Every single day more and more new blogs are popping up around the internet. People are turning to blogs as a creative outlet, a way to create income to support their family, and even as a way to simply document their life. We’re constantly inspired by people looking to start a new journey online, one that we’ve both enjoyed so much.
However, it can be kind of confusing to navigate all of the steps when you’re just getting started. We always see people ask what they really need to get started, the best resources to use, and how to set themselves up for success from the very beginning. So we wanted to share with you the five steps you’ll want to take to get your blog started on the right foot!
How to start your blog
PICK YOUR NAME + DOMAIN
The hardest part when it comes to starting a blog is picking the name. We both went through a variety of cute and clever names for our blogs, but ultimately, we both landed on using our own names. Obviously, that might not be the best decision for you, but don’t stress too much! It is possible to change your domain and name of your blog without a lot of extra work, so even if you pick something and you decide you don’t like it later, you’re not stuck with it.
The best recommendation we have is to do some good ol’ fashion googling to see what names are available. Kory loves to use Domainr when trying to decide on a name for something because it’ll easily tell you what domains are available for what you put in.
Once you pick a name, you’ll want to purchase your domain. We both recommend buying your domain from Namecheap. It’s easy to do, and depending on what domain you go with, your domain shouldn’t cost more than $15 / year.
PURCHASE YOUR HOSTING
After you’ve purchased your domain, it’s time to secure your hosting. This is where most people end up regretting their decision. It’s so easy to take a look at what’s out there and feel confused about all of the options but also want to get the cheapest thing available. Unfortunately, the cheap options for hosting usually end up causing you the most issues.
We recommend Siteground or Flywheel for your hosting because they’re both incredible companies and are extremely reliable.
Once you’ve purchased your hosting, you’ll want to connect your domain name to it. You’ll want to connect your domain name by pointing your URL to the nameservers of your hosting account. If you’re not sure how exactly to do this, we recommend getting in touch with customer support for your domain name.
INSTALL WORDPRESS
After you’ve hooked up your domain and hosting, it’s time to install WordPress. Most hosting companies have a one click install option, which means they do the hard work for you. If you went with Flywheel or another managed WordPress host, your site will already be setup for you based on the details you put in when you were purchasing your account.
After WordPress is installed, you should be able to go to YOURURL.com/wp-admin to access your login page and then your WordPress dashboard!
CHOOSE THE BEST THEME FOR YOU
Once you’ve done all of the hard work for the previous three steps, you’re ready to start having some fun! We currently have 11 easily customizable WordPress themes that you can choose from for your own blog. We have different levels for our themes because we know that everyone is at different points in their journey, which means we all need something a little different.
So here’s a break down of our three theme types to help you decide which is right for you:
- Starter Themes are basic themes that are good for bloggers within their first 6 months to a year of blogging, who may be blogging as a hobby, and aren’t necessarily sure where they want to go with their blog yet. These themes are easily customizable, which means you can change out the fonts, colors, logo, and widget areas to best fit you.
- Premium Themes are the next step up, and these feature an additional custom page to help boost your blog. The additional page depends on your theme, but these are also easily customizable. These themes are perfect for bloggers who’ve been publishing posts for 1-2 years and are looking for something a little more sophisticated.
- Deluxe Themes are the last step up in our shop, and these are perfect for bloggers or business owners who are looking to have a totally custom site with more advanced features.
All of our themes are mobile responsive, easily customizable, and built on the Genesis framework.
INSTALL YOUR THEME + START BLOGGING!
Once you’ve picked your theme and purchased it, the next step is installing it on your own site. Installing your theme from us is incredibly simple!
First you’ll UNZIP the file that you got from us. Inside, you’ll see a few different files including the Genesis framework and your child theme as additional .zip files.
Next, you’ll log into your site and go to Appearance > Themes, click Add New, and then Upload. You’ll navigate to where the folder is saved on your site and upload the Genesis .zip file first, and then you’ll repeat the process and install your child theme .zip file second.
Once your child theme has been installed, you’ll see a screen that looks like this:
You’ll then click Activate, and then you’ll be taken to your main Themes page, where you’ll see your theme has been installed:
From there, you can use the Installation PDF that came with your theme to learn how to customize your theme to fit your blog and brand.
Once you have your site all set up, make sure to let us know or Twitter by tagging us @codedcreative or using the hashtag #codedcreative on Instagram, so that we can see your new site!