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Have you always wanted to write a blog but didn’t have a clue where to start? Follow along with our Behind the Blog series which takes you through the process from the beginning.

Starting a blog is not difficult but there are some boring initial technical steps you have to take and choices you have to make.  It’s smart to do it right from the beginning.  This first post is definitely NOT the most inspiring as it deals solely with the techie stuff but you’ll find its just part of the learning curve to get going.

We’ve only just launched Llamas in a Fishbowl but I’ve spent the last year researching, developing (and discarding!) ideas and have realised that there is more to this blogging lark than I thought.  I spent a lot of time reading everything I could get my hands on and my ‘to do’ list quickly got out of control.  My best advice is to do one thing at a time and not go down every rabbit hole like I did! Most importantly, you do you.  It’s hard not to compare with what is already out there.  Don’t get sidetracked and focus on just getting started.  Check out our Life with Mel & Em Series – Part 1 to learn about the the launch of Llamas in a Fishbowl.

So we are going to get your blog set up and ready to go… so we can get to the fun stuff.

The first hurdle is making key decisions about what you want your blog to be about and its purpose, finding a blog host, getting your domain, and installing a blogging platform.  Not the most exciting stuff but really important.

Key Decisions

Blog Niche

The first step to setting up a blog may seem obvious but you’ve got to decide what your blog is going to be about.  For example, are you going to write about general lifestyle topics or is your blog going to focus on health and fitness tips?

Bloggers refer to this as your ‘niche’. Many say that your niche needs to be quite narrow.  I’m not sure that I agree. You will be writing about your subject matter a lot so you don’t want an area so narrow that you run out of things to talk about!  Also, you may not have decided as yet so I vote that you make your blog about whatever you are passionate about.  Do what you love!  This will come through in your writing.  You can always narrow things down later.

Blog Purpose and Blogging Platforms

Is your blog a hobby or are you hoping to make some money from it one day?

It may seem odd to have to decide this at the very beginning but you will see that it is much easier to decide this now.  The reason is that if may want to monetise your blog in the future then it makes sense to set your blog up on a platform that allows that.

Blogging platforms are really just content managers that help you manage and organise your content into a website.  Two of the most well known blogging platforms are WordPress and Blogger.

I chose to use WordPress for a variety of reasons and could write a whole post on just this.  For me, it came down to the amount of information and help available for WordPress and the fact that WordPress is used by the majority of bloggers.  You can change later if you find a platform you prefer.  The important thing is to get going!

WordPress actually offers two different platforms  – WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG

WordPress.COM

WordPress.COM allows anyone to sign up for a basic site that WordPress will host on their servers for free.  So if this blog was a WordPress.com site our website address (our URL) would be llamasinafishbowl.wordpress.com because they are hosting our site for us.  This means that we don’t ‘own’ our site. The basic package is free but there are limited choices when it comes to site design and installing tools called plugins that enable some cool design and functionality features.  There are additional packages available that solve some of these issues but, to be frank, you might as well go for the next and better option which is comparable in price.

WordPress.ORG

WordPress.ORG allows you to use the blogging platform on your choice of server for free.  You then need to find a company to host your site for you on their servers.  An extra step and there is cost involved (not much) but it’s worth it.  It’s kind of like the difference between renting and owning your house.  If you just rent then you are limited in what you can do with it.  If you own it then you can do what you want!

Blog host

So, if you’ve elected, as we have, to go with WordPress.ORG then you need to find a company to host your site.  There are many companies to choose from including iPage, HostGator, Startlogic – the list is endless.  I use Bluehost because they are affordable, reliable and have excellent customer service.

Let me walk you through the process, using Bluehost as the example.

• Go to Bluehost and click ‘Getting Started’
• You’ll be asked to choose a plan.  The basic plan is usually sufficient when you are starting out and is the cheapest.  You can always change your plan later on if you need to.  Click ‘select’ which will take you to the next step of choosing your blog name (your domain).

Blog Name/Domain

Next up is deciding on a domain name for your blog.  A domain name is what people type into their browser to visit your site.  Our domain is www.llamasinafishbowl.com and we own that so it isn’t available to be used by someone else. We’ll show you how to check if your domain name is available down below.

There are all kinds of strategies for choosing a name for your blog and I could write a whole post on just this topic. I’ll just mention a few top tips –

• don’t pigeon hole yourself.  For example, if your blog is going to be about fishing rods (I know weird example right?) but you think you might include some travel tips as well then don’t call your blog “Just Fishing Rods”;
• don’t get too stressed about it.  Come up with several ideas and then see if they are available.

Simply type your chosen domain into the search box and click ‘next’.  If it isn’t available Bluehost will tell you and offer variations.

If it is available, you will be directed to the next step which is to create your Bluehost account. Simply type in your information and click ‘next’.

 

 

Next, confirm that your chosen plan is showing in the ‘Account Plan’ dropbox.  As for the rest of the options, the only one I would suggest as necessary is the domain privacy protection.  This keeps the personal contact information you just entered private.

You also need to enter the payment information, accept the terms and conditions then click ‘next’.

Once your payment information has gone through you will be taken to a welcome page where you can create your password to access your Bluehost account.

Next, you need to login using your new account details.

Install WordPress

Once you’ve logged in, you are taken to your account page where you can control various aspects of your domain.  The first thing to do is to click ‘install WordPress’ which will load WordPress.ORG onto your site. You will be asked to confirm the domain you want to install – simply click the green ‘check domain’ box and voila! You are ready for the fun stuff – designing your site.

And boom!  You’ve got yourself a blog.  Next up is designing your site.

I hope you found this useful if you are looking to start a blog. Its not the most interesting stuff in the world but necessary to get going!  Don’t be put off by all the techie stuff and just do it one step at a time.

What Behind the Blog posts would you like to see included in this series?  Let us know in the comments below.