How To Start A Blog in 2020 (Step by Step)

Find a Web Hosting Provider and Get a Domain Name

Before we dive into this step and get our hands dirty, let me explain what the two terms mean:

• Web Hosting Provider: Websites are just a bunch of files. When you open Facebook.com in your browser, you are simply downloading the homepage file. You need a place on the Internet to put these files. This place is called a server. Web Hosting providers let you lease server space. Without this, there would be no website.
• Domain Name: Simply put, this is the name your readers will type into their browser. For example, Facebook.com or Google.com. You will need to buy a domain name that is spelled similarly to your blog name. For example, if your blog is called My Photography Blog, you will need a domain called MyPhotographyBlog.com.

If finding and buying these two things sounds overwhelming, don’t worry.

I will guide you through the process below.

Just take a deep breath! I promise this will be over in only a few minutes. 

Rather than giving you a list of a thousand web hosting providers, I will recommend you go with SiteGround.

They offer the best support in the market and are perfect for beginners. If you are just starting out, you will love their service. SiteGround’s plans are affordable and their services are very easy to use.

In this article, I will now guide you through buying a domain and web hosting space from SiteGround. You can pick any other web host you like. The steps will be similar but I highly recommend you go with SiteGround because they are the best in business for beginners.

To get web hosting and domain for your first blog, follow these steps:

Step 1: Visit the SiteGround Pricing Page and select a plan:

I recommend the GrowBig plan. Click the Get Started button.

Step 2: Choose a Domain Name

Enter the domain name you would like to use for your blog. If your blog’s name is Aperture Photography, you should choose something similar to AperturePhotography.com. Keep it short and simple.

Once you have entered a domain name, click the proceed button.

Step 3: Fill In Your Account Details

Now, fill in all the details asked. These details will make up your account.

Step 4: Enter Your Credit/Debit Card Information

Step 5: Agree To The Terms & Click The Proceed Button

It will take a few minutes for SiteGround to ready up your web hosting account and get your domain name ready.

Wait a few minutes, then check your email for important details related to your account.

After that, log into your SiteGround account and move to the next step:

---

Step 4: Set Up WordPress To Make Your Blog Live on the Web

Log into your SiteGround account if you aren’t already. You will see a screen similar to this:

Select Start a new website checkbox and then click WordPress.

Now enter admin details for your new WordPress site.

This form will create a new Admin account for your WordPress site. You will use this account to log into WordPress and make changes to your site:

Now, check the terms and conditions checkbox and then click the big Complete Setup button:

It will take a few minutes for SiteGround to finish setting up your WordPress site.

Now, click the Proceed to customers area button:

Now, click the My Accounts menu on the top:

Now, click the Go To Admin Panel button to visit your new blog’s admin dashboard:

Now, enter the login details you choose during the installation and click the Log In button:

That’s it. You just set up your first WordPress site. Remember, this URL:

http://your-site.com/wp-admin

Replace your-site.com with your domain name and visit that link. It’s the URL to your WordPress dashboard where you can manage your site.

---

Step 5: Change Your Blog’s Theme To One That Grabs Attention

Now that you have a WordPress site, you need to change the default theme.

Although the default theme looks good, it’s not optimized for blogging.

It’s just a simple theme to get you started. Your blog’s design needs to grab the user’s attention and concentrate it on the content.

If you want your blog to succeed, you will need a good design. Without a good design, no one will pay attention to your content.

Although there are a lot of free WordPress themes available on the market, I like to use GeneratePress for all my websites. It’s one of the easiest to use WordPress themes and comes with all the features you will ever need.

Most free themes don’t offer any customization options. But with GeneratePress you can change the design of your blog as much as you want.

Now, there are a lot of premium theme developers on the market, but I recommend only StudioPress and MyThemeShop. Their themes offer a ton of great customization options.

If you are interested in using free themes, here’s how you can find and use free themes on your blog:

To change your WordPress site’s theme, select the Themes menu from the Appearance menu in the sidebar:

Now, click the Add New button to find a new theme for your blog:

Now, scroll down until you find a theme that you like:

Then take your mouse over the theme and click the install button to install the theme.

It will take a few seconds for the theme to install. Once the theme is installed click the Activate button on the theme you installed.

This will activate the theme.

Now, visit your website’s domain name to see what your website looks like.