How to Start a Blog and Make Money From It

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Step 1: Choose Your Blog Niche

Before choosing a name, figure out what topics your blog will cover. Write a list of your passions, hobbies, and dreams, and a second list with your skills, experiences, and areas of expertise. Then think about blog post ideas for each topic. If you’re coming up short on ideas, it’s probably not the best topic. Choose a topic that you can talk about non-stop. 

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Step 2: Set Up a Hosting Account

Bluehost makes setting up web hosting so simple anyone can do it; no tech experience is needed. They’re also affordable ($2.95 to $5.45 a month).

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Step 3: Select a Hosting Plan

Bluehost offers 3 options: > Basic for $2.95/month > Plus $5.45/month > Choice Plus $5.45/month > Pro $13.95/month

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Step 4: Choose a Domain Name

When choosing a domain name, you’ll want to follow three simple rules: > Keep it simple. Refrain from words that are hard to spell or remember. > Use a dot.com when possible; it’s what most people remember when typing in a web address. > Avoid words with multiple spellings, for example: to, two, or too.

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Step 5: Pay for a Hosting Package

You can choose to pay for your hosting in a 12-month, 24-month, or 36-month period — the longer the plan, the cheaper your price.

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Step 6: Create Your Account

Next, you’ll need to create a password for your account. Once you do this step, you’ll log in to your account to answer some basic questions.

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Step 7: Answer Some Questions

The cool thing about Bluehost is they make installing WordPress a snap! All you have to do is answer some questions — it really is that easy!

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Step 8: Pick a Blogging Theme

Now the fun part! The theme is your blog’s design elements, including fonts, colors, layouts, navigation, and overall appearance. There are both free and premium WordPress themes that you can use to customize your site. There is nothing wrong with using a free theme. However, you can get a professional theme for about $35-$199.

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Step 9: Install WordPress

Once you’ve chosen your theme, you’re ready to install WordPress. Again, Bluehost makes the process easy by guiding you through the steps!

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Step 10: Create a Logo

If you have room in your budget, you may want to buy a custom logo for your blog. Having a custom logo helps distinguish you from other bloggers and helps your overall branding. But if you’re running short on cash, there are some affordable and free options available. For $5, you can hire a designer on Fiverr, or you can use a free template on Canva. 

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Step 11: Create Parent and Child Categories

In step one, you figured out your niche; now it’s time to create categories. For instance, for a food blog, your parent categories might be: > Breakfast > Lunch > Dinner Under each parent category, you’ll want to list child categories like: > Savory > Sweet

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Step 12: Add Plugins

You may find that you need to add some WordPress Plugins for additional functionality. Such as, if you want to add a sign-up form for your email list.  There are plugins like Yoast that helps with SEO, Social Rocket for adding share buttons to your blog posts, and Antispam Bee for blocking spam comments.

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Step 13: Write Your First Blog Post

Now the part that you’ve been waiting for! Since you’ve chosen your niche and categories, deciding what to write about is easy. Here are some tips: > Create a catchy title. > Break up your content by using sub-headers. > Add images to help break up content. > Proofread your post.  > Is your post helpful? Does it cover the topic in-depth?

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Step 14: Marketing Your Blog

Before you can start making money from your blog, you need to get visitors to your site. Here are the most popular methods for marketing your new blog and getting traffic:  Word of Mouth Social Media Email Marketing SEO

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Step 15: Make Money Blogging

From paid sponsorships and ad networks to affiliate programs and selling digital products, there are many ways to monetize a blog! > Sell Advertising Space > Affiliate Marketing > Ad Networks > Sell Printables, Online Courses, and e-Books > Paid Sponsorships > Offer Consulting > Start a YouTube Channel