Super Easy Step by Step Guide to Starting Your own Money Making Blog
Yes, MONEY MAKING! That’s what this blog does. This blog is now my day job. How did I do that? First thing you have to do is sign up for hosting which you can do at Siteground. It’s only $3.95/month! Next, you find and register your perfect Domain Name. And then you pick your favorite Theme.
Do you love Crafting? Making stuff out of other stuff? Are you passionate about motherhood, fashion, decorating or maybe you love to travel? Have you dreamed about having your very own blog to share your experiences and creations?
Or maybe you’ve always dreamed of running your own business. Could you use some extra income? Let’s face it, who couldn’t use a little more money at the end of the month. Well, maybe blogging is for you! There are tons of new blogs created every day, so why not start your blog now?
The process of starting a blog is actually very simple and doesn’t take a lot of time or money. Basically, all you need to get started blogging is a Domain Name, a Hosting Company and a Website. That’s it. Your new blog is up. Now the real work begins.
Just so you know up front, once you have created the actual website, making it into a money making blog can be very time consuming! To begin, you need lots of high quality, well written content and then you need lots of people to look at your wonderful content i.e. you need Traffic!
In the coming months, I will share with you guys what I have done over the years to create traffic to this site.
I am not trying to discourage you here but I want you to be aware that maintaining a blog and making money with it can take lots and lots of time, effort, patience and persistence. Having said that, creating a blog is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I love blogging!
This beginner’s guide will show you the first, basic steps of creating your website.
Start a Blog in 3 Easy Steps
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Step 1. Sign Up for Web Hosting
As I said above, my favorite web host so far is Siteground (awesome Customer Service!) .
Your new blog has to live somewhere so you need to sign up for hosting. This can be super cheap or really expensive but honestly, if you’re just starting out, basic web hosting will be just fine. You want a hosting company with a great reputation, reasonable prices and awesome customer service.
In the past, this blog has been hosted with two of the big name companies but I was not happy with them at all. My site would go down randomly with no explanation and the Customer Service at both of them was horrible!
I did my research and switched to SiteGround (Highly recommended!!). Their basic web hosting starts at only $3.95/month which is all you need at the beginning.
My blog has not been down even once in the years that I’ve been with SiteGround and their customer service is the best!
As you can see, SiteGround offers 3 different web hosting plans. If you are just starting out with your first blog, I recommend the StartUp plan. My FiberArtsy blog was on that plan for the first year and it was great.
If you already have a blog and want to host a second one, go ahead and sign up for the GrowBig plan. That is the hosting plan this blog is currently using.
By the way, if you already have a blog hosted elsewhere and want to move it to SiteGround, the GrowBig plan and GoGeek plans include free website transfer.
Next, you will choose your domain name.
Note: if you already own a domain name, you may use that to sign up for hosting or you can buy a new domain.
Step 2. Choose Your Domain Name
So, you now have a host for your new blog. Great! What are you going to name it? The bigger question is, is that domain name available? Yes, most of the popular, easy website names have already been used but be creative! You might be surprised to find your perfect blog name has not been snatched up yet.
Finding just the right name can drive you crazy, though, so don’t spend too much time on it. Seriously, some super successful money making blogs have very strange domain names.
Tips for a Naming Your Blog
-Keep your domain name simple and easy to remember.
-Shorter domain names are usually better
-Try to avoid odd spellings which can easily be mis-typed.
-Generally, domain names ending in .COM are better than other extensions
You may have to search a few different variations before you find the right one. When you find your perfect blog name, go ahead and register it before somebody else does!
Step 3. Choose Your Blog Theme
So, then what is a Blog Theme?? Your theme is the actual look of your blog. The type of header, font, sidebar, main colors … all of those elements that make up how your blog looks are determined by your Blog Theme.
There are literally thousands of WordPress Themes for you to choose from ranging in price from free to very expensive. Keep in mind that some free themes are great, while others are super basic and lack any kind of customizability or customer support. Do your research! FYI – Siteground also has many free WordPress Themes for you to choose from.
SiteGround makes it super easy to install WordPress. Simply log into your SiteGround account and click on ‘My Accounts’. Scroll down and click on ‘WordPress Installer’.
At this point, you can choose one of their themes or you can install a theme from StudioPress or another source. If you have any trouble with the installation, here is an in-depth WordPress Tutorial. Also, feel free to reach out to their Tech Support.
Some thoughts about Blog Themes:
If you are just starting out and money is an issue, by all means choose from the many free themes available! When you start gaining traffic to your blog and are ready to upgrade, I recommend you check out StudioPress.
I really needed the assurance of fast and competent Tech Support and Customer Service. So, after some research I chose to go with a professional website through StudioPress.
StudioPress uses the powerful Genesis Framework which means I don’t have to worry about my theme staying up to date. The Genesis framework is always secure and search engine optimized.
The Genesis Framework can be used with free themes or you can get the framework and a high quality child theme together for around $129.
The cool thing is, you can use the Genesis Framework and child theme software you bought for any future blogs you start. You never have to buy it again and your blogging platform is always up to date.
Plus, if you ever decide to switch child themes, all you pay for is the new theme and you get a returning customer discount.
FiberArtsy is built with the Prose theme which has worked well for my blog. This theme, however, is no longer being updated so I will be switching soon.
My daughter and I bought the Daily Dish theme for our new blog, NothingButaFootprint. This theme is modern, versatile and mobile responsive. Don’t be afraid to shop around. StudioPress has a lot of different WordPress Themes available in all price ranges.
Hopefully, this post has been helpful. As I said before, I absolutely love blogging. It’s so much fun to think up and create new projects to share. And the blogging community is a wonderful network of people!
Are you ready to start a blog? Please come back and share your link in the comments below. I’d love to take a look.
You may also be interested in learning How This Blog Makes Money
Annette
FiberArtsy.com
How to Start a Blog for Beginners
