How to Start a Blog in 2023 (The Beginners Guide)

 Anyone can start a successful blog that can generate money using the right strategies and guidance. In recent years, the blogging field has changed dramatically, and you can make a living if you have the passion and determination to make your blog successful. You can create a blog even if you are a beginner. If you want to create a blog and make money, then you are at the right place. Great things take time, and success does not happen overnight, so you must be consistent and have patience. So below, we will discuss the proper steps to create a blog and turn it into something. 

The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Start a Successful Blog in 2023

Starting a blog is simple and easy if you do it according to the steps below. So here are nine steps to starting a successful blog.

1. Unleash and Process your ideas.
2. Choose your blog name and niche.
3. Get web hosting for your blog.
4. Install WordPress to start your blog.
5. Pick a WordPress theme to customize your blog.
6. Brainstorm blog post ideas.
7. Write a unique and compelling blog post that readers love.
8. Promote your blog to get readers.
9. Monetize your blog and make money.

We will discuss these steps in detail to start a successful blog and help you make your first $1 online.

01. Unleash and Process Your Ideas

The first step in creating a successful blog is to unleash ideas within your mind and process your thoughts. What will you talk about on your blog if you do not know what you want to write about? You need to process your thoughts and ideas and try to understand what you want to talk about on your blog. 

You should be specific about what you want to discuss and write about on your blog. You can do that by looking at other blogs related to your ideas, and it will help you create your blog about a specific idea you want to talk about and write on your blog. If you admire someone's work, you can talk about and write using your own vocabulary and thought process.

02. Choose your blog name and niche

Choose Your Blog Niche

Before choosing a blog name, you have to select a blog niche. A blog niche is something you want to talk about and write about. Niche is a specific topic you will focus on in writing content for your blog. A specific blogging niche allows you to narrow down your audience and write content that is much more relevant to them. When choosing a blog niche, you should ask yourself two key questions.

Do I enjoy learning about this topic?

If you do not love the topic you are writing about, you should not start a blog because you will soon run out of ideas and lose the momentum you build up at the start of the blog. You will have no clue about what you really want to talk about and write about what you will write on your blog. 

Ultimately you will lose consistency and also your audience. You should love the idea and have curiosity about what you are blogging. It will help you to write posts consistently.

Are others interested in this topic?

Do other people are interested in what you are writing about? If no one is interested in reading about your topic, what is the whole point of writing about it?

You can do a Google search about what you are writing and find out if people are writing and reading about it, and you will see thousands of searches about it.

Choose Your Blog Name

Now comes the fun part of choosing your blog name. A blog name is just like a brand; it is how people will remember your blog. But do not overthink selecting a blog name because its magic will build up soon, and even if you feel stuck, keep moving forward.

To name your blog, you must brainstorm and write your ideas down. Start combining your ideas and see if something stands out about your niche. It could be your business name or a great combination of words that ideally represents the general topic you are writing about.

After you have chosen your blog name, we will move to the next step.

03. Get your Blog Online(Web Hosting)

Now you have identified your blog niche and chosen the name. You have to get your blog online, and for that, you need two things.

Domain

A domain is a blog address. You can choose your name, business name, or even a combination of words as your blog name. There are different domain extensions like .com, .org, .in, .uk, and .pk. You can get your desired domain with a different extension if your desired domain is unavailable. 

When choosing a domain, you need to follow these steps:

1. If possible, always go for the .com domain.
2. Keep it concise and simple.
3. Choose something easy to remember and understand.
4. Avoid difficult and misspelled words.

Web Hosting Service

After choosing your blog domain, it is time to get your blog online. For that, you need to buy a good hosting plan to host your blog (Web hosting is where your blog lives online), and there are a lot of web hosting companies like Bluehost, Hostinger, NameCheap, and Goddady. You can go with any of these companies, according to your budget, but I prefer Hostinger. 

When you buy a hosting plan, it also comes with a domain for one year included in it, and you do not need to buy a separate domain. If you are serious about blogging and you are tight on budget and looking for free web hosting plans, then you should not start a blog because it will only waste your time and energy; instead, I recommend using blogger.com to start your blog.

04. Install WordPress on Your Blog

After buying a web hosting and domain, your blog is online and can be accessed from any part of the world. The next step is to install a blogging platform on your blog. I use WordPress because it is easy to use, powerful, and user-friendly. I also recommend using WordPress because it is available for everyone and has many free WordPress plugins that will help you customize your blog. 

WordPress is the most popular blogging software and is used by millions of people all around the globe. When buying a web hosting plan, you should go for WordPress hosting if you want to use WordPress as your blogging tool. WordPress hosting plans come with pre-installed WordPress; you have to connect your domain with your blog, and your blog will be online.  

05. Customize Your Blog Using a WordPress Theme

After installing WordPress, you have to install a theme according to your idea, need, or brand. A theme is how your site will look, and pre-built website designs are called themes. When you are new to blogging, I do not recommend you buy and use a premium theme. For now, go for the free WordPress theme of your desire. There are hundreds of themes available for free in the WordPress theme library, and you can choose any theme, install it, and customize your blog. 

You do not need to spend too much time choosing a theme because you can swap it whenever you want. So choose something that suits your needs rather than focusing on the perfect option. Your WordPress theme will evolve with time according to your ideas and content. Now let's get through step by step to install the WordPress theme. First, you need to log in to your WordPress admin. You can do it by going to [yourdomain].com/wp-admin and putting your login credentials. Now you are logged in and will be on your WordPress dashboard. If you are a beginner, you will find it a bit challenging to use but trust me, and you will be an expert with little practice.

To install a new theme, you need to go "Appearance" menu in the sidebar and click "Themes."

WordPress has a few ready-to-go themes, but you have to search for premium themes that suit your blog. Click on the "add new" button, and you will be in the WordPress theme library. 

To find a theme of your taste and nature, WordPress has a "filter feature" to help you find the best theme for your blog.

After applying filters, you will find hundreds of themes according to your nature and taste. To get an instant preview of any theme, you can click the thumbnail of any theme and see what your blog will look like. After finding the suitable theme, you have to click the "Install" button. And after the installation is complete, click the "Activate" button, and you are all set.

I recommend you: 

• Elementor for WordPress
• Astra
• GeneratePress

These themes are free, simple, and up to the mark, and they will get your blog set up without getting a paid blog theme. These themes can also be upgraded to their premium version later to justify your investment.

Customize Your Blog Theme

Themes are the foundation of your blog and make your blog stand out from the rest. You can make numerous changes to your blog theme, but we will stick to essential customization for now. WordPress has different plugins that can extend the functionality of your blog in different ways. Like you can add a contact form to your blog or can add a website analytics plugin. 

You can also customize your blog using various plugins. For initial customization, click "Customize" on your active theme, and the main category to customize is "Site Identity." Here you can add your website name, tagline, and logo. When you are done, click the "Save and Publish" button.

Customize Your Blog for Search Engine

Search engine optimization(SEO) is the most crucial step in setting up your blog. If you have not done search engine optimization for your blog, there is little to no chance for your blog to rank in search engine searches. SEO helps your website in ranking when someone searches for a particular keyword and phrase. 

SEO is the key factor for a particular blog or website. For a beginner, SEO may be difficult, but WordPress has covered it up for you because you can install different types of SEO plugins. Your real job is to create unique and interactive content for your readers and to spark a good relationship with your readers by creating videos or posts.

You can do all of your SEO by installing Yoast SEO. Yoast SEO is one the best plugin for SEO and has a large fanbase. To install Yoast SEO, go plugin menu on the sidebar and click "add new." Search Yoast SEO using the search bar and click the "install now" button. After the installation is complete, activate it. Now click the "SEO menu" button on the sidebar, and you will be on your Yoast SEO dashboard. 

Go to the "your info" tab and save your website name and tagline. Then, identify yourself as a person or company. Click the "save changes" button. Now click the "webmaster tool" tab, and here you can verify your blog with different webmaster tools like:

1. Google search console
2. Bing webmaster tool
3. Yahoo webmaster tool

Click the "Google Search Console" button, and you will have to log into your Google account. Once you are logged in, click the "Alternative Method" and select the" HTML Tag", and your search console meta code will appear. You have to copy your alphanumeric meta code and paste it into the Google Search Console text box in Yoast SEO and click "save changes".

Finally, click the "Verify" button, and google will index your site. It will also provide insight into your blog, like keywords or phrases you rank and errors on your blog. Now click the "General" tab and the "open installation wizard" button. Yoast will take you through 10 steps to optimize your blog. The first step is a welcome page; for now, you can skip it because as your blog grows, you can set up a welcome page for your readers.

In the second step, you have to choose the environment for your blog that best suits you. You will certainly select "Production Environment" because your site is live and intended for a real audience.

The third step will ask you about your site type, and you have to click on "blog".

Step 4 will ask you to set up as a person or company; in most cases, it will be a person.

In step 5, you can link any social media profile related to your blog and click the "next" button when you are done.

Step 6 will ask you about your post visibility, and you have to choose "posts and pages" public and "media" hidden.

Step 7, it will ask whether your blog has multiple authors or a single author. In future, if you want to add another writer, you can make changes to it.

In step 8, you can allow Yoast SEO to extract data from the google search console. You have to click the "get google authorization" code button. A new pop-up will appear asking you to allow Yoast SEO to pull data from Google Search Console.

In step 9, you can verify your website name and can choose a title separator. A title separator is a symbol that separates the blog post title from the blog name in the meta information. You can select any symbol which you like and click the "Next" button.

The last step shows a congratulatory message indicating you have completed SEO optimization for your new WordPress blog.

XML Sitemap

In Yoast SEO last step worth configuring is XML Sitemap. XML Sitemap lists all the URLs of your blog. It helps Google and other search engines like bing or yahoo to crawl new posts and pages of your blog. Yoast SEO automatically updates your XML sitemap whenever a new post or page is published on your blog. You don't have to do it manually. 

To set up your blog XML sitemap, go to the "features" tab, set "Advanced Setting Pages" enabled, and save changes. A new list of menus will appear on the sidebar under "SEO." Click the "XML Sitemap" menu. Select the "User Sitemap" tab and toggle "Author/user sitemap" to enable it. Don't forget to save your changes.

Set up Permalinks

Permalink is the full URL that leads to a particular post, page, or piece of online content. It is a permanent link and consists of your domain(www.example.com) and a slug that come after it. 

WordPress automatically generates a permalink when you create a post with the post ID number after the domain. 

It is not an ideal form of permalink and does not say anything about your post to your reader before viewing it. The good thing is that we can customize the permalink structure.

In the sidebar menu, click "Setting" and then "Permalinks." You will have different options. You have to go with the "Post Name" option. This permalink structure uses keywords from the title to create a unique permalink.

07. Brainstorming Blog Topics

If you are still with me, have purchased your domain and web hosting, installed WordPress, customized your blog, and done search engine optimization for your blog. Technically, your blog is all setup and ready to go.

Most of the post topics will come from your passion, life experience, failures, and something new learning. People search their queries in the form of questions like:

1. How to write a blog post?
2. How to earn your first $1 online?
3. How to handle the pressure?
4. 
   

So you also have to start with some questions of your own, which will help you come up with blog topics and ideas. It is not a complicated process, and in no time, you will have different blog topic ideas.

Now you have to see through the lens of your readers;

1. What excites or stirs passion in them?
2. What do they want to know about?
3. What do readers love about the particular topic?
4. What do readers hate about the specific topic?
5. 
   

When you write your blog content in accordance with the above-mentioned points, you will be able to write an engaging post. You will be able to justify your readers' concerns and will be able to answer them all. So when writing a blog post, keep your readers in your mind and what your readers want to learn about.

08. Write Your First Masterpiece

Now we move on to the next step of writing the first blog post. Your content is your blog strength if you give something valuable to your reader. When leaving, your reader would feel he has learned something new and unique its time and effort were worth it. Your content should be reader oriented. 

When Writing a blog post, keep in mind that:

1. Who your target audience is?
2. What do they really want to know or read about?
3. How will they perceive your content?
4. 
   

To write Your first blog post, go to your WordPress dashboard and click "Posts" in the left sidebar. In general, there will be a list of posts in descending order. Since we are working with a fresh install, you won't see anything here. To create a new post, click on the "add new" button at the top or sidebar. You will be brought to the editor page, and you can start creating your blog post. 

To add headings, media, quotes, and many other features to your blog, click the + button in the top right corner. Start with writing your article title. When you save your post as a draft, WordPress will start creating permalinks using keywords in the post's title. Now you can start writing the content of your post until you have fully covered the topic. You can also add visuals to illustrate concepts that you can not fully describe in words.

After you have completed your article, you have to optimize it using Yoast SEO. Yoast SEO has different settings options. The main settings are Title, Slug, Meta Description, and Focus Keyword. After making changes, you will see a preview of your article when it is discovered by the search engine. Create attractive SEO titles and write a meta description in such a way that it should describe the content of your post. Before publishing your post, you can see what your blog post will look like by clicking the "Preview" button at the top of the page.

Here is a quick checklist to consider before you hit the publish button:

1. Speak in a conversational tone.
2. Content follows naturally.
3. Use headings to separate different sections.
4. Use bullet points and lists.
5. Check for typos and grammatical mistakes.
6. 
   

You are ready to publish your first post if you have double-checked your post. Congratulations! You have successfully set up your blog and optimized it for search engine traffic.

Create an Editorial Calendar

Consistency will play important in the success of your blog. Your blog will not be successful if you do not update and post regularly. You have to create a work schedule for your blog and follow it no matter what. Consistency is undervalued, and you need to prioritize it.

Editorial schedules are not only for a big publication; they are also crucial for people like you and me. They make challenging goals reachable in micro-steps. They keep you organized and help you update your blog regularly. The better you follow your schedule, the faster you will grow your audience. 

To create an editorial calendar, you do not need to buy some expensive tools. You have to open an excel spreadsheet and create four columns - Publishing Date, Title, Keyword, and Notes. You can also add some additional columns depending on your need and work. The simpler you keep it, the easier it will be to understand and follow.

You must understand how often you can post daily, weekly, or monthly. You have to follow your schedule consistently because not following your schedule can ultimately lead you to quit altogether.

09. Monetize Your Blog

Now you have created your blog and posted some content on it successfully. You move on to the next step of monetizing your blog and make your first $1. You have to show some patience. You will not start earning money on your first day or week, but ultimately you can earn some money, which is also why you start a blog.

As I have mentioned earlier, you have to have some patience. After publishing content on your blog, you have to build your audience. You can do it by promoting your content on social media, in your inner circle, and by word of mouth. Your audience will mainly come from searches. 

If you want to monetize your blog, there are many ways, but without your audience can not do it. Even if you start selling your products, you can not do it without your audience. Now, if you have enough audience, you can monetize your blog in different ways and earn money from it. Some of these ways are:

• Monetize Your Blog with AdSense
• Affiliate Marketing
• Sponsored Blog Content

Monetize Your Blog with AdSense

There are different platforms available in the market for ads monetization, but Google Adsense is the leading platform in the ads monetization field. So, we will go with Adsense to monetize our blog. 

You must adhere to AdSense policies to monetize your blog with AdSense. After gaining enough audience and content on your blog, you can apply for AdSense approval. 

Once your blog has been approved, ads will start showing on your blog, and when someone views ads on your website, you will earn some money. You have to create a Google AdSense account. You can create an AdSense account using your Gmail. After account creation, you will be on the AdSense homepage. Click on "Monetize Your Content," and you will be provided with your unique code. 

You have to place your AdSense code in your blog's header and verify your website. Once you have submitted your blog to AdSense and it is verified by AdSense, ads will start showing on your blog.

Affiliate Marketing

If you are looking for more than one source of income through your blog, you can also monetize your blog with affiliate marketing. In affiliate marketing, you apply for a particular platform affiliate program. If you are accepted as an affiliate marketer, you will be provided with your unique link. 

When someone using your link buys something from that platform, you earn a decent amount of commission. You have to write an article or blog post about a particular platform or product to promote it. For now, you have to stick with these two basic monetization methods, and you will also come across other monetization methods as your blog grows.

In the last, I want to tell you again that success does not happen overnight, and great things take time. At first, you might feel that you can not succeed, but you have to be consistent and focus on your content.