How to Start a Blog

Tell me if it's just me, but I really dislike blogs which drag on and beat around the bush, trying to extend their word count and taking forever to get to the point. Therefore, I'm here to give you a clear(as possible) and concise(as possible) breakdown of how I started a blog and how you can too!

Pick a niche

The internet is massive, you could literally start a blog about anything and everything under the sun(as long as it interests you). Picking a topic to write about is probably the single most important thing you need to do before starting on your blog. 

Here are some examples 

-  Make Money Online(what I chose)

-  Pets, animals

-  Music

-  Dance

-  Technology 

-  Sports

-  Video Games

-  Food
-  Travel

*For broader topics, you may want to focus on specific genres and then branch out to other genres

Pick a platform

After you've thought long and hard about your niche, it's time to choose a platform that you would like to blog on. Here's a few of the more popular platforms and my opinions on them.

-  Blogger(what I'm using)

-  Wordpress.com/Wordpress.org(there's a difference!)

-  Tumblr

-  Medium

 Put simply, the difference between Worpress.com and Wordpress.org is that '.com' has a more 'done for you' user interface and more guidance(but you'll have to pay more), while '.org' is more 'do it yourself' and hence you can get most of the features for free. 

But, all in all, my favorite platform to blog on is Blogger. This is because it's the cheapest and easiest platform to start blogging on.

Pick a Domain and Web Hosting Service

The next step would be to decide on which Web Hosting Service Provider you like. There are quite a few out there, but the most reputable ones that I have used and would recommend are Hostgator and Bluehost. The two companies are pretty competitive in their prices, but I would be lying if I said I don't have a slight bias towards Hostgator. A majority of my own websites are using or have used Hostgator, and I would confidently say that they are my go-to Web Hosting Service Provider. 

Web Hosting Services essentially make sure that your website remains up and running and also protects it from any cyber attacks. When you've clicked on a link to sign up for either Bluehost(here) or Hostgator(here). They will allow you to get a domain of your choice for free!(It's usually recommended to get a '.com' domain) After getting the domain simply pay them to host your website and voila, you've got yourself a brand new website!

Link your website

You're almost there! Now, all you have to do is take that domain that you bought say for example 'jingruieatsgrass.com' and add it to the 'domains' section of your blog. After that, refresh your page and you should see your amazing domain at the top of the page!

Start blogging your heart out

Finally, the moment you've been waiting for. Find somewhere nice and quiet(or noisy, whatever floats your boat) and blog till your heart's content! Do keep in mind that in order to make back the investment that you've put into creating your blog, you will have to blog consistently(once or twice a week should be the goal). Eventually, you'll build up an audience you can monetize and start making some internet money!

Additional Resources

If you're looking to spice up your page without spending too much money, I'm aware that Wordpress has a theme library called Wordpress Themes and Blogger has a theme library called Btemplates. Simply go to the website corresponding to the platform you chose and download a theme you like. Afterwards, you just have to upload it through the 'themes' section of your page, 

There's my take on creating a blog. I understand that I may have missed out some stuff so please do feel free to contact me at 'jingrui.wu.2002@gmail.com' and let me know what else I should add. Also, if you've enjoyed this blog, you can continue to follow me on this website where I share about new ways and means I've learnt to make money online, on my quest to become a millionaire in the next 10 years.