- Choosing with whom you want to work
- When do you want to work
- Where do you want to work
- Deciding your own worth and salary
How blogging Was the best decision?
- Presented me as an expert in my niche.
- Engaged visitors to spend more time on my website.
- Bring in extra cash by recommending some best tools I use.
- It has brought traffic to my website.
- Became a source of passive income
How To Start A Blog: The Complete Guide
These are the exact steps I have taken to start my blog and monetize it and within 2 months of starting my blog, I made my first $300 from it. Blogging is a very low investment online business , you can start a blog as low as within $5. I recommend all my clients and readers to use Siteground as a web host to build a blog/website starting at $3.95/mo. Note: Affiliate links may be used in this post. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you use my affiliate link. Full disclosure policy here.How To Start A Blog And Make Money
This guide will help you start a WordPress blog today even if you are a beginner and tips to monetize it.Related Post : What is WordPress?
Here’s is what I am going to cover in this guide- Finding a niche for your blog
- Picking up a perfect domain name
- Setting Up a web hosting
- Designing your blog
- Methods to monetize your blog
Step1: How To Choose A Blogging Niche For Your New Blog
If you are serious about making money from blogging then this is the most important step for building a profitable blog. Think of something you love talking about, something you are passionate about and able to write articles on it. So decide an interesting topic to discuss with your audience Some of the popular blog niches are Travel, Lifestyle, Technology, Heath and fitness, Personal Finance, Art, Parenting etc. For example – If interested in traveling, you can build a travel blog about budget trips, must have places, best food places etc. So, take out your notebook, decide a topic for your blog and write it down.To make money from your blog you should be able to provide valuable content to your readers.
Step 2: Picking Up A Perfect Domain Name
Now when you have decided a niche for your blog and you know what you are going to blog about , the next step step is to find a perfect domain name for your blog. Here are some tips to choose a domain name.- It should be easy to remember
- Don’t use mispelled words, numbers and hyphens in it
- Easy to type
- Keep it short
- The domain name should be related to your niche
- Select a .com domain
- You can use your name as well if you can’t decide as of now.
I recommend buying domain from Namecheap at very affordable prices
Step 3: Setting Up A Web Hosting
To build a profitable and successful blog that makes money, you need to have a self-hosted blog. By saying “Self-hosted” blog means you own the content of your blog and its totally yours. There are some other blogging platforms like bloggers,wix and WordPress.com with a lot of limitations. Don’t worry even you are a non-techy person setting up a self hosted blog is very easy and I am going to you show you now. I recommend using Siteground as your web host and why I am saying this? because my own website is hosted on it and I suggest all my clients buy Siteground. I never faced a single issue with this hosting. It offers,- 99% uptime – My website has never faced any downtime.
- 24/7 Best Customer Support – My all queries got answered quickly
- Security – They keep checking files in your hosting, in case of any harmful file detected they inform you.
- Affordable – Starts with $3.95/mo
Related Post : 11 Reasons To Host Your Blog/Website On Siteground
Step1: Select The Hosting Plan
Click here and select the plan that suits your need. I will suggest buying the “StartUp” plan as a new blogger.
Step2: Input Your domain name
If you already have a domain name purchased then select the second option “I already have a domain name” or else you can buy a new domain here only in Siteground. To buy a new domain with siteground select the first option “Register a new domain”
Step 3: Create Your Hosting Account and Select The Package
After you have entered your personal details to create an account with Siteground you will see the below page. Personal details will be like your Name, address, payment details etc.




Step4: Designing Your Blog
So, the fun part starts now, designing your blog!! Now login to your Siteground account , you have just created using the email address and password. In this step we will be a) Installing WordPress – WordPress is a CMS platform that your blog will run on. b) Installing A blog theme Lets first discuss how can we install WordPress on your hosting. Even if you are a non-techie person, believe me, it’s very easy to set up WordPress on your hosting. In order to install WordPress on your Siteground hosting follow the below steps:Step 1: Login To Siteground Account
- Open The Siteground website and click on the “Login” link at the top right corner.

- Now you will see a form to enter the username and password.
- Enter the username and password you have just created while Signing up with Siteground.
- Click on the “SIGN IN” button.

- After you have logged in you will see your account dashboard.
- Click on the “My Accounts” tab from the menu

- You will then see your account details. Now click on the red button “Go to cPanel”.

- You will get a pop box, just select the first option and click “Proceed”

- You will be redirected to the cPanel where you will see many tools and details.
- Scroll down a little and you will see the section heading “AUTOINSTALLERS”
- In this section you will see various apps and software as shown below.
- Click on the WordPress icon as highlighted below with a red arrow.

Step3: Installing WordPress
- Once you have clicked on the WordPress icon in Autoinstallers section. you will be redirected to the below page.
- This page will show you which all WordPress versions are available, release date of the latest WordPress version and a description about “What is WordPress?” .
- Once you have read it , scroll down a little and click on the “Install Now” link (circled in red color)

- Now you will see a page something like below, where you have to enter few details in order to Install WordPress.
- Latest WordPress version is selected by default so don’t change it.
- Siteground provides FREE SSL certificate, so you can have https:// , secured version for your domain.
- Click on the drop down and select the domain name on which you want to install WordPress.
- Leave the directory blank below.

- Now Enter your Blog name and after that a small description about your Blog
- Enter the username and password to login to your WordPress account. (Please note it down on a notepad )
- Enter your email id where you would love to receive notifications from the WordPress.(Please enter your best email id as this will be required in future to reset or change the password)

- Select the Language for your WordPress account.
- Leave all other options as it is, don’t change anything.
- Click on “Install” button at the bottom

- You will see a message on the website that your WordPress is being installed on your hosting.
- Once it is installed you will see a domain link to visit your website.
- Also, you will see a link to login to your WordPress dashboard e.g https://yourdomainname.com/wp-login/
CONGRATULATIONS!! You have installed WordPress on your hosting.
Now,here we will proceed to the most exciting part of this whole tutorial “Installing Theme”.Step4: Installing A Blog Theme
Once you have logged into your WordPress account, you will see a Welcome dashboard and a vertical menu bar on the left side.- Go to the menu item Appearance -> Themes. You will see the default themes installed on your WordPress.

- To add a New theme click on the “Add New” button at the top of the Themes page.
- You will see a page like below image.


- There are plenty of FREE themes available which you can select and install but I will recommend you buying a good quality theme instead of using a free theme.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Your blog is live now, go ahead and add the content.
Why You Should Select A Premium Theme?
- A premium theme makes your blog look more professional.
- It will come with step by step guide for the installation.
- You will also get the customer support.
- Paid themes are mobile responsive and provide various theme customization options.
- SEO friendly website.
OFFER!! If you purchase the Siteground hosting + Bluchic theme through my link then I will do a FREE blog set up and free theme installation like in the demo one for you. Please share the screenshot after purchasing the hosting and theme. For more details email me at techygrrrl@gmail.com
If you don’t like buying the pre designed theme templates as you want your blog to have a unique style and your voice then don’t worry we have another option for you as well. This theme is for you if you are very creative and have your own blog design in your mind then I would recommend using Divi theme from elegant themes. Divi theme comes along with an opt-in and social media share plugin as well. This fulfills the most important blog requirements.Divi theme comes with 30 Day Money Back Guarantee, so joining is Risk-Free!
In case you need help in designing your blog then no worries Divi provides great customer support and they also have plenty of great tutorials to help you build your Blog.In case you are looking for a WordPress Developer to build your blog using Divi then you are at right place. I would love to help you as I am a WordPress developer and I have been building WordPress websites for my clients. Click here to tell your blog requirements. Currently, I am offering a 15% discount to my readers on building a blog/website using Divi. To know more about this offer contact me here on messenger directly (Click the below messenger button).
Related Posts: 10 Must Have WordPress Plugins Every Blogger Should Install
Step 5: Making Money Blogging
Now when your blog is live and you are ready to add your posts. I would suggest you add at least 10-12 posts to your blog and focus on list building. This will help you monetize your blog because you need an audience and blog visitors to start making money. I would like to share some ideas about how to make money from your blog.- Affiliate Marketing –This is the easiest and fastest way to start making money from your blog. Join some affiliate programs related to your niche and start promoting them through your blog. For every sale, you will earn some commission.
- Digital Products – As a blogger you can build your own products like ebooks and online courses. This is the best way to make money. You can also build an audience as they see you as an authority of that topic.
- Advertising – If you have a good amount of daily traffic on your website then this can also bring money by displaying ads on your blog.
Conclusion
Let’s quickly recap what we have learnt so far,- Find your blogging niche
- Decide on a domain name and buy it.
- Purchase hosting for $3.95 a month with Siteground
- Pick a theme for your blog
- Write 10 to 12 blog posts and launch!
Free Resources
I have few Freebies for you that will help you build a Blog/website and brings you traffic.- How To Build A Website/Blog That Converts Visitors Into Buyers
- Top 19 Tools Recommended By Entrepreneurs To Build A Profitable Online Business
- 5 Things That Makes Your Website Slow
- Watch Me Set Up A WordPress Theme. Free Video
- SEO Checklist To Make Your Blog SEO Optimized

Very helpful as I’m trying to decide should I upgrade my blog. Thank you for sharing, I saved this post! 🙂
Hi Roberta, Thank you so much and I am glad that you loved this post. Please let me know if you have any query regarding upgrading your blog. As of now I can see that your blog is hosted on WordPress.com so I will definitely recommend you to switch to self hosted WordPress.
WordPress .com has limitations and as and when your blog grows you will find it difficult to scale your blog.