I’ve been blogging for nine years now, and it is something that has completely changed my life.
Not only have I developed new skills that I have applied to every job I’ve ever had, but I've made pretty good money from my blog. Last year, I made $49,000 from my blog. You can read my post here on how I make money with an online magazine.
I’ve also had some pretty cool life experiences with my blog. I got to interview Miss USA 2015 right after she won, I did a sponsorship for a company that paid for my trip to go to California, and I’ve got some pretty awesome products over the years including printers, books, and two mattresses. Blogging has definitely become a lifestyle for me.
Blogging is so much fun and can bring in substantial income, but you have to know the steps to be successful. And you have to know how to get started.
For many people, the first step in creating a blog is setting up your website. Even if you do not have a lot of technical knowledge or experience, setting up a blog is relatively easy to do.
And it’s going to be even easier because today I’m going to walk you through the steps on how to start a WordPress blog on BlueHost. Read on to learn more about how to start a WordPress blog today!
Why BlueHost?
Now full disclosure, I am an affiliate for the BlueHost hosting service, which means I will be compensated if you decide to use them. Despite this, I can genuinely say that I've not only used BlueHost as my hosting provider, but I have also LOVED using them. Here are a couple of reasons why.
They make setting up your blog pretty darn easy. And you are going to find that out for yourself today. But it is so simple. They do not use a lot of technical jargon and give clear instructions on what to do each step of the way.
They have 24/7 telephone support. This support is very important when you have a blog, and not all hosting providers have it. So if it’s your first time creating a blog, I highly recommend going with a hosting provider who has telephone support so you can call them anytime you have an issue on your blog.
There are other reasons why I like using BlueHost, such as being able to have a speedy site for a fraction of the cost at other hosting providers. Also, they have WordPress-specific plans that make it so simple to start a WordPress blog.
Let me show you how to do this.
1. Create an Account on BlueHost
The first thing you want to do is go to BlueHost and create an account. On the homepage, click on the box that says “WordPress made easy.” Now the reason why you choose this is because if you go with a WordPress plan initially, it will automatically install WordPress for you on your new site.
When you choose this option, it will take you to another page that will give you a special offer for WordPress users. Click on the green “Get Started Now” button.
Choose Your Hosting
Next, you have to choose your hosting plan. When I first started M3, I had a hosting plan for only $3.95 per month, and you could do the same! Choose the plan that works best for you depending on your needs.
My suggestion when you start your WordPress blog is that you have domain privacy. What happens is when you register a domain under your name is that there are online rosters that keep track of who owns which domains. If you do not have domain privacy, anyone can see your name, email, phone number, and address online. So, pick a plan that offers that security for you.
Pick a Domain
Once you choose your hosting plan, it is time to choose a domain name that fits your blog. I like the ways that BlueHost helps you with this, because it checks to see if the domain is available before you can buy it. And if not, it allows you to search for other domains until you have a domain that is available.
If you already have a domain name you want your blog hosting to reside on, just add it to the section that reads “I have a domain name.”
Complete Your Account Information
Now that you have your domain name, now you can complete the rest of your information. This part is pretty simple since it is just putting in your personal info. This page also shows you how much you would be paying today in order to get your massive monthly discount.
Once you complete all of your info the next step is adding your payment information. If you select a payment plan, this will be the card you use to make payments for your hosting.
The last step to setting up your account is to set up a password. Make sure it is secure as you do not want anyone hacking into your site. 
Once that is finished, you are now the proud owner of a new blog. HOORAY!!! But now it is time to get to business. Hit the blue button that says “login” to get started.
2. Set Up WordPress
Once you complete the payment form its time to get into the fun stuff to start your WordPress blog! Once you create your hosting account, it is time to pick a WordPress theme. There are many themes out there. There are paid themes, and there are free themes.
BlueHost will give you a nice variety of free themes to choose from. Just pick a style and make it your own. As you start growing, I highly recommend you go with a paid theme that fits more with your brand, but I started with free themes and did great!
Once you pick your theme, it's time to start building! Hit the blue “Start Building” button to go to your WordPress Dashboard.
Once you make it to your dashboard, take a look around, as this is going to be your home for your website. If you want to get to your Dashboard after today, simply type in yourdomain.com/wp-login.php. Once you put in your login information, you will make it back to this page. To get started from here, select whether your blog is business or personal.
Now you are in! There are a number of things you can do to get started on your blog. You can create pages, develop blog posts, and even start an online store.
You can edit your “coming soon” page to say whatever you want while you are getting your content up and running. When you are ready for people to see your content, hit the blue “Launch” button.
You can add your site's name and description once you are ready to launch then click “Next Step.” And you are LIVE!
And there you have it—all the steps needed to set up BlueHost and WordPress. Now it's time to make money with it!
3. Make Money
There is no reason why you can't start making money with your WordPress blog right away. While it does take some work, you can absolutely earn money quickly. Once you develop some content on your site and launch your blog, you can start making money. Below are the most important things you can do to start making money with your blog.
Start Tracking
Once you create your website, you have to set up tracking on your site to be able to know how many people are going to it. This is important for two main reasons:
1. Knowing what is happening on your site.
2. Continuing to grow your website traffic and report your stats to different places that need to know your stats in order to work with you. I like using Google Analytics since it is free to use and pretty easy to set up.
Not sure what you should be tracking? Download my free social media tracking sheet here.
Drive Traffic with Pinterest
The next thing you are going to want to do is to drive traffic to your website. One of the best ways to drive traffic to your site is with Pinterest. Start by creating Pinterest images for each blog post you created and add it to each post so it can be shared on Pinterest. You can see the bottom of this article for an example.
The next thing you want to do is share your pins on your own Pinterest account. I like using Tailwind to share my pins since you can schedule them and you can use Tailwind tribes to have other people help you share your pins. If you are looking for Tribes to join, I have a list of 101 of them here!
Put Ads on it
So you are tracking traffic to your site, and now you are sending traffic to it, now it is time to start monetizing from that traffic. While there are plenty of ways to make money from your blog, one of the easiest ways is with ads. While you are still developing your traffic on your blog, you may not have enough traffic to sign up for some of the highest paying ad networks like Mediavine and AdThrive.
But, you will be able to put ads on your site from the start with a site like Ezoic. The ads are pretty easy to implement on your site, even if you do not have much experience with coding. It is free to use, and once it is installed, you just sit back, relax, and watch the money roll in as your traffic grows! You can sign up for Ezoic here.
Collect Emails
Although it may seem early, something you want to do as soon as you start your WordPress blog is to collect emails. Even if you do not have anything to say to people yet, start getting emails so once you are ready to start emailing them, you are ready. You can learn more about email marketing from my article 11 Easy Ways To Make Money With An Email List.
For many bloggers, they make a good portion of their income by selling affiliate products and their own products to their email list. Hence the phrase “The money is in the list.” Building your email list is one of the most essential assets in your business, so begin building it from day one!
I personally use ConvertKit, which is a tool that not only securely stores your list of emails, but makes it easy to create email automation, schedule emails, creating landing pages, and even test subject lines to your email list. But I like them mostly because they are an email marketing platform for bloggers!
You can get a FREE plan with them while you are building up to your first 1,000 subscribers. Sign up for a free ConvertKit plan here!
Sign Up for Influencer Networks
Making money with influencer networks is my favorite way to make money! I even talk about how to make money with sponsored posts in this blog post here. The way it works is a brand pays me to write a blog post featuring a product of theirs.
I like this method of earning income because it's a great way to get creative with your content all while building a portfolio for yourself. To get brands to work with you, you need to sign up for a few influencer networks.
A few I am a part of quite a few, including:
Sign Up for Affiliate Networks
Affiliate marketing is a wonderful way to make money as a blogger. If you do not want to make your own product, but still want to be paid for promoting products, affiliate marketing is for you.
How it works is you promote someone else's product and if your audience buys, you get a percentage of the sale. Simple, right? Start by joining a few affiliate sites then signing up for brands you know and want to promote.
A few affiliate networks I am a part include:
Join them all since they do not cost you anything to do so.
There are so many strategies to being successful at affiliate marketing, but it does take time and effort to discover what works and what doesn't. If you need some tips on getting started in affiliate marketing, I highly recommend Tasha Agruso's Free Quick-Start Guide to Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers. She makes over $16,000 per month in affiliate sales and she knows her stuff!
You should now have a brand new site and tips on making it profitable. Below are more posts that I’ve written about building a successful blog. I highly recommend you check them out:
- 6 Blog Courses That Will Put You in the Money-Making Fastlane
- 10 Books All Serious Bloggers Should Read
- How To Make Money With An Online Magazine
- 101 Tailwind Tribe You Should Join
- How To Make Money With Sponsored Posts On Your Blog
- Can You Really Make Money Blogging?
- How To Get Selected For More Sponsored Post Opportunities
The post How To Start A WordPress Blog On BlueHost That Makes Money appeared first on Miss Millennia Magazine.
from Miss Millennia Magazine
0 Comments