Blogging for Beginners: How to Start a Successful Blog in 2020 [Chapter 1]

Have you ever wanted to start your own blog? Or, do you already have a blog that you're not sure how to go to the next level?

If your answer is "yes" then this site is where it will be.

In this Blogging Guide, you will learn:

1. Setting up a blog from scratch
2. Designing Your Blog Look
3. Adding functionality with plugins
4. Finding a niche and creating content
5. Increase your blog readability
6. Making Money From Blogging
7. Using Free Blogging Tools
8. Start a blog: FAQ

With this pointless guide, I'm going to offer you some of the quickest, most easily understood, and most effective, solutions to your blogger problems - drawn from my experience and the minds of people who enjoy what they do .

Chapter 1.

Setting Up a Blog by Scratch

It's easy and cheap to start a blog in 2020.

The most popular blogger software, WordPress.org, is free. Professional WordPress themes and plugins are free. And there are literally millions of free tutorials to get you started (including this one). The only cost involved in starting a blog is the money you pay for an online host and domain name.

Of course, it can get very tricky at a later stage; but in general, blogging is available to anyone who has a computer with an internet connection. In fact you can create a blog and run it in the next 20 minutes. The steps mentioned in the steps below are exactly how I set up my blogs first.

Basically all you have to do is:

Choose a good web host and domain name

Show the DNS of your domain to your web host

Install WordPress on your new web host (very easy using automatic installer).

Sign in to your WordPress and publish your first post.

And that's all.

Sounds easy? I bet you!

I will follow you through the steps below. Feel free to skip to the next chapter if you already know how to set up your blog

1. Choose a good web host and domain name

To start a self-hosted blog, you will first need a domain name and a hosting account online.

Your domain is the name of your blog. It is not something physical that you can touch or see; but simply a series of characters that give your site an identity - like the title of a book or a place. Your domain “tells” your visitors what kind of blog they are visiting.

Web hosting, on the other hand, is where you store your blog content - words, blog topics, images, videos, and more.

Domain Names - Where to register?

You can select and register domain names through a domain registrar. GoDaddy, NameCheap, and Domain.com are some of the most popular registrars on the market.

Note that it is important to separate the domain registration from your web host. Just because your web host offers a free domain does not mean that you should allow the hosting company to control your domain registration. Personally, I use NameCheap to manage my domain registrations; but any other reputable domain registrar should be fine. By doing so, I am able to change my domain's DNS anytime I want and avoid myself from being locked up with a particular web host. I recommend you do the same for your protection.

Web Hosting - Where To Expect Your Blog?

As for web hosting, my look selects the best online choices and index of hosting ratings.

For starters, I recommend starting small with a shared web host.

Shared hosting - Although hosting resources are smaller than others (VPS, cloud, etc.), you will need less budget (often <$ 5 / month per registration) and technical knowledge to get started . When choosing an online host for your blog, here are five factors to consider:

Security - Your blog needs to be consistent and available online 24 7.

Speed ​​- You need a host that loads fast because speed affects the user experience and search rankings.

price - Waiting at <$ 5 / month is a good start, you don't need a premium service at this stage.

Room to Grow - You will need hosting updates (extra features, more server power, etc.) as your blog grows.

support - The Internet is always changing, it is always good to have someone to support you on the technical side.

Recommended Hosting Blog for Newbies

• Inmotion Hosting
• Hostinger
• SiteGround

2. State the domain DNS on your web host

Next, you will need to update your DNS registration in your domain name registry (where you registered your domain in step # 1) to show your web host's servers (InMotion Hosting, Hostinger or SiteGround).

DNS stands for Domain Names System and is used to direct any incoming user to the server IP address. So when a user logs in to "WebHostingSecretRevealed.net", DNS registrations will get the IP address of my web host and serve my site to users.

3. Install WordPress on your web host

To start blogging using WordPress, you will first need to install the system on your web host. This can be done manually, or automatically using a one-click installation program. Both methods are quite simple and can be easily done.

Manual installation of WordPress

In a quick overview, here are the steps to take:

1. Download and open the WordPress package on your local computer.

2. Create a WordPress database on your web server as well as a MySQL user who has all the privileges to access and modify it.

3. Rename the wp-config-sample.php file to wp-config.php.

4. Open wp-config.php in the text editor (notepad) and fill in your database data.

5.Place WordPress files in the desired location on your web server.

6. Run the WordPress installation script by accessing wp-admin / install.php in your web browser. If you have WordPress installed in the root directory, you should visit: http://example.com/wp-admin/install.php; if you install WordPress in its own blog sub directory, for example, you should visit: http://example.com/blog/wp-admin/install.php

And you're done.

One-click installation of WordPress

Today, most bloggers do not install their WordPress manually.

With one-click installation support services like Softaculous and Mojo Market Place (depends on which web host you are using), the installation process is very straight forward and can be done with just a few simple clicks.

For your reference, the following images show you where to find the automatic installation feature on your Hostinger board. To install WordPress, simply click on the circled icon and follow the kitchen test instructions - your WordPress system should run less than 5 minutes.

Things may look different for different web hosts but the process is essentially the same. So don't worry if you're not using one of these hosts I'm showing here.

Why WordPress?

Personally I think WordPress is the best blogging platform for newbies. Based on statistics from Built With, more than 95% of blogs in the United States are built using WordPress. Globally, there are almost 27 billion blogs executed on WordPress.

4. Sign in to WordPress and publish your first post

Once you have your WordPress system installed, you will be given a URL to log into your WordPress admin page. In most cases, the URL will be something like this (depending on the folder you have installed WordPress):

http://www.exampleblog.com/wp-admin

Go to this URL and log in with your default username and password; and from there, you'll now be at the back of your WordPress site - this is the blog section that only you as an administrator can use.

The latest version of WordPress at this writing time is version 5.3.2 - by default you will use WordPress Gutenberg as a text editor. Gutenberg brings a lot of flexibility to the WordPress platform. This is especially useful for beginners as many things like setting background colors and more no longer require coding. The block system also helps with managing the layout of the item.

To write and publish a new post, simply scroll to the left, click 'Posts'> 'Add New' and you will be directed to the writing screen. Click 'Preview' to see what things look like at the end (what your readers will see), click 'Publish' once the post is completed.

Hola! You have now published your first blog post.

 Pro Tip: It's a good idea to bookmark your admin login URL from WordPress, as you'll come here very often.