Hello there, my name is Elisha.

I have been blogging for some years now, and I love every moment of it. In the past, blogging helped me get my first job, and it has and will continue to be my lucrative side business.

Years back, when I was wanted to know how to start a blog, I spent lots of time online looking for information on creating a blog quickly without going through a complicated process or having any prior knowledge of setting up one.

I was able to gather this information piece by piece on several sites. In the process of creating one, I discovered that it is not complicated as people say it is, which is why I decided to make this free and easy step-by-step tutorial to teach absolute beginners how to create a blog easily and quickly.

NOTE

BlogForReal is a free resource that is fully supported by readers.

Disclaimer: Please note that this guide contains affiliate links and we may earn a commission at no cost to you. This helps us to create more useful content.

Let’s fully begin

Step #1 – Select a perfect Niche:

You will have to pick the right niche for you to run a successful blog.

Ensure to select a niche that you are most passionate about. When you do this, you will able to follow your passion and enjoy your blogging journey.

You should also choose a niche that has gathered an adequate audience.

When you have gotten a niche, the next thing to do is validate three formulas for success.

1. Checking the niche size
2. Exploring the competition
3. Analyzing the monetization potential.

The formula above will assist you in having an idea of the size, competition, and monetization potential of your chosen niche.

Step #2 – Select a Blogging platform

At this moment, you will need to know the best blogging platform out there and decide on the content management system to host your blog. I advise you to create a self-hosted blog, and I will be showing you how to do in this guide.

When you want to set up your blog, you have two solutions:

• Hosted blog solution (freemium plan)
• Self-hosted blog solution (free, open-source software).

Hosted Blog Solution

It made be tempting for beginners to use a free hosted platform like Blogger.com or WordPress.com.

It may sound free, but you see that ‘free,’ it comes with many limitations. The first limit I am pointing out is very obvious: a free hosted platform makes your blog’s name or addresses to be set as a subdomain. That is, it will look like this: yournewblog.blogspot.com or yournewblog.wordpress.com.

Secondly, you are forced to agree to their rules and restriction. Though I must say that free options come in handy if you are trying to test out the platforms. But, if you are willing to take blogging seriously, then you will have to pay for a custom domain and hosting, sooner or later.

Self-Hosted Blog Solution

When it comes to a self-hosted system (known as content management system), you have several options to choose from. The most popular CMS (content management system) in the world is WordPress.org. It is also free and an open-source program.

Self-hosted platforms allow anyone to setup set up and run their blog using a custom name and hosting. That is, you will be entirely in charge of your blog content. It costs a few dollars per month for a hosting account and about ten to seventeen dollars per year for a custom domain. With this, you can use free blogging software.

If you are making plans to run ads or sell products and services on your blog, this is the best way to go. A large number of hosting providers provide you with resources to maintain your eCommerce blog.

How much does it cost to start up a blog?

Briefly, I will be comparing three of the most popular blogging service providers, using their basic 1-year plan price, which includes a custom domain. For WordPress.org, we will be using BlueHost company pricing plan.

P.S: Storage space shows you how much space you can use for your blog and media files. Bandwidth is the volume of data your blog can transfer to visitors. These two parameters are necessary when your blog starts to grow and get more traffic.

NOTE:

Step #3 – Pick a Domain name

No matter the niche, your domain name is the web address people will use to access your blog. It is used to know you online. Your chosen domain name will be a unique address on the internet. As long as you keep paying the annual domain fee ($10 – $17), it will be yours.

Internet users with your domain name can quickly type it in their browser address bar. Your blog address can also be discovered through search engines like Google, Bing, or Yandex, which is why you need to pick a unique name.

You can pick a domain with the popular ‘dot com’ extension or a country-specific one like ‘dot co.uk.’ The best is to go for the one with a ‘dot com’ extension, but that does not mean you can go for other extensions like ‘dot net’ or ‘dot info.’

If you feel you cannot find a domain name you like, Bluehost allows you to choose a free domain name later when signing up.

Recommended tool:

Ultimately, it is all about your domain being memorable. So, if a different extension that makes your domain name unique and memorable, go ahead and use it.

Step #4 – Get a Good Web Hosting Account

When you have gotten a domain name, the next important decision is to select a reliable web hosting provider.

First and foremost, the performance of your blog and the way it functions depends on your hosting. A Host is an online house where all your blog contents and files like images are stored and ensures that your site is running live 24/7.

Several hosting companies provide a free domain for one year when you pay for any of their hosting plans.

Choosing the wrong host can cause several problems for your blog. It is better to pick a hosting company with a reception. A significant determinant of creating a successful blog is choosing an excellent and reliable hosting provider.

After our research, we found out that BlueHost is always a top choice for many blogging experts. BlueHost is also the recommended host on WordPress.org official site.

#5: Starting a Blog on WordPress

This very part provides you with complete information on how to sign up for a hosting account and set up a WordPress blog on it. For a perfect illustration of how to go about it, I will show how to use Bluehost to create a WordPress blog. This section has also been included with the screenshot of the pages to assist you.

1. Visit Bluehost Homepage

Visit Bluehost.com website. Click on the ‘Get Started’ button.

2. Pick Your Hosting Plan

The next thing is to select your hosting plan. If this is the first blog you are creating, you can choose the Basic hosting plan. You can later upgrade to Plus plan or Choice Plus plan as your blog grows. Also, see what each hosting plans offer, e.g., You will get domain privacy & protection and some extra features if you go for the Choice Plus plan. You can go for the recommended plan if you are not on a budget.

3. Set up Your Domain Name

The domain name chosen for your blog is what users will use to access your site. I advised that you take your time to come up with a unique and memorable domain name. Input your desired name in the “new domain” box, and you will know whether it is available for use or not. If the domain name of your choice is not available, Bluehost will give you a list of suggested domain names to choose from.

Don’t get upset if you can’t come up with the right name immediately. Skip this step, and select a domain later.

However, if you have a domain name that has been purchased from another place, you can use that domain name. Input your purchased domain into the “Use a domain you own” box.

4. Register with Bluehost

When you have picked your preferred domain name, you will be taken to the registration page to fill in your personal info manually. If you don’t want to fill the form manually, you can sign in with your Google account to make the process of filling the forms quick and easy.

Add your account information

You can start by filling the form with your personal information.

Select your Hosting Package

Now, it is time to select an account plan from the given options. You have 12, 24, and 36-month packages to pick from.

If you are ready to be committed to your blog for a long time and looking to get a better deal, go with the 24 and 36-month package.

Package Extra

At this point, it is essential to review your package extras carefully. Every extra you see are not necessary. You can save more money by unchecking those boxes.

You can later add these extras if you feel you need them. I do recommend that the Domain Privacy Protection box is checked. In case you don’t know what this feature does, it protects your personal contact information from being visible in the global database. If you don’t mind your personal contact being accessed by anyone online from the worldwide database, you can uncheck the box.

Payment Information

The next thing for you to do here is to enter your payment info. Ensure that the Terms of Service/Cancellation policy box is checked and click on the “Submit” button.

After that, you will get a confirmation from BlueHost if the payment goes through. Also, you need to activate your domain name by verifying your email address.

After this, you are one step away from creating and launching a blog.

5. Create your Bluehost account

Now, let us create your account with Bluehost.

• Click the blue ‘create the account’ button
• Input your password and complete the account setup
• Your account is now live. Click the ‘Go to login’ button.
• Input in the boxes your “Email or Domain name” and “Password.”

You are all set. The next thing for you to do is to start working on your blog.

6. Create Your WordPress Blog With BlueHost

When you have logged in to your Bluehost account, you will be offered with a four-step process a website/blog. If this is the first time building a blog, I recommend that you follow this simple process.

If you are not new to this and want to create a blog on your own, just click the “Skip this step” button and create it in your Bluehost hosting account dashboard.

Let continue with this four-step processes:

• Bluehost allows you to start the process by answering three simple questions: What kind of site? What type is it? And who is it for? In my own case, I chose Blog, Personal, and Myself. You don’t need to go with what I chose. You can choose whatever suits you.

• The next step is to select what else you will like to add to your blog site. There are a few options for you to pick from.

• In step 3, you need to answer some questions such as the name of your blog, your site’s tagline, and how are you are comfortable with creating a site. You can always change these settings later.

• Lastly, in step 4, take a look at the various themes Bluehost offers you to select from. If you do not like any of the available themes you see, you can skip this step and pick a different one later.

After you are through with this process, the WordPress software will be installed, and you will be taken to the Bluehost account dashboard.

7. Launch Your Blog

In your Bluehost dashboard, there are several options for you to choose from to modify your blog, according to Bluehost recommendations further. These options are for you to add some changes before launching your blog.

Once you click on the “Launch my site” blue button, your site goes live.

Once you get a view of how your site looks like, don’t take it to heart if it is what you were expecting. That is the first draft of your blog. To make it look nice, you will need to go to your WordPress dashboard, apply some modifications and contents. I will be showing you later.

Your WordPress dashboard can be accessed by clicking the “WordPress” button in your Bluehost dashboard. You can see the button at the top right corner of your screen.

Have you launched your blog yet? → Click here to get started with Bluehost

Just as I promised, I will be showing you how to customize your new blog and find the right theme.

Step #6 – Pick a Good Theme and Design your Blog

A face (design and layout) is the first thing your blog needs.

Setting up a new theme, and installing it can be thrilling and almost straightforward.

Once you are in your WordPress Dashboard, click on “themes” on the Appearance tab. When the themes page opens, you will be shown some popular themes to choose from. Click the “Add New” button to get access to thousands of WordPress free themes.

The look and feel (appearance) of your WordPress blog are purely determined by the theme you use. When users visit your blog, the first thing they take note of is the overall appearance of your blog before they view the content you put out. In all, pick a theme that looks great and fit your content needs.

Read this short guide on how to pick a theme by searching within the WordPress theme dashboard:

• Preview the theme: always preview the theme (demo) to understand the look, layout, and how customizable it is.
• Read the description: All most all the themes in WordPress comes with a short description of its functionality and features. Reading themes description also lets you know the one that fits into your need.
• Check the ratings: checking the star rating of themes gives you an idea of how good the themes are.

If you can see the theme you like, just pick any good one. You can always change it any time you like.

Are you still surprised that the look of your blog hasn’t changed that much? To make it lovable, just fill in your blog with contents like texts and images.

Should I go for a free or premium theme?

I believe that there are thousands of free WordPress themes to choose from, regardless of your blog niche or topic.

If you don’t fancy the idea of searching through thousands of WordPress themes, you can either pick Twenty Twenty or Twenty Twelve Theme. These themes are officially made by WordPress.org and are very popular.

Remember that you can also always select a different theme as you begin to customize your blog. Whenever you change your theme, all your content pages will be automatically transferred to the new theme layout.

You can opt to use a premium theme if you are not okay with the current stash of available themes. These premium themes are mostly developed by third-party companies and also sold on different WordPress theme websites. A premium theme ranges from $30 to about $600.

Blog Theme Customization

Your WordPress dashboard is the place to manage everything about your blog. Here, you will be able to access all the necessary tools to tweak your blog’s functionality for the best user experience and add content. The first step to achieving all this is to learn how to use the dashboard well.

One unique thing about WordPress is that it comes with a lot of customization options. These options are so numerous that we can’t exhaust all of them in this guide, but I will be showing you the first important changes you need to make to your new blog. In this instance, I will be using the Twenty Twenty theme.

Make your blog’s logo

Back in your Bluehost dashboard, you will find a tool called “Make your logo.” If you didn’t use this tool when launching your blog, this is the best time to get it done.

Once the checkbox has been clicked, you will be redirected to an AI-powered logo maker page. This is a simple tool that you can use to create a nice logo for your blog in seconds. To make your logo, you start by entering your blog’s name and slogan (optional). After that, the tools automatically makes different types of logos for you to choose from.

Once you have seen the logo you like, select it, and customize it according to your taste.

After you are through with your logo design, click on the download button and save it to your computer.

Customize Your New Blog

Here, you will learn how to do general customization on your blog. These customizations include editing your blog’s title, uploading your newly created logo (or the new one you will make in the future), uploading background images, changing the blog’s color, and changing your blog’s homepage settings.

I previously mentioned that we would be using the Twenty Twenty theme. If you chose another theme, the process I am about to show you may be slightly different. But do not worry; almost all themes customization options look alike.

Go to your WordPress dashboard to start customizing your blog. At the left-hand side of your screen, locate the Appearance tab, and click on “Customize.”

Remember that every theme has its way of customizing. In my case, I will be showing you the Twenty Twenty theme customization options.

Once the customization page open, you will find different customization options on the left-hand side of the page:

• Site identity: this feature changes the site name, tagline, uploads your logo and site icon.
• Colors: changes your blog header & footer color, background color, and customizes your primary color.
• Theme options: this option allows you to decide if you want to show an author bio for all your post and show a search icon in the header of your blog.
• Cover templates: this option allows you to make further changes to the page template such as overlay text color, overlay background color, and overlay opacity.
• Background image: here, you can upload any custom image you want to use for your blog.
• Menus: customize your blog’s menu, social media links, and changes the location of the menu.
• Widgets: this feature customizes your footer content and adds a blog description.
• Homepage settings: chooses how your blog homepage is being displayed. It can be a static page or a classic page (your latest post).
• Additional CSS: this is an advanced option that allows you to add your CSS code to customize the layout and appearance of your blog.

The menu at the bottom is used to check on how your blog looks like on different devices like desktop, mobile devices, and tablets.

Note: A lot of new themes like Twenty Twenty comes with the new Gutenberg editor that changes the way users write a post and build pages inside of WordPress.

By the way, Gutenberg is a new visual editor that works on blocks principles. So when you choose to add a new heading, paragraph, image, or anything else, there will be a block for you to add to your new post or page quickly. It makes it much easier for beginners to create new content; whether it is writing new content or building landing pages, you can arrange these blocks into a layout, and they are here to make your life easier.

Add plugins to your blog

What are plugins? Plugins are packed pieces of codes that affect the way and manner your blog looks and functions. Plugins extend your theme’s capabilities, adds new functionality, and customizes the whole part of your blog or part of your blog.

There are free and paid plugins. Paid plugins charge based on their unique functionality. Presently, there are over 57,000 plugins in WordPress.org repository.

When you set up your blog with Bluehost, some plugins are automatically installed in your blog. They think they are essential for your blog. To add and review plugins on your blog, click on the plugin tab on the left-hand side of your WordPress dashboard.

On this page, you can add new plugins, update them, deactivate and delete them.

I will be showing some recommended plugins that you should be using.

List of recommended plugins for new bloggers

To save time for you, I have picked some important plugins to get you started. By the way, these plugins are free.

• Contact form 7 – This plugin allows you to create a contact form with flexible email options. This plugin support CAPTCHA and Akismet spam filtering.
• Akismet – This plugin prevents your site from publishing malicious content. It also protects your contact form and comment from spam.
• Yoast SEO – This is a complete SEO plugin for your blog. It optimizes your content for search engines.
• YARPP – What this plugin does, is to automatically create a list of related posts to encourage readers to continue to browse your site.
• MonsterInsights – This is a Google Analytics plugin for WordPress.  It is used to monitor and analyze your blog traffic.
• WP Super Cache – It delivers content to your users fast by helping with the load time of your WordPress blog.
• Disqus – this is an alternative comment system with comment capabilities and advanced administrations.

Well done, you just learned how to customize your blog and make fundamental changes.

You will be learning how to write content for your blog.

Step #7 – Write Contents and Promote Your Blog

Until now, you have gotten a domain name, chosen a blogging platform and hosting site, picked a theme, and you are ready to go.

Now comes the breaking point. It is a must that you learn how to write blog content. In the world of blogging, anything useful information you share is called “content.” It must be something that people find valuable, interacting, and will come back for more.

You have to know the type of content to create for your new blog and the best practices to follow. You also have to decide if your new blog will be made of words, graphics, videos, audios, etc.

Three important things your content should do

Your content should lure online readers into your blog. Honestly, a few users will come to see your new blog. No matter how beautiful your blog looks, it will fail without content.

• Your content should speak to a particular audience and significantly offer value. You may be correct if you think this is a commandment. Put this into your mind and never, ever forget it. It is all about them and not you.
• Your content should be easily accessible and charmingly presented. The quality of your content must be equaled to the way it is being presented. Do not even go for low-quality designs or graphics. Ensure that every single thing about your blog draw and attract visitor and encourage them to interact with your content.
• You may make your content commercially purposed, but it must never be commercially focused. Do not welcome your visitors with pop-up ads and big banner ads; instead, greet them with content. Please give them a reason to engage with your content and assure them that you are there to help and not use them.

I must point out you might get fazed by all the available types of content and the method you can use to deliver it. From time to time, you must always remember that content delivery is less important than quality content.

Do you want to learn how simple it is to create quality content?

Below is a simple 3-step method of creating great content:

• Point – Put than your main point and idea you are covering.
• Prove – Provide an example of the idea you are covering.
• Perform – offer a simple way to execute the idea.

There are two types of content you need to worry about on your blog: the Pre-launch and Post-launch content.

Pre-launch Content

As a new blog, there are static pages like “Contact” and “About Us” that need to be filled with useful information. Some other parts of your blog, like the Footer and Sidebar, also needs to be filled with appropriate information. Let us look at some of these content areas:

• Homepage: This depends on the type of blog layout you choose. Before now, I mentioned that when customizing your blog, you may decide to set your blog’s homepage as static or otherwise. If it is going to be static, then you have to prepare content for it.
• About Us: When you visit any blog, the most traditional page you will see the About Us page. It tells your blog’s new visitors about who you are and what your blog is all about.
• Contact: This page ensures that visitors can communicate with you. It can be a simple contact form or a straightforward page with your email address with social media links.

Post-launch Content

• Pages: A blog page provides static content or information to the readers. Some of these standard pages include Resources, Services, and Products. A blog page can also be evergreen content with information that will continue to be relevant to its readers. A practical example is this guide you are reading now.
• Posts: Blog posts are articles that are written on a blog. These posts are contents that come in the form of images, audios, infographics, etc.

Note: when you publish any post or page on your blog, there is a need for you to add SEO (Search Engine Optimization) meta tags on them. This SEO title and description title tag are not visibly seen on the page, but they are essential. It helps search engines to recognize what the content is all about and includes it on its result pages.

However, Content is not limited to only written material. Some blogger overlooks other types of content material. This should not be your case; it is an excellent practice to utilize various forms of content and give your readers a different way to get knowledge from your blog.

For you to create quality content, you have to use the power of imagination and be original. At some point, you will know the contents performs better than the others on your blog. Start by creating content that you are comfortable with and that it is right for your audience and blog.

Start Promoting Your Blog

Your blog may have the best design in the world and have the most compelling copy. Your work and effort will be in vain if no one sees your blog. Promotion and marketing take place when you engage with your present and future readers. The success of the rise of your blog depends on the level of engagement in your chosen niche.

Take a look at some various ways of promotion and marketing activities you can do to become a successful blogger and an authority online:

Tell your friends and family about your new blog

Always tell everyone you know about your new blog. Always include your blog name and URL in all your social media profiles and your email signature. Make use of every opportunity to get the word out about your endeavor.

Submit your blog to search engines

Getting your blog indexed by search engines is a quick and useful task. For your blog to be submitted to Google, you need to sign in to your Google account and use the submit URL feature in the Webmaster Tool.

Be active in your niche

Become active in relevant forums, blogs, and social pages. Getting engaged in bloggers’ communities is an excellent way to associate with other bloggers in the same niche as you are. You can build friendships and help in promoting each other contents. Another way to build a relationship with other bloggers in the same niche is by commenting on relevant blogs.

Be active on Social media

Your business is different, and it is always advisable to use social media platforms that fit your style and niche. Select the one(s) that fits your niche and become an expert in using them to reach your goals. Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are some of the most popular social networks that bloggers use daily.

Submit your blog to bookmarking websites

Bookmarking websites can show your blog to potential users who are looking for content within your niche. It is a good practice to do this everything you publish a new post to spread the word. Some popular social bookmarking websites include Reddit, Scoop.it, etc.

Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is a great way to build an online presence. Take a step further by offering to write a guest post for another blog. Ensure that the content you are dishing out is related to your niche, and it goes to reputable sites.

Start building your mailing list

As your blog starts to grow and gain new followers, it is a good practice to collect the email addresses of the readers and followers who want to be notified about your latest posts and offers. People will respond better to your promotion efforts as they come to know and trust you.

Advertising on the web (paid traffic)

Proper use of paid media can help you gain attention and exposure before your organic traffic begins to come. Such paid platforms include Facebook, Google Adword, etc.

Step #8 – Make Money Blogging

Monetization is the process of turning your blog activities into earning. One thing I will like you to know about is that Blogging is not all about making money. It is purely about creating useful content that will get visitors’ attention, making them come back for more.

After producing excellent content and engaging with your audiences, you will gradually become an expert who will be able to gather an essential list of followers and visitors coming to your blog. For the time being, you should consider creating content that will generate income in the long run.

Blog Monetization Channel

Recent studies have shown that 58% of bloggers make money through blogging. But, the question is, “what are the various way to monetize a blog?” I have listed down several options to choose from:

Enrolling in affiliate programs

Affiliate programs are ways of partnering with online merchants and retailers to advertise and promote their products and services. You will benefit from sales that are made successfully.

Here are some important things you need to consider when enrolling in affiliate programs:

• You may consider putting a disclaimer on your terms and condition page that you do use affiliate links.
• The commissions made solely depends on the number of affiliate sales you make. And these sales rely on the number of visitors you have.
• You need to be trustworthy enough for visitors to click on your link.

Popular platform like Shareasale, Amazon associates, and Clickbank allows you to enroll in their affiliate program.

Running ads on your blog

There are various ways to run ads on your blog. Irrespective of your niche, you can go for ads that serve your advertiser’s purpose or advertisements that are specific to what you are blogging. A popular ad network you can use is Google Adsense.

Writing and selling an E-book

Another good way to make money off your blog is to gather existing content from your blog and put it as an eBook that can be downloaded. It can be sold directly in your blog or somewhere else. Amazon is one of the most popular publishing platforms that allow you to publish your book through its Kindle publishing program (KDP).

Selling your product and services

If you are creative and more on the business side, then you can use your blog as a place for selling your products and services. This is a way to make money with your blog, especially if it gains authority, popularity, and readership.

Presently, there are tons of free and paid plugins that can be easily be integrated into your blog and start selling almost immediately. The Woocommerce plugin is an example of such a plugin. It comes with checkout, shopping cart, secure payment, product pages, etc.

Sponsored Post

Individuals and companies are always looking for exposure and are willing to pay for a sponsored post on your blog. Sponsored posts are content created to promote advertiser products and services and an excellent way to earn more cash from your blog. If you can build a popular blog and become an expert in your niche, then advertisers could approach you for a sponsored post, that is, to publish their posts.

So far, you can see that there are several ways to monetize your blog.

Ponder on these ways and pick the method(s) that suits you and your visitors. Start by compiling email lists of your readers and visitors through email subscription. As you do this, it will be easy for you to recommend products, knowing that there are readers interested in what you have to offer.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a blog?

A blog is a site that comprises texts, images, videos, and links to important pages and media on the internet. It can be known as many things – a place to learn, newscast, magazine, diary, teaching hub, a showcase for arts, information sharing. It is almost anything you want it to be. Blog visitors leave comments and engage with the author. In fact, conversations and interactions are a major part that contributes to a blog’s success.

What should I blog on?

These days, too many people now think that they should blog about popular topics to make more money. New bloggers are advised to blog on what they love and follow. If your niche attracts a smaller audience, your passion and expertise will draw the right people(followers). If you blog about something you love and passionate about, you will be able to connect and engage with your audience, helping you to grow and make more cash.

How much money can you make from my blog?

Different factors determine the amount of money you can make from blogging. Are you new to blogging? Have you been into blogging for a while and already have a set of people that trust you? Do you blog in your spare time, or is it what you do full time?

Glassdoor reports that bloggers in the United States earn an average of $30,000 annually. Some bloggers earn way lower than that, while some can earn more than $100,000 annually. Some have even proven that blogging for money gets them more than a million dollars year on year.

If you have a new blog, you will have to work hard before you can begin to earn. With time, passive income will start to increase. Having advertisements and banner on your blog will only make sense if your blog is well-established. While it is possible to get little bucks per click from Google Ad, you will have to grow your site and build enough audience to actualize it.

In the beginning, you can only expect a portion of a dollar for each click, but don’t ever let that discourage you.

How do I find a profitable niche(topic) for my blog?

Now that you have picked a niche that interests you and it seems to be going fine. What is left? How do you earn money from it?

Research your market

The number one thing to do first is to check out your competition by doing a market search.

This is what you can do:

• Do a Google search for the main niche keyword and take a look at the first ten results.
• Head over to different social networks, see paper magazines and check who your competitors are. Figure out who your audience is from there.
• Leverage on free SEO tools to get an insight into the numbers of searches done on search engines. When you this, you will know what you are dealing with and what you are up against.

If you figure out that the volume of searches is very high with lots of competitive websites, it may be better to narrow down your niche. Discover all the possible keyword ideas that your audience will be interested in. This way, you can find that spot between low competition and great demand.

Check out how profitable your niche(topic) is

One way to make money off your blog is to discover how profitable your blog niche is. A simple Google search can always do this trick. When you type in your niche keywords, do you see any ads that come up in the first results?

When you see that businesses and brands pay to advertise their products and services related to your niche, then know that you have chosen a good topic. It also means that you will be able to monetize your blog with ads, e.g., Googe ads.

Another method to monetize your WordPress blog is by selling affiliate products. For example, Amazon has an affiliate program that allows you to get up to 10% commission for sending them a buying customer from your blog. If your blog niche is yoga related, you could link to Amazon affiliate products like mats, yoga pants, etc.

What if I have a free blog?

It shouldn’t be something to worry about. If you want to switch to a self-hosting WordPress blog, you can quickly move your free blog to a new host as soon as possible.

Most of the free blog sites allow one to export content to another site. WordPress, as well, has lots of tools that will enable you to import your content to a new blog automatically.

What to do if your domain name is taken?

As it stands, many great and beautiful domains have already been taken, especially if you are going for the popular ones with the .com extension. Do not worry if all the domain names you were inputting has been selected when registering for your hosting account. Bluehost allows you to select a domain name later by clicking the “Choose Free Domain Later” button.

This feature gives you time to do some thinking and researching. You may opt to use another domain extension like .net or any other extension that may be a good fit for your blog.

In Conclusion

A huge congratulation to you. You have just learned how to start a blog. You have gotten your domain name, hosting, and now, your blog is up and running. The next thing is for you to get familiar with the WordPress dashboard, start content creation, make several changes, and promote it.

Cheers.