What started as a blog, something like a digital personal diary has long evolved into one of the most successful and far-reaching forms of publication. Meanwhile, so-called bloggers are much more than fans of writing since they are often advertising media, influencers, or experts on some subject.
You are in the right place if you dream of your own fashion, gastronomy, or travel blog. We will answer you every question about What do I need to create a blog, where to do it for free, why write it, or what is the best way to design it, discover in our step-by-step manual on how to start a blog.
Free Blogging Platforms
A large number of free offers are usually found when searching for the most suitable platform to start a blog. The most popular providers, and the most attractive to beginners because they allow you to create a free blog, are WordPress, Blogger.com, and Tumblr.com.
Its implementation is relatively simple and users do not need technical knowledge in servers, hosting, or web design. The provider is responsible for issues such as updates, backups, or anti-spam protection.
All this means that creating a blog is not linked to large costs or long sessions at the PC.
There are, however, some limitations to be taken into account: in the case of free platforms, the URL or page address is the advertising medium of the provider and, therefore, always contains its name (e.g., blog name. wordpress.com).
The diversity of plugins and themes is also usually quite limited, as well as their customization options.
Create a free blog: which platform is the best for me
We have concentrated on the three best-known platforms, although it is up to the user to distinguish them as the best since all the options have their advantages and disadvantages depending on the objectives.
WordPress
WordPress combines free software with a hosting and creation platform under the same name. For the impatient, you can register to start blogging. It offers a wide variety of free themes, which allow you to edit the page’s graphical presentation. The most important standard extensions (so-called plugins), such as statistics, SEO, or security, are already installed.
Those who want to install their themes or plugins have to host the blog independently. WordPress is usually free in its basic version, but if you plan to have your domain or more memory and, above all, banish advertising, you will need to upgrade it.
Blogger.com
As in WordPress, it is also possible to start after simple registration and after a few steps, but unlike that, Blogger is completely ad-free. In return, its variety of functions is somewhat more limited. Although it has different customizable templates or even allows you to create new models, its variety is not extensive for newcomers.
However, those who aspire to monetize their project are in the right direction because, unlike WordPress, “Make money” is one of the slogans with which the platform aims to attract the most ambitious users. It not only allows the use of commercial blogging but actively encourages it. In addition to operating a search engine, Google also includes advertising among its many tasks, offering with Google AdSense the contextual advertising that we have all seen at some point in search results of the search engine.
To make the project profitable, register with Google AdSense and integrate the platform’s advertising into the blog. Google’s advertising blocks show ads that are related to the content of the web: if it is a blog about animals, the ads could automatically show advertising about animal feed products. Whenever a user clicks on one of these ads, an income is generated for the blog.
Tumblr
Compared to the previous two, it is obvious that Tumblr is a relatively young platform, especially in a different way of using it. Already, its name of Anglo-Saxon origin partially reveals the type of service it offers: “Tumblr” comes from the verb “to tumble.”
Its greatest specificity lies here because, although it allows you to create a blog and publish content, it is also easy (and encouraged) to share posts from other blogs. For “Reblogging” not to run into legal obstacles and avoid damaging copyright, the author must publish it openly and allow its free use. Tumblr thus fosters a culture of the free flow of information, which is one of the conceptual foundations of the Internet.
Own hosting for your blog
When the project has a professional character from the beginning, and you want to avoid these obstacles, the balance should opt for a blog with its accommodation. In addition to freely choosing your domain name, you have full freedom in other configuration aspects.
Creating a blog and hosting it autonomously guarantees you have all the customization options at a price, although this is affordable given that the costs of hosting with your domain are kept within a reasonable framework today.
Next, we will show you step-by-step instructions on how to start a blog, including choosing the domain name to define the blog’s structure.
How to Create a Blog
Choose a domain
Picking the right domain name is the first step in starting a blog.
It is important to consider the blog as a target audience because the name is essential to attracting the reader’s attention.
You can use the hosting provider’s domain checker to find out if a domain name is available.
Top-Level Domains
Apart from the domain name itself, its termination is also relevant. Along with geographical endings, such as .es for Spain or .mx for Mexico, there are also general ones, such as .com for commercial pages and blogs or .info for informational portals. These so-called top-level domains (TLDs) are almost as old as the network of networks itself; therefore, their capacity is running out, so you will need a lot of creativity in the case of these popular endings.
New Top-Level Domains
With the new top-level domains (TLD), variety has been gained since the domain name can be combined with specific endings such as .online or .web that have not exhausted all their possibilities, as in the previous case.
While it is true that these endings are more expensive, many are still available, and given their peculiarity, they are better distinguished from the rest of the domains.
Register the domain and rent the webspace.
When the right name is available, you must register with the provider. Blog hosting rates and packages vary by provider, typically including web space, database, and domain. Complete packages usually also include access to many tools and software solutions from the provider.
Technical Requirements
A website is nothing more than software that is installed on a server. This means that to create a blog, certain technical conditions must be met, which, in turn, depend on the selected system, these three being the ones shared by the most used systems:
a) Sufficient free webspace
Webspace is where the software files are stored, similar to space on the local hard drive on a home computer. For example, the WordPress blogging system needs approximately 30 megabytes in the unzipped version. Space must also be added for themes, plugins, images, etc. If you manage a travel blog, you probably have a good handful of spectacular photographs that you want to share with the public, so it will be necessary to reserve a lot of space for them.
b) PHP
PHP is a language for scripting and is the basis for most blogs’ programming.
Although you don’t need to know how to program as an author, the server must understand this language to execute the blog’s functions, including displaying comments, for example.
It is not enough that the webspace supports this language but the correct version must be installed.
c) MySQL database
Drafts, posts, or comments should be saved in a structured way to make processing easy and efficient. For this, databases are used that we can understand structurally as a table in each of whose rows an entry with all its components could be saved.
Each row consists of several columns, so you can save the text in one of the columns and save the comments in the next column. In this way, you can quickly display comments on articles.
When you create a blog, the different tables of the MySQL database are automatically created in the background, where the information will be saved later.
Create your blog with WordPress
Based on the b2 catalog system and published in 2003, this CMS is the most popular blogging system. When it was launched, it stood out for being very easy to use and expand. Shortly after the publication of its first version, numerous extensions from independent developers allowed the layman to create their own blog and expand their project easily with many functions.
The system also supports managing a forum and adding an electronic storage system. The blog image can be easily customized without having to master the art of web design.
Structure of a blog
You have achieved the most difficult first step in how to start a blog. Before feeding it with texts, it is convenient to consider how a blog is structured in its most basic form. Here we quickly go through the essential components of any blog to use:
Control Panel
Once the blog is created, the first thing that appears on the screen once the account is entered is the control panel is the command center from where the blog is managed. In this interface, the author has access as an administrator, texts are written, edited, or deleted, readers’ comments are published, the blog’s design is modified, or new plugins are installed, expanding the spectrum of the blog’s powers. Some of these plugins allow information and data about the blog to be displayed in the control panel.
Users
When a blog is created, the first blog user is also created: the administrator, who has all permissions. If the blog has to be managed by several people, you can add more users at any time or give them the opportunity to register and then organize their permissions and roles. If your blog software does not include this function, you must implement it with the corresponding plugin.
Plugins
Popularly known as plugins, these programs add extra functions to a blog if it does not include them as a base. Currently, there are more than 45,000 plugins for WordPress blogs, for example: from security extensions to spam plugins, through forum extensions, there is almost one extension for any function that you want to integrate.
Topics
Themes are the design files responsible for the blog image. Each program usually contains a small selection of themes in the basic installation, one of which is chosen when the blog is created.
You can always download another one, free or charged, and install it similarly to installing a plugin if you are not happy with either of them.
Those with creative talent and programming knowledge, on the other hand, have everything they need to create an attractive design that gives their blog a personal touch.
Comments
A comment section is an exchange tool with blog readers included in the software. By default, readers can post their opinions and comments on the articles in this section without registering, and they will appear at the bottom of the text. In addition to comments, so-called trackbacks or pingbacks can also appear, which are automatic notifications that occur every time the article has been mentioned in another blog.
Feed
Most blogging systems contain the so-called Web Feed or News Feed, a function that allows readers to stay up-to-date with published content.
If the reader subscribes to the feed, they receive an automatic message each time it is published.
Just like you subscribed to our newsletter, you will receive an email about how to start a blog article.
Permalinks
After the creation of the blog and before publishing any entry, it is convenient to edit and review the permanent links since they are the ones that define the URL structure and those that will lead to the articles. The permalinks are generated automatically when an entry is written, but if you want to personalize it with the date or the article category, you have the permalink settings to do so.
Setting
Although the blog is already in full operation, even though it was recently created, you can still adjust it to fit your idea in the “Settings” point of the menu in the control panel. Here you can define the language, the time zone, or the blog’s visibility.
Set up the blog
Once installed, it is time to customize your blog. As mentioned above, WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal are open-source systems, which not only means that their installation is free but also access to many themes, plugins, and other extensions.
Blog personalization means focusing primarily on the visual aspect, the design, and its effect on the reader. To define the basic structural design, you can resort to a catalogue of themes that can be further customized if you have some knowledge of HTML or CSS. Then, the basic technical structure is configured, and the primary installation is expanded by means of some basic extensions such as security plugins, backup solutions, and online marketing tools.
Structure and Planning
Now that the blog is ready, you have learned how to start a blog. Now, you can start with the part many look forward to: start blogging.
However, it is wise at this time to first outline the basic structure and develop a content plan.
When discussing how to structure a blog, elements such as categories, pages, or tags are often mentioned. In the initial euphoria, many would like to write about all the topics that interest them, but this, if not done in a certain order, does not lead anywhere.
It is essential to define the topic in which the blog is going to specialize since what guarantees its success is to find a thematic niche, become an expert, and build a solid community of followers who trust the content so that it is possible to spread this knowledge about how to start a blog.
Final Words
This was all about how to start a blog. Always consider your blog a business if you want to make good money. Don’t hesitate to invest in your blog to scale your business. If you have any questions about starting a blog, feel free to ask.
