How to Start a Blog on WordPress?

If you wish for starting a blog then WordPress can be the best solution for you. WordPress can help you in creating a blog within a few minutes. In this guide, we are going to discuss a stepwise process to know how to start a blog on WordPress. It will help you in starting your blog even if you are using a WordPress website for the first time. We will explain the entire process of starting a blog on WordPress in some easy steps. These steps will include choosing a domain name after signing up with a web hosting service, installing WordPress, and start creating your blog.

STEPS TO START A BLOG ON WORDPRESS

STEP1: SIGNING UP WITH A HOSTING SERVICE AND CHOOSING A DOMAIN NAME

If you do not already own a WordPress website then your first step to writing a blog on WordPress is to build a WordPress website. To work on WordPress you will have to get a domain name and a hosting plan.

INTRODUCTION WITH A HOSTING PLAN

There are several companies that provide web hosting services. A hosting service provider allows you to use his servers to store all the information about your website. Along with it the service provider also allows you to use certain other services like security, backup, and support, etc. so that your website can work smoothly. But you will have to choose the best web hosting service provider for you like all of them to specialize in different fields as some are good for hosting eCommerce whereas some for hosting blogs. Some provide better support to large corporations whereas some support smaller businesses.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT HOSTING PLAN FOR YOU

You can choose the right hosting plan on the basis of your requirements.

AMOUNT OF SUPPORT YOU NEED: If you have no or very little experience using a web hosting platform then you should choose a reputable hosting service that can provide you the best support.

AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC YOU EXPECT: You should choose a web hosting provider according to the traffic you expect for our blog as all of them may not be suitable for you. Some of them may not support you as per your expectations and some may support you more than your expectations at a higher cost.

Moreover, there are different types of hosting service providers from which you will have to choose the best one for you.

TYPES OF WEB HOSTING SERVICE PROVIDERS

SHARED HOSTING: It is the most suitable web hosting service for beginners. It will allow you to share the hosting platform with other users. It will reduce your cost of using a hosting service. But its performance can be a bit poor than other types of service providers.

DEDICATED HOSTING: The service provider will dedicate a server for your website. It will improve the performance of your website but it will also increase its cost.

CLOUD HOSTING: The cloud hosting service providers offer you better flexibility. If required in the future, you can expand your website. Its cost may depend upon your requirements as it works effortlessly.

Thus by considering your requirements you can choose the right hosting service for you.

After choosing a hosting service you will have to choose a domain name.

INTRODUCTION WITH DOMAIN NAME

The address of your website or blog on the internet is known as its domain name. For instance, WordPress.com is the domain name of the website of WordPress.

After choosing your web hosting plan you can choose your domain name.

TIPS TO CHOOSE YOUR DOMAIN NAME

When you use the URLs of different websites then you find different types of suffixes behind them like .net, .com, .org, or .info, etc. Though all the suffixes are used for different purposes but their use does not make any difference.

But while choosing a domain name for your blog or website you should be a bit careful. It is better to choose a short domain name. It should include your keywords and spell easily so that pole can use it easily while reading your blog. You can also choose your name as the domain name for your personal blog.

STEP 2: INSTALLATION OF WORDPRESS

After choosing your web hosting service and domain name your next step to start a blog on WordPress is to install WordPress on your device. You can use two ways for this purpose.

INSTALL WORDPRESS FROM THE DASHBOARD OF YOUR HOSTING SERVICE

To use the dashboard of your web service you will have to access your hosting account. Then you will have to click on the WordPress button to install and set up WordPress on your server by following a few easy steps.

INSTALL WORDPRESS FROM ITS WEBSITE

You can download the latest version of WordPress by accessing the website WordPress.org. You can unzip the file once the downloading is completed. On your server, you will have to create a database for WordPress. You can edit it by using MySQL. Now you will have to upload the files of WordPress on your server and select the Install option to start the installation of WordPress on your server.

STEP 3: BEGIN BLOGGING

After installing WordPress on your server you can start creating your blogs on WordPress in a few easy steps like:

* Go to the dashboard of WordPress
* On the top menu bar, you will have to click on the button +New and select Post from the options on the drop-down list.
* You can enter the title of your blog on a fresh page that appears on the new post. Now you can start adding your content or writing your blog. Along with text messages, you can also include videos and audio, and other media content to your blog.
* After finishing the blog you can post it just by pushing the button Publish if you are satisfied with what you have written. Now you can post it online.

Thus you can create a blog on WordPress for your blogging website.

STEP 4: DEVELOP A BETTER BLOG SITE ON WORDPRESS

Though you have learned to start creating a blogging website on WordPress but you can improve the looks as well as functions of your blogging site just by make some additional changes to improve its visibility on the social media networks. These changes may include:

USING A WORDPRESS THEME

If you want to add some web design to your blog then you can choose from the themes provided by default by WordPress. But while using WordPress themes you can customize your blog. You can find various types of WordPress themes as some of them are exclusively unique and of premium quality, whereas others can be used for free.

TIPS TO INSTALL WORDPRESS THEMES

You can easily install WordPress themes just by following a few steps like:

* Go to the dashboard of WordPress and on the left side menu bar select the tab Appearance. Then choose the option Themes.
* You will have to click on Add New once the section of Themes appears.
* Now choose a theme and click on the Install button to install it on your website. After installing the theme you will have to click on Activate to start using it.

USE PLUGINS RECOMMENDED BY WORDPRESS

Along with using themes, you can use plugins of WordPress to improve the visual quality of your blog. WordPress plugins can practically provide you various other benefits also.

Some of the WordPress plugins recommended for the bloggers blogging for the first time may include:

GOOGLE ANALYTICS: This plug-in can be used as a tool to check the performance of a blog in terms of the time spent by visitors on your blog or website and the number of visitors etc. All the information provided by this plug-in can be moved easily to the dashboard of WordPress.

YOAST: This SEO plug-in can help in improving the rank of your website on search engine result pages by optimizing it.

CONTACT FORM: This plug-in allows the new bloggers to encourage people to contact them as well as signup for getting newsletters from them etc.

TIPS TO INSTALL WORDPRESS PLUGINS

You can easily install WordPress plugins by following a few easy steps like:

* On the dashboard of your WordPress account, you will have to go to the tab Plugins and select the option Add New.
* It will open a new window for you so that you can browse a list of plugins popularly used or search for a suitable plug-in.
* When you find a suitable plug-in of your choice you can click on the Install button to get it installed on your blog.

AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD TO INSTALL WORDPRESS PLUG-IN

* You can also go to the repository of WordPress plugins and chose the plug-in of your choice and download its .zip file.
* After downloading the .zip file of your plug-in you can use the option Upload plug-in from the window discussed above to upload it on your WordPress by using its dashboard.

CONCLUSION

Thus, by following the tips provided in this write-up new bloggers can not only start a blog on WordPress easily but also improve its performance by using WordPress themes and plugins. In this way, WordPress is the best solution especially for new bloggers even if they are using it for the first time and have no or very little knowledge in this regard.