Want to start a blog with HostGator and WordPress but don’t know how? You’re in the right place.
While you’re at it, be sure and get my website launch checklist here, too.
Ready to get started? Here are the 7 steps you need to take to get a blog online in 15 minutes.
Let’s boogie!
1. Choose a profitable and popular blog topic
What do you want to blog about? If you’re starting a hobby blog, you can’t go wrong blogging about what you’re passionate about. What could be better than sharing your love (and knowledge) of this subject with the world?
If you want to blog for money, you need to pick a profitable niche.
Some niches that make money online include:
- Personal finance
- Online Marketing
- Fitness
- Weight loss
- Health
- Food
- Travel
- Parenting
- Lifestyle
- Beauty
- Fashion
The short answer is that if you see other bloggers having success in a niche, that means it’s a profitable niche to pursue.
2. Choose a catchy domain name
What will you name your blog? This part is exciting, but a lot of people get stuck at this step.
I’m here to tell you it doesn’t really matter your blog name or domain name. It is your content that counts.
With that said, if you want to pick a good domain name, choose one that’s easy to say, easy to spell, and hard to forget!
Once you pick a domain name for your new blog, it’s time to find a home for your site.
3. Get web hosting for your new blog with HostGator
Much like a physical business has to pay rent, you need to pay for a hosting company to host your website for you.
If this is your first blog or if you’re on a budget, I recommend getting your domain name and hosting with HostGator.
HostGator is a budget-friendly host that is perfect for starting your first blog. When you choose them as your host, you get a few perks:
- The best price of any hosting company (less than $5)
- The WordPress blogging platform can be installed with one click
Choose the lowest-cost hosting plan, as that’s all you need to start. Once you’re signed up, you’re going to need a blogging platform.
4. Install the best blogging platform WordPress
You’re going to want to start a blog with WordPress. It is by far the best blogging platform in existence.
Here’s how to get started with WordPress.
Once WordPress is installed, take the time to begin familiarizing yourself with the WordPress dashboard – you’re going to spend a lot of time here.
Explore these sections:
Posts
Practice adding a test blog post or two. Insert an image into the post, then look at your live blog post and add a comment. You can then go to the Comments section to moderate the comments.
Categories
Navigate to Posts > Categories. Come up with 3-5 main blog categories. For a keto diet blog, your categories can be keto recipes, keto meal plans, keto basics. You can change these later.
Pages
Pages are standalone pages that are not added to your latest posts—for example, an about me page or a contact page.
Menu
To create a menu, go to Appearance > Menus. We’ll go over what to put in the menu later.
Plugins
Plugins bring added functionality to your blog. To add a plugin, you go to Plugins > Add new and search.
Settings
Here you can set things like your blog name, tagline, timezone, and other various settings. While you’re here, change the following two settings:
Go to Settings > General to add or update your Site Title and Tagline
Go to Settings > Permalinks and make sure it’s set to “Post Name”
5. Use the best WordPress theme Astra
In this next step, we will choose a design (also called a blog theme).
Go to Appearance > Themes in WordPress.
The theme I recommend starting with is Astra.
Click here to open a new tab and see what you can do with Astra.
To start with the free version of Astra, go to:
Appearance > Themes > Add new and search for Astra.
Then click on Install and Activate to start using this theme.
Here’s why I like and recommend starting with Astra: It comes with free starter templates so you can design your blog in minutes!
You can see the list of ready-to-import websites here.
To install the free starter templates, go to:
Plugins > Add new and search for “Starter Templates.” Then, install and activate the plugin.
6. Install a page builder like Elementor
To take full advantage of the starter templates, you need to use a Page Builder.
The one that comes with WordPress (Gutenberg) is not only a bit confusing to use, but it sorely lacks features.
I recommend using a page builder (Elementor) that lets you visually design our blog because ain’t nobody got time to learn how to code!
Click here to see how easy it is to design a blog with Elementor.
Elementor is the best page builder for beginners because of its easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface. This makes it easy for anyone to design the blog of your dreams.
To install the free version of Elementor, go to Plugins > Add new and search for Elementor.
With the Astra and Elementor, you now have the only two tools you need to design the perfect blog!
7. Write content with the help of Grammarly
Now that your blog is online, it’s time to add content and publish your first blog post.
I recommend using the free Grammarly browser extension to help write your blog content.
Ready to write your first blog post? Here’s a handy template to get you started.
Hello and welcome to [My Blog]!
My name is [Name], and I want to welcome you to my new home on the web.
I started this website because:
– Why this topic interests you
– Why you want to help others
– What is the goal you want people to achieve
– Why this matters / How will it make them feel
Thank you for reading and if you have any questions, be sure to leave a comment down below!
Follow me on social media [Twitter] [Facebook] [Pinterest] [Instagram]
Once you finish your first blog post, hit that Publish button!
And with that, your blog is officially LAUNCHED.
Nice work!
This combination of HostGator + WordPress + Astra + Elementor is the one combination I’ve found that makes it fast and easy to start your blog.
I hope I’ve been able to help you out today. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to drop me a message below.
Until next time,
Edwin, DoSixFigures.com
