Blogging began as a hobby and has transformed into so much more than that for me. It has opened so many doors and presented many opportunities that wouldn’t have been there without this blog of mine. Because of my own blog, I have landed paid writing gigs for other websites. Blogging has created so many meaningful friendships in my life. Most importantly, blogging has allowed me to do what I love and to stay at home with my baby (see: 85 Ways to Make Money Blogging). It has allowed me to create my own schedule and express myself in ways I never knew was possible before.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to start your own blog.

How to Start a Lifestyle Blog

Before We Begin: Why start a blog?

Starting a blog is very exciting. You have a place to share your life, passions and adventures with the world! The most exciting part is that you could be paid for doing this! Companies are spending billions of dollars advertising online and on blogs. Blogging is the way of the future for advertisers and they know it.

Blogging gives you a sense of community among your peers. There are blog conferences and groups for just about every niche out there. Going to these events and meeting other like-minded people is one of the best parts about blogging.

A medium sized blog can easily generate $100-$200 per sponsored post, $200-$400 per month in affiliate sales, and another $100 in passive advertising. The sky truly is the limit with blogging. There are bloggers out there who are making 6 and 7 figures doing what they love.

Choose Your Blog Topic

What are you interested in?
Blogging about what interests you is very important. If you like the topic, and are interested in what you’re writing about, your readers will pick up on that. You’ll also enjoy doing it more and that is especially important once you start blogging more often.
Even if you’re blogging as a business, it should still be fun and something that you enjoy.

What are you good at?
If you have a particular skill that you think should be shared with the world, a blog is the perfect place to do it! Do you excel in the kitchen? Start a food blog! Are your friends always asking you for fashion advice? Perhaps fashion blogging is the way to go.
If you can offer tips and generally help people out, they will flock to your blog.

Choose the Proper Platform

WordPress all the way
I won’t even discuss other options because I am so passionate about WordPress as a blogging platform. Here are a few reasons why WordPress is the best platform for blogging:

• Great for beginners
• Tons of free themes available
• Easily customizable, even if you have no coding knowledge
• There are tons of free plugins that make just about everything easier
• WordPress is the most commonly used platform, and therefore there are tons of resources out there providing help, should you get stuck

Why not a free platform?
There are many reasons why you should avoid using a free platform for your blog. Among them are:

• Some free platforms put their own ads on your site
• Most free platforms restrict your ability to put ads on your site or make any money at all
• There is virtually no support available and even something as simple as a design change warrants a cost (thus becoming not free)
• You will have an ugly URL, such as www.yourblog.blogspot.com
• Most importantly, you don’t own your blog when it’s on a free platform – it’s literally like building your house on land that you don’t own

Let me address that last point again. If your blog is on a free platform, you do not own the blog, or the URL. This means (and it has happened before) that your blog could be shut down at the drop of a hat, for any reason they see fit. Some blogs have been shut down because the blogger was working with a company that the platform owners don’t like. You don’t want to put your blog in someone else’s hands just to save five bucks a month.

Snag Your URL and Get Hosted

Ok, now that you’ve got your blog topic and are ready to set up your WordPress blog, it’s time to get a domain name. This will be your website’s address, or what goes here: www.YOURSITE.com.

Tips on choosing a domain name:

• Make it as short as you can. The shorter it is, the easier it is for people to remember and type.
• Make sure it conveys your blog’s message. While trying to keep it short, be sure to include something about yourself or your blog’s message in the URL.
• Don’t steal. It’s best not to copy someone else’s idea when it comes to your blog. I also don’t recommend using brand names in your URL.
• Make it brandable. Don’t make your URL so specific that brands don’t want to work with you. www.farzanasbeautifulifestyle.com is a little too specific to attract brands. However www.farzana.com is a great URL.

It’s time to click right here to head over to BlueHost to get your domain and hosting.
I am a BlueHost affiliate and get a commission when you use my links and my code to save an extra 50% off your plan. I could be an affiliate for any company, but I choose BlueHost due to their incredibly low costs and awesome 24/7 customer support. Their one-click WordPress install is perfect for people who are starting new blogs.

Hosting For Your Blog

What the heck is hosting? It’s not as confusing as it sounds. Most websites need to “rent” space on the internet. A place to store all your blog’s data, files, and photos so that people around the world can easily access it when they type in your domain name.
Hosting can be pretty cheap. I recommend new travel blogs get hosting with BlueHost. They offer quality hosting for a low price ($6.95 per month for 12 months) and customer service is good too. Plus they give you a free domain name!

But if you are just starting out, BlueHost is a better option.

Part 1 – Click on the green button that says “get started now.”


Pick a plan.

Check to see if your blog name (domain name) is available.

– Add Extra Features
Most of these you don’t need. However I do recommend Domain Privacy Protection. Otherwise anyone can look up who owns your site, giving them access to your mailing address, email, and phone number. It’s worth the extra few bucks to block that from happening.

Installing WordPress

You’ll want to set up a self-hosted WordPress account. This means the WordPress software resides on your hosting company’s servers, not on a free WordPress.com account. What’s the difference?

• Your website is “MyLifestyleBlog.com” rather than “MyLifestyleBlog.WordPress.com”
• You own your data and have full control
• You can sell advertising on your site
• You can install plugins & custom themes
• You can use Google Analytics tracking (important)

Yes, you want to use WordPress too. Not Blogspot, not Blogger, not anything else. WordPress is the king of blogging, and probably always will be. Most professionals use WordPress, even major brands like the BBC & Katy Perry. Installing WordPress with your BlueHost Account is super easy.

Click through the simple installation process on your BlueHost cPanel. When it asks you where you’d like to install it, choose your new domain (ex: http://MyLifestyleBlog.com).
Once installed, you’ll be able to log into the WordPress dashboard with your new username and password. Welcome to the club! You now have a travel blog. That wasn’t too hard, was it? But wait, there’s more!


 

Get A Professional Theme

Your new WordPress blog comes with a couple standard “themes”, or designs for your site. While this is ok for playing around in the beginning, if you want to take this seriously and eventually make money with your travel blog, you’ll want to buy a professional design. Don’t worry, they don’t cost too much, and they’ll improve the look of your site big time.

I’ve changed themes a few times over the years, but the current one I’m using is called Hardy by ThemeTrust. I’ve tweaked it a lot using my background in web-design though, customizing how it looks & acts.

Add Some Plugins

You can think of WordPress plugins as third-party apps for your website. They give your blog additional features. Most plugins are free, some you have to pay for. You can download new plugins in the “plugin” section of your WordPress Dashboard.
Here’s my recommended list of plugins to install with your travel blog.

• Akismet – Protects your blog from spammers leaving comments on your posts. Not perfect, but probably the best one out there.
• WordPress SEO – Very important plugin for optimizing your articles for Google search, plus integrating Google Sitemaps and Analytics.
• Easy Social Share Buttons – Nice social media sharing buttons for your articles.
• WPtouch – Makes your travel blog mobile friendly.

There are others of course, but these will get you started.