{"id":1362,"date":"2016-11-29T03:05:54","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T02:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buyerlinkage.com\/?p=1362"},"modified":"2017-04-17T11:46:28","modified_gmt":"2017-04-17T10:46:28","slug":"how-to-start-your-own-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buyerlinkage.com\/how-to-start-your-own-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Start Your Own Blog in 20 Minutes and Make It Successful"},"content":{"rendered":"
We created this guide to give beginners fast and super easy steps to follow in order to\u00a0start a blog in as little as 20 minutes without having the need to learn any HTML, graphic design or coding. You will soon discover why this is the simplest and the most comprehensive guide you will come across on starting a blog because\u00a0we have pooled our experiences and resources together to create this guide. We fully understand the need to keep things very simple and straightforward for a beginner and we have made sure that this guide abides by the same principle.<\/p>\n
This guide has\u00a0helped over 8,000 people like you to set up their blogs usually in less than 20 mins. As experts with over 10 years of experience in the blogosphere, we have experimented a lot over these years and we have mastered what works and what does not work. We currently have over 100 blogs and counting in our portfolio which were all started in-house and attract over 70 million visitors every month so we know a whole lot about starting a successful blog and we wouldn't want to see you making the same costly mistakes we made.<\/p>\n
Simply follow these easy steps outlined below, and you could have your blog ready in less than 20 minutes, without any form of coding or skilled technical knowledge.<\/p>\n
Just in case you are still wondering why you should start a blog in the first place, you will find a few interesting reasons below otherwise, you can\u00a0Skip this part of the guide and start building your blog right away!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The advent of the internet has brought millions of websites into existence and\u00a0is currently exploding with unimaginable growth and huge potentials. With a lot more people getting online now than ever, this means a higher number of people who are going to be interested in what your blog is about or the services you render through your blog. As a matter of fact, there is no better time to start a blog than today and we are going to show you how to have your blog ready in less than 20 mins.<\/p>\n 1. Express your views and ideas.<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog is an ideal way of expressing your views and ideas. Blogs can be used as a diary where you write your thoughts on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Such a platform is very important for individuals who want to share their thoughts and ideas with others.<\/p>\n 2. Affect wide audience and make your voice heard.<\/strong><\/p>\n With a blog, you have the potential to reach millions of individuals irrespective of where they are on the planet. With such potential to reach a global audience of diverse culture, the opportunity is simply endless.<\/p>\n 3. Build credibility and recognition.<\/strong><\/p>\n A blog has the potential to increase your credibility and recognition. A lot of talents have been discovered simply because of the exposure blogging offered them and experts in various fields are being recognized because of their blogs. Depending on the specific niche that you opt for your blog, posting articles that show you have a deep understanding of that niche category is a sure way to get you recognized.<\/p>\n 4. Improves your CV and the chance of getting hired if you have to look for job.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are an individual who is unemployed and are looking to secure employment, then you should consider starting a blog. A major recruitment and talent sourcing company we took on a consulting offer for once revealed that having an established online presence in the form of a blog is one of their top criteria for selection; ranking just below experience. So by focusing your blog on certain niche topics which may be related to your career path, your blog will give you an edge while looking for a job. Potential employers will see that apart from a growing\u00a0interest in the field you are applying for, that you also take extra initiative and discipline to take on extra tasks and projects, something that may help you secure employment.<\/p>\n 5. Become a better writer.<\/strong><\/p>\n Running a blog that is constantly updated will eventually help you become a better writer. This is because practice makes perfect. By frequently writing for your blog, you will be slowly growing your skill all the while and helping yourself become a better writer.\u00a0Sometimes, the positive criticisms from your readers who leave comments also go a long way in improving your overall writing skills.<\/p>\n 6. Make money doing it.<\/strong><\/p>\n This is where it gets even more interesting. The opportunity to make money should be reason enough why you should start a blog. Blogging can be quite financially rewarding. Some top bloggers make well over $100k in a month. They have obviously put in a lot of handwork and dedication in their blogs.\u00a0making money from your blog becomes easy once the blog starts getting a sizeable amount of readers and visitors. We will cover ways you can make money from your blog at the end of this guide.<\/p>\n 7. Boosts your online and offline business.<\/strong><\/p>\n Blogs can be used as an ideal tool for marketing your business both online and offline. You can use your blog to create buzz about your business to your blog\u2019s visitors. You also have the option to market your business offline by using your blog to direct potential customers to you offline business or place of work.<\/p>\n We can go on and on on why you should really start a blog but these reasons alone are already more than enough. The good thing is that if you use the steps outlined in this guide, starting a blog becomes super easy, fun and takes a lot less than you can ever imagine. Simply pick any topic (often referred to as “niche”)you have interest in and follow the simple steps we have outlined below and you will be good to go in less than 20 minutes.<\/p>\n A topic on just about anything will do, depending on your interest and goals. various blogs have become successful businesses on all kinds of topics. We have built successful blogs on a whole lot of topics and over time, we have discovered that these are the things you should keep in mind while choosing a niche for your blog:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n To get started, you will need to choose a blogging platform (often called Content Management System – CMS)\u00a0which is what your blog is built on and allows you to easily create your blog posts. Popular examples are WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr.<\/p>\n To a very large extent the success of your blog depends a lot on your choice of blogging platform which is why it is very necessary to\u00a0chose the right one from the onset.<\/p>\n WordPress, Drupal, Blogger and Joomla are the most common options among many out there.<\/p>\n However,\u00a0to put things into perspective, the chart below shows the use of blog platforms in the current year and as it stands, WordPress dominates the chart with over half of bloggers on the planet using it. That is why over 80% of our blogs run on including this one you are reading and we also recommend that you use it as well.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The fact that WordPress out-rightly dominates other blogging platforms by far with the over 80 million blogs including ours actively running on it isn't just a coincidence. WordPress\u00a0 isn't hard\u00a0to grasp and it offers much more functionality. These are only a few of the advantages you have with WordPress:<\/p>\n We are making progress but Hold-on<\/strong> though, there is no need to install WordPress\u00a0just yet until you read this…<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Having decided on the best blogging platform to use, you will need 2 things to get started:<\/p>\n Before you get a domain name, you will need to decide on whether you should opt for a free blog or pay for your hosting. There are many reasons why you should start with a self-hosted blog which are usually inexpensive instead of the free blogging platform. WordPress, Blogger and Tumblr all offer free blog. While this may sound all interesting, the free blogging platforms aren't exactly free and it comes with some serious downsides to it with lots of annoying restrictions:<\/p>\n 1) You do NOT own your domain name and the web addresses they give you are difficult to remember and ugly.<\/strong>\u00a0All of the free blogging platforms available including WordPress and Blogger will restrict you to web address names that are a sub-address of their own domain such as: yourblogname.blogspot.com, yourblogname.wordpress.com whereas in a self-hosted website, the domain is classy, professional and easy to remember because you get to chose your domain name\u00a0eg: yourblogname.com. Don't worry, we will show you how to get your classy and professional domain name for free.<\/p>\n 2) Content control and ownership:<\/strong> In free hosted blogs, you have no full control over your blog and the kind of content you post on it. If for some reason you want to sell your blog you cannot sell a free hosted blog and it doesn't matter the number of hours or the extent of efforts you've put in building it. The owners of the free platforms can decide and shut it down at any given period, but this is not the case with self-hosted blogs where you have full control over your blog.<\/p>\n 3) You are NOT allowed to place adverts on your blog:<\/strong> One of the greatest thing about blogging is the abilities to make money. Unfortunately, the free blogging platforms won't allow you to monetize your blog and make money from it even if you are getting\u00a0tons of visitors. As a matter of fact, most of the platforms will serve their own ads on your pages and you have absolutely no control over the kind of advertisements that appear on your pages. The revenue they generate from such adverts is what they use to keep your blog running so technically, the blog is not free rather they are making money off you.<\/p>\n 4) Limitations on the use of themes, plugins and designs:<\/strong> You won't be able to use thousands of available themes and plugins in a free hosted blog instead, they will restrict you to their default themes which they provide. Themes are the designs for your blog more like the painting of a house and plugins extends the functionality of your blog just in the same way apps extend the functionality of your mobile phone. so imagine living in a house that you can't redecorate and using a mobile phone that you can't download any apps on. That can really be frustrating.<\/p>\n 5) There is no way of forwarding your traffic from your free blog to your new blog:<\/strong> So if you start with a free blog and later decide to change to a self-hosted blog, you will have to forgo all your efforts and site visitors.<\/p>\n 6) You won't have cool emails like this:<\/strong> Frank@YourNewBlog.com<\/p>\n Overall, a self-hosted blog offers you full control of your blog and makes you look more credible and serious. You will be the one who will decide on the type of content you want to post on your blog. If you like to host videos or several photos, you are free to do so without any fear of your blog being shut down for violation of terms of service under which you were allowed a free blog or running out of space you are allocated.<\/p>\n But if you really\u00a0don't care whether your blog will be successful or not, feel free to still go with free blogging platforms.<\/p>\n However, if you want to run a successful blog and enjoy all the full benefits of blogging and make money from your blog, you surely need a self-hosted blog (your own blog with your domain name and hosting) from day one.<\/p>\n Setting up such a blog is a lot easier and doesn't cost more than an afternoon snack.<\/p>\n 1. You will need a domain name<\/strong>\u00a0which is usually $15 but I\u2019ll let you know how \u00a0you can get it for FREE.<\/p>\n 2. You will need\u00a0a web hosting account <\/strong>which usually costs around $72 but we have negotiated 50% off for our readers so you can get 1 year year hosting for less than $36<\/a>\u00a0(Opens in a new window).<\/p>\n Disclosure: T<\/em>his guide contains some affiliate links. These are links to products we have tested and use ourselves. If you purchase a service through one of these links, we may earn a small commission to support our work but this is at NO extra cost to you rather some services are actually cheaper through us.<\/em><\/p>\nSTEP<\/span> 1: Why You Should Start A Blog<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
By starting a blog, you can achieve the following:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Picking a Blog Topic\/Niche<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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STEP 2: Getting Started – Choosing your blogging platform<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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STEP 3:\u00a0Choose a domain name and a web host<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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How do I get my domain name and web host?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
How much does it cost to set up a self-hosted blog?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Where should I get my domain name and hosting?<\/strong><\/h3>\n