8 Steps to Create a Blog for Free

Blogging is one of the easiest ways to make money online right from your home. Your blog content depends on the topics you want to discuss, but you should create a blog first before that.

You may think that starting a blog requires a lot of money as you need to hire a web designer. Not necessarily. 

Today, you will learn how to create a blog for free in just eight easy steps.

1. Select your blog niche

Who is your target audience? What do you want to write about? Answer these two questions to decide your niche before creating your blog.

Usually, it's best to write about something that you love. This allows you to come up with unique content and keep your audiences gripped with your writing - for example, photography.

You can talk about different types of cameras, camera settings, camera accessories, and hundreds of other topics.

It is wise to select a niche where you can expect a lot of interest from potential viewers and subscribers.

2. Choose your blogging platform

The next step is to select a blogging platform that allows you to create your blog. WordPress is the most popular platform that most bloggers use.

You don't need knowledge of web designing to develop your first blog. WordPress provides thousands of themes and plugins to make your blog attractive.

It is also the best self-hosted blog solution. If you want hosted blog solutions, you can use Tumblr or Blogger. 

3. Select a domain name

Every house has a different address. Similarly, every blog has a different domain name. You need to select a domain name irrespective of your niche.

Your domain name will continue to exist as long as you pay its fees. Usually, it's $10 to $15 a year.

Your viewers will find your blog by searching with your domain name on a search engine - for example, ABC.com. 

Here, ABC is the domain name. Alternatively, you can also choose "dot blog" or "dot net" as extensions instead of "dot com."

4. Select the web hosting account

Selecting a web hosting service is as vital as coming up with a unique domain name. Web hosting decides the performance and functionality of your website.

It is the host's responsibility to keep your website up and running 24 x 7. This ensures that your readers can visit your blog any time they want.

Web hosting companies generally provide a free domain name for the first year. You may need to pay fees to keep your domain name after the free period is over.

5. Starting your blog

Suppose you want to use WordPress to create your blog for free. You need to create your account in WordPress to continue. The next four stages will teach you how to create your free blog:

• The first step begins with a few questions like what type of site you want to create and who you are creating the site for.
• The next step involves adding a few features to your blog site, such as a custom logo, about me page, résumé, and contact. Select the features you want to add.
• The following stage has a few more questions like your site's name, your site's tagline, and if you are comfortable creating websites.
• Lastly, you find thousands of free themes and plugins that allow you to set up your blog site.

6. Selecting your blog's theme

Consider the theme as your blog's face. You would want to create a good first impression with it.

Fortunately, WordPress has thousands of free themes that you can make the most of. Go to "Appearance" on the WordPress dashboard.

Select Themes and keep changing them one by one to select the best one for your blog. 

Most themes have short descriptions of their features and functions.

You can shortlist the themes by reading these descriptions or use the preview feature to take a quick look at how your blog will look if you install a specific theme.

7. Write your blog content

This is what will help you make money. WordPress's structure allows you to publish your blogs as Pages or Posts.

But before publishing your first blog, don't forget to fill in some important static pages like About Me and Contact.

Next, write about topics that you are passionate about. It helps to keep your audiences engaged as they look forward to reading your blogs. 

8. Optimize your blog

SEO is the best way to get more traffic to your blog from popular search engines like Google.

You need to add SEO meta tags and optimize keywords if you don't want to spend on SEO services immediately.

These should organically take your website to the search engine's first page. 

Now that you know the entire process of starting a free blog, follow every step carefully and start making money online.