How to Start a Successful Blog in 2022

Step #1: Choose your blog name and get your blog hosting

Before you can get your blog up and running, the very first thing you’ll need is to choose your blog name (domain name) and get your blog hosting.

1. Go to Bluehost and click the Get Started Now button.
2. Select the Basic plan.
3. Pick your domain name and enter it into the New Domain box.
4. Create your Bluehost account.

Your domain name will be your unique address on the internet. That address will be used by internet users when trying to find your site through their web browsers.

Bluehost is the best option for new bloggers, it is the cheapest hosting provider you can find. It costs less than $3 a month, and a domain name costs around 10-15 dollars a year. 

• Free Domain. Bluehost will give you a free domain name when you sign up for hosting, which allows you to avoid the upfront and recurring fees associated with purchasing a domain on your own. If you’ve already purchased your domain name, don’t worry; you can still use your domain with Bluehost (it’s just one extra step)

• Money-Back Guarantee. Bluehost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so there’s no risk if you change your mind.

• Friends & Family. Many bloggers we know use Bluehost to host their blogs.
• Reliability. Bluehost’s facilities are world-class. They have their custom-built 20,000-square-foot data center with enough backup generators to power a city.

However, if you make up your mind for some other hosting company, it should have a one-click install option. That option allows you to create your website with a single click, quick and painless. Now that you’re ready to get started, go to Bluehost and click the Get Started Now button.

Step #2: Start your blog by installing WordPress

Before you can even start creating your blog, you have to choose a blogging platform. That is why this next step is essential. We recommend WordPress as your blogging platform. That is the platform we use for our blog, and by the way, it’s free

Let’s install WordPress. Don’t let the word “install” intimidate you, though. It’s much easier than it sounds, and Bluehost does all the work for you.

Step #3: Make your blog look beautiful by choosing a theme

An average person spends less than 1 minute on a web page.

Do you want to know why that is? 

Well, put yourself in the reader’s position for a second, and think about what draws your attention right after you open up a web page.

The answer is the blog’s design. If your blog design doesn’t seem professional enough, it will turn everyone away instantly. 

Elegant Themes allows you to pick a design for your blog without the need for coding expertise or design knowledge. In other words, a good theme helps you to design your blog exactly how you want it to look. 

Here’s what to do next: 

1. Go to Elegant Themes
2. Purchase the theme that fits your style.
3. Download and save your theme’s .zip file to your Desktop.
4. Return to your WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance > Themes.
5. Click Upload and then Upload Theme.
6. Click Choose File, select your theme .zip file, and click Install Now.
7. Click Activate.

Step #4: Add Key Plugins To Your Blog

Plugins are third-party appendages that let you add great features and functionality to your blog without having to write any code.

Here are 2 plugins that you must add to your blog

1. In your WordPress Dashboard go to Plugins > Add New.
2. Search for Yoast SEO. Click Install Now followed by Activate.
3. Click the Add New button to add one more plugin.
4. Search for MonsterInsights and click Install Now, followed by Activate.
5. Click the Launch the Wizard! Button to configure MonsterInsights.

It’s best to keep your number of blog plugins to a minimum and install only the best ones, because too many plugins—as well as unreliable plugins—can slow down your site. We use very few plugins at The Minimalists.

In this section, you’ll install and activate the following free plugins:

• Yoast SEO is the defacto standard SEO plugin for WordPress. For details and everything you’d ever want to know about WordPress SEO, read Yoast’s Definitive SEO Guide.
• Google Analytics for WordPress by MonsterInsights allows you to track your blog’s traffic easily and with lots of exciting data: overall traffic, traffic sources, views per author & category, automatic tracking of outbound clicks, and page views.

Step #5: Add Your Essential Pages

Now it’s time to plan out the structure of your website. Keep in mind Some of the pages on your site are more important than others. You should focus your time on all the essential pages before you start sharing it with the world. The reason for that is to give your visitors an idea of what your business is all about.

Who You Need to Help You:

• Web Designer & Developer – Will help develops and styles your website. Just in case you need a little bit of help, a web designer & developer can help with the overall layout of your website, make your pages attractive with the right formatting and images. Within a short few days, you can have a beautiful website up and in a matter of a short few days. 

Here are a few essential website pages to have on your site are:

• Home Page – This is the first page most of your visitors will see when they visit your main URL, so therefore it should have a brief overview of who you are and what your company does
• About page – People do business with other people, so, therefore, having an about page will add a personal touch to your business, this page should give a summary of who the people are behind the company, a little bit of your company history and more.
• Contact – Your contact page should show potential clients or customers the different ways they reach out to you. It is also essential to include your phone number, email address, social media profiles, a contact form, and a physical mailing address if you have one. 
• Blog Page – A blog drives traffic and leads/sales, it is also a section of a website that provides a listing of your most recent blog posts. If you have a business website without a blog, then you are seriously missing out! The blog section of your website can be the greatest and most affordable marketing tool.
• Terms & Conditions – This page is a must for a website. It usually outlines the “rules” the visitor of your site must agree to abide by to use your website. 
• Privacy policy page – Every website has a privacy policy, so should yours. A privacy policy lets your site visitors know what you plan on doing with the personal information they give you (emails, names, phone numbers), and the list goes on. 

Many of the web pages above will be very similar in structure – Once you learn how to create one page, you’ll find it extremely easy to create all the other pages.

Step #6: Set Up A Navigation Menu

Let say you took the time to create some of the essential web pages. The next step in our quest to creating a website from scratch is to set up your navigation menu. The menu will allow users to go from page to page on your site much faster.

Go to “Appearance → Menus,” and click on “create a new menu.”

Here are the steps you should take to create your first menu:

Step #7 Add logo, colors and more

1 – Colors Scheme

Using many colors for your blog may sound good in theory, but it is not a good strategy at all in real life. Remember, your main goal is to make your content readable!

Keep that in mind while you are picking the colors for your blog. So you should stick with 2-3 colors. 

Too many colors, or even worse, the wrong colors, can scare off your readers. Just imagine some text on a red or yellow background… it doesn’t seem readable at all.

2 – Images

If you place an appealing image at the beginning of your blog posts, it could get you some good results. I have done some testings, and I know for a fact that it could increase the number of people who will click through from the homepage to a post. But on the other side, if the images you use suck, not many people will click through. 

3 – Sidebar

Have you ever seen a blog with sidebars on the left? But that’s not all. Some of them even have two sidebars. I have tried lots of different layout types and figured out that the best layout is to have a sidebar on the right side and your content on the left side.

Also, the main content area should take up at least 60 percent of the design. People come to your blogs to read, and you don’t want readers to get lost in other elements.

4 – Make your blog mobile-friendly

Since mobile technology has grown quite a lot, most mobile users have a hard time navigating through websites that are not mobile-friendly. They will be more likely to leave your site click on the links from their phones. Therefore, I recommend you using a mobile responsive web theme.

5 – Keep it simple

And last but not least, it is essential to keep everything simple and easy to navigate. I doubt that people will stay on your website if it’s challenging to move around.

Choose A Profitable Blogging Niche

Choose a blog topic or niche that you are interested in writing about (this will help you stick with it)

The majority of successful blogs focus on one thing. It can be fitness, travel, fashion, food, or simply anything, it up to you.

You’re not obligated to choose a blog topic right away, but it’s good if you already have something in mind.