How I Created a Blog (in 4 Easy Steps)
The simplified version of my experience starting a blog. I include the platform I used to create my blog. I hope you enjoy this tutorial!
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How I Created a Website in 4 Steps
I have been blogging on my own website for about a year now, and one of the most common questions I get is regarding how to start a website.
Let me tell you, when I decided to start blogging, I really didn’t know much about it. I first purchased my own domain and web hosting last June, but I wasn’t quite sure what to do next. I had no traffic, knew nothing about SEO (search engine optimization), and I didn’t even know how to customize my site and make it my own.
However, I did choose a hosting service that allowed me to integrate WordPress, which made the process a lot easier. Otherwise, I probably would have tried to code everything myself, and I think that would have been a disaster.
In this post, I want to provide a detailed, step by step guide of exactly how I created my blog and got it up and running in less than a week. For those of you who are looking to start a blog, I think this tutorial will be especially helpful. Disclaimer: The information/resources shared in this post are not intended to provide any professional advice.
How I Created a Website – Step 1
My first step was to purchase my own domain name and web hosting. There are many different services you can use to do so, but I will just share the platform I have used for the past year — Bluehost.
I just recently renewed my Bluehost subscription for another three years, so I think that shows how happy I have been with it overall. Bluehost is the option I had heard the most about in the blogging world, so I felt comfortable starting out with it. It also only costs me a few dollars per month.
Since I knew nothing about creating my own website, I felt that Bluehost was the way to go. It has the WordPress-based builder readily available, which allowed me to create a website using one of the free built-in templates.
How I Created a Website – Step 2
After I purchased my web hosting as well as a domain name (I actually just had to renew my domain name since I had already started paying for it previously), I was ready to add the bells and whistles. I chose a simple layout that I liked via WordPress, and then it was time to customize and add my plugins.
The customization step is all about adding banners, choosing colors, fonts, etc. You can get creative and have fun with it. I took some time to make my website look exactly how I wanted it to. I honestly still change and tweak things whenever I feel a desire to.
The great thing about WordPress is that they offer all kinds of different plugins, which are basically little downloadable features you can add to your website. For my personal website, I use a recipe creator plugin which allows me to provide my readers with a bulleted little recipe “card” that is also printable.
There are also plugins to add things like image galleries, social media links, and much more. From my personal experience, there has been a plugin for just about everything that I have wanted to add to my WordPress blog.
How I Created a Website – Step 3
The third (and probably most important) step was to add quality content. I focused on producing tasty recipes with really beautiful photos that would entice people to try my dishes.
I also read some SEO guides to help me optimize my article rankings. I am still working on improving at this, but it does help that I have a background in computers (I majored in electrical and computer engineering in college and did quite a bit of coding). I also do keyword research for my blog posts. There are many guides out there that I think do a great job at explaining SEO, how to get blog posts to rank higher in search results, etc., so I won’t go into detail on those topics in this post.
How I Created a Website – Step 4
The final step was to start growing my blog! It was very slow at first, but I stayed consistent, put out high quality content, and used social media to drive traffic. This is the ongoing step that I continue to do, and it is super important! I continue to put out tasty recipes, and I love seeing you guys make and share them. I just want to take a moment to thank you all so much for your support on my blog 🙂 I appreciate it so much!
That pretty much sums up the simplified process of creating a website without getting into too much detail. The process does have a bit of a learning curve at first, but once you do get your blog up and running, it gets easier and easier to navigate and manage. As per usual, I will be back with another blog post soon!
-Alyssa 🙂
