How to Start a Blog in 30 Minutes or Less

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Have you been overwhelmed with the prospect of starting a blog? Do you feel like you just aren’t tech savvy enough to do it yourself? I have a secret for you- I have set up many sites all on my own and it really doesn’t take any time at all, and little to no tech knowledge with this method I’m about to show you.

Psst… don’t forget to sign up for my FREE 5 ways to make money blogging e-course!

Bluehost makes it quick and easy to set up your blog. I’ve been with Bluehost since Day 1 of my blogging adventure, and I have always loved their service.

Okay so we are going to jump right into this tutorial. I’m assuming that you have your blog idea and your blog name picked. If not, take some time to decide this first. Here are a few tips-

When you are thinking about what to blog about- think of what you enjoy, something you feel passionate about that you can see yourself creating new content for each week. What do you have to offer? What problem are you going to solve for your reader? Starting a generic lifestyle blog is fine, and if you aren’t 100% on what you want to write about, that’s a good way to get started and get your feet wet. You can always start your site and narrow down later once you see what you enjoy writing about and what your readers respond to. However, keep that in mind when naming your site so that you have some freedom and your blog name/topic you eventually decide on won’t confuse your readers. You don’t want to have a blog called Susie’s Sewing Tutorials and then blog about your favorite dessert recipes. You see what I mean? If you can decide your niche now, that’s great. If not, you can go this route if you need, just keep your blog name easy and adaptable. If you have your niche- here are some tips for naming your site- keep it simple, avoid odd spellings or names that are too quirky. You want a name that is going to tell potential readers exactly what they are getting and you need to keep it simple and easy to remember- so that your readers can keep coming back! Once you have your idea, you’ll want to check and see if the domain is available, and if the social media handles that match are available, too. Once you’ve decided your topic and blog name- let’s get it set up!

Your first step is to go to Bluehost.com

There you can sign up for hosting for just $3.95 a month- you can’t beat that! Click the get started now button.

Here you’ll select your plan- I’d obviously go with either the basic or the prime, but that choice is totally up to you.

Here, if you have a domain already you’ll go that route, but I’m assuming you don’t yet, and besides- it’s free when you sign up for Bluehost. So put in the domain that you want to register and click next.

At the bottom you’ll pick your plan. You do have the option to pay for 12 months, 24 months, or 36 months, and the monthly price is lower the longer you sign up for. This might seem like a big investment, but this is your business. Your goal is to make money and have a successful blog, so you want to do it right. I spent a couple of years on a free platform for my blog, and it was a big headache when I finally switched to self-hosted. Other platforms are going to restrict what you can do and how you can make money- which is a no-go if you want to be a make money blogging. Setting your blog up self-hosted with Bluehost from the start is the best way to go. You can un-check the extra options if you want to save money, as well, you can always get those add ons later if you decide you want them. However, I do strongly recommend doing the 36 month option to save yourself more in the long run. Here’s what it looks like without the extras-

You’ll enter your payment information-

Then, you’ll click “create your password” to pick a password for your Bluehost account.

Once you’ve done that, your Bluehost account is ready to go, so you can log in!

Bluehost will ask you to pick a theme for your site, but you can pick anything, because you will most likely change this before you really dig into blogging.

That’s it, now you can click “Start Building” to get WordPress installed for your blog.

Now, WordPress is installed on your site.

You’ll go through a few prompts- you can go ahead and select “business” for your site.

Finally, you’ll want to click “Launch” to launch your site. I know it is empty right now, but that’s okay- we’ll talk about themes in just a second, and what I recommend for a super easy way to have yourself a beautiful blog.

Okay so you have your site set up and launched- what do you do now? You’ll want to log in to your wordpress dashboard. To do that, just go to www.YOURDOMAIN.com/wp-admin and log in with that email and password you chose earlier. This screen is where you will do all of the behind the scenes for your blog from changing the look and feel to publishing your first post.

If you need help with site design, I use Restored 316 designs, and I’ll tell you why. She creates some of the most beautiful site designs that have tons of customizations you can do yourself. The best part- she walks you through the whole process of installing your theme and customizing it to fit your style and brand with her setup instructions and theme documentation specific to the theme you choose. She will tell you what plugins you need for your theme, how to get everything working, and more. Her themes require the Genesis Framework, but if you want to have a beautifully designed site without paying hundreds of dollars to a designer, this is the best way to go. I have used a few of her themes on my site and I am currently using the Captivating theme.

If you are looking to start a blog, I’d love to have you join my blogging community on Facebook.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for my free 5 ways to make money blogging e-course, below!