New year, new blog? Sharing your writing online for all to see can be a daunting prospect at the best of times. Even for the most seasoned author, setting up a blog for the very first time can feel like un-inviting territory if you are not familiar with the technological know-how it requires. Thankfully, creating a blog on a platform such as WordPress is actually a very simple process and we are here to guide you through it in seven simple steps:
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CHOOSE YOUR HOST.
Firstly, you need to decide whether to sign up to WordPress itself or if you would prefer to use WordPress via a hosting company. Some of these companies (of which there are thousands!) will offer you freebies but for the best quality, it is advisable to invest anything between $3 and $35 per month. Reputable sites to consider checking out are Bluehost, Flywheel, WP Engine, SiteGround and HostGator. “WordPress itself can offer you a range of different options from Personal, Premium, Business and eCommerce accounts depending on the scale of your project. If you choose to sign up with WordPress itself, then your next task will be to come up with your very own domain name,” explains Daniel Lawson, a tech writer at 1 Day 2 Write and Britstudent.
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INSTALL WORDPRESS
Once you have chosen your host, you can then install WordPress which will be an automated process giving you just enough time to brew a hot cup of joe and relax while it does it’s thing.
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EDIT YOUR ACCOUNT SETTINGS
Next up, you can personalize your account settings. These are conveniently sectioned into the following headings: User Profile, Writing, Reading, Discussion, Media and Permalinks. Under “Writing”, you can choose your all-important site title, backed up by a tagline which should provide a description of your blog. In “Reading”, you can edit how your blog is displayed to readers. In “Discussion”, you can set up a system for commenting if you would like to interact with your readers.
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PICK A THEME
Now, you can let your creative juices loose on selecting a theme that suits your style. This could take a while if you don’t exercise a little self-control while browsing through the 7,400 plus free themes that WordPress has available. What is even better is that each theme is customizable under the “Looks” menu if you want to tweak the font, colors or layout. And if you’re still not happy? You can also pay extra for premium themes.
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CONSIDER ADDING PLUGINS
For step five, you will need to consider which plugins might be useful for your blog. Again, this could be time-consuming as WordPress has over 58,000 of them to choose from for free, not to mention the other plugins that you can purchase to really make your blog go the extra mile for you. Common plugins to consider are those that will boost your blog’s reach via newsletter subscriptions, sharing mechanisms that will enable your blog to be linked to places like Instagram and Twitter, and also provide search engine optimization (check out AddThis or Yoast for these). “Other good plugins to have in your armory are a good spam protector and a backup just in case anything unwanted happens, and last but not least, GoogleAnalytics can be very helpful in enabling you to track the success of your blog,” says Jill Adams, a WP expert at Phdkingdom and Write My X.
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START WRITING
And now for the really exciting part where your writing can begin it’s journey into the world wide web, and who knows where it will go from there! You are finally ready to start blogging. First off you will need to delete the “Sample Page” that WordPress furnishes new blogs with. Then, just click on “Posts” followed by “Add New”, and away you go. You should choose a title that contains a catchy keyword to draw your readers in, and supplement your written content with images that add visual interest.
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THE FINAL TOUCHES
When you are ready, you can add the finishing touches to your first post by applying “categories and tags” which will enable WordPress to arrange all of your posts into easy-to-navigate sections. Pat yourself on the back, take a deep breath, and click Publish!
George J. Newton is a business development manager at Coursework writing services and Assignment Help. Throughout his ten years of marriage, George has perfected the art of the apology. He also writes for Next Coursework.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
