You’re here, because you want to start a blog and make money online in 2017. And I’m here to guide you with easy to understand steps to let you create your very own blog, that is not only going to be eye catching, and user engaging, but it going to give you lot of money that you’d think to quit from your job
Making money via blog is not that easy as it used to be. And Starting a blog is not a child play anymore. Yet, it is not an uphill task as well.
In past, may be four to five years back, if you ever had some thoughts to share, and had some basic know how about blog, you’d have stated a blog and had able to gather healthy share to settle down financially.
However, now, creating a blog deserve a bit of thought!
WHERE TO START A BLOG?
I know you can find plenty of articles, on how to start a new blog and make money online with step by step instructions, and what are the necessary steps that a blogger needs to take to give its blog a first gear. But, for a successful blog, do you really think that it’s enough to memorize some steps, and implement them online as you used to finish your homework in school days?
Your answer must probably be “NO”!
Because, creating a blog is not enough, unless it is going to give you some money. And if you want to earn some money online, you must firstly understand what is a blog. Because I don’t want you to say “bye bye mom! I can’t have my breakfast as I’m getting late from my office,” after wasting undirected six months of your only once gifted life.
Sure, it’s scary! Specially for bloggers like me, who use to update their blog quite after a while, and giving their sweet dreams 8 to 10 hours.
By the way, I really don’t know if sleeping that much is ok with your doctor. So, don’t just try!
WHAT THE THING “BLOG” REALLY IS?
So, we were on “what is a blog?”
As for typical definition, a blog is a update to date website or web page. Typically an individual or small group of team manages a blog. And it is written in an informal or conversational style.
However, if you ask me, I would say that a blog is a comparison of Solutions, Story and Usefulness. If you have these three elements regularly updated on your online platform, you really have a blog, and you’re a blogger.
THE FIRST STEP YOU HARDLY FIND PEOPLE TELLING YOU!
Which is the best blogging platform?
How to choose a domain name?
Which hosting plan should I choose?
How to configure a blog, design it, makes it look cool and sexy?
And how to write an engaging & useful content?
These, and similar question reader expect to be answered. But honestly, this is not the point to start a blog. If you want to know how to start a blog that generates income for you in less than 60 days, you should analyses yourself.
Dig deep down to your abilities. Find what is the best you can tell people. What do you like the most you can tell people? What stories do you want to share?
In short, make your mind clear on what you can write at your best. And don’t worry about niche, competition, and what others are writing. Create your own story. Your very own niche!
EXAMPLE OF GRANDMA STORY
A blog is all about telling a story that is useful and engaging. Just like our grannies used to do. I still remember my grandmother, her stories were not only engaging, but very useful with some moral lessons. You’d have hardly find that much interesting story ever in life again.
But why? Do our grannies have Google AdWords, or other Keyword tools to find a niche that is engaging?
Surely no!
The answer is very simple, her stories are coming right the bottom of her hard. What she loves to tell us. With all her inner sincerity, and purity. And for most, without the lust of money! So the moral of the story is that start a blog and make money online from today.
WRITE WHAT YOU REALLY THINK PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW!
Just forget about money! If you start focusing the money at your very first thought of creating blog, you would never have a penny! Just focus of what you can give people that is beneficial for them. Just give them what they really need. And start writing from the core of your heart. Believe me, it will really gonna work a like a grandma story.So start a blog and make money online in 2017 by just sharing grandma story.
I understand, you’re bit confuse where to start, and from the big list in your mind, which is the best suitable topic you can start a blog with.
People are already writing a blog like travel blog, animal care blogs, tech blogs, educational blogs, blogging about special kinds of foods, family issues, entertainment etc. Hence there are millions of topics that you want choose and start a blog and make money online.
The aforementioned guide is for both, the beginners who want to start a blog, and those who are leaving the blogging as they find themselves unable to engage people anymore.
Once you’ve decided what to write, now it’s time to start a blog. And it requires some set of information that you need to follow to start a blog and make money online in 2017.
START A BLOG IN 5 EASY STEPS TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE
Now, I will write all about blogging and how to start a new blog in five easy steps. This post is for all the beginners out there who want to start a new blog in order to make money online. I will also guide you through technical aspects that you will face during this process.
Following are the five steps that you need to follow to start a new blog:
Now these all steps will cover the questions that might come into your mind, and a few questions will be answered automatically even if you were not thinking about those aspects. This is what i experienced when I start my blog, I used to read a lot of content. This habit of reading really added up into my experience and knowledge.
So, let’s start with the first step:
The very first step is to select a blogging platform that can publish your content and make it available on the internet. Now the question is that which platform should be adopted, as there are many options out there and it is difficult to select the perfect platform according to your needs.
The answer is simple and that is go for a wordpress.org blogging platform which is free to use and easy to use. All you will have to do is that you need to purchase your own domain name and a hosting plan. But again, I will tell you advantage of having your own domain name later on in this article.
A few basic advantages of WordPress are as follows
There are two platform tools provided by WordPress
WordPress.com
WordPress.com is free to use, you will not have to buy a domain name and a hosting plan for this platform and they will provide you limited access to the tools to run the functions, and you will require upgrading the tools as per your needs. This platform tool will provide you free space and domain which will be like www.xyz.wordpress dot com and you will not be able to have your personal identity in domain name. This is what I don’t recommend. You should have your own identity online and have to develop your own brand name by having your own domain name.
WordPress.org
WordPress.org is not free to use as in you will have to buy your hosting plan and a domain name to use this platform. There are no additional charges from this platform, but only your hosting company will charge you. This is the best platform for all those bloggers who want to blog to make money online. You own your brand name and a personal identity. You can easily customize your blog as per your own will. There are thousands of free widgets that you can use to make your blog more attractive and successful.
Check out more about free blogging websites in this article
My Recommendation
Don’t think too much, I recommend you to go for wordpress.org. This is the best platform that i have ever came across and more than 65% bloggers use this platform to publish their views to make money online by monetizing their blogs as per their priorities. Initially there is a small cost involved, but once you start a blog and make money online, then this cost is a penny against what is the potential of earning with your blog.
You can visit wordpress.org at https://wordpress.org/
My recommendation is BlueHost Hosting Service, as you can get a free domain name with their any hosting plan you select. I am their customer and affiliate as well.
What to consider while choosing a domain name?
Well this question often comes into the mind of a newbie, as they are confused in selecting a domain name. Always remember domain name is just not an address of your blog, but a brand name associated with your personality and blog niche.
The domain name for my blog is www.makemoneybloggers.com , and you can easily know by the address that what information you will find in this blog. As said, it develops the brand name of your blog, just like my domain name does for me.
In this particular article, I will not go into much technical details as it is for beginners, and I don’t want them to mess up with advanced level information associated with domain name. The basic factors that should be considered while registering a domain name are as follows.
The Search Engine Optimization perspective: This is also an important factor to consider. Your domain name should be rich of keywords you are using in your blog. It should contain the main keyword of your blog, so that it will help you later on in ranking of your blog on different search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo.
Many of you must be thinking that why I am referring you to use bluehost for registering your domain name and hosting plan. The reason behind this is so simple and that is just for your ease and comfort with technical steps that will be handled by their own team. So, my recommendation for newbie and pros is to try my referral link BLUE HOST.
WordPress has been recommending the bluehost services for more than 8 years now. The reason is simple and that is bluehost provides you uninterrupted services, with 1 click the WordPress is installed, 24/7 support, and cheapest rates and best services in the market.So why not start a blog and make money online with this cheap offer?
Setting Up Blog Hosting with Blue Host Step by Step
Please learn the following easy to understand steps to Set Up Your Hosting Account in 5 Minutes with WordPress on BlueHost.
Step#3: At the Sign Up page, you’re shown different package. Choose the best package that suites you and press the button “Select” given at the bottom of the respective plan or package. In case you’re just experiencing your first blog, I’ll recommend you select basic plan from the three given namely: basic, plus and prime.
Step#4: For example, you’ve selected basic, you’ll be proceed to next page. Here, you need to enter the domain name in the relevant box. If you don’t already have domain, enter the desired domain in “new domain” panel. And if you want to register your existing domain, please enter the domain name in “I have domain name” panel. And press the button “Next.”
Step#5: now you’ll be asked to create an account with the following information. Please enter your name, business name, country, address, city, state, zip code, phone number, and email address.
Step#7: Scroll down the page again, and enter your payment information. If you want to pay by the credit card, enter the credit card number, expiration date of your credit card and Signature or CVV2 Code in the relevant fields.
Step#8: If you don’t want to pay through credit card, click the button “More Payment Options” to check other payment options provided by BlueHost. The page will provide you the PayPal Payment option just like below. Otherwise, skip this step.
Step#9: Finally, check the box “I have read and agree to Bluehost’s Terms of Service, Cancellation Policy and Privacy Policy” and click the button “Submit” to finish the process.
Special offer for makemoneybloggers readers: I have managed to get a special discount of 63% off from bluehost for my readers and it is $2.95 per month with a free domain name (worth around $11 to $12). Just go to the link given here and you start a blog to make money online.
Now, I assume that you have registered your domain name and have selected your hosting plan. If still you are facing any difficulties, you can always leave a comment here and I will get back to you.
You can also use online chat option provided by bluehost 24/7, and they will surely help you out. I am also posting links to some online tutorials that are prepared by WordPress, that you can watch and go stepwise to install WordPress on your blog to start a blog and make money online in 2017.
Check out the link: https://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress
Finally, now you are done with installing your blog successfully, and congrats you are online now.
Now comes configuring your blog with the help of a few steps. You need to remember the rule that the more you will spend time on checking on the options that your platform is offering. The more it gets user-friendly.
Now you must be checking on the dashboard, just click all options one by one, and check the features on your own. It will make you familiar with everything in the dashboard and you will enjoy exploring new things.
With Bluehost you are lucky to get free tutorials that you can watch to get familiar with all the basic functions of WordPress. Even 10 years old can watch the videos and can operate a WordPress dashboard area. So, look how easy would it be to operate the WordPress dashboard with the help of bluehost free tutorials.
Now we are at a very important stage and this stage is a final look of our blog. Here we need to decide that how our blog will look like to readers and our followers. Always remember that first impression is the last impression. So make your blog design very attractive, user friendly and entertaining and engaging.
You must be thinking that what exactly i am talking about. Well you might know that there are templates and themes that we can use to give a final look to our blog. Again, I am providing you a link by bluehost that will help you to search and download themes for your blog. I hope it will be helpful for new bloggers.
Finally, I would suggest you that if you want to stand out from the other bloggers, and want to attract more visitors; it is good to invest in themes. You should buy a premium theme for your blog, so that you can easily develop brand of your blog. Reasons why I am recommending to invest in premium themes to start a blog and make money online in 2017.
Again, my Recommendation for Bloggers
I have two recommendations for you to select a theme. First one is MythemeShop.com. You will find very affordable themes on this website. I am using their theme SociallyViral for this blog. They are well organized themes with full on page SEO and the load time is fast. These are responsive theme, use them and start a blog to make money online.
I am also recommending Themeforest premium themes. For years i am using their themes on my different blogs and I am quite satisfied with their cost against the services they provide. I have provided you links, so that you can move forward to check and select perfect theme for your blog according to your selected niche.
The best thing about themeforest is that it is affordable for all users. If you are a beginner, you can get a theme within your budget. They have many other solutions for bloggers that you can explore by visiting their website. The admin support of themeforest is excellent. You can check out their forums to get your answers quickly.
To be honest, you can also go with free themes. But I personally think that you should not compromise on the design of your blog. Just think that whenever you go on a business meeting, you will try to get dress up perfectly. And with best personality, so that you can have influence on your business partners or clients.
This is also an online business where you want to sell your brand to earn money. You can also find online designers that can help you to develop customized themes. But they will charge you a lot of money for that. I think premium themes would be perfect choice for you to start a blog and make money online.
In the beginning, I would suggest you to remain simple yet impressive.Don’t over stress yourself with advance designing and technical stuff. As most bloggers finds it difficult to manage the wordpress and they don’t pursue further.
Writing Engaging and Useful Content for your Readers
Till now, I believe that you followed all the above five steps and now you are good to go with the content of your blog. There are two types of content on your blog i.e. Pages and Posts.
If you’re new, you must learn: how to publish a blog post on WordPress
What are Pages:
Pages are the static part in your content i.e. you can create different pages in your blog. For instance contact me page, about me page, services page, or any other page. The first page probably you will create would be “About Me” page. Here you will write about yourself, purpose of your blog, your likes dislikes and anything you would like to share.
What are Posts:
This is the major content part that a blogger comes across. A blogger writes a post and publish it online for the readers. Just like you are reading my post here at makemoneybloggers.com.
Always remember that the content of your post is valuable and informative for the reader. It should always give information to the reader for which he/she has landed on your blog. Make things very simple for your readers. So that they can enjoy the content and get benefit at the same time.
What are plugins:
Plugins are software that are designed to operate the functions of a theme more effectively. There are different plugins for wordpress that perform different tasks for you. If you are a beginner, then plugins can work for you without the hassle of learning coding. For instance, you can use a plugin for adsense to display ads on your blog. One doesn’t need to use css coding for it to place banners on the site. There are other plugins for SEO, Subscriber lists and social media sharing plugins.
So finally, I have compiled this information for my reads and shared here. Now you can start a blog and make money online easily. Thank you for reading this article and check out other articles as well.
