So you want to make a WordPress blog…
Congratulations! WordPress is a brilliant solution for how to start a blog, plus we think blogs are fantastic splendid!
Enhanced yet – it’s also astoundingly simple to make a WordPress blog. That’s why we say you can do it in less than 15 minutes.
But as easy as it is to get started with WordPress, communicative what you need to do and how you can do it is still important so you don’t waste time.
That’s why we entire this lead.
We’ll show you every single step you need to get to start a blog using self-hosted WordPress. And we’ll do it through tons of screenshots and beginner-friendly directions.
How to make a blog: what you’ll need
Just a quick note, though. This guide is not about using WordPress.com. as an alternative, we’ll show you how to start your own blog using self-hosted WordPress so that you’re in full control. This is our optional approach.
If you’re not sure what the distinction is, you can study this post for more on the disparity between WordPress.com and WordPress.org/self-hosted WordPress.
If you want to start a WordPress blog, here’s an easy step-by-step guide:
Sign up for web hosting (I recommend SiteGround).
Choose a hosting plan.
Choose a domain name for your blog.
Complete your hosting registration.
Install WordPress.
Log in and write your first blog post.
Neither of these steps requires in-depth practical knowledge and we’ll show you the whole method of how to set up a blog in detail.
Once you get your blog up and running, you’ll probably want to start writing and likely tweak its appearance/functionality. To help you do that, we’ll also show you how to:
Write your first blog post using the WordPress Editor
Change how your WordPress blog looks using a “theme”
Add functionality to your blog using tools called “plugins”
As long as you know how to use sites like Facebook and have an overall confidence when it comes to “web stuff”, you can follow this guide. We promise!
Step 1: Purchase hosting and your domain name
Making your blog accessible to people around the world requires two things:
Hosting – this is the engine that powers your site. While you don’t “see it”, every single website on the Internet has a host powering it.
Domain – this is like your blog’s permanent address. For example, ours is themeisle.com. Check out this post if you need help coming up with a good name.
You can purchase your hosting and domain at the same time – so don’t worry too much about the nitty-gritty details right now. But before you can do that, you need to choose a WordPress host. Because of WordPress’ popularity, there are a huge number of WordPress hosts.
We’ve personally tested the performance and reliability of these hosts. And after that testing, we recommend SiteGround to new WordPress bloggers.
Here’s why:
It’s affordable. You can host your site for the price of a latte each month.
You can easily install WordPress. With just a few clicks, you can launch the WordPress software and have a working blog. No tech knowledge needed!
It loads quickly and is reliable. For the money, SiteGround offers excellent performance in terms of speed and reliability.
All in, it will cost you about $62 to host your blog at SiteGround for the entire year.
That’s about as cheap as it’s going to get if you want to create a WordPress blog.
How to sign up for WordPress hosting at SiteGround
To get started, click here to go to SiteGround. If you scroll down on that page, you should see a list of SiteGround’s WordPress hosting plans.
For beginners, we recommend the cheap StartUp plan because it packs plenty of power for your fledgling blog. Click the GET STARTED button to start the process:
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| a credit of image goes to https://themeisle.com |
On the desktop, enter the domain name you want
to use for your blog and click Proceed:
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| a credit of image goes to https://themeisle.com |
On the final screen, you’ll need to enter basic
account and billing details at the top:
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As you scroll down, you’ll see a Purchase
Information section at the bottom. If desired, you can change the billing
period and add additional services.
We don’t believe these
services are necessary, though:
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All in, you should pay around ~$62 for your
space name and multi-year of facilitating.
Once you've filled in the majority of the data,
click PAY NOW at the base to finish your buy.
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Stage 2: Install the free WordPress programming
On the off chance that you need to make a
WordPress blog, you're going to, obviously, need to introduce the WordPress
programming.
We know this may sound a bit of threatening –
however, we think you'll be astounded by the fact that it is so natural to
introduce WordPress.
When you finished the join procedure in the past
advance, you ought to have gotten an email from SiteGround with points of
interest on the most proficient method to sign in to the SiteGround Customer
Area.
Simply ahead and sign in to SiteGround.
When you sign in out of the blue, you should see
a popup that says something like Welcome to our Website Setup Wizard!
In this popup:
Check the crate for getting WordPress
preinstalled on this record
Snap Proceed
Like so:
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On
the following screen:
Enter
your coveted login points of interest. You'll utilize these to sign in to your
real WordPress blog.
Pick
a WordPress topic. Try not to pressure excessively about this decision – we'll
demonstrate to you industry standards to change how your blog looks in a
second.
Snap
Submit.
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After a few seconds, you should see a success
screen:
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You just
learned how to create a WordPress blog – it really is that simple.
You can
access your new blog’s dashboard by going to yourdomain.com/wp-admin.
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Step 3: Go ahead and write your first blog post – you earned it!
Now that
you learned how to create a WordPress blog, you’re probably excited to get to
blogging!
We’ll
show you how to change how your blog looks and functions in a second. But
first, let’s go over just how easy it is to write a blog post on your new
website.
When you
first log in to your blog’s WordPress dashboard, you should see a screen like
this:
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To write a blog post:
Hover
over Posts
Click Add
New
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This will
launch the WordPress Editor. If you feel comfortable using Microsoft Word or
Google Docs, you should feel at home in this interface.
We
encourage you to explore and get a feel for how to use this interface. But here
are some basic things you can do:
Add a
title at the top
Type your
blog post text in the main editing box
Add
formatting to your blog post using the toolbar
Insert
images using the Add Media button
Add a
category using the right sidebar
Make your
blog post public by clicking Publish
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| a credit of image goes to https://themeisle.com |
Step 4: Here’s how to change how your blog looks
When you
create a WordPress blog, one of the major benefits that you get is access to
WordPress’ huge collection of themes and plugins. Here’s a quick overview of
the two:
Themes –
these change how your blog looks
Plugins –
these add functionality to your blog
We’ll
cover the former in this section.
As soon
as you create a WordPress blog, you already have a theme active. This is either
the default WordPress theme or the theme that you chose during the SiteGround
Setup Wizard.
But there
are actually thousands of themes available for WordPress, so you’re by no means
limited to that small selection.
Where to
find WordPress themes for your blog
When you
go to choose a WordPress theme, you’ll need to pick between free and premium
themes. There’s no inherent difference between the two, but premium themes
often have more detailed designs and features.
To find
free themes, the best place to search is the official WordPress.org theme
directory. Another solid option is Just Free Themes for a more curated
approach.
To find
premium themes, you’ll need a broader approach. Some good options are:
Genesis.
If you
want to skip the searching, we also put together a list of the best WordPress
themes for blogs.
How to
install a WordPress theme
Once
you’ve found a theme that you love, WordPress makes it easy to add that theme
to your site.
Here’s
how:
Hover
over Appearance
Select
Themes
Click the
Add New button
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If you chose a free theme at WordPress.org, search for the theme by name and click Install.
If
you purchased a premium theme, click the Upload Theme button and upload the ZIP
file you should have received when you purchased the theme
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| a credit of image goes to https://themeisle.com |
After installing your
theme, make sure to click the Activate button to make it active on your site.
How to further customize
your WordPress theme
To further customize
your theme, you can use something called the WordPress Customizer. This
interface lets you make certain tweaks to your theme without needing to know
the code.
You can access it by
going to Appearance → Customize:
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| a credit of image goes to https://themeisle.com |
Depending
on the theme that you chose, you may have a different set of options in the
left sidebar. But in general, you can:
Make
changes by using the options on the left
See a
real-time preview on the website preview on the right
Make your
changes live by clicking Save & Publish
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| a credit of image goes to https://themeisle.com |
For a
more detailed guide, we have a full post on how to use the WordPress
Customizer.
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Step 5: Here’s how to add functionality to your blog
While
themes are mostly about appearances, plugins are more focused on helping you
add functionality to your blog.
When you
first create a WordPress blog, you pretty much only have the ability to write
blog posts and create pages.
Plugins
are what allow you to add more advanced functionality like:
Contact
forms
Social
network buttons
Backups
Improved
SEO
And lots,
lots more
If you
can think of a feature, there’s probably a plugin for it. That’s because the
WordPress community offers over 50,000 free plugins, plus there are thousands
of premium plugins.
Where to
find WordPress plugins for your blog
Like
themes, you can find both free and premium plugins.
Keeping
the similarities rolling, the best place to look for free plugins is at the
official WordPress.org plugin directory.
For
premium plugins, the best method is usually to search Google for something like
“best X plugin” and buy from a well-known developer.
Many free
plugins listed at WordPress.org also offer premium versions with more features.
Must-have
WordPress plugins for all sites
While
there are plenty of niche plugins that are only good for specific uses, there
are some must-have WordPress plugins that all sites, including blogs, can
benefit from. Here are some of our suggestions:
UpdraftPlus
WordPress Backup Plugin
Google
Analytics for WordPress by MonsterInsights
WP Super
Cache
Yoast SEO
Wordfence
Security
Jetpack
by WordPress.com
Social
Media Share Buttons & Analytics
Contact
Form & SMTP by PirateForms
How to
install WordPress plugins
We
already wrote a detailed guide on how to install WordPress plugins. But here’s
the quick version:
Go to
Plugins → Add New
If you
chose a free plugin at WordPress.org, search for the plugin by name and click
Install Now.
If you
purchased a premium plugin, click the Upload Plugin button and upload the ZIP
file you should have received when you purchased the plugin.
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| a credit of image goes to https://themeisle.com |
Make sure
to Activate the plugin after installing it.
You can
always manage your existing plugins by going to the Plugins tab:
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| a credit of image goes to https://themeisle.com |
What to
do after you create a WordPress blog
Ok, so
you managed to create a WordPress blog, install your own theme, and add some
functionality with plugins.
What
next?
Well, the
world is your oyster! But if you’re like most people, you’ll probably want to
look for ways to:
Get more
visitors to your blog
Make
money from your blog
And if
you’re a blogging beginner, you might be interested in the 44 things our team
of bloggers wish they knew before starting a blog. You can read all of these
blogging tips here.
You’ll
probably also want to create a blog content strategy and figure out how to come
up with new blog post ideas.
And if
you’re looking for everything in one place, we wrote a whole guide on how to
grow a personal blog.
Now get
out there and make your brand new WordPress blog a success!
Hello, my name is Rana Vishal. I'm a 26 year old self-employed from the India.
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