How To Start A WordPress Blog Using Bluehost In 2020

As a beginner, follow this detailed guide on “How to Start a WordPress Blog”. Many people make a living blogging for cash. A well monetized blog works like a passive income system and the costs of starting one and maintaining it are affordable

 

# REQUIREMENTS:

 

  •    Web host Account & Domain name: – Since you will be creating your blog using WordPress , you need a reliable WordPress hosting service and a domain nameI recommend Bluehost for WordPress hosting. They have reliable servers and a great support team which is available 24/7. WordPress installation process on Bluehost is so fast and easy. Get a FREE Domain name, FREE Site Builders, 1 Click WordPress Installation, 24/7 Support = all at $2.95 per month (limited time offer – so act now and grab your offer). If you don’t get along with their service and support – your investment is protected with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

 

How to Start a Blog In 4 Easy Steps?

”Click on the links below to navigate this post easily”

  1. Registering A Domain Name For Your Blog (- Pick a domain name which describes your blog well…)
  2. Get a Web Host Account(Your WordPress files will be hosted on a Webhost Account like Bluehost.com)
  3. Chose a Blogging Platform ( – Install WordPress on your domain name – it is very easy to install & use – after installing it, follow steps in table below)
a – Install WordPress i –  Add Your First Post
b – Install Plugins j –  Making Full Width Posts
c – Change Permalinks k –  Creating Categories 
d – Change Blog Settings l –  Adding Images
e – SEO – customize blog for search engines m –  Adding Links
f –  Choose A WordPress Theme n –  Adding Social Share Buttons
g –  Customize Your Theme o –  Choosing A Niche (What To Write On?)
h –  Create A Logo  

 

      4. Make Money Blogging (- sell blogs for cash, earn through affiliate marketing – I only suggest options I have & still use)

 

How To Start a Blog and Make Money

Let me explain each step mentioned above in detail below:

 

Step 1:- REGISTER DOMAIN NAME:


”Choose a domain name which best describes your blog – for example ”homeandgardenblog.com”

 

Go to ->  Bluehost -> Click on Domains – Fill in your domain name -> Click Next:

 

A domain name is very crucial in the blogging world. There is no way how you can reach millions of people across the globe without a web address.

A good example of a domain name is www.yosaki.com  – I’m sure you accessed my blog through that short domain name – it is very easy to remember.

If you don’t have one, I suggest you get a free domain name from Bluehost.com (you will pay for its renewal in the 2nd year of your account renewal) – However, Bluehost will only give you a free domain if you pay for a hosting package for 12 months year.

When registering a new domain name for your blog, make sure it is a memorable domain. For those who want to start niche sites, your domain should clearly explain the niche of your site.

For example, if your blog is about cars, the best domain name should have the word ”Car, Automotive, Automobile, Auto”. But it should not be too long.

 

 

Step 2:- GET WEB HOSTING ACCOUNT


”It is a must to opt for a secure and reliable WordPress host – that is why I recommend Bluehost.com

 

Go to – Bluehost -> Hosting -> Shared hosting -> Select a Plan

CHOOSING THE RIGHT WEBSITE HOSTING COMPANY

[Offer was last updated – June / 21st / 2017]

After getting your domain name, the next thing will be choosing the right web-hosting company & package for your blog.

 

If you deal with a bad hosting company, your blog will be messed up – some companies use unreliable servers which timeout all the time and others are easily hacked so you might lose your files.

 

I highly recommend  www.Bluehost.com  . It is No.1 recommended web hosting by WordPress.org. Each account features a 1-click WordPress installation. Our readers will get a discount for a 12 months subscription, grab your offer now (limited time offer) and start installing WordPress on your domain.

 

 

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD HOST YOUR WORDPRESS WEBSITE WITH BLUEHOST:

  •  1-Click WordPress Installation.
  • 24/7 trained support team. They also have a robust help center which features guides and video tutorials.
  • 30 Days Money-back guarantee.
  • $150 in offers – this includes advertising offers from Google, Bing and other top sites. You can use Google Adwords free credits to jump-start your blog’s traffic from day 1. 

 

Available hosting plans as of June – 20th – 2017 : (these prices / offers are subject to changes with time)

shared hosting

NOTE: *Promotional pricing is for the first term only and regular rates apply upon renewal. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee does not extend to domain names.

 

  • Basic plan:- Is for people who intend to work on just 1 small blog. It is ideal for small niche blogs – but it comes with 1 free domain name. 
  • Plus plan:- Is for people who intend to create more than one blog. You can host as many WordPress blogs as you can under this plan. A person like me who develops blogs for sale on Flippa.com, this is my best choice.
  • Prime plan:- This one has unlimited storage and bandwidth as the Plus plan. However, it comes with lots of extra features and these include $80/yr in extras, 1 SpanExpert, 1 Domain privacy and SiteBackup pro.
  • Go PRO plan:- This is a high-end hosting plan including all premium services and high performance servers. This package is good for people intending to start viral high traffic blogs. I have never tried it because my blogs receive moderate traffic but it is something I will try in the future as YOSAKI grows. Extra features include; Dedicated IP, SSL Certificate, Domain Privacy, High performance servers, Unlimited Storage space, Unlimited bandwidth and Site Backup Pro

 

 

Disclosure:- I have included referral codes in Bluehost, Grammarly, & Semrush links. When you purchase a package from any of those three companies, YOSAKI earns a commission and that helps me survive and be in position to publish these free web development courses. 

 

 

Step 3:- CHOOSING A BLOGGING PLATFORM:


When starting your first blog – you will see lots of platforms which claim to be the best for blog creation. However, not all of them are flexible and easy to use as WordPress.

 

I have built all my blogs with WordPress. It is a free software packed with lots of free plugins to help you customize your blog.

Bluehost has WordPress software installed on their sever. So log into your account and click on the WordPress Icon. Choose a domain name where you want the installation to take place and wait for the installation to get done. 

 

INSTALLING WORDPRESS ON YOUR DOMAIN:- Check next step Below and learn how to install WordPress software on your domain.

 

 

a.  INSTALL WORDPRESS ON YOUR DOMAIN:


 

#1: – LONG INTO YOUR BLUE HOST ACCOUNT:

LONG INTO YOUR BLUE HOST ACCOUNT

 

#2: -FIND A ”WORDPRESS ICON” AND CLICK ON IT

 FIND A ”WORDPRESS ICON” AND CLICK ON IT

 

#3: -GO TO MOJO MARKETPLACE (when you click on the WordPress Icon – it will take you to Mojo Marketplace)

 Mojo Marketplace installs WordPress to the root of your site or to a subdirectory.

 

#4: -SELECT A DOMAIN WHERE YOU WANT MOJO TO INSTALL WORDPRESS

 SELECT A DOMAIN WHERE YOU WANT MOJO TO INSTALL WORDPRESSOn the right, you will see an empty field which requires you to enter a sub-folder where the installation should go. I always leave this section empty because I want Mojo to install WordPress on my root folder. So please do the same.

 

#5: – Click The ”Install Now Button” And Follow Instructions. (make sure you read terms & conditions)

Click The ”Install Now Button” And Follow Instructions.

Once WordPress is 100% installed on your domain. You will get a link like this onehttp://www.yourblog.com/wp-login.php   (replace ”yourblog” text with your domain name) – go to this link, put in your user name & password and log into your blog.

 

#6: –LOG INTO YOUR WORDPRESS BLOG:

LOG INTO YOUR WORDPRESS BLOG

After logging into your blog, install all essential plugins. See instructions below on how to install plugins?

 

 

b. INSTALLING WORDPRESS PLUGINS:


 

After logging into your Blog, you will see a detailed ‘’Dashboard’’ – look at the left of the Dashboard – below ‘’Appearance’’ you will see ‘’Plugins’’. Point your mouse on the ‘’Plugins’’ text – a menu will drop down as you see below. Click on ‘’Add New’’

 

Dashboard -> Plugins -> Add New

Add New Plugin

 

Search for Plugins and install them. These will help you customize your blog.

 

Search for Plugins

 

List of Plugins that I use on my blogs and what they do:

  1. Yoast SEO: – SEO plugin for creating Meta Title & Meta descriptions for posts and pages. ( Make sure your Blog home page, posts, pages & categories have both Meta Title & Meta Description text because this is what Search Engines pick-up and index).
  2. WP Super Cache: – This is a must have plugin – It caches WordPress pages & posts making them lighter and faster to load.
  3. Akismet Anti-Spam:- This plugin protects your blog from spam.
  4. Category Tag Pages: – Easily put categories on Pages. By default –categories only show up when you’re creating posts.
  5. Share Buttons by AddThis:- A blog should have social share buttons and this plugin makes it easy to add social share buttons.
  6. Disqus Comment System:- It is easy to spam WordPress’s default commenting system yet you can’t grow your blog without keeping the audience engaged. So Disqus is the best commenting plugin. All people who comment on your site have to be registered with Disqus and they also have a control panel where you can ‘’Edit / Delete’’ comments
  7. Google Font Manager: – Adds a library of selected Google Fonts to your WordPress site with a back-end font selection and preview system.
  8. Google XML Sitemaps: – It generates a special XML sitemap which will help search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Ask.com crawl & index your blog.
  9. Post Type Switcher:- You can easily switch posts to pages / pages to posts. When I want to create a full width post without sidebars, I switch that post to pages because by default WordPress Pages can be set to ‘’Full Width Display’’
  10. Jetpack:- It is not easy to create blog content & images. So make sure your blog is fully protected and backed up in real time.
  11. Yet Another Related Posts Plugin:- Adds related posts to your blog posts & pages thus increasing the time people spend on your Blog.
  12. Rel Nofollow Checkbox: – Since your goal is to ‘’Start a Money making blog’’ – it will have affiliate links which earn you money. Make sure you put a ‘’Rel nofollow’’ on all external links. This prevents passing over pagerank to those links. After installing this plugin, click on an external link and rel nofollow tag box.

 

 

c. CHANGE PERMALINKS SETTINGS:


 

By default, WordPress links are not SEO friendly. So if you don’t change Permalinks, your post URL’s will look funny. Some Plugins might not work if the permalinks settings are not changed.

 

Go to Settings-> Permalinks

 Change Permalinks

 

Tick ‘’Post name’’ and click save changes

 

Permalinks Settings

When you opt for ‘’Post name’’ your links will be SEO friendly and very easy to remember.

 

 

d.CHANGE BLOG SETTINGS:


 

WordPress has default settings but you have to change them. I only make changes in two sections and these include; (a) General Settings, (b) Discussion Settings.

 

Change General Settings:

Go to ‘’Settings -> General

 

Fill in your ‘’Blog name, Tagline, and admin email Address – Click Save.

 

 

Change – Discussion Settings:

 

Go to ”Settings” -> Discussion

Discussion Settings

 

Untick all the other boxes and tick only  2 boxes (the ones I have marked in red). All comments must be held for moderation before they appear on your blog posts; Reason being that most of the comments might be spam – with intention of stealing your page rank. Do not allow people to register with your site to be able to post comments. This option is highly abused – so the best option is to disable that option and install Disqus commenting plugin.

 

 

e. SEO – ADDING ‘’META TITLE & META DESCRIPTION:


For my SEO needs, I use ”Ultimate Seo Plugin”, however, majority of bloggers use Yoast SEO – It is a very nice plugin but I’m used to Ultimate Seo plugin and that is what I will talk about in this section.

 

A ”Meta Title & Meta Description” – is what Google and other search engines index. If you don’t include this information in your blog posts, pages and site-wide – your content won’t be indexed.

 

Install ”SEO Ultimate plugin

 

Click Title Tag Rewriter – Edit ‘’Blog Homepage Title’’ – Click save

 Title Tag Rewriter

 

Edit Posts Title Tag -> Click save

 

 

Edit ‘‘Meta Descriptions” for Homepage, Posts and Pages

Click ‘’Blog Homepage’’ – add meta data description for your blog’s home page

 

 

Click ‘’Posts’’ – add meta data for your post. You can also do the same thing for your pages.

 

NOTE:- Adding meta titles and meta description for posts and pages can also be done when you’re creating a post / a page. I will show you how to do that when we get to the section for creating blog posts.

 

 

f. CHOOSE WORDPRESS THEME:


 

You can either use a free / premium theme from www.themeforest.net. If you don’t want to spend money on creating a blog, you can go for a free WordPress theme.

 

SELECTING FREE THEME:

 

Go to ”Appearance – > Themes -> Add New

 

 

Choose a free theme for your blog and ‘’Click Install’’

 

NOTE:- For those who have bought a premium theme from themeforest.net . Click ‘’Upload Theme’’ -> choose the theme file stored on your computer -> Upload it – > Install theme.

 

 

 

g. CUSTOMIZE YOUR THEME:


 

If you have opted for a free theme, there is less to customize. But those who have opted for a premium theme, you will need to go to theme option settings and customize that theme basing on its settings. If you get any problem, email me for free support at ‘’sales (at) Yosaki.com

 

CUSTOMIZING A FREE THEME:

 

Click – Appearance -> Customize

 

The areas marked in ‘Red’’ can be customized / changed. As you’re making changes, you will see them live on the second panel at the right. Remember to click save so that the changes you have made remain permanent.

 

 

 

 

h. CREATE A LOGO:


I create all my logos using Macromedia Fireworks but you might not have it on your computer and I don’t want you to spend money buying Fireworks. You can create Logos online for free.

I have compared 3 free online tools for making logos. Below are my results.

 

#MAKING LOGOS WITH CANVA.COM

So far this is our best online free logo maker we have tested. It does not require any Photoshop experience. All you have to do is signup for a free account, choose from thousands of templates and start editing any template of your choice. Once your logo is done, click the download button and that is the end of the story. The premium version of Canva is for full time logo designers – it comes with lots of templates and features. Below is example of a Yosaki logo I created using Canva

Canva

 

#MAKING LOGOS WITH LOGOMAKR.COM

With Logomakr.com – you can easily create text based logos. They have a function for searching for Graphics which you can embed with a text logo but the results for the graphics I searched for where not appealing. 

 

Example of ”Yosaki” logo made with www.Logomakr.com  

 

Example of ‘Yosaki’’ logo made with ‘’ freelogodesign.org’’

 If you want to make a logo accompanied with graphics, www.freelogodesign.org is the best choice.

 

 

 

i. ADD YOUR FIRST BLOG POST:


 

This is what you have been waiting for. To add posts to your blog because that is what makes it a real blog.

 

Go to Posts -> Add New

 

 

NOTE:- Make sure you add ‘’Title Tag and Meta Description ‘’ before publishing your post. Google uses this information to index your post in search results. So without it your content won’t be ranked.

 

 

j. MAKING FULL WIDTH POSTS:


 

You might want some posts to have full width preview ‘’just like this post’’ – without sidebars. However, some WordPress themes don’t have ‘’Post template’’ feature. But don’t worry; this is what you can do to create full width posts.

 

Go to – Plugins -> Add new   (search for ” Post Template Select ’’ ) plugin and install it.

 

Go to ‘’Post Template Select’’ – Settings

 

Enable ‘’Display Templates Dropdown’’ on your posts and also Select Template Type – I suggest you opt for ‘’Page Template (Default)

Click save changes.

 

Create a Full With Post

After selecting ‘’ Full width’’ enter the rest of the information in your post including ‘’Meta title & Meta Description and Click ‘’Publish’’. View your page – it will look exactly like this post (without side bars)

 

 

k. ADDING IMAGES IN YOUR POSTS:


 

To add an image to your post / page; You have to place a cursor where you want the image to be.

After that Click on ‘’Add Media’’

 

 

Pick image from Library / Upload Image from your computer

 

 

Image added into post:

 

Since you have a new blog – the possibilities of not having images in your library are high. So Click – Upload Files – and pick the image from your computer.

 

 

l. CREATING CATEGORIES FOR YOUR POSTS:


 

Go to Posts ->Categories

 

Add name of the categorySlug name (this should be the same as your category name. It works as the URL for your category page) – Description (briefly describe your category) and Click ‘’Add new Category’’

 

 

 

m. ADDING LINKS (Internal & External)


 

In WordPress, links are used to connect posts, pages and related websites. The process of adding both internal & external links is the same. However, external links are treated different.  An external link is a link which goes out of your blog to another blog of interest. We use them when referring to specific facts published on other blogs and they help readers learn more on a specific topic.

You might link to other blogs ‘’as reference’’ in good faith but if you don’t add a rel=”nofollow” tag, Google and other search engines will think you’re selling links and passing over page rank to them. Below I have screen shoots showing you how to add both internal and external links in a blog post.

 

# ADDING INTERNAL LINKS:

These are links which point to related posts within a blog – a user does not go out the website. Internal links also help Google Robots crawl your content better)

 

Highlight the text where you want a link to be

 

Click – Insert link (Ctrl + K)

 

Choose a post you want to link to – > Add link

 

NOTE:- When it comes to internal links. You should not add a rel=’’nofollow’’ tag or open them in new tab. If you add a rel=’’nofollow’’ tag to internal links – you send a signal to Google Robots that ‘’please, don’t follow this post’’ – which is wrong.

 

# ADDING EXTERNAL LINKS:

These are links which point to other websites / blogs. According to Google, all external links should have a rel=’’nofollow’’ tag. This tag tells Google robot not to follow and rank that link.

 

Install ‘’ Rel Nofollow Checkbox’’ plugin

Go to your Post

 

Highlight the text where you want a link to be

 

 

Click – Insert link (Ctrl + K)

 

Add External Link

Make sure you tick the – Open link in new tab & rell=’’nofollow’’ boxes.

 

 

n. ADDING SOCIAL SHARE BUTTONS:


 

It is very important to put social share buttons on your blog posts because it enables your visitors to share content published on your blog with friends on social networks like Facebook & Pinterest. Social buttons can increase your traffic without spending any single coin. Popular blogs like www.viralnova.com highly depend on social media traffic and these buttons play a big role in spreading their viral content to masses on Facebook.

 

Go to Plugins -> Add new

 

Search for ”Share buttons”    (I use Share Buttons by AddThis)

 

Install and activate the plugin

 

 

 

o. CHOOSING A NICHE FOR YOUR BLOG:


 

Now that you know how to start a blog – it is time to learn how to make money blogging. This is the most challenging part – simply because your aim is to make money with your blog. So if you choose a non profitable niche or a highly competitive niche – you will get frustrated.

I have done some research in Google on ”Profitable blog niches”.  Scrivs the founder of  Obstacle.com  listed the following niches as profitable niches…..

 

  1. # How to Make Money: Teaching people how to make a living online. A good example of a successful blogger doing this is Pat Fly founder of smartpassiveincome.com .

 

  1. # Viral Content :- Ideal for people who don’t have time to write longtail posts (like the one you’re reading now). Viral blogs don’t get most of their traffic from Google. They highly depend on social traffic. A good example of such a blog is viralnova.com (this blog was sold for $100m). To take this root, you must have some money to pay for Facebook advertisement.

 

  1. # Amazon Niche Sites: – You can create a blog which promotes specific categories on Amazon. However, your blog should also provide useful content to users. It should not be 100% a review site. A good example is www.cnet.com. For those interested in creating Amazon niche sites – I advise you to read NichePursuits.com (this website features content on niche website creation)

 

  1. # Health and Fitness:- This is a highly profitable niche because you can monetize it with ”Adsense, Amazon, Clickbank, etc…”But it is very competitive.

 

  1. # Food & Cooking: – This niche targets people who would like to learn how to cook anything. If you’re a pro in that – give it a try.

 

  1. # Gardening
  2. # Lifestyle & Travel
  3. # Personal Development
  4. # Gaming
  5. # Photography

 

These are just examples; you should do more research on this topic.

 

 

Step 4:- MAKING MONEY BLOGGING:


 

I will be writing a detailed article on Blog Monetization explaining how you can make money blogging. But in brief, let me teach you how I make money blogging and I do it as a full time job / business.

 

# CREATE BLOGS FOR SALE:

If you know about real estate, then blogging works in the same way. A blog is a digital real estate asset. Its value increases as earnings go high and it drops as earns decrease.

So the main trick of creating highly valued blogs – is to create stable and increasing income.

I sell all my blogs on www.Flippa.com 

Before putting up my blog for sale on Flippa.com, I make sure it makes some reasonable amount of money.

Most of my blogs are monetized with Adsense & Amazon Affiliate program   

 

# AMAZON AFFILIATE:

My first blogs where monetized with Adsense which earned me some good money but these days display ads don’t make as much money as they used too in the past – so I will not waste your time teaching you how to monetize a blog with Adsense. Though it is okay to have at least 2 Adsense ads on your blog. With good traffic they can generate some good income which you can use to pay for hosting & writers. But I don’t take Adsense as a serious income generating program.

Amazon affiliate program is free and highly rewarding. I have made some good money with this program and they’re so many products you can promote.

However, in 2017 – Amazon changed their commission structure. Electronics & Fitness products are no-longer as rewarding as before. Now the most profitable niche is Home & Garden with about 8% commission.

You can easily make $100 a day with Amazon Affiliate program – but make sure you follow their guidelines.

 

#WEB HOSTING AFFILIATE:

I have just entered this niche and I’m yet to discover if it is worth my time or not. However, I see lots of bloggers promoting Web Hosting companies. A smart blogger like Pat Fly of www.smartpassiveincome.com makes $30,000 as a Bluehost affiliate.

To make money in this niche, you have to create content which attracts people with intention of buying a web hosting package / domain name.

Your content has to be related to website development – a good example is www.wpbeginner.com / www.websitesetup.org   

 

# SHARE A SALE AFFILIATE:

Shareasale.com works like a market place for companies with affiliate programs. They host millions of companies and each company has its own commission structure. Some pay 10%,15%, 25%,30%,50% and so much more.

I have made a few dollars with this network and I’m sure in the future I will make more.

 

RELATED POSTS:

What Are WordPress Plugins?
How To Install WordPress Plugins
How To Update WordPress Plugins
How to Disable Trackbacks and Pings on Existing WordPress Posts
How to Install a WordPress Child Theme
How Much Does It Cost to Build a WordPress Website
How to Disable Blog Features in WordPress
How To Add Header And Footer Code In WordPress
How to Add a Background Image in WordPress
How To Add A Scroll Back To Top Button On A WordPress Site
How To Choose A Domain Name
How To Add Buttons In WordPress Without Using Short Codes
How to Add a Contact Form to Your WordPress Website