How to Start a Blog (on the Side) in 2023 - Blog Smarter, Make Money!

So, you are interested in learning how to start a blog? Well, you’re in the right place!

You’ve stumbled upon the best resource available for new bloggers. I promise this site provides all the tools needed to get you on the path to success with your blog.

I’m going to walk you through step-by-step how to get your blog platform installed. I also offer a FREE 6-Day Blog Profit Mini Course that's perfect for beginners. In the email course I'll take you step-by-step through my 20-part video series teaching you how to use your blog software to design your website. Next, you'll learn how to find a profitable niche and finally you'll discover how to turn your blog into a profit generating machine.

People start a blog site for many reasons. Here are just a few examples:

• Out of a passion for writing. Are you interested in sharing a journal of your experiences with the world? A blog diary is a perfect platform to connect with like-minded people.
• Build a profitable blog and work from home. Making money online is a tremendous reason to create a blog. Many people make a full-time income from blogging, it’s hard work but extremely rewarding.
• Advertise business or professional services. There is no better marketing tool available that will drive more traffic and sales than a blog site. Local business see their traffic and revenue skyrocket after building a website online.
• It’s exciting and super easy! One of the best things about building a site is how much fun it is. WordPress (a blog platform which I’ll teach you about soon) makes it super easy for anyone to start a website or blog. More than 74.6 million people use WordPress so you can’t go wrong with this blog platform.

Everything you’ll need to build a successful blog is on this page, right now!

Yes, you can even earn a living by blogging. I know, because I’ve been doing it for a few years now.

When I started blogging, I had absolutely no experience, skills or audience whatsoever so what are we waiting for? let’s get started!

If you already have an idea of what your blog will be about – great! Feel free to skip this section and move on to Step 2.

For those of you who are still unsure, grab a piece of paper and a pen. Meditate on these four questions, and write down your answers in bullet form. Include as many points for each item as you like.

1. What are you passionate about or interested in?
2. What are you good at or knowledgeable about?
3. What do you think the world needs?
4. What could you make a profit from?

Finding the right niche can be a challenge, luckily I’m here to help. Keep reading!

In general, there are two types of blog platforms “free” and self-hosted. Keep reading to understand how you can make money blogging and if you can do it on a “free” blogging platform.

There are certainly other blogging platforms besides Tumblr and Blogger. I have nothing against the other platforms but in my opinion nothing compares to the flexibility, customization options, and freedom that WordPress (self-hosted) allows for.

“Free” Blog Platforms

• Zero control: Since you don’t actually own your blog, you have little control over what happens to it. If the hosting site decides that your content goes against their Terms of Service (which change frequently), your entire website could be deleted without warning.
• Lack of security: Sometimes sites get hacked, and that’s just the reality of the internet. However, if this happens to you while you’re using a free blogging host, you can easily lose your domain name and your entire site.
• Unappealing domain name: Free blog platforms like Tumblr force you to have a subdomain. All professional, successful websites have their own domain names, not subdomains.

With all of that said, free blogs do have their merits, or else they wouldn’t still be kicking around. If a free blog is the right path for you, check out my step-by-step guide on setting up a “free” account here.

The far superior option is going with a self-hosted WordPress blog on a domain you own. The majority of blogs you see online are hosted on self-hosted WordPress websites.

Self-Hosted WordPress Blog

• There are tens of thousands of different layouts (themes) and plugins to choose from (both free and premium)
• It’s easy to create blog posts, add images, even video, and install plugins without knowing HTML
• You own and control your website, domain name, and you can monetize
• Readers can comment on your posts and share them on Social Media
• You can turn your blog into an eCommerce store with simple plugins

In fact, this blogging platform is so popular that it’s raked in more than 72 million downloads and comprises over 48% of the top 100 websites on the internet.

In this section I’ll go over how to pick a website name and web hosting company.

To enjoy all the benefits of having a self-hosted blog one thing is necessary… a reliable Web host.

As part of a special “Thank You” to my readers, and because I’m a long time customer, I’ve secured a FREE domain name to any person who follows this guide on how to make a blog.

I have also negotiated 80% OFF on web hosting for your blog (the hosting plan is under $5.00/month).

I recommend www.SiteGround.com for domain names and self-hosting WordPress.

To snag the least expensive plan available click the button and just follow the screenshots and instructions I’ve provided, below.

I recommend you choose the StartUp for GrowBig plan, as you can see you are getting over 80% off the hosting plus Free Setup. You get a free domain when you start a blog with SiteGround. If you are still not sure about hosting your site with SiteGround recommend you read my comprehensive SiteGround Hosting Review.

A domain name is simply your website’s address, like thebloggingbuddha.com for example. Though it seems like a small step, choosing the right domain name for your blog is incredibly important. If your domain is available add it to the cart and select Continue.

How To Pick A Domain

• Choose a .com whenever you can. These types of domains are the most common and therefore look the most trustworthy and professional
• Don’t make it too long or generic. Short and memorable is the key
• The name should flow easily when spoken and be simple to spell
• Avoid symbols like hyphens; you should be able to tell someone your website’s name without confusing them
• Check to see if the name is available on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Note: The extra “Domain Privacy Protection” is not necessary. Select “no thanks” to go without and save $9.99/yr.

Once you’ve secured the best domain name for your blog, it’s time to finish filling out your order form. SiteGround's form is simple to complete and secure.

What You’ve Done – You’ve now setup your host account, registered your own domain name and installed your new blogging platform! I told you it was gonna be this easy!

What’s Next? – Now all you need to do is check your email!

SiteGround will take you through the WordPress installation wizard but here is how to log into you new blog software via any web browser and computer.

Retrieve the Username and Password you created.

Learning a few basics will be helpful (But don’t worry the material below is just meant to get you familiar with your new blog platform, the real learning will be done in the Blog Academy with high-quality video tutorials).

This is the first thing you should see once you log into the dashboard:

You can access your dashboard and manage your website anytime by typing in your domain name plus “/wp-admin” (without the ” “) into your web browser’s (chrome, safari, firefox, etc..) address bar.

For instance, if I want to access my Dashboard the “Admin” area of my blog, I would type into the address bar at the top of my browser thebloggingbuddha.com/wp-admin and hit enter.

• “CMS Core” Put simply, this is the WordPress operating system that we just installed. Now that it’s installed, you have full access and you’re ready to start blogging!
• “Dashboard” WPAdministrators get their own interface to manage everything that happens on their site. Every time you sign-in you’ll be greeted by a very helpful page called the Dashboard. The Dashboard provides an easy way to see a high-level view of everything that’s happening on your website.
• “Posts” This is where you’ll create new posts to publish on your blog. To start your first post, simply click “Posts” on the sidebar and then click “Add New”. You’ll see that there is already a post titled “Hello world!”. This is a default post that appears on every new blog; you can go ahead and delete it (click “Trash” under the post).
• “Pages” This is where you can create new pages for your site, such as an “About Me” or “FAQ” page. Setting > General: Change the name of your blog, site tagline and other settings here.
• “Appearance > Themes” You can alter the design of your blog here. Search for free themes to install that are already loaded to the dashboard for your new site. Alternatively, you can find a theme that you like from another website, download it, and upload it to your dashboard manually using the “Upload” button.
• “Plugins” These allow you to further customize your blog and make it engaging for your readers. You can get banner ad spaces, SEO helpers, contact forms, newsletter signups and TONS more. Click the “Add New” button to explore available options, or manually install a plugin from elsewhere.

What is a theme? Simply put a theme provides all of the stylings for your website. Most themes provide the overall design and style for your site including the font style, colors palette, widget locations, page layout (or templates), and the style of your blog posts.

There are over 4,000 professionally created themes that are fully customizable within the WordPress Theme Directory all for free- so you have plenty design choices.

Want to know how to make a blog theme change? In the Main Navigation area on the right scroll over “Appearance” and select “Themes” from the available options.

Your blog platform installs a few themes by default during setup. To add more theme options to your Dashboard select “Add New” on the top left.

There are several methods provided to search for new themes at the top of the Dashboard. I recommend taking a look at all of the options available. Once you find a theme, you like you can either Preview or Install it.

After Previewing a few different themes, Install the theme you like best. Now select Themes again from the Navigation Menu on the left. You should see the theme you installed, and you can now Activate your new theme.

Congratulations you just installed your first theme!

What is a plugin? A plugin allows you to extend and expand the functionality of your blog.

The core of your blog platform is designed to be lean and lightweight, the ability to add plugins allows you to maximize the flexibility of your website while minimizing code bloat.

Installing plugins is extremely easy and a great way to enhance the functionality of your new blog platform. Two essential plugins I recommend for every new blog:

• JetPack – Amazing plugin with tons of features developed my Automattic
• Yoast SEO – Critical plugin for onsite technical SEO for anyone making a blog

Follow along with the screenshots below to learn how to connect your self-hosted blog to WordPress.com via the JetPack plugin so you can take advantage of all the enhanced benefits and security.

In the Main Navigation area on the right scroll over “Plugins” and select “Add New” from the available options.

JetPack by WordPress.com is always the first plugin to appear. Hover over the “Install Now” button and click. Once the plugin is installed the “Install Now” button will turn blue and read “Activate”.

The JetPack plugin will be installed automatically. The next step is to create a blog account on WordPress.com and connect your self-hosted blog to your WordPress.com account. Click “Connect to WordPress.com”

Fill in your email address, create a username, and password for your WordPress.com account and click “Sign Up and Connect JetPack”.

There are three plans to choose from. All we need is the Free plan so select the Free plan from the choice available.

You will have immediate access to your site stats right inside your dashboard.

You will also get additional tools to help with traffic growth, site management, security and content creation.

If you enjoyed this quick walkthrough and really want to learn how to use your new blog software to build a custom website, then head over to the Blog Creators & Marketing Academy where I provide high-quality video lessons on how to build the website of your dreams.

Want to skip all the reading and jump right into video lessons to start blogging?

All the material in the free email course is delivered in an eLearning format that’s fun and engaging — aimed at ensuring you are equipped with all the tools and knowledge necessary to create a successful blog.

From installing your blogging software to showing you how to build full blown websites, the Academy has you covered!

P.S. One more thing before you go: If you feel like this tutorial helped you understand how to start a blog, I’d love if you shared it with your friends and family.