After approaching the world of blogging and starting some online collaborations to refine your writing style, you have decided to open and manage your own blog . Being at your first experience of this kind, however, you do not know how to proceed and would like my help to get started in the best way.
If things are as I have just described, I will be happy to help you and explain how to start a blog . In addition to showing you some services that allow you to create a new site at no cost, you will also find directions for opening a professional blog and some useful tips to optimize its structure and content.
Without going any further, I would say to get to the heart of this tutorial and see together how to proceed. All you have to do is take five minutes of free time and dedicate yourself to reading the next paragraphs. By following the directions I am about to give you and trying to put them into practice, I am sure you will be able to create a new blog and start publishing your content. Happy reading and good luck for everything!
Index
- How to start a blog for free
- com
- Altervista
- Wix
- Blogger
- How to start a successful blog
- How to start a blog and make money
- How to open an anonymous blog
How to start a blog for free
To open a blog without putting your wallet, there are several services that offer domain and web space at no cost. Which ones are they? I’ll tell you right away!
WordPress.com
The first solution you can consider to open a personal blog is to rely on WordPress.com . It offers a third level domain (eg. ), A storage space of 3 GB and allows you to create your own blog using WordPress, one of the most famous and used CMS ( Content Management System ).https://nomenomesito.wordpress.com
The free plan does not allow the installation of new plugins, i.e. tools that allow you to increase the basic functionality of your blog, and allows you to customize the graphics by choosing from some free themes, without any possibility to manually install those of your interest. In addition, there are advertisements and it is not possible to monetize the blog by inserting other advertisements. It is possible to remove these limitations by activating one of the subscription plans (starting from 4 euros / month with annual billing or 7 euros / month).
To open a new blog on WordPress.com , connected to the main page of the service , click on the Create your site button and fill out the registration form by entering all the required data. Please note that you can also log in using a Google account or your Apple ID .
Once this is done, enter the name you want to display in the URL of your blog in the Search field , click on the Select button relating to the free domain (the third level one) and, in the new screen displayed, click on the item Start with a free plan . You must know that on WordPress.com it is also possible to buy a second level domain: at the time of writing this guide, it is free for one year and then it is renewed at the price indicated on the screen near the chosen extension. ( .org , .com , .blog etc.).
After choosing the domain of your interest, wait a few moments for your blog to be ready and, as soon as it is available, click on Go to the Dashboard , to access the WordPress administration panel, in order to start customizing the blog and publish your first content. In that regard, my guide on how to use WordPress may be useful .
Altervista
If your intention is to create a blog with WordPress without limitations relating to the installation of plugins and themes, then I recommend that you rely on Altervista . It is a completely free service that allows you to use WordPress in all its features. In addition, it offers unlimited storage space and also the possibility to insert advertising banners.
As for the domain, also in this case it is of the third level (eg. https://nomenomesito.altervista.org) But it is also possible to buy a customized second level one starting from 1.58 euros + VAT / month.
If you think Altervista is a valid solution to create a site with WordPress without spending a cent, connected to the main page of the service , enter the name of your blog in the Choose the name field , press the Enter key on the keyboard and, if the chosen name is available , click on the Continue button for the free domain.
In the new screen displayed, enter the required data in the Enter personal data section , put the check mark necessary to accept the terms of service and the privacy policy and press the Proceed button , to open your new blog and receive a email containing the instructions and credentials to access the administration panel of your website.
At this point, all you have to do is access the Appearance section and choose the WordPress theme you prefer, in order to customize the graphics of your blog. Subsequently, by accessing the Pages and Articles sections , you can start publishing your first content, while by selecting the Plugin option you can access the library of free WordPress plugins.
Wix
Wix is another good service that allows you to create a blog for free. Offers a third level domain (e.g.nomesito.wixsite.com/sito), 500MB of storage and 500MB of bandwidth. It includes advertising banners that can be removed by activating one of the subscription plans (starting from € 5.50 / month).
To open a new blog, connected to the main Wix page , click on the Create now button and create your account by filling out the registration form. Alternatively, you can also log in using a Facebook account or a Google account .
Once this is done, click on the Start button, select the Blog option , specify the type of blog you want to open (eg personal blog , fashion blog , etc.) and click on the Next button . Then enter the name of the site in the appropriate field and follow the instructions shown on the screen, to choose any tools to integrate on your site (you can also do it at a later time).
On the Continue Setting Up Your Website screen in the Control Panel , click the Continue button to access the Wix Control Panel and continue setting up your blog.
Then click on the Site Customization option , at the top right, and follow the instructions shown on the screen to choose the graphic theme to apply to the blog, set the homepage structure and add the first pages to the blog.
Once this is done, click on the Go to editor option , to further customize your site using the drag-and-drop system , i.e. by dragging the elements of your interest to the desired position.
Blogger
Blogger is the famous Google service that allows anyone, even those who have no particular computer skills, to create a blog and start publishing content on the Web. It offers free hosting and third-level domain (eg. https://nomenomesito.blogspot.com) And makes available dozens of ready-to-use templates, to be customized to your liking.
To create a free blog with Blogger, connected to the official website of the service , click on the Create your blog button and log in with your Google account . If you don’t have one yet, my guide on how to create a Google account may be useful .
Now, enter the title to be assigned to your blog in the Title field , click on the Next button , also specify the name to be shown in the URL in the Address field and press the Next button again . Then specify the name of the blog to be shown to visitors (maximum 200 characters) and click on the Finish button to open your new blog and access the management screen of the latter.
Once this is done, by accessing the Theme section by selecting the appropriate item located in the sidebar on the left, you can choose the theme you want to apply to your blog and, by pressing on the Customize option , you can set the main color, the color of the text, a any image to use as a background and much more. By clicking on the Layout item , you can create navigation menus and make changes to all the graphic elements made available by Blogger.
As for the creation of new content, however, you can create and publish new pages and articles by accessing the Pages and Posts sections . To learn more, you can take a look at my guide on how to open a blog with Blogger .
How to start a successful blog
How do you say? Would you like to start a successful blog ? If so, there are numerous factors to consider, some to plan even before starting your web writing business.
The first piece of advice I would like to give you, in fact, concerns the topic to be discussed on your blog. Make sure you choose one that you are knowledgeable about and, at the same time, that is not too niche, especially if you want to aim to make money blogging .
The next step is to identify the main topics of the blog and create categories (and possibly sub-categories). By doing so, you will have a clear idea of what the structure of your site should be and, consequently, you will be able to define its graphics in the best possible way.
At this point, you can move on to choosing the CMS to use to build your blog. My advice is to use WordPress as it is free, open source and easy to use. Furthermore, being the most used CMS ever, you can find all kinds of information about WordPress on the web, including guides and video tutorials. In this regard, I leave you some of my guides dedicated to WordPress.
- How to install WordPress
- How to use WordPress
- Best WordPress Themes
- How to index WordPress
- Best WordPress hosting
Another piece of advice I want to give you is to make a small investment right away. In fact, if you want to give your blog a professional look and start building your brand, I suggest you do not rely on the free services I indicated earlier but buy a hosting space and a second level domain (eg. https://nomenomesito.it). In that case, my guides on how to choose a hosting for your website and how to register a domain may be useful to you .
After opening your blog and defining graphics and structure, you will need to create an XML Sitemap (a file that collects all the URLs of an Internet site) and send it to search engines (to send it to Google, you can do it through the Google Search Console ) . To find out more, you can read my guide on how to submit a site to search engines .
Next, you’re ready to start creating new content to post on your blog. First, however, it is essential to carry out a keyword research , that is a keyword research, useful to identify which are the most searched topics on search engines (obviously inherent to the main theme treated on your blog) and, consequently, which could attract more traffic.
In addition to free tools (eg the searches suggested by Google), if you have the possibility I recommend you to rely on professional tools (eg SEOZoom or Semrush ) that also allow you to analyze your competitors, in order to understand what they are talking about and how they are doing it. In that regard, you can take a look at my guides on how to analyze a website and how to monitor a site .
At this point, you can move on to creating and publishing your content, bearing in mind that the goal is to be on the first page on Google (even better to be first on Google ) and attract traffic. To do this, it is essential to start an SEO ( Search Engine Optimization ) activity, that is the set of all the optimization activities of a website aimed at improving its position on search engines and, consequently, increasing its visibility.
If you are still a beginner, I recommend that you read the Getting Started Guide to Search Engine Optimization and Google Webmaster Instructions so that you are familiar with the optimization business. Subsequently, you can evaluate the purchase of a good SEO course and / or some books dedicated to the topic.
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How to start a blog and make money
To open a blog and earn it is essential that it is well positioned on search engines. Consequently, even in this case, all the indications and suggestions I have previously provided you to open a successful blog are valid .
As soon as your content starts to generate traffic, you can monetize the site by choosing the solution you think is best for your blog. For example, if you have decided to open a fashion blog , you might think of earning through the direct sale of products (in this case it would be necessary to combine an e-commerce to the blog) or, if you do not have the possibility, to monetize with affiliations . , i.e. by inserting banners or links to products and obtaining a commission for each purchase made by users through the latter.
The most famous affiliate program is certainly the one offered by Amazon but, depending on the topic covered on your blog, there are also other programs. For example, if you want to start a travel blog , you can consider Skyscanner ‘s .
Alternatively or in addition to monetization through affiliate programs, you can earn through the direct sale of advertising space or evaluate the inclusion of advertising banners on your blog through Google AdSense , the Google advertising circuit that connects advertisers with Internet site managers who want to make money with their content. In this regard, my guide on how to make money with Google AdSense may be useful .
Finally, if the topic covered on your site allows it, you can monetize it through the sale of books , training courses or another type of service (eg consultancy, assistance, etc.). For example, if you want to start a cooking blog , you might consider selling eBooks with your recipes or making cooking video courses. To learn more, I leave you to my guide on how to make money with a site .
How to open an anonymous blog
If you are wondering if it is possible to open an anonymous blog , you must know that all the free services that I have indicated to you in the initial paragraphs of this guide do not show the data of the user who opened the blog. Consequently, it is sufficient to avoid entering your name or other data within the blog and published content.
If, on the other hand, you have decided to purchase a second-level domain, you should know that the possibility of hiding the registrant’s data from the public registers varies according to the domain extension chosen and, consequently, the country of reference.
For .it domains , it is possible to obscure personal data only when the owner of the domain is a natural person , or a private individual. In this case, simply request this option, which is usually free, from your hosting or the service on which you purchased the domain.
If, on the other hand, the domain is owned by a legal person , all the data (e.g. company name, address, telephone number, etc.) will be visible without any possibility of hiding them.