Blogging is one of the best, easiest and legit ways to earn money online. 

If you have writing skills (any language),
If you can write on your own, you can do blogging.
It’s that easy. All it takes is a little guidance, effort and patience. 

No coding is not required.
You don’t need to be a website developer or hire anyone to help you start your blogging journey.

It is not rocket science at all.
Even if you are a mother who has no technical knowledge and you want to earn money online from home. You can do it on your own. You don’t need any paid blogging course. If you are wondering if you can start blogging on your android phone or iPhone then the answer is yes you can but it will be a little difficult in the beginning.

Just follow this step by step tutorial guide. I’ll try to explain it to you in a simple and easy way on how to create your first blog using WordPress. If you have any question regarding how, why or where should you start blogging you can contact us.

Before we start I have created a list of topics that we will discuss.

  • What is Blogging?
  • How to Earn Money from a Blog?
  • How to Start blogging?
  • Choose a Niche
  • Register a Domain
  • Buy a Hosting
  • Connect Hosting & Domain
  • Install SSL
  • Setup Your Blog
  • Install Plugins
  • Create Important Pages
  • Index Your Website
  • Connect with Analytic Tools
  • Publish Your First Blog Post
  • Promote & Drive Traffic
  • Traffic Analysis & Optimisation
  • Monetisation

First things first!!

What is Blogging?

A blog is basically an informational website on the internet . In layman’s language, A blog can be said to be a discussion or informational website in which a writer or a group of writers regularly contribute their views and information about one or multiple topics.

In a blog, content usually comes in the form of articles on individual web pages called blog posts. This article you’re reading now is also an example of a blog

Example: CountShout.com & GossipWossip.com

Read More: How to start an e-commerce business to sell your products online?

How to Earn Money from a Blog/Website in 2021?

Before we start doing something, we need to know why we are doing it. If there is a motive behind doing something, then there is more chance of success.

With some effort, you can make a good career in the blogging business. There are many ways you can monetise your blogging website to earn money and become a full-time professional blogger.

What are different ways to earn money from a blog?

There are more than 10 different ways to earn money from a website.

  1. Adsense
  2. Banner Ads
  3. Affiliate
  4. Selling Products (E-Commerce)
  5. Selling Services
  6. Sponsored Posts… etc.

Hope this excites you to create your own blog!

How to Start a Successful Profitable Niche Blog from Scratch in 2021?

Step 1: Choose a Right Niche (Topic) for Blogging

Wait! What is a niche in blogging? Niche is a specific topic, one particular topic or focused topic that a blogger can write on and separate himself from the competition or crowd for faster and better results.

There are different types of blogs:

  1. News
  2. Travel Blog
  3. Lifestyle Blog
  4. Fitness Blog
  5. DIY Blog
  6. Sports Blog
  7. Food/Cooking Blog
  8. Personal Blog
  9. Moto Blog
  10. Entertainment Blog
  11. Technical Blog
  12. Celebrity Blog
  13. Health Blog
  14. Beauty Blog… Etc.

Why Should You Create a Niche Blog Website?

To explain this to you I was doing some research and I found a report published by Statista that there were a total of 1.72 billion (172 crores) in 2019 websites in the world. According to another report by the Hosting Tribunal, Daily approx. 20 Million (20 Lakhs) of posts are written on the internet.

If you are writing on such a broad topic where already many people are writing then it will be difficult for you to drive free organic traffic from Google or other search engines to your website.

If you want to succeed in a competitive niche then you will have to work really hard, write better content and write more and more content and promote that content through social media, paid ads, by making videos or using other different strategies.

Step 2: Find a Right Domain

What is Domain?

The domain is the identity of your website. It is the address of your website that people type in the browser URL bar to visit your website.

Finding the availability of a good professional domain is very important. Wondering, Why? It is because it is easy to remember. If they make a good 1st impression they will probably remember your website name and visit your website again.

Example: Google.com, Facebook.com, CountShout.com & GossipWossip.com

Choose a Good Domain Name:

If you need help in deciding a perfect domain name. Then keep these tips in mind when choosing a perfect domain.

  • Keep it Short & Simple (Easy to remember)
  • Use Keyword (Tells about business)
  • Keep it Professional
  • Don’t Use Symbols
  • Avoid Numbers
  • TLD Extension (.com domain extension) Always Recommended

How to buy a domain?

There are many domain registrars in the market but one of the best domain registrars that we use or recommend is namecheap.com.

Steps to Follow to Purchase Your First Domain:

(1) Click on namecheap.com to open this website in a new tab and continue following the below steps to buy your domain name.

(2) Search for the name that you want to own and click on the “Search” button

For example, if you are a college student and want to share your daily experience with the world you can start “FreshersCollegeGuide.com”

(3) If that domain is available, you will see an option “Add to cart” click on that to proceed 

Once you have added your domain to the cart, you can click “checkout” then

You can now move to the next step. Step 3 to purchase web hosting. Continue Reading…

Note: You can follow the same step if you want to purchase a domain from other domain registrars.

Step 3: Choose the Best and Affordable Web Hosting Provider

What is hosting?

Hosting is a data storage space where all the files of your website are stored and which allows an individual or an organization to make their website accessible onto the internet.

In simple words, when you purchase a web hosting plan depending on your requirement, you take the same space on rent.

How to Buy a Hosting?

There are a lot of hosting service providers in the market and these are super expensive but since you are a beginner I recommend not to invest much initially.

Namecheap is one of the best + affordable + fast hosting service providers. I’m sure you must have watched its advertisement.

Read: Best Affordable WordPress Website Hosting for Beginners

Steps to Follow to Purchase a Hosting?

(1) Click on namecheap.com to open this website in a new tab and continue following the below steps to purchase the hosting.

(2) Scroll down to “Choose Your Plan” and select 1st option “Shared Hosting” to move to the next step.

(3) Choose your plan between

  • Stellar (Host upto 3 Websites)
  • Stellar Plus (Host Unlimited Websites + Auto Backup)
  • Stellar Business (not recommended for you)

And select “Get Started“.

Note: You can upgrade your plan later. And Also If You can change your hosting provider anytime you want.

(4)  Select the “Already in Cart” option to connect your domain to your Hosting Plan.

(5) Then select the “Add to Cart” option as shown in the picture.

(6) Then select ‘Confirm Order’ to move to the next step,

(7) Here you have to enter your name and email to ‘Sign Up and Create Your Account’ on namecheap to place your order and to get access to your dashboard. Once done, click the button to ‘Create Account and Continue.’

(8) Last step is to make the payment to purchase the domain and hosting.

Congratulations!

Step 4: Connect Domain with Your Hosting

In your case, Integration of your domain and hosting plan is already done since you have purchased domain and hosting from the same service provider company.

Note: If you have a domain from the same domain registrar or if you want to create another website then you will have to follow the below steps.

  1. Login to namecheap
  2. Go to account and then dashboard
  3. Select domain list
  4. Select domain that you want to connect with your hosting and Click manage
  5. There is an option Nameservers and select Namecheap Web Hosting DNS if you want to connect your domain with namecheap hosting.

Wow! Brilliant! You are amazing.

Step 5: Install SSL certificate

Namecheap provides you free hosting with the current plan. So you don’t need to purchase any SSL or use free SSL.

What is SSL?

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is used to secure online processing of data such as transactions details, data transfer and logins credentials etc.

Basically, an SSL is like a synonym of a secured website. The SSL certificate enables an encrypted connection between a web server and a browser.

Step 6: Setup Your Blog on WordPress

Stay with us for the next 15 minutes and your 1st blog website is ready to go live.

Lets first install the wordpress on your domain.

Install WordPress

  1. Login to namecheap dashboard
  2. Go to hosting list
  3. Click on go to cpanel
  4. Once cPanel is open, scroll down to softaculous apps installer and click on the WordPress logo.
  5. Click Install Now tab to proceed.
  6. Fill out the details of your WordPress installation.

(i) Scroll down to Software Setup – Choose Installation URL/Domain

Choose the domain (yourdomain.com) you wish to install WordPress on.

(ii) Under Site Settings, Fill Your Site Name (Count Shout) and Site Description. 

Note: You can change Site Name and Site Description anytime from your website dashboard settings.

(iii) Scroll down to Admin Account, change admin username, admin password and admin email (These are your website login credentials, note it down somewhere, don’t forget.)

Click Install when you’re ready.

Your website is ready. Congratulations!

Visit your website to check how it looks.

Now Once wordpress is installed on your domain. Lets customise it to make it more beautiful as you wish!

Note: To login to the backend of your website go to domain.com/wp-admin.

How to Customise a WordPress Website?

Half of the websites on the internet are built on WordPress. You can use pre-made themes to create your website in a few minutes without a single use of coding with a few clicks.

Without further ado let’s customise your website.

There are 2 ways you can do that.

  • Free theme or
  • Paid theme.
Using Free theme:

If you want to use free theme then follow below steps

  1. Go to you website dashboard (domain.com/wp-admin)
  2. Appearance – themes
  3. Add new – you can use these free theme from wordpress repository 
  4. Just click install and then active.

A free theme that is most recommended by any blogger is Astra theme.

Using paid Theme:

If you want to use a paid theme like CountShout.Com, follow these steps to purchase the theme.

  1. Click on themeforest to visit the site or envato
  2. Click on buy now
  3. Fill your details to create your account to access theme file
  4. Make payment.
  5. Now to download the theme file, go to your account and click on downloads
  6. Now click on download to download theme zip file and again click on download and click on licence certificate and purchase code pdf to get licence code.
  7. Go to you website dashboard (domain.com/wp-admin)
  8. Appearance – themes
  9. Add new – upload theme
  10. Upload the theme zip file that you just downloaded from themeforest and click install now
  11. Once installation is over click activate
  12. Now open the licence pdf file that you downloaded from themeforest and copy the licence key to paste that on your website to active the theme.
  13. Once the theme is active, it’s time to download a premade theme template (demo) for this again, go back to your dashboard and then scroll down to Jannah > Install Demos.
  14. Select a demo and click import. (This will also import demo content, you will have to delete those posts.)

Step 7: Add Essential Plugin For Your Blog

Plugins give you the ability to add extra features to your website without any knowledge of coding.

These are essential plugins that you need to install on your website.

  • Rank Math/Yoast
  • AMP
  • Site Kit by Google

How to Install a Plugin?

  1. Go to your website dashboard
  2. Scroll down to plugins
  3. Click on add new
  4. Search the name of plugin that you want to install
  5. Click Install & Activate.

Step 8: Create Important Pages of a Website

  1. About
  2. Contact
  3. Privacy Policy
  4. Terms & Conditions
  5. Disclaimer
  6. Affiliate Disclosure

Affiliate Disclosure page is only required if you are promoting any affiliate product.

These pages are crucial for any website. They enhance the credibility of a blog and also save you from legal problems.

For instance, If you make a blog post on your website to give people tips on money or health; and they follow your advice only to lose their money or have some side effect from your health tips, they can sue you. To avoid such a scenario you have to create terms or use and disclaimer legal pages.

How to Create a Page?

Follow these steps to create all the important pages on your blogging website.

  1. Go to your website dashboard (domain.com/wp-admin)
  2. Click on pages
  3. Add New
  4. Enter the title of the page like “About” and write about your website and click on publish to make that page live for the public. So anyone can read that.

Step 9: Index Your Website

Indexing your website to search engines means you are allowing them to use your website and show for queries that people search on search engines.

Connect your website with Google Search Console and submit website sitemap (https://www.countshout.com/sitemap.xml) for indexing. There are many other search engines like Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Swisscows, Aol., Ask, etc.

Create Social Media Pages and submit your website there. (You can consider this as link building strategy (SEO).

How to Connect Your Website to Google Search Console?

Note: To avoid any kind of error, Use the same Gmail account for google search console, google analytics and google AdSense.

  1. Go to backend of your website (domain.com/wp-admin)
  2. Select site kit
  3. Click on Sign in with google.
  4. Again click on Sign in with google.
  5. Select gmail account
  6. Click allow, proceed, allow, and then add site
  7. Now click on go to my dashboard.

How to submit a sitemap in the search console?

  1. Go to https://search.google.com/search-console
  2. Scroll down and click on sitemaps
  3. Add this sitemap_index.xml

Note: You can check organic traffic from google in google search console.

Step 10: Connect with Analytic Tools

Google Analytics is one of the most powerful free tools provided by Google to measure the traffic on your website. You can check weekly, monthly, yearly and also real-time traffic on your website. It will help you analyse how your blog posts are performing, How many users, their location, duration (time spent on a post), demography, and etc.

How to Connect Google Analytics:

  1. Go to backend of your website (domain.com/wp-admin)
  2. Select site kit
  3. then settings, 
  4. connect more services and 
  5. then go to google analytics and click set up analytics
  6. Select the gmail account that you used earlier to integrate google search console and your website.
  7. Click allow,
  8. On this page, click on account dropdown and select setup a new account
  9. Select country and then timezone then click create account
  10. Select the gmail account again that you used earlier
  11. Click allow, allow twice.
  12. It will take you to google analytics website there you select your country
  13. Check mark all the boxes to accept their terms and conditions then click I accept
  14. Finally click on go to my dashboard

Note: You can download google analytics mobile app and monitor the performance of your website. Or to access it on your laptop go to https://analytics.google.com/.

Step 11: Write and Publish Your First Blog Post

You can write in any language but writing quality content. But always write unique content, don’t publish plagiarised content on your website.

How to Publish a Blog Post or an Article on Your Website?

  1. Go to dashboard of your website (domain.com/wp-admin/)
  2. Go to posts and then on add new button
  3. Start writing and after writing add images and click publish to make that go live for the world.

Step 12: Blog Promotion & Drive Traffic

Here comes the most important part, Blog Promotion.

You can promote your blog post by sharing it on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Quora or other social media platforms to get initial traffic on your website.

Step 13: Traffic Analysis + Optimisation

Traffic analysis and optimisation is a part of long term strategy. Once you publish an article you have to wait for a few months for tools like google search console to gather some data on how that blog post is performing then depending on the performance you can optimise your article for better reach and traffic.

Step 14: Monetisation

As mentioned above, there are many opportunities to earn from a blogging start business. Our primary focus will be to earn money through ad networks like google adsense. But If you want to earn money from affiliates we have created a quick course on how to make money from affiliate marketing.

Let’s 1st start with Google AdSense. 

It is always recommended to write 15-20 posts with a minimum of 700 words each and then apply. Also if there is some daily traffic on your website then it is a plus point. Don’t panic if your Google AdSense application gets rejected you can reply to it after fixing the issue on your website. There are many other advertising networks, alternatives to Google AdSense.

How to Apply for Google AdSense:

Follow these steps to submit your application on google adsense.

  1. Go to Google AdSense (https://www.google.com/adsense/start/)
  2. Click on the Get Started button
  3. Enter all the required details (website url, Gmail id, Yes/No) here and select the save and continue button to move to the next step.
  4. Here you have to select your country and select yes to agree to the terms and conditions of google AdSense and at last select create account.
  5. Once you are here on the homepage or say dashboard of google AdSense select sites and click on add site  
  6. Once you add your site here, the next step is to click copy and save that code in a notepad on your desktop and select the request review button to apply for AdSense.
  7. Last step is to integrate Google AdSense with our website. To do that go to your website dashboard and click on site kit and then settings, connect more services and then go to AdSense and select Set up AdSense and click continue.

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