Are you looking to start a WordPress blog of your own?
That’s great! WordPress is the best platform when it comes to blogging. It is an easy-to-use and simple solution that allows even the beginners to create a blog and manage it without a single line of code.
WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) out there, powering more than one-third of the websites, including Sony Music, Microsoft News, TechCrunch, Facebook Newsroom, to name a few.
Building a WordPress blog
In this article, we have listed the main things and the key steps required to create a WordPress blog so that you can do it on your own.
Choose a domain name
Have you decided the name for your blog?
If yes, then visit the website of a web hosting provider and search if the name you are looking for is available.
If you don’t know what the domain names are, then here is the answer— A domain name is the web address of your blog or website, which has a .com, .net, .org, .in etc. in the end. For example, the domain name of Microsoft is Microsoft.com.
The .com is the most used domain name extension in the world. You can also choose the domain on the basis of your interest or hobby.
For example, if you are a photographer, then you can have the .photography domain, which will look like www.yourname.photography. Generally, people use the .com because of its popularity.
Select web hosting plan
Web hosting will be your place to host the blog. So, after registering the domain, browse the web hosting plans from top hosting providers, like GoDaddy, Hostgator, A2 Hosting etc. Select a plan as per your need and budget, and purchase it.
If you are new to blogging, then choose starter shared hosting plans to save on costs. To further save money, it will be better to buy plans for 2-3 three years instead of one year. You should also check if your hosting provider offers free SSL Certificate which can encrypt the connection between your blog and the visitors. You can read out reviews of various providers (check out this one for A2 Hosting reviews) from trusted sites to find out the complete details.
Once you have purchased the web hosting and domain name, you will get the cPanel login details from your service provider. The cPanel allows you to manage everything about your website, including emails, hosting, supports, etc.
Install WordPress
Login to the cPanel. Here, you will find several icons related to the services and features. Most of them are technical which you don’t need to handle. So, avoid them and scroll down to the website section. Find WordPress and click on it.
From the next panel, select the domain name and click Next. You will then be asked to enter your website name, username, password, and other details for your blog. After filling these details, click Install.
Once the installation is done, your blog is ready with the default WordPress theme. You can type your domain address in search bar and see the website.
Download and activate theme
Open the WordPress dashboard using the login details that you set while installing WordPress. In Dashboard, go to the Appearance section and click on Themes.
Here, you can browse thousands of free and premium themes. On the basis of your blog’s industry and choice, find the right theme and install it. You can preview the theme to check how it looks on your site. If you like it, then go for activation.
You should take care that the theme you are using is provided from a reliable source. Check if it has good ratings from hundreds of users and is updated recently. This will help you to avoid bugs and attacks on your blog.
Write first blog post
After installing the theme of your choice, it is time to write the first article and publish it. If you are yet to write an article, then decide the topic and write it. If you have already written it, then go for publishing it.
To publish a post, visit the Posts section, and click on Add New. This will open the WordPress editor where you can set title, content, featured image, tags, categories, and more things. Save the posts every time you make changes. Once you have done everything, click on Preview button to see the post’s preview on your blog. If you think all is good, then click Publish button.
Install required plugins
In the process of blog setup, the WordPress plugins play a key role. The plugins allow you to add any kind of functionality to the blog without technical expertise. You can add contact forms, improve SEO, generate sitemap, add ecommerce functionality, analyze blog stats, and a lot more things, using the appropriate plugins.
Here are some must-use plugins for bloggers:
- Yoast SEO (for Search Engine Optimization)
- Contact Form 7 (for adding a contact form to blog)
- WooCommerce (for ecommerce capability)
- Wordfence Security (for blog security)
- Jetpack (for backup, security, site stats, and more)
- Google XML Sitemaps (for generating sitemap)
Customize your blog
After activating the theme, you can customize everything as per the need. For customization, go to the Appearance, and click on Customize.
In the Customize section, you can change the Header image, upload site icon, change site title and tagline, background image, create menus, and more. You will also find Widgets in this section which can be used to add category dropdown, search button, social media icons, and more things to your blog.
To create new pages, suchAbout and Contact Us, go to the Pages section and click on Add New. Enter the title of the page and the content you want to appear on that page.
Wrapping up:
WordPress is the preferred choice for a majority of bloggers on the internet because of its simplicity and performance. Using the steps mentioned in this article, you can easily create a WordPress blog without the help of a technical person or a developer. You can read A2 Hosting reviews here.
If you have any queries, let us know via the comments below.
Author Bio:
Madan Pariyar, a blogger at WebPrecious and a digital marketing strategist helping clients to resolve their website woes. When not busy with all things, you may find me occasionally watching movies, traveling and spending time with my family.