There are several steps to how to build a blog. I will try to list a few here, but there are always more optimizations and tweaks that you can make later on when the basic blog is already set up. I will add more detail or another article for other related aspects shortly.
Let’s Explain some Steps in How to Build a Blog
Try to Figure out Your Target Market
The domain name that you will choose (advice below) will, to some extent, depend on the types of Internet searchers who you are targeting with your site. This is a consideration which may entail keyword research before you begin the actual site building effort. You will need software for this, and I recommend Market Samurai. It’s all about finding your niche, or main topic of interest. Are you going to create a technology blog, or a lifestyle blog, or maybe a marketing blog? Perhaps a blog about blogging? The possibilities are endless. Just make sure the topic has lots of people interested in it and there are loads of affiliate products that fit that niche.
Choose a Web Hosting Service
When considering how to build a blog, first you have to choose a place to host your website or blog. There are many web hosting services out there, all coming with some sort of customized CPANEL or similar back office app for you to manage your hosting account. Whether you need a single domain account or a larger reseller account (to host multiple domains/sites) is up to you and your needs. I recommend Bluehost (I give the slight edge to Bluehost for ease of setup and use), which is a premier WordPress partnered web hosting service. I also recommend Hostgator, which is another huge name in web hosting. If you have deeper pockets and want rocket fast hosting… not that Bluehost or Hostgator aren’t rocket fast, but if you have a larger budget and want something uber tuned for WordPress, at least check out another premium “tuned for WordPress hosting service”, WPEngine hosting.
When you set up your web hosting, you also set up yourself an email address that you use for correspondence, tech support, customer support, etc. You can easily use the email forwarding feature to then forward to a Gmail or other webmail service account if that interface is more convenient. These things are very flexible and you can set things up pretty much any way that you want. The graphic is a generic back end web interface, and will vary from service to service, but the overall functionality is the same.
Email Autoresponders & List Building
Also when considering how to build a blog, you’re going to need a good autoresponder list building service at your disposal. When you create lead capture pages or forms on your blog, the kind that ask for an email or some other information in order to subscribe to your mailing list or newsletter, you need an email autoresponder to do that. You can go with a paid choice like Aweber or Getresponse, which are very easy to use, or a free more difficult version, like Listwire. I use both. Aweber and Getresponse are pretty much the gold standard for every serious internet marketer that I ever hooked up with.
Choose a Domain
Another important step in how to build a blog is thinking about a domain name is where to fetch the name. I prefer to use Namecheap for domain name registration. They have a really great interface and again, been using them for more than a few years with no service complaints at all.
When choosing a domain name, it all depends on what you are getting the domain name for. If it is for your own site or “brand” name, then choose the one that best suits you. If you are optimizing for Internet search keywords, then you may want to have the keyword in your domain. Many popular search keywords are already used up in domains, so that is when people tack another word onto the end so that they still get the keyword in the domain name. Again, it all depends on what you are buying the domain for, what purpose you have intended for that domain name, that determines what type of name it will be. Some simple things that I can add to that are when you choose domain names, you may want to avoid the same letter repeating one after the other, since people may mistype it – something like “mlmmonkey.com”. Someone may disagree, but I think that that is a bad idea. Sometimes people intentionally register misspelled names. Like “gogle.com”, in the hope that many people will mistype “Google” and land on their page. I don’t know how successful they are in whatever they are trying, but there are domains like that out there. Another thing is to avoid very long and hard to remember domain names. If you want your domain to be easy or maybe become a household word, then “thisisthegreatestdomainever.com” might not fit the bill.
Install WordPress
WordPress can be installed very easily from the web hosting service CPANEL website administrator’s console.
Enter the appropriate information for your installation – website etc…
WordPress then gets installed where you want it. The admin panel is at http://www.yourdomain.com or in any subdirectory that you choose. You can even install it in a subdirectory mapped to a subdomain, so it would have a URL association like this:
http://www.yourdomain.com/subdomain –> points to http://subdomain.yourdomain.com
I recommend just using your main domain for a self-hosted blog, but as you can see it’s very flexible and up to you how you want to install it.
Here I am showing you how to install self-hosted WordPress within a web hosting account:
Or…….
Just follow this video from Bluehost for setting up WordPress.
There are further steps that you need to learn about effective blog site creation on the Power Blogging Resources page.
I hope that this post was informative towards helping you learn how to build a blog website for your own endeavors.
There are hosted solutions where a company hosts the blogs, secures them, and backs them up. All you do is login and blog. You have design choices and such, but overall it’s not administered by you. This is an easier option, especially for the non-technical.
The system above that I mention is offered by Power Lead System in the form of the Power Blog, which is a part of the large Power Lead System. The Power Lead System, which provides lead capture page and sales funnel creation, share code capability for leaders to create winning funnels to share with their downlines, and also a built-in contact manager and email autoresponder, as well as, now, a WordPress blogging platform called the Power Blog.
So when I try to answer the question of how to build a blog, I have to tell people that there are several ways, and that you have to decide if you want the standalone tools for complete flexibility or a bundled system that is hosted elsewhere where they worry about the security of the site while you just blog away. As with any set of systems that are implemented differently, there are pros and cons. Marketers have different budgets and needs, and there’s room for all of these marketing blogging systems.
Just choose the right one for you.
Choice of Blogging/Marketing System Setups:
- Power Lead System full marketing system with included Power Blog.
- Self hosted WordPress on web hosting (Bluehost, Hostgator, WPEngine).
Supplemental tools:
- Email autoresponder for storing your email list and mailing to your list (GetResponse or Aweber)
- Separate domain registrar if you plan on buying a bunch of domains to point to your web hosting. (Namecheap)
- Keyword Research tool to know what types of search volume words and phrases are getting so you know what to target with your SEO efforts. (Market Samurai)
So ALL of these various combinations contain what it takes to answer the question of how to build a blog, so you just choose the setup that is right for you and go for it. I have other articles about how to actually do the blogging. It comes down to do you want a system where they host and secure it and you blog (slightly more expensive but with a multi-level recruitment potential for residual income) or a stand-alone blog (much cheaper monthly). The self-host one can link out to affiliate programs that are free to join and be a part of, thus lowering your monthly cost to only web hosting and nothing more.
You can sell anything you like on your blog, from one to many different things.
You can make money on one-time offers or the residual team building stuff, or both and everything in between (as I do).
It’s TOTALLY up to you how you create your blog, the market you serve, and how you go about your business.
I’m here to help push you along.
But first, if you want to go with your own web hosting and privately hosted blog, then you have to get set up with Bluehost now. I have an article at another blog that I run that shows you how easy that is. Check it out.