Last Updated on February 11th, 2016

It can be intimidating to start your own blog, you want one but  you don’t know how to start a Blog. There is so much info out there on the web, and everyone’s telling you to do different things.

And you even get confused trying to figure it all out.

Well, I used to be a newbie in blogging, but today i will be giving you few tips for cutting through the mystery and creating something that will put you on the virtual map.

Below, I’m going to outline exactly what you need to do to get started and set up your own personal blog. But before we dive in though, I really want to talk about WHY you should build a blog.

• Blogging has quickly become one of the most popular ways of communicating and spreading information and news.
• It’s a great way to express yourself and also a fantastic way to share information with others.
• And The best reason ?  … You can make money doing it ! 😀

I bet you already knew all of that, but it’s nice to be reminded. so now lets cut to the chase

Find a Host

A good host is the foundation of your entire blog. Think of it like stepping onto a football field before a big game. If the field is nice, neat and orderly, you won’t have any problems playing.

However, if it’s full of clumpy, uneven grass, it might affect both how people see it and how you perform on it.

Note: Having a self-Hosted Blog and Domain is far much better than Using a Free one

This is the biggest decision you’ll have to make before we go any further. You need to decide whether to pay for your blog or grab a free one.

WordPress and Blogger all offer free blogs for anyone. Awesome, right? It’s perfect for those of us who aren’t super serious about blogging. But it does have downsides:

1) You won’t be able to get your OWN domain name

On a free blog, your blog’s web address (your URL) will be butt-ugly. Like, really ugly. In short, create a free blog with any other the above free blog services and it’ll look like this:

yourblog.wordpress.com
yourblog.blogspot.com

I know, ugly right?

2) Limits and More Limits

There are some limits to free blogs. You can’t fully monetize it, and you don’t have the possibility to upload all those videos and images you want to show everyone – it’s all limited. Worse still, you won’t even have access to the free themes offered by WordPress.

3) You DON’T OWN your blog

It might sound silly at first, but you don’t actually own your blog. It’s hosted on someone else’s web property and they can delete it if they want so. They have done so in the past, and keep doing it in the future.

Which means all your hard work on your blog, all those countless hours of writing blog posts might be vanished within seconds. very Sad…

On the other hand, with a self-hosted blog on your own domain name – you are the REAL owner of your blog. You’ll be able to name your blog whatever you want, for example “YourName.com” or “YourAwesomeBlog.com.

You can end it with .com, .co.uk, .net, .org, or virtually any other web suffix. Add to that unlimited bandwidth for videos, images and content plus the free themes and you have a winning combo.

So how much is hosting and a domain name? Not as much as you’re thinking, fortunately. It usually works out to about $2 to $7 per month, depending on your hosting provider.

Below are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a host:

Price

How much can you afford to spend on your blog? How much can you invest upfront? Many hosting sites offer service packages with different contract lengths, so you’ll have your choice of buying X number of months or Y number of years.

Bandwidth

If you’re starting a simple text-based blog, you probably won’t need a lot of bandwidth. If you plan on hosting many images and videos, however, you might need something a little more intensive.

Servers

Servers come in both public and private varieties. The former is cheaper but also puts you on the same system as other blogs and websites; the latter is exclusive to you, but you’ll have to pay more for the privilege.

Special Features

Do you want anything special to go with your blog? For example, if you’d like an email address using your domain name, you’ll need to find a hosting service that includes email packages.

Uptime

You can have the best, most active blog on the Internet, but if your host is prone to blackouts, no one will be able to access it. Make sure you find a hosting service that offers a good percentage of uptime.

I Recommend ; Hostgator, BlueHost and MochaHost (Very Good)

Choose a Domain Name

Choosing a domain name is extremely important when you’re starting a blog. It’s the online equivalent of a handshake or introduction; it sends the first impression users will have of your site. Here are a few tips for creating the right URL.

Use Keywords

What is your blog trying to review, sell or advertise? Make sure it’s right there in your domain name. For example, if you’re starting a blog about video games, your keywords might be “games,” “gaming,” “players” or “consoles.”

Keep It Simple

Long domain names are hard to type and more prone to being misspelled or misremembered by your users. Choose something like PhoenixLtd.com, not PhoenixPublicRelationsLimited.com.

Avoid Wordplay

Wordplay is fine in logos and taglines, but avoid being clever in your URL. People who hear about your blog secondhand won’t necessarily realize that it’s spelled KatiesKookies.com and not KatiesCookies.com.

Avoid Numbers

For the same reasons as the ones listed above, don’t use numbers in your domain name. You’ll lose a lot of traffic to SixteenCandles.com by people who don’t know that it’s actually 16Candles.com.

Most Hosting sites also provide Domain names, but you could also buy at namecheap.com or godaddy.com

Pick a Platform

Ask a dozen different people about the best blogging platform on the web and you’ll receive a dozen different responses. The simple truth is that every site has its pros and cons.

WordPress.com

Pros: It’s free. It comes with layouts and templates that you can use without any knowledge of coding or design. It’s a great starting point for newbies.

Cons: It isn’t very professional, so while it’s fine for hobby bloggers, someone looking to start a business site or e-commerce store might want to choose something more sleek.

WordPress.org

Pros: It comes with all the features of WordPress.com but with the bonus of being on external servers. You’ll have more control and customization options for your blog. you could easily install it as a software if you have a self-Hosted service you already paid for.

Cons: It’s one of the most popular blogging platforms on the web, so it’s been known to have security breaches and hacks.

Blogger.com

Pros: It’s a free, easy-to-use service owned by Google, so in addition to starting your own blog with a trusted brand, you’ll also have access to all of their toys like Google Analytics and Google AdSense.

Cons: It’s less flexible than other blogging platforms in terms of themes and layouts. You can’t self-host, either, which you might mind once you become a more confident and established brand.

Design Your Site

What makes a well-designed website? Some people like to outsource this question and hire professional web designers to turn their blogs into sleek money-making machines. Others prefer to play around with scripts, themes and layouts on their own so their blog will be entirely “them.” There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to designing your blog; just be sure to keep the following things in mind.

Site Navigation

How will users get around your site? Think about things like sidebars versus drop-down menus. Think about how you’ll organize and collect your links. Think about layouts.

Image Quality

A picture is worth a thousand words, so never underestimate the power of high-quality graphics. If your site is full of grainy, pixellated images, no one will take the rest of your content seriously.

Social Media Integration

It’s the age of social media, so make sure your site is equipped with buttons and links to all your Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram accounts. This will encourage activity with your entire online presence and not just your blog itself.

Color Psychology

Speaking of social media networks, have you ever wondered why they’re all blue? Color psychology is a little-known tool that can have a big impact on how users view, use and interpret your site. For example, blue is a soothing color that helps to mask the passage of time, encouraging users to spend hours on your site without even realizing it.

Content

In fact, the two things that you need to be successful online are essentially these:

• You need to get traffic to your website
• You need content that engages your visitors (so that they stay)

Essentially, if you have those two things in place, people will find your website, bookmark it, link to it and tell their friends and your traffic will just snowball from there.

Install Analytics

Search engine optimization (SEO) is what helps your website climb in search engine results pages (SERPs). Simply put, when people search for “rare books,” you want them to find your rare book blog on the very first page. Analytics can help you with improving and refining your SEO.

Hits

How many users visit your blog each day? How many of them are unique visitors who are coming to your blog for the first time? you can monitor all these with the help of a few wordpress plugins

Traffic

How are people finding your site? What’s the percentage breakdown between organic traffic and direct traffic? Organic means that they found you through search engines; direct means that they entered your URL in the address bar.

Start Your Blog

At the end of the day, there’s no substitute for simply rolling up your sleeves and getting it done. You won’t know what it’s like to start a blog until you actually take a chance and do it. You may also want to check out why we prefer Self hosting to Free Hosting.

I hope i have been helpful, if you have anymore questions or confusions please leave a comment below …