Beginners Guide to Start a WordPress Blog (February 2023)

Do you want to start a WordPress blog?

Guess what? You are not alone. Thousands of people want to start their first blog, and most people are as confused as you are. We made the best step-by-step guide to starting a WordPress blog if you don’t know anything about WordPress.

Starting your WordPress blog can be terrifying, especially when you are not geeky. Don’t worry; we’ll walk you through the process with plenty of screenshots and simple instructions, and if you follow all of them, you’ll be able to launch your blog in under 20 minutes.

Our guide helped over a hundred people create their first blog with WordPress, and you can do it too. This Guide is elementary and very straightforward, and that’s why this Guide is featured in some top publications like theGuardian, Cnet, BusinessInsider, etc.

What Is The Difference Between a Blog and a Website?

When everyone starts, they are confused about what a blog is and how it differs from a website. 

A website is a collection of web pages that are typically used to provide information about a business or organization. Websites are often designed to be informative and static, with pages that don’t change very often. They often include information about products or services, contact information, and other details about the business or organization.

A blog, on the other hand, is a more dynamic platform that is used to share thoughts, ideas, and information in a more conversational style. Blogs are typically updated frequently, with new posts appearing on the front page. Blogs can be personal or professional, and they often include a variety of different types of content such as text, images, and videos.

One of the main differences between a blog and a website is the way they are updated. Websites are generally updated less frequently than blogs, and the updates tend to be more significant. Blogs, on the other hand, are updated more frequently, with new posts appearing on the front page. This means that blogs are more dynamic and interactive, while websites are more static and informational.

Another difference between a blog and a website is the way they are organized. Websites are generally organized around a specific topic or theme, with different pages dedicated to different sections of the site. Blogs, on the other hand, are organized chronologically, with new posts appearing at the top of the front page. Simply put, every Blog is a website, but every website is not a Blog. Therefore, don’t be confused when I mention website instead of Blog.

What Do you Need to Start a WordPress Blog?

WordPress is open-source software and can be used on any website. To create your first WordPress blog, you need only three things:

1. A domain name (this will be the name and permanent address of your Blog, like google.com)
2. WordPress Hosting (this is where your website lives on the internet all around the globe)
3. At least 20 minutes of your time.

If you feel it’s very technical and takes a lot of effort to start, then don’t worry. We will walk you through the whole process step by step, and you don’t need any previous technical expertise to start. With our guide, you can create a blog from scratch in less than 20 minutes.

First, let’s start with the most important question people ask when they get started. 

How Much Does It Cost to Build a WordPress Blog? 

When people start their first blog, they usually ask me how much it costs. Let me guide you on how to minimize costs when building your first WordPress website.

Is it expensive to build a WordPress blog? The answer is NO. 

Here is the cost breakdown of a WordPress website on a low budget. You will need a domain name and web hosting to start a website. A domain name typically costs $14.99/year, and web hosting usually costs $7.99/month.

Deal Alert: Thankfully, we have a deal with Bluehost hosting. Bluehost gives our users a 70% discount on their hosting plans, a free domain name, an SSL certificate, one-click WordPress installation, and support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

It means with our Bluehost Hosting Discount deal; you can start your Blog at $35/Year.

That’s about as cheap as it will get if you want to create a WordPress blog. So, let’s start with a hosting account and set up your WordPress website.

How to Start a WordPress Blog in 2023?

Let me give you a quick recap of what we are going to do:

1. Create your hosting account
2. Activate Free Domain Name
3. Install WordPress
4. Publish your first Blog post

If you type “Best WordPress hosting” on Google, hundreds of Hosting providers claim they are the best for WordPress websites. 

That’s why WordPress.org’s official teams selected three hosting providers that offer the best platform for any WordPress website. Those Hosting providers are Bluehost, Dreamhost, & SiteGround.

As per WordPress’s official recommendation, we use Bluehost hosting to start your WordPress website.  To help you get started, we made a deal with Bluehost. With our Bluehost coupon, you get a 70% discount on their hosting plans and a free domain name for one year.

First step: The first thing you need to do is visit the Bluehost website through our link.

Go ahead and click on the green “Get Started Now” button. And our exclusive Bluehost discount of 70% + free domain + free SSL certificate will be applied automatically.

Second Step: First, you’ll be asked to select your hosting plan: Basic, Plus, or Choice Plus. Select your hosting plan; if you want to host a single website, then start with Bluehost Basic plan. For multiple websites, you need a Plus or a choice plus plan. 

Click the ‘Select’ button on the plan you want to purchase.

Third Step: Next, you’ll be asked to enter your domain name (such as www.yoursite.com). Simply type in the domain name you want, and click ‘Next’ to see if it’s available.

If you already have a domain name, enter it and click the ‘Next’ button. 

Fourth Step: You’ll create a new Bluehost account for your website on the last page. You can either sign up using your Google account, or you can enter your details below this.

Below that, you have to select your hosting billing period. Bluehost will default to the 12-month package, which costs $2.95/month. You can change this to a 36-month term if you prefer, and I recommend you go with a 12-month package.

Then Bluehost also includes various recommended extras with your web hosting account. You can turn these off if you want to; I recommend you turn off all extras to save money.

You’ll then see the total cost and your savings. This is how you know that our exclusive 70% discount has been applied correctly. Finally, enter your payment information at the bottom of the screen. Bluehost accepts payment via Credit card, PayPal, etc.

That’s all. Go ahead and click the “Submit” button to complete your purchase at the bottom of the page.

After making your purchase, you’ll need to create a password for your Bluehost hosting account. I use 1Password to generate a super-strong password for my Bluehost hosting account. After entering your password, click on the “Next” button.

After entering your password, click on the “Create account” button. Then open your registered email & verify your Bluehost account.

Step 7: After verifying all details, Bluehost automatically installs WordPress on your website. Sometimes, Bluehost asks for basic information about what type of website you want to create, and I recommend you skip all these steps; we’ll guide you later in this article on what you need for your Blog.

After skipping all steps, you can finally land on the Bluehost dashboard, where you can manage all your websites, email, etc.

Step 8: On the Bluehost dashboard, click on the ‘My Sites’ option to see your website. Click on the Login button to open your website dashboard. When you first time opens your website dashboard, it looks like this:

And you can also type your domain name on a different tab to check whether your website is ready or not.

Suppose you face issues like the website not opening or don’t understand how to use Bluehost Dashboard properly. In that case, Bluehost has a 24/7 support team to help you in every possible situation.

WordPress Dashboard Walkthrough

WordPress is built for simplicity, and the Admin dashboard is super easy to use & beginners friendly. Let me show you how you use the WordPress dashboard efficiently.

Posts: In this section, you create your first blog post. You can also manage all post categories, tags, etc. Here is how you can post your first blog post:

Media: Here, you can see all uploaded images, videos, etc. 

Pages: In this section, you can create your website pages like a contact page, privacy policy page, etc. 

Comments: Here, you can manage your blog post comments. 

Best WordPress Settings You Need to know.

You don’t have to geek to know WordPress settings. I change a few WordPress settings when starting a new WordPress website. It’s optional for you now; you can change these settings whenever possible.

1: General settings: The WordPress general settings option allows you to change your Blog Name, tagline, site URLs, your admin Email, your timezone, etc.

2: Writing Settings: This section contains default post categories and posts formatting style. This is not a vital section & you don’t have to change anything here. 

3: Reading Settings: This section contains your website home details, how many posts to show per page for your website visitors, and an option to Discourage search engines from indexing this Blog. This is not a vital section & you don’t have to change anything here. 

4: Discussion Settings: This section allows you to modify your blog post comment section. You can change the default avatar, comment notification, options for comment moderation, etc. 

5: Media settings: This section allows you to change the Image or other media size and cropping options. This is not an important section & you don’t have to change anything here. 

6: Permalink settings: Permalinks are the permanent URLs of your blog posts, pages, & categories on your WordPress site. Using the correct permalink structure will also help to organize blog posts & pages better.

I use the “Post Name” option; it’s simple permalink settings and is easy to manage blog posts under various categories. I also recommend you use this permalink structure for better content management.

That’s it. These are the best WordPress settings you need to know. If you have any questions feel free to ask me in the comment section.

How to Install WordPress Theme?

WordPress themes define your Blog. Our theme selection criteria are very simple and straightforward. The theme must be fast loading, have modern design options, and be page builder supported.

WordPress comes with a pre-installed default “Twenty Twenty Three” theme. It’s a good theme, but it’s not very customizable. If you want your WordPress blog to look unique and better than other sites, then you need to install another theme from your WordPress dashboard. 

Don’t worry; it’s not a complicated process. You can install a WordPress theme from your website dashboard within five clicks. Here’s a quick video I made for you:

Best Theme for your WordPress Blog

1: Astra Theme: Astra is the most popular free WordPress theme, with over 1.6 million active users. Astra is the fastest, most lightweight, and most highly customizable WordPress theme and can be used on any website.

2: GeneratePress Theme: This website is based on the GeneratePress theme. Like the Astra theme, GeneratePress is also a very fast, lightweight, and highly customizable free WordPress theme available on the WordPress theme repository.

Astra and GeneratePress Both themes are prevalent and can be used for multiple purposes. You can use any theme on your website; it’s entirely up to you.

How to Install WordPress Plugins?

Now, 59,000+ WordPress plugins are available on the WordPress repository to help you manage your website and save time. You don’t need to install each plugin you see on the WordPress dashboard. 

First, Let me show you How to install WordPress plugins from your website dashboard with a quick video:

Here are a few WordPress plugins that will help you to get started:

1: Akismet Anti Spam: The Internet is full of spam. To protect your website from countless spam comments, you need to install the Akismet Anti Spam plugin by the WordPress team. It automatically detects spam comments and saves your website’s comment section.

2: WPS hide login: Every new WordPress website’s default login page is the same. It would be best to change this Login URL as soon as possible, and WPS hide login plugins let you do that with one single click.

After installing and activating WPS hide login plugin, open the WordPress dashboard» Settings» General. Then scroll down, and you can see an option to change your WordPress website login URL.

3: MonsterInsights: MonsterInsights is an analytics plugin that shows your website real-time data on your WordPress dashboard. With MonsterInsights, you can see complete Google Analytics data on your WordPress dashboard.

4: RankMath SEO: SEO is the most critical factor in driving your blog traffic. RankMath SEO plugin helps you optimize your website on-page SEO within a few clicks.

5: ShortPixel: No one likes slow-loading Websites, and high-quality images are one of the main reasons for the slow-loading sites. ShortPixel image optimizer plugins help you automatically reduce all image sizes without losing image quality.

6: Social warfare: People like to share everything they want on Social Media. The Social Warfare plugin can add different social sharing icons in other locations. It allows website visitors to share your blog post on various social media with a single click.

7: WordFence 2FA: As the name suggests, WordFence 2FA allows you to enable 2-factor authentication on your Blog. This plugin also allows Google captcha verification on your WordPress website login page with a click.

8: Insert Header & Footer: If you are not a coder and It’s challenging to add tracking code on your website. Insert header & footer plugin helps you add custom code on your website without touching a code.

9: Elementor: Basic WordPress website design is quite dull. Suppose you want to design every corner of your website without coding knowledge. Then, the Elementor plugin helps you create beautiful websites with their drag & drop page builder.

10: Wp Forms: If you want to create a page that lets other people contact you directly without showing your email address. Then, Wp Forms plugins help you complete a simple contact form for your website visitors.

Final Thoughts

Congrats, you created your first WordPress website. I know you have many questions related to WordPress site creation.

If you face any problem with Bluehost hosting to launch your WordPress website, let me know in the comment section, or you can contact me here. If you find this guide helpful, share it with your friends who need to start their blogs in 2023.

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Thank you. Have a nice day.