How To Start a Blog in 5 Easy Steps
If you're a newbie to the blogging world knowing how to start a blog can seem complex. You don't know where to start or how the process even works.
We were once in your shoes before starting Mindful Nomadics. Sitting around with an idea and having no idea where to start.
Now we have a blog, added in a vlog, and continue to grow every month. We still haven't quit our day jobs but we love having our blog as a side hustle.
Part of the reason why we started this blog was to help get information to others. That's when it hit us, you might need help starting a blog as a beginner.
You could always just sign up for a free blog on Blogspot but we're talking about starting YOUR OWN blog. One that is all yours to grow how you choose.
We wanted to break the action of starting a blog into five easy steps. This way, you can start your blog and be an official blogger by the end of the week.
It's time to get started with your blogging career. Let's start with the steps and we'll break in down for you.
Disclosure: Links throughout the Mindful Nomadics site may make us a small commission at no additional cost to you. See our Affiliate Disclosure for more information.
Contents
Find Your Niche
Whatever you do, DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. Finding your blogging niche is not only the first step but the most important.
Before you even think of going to the other steps you need to not only find your niche but feel content with your decision.
When we started our blog we initially thought this was more of a suggestion than a requirement. It's not!
Having a niche can be the make-or-break between having a successful blog or a flop. We cannot stress how important this is.
Your niche is the glue. It's what brings the whole site together.
A niche is how you market, target the right audience, get connected with other bloggers, and find the best sponsors. Having a concise niche that's right for you will make the whole blogging process so much easier.
When deciding what your niche is, you should consider your passions and interests. Then give some consideration to the market.
If you just cannot decide on one niche, then opt for a way to connect everything. We still suggest you keep the categories simple.
You can pick a general category like travel and then pick several travel-related categories. A better option would be to pick a specific type of travel like "budget travel" then go from there.
We ended up with "minimalist travelers" as our niche. This worked well since travel is our main thing but we still live big with less.
Choose a Domain Name
You're about to pay for a domain name that will be your bread and butter. It will be your brand and what connects the audience to you.
Take time for this decision. Sleep on it. Whatever is needed.
Choosing a domain name is an important step and will need time. There will be some trial and error.
In the end, you want a name that YOU feel is best. That's the most important part...that YOU like the name.
You have the option of making the domain your own name, a nickname, or something that goes with your niche.
We suggest getting creative but not going overboard. Think simple but fun.
Once you have a domain name, go ahead and make a logo. From there you can make social media accounts for your new brand.
We actually changed our name about three times before we finally got the right fit. Don't be like us, choose wisely from the get-go.
Pick a Hosting and Blog Platform
You need both a hosting site AND a blog platform. Think of these as the parts of the site needed to run your blog.
The two most commonly used by bloggers are Bluehost and WordPress. This is what we use and for beginner bloggers it's perfect.
Bluehost seems to always have a "special discount" and even has a WordPress web hosting option. You get to set up both all at once.
Bluehost also helps set up your domain name if you didn't already come with one. There are different options to choose from which can add on more perks.
Decide Your Source of Income
If you want to create a blog just for fun that's great but there may come a time when you want to make some money. Even if it's just enough to pay for the costs of running your site.
There are different ways to make money on a blog including sponsored posts, ad revenue, and, affiliate purchases. Depending on your niche and type of posts, there may be one that will be easier to grow financially.
It's important to decide your main focus for a source of income so you can cater to that from day one. If you want to make a lot from affiliates than make sure you have a chance to review posts on your blog.
The two main ways we make money from our site are affiliate marking and ads. That works best for us at this time since we still work full time.
For affiliate marketing, we use Awin and Amazon Affiliates. For ads, we use Google AdSense. These are all user friendly for beginners and have no minimum blog views required.
Make a Plan
Alright guys, you're almost there. You did all the steps to get your blog going but now its time to run the dang thing.
You need a plan. There's no point in putting in all this work just to wing it.
Is this blog something you can do every day? Are you trying to make this blog a full-time thing?
Make a plan that works for you and is something you can commit to. We suggest making a plan for how often you want to post new content and what type of content.
Since we also work as traveling therapists we made a deal to wake up every day at 5 am and use at least one hour for blogging. We have our time allotted planned out weekly for social media, new content, and fixing old content.
Now is a good as time as ever for starting a blog. Use these steps and make your dreams a reality.
Good luck with all of your blogging endeavors. It's a lot of work but we promise the reward is worth it.