How to Start a Blog in 2021 (Step by Step Guide)
Last Updated on: June 21, 2022 Colin Newcomer 12 Comments
Want to start a blog to share your thoughts and ideas with the world?
There’s never been a better time to create a blog. And thanks to some user-friendly free tools, it’s also never been easier to get started, even if you have no technical knowledge.
Who knows – down the line, you might even be able to make a side or full income from your blog. That takes time, but there’s plenty of people proving that it’s possible.
In this post, we’re going to show you the best way to make a blog in 2021 and beyond – using WordPress. Over 39% of all the websites on the Internet use WordPress, including most of the web’s most successful bloggers.
With under an hour of time and less than $50, you can join the ranks of those bloggers – we’re going to show you how.
Keep reading for our step-by-step guide on how to start a blog in 2021 and beyond.
How to Start a Blog FAQ
Before we get started, here are a few FAQs about our tutorial so that you can know what you’re in for.
What platform will I use to start a blog?
We’re going to have you use self-hosted WordPress, which is the most popular way to make a website. We’ll explain why we recommend WordPress in the tutorial.
Do I need to be a developer to launch a blog?
No! Anyone can follow this guide – you definitely don’t need any technical knowledge. Everything that we show you is code-free.
How long does it take to create a blog?
The initial setup process takes less than an hour. Of course, you’ll spend more time than that on adding content and tweaking the design. But you can have a working blog within an hour.
How much does it cost to make a blog?
There are a lot of variable costs, so it’s hard to give one number. At a bare minimum, you could follow every step in this tutorial for just $25 to get started plus ~$15 per month to maintain your blog.
How to Create a Blog
While there are lots of different tools to help you create a blog, WordPress is the most popular and best option, which is why we’re going to use it for this tutorial. Here’s why we like WordPress:
- It’s free.
- You don’t need any special technical knowledge – anyone can use WordPress.
- There are tens of thousands of WordPress themes, which let you control how your blog looks.
- There are tens of thousands of WordPress plugins, which let you add new features to your blog.
- Because it’s so popular, there’s a huge WordPress community which makes it easy to find help with literally anything.
However, it’s important to note that we’re talking about self-hosted WordPress, which is different from WordPress.com. If you want to learn all the differences, check out our full self-hosted WordPress vs WordPress.com comparison…but the basic idea is just that you’re not going to use WordPress.com for this tutorial. Instead, you’re going to use self-hosted WordPress (available at WordPress.org), which is the free, open-source WordPress software.
If you want to learn why self-hosted WordPress is a better option for blogging than WordPress.com, you can check out the comparison. Otherwise, just trust us that self-hosted WordPress is the best 😃 It’s cheaper and gives you more flexibility, which is important for making your blog a success.
What You Need to Start a Blog With WordPress
To create a blog with self-hosted WordPress, you’re going to need a few things – some are free while others will cost a little bit of money: