How To Build A Blog From Start To Finish

Have you always wanted your own website, but haven’t known how to get started? It’s easier than you think and far less intimidating than what you’ve imagined. Your blog is a page on your website that contains your blog posts or content. Keep reading to learn how to build a blog from start to finish.

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How To Build A Blog


1. Select A Niche For Your Site


The first step is to figure out what kind of blog you’d like to start. What interests you? Are you a photography buff, foodie, gardener, or pet lover? You could even create a lifestyle blog where you share snapshots and insights into your personal life.

A niche is simply the audience your blog will appeal to. If you’re building a blog for profit, your niche will be the segment of the population you’ll market your products and services to. Or, if you don’t want sell your own products, you could market other merchant’s products by becoming an affiliate. Many bloggers operate affiliate marketing websites and make a good living doing so.

When choosing a niche, try not to make it too broad, you’ll want to narrow it down so it’s more specific. For example, if you love gardening, and want to share tips and tricks on how to garden, narrow it down to growing herbs, for instance, or a blog all about roses. Once you’ve decided on your niche, it’s time to pick a domain name.

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Examples of niches include:

  • Lifestyle
  • Pets
  • Gardening
  • Cooking
  • Home Decor
  • DIY
  • Health
  • Beauty
  • Photography
  • Crafts
  • Internet marketing

There are dozens of niches to choose from, just make sure you’re passionate about the one you choose, because you’ll be creating content around it.

2. Choose A Domain Name


Now choose a domain name that is relevant to your niche. Pick a name you love that will represent your brand. As an example, the name for this website is studioworkscinematic.com. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when deciding on a domain:

  • Don’t make it too long. The longer it is, the harder it will be to remember. It should roll off your tongue effortlessly. Ideally, five words or less is best.
  • Choose a .com over other extensions. It’s easier to remember and is the default extension most people are familiar with.
  • It should make sense. This is obvious. Don’t use cutesy words that have different spellings that could be confusing. We’re all on brain overload as it is.
  • A catchy domain is more memorable.
  • Avoid slang words that have different pronunciations and spellings.
  • Of course, it should be relevant to your niche. Ilovehorses.com will be confusing if you have a cooking website.
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Here are some free domain name generators you can play around with:

https://domainscope.com

https://domize.com/

https://www.namemesh.com

https://instantdomainsearch.com/

3. Build Your Website


I use the WordPress platform to build my websites. WordPress is free to use and has a vast library of themes and plugins to help customize your site. There are a ton of amazing free themes to choose from, as well as premium, or paid, themes. The WordPress dashboard is intuitive to use and the learning curve is not too steep.

[Read More: The Tops 5 WordPress Themes For Photographers]

Here are the benefits of using WordPress:

  • It’s free
  • User-friendly with an intuitive interface
  • 100s of themes and plugins to choose from
  • Great for search engine optimization (SEO)
  • Supports blogs, visual sites, membership and eCommerce websites
  • A large community for support
  • Supports all kinds of media
  • It keeps getting better

Go to WordPress.com to get started. Watch the video below for a visual tutorial:

4. Choose A Hosting Service


A great hosting company will provide the services and technologies needed for your website to be live on the internet. You’ll need a domain name to get started. There are numerous hosting companies to choose from, including GoDaddy, HostGator, and Bluehost. Personally, I like WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting.

Benefits of WP Engine include:

  • Powerful security
  • Exclusive WordPress hosting
  • Fast loading times
  • Free automated migration
  • Free SSL certificate
  • 60-day risk-free trial

Recently, WP Engine incorporated Google Cloud Platform’s newest infrastructure, Computer-Optimized Virtual Machine, making WP Engine’s platform 40% faster than any other WordPress hosting company. Fast-loading times are crucial. In fact, only a one-second delay in website speed can lead to a 7% conversion loss, and an 11% decrease in page views.

These reductions can translate into, not only significant profit losses, but the loss of potential customers, as well. By adopting this new infrastructure, WP Engine now offers unrivaled performance and speed. And what’s incredible, is this new platform is offered to all customers without a price increase.

A tremendous resource, when considering web hosting, is Digital.com. The experts at Digital.com have spent countless hours testing and utilizing all of the available tools that are on the market today, and have implemented this information to build and maintain their own website.

They have now taken this valuable information and created a guide, which unpacks web hosting so that even beginners can understand how it works, making them better informed and equipped to select a web hosting service that best supports their needs.

Check out the following links if you’re looking for web hosting, want to learn more about the ins and outs of web hosting, are looking to host your own website, along with the best web hosting providers of 2022.

The Best Web Hosting Providers of 2022

What is Web hosting

The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Web Hosting

How Much Does It Cost to Host a Website?

How To Choose a Web Hosting Provider

5. Start Creating Content And Share It


It’s time to get into the nitty gritty of what blogging is all about – creating content. Don’t let writing scare you. It gets easier with time just like any other skill. You’ll want to create at a minimum a blog post a week. This shows Google, and the other search engines, that you’re serious about your blog, which will improve your rankings, making it easier for people to find you.

WP Engine Banner

Your content should be centered around your niche. If you have a food blog, share recipes, and hacks for working in the kitchen. You could also create videos of you making one of your favorite dishes. We all love video, as most of us are visual learners. Your posts should solve a problem or need that your audience is facing. Overtime, your followers will look to you as a trusted authority.

Creating consistent content is a great way to build your brand, along with the know, like, and trust factor. Focus on writing blog posts that are at least a 1,000 words in length. Google likes long-form content, which will boost your rankings, making your site appear higher in the search engines.

Encourage interaction from your readers, and always respond to their comments. Engagement is another marketing metric that Google loves. Promptly answering comments conveys the message to your followers that you care about them, and that you’re invested in your blog. It also positions you as a real person with your own preferences and opinions.

Keyword Research


Keyword research is an integral component of content creation because it helps your articles get found by targeting specific keywords. Uber Suggest is a free keyword tool that I use. SECockpit, Soovle, Moz Keyword Explorer, and KeywordTool.io are other keyword research tools.

Each post you write will be centered around one competitive keyword, meaning a word or phrase that people are searching for online. The goal is to find keywords that are competitive, but not too competitive. This is why a good keyword research tool is so essential. Long-tailed keywords or phrases typically contain four or five words. For instance, the keyword for this post is “How to build a blog.”

Call To Action


A Call-To-Action is an invitation to do something, which is typically placed at the bottom of your content. It’s good practice to include a specific call-to-action in all of your posts and articles, which is simply asking your readers to do something: “Sign up for my free weekly newsletter,” “Click this link,” “Visit this page,” “Register for my free eCourse, “Leave a comment or question below,” or “Grab your discount code here.” People are much more likely to do something if you ask them to.

Including a call-to-action in your content is one of the best ways to grow your email list. Email marketing is a form of marketing where you offer your website visitors a free gift in return for their name and email address. A free gift could include a marketing course, a video tutorial, a discount code for a product or service, or a PDF. Once people are on your list, and you have their name and email address, every time you create content, it will appear in their inbox.

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Key Points


Follow these five steps to get your blog up and running. Once your site is live online, you’ll want to write informative blog posts every week. This is how you’ll build a following. Choose your niche and a domain name, build and customize your site using WordPress themes and plugins, select a hosting platform, and then get busy creating your valuable articles. And don’t forget to share each and every piece of content on social media for everyone to enjoy!

Have you always wanted your own website and blog? Let me know in the comments:)

6 thoughts on “How To Build A Blog From Start To Finish”

  1. Thank you for this great article. I appreciate your five step process for creating a blog from start to finish. Once you do all these steps, choose a niche, get a great domain name, build on WordPress, and all the rest, then you are good to go. Then just keep on creating content at a pace that works for you. 

    Some people say to write as much as you can without worrying as much about if it’s perfect. I think that sounds good but I also tend to have a little slower of a writing process, really taking my time with each article. What do you think? Is it better to write as fast as possible, or take your time? Thank you for your expertise on the subject and I look forward to reading more on your website.

    Reply
    • Thank you. Great summary of the article. I don’t think the content has to be perfect, but it does need to be readable, with good punctuation and spelling, and or people may find it too much work to read. The more you write, the better you become at it. 

      A 1,000 word article isn’t that long, although it can seem intimidating at first. Writing is a skill just like anything else, the more you do it, the more proficient you become.

      Thanks so much for reading!

      Reply
  2. Great information and advice here! This is a wonderful list of example of niches. With so many products out there the possibilities are endless. And to think that new inventions are being created daily that need marketing reach. I think gardening, cooking and home decor are some new areas I just might try and explore.

    I’m glad you provided a thorough explanation of creating content as it is one of the most important aspects of building a blog, especially being diligent when it comes to comment interaction. This is a great post and I’m looking forward to seeing what else you come up with going forward, well done!

    Reply
    • Thanks for taking the time to comment. Yes, there are so many niches out there, and there are even more when you start to narrow down a niche that is broad. Cooking, gardening, and home decor are all great ones because they appeal to everyone. 

      Writing is the main component of blogging, as is interacting with your readers. Google looks at all of these things in terms of ranking. Thanks so much for reading!

      Reply
  3. I really liked your site! I, myself am trying to get my website off the ground and out to the public. I have never done anything like this before and find myself at a loss because I have never written a blog or created something that is meant to get any amount of attention…so my ideas for a niche are a tad overwhelming for me. 

    I have a lot of different life experiences but to build a website is hard for me because I don’t consider myself an expert or claim to know enough about one individual topic to build an on going blog site. I suppose my biggest issue is confidence, if my site isn’t good enough I may get discouraged, or if it does attract attention…will it be negative comments? These are the types of things that go through my head when I am brainstorming ideas for my niche. 

    Your site gives an excellent run down on how to get started and the important factors to keep in mind during the creation process.

    Best Wishes!

    Reply
    • Thank you. As you start building your site, you’ll learn valuable information and skills that you can then pass along to others. I know it can be intimidating starting something new. I felt the same way when I got started online. Everything you’re feeling is normal. Follow the steps, and begin writing. 

      Little by little, you’ll get more and more comfortable with the process and your confidence and abilities will grow. It’s a matter of getting started and then being consistent. Choose a niche that you’re passionate about and would love to create content around. It makes the process so much more enjoyable.

      Thanks so much for reading!

      Reply

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