from hosting to content creating a blog is easyAAAHHH!!! This is so exciting! You’re finally going to start that blog! You’ve been thinking about it forever and now the time has finally come! But maybe you don’t really know where to start. Sure you have some ideas – some vague ideas – but now you’re here to learn how to actually get started. Creating a blog is super easy. Ready? Go!

1. The Easy Part – Thinking About Becoming A Blogger

It seems like everyone who ever reads a blog thinks about starting one at some point. Chances are good that you’ve already been stuck on this step for a long time, right? You’re not alone. Most bloggers end up being stuck in dream mode for years before finally pulling the trigger and launching a blog, and that’s okay. It’s a scary step for a lot of people because they feel intimidated and aren’t sure how to move forward. But before you go out and buy your domain, it’s actually really important to think through some things about your blog and answer these four key questions.

  1. What do you want to talk about on your blog?
  2. Who is your intended audience?
  3. How do you plan on making money from your blog?
  4. How will readers find your blog?

If you just want to have some fun and meet some new blogging buddies, then you don’t have to worry too much about things like how to monetize your blog. You can just pick your topic and get going. There are even many pro bloggers today who started out blogging as a purely personal project before turning their blogs into businesses, and you can do it that way too. If you’re not sure about the whole “make money blogging” thing, don’t worry about it right now. You don’t need the added pressure. It’s far better to start today and then adjust course later on – if at all – than it is to stay stuck in dream mode for another year, trying to decide if you want to try to make money or not.

But if you already know that you want to make money from your blog, then you’ll need to think about your blog like a business right from the start and figure out who your target audience will be, how you’ll get them to come to your blog and how you will convert your traffic into dollars.

2. The Hard Part – Setting Up The Blog

If thinking about starting a blog is the easy part, then the hard part must be to actually get started. Well, that’s both true and not true. The process itself isn’t too complicated. You can actually start a blog in a matter of minutes, once you know how to do it. But the hard part is overcoming the anxiety that so many would-be bloggers feel about taking that step.

Hey! Don’t stress out! Starting a blog is easy, it’s affordable and it’s quick. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Figure out your domain name and buy it.
  2. Buy web hosting and link your domain to the hosting company’s servers.
  3. Install blogging software on your domain and choose a theme.

Okay, hold on. There are only three steps and already some of you are starting to freak out. It’s cool. Take a deep breath. You can do this. Millions of people just like you have done it already, and you can do it too. You just need a little guidance. There are actually a lot of beginner guides, video tutorials and online courses out there that can show you step-by-step how to create a blog, so you should definitely check one of those out. Then whip out that credit card and take the plunge!

3. The Fun Part – Writing Blog Posts

Once you’ve got your blog set up, the fun begins! It’s time to write your first blog post! There are several ways you can go about this, and nobody can tell you what’s right or wrong for you. But here are a few blogging tips that most seasoned bloggers wish they had thought of when they first started out.

  • Choose a niche or main topic for your blog.
  • Learn the basics of search engine optimization (SEO) and keywords.
  • Try to provide valuable information to your readers.
  • Don’t try to be somebody else – just be yourself.

So now you can see that starting a blog isn’t really that hard. You choose a domain, sign up for web hosting, install free blogging software and set up your theme design. Then you come up with some blog topics and start writing them. It’s really that easy. You could literally have your first post up by the time you go to bed tonight. Don’t talk yourself out of it. Just go for it. You’ll be glad you did.