How To Start A Blog & Earn Money in 2023 | Step-By-Step Guide | Blogging For Beginners

Presenting a step-by-step blogging guide to learn how to create a blog, including domain names, choosing the best blogging platform, ranking on Google, & by avoiding the common blogging mistakes made by beginners.

One of the best career developing choices anyone can ever take in life is to learn how to start a blog. Yes, I do have my own job, yet I took this decision to learn how to start a blog parallelly and begin making money online. Today, I'm going to share my last 10 years of blogging experience with you including the ways about how to make a blog for free on google too. It will talk about how did I start and how was my blogging journey. My blog does now has thousands of subscribers. But don't worry, I was also a newbie like you guys. Just by following certain steps leads me to be an owner of the recognized blog. And I really wish that you will also feel confident enough to go out there and start your own blog in this blogging industry.
How to start a blog professionally —
Newbies always used to ask these questions on Google like; how to create a blog on blogger site? What are blogging platforms used? How to make money with a blog for beginners? How to start a blogging in India? How to start a blog and make money? How to make a blog for free on google? How to start a blog on Facebook? How to start a blogging business? How to start a WordPress blog? How to start a blog on Instagram? How to create a blog for free? Where to find list of blog writing examples? And so on...

Hang on guys, I will answer all of these and many other questions you may have. But first, I would like to ask a couple of questions to you. And then you will definitely be going to learn how to start a blog.
Before going further, as following questions and find answers seriously;

1. Why you wanted to start a blog?
2. How passionate are you to start a blog?
3. Do you wanna earn living from blogging?
4. Are you interested in launching your personal brand?
5. Do you have a unique idea which has to be shared over the net?

If I get positive answers from you to all of my questions, you will certainly be an owner of a popular blog and you will also have tons of readers just like any top-ranking blogger publishers. No worries, I have created this ultimate and helpful guide which took a lot of time to build. And, it is just because there is always something new things are happening in this blogging industry. But the basic idea to build a foundation for your blog is very simple to learn and easy to work.

I know that your voice has to be heard, your writing deserves an audience and your thoughts have to be shared. And building a blog is one of the best ways to make this a reality. Though starting a blog is a kind of risky thing, but yet it may boost your life to the next level in both personal and professional worlds. Starting a blog allows you to connect with millions of talented, incredible, passionate, enthusiastic, energizing readers every single year. Not just you learn many kinds of stuff about blogging, you will also learn other trendy things happening around you.

Ahh, I know I talked a lot now and you are eagerly waiting to start an actual guide about how to start a blog. Am I right? Yes, off-course I'm...!

Also, if you haven’t checked "What is Blog? Who is Blogger? How Blogging Works? How to Start A Successful Blog | Blogging Tips", I highly recommend checking it out to know more in details.


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How to start a blog & run successfully | beginner’s guide

As I said, I was a blogging newbie too in the old days. I too face tons of problems during my initial journey. But still, I started my blog back in 2009. That time, I know almost nothing about blogging and I always looking for how to make a blog for free on google or how to start a blog. Rather, at first, I thought it was one of the biggest and challenging things.

Now, I know more of it and yes, my blog is now doing pretty well. I have more than 47,000 readers. This makes me think that I'm someone you could listen to and learn from too. I am not any kind of "Guru" here, but yes I do know what are the basic things of blogging to be shared with newbies like you guys. And I promise you that, this blogging guide is going to be simple, easy, and relatively quick to understand.

Before moving ahead, you should know "why" you need to start a blog. Below are a couple of reasons behind creating a blog of your own.

• Make Money with Blogging: You might have heard or seen that many people are now making a lot of money just by doing the blogging. Yeah, it is possible to monetize your blog and earn some perks.
• Promotion: Blog is one of the most popular platforms where you can promote your ideas, your products, your services and much more.
• Grow Your Business: More the promotion of your blog, more the business growth you will have.
• Meet New People: Through your blog, you may get in touch with the larger audience. All your readers will become your friends or buddies or even business contacts.

These are just sample reasons behind why you should have a blog. But there are many other reasons as well which will motivate you in your future blogging journey.

Here we go now, just follow the below steps describing how to start a blog and you'll have your own professional blog in your pocket. For simplicity, I have broken down this guide in the easiest and quick learning sections. I would say, you should bookmark this page so that you can come back later and start from the point where you left off.

Listed 15 steps on how to start a blog explained in details to understand you what is blogging:

Step 1: Choosing the best blogging platform.

In the real world, you have to stand on the most reliable and strong platform to start any journey. Likewise in the blogging journey, choosing the best blogging platform is the first-ever step to start with. There are many blogging platforms you will find on the internet. But Blogger and WordPress are the top-2 most preferred blogging platforms by many professional bloggers. Now, you will see both of them in detail.

1.1: Blogger platform:

Blogger is the best and free social blogging platform and this is why it is most popular in the blogging industry. Please do keep this fact in mind, designing the blog and/or website becomes easier with a good social blogging platform.

Also, the success of the blog not only depends on how you publish it but also depends on the platform on which you are publishing it. The quality of your blog/website can only be measured when it is published through a quality social platform.

Now, below are top reasons behind publishers go with Blogger/Blogspot platform:

• It is a Google’s product.
• Totally free and user friendly.
• Blogger platform is totaly supported by Google Adsense.
• It gets connected with almost all possible Google products.
• No technical experetise needed.
• Easy to edit templates and HTML codes.
• It is really easy to work and for maintenance as well.
• Can take guidance from other existing blogger users.
• It's secured from hackers & viruses as the Google security has the control.
• Customization is easy for any part of blog design.
• Quick loading of all your blog pages/articles.
• Auto indexing of your posts by Google search engine.

Please read out most recent article which will talk about Reasons behind using Blogger platform in much more details.

Now, we will move ahead to understand more about WordPress blogging platform.

1.2: WordPress (WP) Platform:

WordPress is the most popular CMS site works well and help to serve the best blogging platforms for bloggers or publishers. There are several services offered by the WordPress as it is a CMS platform for content writers, online publishers, and bloggers.


I would say, WordPress hosted websites are easy to set up, simpler to maintain, and the best option to market your content, product, and services. It is the platform that offers many more professional features that will help you to tweak your template and search optimization (SEO).

Now, below are top reasons behind publishers go with the WordPress platform:

• Presenting multiple design options to your website.
• Helps to improve Google Rankings through SEO.
• Easy to monitor, manage and maintain.
• Full Control on your website.
• Wide range of plugins to get more exposure on WP functionalities.
• Boosts site loading time.
• Provide quick and easy way for selling options through website.
• Best for setting up the static websites.
• Improves branding by gaining trust and respect from larger audience.

If you are regular reader of PBB, you might have noticed that under the section of how to start a blog there are some pages talks about Reasons behind using WordPress platform in much more details.

1.3: WordPress Vs Blogger:

I know, you might be confused with what to choose amongst WordPress Vs Blogger platforms. Which service is much better and which is not? Which platform will offer maximum benefit and which one not? Does WordPress host websites rank better in search engines? Which site will generate more traffic for the content? And many more questions create a lot of confusion. No worries, I'll guide you correctly even-though both of them are having different but unique reasons.

I will give you the ultimate comparison with the complete list of PROS and CONS comparing the two best blogging platforms. Most of the users always ask for how to start a blog with free but I must say, depending on the type of blog you need to start and your blogging activity, both WordPress and Blogger are good options for beginners and experienced users.

Look at below points which will help you make the right choice between WordPress Vs Blogger:

Comparison Point	Blogger	Wordpress
Which is The Best Place to Start a Blog?	It is simple to use and easy to understand including how to start a blog, how to add more pages, writing new blog posts as quick as possible, and simple steps to add HTML widgets.	It is the well known Content Management System [CMS] in the competition of blog creation sites. But it requires some level of technical knowledge, and that is somewhat complicated to start with, especially for beginners.
Blog Setup or Blog Installation	It is super easy to set up and start a blog. Blogger doesn't require any software installation to publish a blog, but it has limited functionality and that's why doesn't require technical knowledge.	It allows you to get complete control over the blog set up for full blog optimization. Like I said, it requires some technical know-how knowledge. But with the extra technicality, you can tweak anything you want to do with your blog.
Blog Hosting - Requirements	It is FREE and that is why the BLOGSPOT is much popular as it doesn't require the hosting cost. Blogger's blog will be hosted with Google only, you don't own your site, it completely owned by Google.	You need a WordPress hosting provider to host your blog or website. Wordpress truly owns all the rights to your website, and so your blog is in your hands only.
Service Offering	It is NOT a commercial service platform. Since its FREE, they lack in terms of services they were offering. There is no improvement in default themes. You will have to deal with JavaScript/HTML widgets.	It is a commercial platform. And it implies their services with premium upgrades. It becomes superior due to their premium plugins. Various WP plugins help you in Search Engine Eptimization (SEO) too.
Themes Customization	By default, it provides limited number of non-premium themes to choose from blogger dashboard. As they are not premuim ones, you will have to do lot more customization in your blog template.	It provides variety of themes from non-premium to highly customizable SEO friendly premium WordPress themes. it help you to transform your blog into full-on static, dynamic or hybrid professional looking websites.

Must read; Blogger vs. WordPress | Ultimate Comparison Guide | PROS+CONS To Choose the Right Platform

Step 2: Choosing the right web hosting.

Web hosting is the backbone of any blog or website. And choosing the right web host has a great impact on your site speed, on your search ranking, and even on your overall traffic.

You have to select the most powerful, flexible, secure and reliable web hosting service provider for your website. But for this, you need to understand your exact hosting needs, whether you are choosing a web host for your new blog or planning to change your WordPress site to a new blog?

You should also ask a couple of questions to yourself like who will be your targeted audience? Which is the best; international or local server? Do you need any additional services like custom email ID (like [email protected]), backups, etc.? What type of support channels are convenient for you; phone, chat or email, etc.? And so on. These questions will help you choose best-suited web hosting. There are a couple of things to be looked at while choosing web hosting.

Below are the 5 Key factors to be considered while choosing Web Hosting:

• Space requirement & traffic load.
• Web security & uptime guarantees.
• Technical support.
• Check pre-installed apps.
• Offers & discounts.

Don't worry, I've explained these factors in details specially to explain how to start a blog through the special article so that it will be easy to understand: Find out Which are 5 Factors While Choosing The Best Web Hosting For Your Blog?

Earlier, you got to know about what are the features of WordPress and Blogger platforms. For some people, WordPress seems more promising platform due to numerous plugins, full control, & helps in SEO kind of features. Not just these, you will also find that there is a wide range of themes provided in WordPress; free and premium. You can choose either of these based upon your needs.

Check the table that will clear you about Free Vs Premium themes that'll best suitable for your need:

Theme	PROS	CONS
Free website template	1. The biggest benefit of selecting free WordPress theme is the COST. It is free. 2. Anyone can start blogging with the use of free themes. 3. These themes hold high-quality standards as well. 4. Went through every step of quality checkup.	1. They offer limited support options. 2. Do not support most of the standard or high-quality features. 3. Limited customization. No support to extensive customization. 4. Themes are common, so no uniqueness in the website.
Premium website template	1. The paid versions of WordPress offer recognizable features and functionalities. 2. Paid WordPress themes offer more customization options. 3. Can get a fresh theme that can perfectly relate to your web page. 4. Can get support and updates from time to time.	1. Premium themes possess too much HTML code into the template. 2. Tons of features may leads to reduction of page loading speed. 3. Switching between the themes is not easy due to plugin compatibilities.

Also read; Free VS Premium WordPress Themes: Pay Or Not | Which is Best? | Pros and Cons | Comparison

Step 3: Setting up the custom domain.

WordPress or blogger is an excellent platforms for how to start a blog and plus the blogs looks super awesome. If we consider blogger platforms, it will give you a free or default domain name which usually looks like this-is-my-blog.blogspot.com. But if you set up a custom domain, you will see like this-is-my-blog.com. If any of your readers see default domain name (e.g. this-is-my-blog.blogspot.com), they might think that you are not professional and indicates that you haven't take your blog seriously yet. So, for the branding of your site, you should think of setting up the custom domain name.

You will find tons of domain name registrar over the internet and GoDaddy is one of them. Blogger allows you to get integrated and connected with such a domain name registrar. Why GoDaddy? because GoDaddy is one of the largest domain registrar company and it is a reliable organization to purchase a domain. Also, when you buy a domain from them, they usually allocate an IP address for the domain you purchased from the account. You just have to make your Godaddy Domain name pointing or redirecting to Google servers.

Now, I will guide you step-by-step along with screenshots on how you can set up a custom domain name with the domain purchased from GoDaddy. Now it's time to start working on the technical elements of how to create a blog from choosing a domain name to thinking about SEO.

These are the steps for setting up blogger custom domain name on GoDaddy:

Step 3.1: Add purchased domain name to blogspot blog.

1. Login into your Blogspot account.
2. Go to your Blog > Settings.
3. Click on "Basic".
4. Look for "Publishing" section.
5. Now click on Edit and type "www.your-domain-name.com".

You will see an error in RED saying "We have not been able to verify your authority to this domain. Error 12.". Ignore that error, take a snapshot of the page. Also, copy every single text and save it in a notepad [You might need that when you change your mind from WordPress to Blogger platform in future].

You will need 'www', 'ghs.google.com' as well as random CNAME details in next steps.

Step 3.2: Setup 'CNAME' records in GoDaddy.

1. Login into your GoDaddy account
2. Go to your Domains.
3. Click on All Domains.
4. Choose your desired domain and click on "Manage".

5. Click on "Manage DNS" link displayed at the bottom of the page.

6. "Records" table will be displayed on screen.
7. Click on ADD button.

8. Enter www under "Host" and ghs.google.com under "Points to" text-fields.

9. Again Click on the ADD button and do the same thing but this time enter CNAME details which you get from the previous step.

Step 3.3: Setup 'A' zone records in GoDaddy.

You will have to setup A-zone records where below IP addresses have to be saved correctly which were provided by the Blogspot server. These IP addresses are common for all the blogger users.

• 216.239.32.21
• 216.239.34.21
• 216.239.36.21
• 216.239.38.21

Now, we will see how we can add them in GoDaddy:
1. Login into your GoDaddy account.
2. Go to your Domains.
3. Click on All Domains.
4. Choose your desired domain and click on "Manage".
5. Click on "Manage DNS" link displayed at the bottom of the page.
6. "Records" table will be displayed on screen.
7. Click on ADD button.
8. Enter @ under "Host" and 216.239.32.21 under "Points to" text-fields.

9. Again Click on ADD button.
10. Do the same thing but this for the rest of the IP addresses.

This is how you can set the domain IP addresses that now pointing to your Blogger server addresses. The final CNAME & A record table will be like this;

Step 3.4: Publish your Blogspot blog.

I hope you have successfully completed all the above steps. And now, this is the time to publish your blog.

1. Login into your Blogspot account.
2. Go to your Blog > Settings.
3. Click on "Basic".
4. Look for "Publishing" section.
5. Click on Save button. [Make sure that, you check the option which redirects your "domainname.com" to "www.domainname.com"].

You will now have to wait for a couple of hours (say 2 to 4 hours) for changes to take effect because the settings made in DNS for both A-zone and CNAME etc. usually takes time to get everything set up globally.

Recommended: 4 Steps To Add BlogSpot Custom Domain With GoDaddy

Related; 12 Steps For Making Your Blog Successful | Guide for Beginners

Step 4: Designing your blog with style.

Yeah, now we have reached a point where we will see the designing part of the site. While sharing this complete guide to teach you how to start a blog from start, designing a blog is most interesting step you need to do. This guide will show you how to create a blog using one of our beautifully designed fast loading website templates.

This step is interesting because we will come to know; how your page will be seen by your readers. Though it looks interesting, it is equally challenging for any new blogger. We have already heard a term "The First impression is the last impression" so user interface and user experience both are important parts of the web design. You have to focus on some points in order to retain the interest of your readers. I'll show you how you can design your blog but it is also depended on your point of view, your style, your presentation skill, etc.

Before moving ahead, the first thing is to understand the principles of the design. Most of the time, readers like an attractive, responsive, stylish, cool website. But there are some bloggers which keep focusing on more of its functionality and usability rather than the catchy user interface. Your blog design must show your readers why you are different from others. Your blog has to be unique, creative, responsive, fast-loading, attention-grabbing and so on.

Related; 5 Tips For Building A Successful Website | Web Design

Step 4.1: Choose best template for website.

This is quite difficult to find out which template looks promising. It is even more difficult when you have thousands of options. But, it is entirely depended on what you notice first after visiting any website. I think the visual engaging feature of any website has the biggest impact on the psychology of their readers.

Please go through below couple of standards which needs to be considered while choosing the best template for your website:

• What type of layout fits your needs?
• A set of customization options
• Available custom support
• Professionally designed website template
• Fantastic typography

I have explained these standards in lot more details through my another article. You must read: 5 Tips How To Choose Best Template For Website | Web Design

Step 4.2: Distinguish your blogs from competitors.

Like I said above, your blog should be unique, catchy, interactive, responsive, etc. This will help you stand out in the market. Your readers should know how different are you from other publishers or blog owners. If you search something on Google, you will see there are tons of sites that are discussing the same thing. But the page at the top of search ranking took its position because of a Uniqueness factor. You should also make your site totally different and unique than others.

I've listed top blog designing tips and features that'll stand out in competition:

• Easy navigation
• Post images
• Include quotes section
• Add a promising footer
• Next-Previous post feature
• Add slider for featured posts
• "About Author" section and so on.

You should go through my recent article which talks about Top 20 Blog Designing Tips & Features that’ll Distinguish Your Blogs From Competitors

Step 4.3: Responsive web-page design.

What does this responsive web design mean? It means the site should load on any screen resolution. Earlier, all of us were using our desktops or laptops for searching. Now, everyone is using smartphones these days. So your site should correctly load on the mobile screen as well. The website should differentiate automatically amongst the types of devices or browsers or screen resolutions etc. It should adjust to the size of a screen appropriately.

These are the advantages of Responsive Web Page Design:

• Same page for multiple devices.
• Saves time and money.
• More attraction and more traffic
• Help to improve SEO
• Easier analytics reporting
• Lowering the bounce rate
• Promising offline experience

I have explained these advantages in lot more details through my another article. Checkout; Top 7 Advantages of HTML Responsive Web Page Design | Benefits of RWD

Step 5: Essential resources and tools for Blogging.

While learning how to start a blog with our step by step guide you have reached to the last step.

Now, you have learned a lot of blogging and now you can start and publish your first blog for your readers over the internet. Still, there are other resources and tools which are essential for blogging.

Step 5.1: Follow successful blogging tips.

I know you will be new in this blogging industry. But you should think about making money from blogging. You will have to be a professional blogger by growing the blog audience, increase or build blog reputation, enhance domain authority, more blog revenue and many more. You should learn the strategies for building a successful blog website. Also, publishing new, fresh, unique and catchy content is essential and needed-thing for better SEO and building organic and targeted traffic.

Checkout this full article: 121 Killer Blogging Tips From Blogging Experts To Beginners

Step 5.2: Check SEO tips and tricks to rank higher.

The owner of a website should learn many things about SEO and its optimization techniques. Best SEO practices help you grow and boost your online presence. This is nothing but a search engine marketing management process where your audience will be landed on your website. By implementing a couple of tips and tricks will lead you to rank higher in Google search engine results (SERP).

Please read out this complete article: 101 SEO Tips and Tricks For Ranking Higher in Google Search Results | Top SEO Tips

Step 5.3: Mobile friendly test and tools.

In addition to this, there are tons of sites or tools which will help you check the mobile-friendliness and responsiveness of web designs for your website. Because, nowadays, building a mobile-friendly website plays a major role in the creation of your online identity. If you observe, mobile traffic is growing rapidly than desktop traffic. So, you should check if your site really a mobile-friendly or not. And by using these tools, you can even monitor and speed up your page loading time too.

I've already published an article which talks about 10 Best Mobile-Friendly Test Tools List & Website Testing Sites | Test Your Mobile Friendliness & Responsive Web Designs. Do visit that page and learn more.

Step 5.4: Avoid common blogging mistakes.

Doing the right thing is correct. But NOT doing wrong things are equally correct. You have now learned what to do but you should learn what NOT to do as well. At first, it's challenging especially when you are a new one. Do not let your challenges dominate you, it will get better as you move forward. It's obvious that mistakes will be made, but you have to use them as learning opportunities and how you can avoid them any further.

You can also checkout these articles where I've listed blogging mistakes to avoid:
1. [Infographics] 8 Startup Blogging Mistakes To Avoid As A New Blogger
2. 15 Most Serious Blogging Mistakes To Avoid | Fix Blogger Issues

Step 5.5: Online google meta tag generator.

This is one of the best online metatags generator tools and is necessary for any site or blogger blog to generate meta tags. Why meta-tags? Meta-tags are used frequently by almost every search engine. All search engines on internet travel towards any website through meta tags, meta keywords, and meta tags description, etc. Also, the generated meta keywords code helps in SEO optimization that leads you to get a higher ranking in SERP [Search Engine Result Pages].

You can look at Online META Tag Generator #1 Free SEO Tool For Website | SEO Meta Description Tool

Bottom Line

And this is it... how to start a blog in 5 exact steps!!!!

Now, I am more confident that you will have your own first blog set up and ready to launch. All that you now have is really damn easy. Still, if you find any difficulties, do not hesitate to get in touch with me. If by some unfortunate issues you get stuck or have any problem about how to create a blog use the contact form here on PBB.

Feel free to use below comment section. Happy to hear from you guys and to address any further questions you may have. This will help you as well as others too. But I would say, you have to be enthusiastic and devoted to starting a blog.