WordPress is the right solution if you want to come up with a blog without any investments. This website builder doesn’t require you to be tech-savvy; it is enough to have internet access and know what you want.
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Total active sites built on WordPress are estimated at 455,000,000, and that is approximately twenty per cent of all self-hosted online platforms (as 1.3 billion websites exist in general).
Step-by-Step Instructions to Crafting and Running a WP Blog
Some people create blogs for fun, while for others, it is a serious business tool. Some may publish academic the-Essays.com to help students for free when others plan to increase their product sales.
If you decide to add a blog as part of your existing website, it will take less time and other resources. You will have to create it as a separate page. However, if you wish to start blogging separately, there are more things to think about, and some costs are to be covered. Let’s look at the process of developing a blog on WordPress from scratch.
Pre-Installation Stage
Choosing WordPress is the most widespread option because it is free of charge (unless you plan to add some external services or tools). That is not the only reason why more than 40% of online platforms now choose WP as the preferred content management system (CMS). Customizing the design will not cost you an effort too. Be ready that you will have to install the blog on your own, host it alone, and promote it the way you decide.
You will need a domain name and hosting. Those are the only things that you might have to pay for at the initial stages. An average cost of a unique domain name is roughly $15 annually, while hosting will cost you around $8 per month. If you choose a WP native Bluehost, however, you will obtain a domain name at no charge, as well as 60% off on website hosting. They have an interesting offer for you and your business: if you do not receive your blog within half an hour, they will finish the process for free.
Installation of WordPress
Some hostings set up the WordPress instruments for you. It is enough to register and then sign in to a personal account and log in to WP at the same time. Many services integrate with WP perfectly. In any case, you will need to enter yoursite.com/wp-admin/ to get full control. That is basically it, but you also need to customize the design.
Get WP Native Software
That is another requirement, and to fulfill it, check your email box first. You’ll get one after the registration. The message will disclose data needed to sign in to the preferred hosting dashboard (e.g., Bluehost).
Once you sign in, you’ll receive an easy wizard that will explain how to set up a WP app step-by-step.
Selection of a Theme
WP has a great number of native themes. You may keep on customizing them if you want or agree to those that they offer. In any case, it is better to replace a default theme with the one that reflects your business or corresponds more to the main website/brand logo/design/product/service. It’s fun to come up with your own outlay and decide on every tiny element.
It is possible to download and set up 1,000+ themes for your WP blog. We do not recommend paying for any of them as you can always customize your blog with the minimum knowledge of HTML, CSS, or Java. You can view the page in the code editing regime, where you can fix it and see the results immediately without the necessity to publish the post. On the whole, you will find everything you need in Appearance → Themes.
First Post Publication
Once you are done with the overall design and the necessary installations like extra plugins, you may finally start writing and publishing your articles. It is possible to make every post look unique with the help of one of the simplest programming languages mentioned above. From your dashboard, you’ll need to hover over Posts and Add New.
That is it! Just insert your new text. You may initially compose it in Google Docs to save and check by various quality tools and extensions like Grammarly. Then, highlight the necessary SEO elements like metadata and headings in your document. Copy-paste the final draft to your WordPress window. Voila! The text will appear exactly the same way, even with images included. You may optimize images and resize them before posting.
Enhanced Functionality and Features
We have discussed the ways to change themes so far. To make your blog even more outstanding and personalized, you may think about extras such as plugins. If you do not use any of those tools, you can only compose and publish articles. We believe that you’re looking for more to attract a bigger and diversified audience. For instance, you may want to add:
- Backups
- Search engine optimization (SEO) tools
- Contact forms
- Image galleries
- Shopping baskets
- Email & lead generation
- Social network buttons
- Newsletter subscriptions
That is not the full list! Those are all critical marketing tools. You may have never heard about functions like building online courses and communities or caching. On the whole, more than 50,000 plugins for the famous website builder are available today. You have a choice for sure!
There are free and paid plugins, and, in this case, we can recommend using paid versions as they allow for more features. It depends on how large-scale your project is and what your purposes are. If you decide to move on with the plugin(s), follow the simple installation instructions:
- Go to the Plugins section and click Add New
- In case you pick a free tool, look for its title in the list and just set it up; if you prefer a paid version, pick Upload Plugin and attach the ZIP doc that you got after the purchase
- Enable the tool after it is installed
In the Plugin tab, you can see the full list of instruments installed.
Final Thoughts
So, you are there, composing your first blog. Depending on your own purposes or your company’s goals, you should decide what you plan to achieve with this blog. Is it about simply helping people and sharing information with no expected return or boosting your business revenues? For attracting more followers and making profits, you will need to develop commercial strategies.
Bio
Elsa Avendano is a 26-year old writer from Texas specializing in academic and business writing for more than 7 years. This author from the-essays.com possesses solid experience in SMM and SEO. She also studied HRM and attended courses in psychology and customer behavior to understand consumers better. Elsa has been successfully meeting the KPIs of her projects. She knows how to write excellent essays, research papers, presentations, and even business plans. She also serves as a coach and personal mentor for college students who wish to improve their writing and research skills. In her blog, she shares useful content marketing hints.