How To Start A Blog Free In 3 Easy Steps (Beginner’s Guide)

Are you looking for a side hustle to bring in extra income?  Are you new to blogging and want to start for free?  If you answered yes to either of these questions, here is how to start a blog FREE in three easy steps using WordPress.com.

More importantly, I will show you how to start a free blog and make money using the WordPress platform.

Success does not come overnight, but taking one small step at a time brings you results.  Real success comes when you take action completing those small steps toward your goal!

It’s that simple.  So consider this your first step. 🙂

You may wonder, why use WordPress?

That’s a great question and I have a great answer for you…

WordPress is the mothership of all blogging platforms.  It’s the largest publishing platform in the world, powering over 43% of all websites!

Some of the most notable name brands use WordPress, like:

• CNN
• Disney
• Etsy
• Spotify
• Microsoft
• The Rolling Stones
• Vogue

You most likely have heard of these companies, so let’s dive deeper into why we use WordPress.

In simple terms, WordPress is a content management system…

Or CMS for short.  It’s a tool you use to create and manage your blog website.

The best part?

You do not need technical skills, coding skills, or downloading software to use because it runs online.

With that said, there are two WordPress platforms you may choose to use, WordPress.com or WordPress.org.

Is there a difference?  Yes, there is a big difference and I’ve created a separate post about this.

► To learn more about WordPress.com vs WordPress.org, click here.

For starters, we are going to focus on WordPress.com because you can host and build a free website using this platform.

That said, here is how to set up your WordPress.com blog for free step-by-step.

Let’s dive in!

How To Start A Blog FREE On WordPress.com

Step 1: Select ‘Get Started.’

To get started, go to https://www.wordpress/free.

Step 2: Choose a domain.

Your domain name is your brand, your virtual piece of real estate online, so keep it memorable and short if possible. 🙂

Here are five tips to keep in mind when choosing your domain name:

• Keep your domain short
• Keep it easy to say and spell
• Stick with .com (this is the most authoritative way to know your blog website is found online)
• Use keywords in your domain name (these words highlight your business, products, services, etc. It may even be your name!)
• Avoid hyphens and numbers

Step 3:  Click ‘Select’ to start your free website.

After you pick your domain name, you will notice some choices pop up, like buying your domain name.

Choose the free website on WordPress.com.

Your website address will look like this, www.yourdomainhere.wordpress.com.

And voila, you just set up your free blogging site in 3 easy steps!

If you want to learn how to set up your theme and write your first blog post, keep reading…

Step 4: Click ‘Start building.’

After you ‘Select’ your free domain name in Step 3, you are taken to this next screen next.

Click on ‘Start building‘ to create your blog website.

Step 5: Choose your ‘Theme.’

Now let’s choose your free theme…

Don’t overthink this part because you can always change this later.

Since we are setting up a blog website, I will go with the ‘blog’ theme and choose a website template. Feel free to choose a theme that speaks to you.

When you decide on a theme, hover over the image and click ‘Start‘…

For example, I clicked ‘start’ on the first template, ‘Geologist – Yellow,’ and was taken to the screen below.  Here you may take a quick tour of how to navigate your new website, personalize it, add a ‘site title,’ add a ‘tagline,’ etc.

Note: At this step, your website is private and not live yet (we will go over how to make your website live for everyone to see in Step 8).

For example purposes, I like to keep things simple on my theme page and start with a clean template…

To do this, I deleted everything on my theme page.  I will show you what I did to remove the blocks and text that prepopulate with your theme.  To start deleting text and images, highlight the block you want to remove, click on the ‘three dots,’ and then click ‘remove.’  I kept ‘Proudly Powered by WordPress’ at the bottom. 

Once you remove the necessary images and text prepopulated with your ‘theme,’ add the following…

• Title: add the free domain name you chose.
• Tag Line: add your slogan here.
• Heading: click on the ‘+’ sign in the upper left corner to insert a ‘heading’.
• Paragraph: click on the ‘+’ sign in the upper left corner to insert a ‘paragraph’.

Make this page whatever you want.  For instance, I created an ‘About Me’ page because it’s an opportunity for me to introduce myself and let my audience know what to expect when visiting my blog.  More importantly, I encourage my visitors to take some action, like clicking on a specific article, scheduling a coaching call, etc.

Note: Do not overthink this part; let it suck up your time because you can update this page later.  The most important part of a new blog is the content you publish to begin generating traffic to your website!  We will go over how to write your first post in Step 7.

Step 6: Click ‘Save’ and go to your WordPress backend.

Follow these three steps to save your work and go to your WordPress backend.

1. Save: click ‘Save’ in the upper right corner to save your work.
2. Open the WordPress menu: click ‘+’ in the upper left corner to open the WordPress menu to the left.
3. Access your Dashboard: click ‘Dashboard’ to go to your WordPress backend.

Once you’ve clicked on your ‘Dashboard,’ you are in your backend office…

This is called your WP Admin or WP admin panel, the control panel for your entire WordPress website.

Here you can do all sorts of things like:

• Add plugins (most plugins are free and mimic a piece of software that ‘plugs into’ your website giving it more functionality)
• Change your theme style
• Create and manage content published
• And a whole lot more…

Speaking of creating content, let’s review how to start writing your first blog post next.

Step 7:  Before you start writing, delete the prepopulated posts that came with your theme.

Deleting this unnecessary content starts you with a clean blog roll to begin writing and publishing your one-of-a-kind content. 🙂

To get started, go to the left-side menu bar, click ‘Posts,’ and see a couple of published posts that came with your theme.  To delete these, click the ‘three dots’ to the right and then click ‘Trash.’

Step 8:  How to write your first blog post.

Go to your menu bar on the left side and click ‘Posts.’ 

There are a couple of ways to open your posts to begin writing…

• Go to the ‘Write’ button in the upper right-hand corner
• Or under the ‘Posts’ tab, click on ‘Add new post’

After you click ‘Add new post,’ you are taken to this screen where you may take a tour to learn how to use the WordPress editor to begin writing.

Note: Once you begin writing, there are ways to structure your posts to provide a great experience for your readers.  More importantly, it helps you optimize your blog for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to drive more traffic to your website.

► To learn how to write an SEO-optimized blog post, click here.

Step 9: How to publish your first blog post.

After you have written your first masterpiece, you may either:

• Click ‘Save draft’ to save and publish your post at a later time
• Click ‘Publish’ to publish your post now

Here’s the fun part and most important part of your blog…

Writing and publishing content!  Why?

Publishing fresh content regularly helps your blog grow and gain traffic for the opportunity to generate income.

The traffic does not come overnight but it will happen if you stick with it.  A good rule of thumb is to try to publish around 2 to 4 blog posts per week after you launch your website and go live.

SEO expert, James McAllister, shares…

“Most people should at least be seeing organic traffic from Google, after around 15 posts and two months of your website being online.  This number is high enough to ensure you have a good mix of keywords to compete for potentially, and long enough for Google to have properly indexed your website by now. If you’re currently beyond this point and still aren’t receiving any Google traffic, there may be something wrong with your strategy – perhaps targeting too competitive keywords, or writing articles on topics nobody is searching for.”

Speaking of having a good variety of low-competition keywords and ensuring Google indexes your website, I’ve created separate posts for you to read more about here…

► To learn how to do keyword research on Google, click here.

► To learn how to index your site on Google, click here.

You may be wondering how long should your blog post be.

Your blog length will vary on your chosen topic, but an average ballpark figure to aim for is around 1,500 to 2,000 words.

If you’re curious about how to decide the number of words to write in your blog post, click here.

How many posts should you write before you go live with your blog website?

There is honestly no right or wrong answer here.

Some bloggers launch by writing one post, while others write several before launching.  Your blog isn’t going to fail when launching just one post and it isn’t going to be an overnight success when you launch 15 posts.  So it’s really up to you. 🙂

Before you launch your blog, what matters most is how consistent you will be in publishing content.

Consistency in publishing good quality content is key.  Remember quality over quantity, and staying consistent brings results.  Your traffic and your audience will grow over time!

Step 10: When you decide to launch your blog and go live…

Here is what you need to do step-by-step.

• Go to your main Dashboard and click ‘My Home’
• Click ‘Launch your site to the world’
• Click ‘Launch site’

Note: Before you launch your site, you must verify the email address you used to sign up for your account. Check your spam and junk mail folders if you did not receive the verification email. 

Up to this point, we have covered a lot!

From how to set up your free blog website to what to expect when you start your first blog and how to publish your first blog post…

A lot of information came your way, but taking action is key.  So I want to congratulate you on starting your first blog website!

Before we wrap it up, it’s time for the meat and potatoes…how to make money as a blogger.

How To Make Money As A Blogger

To make money, you need traffic.

I know I’m repeating myself here, but without traffic, no money.

So how do you bring traffic to your blog?

• Continuously publish new quality content.
• Know if your niche is profitable.
• Share your posts on social media platforms to spread the word.
• Update older content.
• Use images.
• Use keywords in your blog title and throughout your blog post.

Once your traffic starts growing, here are several ways to monetize your WordPress blog.

• Create a membership program
• Display ads on your website (i.e. Google Adsense)
• Get paid to write reviews for products you try out
• Join affiliate marketing brands based on your niche (i.e. Amazon, Click Bank, Commission Junction)
• Offer services like coaching
• Sell banner ad space on your website directly to companies (i.e. use a WordPress Advertising Plugin)
• Sell digital products (i.e. Ebooks using a WordPress e-commerce plugin)
• Sell training courses (i.e. using a WordPress training course plugins like Learning Management System (LMS) or Member Press)
• Sponsorships

Some Things To Consider BEFORE Your Traffic Grows…

The WordPress.com platform is perfectly ok to use while you are just getting started as a new blogger and writing content for these reasons:

• Free blog website
• Free domain name
• Free hosting
• Free storage of up to 3GB of space
• WordPress.com handles updates and backups (you don’t need to worry about this)

Organic traffic does not happen immediately (at least for the first few months considering you consistently publish good quality content and go after the right keywords), which is why WordPress.com is great for STARTERS ONLY.

Now that your website has begun to ramp up, I would consider these limitations about continuing to use the free version of WordPress.com for your blog…

• You are limited in how you are allowed to monetize your blog (you can not sell ads on your website).
• You do not own your free WordPress.com branded subdomain (e.g. https://yourwebsite.wordpress.com).
• Ads are placed on free websites and you do not make any money from it.
• You can’t upload plugins.
• You can’t upload themes.
• You can’t install powerful tracking platforms like Google Analytics (you are limited to using WordPress.com stats only).
• Your website may be deleted anytime if WordPress.com thinks you violate its terms of service.

For these reasons, I would consider switching from WordPress.com to the WordPress.org platform when your website starts to grow.

In a nutshell, WordPress.org give you the most flexibility, and the opportunity to monetize your blog, and you own it, versus WordPress.com, you have very limited flexibility and do not own your blog.  I use wordpress.org.

► If you don’t mind investing a small amount of money upfront for a custom domain and hosting, click here for the top 3 WordPress web hosts for WordPress.org. 

To Wrap It Up…

Remember, you have a unique voice that nobody else has to offer!

Keep these important tips in mind on your blogging journey:

• Consistency is key.
• Know the basics (i.e. keyword research, indexing your site into Google, optimizing your post for SEO, or simply going to the other articles I shared in this post).
• Write helpful content for your readers.
• Please don’t fall into analysis paralysis and overthink; keep it simple.

Doing these things brings traffic and the opportunity to earn money from your blog.

I wish you much success on your blogging journey!

With gratitude,

Linds

What other tips can you share on how to start a blog FREE? Let me know in the comments below. Your input means a lot and helps other fellow bloggers who read this post!

Thank You

You made my day being here today; thank you!

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About The Author

Linds is the proud mom of two little miracles, Mono Mono twin girls, and one AMAZING older brother! She is the founder and content creator of Mono Mono Twins, Intensive Therapy for Kids, and Co-Founder of The LENN Foundation, a 510c3 that helps children with cerebral palsy receive grants for intensive therapies to thrive. ♥

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. I only recommend deals or items I love because you might like them too! With my affiliate relationships, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting Mono Mono Twins!