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How to Start A Blog For Free – Beginners Guide

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How to start a blog for free

If you are new to blogging and you are looking for how to start a blog for free with a complete easy step-by-step guide, then you are welcome to read this post to the end because I will give you all the tips you need to start a blog for free.

 

This free guide/tutorial on How to Start a Blog For Free will show you exactly how to create a blog from scratch without having to spend a dime or pay anybody for it. Most importantly, the blog you will be creating will be SEO-friendly with all full functionality. All this will be an easy step-by-step tutorial (with illustrative pictures).

 

You are welcome to DigiTribe. Feel free to support my work with your comments and share if you find value in them. Alright, let’s get started.

I know that starting a blog in this era can be very overwhelming and intimidating especially seeing all the competition out there. Now let me remind you of something before I proceed. In this blog, this is my first post since I created this blog, However, I have created several blogs in the entertainment, health and fitness, and financial niches. It was never easy, but hey! This was how I started all of them and I still love using this approach.

A Free Guide on How to Start a Blog For Free

This free guide is all about How to Start a Blog For Free for beginners, and I will teach you how to be a blogger with just the most basic computer skills. With this tutorial, you can literally create your own blog in less than an hour.

 

One thing is knowing how to do something and the other is to be a master at it, I can tell from my experience, that I am a master at this and I would love to guide you through so you don’t make the same mistakes I made when I started. I created this free guide so that anyone can learn how to blog quickly and easily without spending a dime. If you get stuck at any point, kindly send me a message using the message box and I will do my best to help you.

 Read Also: Affiliate Marketing for Beginners – 7 Successful Tips

With all that said, let’s get to work!

What is a blog?

In short summary, a blog is a type of website that focuses mainly on providing the audience with written content on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. this content are also known as blog posts. There are several types of blogs, this includes news blogs, celebrity blogs, entertainment blogs, tech blogs, health and fitness blogs, personal blogs, lifestyle blogs, etc. This guide covers all types of blogs. So whether you are looking to create a news blog or celebrity blog or even a tech blog, you can start it successfully by following this post.

 

One of the things that make blogging interesting is the direct connection bloggers have with their readers through the comment section provided in the blog. Interacting with your readers in the comments section helps to further the connection between the blogger and the reader and most likely increase your blog authority.

 

This direct connection to the reader is one of the main benefits of starting a blog. This connection allows you to interact and share ideas with other like-minded people. It also allows you to build trust with your readers. Having the trust and loyalty of your readers also opens up the door to making money from your blog, which is a very great motivation for bloggers.

 

Blogging the Easy and Simple Way

A great misconception about starting a blog is that you think you need to be a great or professional writer to be successful, or you think you need lots of cash for paid content, buying of domain and hosts, promotions to become successful. Nothing could be further from the truth. However, all those things I just listed are secondary issues when starting your own blog. The most important thing you need is your passion to blog and the rest will fall in place.

Also, you don’t need to be an expert on your topic or niche in order to have a successful blog. What counts here is your experience.  For example, someone who wants to learn how to cook will definitely prefer to read a blog post written by a person who has actual experience in cooking as they will learn from their mistakes and actually do better.

 

Passion:

This is the most important requirement you will need to be a successful blogger in any niche you chose. Blogging is about sharing your knowledge with the world. Choosing a topic that you are passionate about makes the process of starting a blog much easier and more successful. You can choose to write about more than one topic or niche it’s all totally up to you. As long as you are writing about things that you are genuinely interested in and passionate about, you will surely pave through and keep your readers glued to your blog.

 

Why Should you start a Blog?

It Helps You Make Money Online:

There are several reasons why people start blogging, however, one that is common to all is to make money online blogging from home. These days, blogging can be very lucrative if you do it correctly and stay focused and consistent. According to research, top bloggers around the world earn loads of cash ranging from 6 figures upward, but as a part-time blogger or small blogger, you can expect to make a decent profit if you do things right. The best part about it is that blogging is a form of passive income since you can spend just a few hours a week writing a blog post and then continue to make money from it long after the blog post is written.

Share your View or Story:

Most people want a platform where their voice or opinion can be heard, a blog allows you have that access. With blogging, you too can now be heard by simply sharing your story or opinion with the rest of the world. Originally, blogs were used primarily as a diary where the blogger writes about his/her daily experiences so that friends, family, and others can read about them and be a part of their lives but it gradually grew into something that’s now widely used for several purposes including news and entertainment.

Taking your Business, a step further:

Yes, recently, companies and business owners are now owning their own blogs. This actually helps you push your business out there where the world can get to see it. If you are operating a digital business, I bet you will surely want to blog about it so the world can be part of it. Also, if you are successful in your blog, you might as well gain traction from the big boys in your niche. Many bloggers are known as experts just because of their blogs, and some have even gotten amazing deals including book and movie deals based on their blogs.

Being part of a community:

Blogging itself is very interactive and connecting. When you write a blog post and people comment on it you feel their connection through their comments. This is a very good way to connect with those who are interested in the same thing as you do. Also, blogging allows you to teach these people based on your experience, and it also gives you the opportunity to learn from your readers as well.

The good news is that the internet is exploding with growth right now. More people than ever are online. This explosion in growth means more potential readers for your blog. In short, if you are thinking about starting a blog then there is no better time than right now.

How to Start a Blog For Free in 8 Simple Steps:

Now, let’s learn how to start a blog for free in about an hour following these Super Simple Steps:

Step 1: Pick a niche for your blog

Step 2: Pick a name or domain name

Step 3: Choose a blogging platform (WordPress or Blogger)

Step 4: Get a web hosting account (Not Necessary if you don’t have money. This is a Free Step by Step tutorial)

Step 5: Starting a blog on Blogger/WordPress

Step 6: Select a theme and Customize your blog

Step 7: Writing content and promoting your blog

Step 8: Make money blogging

 

Let’s start your blog! (How to Start a Blog For Free)

 

Step 1: Pick a niche for your blog

Starting and running a successful blog begins by choosing a perfect niche. You have to select the right niche for your blog and the niche must be something you are passionate about, interested in, or have experience in. That way you will follow your passion and enjoy your blogging journey even when the road gets tough sometimes.

Also, you must pick a niche that has enough audience interest and search volume.

After selecting a niche, I will suggest you validate it using these 3 simple formulas to confirm that your chosen niche will be successful.

 

3 steps to validate your blog for successful blogging:

 

  • Check niche size: After you have chosen your niche, you can do quick keyword research on several topics related to the niche you have chosen. There are several tools to use for this but the free ones I recommend are

( WordTracker, SearchVolume.io, and SEMRush)

  • Explore competitors: Be reminded that there is no niche without competition, so you have to face competitors. Also, the higher the competition the better because it simply means the niche is hot and in demand. So once you have chosen your niche, take time to search for your competitors and see what they are doing and how they are doing it. You can check out their followers, their monthly reach, and their social handles to see how big they are and how to match up with them.
  • Analyze monetization potential: If you are able to analyze your competitors, you should be able to see how they are making money with their blogs. Most people now make money on their blog through affiliates, so find out what kind of affiliate your competitors are promoting and do well to join them. 

NB: Do not try to reinvent the wheel, rather try to enhance what your competitors are doing.

This process will help you obtain a clear idea of the size, competition, and monetization potential for your proposed niche.

 

Step 2: Pick a name or domain name

After you have chosen your niche, the next thing to do is to pick a name that will best describe the niche you have chosen. If you’re not sure what to blog about, or how to choose a niche or name for your blog, you can try the things you love the most or have an interest in.  There are a few ways to find a good blogging niche:

 

Interests or Passion. This has to deal with things you are passionate about, it is usually a great place to start. Examples of hobbies and passions include Cooking, travel, phone freak, gadgets, fashion, sports, beauty and makeup, cars, weight loss, fitness, etc. But if you are persistent and focused, you can even blog about more niches you are less passionate about and still be successful, since your audience is literally anyone in the world with internet access, as long as you give quality content.

A personal blog.

This is a kind of blog that is all about you. This usually includes a variety of generic topics centered on you, starting from things you do on a daily basis, to random events. This is a great way to share your thoughts with the world without having to stick to just one topic. One good thing about a personal blog is that with time, it makes you popular and you can even become an influencer if you do it well with quality content and gain good traffic.

Sharing Life experiences.

In life, everyone has passed through one experience or the other, there are lessons we have surely learned through these life experiences. While some people like to keep those experiences to themselves, others would prefer to share those experiences with the world so that one or two people can learn from them. Sharing these experiences can be very helpful to others who may find themselves in similar situations. For example, a mom of 3 who decides to start a blog about parenting will definitely have loads of experiences to share with the younger ladies who are yet to get there or those who are currently facing pregnancy issues.

For your case, you can think about an experience you have had or something you are currently going through, it can be a motivating factor to start a successful blog. (example: a blog about parenting if you are a mom), (a blog about weight loss if you are on a weight loss journey, this can motivate others to start a weight loss journey and follow all your tips).

General News/Entertainment/Tech Blog etc.

These are general niches that you can also choose from. This area totally depends on what content you want to be providing. Bear in mind that to blog on these niches you need to be conversant with them and also blog regularly so as to keep your readers updated.

Once you have a topic it’s time to choose your blog name, also known as your domain name.

NB: This name will also serve as your blog URL

 

A good blog name should be descriptive so that potential readers can instantly tell what your blog is about just from the name.

 

If your blog is about a specific topic, then you should try including the topic in your description line as part of the blog name. You should also try to broaden your name search, don’t just make the name of your blog one word. eg. a fitness blog should not just be the word “fitness”. Try to include other related words like health and fitness, fitness motivation, etc. this would also let people know that your blog is about fitness.

 

Choosing Your Blog Name

If you are planning on a personal blog where you discuss a variety of topics and things you do, I suggest using your name, or something related to your name, since your blog is all about you. An example will be Michaels’s blog or Blogging with Michael.

 

After choosing your blog name, you will need to choose a domain extension. A .com domain extension is the most preferred, but .net or .org works fine as well. It is also important to note that for the purposes of a blog domain you cannot have any spaces between words and no capital letters. So “Blogging with Michael” becomes bloggingwithmichael.com

If you are starting out new and don’t have money to purchase a domain, you can use Blogger or WordPress. They are totally free which is why I am sharing them here with you. You can buy a domain later and point it to your blog.

 

Now that you’ve your new domain name and have picked an extension, you need to make sure that the name exists and no one else has registered the same name:

 

Check your blog name availability.

 Enter blog name & extension here…

NB: Do not leave space when inputting your blog name.

If for some reason the name you have chosen has been taken, you can try a few things:

 

Try using another domain extension. If the .com version is already registered, you may still be able to get the .net or .org version of your blog name.

Add prefix or suffix or just a character or word. For example, “My”, “Mom”, or “the”. For example, this blog is called digitrybe.com, it can be digitaltrybe.com or thedigitrybe.com

You can also try dashes between words but I don’t really recommend this if you want your blog to do well in SEO.

 

Step 3: Choose a blogging platform

Now that you have steps one and two sorted out, it is time to pick your blogging platform. The two major platforms for blogging are WordPress and Blogger. There are others but these two are more popular. For your blog to be up and running you need two things: blog hosting (known as web hosting) and blogging software. But for this tutorial, since we are using the free method, you don’t need to pay for hosting because your blog is directly hosted by WordPress or Blogger depending on the one you chose.

For the rest of this tutorial, I will be showing you how to build a blog using the blogger blogging platform, it is easy to use, customizable, and comes with no cost at all.  However, when you have grown to a certain level in your blogging journey, you can decide to purchase a domain and hosting and move your blog to your own personal host where you can have control without being worried if Google will wake up one morning and short down blogger. But until then, let’s dive into how to start a blog for free by setting up in blogger and customizing it.

Step 4: Get a web hosting account

Getting a web hosting account is not necessary for this tutorial except if you have money and the need for it. So I will skip all the details about this part and maybe talk about them in My advanced tutorial.

 

Step 5: Starting a blog on Blogger/WordPress

As mentioned before, WordPress and Blogger are the top two blogging platforms you can choose from. If you want to use WordPress, you can visit wordpress.org and register a new account and you are good to go. But for this tutorial, I will be using blogger.com. Both are good it all depends on choice. Maybe in another guide, I will create an article on how to customize a WordPress blog since this article will focus mainly on Blogger.

To get started, visit blogger.com and create a new account with your existing Gmail account or you can create a new Gmail account for the purpose of your blog.

 

 Step 6: Select a theme and Customize your blog

If you are not already logged in from the previous step after creating your account, you can then log in using your Gmail and the password you set in the previous step.  If you have misplaced your password, you can reset it by clicking the “Forgot Password” link. Login to your account and get started building your blog

Once you logged in, you will be taken to your blogger dashboard.  Go to settings, add your blog title and description and click save.

Changing your blog design

After creating your blog, you will be given the default blogger template, but don’t worry, you can make it look like a professional blog in no time.

Everyone has a different idea of how they want their blog to look. One of the great things about a Blogger blog is that you can change your entire layout and design with just a few clicks. To be able to do this, you need a theme/template. 

A blogger theme/template is what controls the entire design and layout of your blog. To change your template from the default one, you are going to click on “Setting” and go to themes. When you are there, click on the triangle pointing down and then click on edit HTML.

NB: This action should be carried out if it is your first time creating your blog. If you already created your blog and you have content on it, please back up your content as this action may cause you to lose your content

I forgot to mention this. To get a customized theme, you can search google. Just use the keyword “blogger template” and you will see lots of them. Choose the one that best describes your blog and download it. after downloading it, extract the RAR file and locate the HTML file in it. It is usually in a notepad. Open it and copy everything.

Then go back to your blogger dashboard, open the theme again, click on edit HTML, delete the default one, and past the one you just copied.

Congrats, now you have a customized theme to work with.

Adding Menu to Your Blog

Menus are seen as labels in Blogger. The new themes being developed now come with menu layouts, so you don’t need to touch your HTML code to add your menu. After editing your HTML code and saving it, go back and click on layout. You will see the layout of your blog and everything you can customize. You will see the menu block, click on edit to open it up.

The pictures below show exactly what you need to do.

First to create your home menu, simply put the name of your blog and the URL in the spaces provided and click on add link. Then click Save.  

To add other menus, simply add the name or title you want to call that menu and then paste the URL but this time, the URL will be different from the home URL and should have the following “search/label/the name or title of the menu”

For example: Let’s say the menu is called weight loss.

Then the menu name will be: Weight Loss and the URL will be: https://thenameofyourblog/search/label/weightloss Notice I did not put space anywhere. Do this for all the menus you want to add.

Editing Blog Layouts

Every theme comes with layouts that enable you to edit and set it up as you wish. Once you are on the layout page, you will see all the blocks containing different aspects of your blog. This includes the menu, social media icons, popular posts, mail subscriptions, etc. you can click the edit button on any of the blocks inside the layout page and edit as you desire.

 

Step 7: Writing content and promoting your blog

Now that your blog is up and running it’s time to really start blogging!  Let’s create your first blog post.

Go to the left menu and click on “New Posts” this will open up the new post page. It should look like the image below.

Title: This is where you put the title of your post.

Content: this is where you write the full content and insert all media files. At the top of the content place, you will see the editing options. You can use this tab to edit your texts and insert pictures or videos into your articles.

No.3 contains labels or what you call tags. When you write a post, labels or tags help put the post in a particular menu/section of your blog. So if for example you have a label/menu named weight-loss, and your post is about how to lose weight, then you should put the label weight-loss as one of your labels to point the post to that menu. You can also add other labels or tags.

The last thing to do after you have written your content and edited it is to hit the publish button and bam, your content is live.

Congrats… you just made your first post.

promoting your blog

Getting a well-designed blog and writing great content is just the start. In order to get readers to your blog, you will need to spend some time promoting it, especially when you first start. Here are some things you can do to get readers to your blog.

  • Alert Your Friends and Inner Circle
  • Use Social Media
  • Comment on Other Blogs
  • Engage with Your Readers
  • Collaborate
  • Create an Email List
  • Submit to Search Engines
  • Do SEO

 

Step 8: Make money blogging

Once you have put in the effort of creating great blog content and promoting your blog, making money from your blog is actually the easy part.

Blogging can be very lucrative and has the potential to make you lots of money, but don’t assume that you’re going to start making money in the first week, or even in the first month. It could take six months to a year to start seeing a steady stream of income. Blogging takes work and dedication, but once you develop a large audience, there are several methods you can employ to monetize your blog. This includes the following…

  • Selling Advertising Space on your blog
  • Applying to Google AdSense or any other alternative
  • Affiliate Programs
  • Memberships etc.
  • Sponsored Posts

I hope this guide was very helpful to you and also answered all the questions you had on how to start a blog for free. However, if any of the steps above were unclear to you, you can drop a message using the message box stating what was unclear and I will do well to attend to your questions and provide all the help you will need.

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