How To Start A WordPress Blog In 10 Minutes: Step-by-step
If you have been wanting to start a wordpress blog quickly without hiring a professional then this post is for you.
Starting your first WordPress blog is not as difficult as you may believe.
WordPress is one of the most popular and free platforms for blogging.
In our other post about the 29+ of the most lucrative side hustles that’ll pay off big time, starting a blog was one of my personal favorites on the list.
Today I will show you in a simple step-by-step way how to start your own WordPress blog in 10 minutes or less.
I will guide you through the same steps I took to get mine up and running.
Page contents:
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Step 1: Decide What You Want To Blog About
- Step 2: Get A Logo
- Step 3: Get A Domain Name (I use namecheap)
- Step 4: Get Web Hosting (Bluehost is recommended)
- Step 5: Install WordPress
- Step 6: Get A Theme
- Step 7: Create Pages For Your WordPress Blog
- Step 8: Publish Your First WordPress Blog Post
- Step 9: Install Necessary Plugins For Your WordPress Blog
- Step 10: Optimize Your WordPress Blog For Traffic
- Take Away
Is starting a blog difficult?
Don’t let all the steps above intimidate you.
If I could follow all these steps and launch my own WordPress blog, I believe you can do so too.
When it comes to setting up your blog, don’t worry if you don’t get everything perfect the first time.
You can always make changes as you gain more experience blogging.
How long will it take for your wordpress blog to go live?
The main steps to start your wordpress blog and launch it are the first five in the steps above. (Actually three, if you already have a logo and know what you want to blog about.)
As a result, we will have your blog live to the world in 10 minutes or less.
Steps six to ten are just extra steps to make your blog look aesthetic and to add content to your blog.
Now let’s break down each of the steps in more detail below:
Step 1: Decide what you want to blog about
Once you’ve decided that you want to start a wordpress blog, the first step is to figure out what it will be about.
Think about the things that interest you and the things you know well; chances are that these subjects will make for popular blogs.
If there’s something specific you want to write about, try Googling it—if there are already blogs on that topic, see if they have any tips or advice for new bloggers.
As you may have already noticed, our blog is about various ways to make extra money and start your own business.
We write about this because this is what we have an interest in and enjoy discussing.
What do people blog about?
If you are looking for blog niche ideas, here are examples of popular blog topics that gain a lot of traffic:
- Dating and relationships
- How to make money
- Fitness and health
- Food
- Software
- Music
- Fashion
Step 2: Get a Logo
You might be tempted to skip this step because it seems like such an obvious thing and not worth spending any time on.
But having a good logo is important for branding your website and conveying its message clearly.
My logo looks very basic and minimal, but I like it like that.
If you don’t have the skills or budget for professional design help, then there are plenty of free tools online that will help you create something suitable for your blog — check out Canva, Tailor Brands, or Fiverr, for example.
Step 3: Get a domain name
It’s now time to register a domain name.
A domain name is the website address that people will type into their browser in order to access your blog.
For example, our blog is at [www.wodziwa.com] (https://www.wodziwa.com).
If you’re just getting started with your website, I highly recommend the following when choosing a domain name:
- Go with a .com domain name because it’s easy for people to remember and type correctly (i.e., no hyphens or underscores).
- You’ll want something short and catchy so it’s easy for others to remember.
- Avoid numbers or special characters to keep things simple.
How do i register a domain name?
If you don’t already have a domain name, head over to Namecheap to check an available one and register it.
I use Namecheap strictly for domain registration because I find that they have a much better price point for the features you need in a domain registrar.
To get started with Namecheap, you are going to type in the domain name that you want to register in the search box and click “search”.
The next page will tell you if the domain name is available. If it’s not available, just keep trying different names until one is available. Once you get an available name, click “add to cart” and then check out.
On the next page, you get the option to register your domain for 1 year up to 10 years in advance.
I recommend registering your domain for 1 or 2 years since this is the time frame your blog will usually take to grow.
You can always renew it afterward for a longer period of time when your blog grows.
Another cool feature I like about Namecheap is that you get domain privacy protection at no additional cost.
After selecting how long to register your domain, click on Confirm Order.
This will then prompt you to register an account with Namecheap and complete your payment and you will be all set.
Bluehost also offers free domain registration for one year if you would like to have both a domain and web hosting with them, but I find that Namecheap has a better deal for domain registration.
Congratulations if you successfully registered a cool domain name.
That is now your url.
Now the next thing is to make it go live so that others will be able to access it. We will do that in the next step.
Step 4: Get web hosting
Web hosting is where you store your website files.
You’ll need a web host to host your WordPress site, and Bluehost is the number one recommendation for beginners for this purpose.
- Bluehost has been recommended by some of the biggest names in blogging and online marketing as a great place to start when building your own blog or site (including WordPress).
- It’s a great choice if you’re new to blogging or just looking for a good web host that won’t break the bank (because let’s face it: buying web hosting is expensive!)
- They also have great support via email and phone, which is especially important if you ever get stuck or have questions about how to do something.
- Bluehost offers all of the features we need at an affordable price ($2.95/month).
Bluehost alternatives to start and host a wordpress blog
If you decide that Bluehost isn’t right for your needs—don’t worry—there are many other great options available too.
They also offer all the features you will need at around the same price as Bluehost.
5 Best Bluehost alternatives
For our purposes, we’re going to use Bluehost.
Select a hosting package from Bluehost based on your needs (I recommend starting with their cheapest option).
It’s important not only because it saves money but also because this package comes with everything you need to get started as a beginner.
Once your blog grows and gains a lot of traffic, you can always upgrade to a different plan.
How do I host my WordPress site on Bluehost?
To get started with Bluehost, you are going to click on the big blue button that says “your site”.
This will bring you to the next page, showing you all the available plans to choose from.
Select their cheapest option.
On the next screen, you will be presented with the option to create a new domain or use a domain name you already own.
(Bluehost offers free domain registration for 1 year, but after that it will be more costly than Namecheap.)
That’s why I will pick Namecheap for domain registration.
So in this step, you are going to type in the domain name already registered with Namecheap from step three.
Click Next, and on the next page, fill in the information to create your account, select the duration of your hosting, (I recommend 1 year.) Uncheck all the package extras, and make your payment.
After you submit your payment, you will go through an unboarding process, which will take you to the dashboard below.
Point namecheap domain to bluehost
From here, we are going to connect the domain name and the host by pointing the name servers from namecheap to Bluehost.
Here is how to do it: You should get a welcome email from Bluehost after purchasing a plan.
Look for two name servers links in the email and copy them.
Go to your Namecheap account, click on “domain list”, click on “manage”, and then “name servers”.
Here it will be labeled Namecheap web hosting DNS.
Make sure you click on the drop down menu and select custom DNS.
Then all you do is put in the name servers you copied from Bluehost’s welcome email.
Each should be copied in their respective locations.
After this, click on the check mark to save.
It will say it can take up to 48 hours to take effect, but I have not seen it take that long.
It will take effect in less than 15 minutes.
You can take a break here and when you come back, you continue with step five, which is WordPress installation.
Step 5: Install WordPress
So we have our domain name, hosting account and name servers set up.
The next step is to install WordPress, which is very easy to do.
To do this, go to “my sites” on the Bluehost dashboard and click on “create sites.”
Next, enter your site name, tag line, email address, user name, and password, then click on Next.
On the next screen, uncheck the helpful free plugins and click Next.
WordPress will then be installed and you can click on login to start using it.
Remember, anytime you want to log into your WordPress website, you type “yourdomainname/wp-admin“.
This takes you to a page where you enter your user name or email and password.Now let’s continue to step six, customizing your blog using a theme. Your site is up and running if you have followed everything up to this step.
The remaining steps below are just to add aesthetics and content to your blog.
Step 6: Get a theme
On your wordpress dashboard, hover your mouse over the name of your site in the top left corner and click on “Visit Site.”
Now your site will look kind of ugly at first, but you will be able to use a theme to customize the look of your blog to your liking.
To view and install themes, you are going to go to your WordPress dashboard, click on appearance, and then themes.
There you will find some default themes already installed by WordPress.
You can use free themes, but make sure they have the features you need for blogging.
You should also make sure that your theme has been tested and optimized for performance (speed), security, and SEO.
I recommend you use the premium or pro versions of the themes.
Do not make the mistake I made when I started.
I used to use a free theme, and I was always frustrated with the layout of my site until I realized this was because the theme had limited features.
I use the Astra Pro theme now and I highly recommend it for blogging.
Once you install the theme, you are going to activate it and you will be all set to start adding pages and customizing them to your taste, which is our next step.
Step 7: Create pages for your wordpress blog
You can add various pages like a home page, blog page, contact page, about page, etc. by going to the wordpress dashboard and clicking on pages, then clicking on add new.
You can then add pages and build them from scratch using page builders such as elementor or the WordPress Gutenberg page builder. As a beginner, we are going to do this easily by using free templates for the Astra theme.
To do this, you will learn how to install your first plugin.
Plugins are like extensions which add extra functionality to your website.
The plugin you will install to use Astra templates is called “starter templates”.
To install the plugin, head over to the WordPress dashboard and click on plugins, then click on “add new”.
Search for “starter templates” in the search box, then install and activate them.
Now open the plugin and here you will see lots of templates to choose from.
You should choose the one that meets your needs and looks good to you.
I recommend choosing a template in the blogging category since this will have the features you need for your blog posts and your website layout.
After you install the template, it will come with pre-configured pages (contact, home, about, blog, etc.) which you can customize to your liking.
Don’t forget to add your logo from step two.
Step 8: Publish your first wordpress blog post
To create your first wordpress blog post, click the “Posts” tab in your wordpress dashboard and then click on “Add New.”
You’ll be taken to a screen where you can type out your post.
You’ll use this screen every time you want to create a new post.
The box in the middle is where you will enter your text.
The WordPress editor has lots of features you can use to create your post the way you want it to be.
When you are ready to publish your post, you can add a featured image, which is the image that makes up the header of your article.
After this, you can simply click publish to make your post go live for people to see when they search the internet or visit your site.
Step 9: Install necessary plugins for your wordpress blog
Here are some of the most important plugins that every blogger needs:
- Yoast SEO is a powerful plugin that allows you to fine-tune your WordPress site for search engines.
It’s one of the best ways to boost traffic using SEO techniques without having to know much about them yourself. - Wordfence: This plugin is a free security option that helps protect your website from malicious attacks, malware, spam, and other threats.
- Akismet protects your website from spam comments by putting them in a queue for moderation before they’re publicly displayed.
- Broken Link Checker-Find broken links on your website so you can fix them before they hurt your SEO score or leave visitors hanging!
- Updraftplus: The UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin is a great tool that can be used to back up, restore, or migrate your website.
- WPforms (Create forms such as contact forms)
- Shortpixel (compress images)
- Wp Rocket (enhance load speed).
Step 10: Optimize your wordpress blog for traffic
Optimizing your blog for traffic is a good idea if you want to get more readers and improve your website’s ranking in search engines.
Here are some of the best ways to optimize your blog for search engines and readers:
- write great content
- Study SEO
- Use keywords in the title and URL
- Create a sitemap
- Share it on social media
- Add images and videos
- Install social sharing buttons on every page of your blog and make sure they are active so that people can share your content easily on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.
Take away
If you followed all the steps and successfully created and launched your WordPress blog, congratulations.
You are on your way to starting to write articles that will open doors for you and make you money.
Let us know in the comments what questions or concerns you have about any of the steps.