially to the new bloggers like myself. I am an aspiring writer but doesn’t know how and where to start my journey. I recently made a site for my blog but it is a free website since I want to set it up first and get it running before I subscribe to a paid one.
Hi
Are you still blogging, and how was your experience in being a blogger?
Great post. I would love in the future to try the course from making scents of cents. So how has your experience have been with hostgator.
Thanks!!! Every tip was so helpful. Hope I can get in touch , so you can help me with my new blog. Hugs from Honduras, C.A
No problem Vanessa, let us know if you need any help!
Man I wish I would have read this before I started my blog. I have been stumped on how manage my theme to allow relies and other items. Not sure if I picked the correct theme but I still like the lol of it.
Allow replies
Like the look
Dang spell fixer.
Hi Jeff,
I am in East Africa. I am an electrical engineer but I want to be a part time blogger and start a Tech blog. I really thank you for this great contents, it is really helpful especially to the new bloggers.
Best of luck to you!! Thanks so much!
Hi what do you think of building a food blog? Any suggestions!
Everyone on Earth eats (as far as I know), so you will never have a shortage of potential readers 🙂 I think you should go for it!
Man I wish I would have read this before I started my blog. I have been stumped on how manage my theme to allow relies and other items. Not sure if I picked the correct theme but I still like the lol of it.
Hi Jeff!
Your post is really great and helpful. I’ve been reading about blogging for some time and now I want to create one too, I feel so inspired by all those successful bloggers (including yourself) but I’m a bit afraid to start. Any tips for those who want to start but are kinda afraid of failure?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Alice! The biggest failure is not starting it all 🙂 Just go for it!
Great explanations of steps for starting out! I also love the links at the bottom to help with the next steps such as making your first $1,000 and your Pinterest guide. Sometimes I think everyone wants to shout out about how to start but miss where to go after that!
Yeah for sure.
It’s funny you say that because it was a content gap we had for quite a while and we’ve been trying to rectify that (i.e. more beginner friendly tutorial/setup kind of stuff so people can kind of ease their way into things rather than be left hanging the minute they purchase blog hosting).
Hey guys,
Just curious as to how many websites yall use to blog in? Or, which site was you guys first subject for the audience?
I was thinking you guys started blogging on another subject that gained audiences and then started on this site to show potential bloggers what to do.
I was thinking of doing a local blog that involves everything local as in food stores entertainment etc. Just curious what subject made yall to think of blogging.
Hey Jennie!
You’re actually spot on. We originally created and maintained a blog that tied back to the stock market/investment education. We
quicklyslowly discovered that general personal finance had a much larger audience and morphed our content strategy to align with that route instead.After a few years of blogging we had a lot of lessons to share (and enjoyed writing about that content as well). That’s where this blog came along! So while our audience didn’t exactly move over to this new site, we were able to grow one quickly by helping other bloggers produce, optimize and market their content.
I have been through many how to start a blog and fed up reading same thing again and again. But this post thankfully shows some easy ways to understand and actually helped me to start my blog. Thanks
That’s great! Good luck Lisa.
Very important blogging tips especially to those who are just starting out. I also learned something new from this post. Thanks for sharing.
Would you guys be willing to share what WordPress theme you use? Thanks!
We use Ultimate Conversion (we’ve had it ever since we started).
Nice tips to start a blog.
Am greatful
[…] might seem difficult to get started, but it really isn’t. Breakingtheonepercent has a great article about how to get started blogging. Check it out and get your blog going […]
Hi guys,
Found your blog today and glad I did. A lot of great info here. I have always contemplated starting a blog so I can make some additional income and possibly be able to transition over and make running a blog a full-time thing.
What I struggle with though and has been my biggest stumbling block to actually starting one, is what to write about. With millions of blogs out there, how to cut through all of the noise and actually create a blog that will keep your readers engaged and most importantly, generates good income?
I love to travel and photography, with the latter my current full-time job, so trying to find a niche within these two topics that aren’t already being done numerous times over has been the challenge.
Grateful for any tips or advice. Thanks so much guys.
Even if your blog covers the EXACT same topics as others, you should still do it. There is no substitute for YOUR voice, YOUR nuanced experiences, YOUR personality, etc. There is plenty of room out there for anyone that wants to blog, and we don’t all need to have perfectly unique blogs. Our personal finance blog, DollarSprout.com, for example, has a lot in common with MANY other blogs… yet, we are still able to carve out our own space online and get thousands of readers a month. You got this!