The Ultimate Beginners Guide for Starting a Blog in 2021
Are you looking to start a blog in 2021 and start make money online without leaving your home?
If you’re looking to start a work from home business you’ve come to the right place!
Here is the BEST beginners guide for starting a blog with step by step instructions that are easy to follow and a breeze to work through even for those who have zero tech skills.
Hello and welcome to This Tiny Blue House. I hope you and your loved ones are healthy and safe given the current world situation.
If you’ve found yourself here because you’re looking for a beginners guide for starting a blog because you’re looking for a permanent work from home solution you’ve come to the right place.
So, maybe you’re interested in this beginners guide for starting a blog to make extra money. Or, maybe you’re facing uncertain financial times and want to start working towards a permanent work from home situation.
Either way, you’re going to want to keep reading this beginners guide for starting a blog because I spell out step by step how you can start a blog of your own and work towards making an income with it.
My easy to follow beginners guide for starting a blog explains the easy step by step procedure you need to follow to start your very own site. And as a bonus, I’ve created a totally FREE 5-day email course that teaches you how blogs make money.
But, before we get to all the detailed beginners guide for starting a blog stuff, I want to introduce myself.
*This is a long post with a ton of information. So, you should consider pinning this beginners guide for starting a blog to Pinterest so you can come back to it again should you have more questions.
Pin this beginners guide for starting a blog to Pinterest by clicking here.
Hi, I’m Jenn and I’m The Creator Of This Tiny Blue House
I’m Jenn and I’m the founder and blogger behind This Tiny Blue House.
My blog was created in 2017 as a hobby and in just 3 years I’ve been able to grow it into a successful business that earns well over $10000 every month for my family.
This is my dream come true because it allows me to stay home full time with my 5 year old while making enough money to support my family.
And, in 2019 my husband was able to QUIT his full-time job in the technology industry to work on the blog with me. Amazing right?
Currently, we couldn’t be happier to be full time bloggers. Given the current circumstances in the world we feel relieved and blessed that we can work from the safety of our own home while making a full-time income.
When I first created this blog I had no idea that blogs could generate any income let alone provide financial stability for my family.
Our blog has grown so much in the last 3 years that my husband has recently quit his job to blog with me full time. Our blog gives us the flexibility to be our own bosses, work from home and have more time to devote to things that we love.
So, if you’re looking to escape your 9-5 job, a blog is absolutely a wonderful way to make money and work on your terms.
If you’re looking to start your blog right away scroll down and follow my easy step-by-step tutorial that outlines how to start a blog in under 30 minutes and for less than $36 per year via Bluehost.
UPDATE: After negotiating with Bluehost I was able to score their best hosting price at $2.95 per month. This is a great deal at nearly 60% off. Click here to be taken to the Bluehost sign up page to score a FREE domain name and hosting for under $36 per year.
If you’re overwhelmed by the process and are unsure of what starting a blog involves and how you can generate money from it you can sign up for my free 5-day email course designed to help beginners start a blog and eventually make money with it. You can easily sign up for my course and start working towards becoming a profitable blogger by clicking here to be taken to my course signup form.
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beginners guide for starting a blog
Here are the 3 most important things you need to consider before jumping in and reading through this beginners guide for starting a blog
- What do I want to blog about? Or, what will be my niche?
- What will I name my blog?
- Where will I host my blog?
Let’s tackle those questions one by one shall we?
1. beginners guide for starting a blog: What do I want to blog about? What will be my niche?
I firmly believe that the most successful blogs are written by people who LOVE and are PASSIONATE about the topic they are writing about.
The blogs I’m most attracted to are written by people who not only write high quality informative content but who clearly love what they are doing.
I know there are some who believe your niche should be picked based on profitability alone.
But, having blogged for over 2 years now, I can tell you that blogging takes a ton of dedication and consistency.
You just can’t keep up that stamina if you aren’t in love with the content you’re writing.
So, pick a niche that gets you fired up!
Something that you are passionate about and will want to write about day after day is key.
Some niche ideas include: beauty, fashion, lifestyle, health & fitness, parenting, personal-finance, frugal living, education, blogging, motherhood, photography and food to name just a few.
2. beginners guide for starting a blog: What will I name my blog?
Naming your blog is honestly the hardest part of this entire process.
With your niche in mind come up with something creative, unique and clearly attached to the purpose of what you plan to write about.
Quite honestly, I regret my name choice. Although my blog name has significance to ME it isn’t necessarily a clear indicator that I blog about frugal living, food, crafts and DIY.
It’s also quite a mouthful and if I could go back I probably would have named it something entirely different.
I’m using this lesson to tell YOU that naming your blog is probably the most important commitment you’re going to make in this process.
Choose something that will be the foundation of your brand and clearly articulates what your content focus is.
3. beginners guide for starting a blog: Where will I host my blog?
If you want to blog in a professional capacity then you absolutely need your own domain and self-hosting.
As a lifestyle blogger I know how scary it is to invest in something you’re not even sure will generate you a penny!
But, I’m here to tell you that branding yourself and creating a profitable blog is all about having your own unique online space since potential sponsors, networks and ad agencies are more inclined to work with you if you’re self hosted.
If you’re looking to register your domain and buy hosting I highly suggest you take a look at Bluehost because they offer affordable rates, consistent uptimes and unmatched customer service.
I’ve been with them from the beginning and I do not regret my choice one bit.
I love love love Bluehost and would never trust This Tiny Blue House to any other hosting company.
They are fast, reliable and super affordable!
In fact, they’re so awesome that they’ve offered TTBH readers nearly 50% off their hosting plans!
Cool hunh?
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3 Reasons I absolutely adore Bluehost
- Competitive prices: Their prices are incredibly cheap! You’re looking at roughly $3.95 a month for hosting or less than $50 for a year of hosting including a FREE domain name and domain privacy! Seriously, it doesn’t get much better than that does it?
- Auto-installed WordPress :Installing WordPress and getting your blog up and running is an absolute breeze with Bluehost. Seriously, once you sign up with Bluehost, WordPress is now automatically installed for you. Basically, you can start blogging RIGHT AWAY even if you have zero tech experience!
- Incredible customer service: If someone tells you they never have issues with their host, they are lying. Blogs, hosting providers and the internet in general can be wonky. I’ve had a few tech problems creep up over the last year and Bluehost has always been super efficient and quick at helping me resolve them. Their customer service is 24 hours and you can be in touch with a support tech in literally 2 minutes. Their customer service is seriously unmatched and their support team is patient when dealing with folks like me who aren’t all that tech savvy!
A beginners guide for starting a blog with Bluehost
beginners guide for starting a blog Step 1: Pick your hosting
Head on over to Bluehost by clicking on this link to take advantage of nearly 50% off their regular hosting prices because you’re an amazing This Tiny Blue House reader.
You’ll be met by this lovely screen where you are now given the option to pay in your own local currency!
Once there, click on GET STARTED and you’ll be taken to the various hosting plans available.
I suggest you start off with their basic plan at the beginning of your blogging journey. It’s plenty with regards to both storage and speed and comes with a FREE domain name which is a steal.
If you’ve got an existing site and need more space then go ahead and take advantage of their plus and choice plus hosting which are also more than 50% through my link.
beginners guide for starting a blog Step 2: Choose a domain name
The next step is choosing your domain name. Type in your desired blog url and click next. Triple check it to make sure it’s spelled exactly how you want it to because once the process is complete there’s no going back.
If you’ve already purchased a domain name elsewhere, type it in to the text box labelled I have a domain name and hit next.
beginners guide for starting a blog Step 3: Create your account
Regardless of whether you already own a domain or are registering an entirely new one with Bluehost, you’ll be directed to the same account creation page.
First, fill in all the personal information in the account information fields.
Second, have a look at the package information section to confirm your hosting options. To get the greatest value for your money you’re best option is the 36 month plan at $3.95 per month. If you’re hesitant to make a 3 year commitment they also offer a great deal for 1 year of hosting for only $5.45 per month!
Third, select your add on features. Domain privacy is an absolute must in my books. For only $0.99 per month your blog registration information (your full name, home address and contact information) will be kept 100% private. I’m all about internet security and would never register a domain with public blog registration information.
But, that’s my personal preference and you need to decide what you’re comfortable with. As for the other options, they are just that : options. I personally don’t find them necessary and didn’t include them in my package.
Now that all that account information is out of the way, enter your payment information and boom you’ve registered your domain and bought hosting for your super awesome blog-to-be! Super exciting am I right?
Next, let’s work on creating a super secure password. To start, click on “create your password”
Now, come up with a super secret password. A combination of letters, characters and numbers is probably your safest bet. Make sure to write it somewhere safe because this password is the only way you’ll be able to access your new WordPress Blog!
If you followed all the steps correctly, you should now be looking at this screen!
If for any reason your run into any problems along the way feel free to reach out to me via email! I’ll gladly provide you with as much help as I can. I can be reached at: thistinybluehouse@gmail.com
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A beginners guide for starting a Blog with wordpress
Oh man, I’m so excited for you!
Congratulations and welcome to the bloggerhood!
I bet you can’t wait to get started and have a ton of design and content ideas floating around in your head. But, before you get to designing and writing you need to get familiarized with your new WordPress installation
Just follow my step-by-step tutorial below and you’ll be up and running in no time.
beginners guide for starting a blog Step 1: Login to account with your super secret password
beginners guide for starting a blog Step 2: Pick a theme that inspires you
Bluehost offers a handful of super awesome themes to get you started. Pick one of the pre-installed themes to get you going.
But, don’t worry – you can change, modify or upload your very own themes later on. To get started though pick a theme from the options available to you!
Once you’ve selected a theme you’d like to work with you’ll be faced with this screen! It’s now time to start building that awesome blog and filling it with useful high quality content.
beginners guide for starting a blog Step 3: Tell WordPress what type of blog you’re building
At this point you need to make a decision between a business and personal blog.
beginners guide for starting a blog Step 4: Start building your blog
Once you’ve made your selection it’s time to start creating your masterpiece!
But, don’t worry – your blog isn’t live yet so you can play around with it, create amazing content and make sure everything is as you’d like it to be prior to launch.
beginners guide for starting a blog Step 5: Launch your blog
Once your satisfied with your blog, have a couple of posts ready to go and are ready to make it public – it’s time to launch.
At this point you need to formally name your blog and give it a catchy description. Then, BOOM your blog is live and out there for the world to read!
Welcome to the bloggerhood friend! I can’t wait to read you awesome content!
A few final thoughts on THIS beginners guide for starting a blog
Blogging is awesome.
Period.
As cliched as it sounds, blogging has changed my life in so many incredible and unimaginable ways.
Blogging allows me the flexibility to stay home with my little girl and write and share ideas that I’m incredibly passionate about.
Making money by blogging is something I thought would never be possible. But, here I am making a thousands every month from a blog that started as a hobby.
All this to say, if I can do it – so can you and this is why I created this beginners guide for starting a blog to share with you.
Blogging is wonderful and I hope you decide to take the plunge and find my beginners guide for starting a blog helpful in the process.
Don’t forget to sign up for my free 5- Day Email Course that walks you through the process of creating a blog and making money with it. To sign up for my free course simple click here to be taken to my course sign up make.
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This is awesome! I wish I had this when I was starting out. Your info on hosting is so helpful! I had to change platforms three times… so from experience, I totally agree with you!
Thanks for reading lady! The process can be super overwhelming (I know from experience) and so I thought this might be helpful to those who are thinking of giving blogging a shot but are scared/overwhelmed by the process.
Quick question for you, which hosts did you use? And who are you with now?
Pinned this! Very helpful for a newbie, and I like how you broke it down into steps.
I clicked on a “How to make money with a niche blog” pin and ends up on a beginners guide for starting a blog? I don’t get it.
Weird. The post you were expecting to find is this one: https://www.thistinybluehouse.com/2017/10/24/how-to-make-money-blogging-without-blogging-about-blogging/
Thanks so much for this awesome post! It’s really got me inspired ?
I’m just about to start a blog – I’v read lots of things about WordPress. The one you talk about already being installed on bluehost… is it the self hosted wordpress.org or wordpress.com? Thanks 🙂
Hey Alana! The one click install is for a self hosted site with Bluehost 🙂
I am also a teacher and just started my blog. Thank you for all the helpful information.
Awesome content! As a new blogger I love reading about other people’s ideas and advice on what works. To be honest, I want nothing to do with social media so this whole marketing my blog is a real challenge.
Thank you for the good read! I hope you will want to check out my blog and leave some feedback!
https://charliesconfessions.com/
This is awesome content! For a first time blogger I have no idea what I’m doing or even if I’m doing it right. Thank you for sharing your advice, it really helps! Check out my blog if you have time! I would appreciate the feedback!
https://charliesconfessions.com/
I know I just commented a while ago, but I really want to say thank you for the reference about the privacy and disclosure policies. I had no idea about the legalities of having a webpage but you seriously saved me! I just wanted to thank you!
https://charliesconfessions.com/category/blog/
I’m just getting started blogging, as an early-retirement hobby. Finally feel like I am living my purpose in life by helping people with personal finance. Great detailed post you provided. Thank you!