How to Start a Blog: A Beginner’s Guide
Starting a blog can feel overwhelming when you’re faced with domains, hosting, WordPress, SEO and social media. The great thing is, you don’t have to learn everything all at once.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the exact steps I used to create Thrive & Save, from choosing a niche to publishing your first post.
When I started Thrive and Save, I spent weeks comparing blogging platforms and worrying about getting everything perfect. Looking back, I wish I’d focused on publishing useful content sooner rather than obsessing over design.
It took me a lot of reading and some time to figure it all out, so I would like to share what I have learned. At first, try not to think about the whole picture. Breaking it down into clear steps is better.
Choose Your Subject
Pick a subject you’re really into or know a lot about, something you can write about consistently.
Questions to help choose a niche
- Can I write about this for 2 years?
- Do people search for this topic?
- Can I help solve problems?
- Is there monetisation potential?
Ideas for Your Blog
- Beauty
- Blogging
- Education
- Entertainment
- Fashion
- Finance
- Nature
- Eco-friendly
- Health
- Lifestyle
- Parenting
- Travel
- Your personal story
If you want to know what other people are searching for, use the links below to find out.
Pick a Blog Name and Domain
- Choose a name that’s easy to remember and reflects your topics.
- Click the link below to check if the name is available or if someone already owns that name.
- Company Information Service
- Register a domain (like com) with a domain provider.
Choose a Blogging Platform
(This is software that helps you create your website without dealing with coding and technical skills)
Please be aware that WordPress.org and WordPress.com are very different sites. Below lists the differences between the two sites.
WordPress.org (Self-Hosted)
- Ownership – Full
- Plugins – Yes
- Monetisation – Full
- Cost – Hosting required
- Best for – Serious bloggers
WordPress.com (Hosted Service)
- Ownership – Limited
- Plugins – Limited on lower plans
- Monetisation – Restrictions
- Cost – Free option available
- Best for – Hobby blogs
Canva Websites – This is great for simple, visually appealing blogs without coding, but it currently has no e-commerce capabilities.
Get Web Hosting (if needed)
If you use WordPress.org, you’ll need a hosting service to store your site’s files. Make sure you get an “SSL” certificate, or sometimes it’s called “TLS”, when you buy the hosting plan.
An SSL certificate encrypts data between your website and visitors, helping keep information secure.
How Much Does It Cost to Start a Blog?
Typical annual costs:
- Domain: £10–£20
- Hosting: £30–£120
- Premium theme: Optional
- Email address: Optional
A beginner can often start for under £100 per year. I started by paying £82 for the domain and hosting for the year. The email was free, and I am currently using a free theme. Premium themes are around £20 – £100. This was done in 2025.
Checklist
- What is your subject?
- What is your blog name?
- Have you bought your domain name?
- Have you chosen/bought a blogging platform?
- Have you picked a difficult username and password for your accounts?
Design Your Blog
- Install a theme that is clean and mobile-friendly.
- Customise colours, fonts, and layout to match your style.
- Limit your colours to 3 or 4 and choose readable fonts, and keep it consistent across your site.
Install Plugins
Plugins are handy tools that can help you run your blog in different ways. There are loads of different plugins. Some are free, and they all include a description of how they can help your website. Some examples are below.
- Elementor website builder – This is good for building website pages.
- Cookie notice GDPR – this helps with privacy laws.
- Yoast SEO – This plugin can help improve your site’s SEO and make it easier for search engines to understand your content.
- Litespeed cache – Makes loading your pages quicker.
- Akisnet Anti-Spam – spam protection.
- WPForms – Helps you make forms on WordPress.
I am currently only using free plugins. If it looks like I can make money I might invest in some premium plugins but for now I am keeping costs down.
Add Legal Pages
- About me – it is a good way to tell your readers about you, about your blog or business.
- Contact me – this will help your readers to contact you.
- Cookie policy – how you use cookies.
- Disclaimer – it is used to specify to the readers that you are not responsible for any harm or misuse of information by the third party.
- Privacy Policy – it will tell the reader what kind of information your website stores from them.
- Terms & Conditions – these are the general guidelines for the use of your website.
- Refund and returns policy – Essential if you are selling anything on your page.
Now the legal pages I struggled with. Should I use something free or do I need to pay? So, I asked a group chat with other bloggers. The answer from them was pay! You could get a plugin for around £35 a year or use a legal as a service like termly for around £16 a month. However, I strongly recommend you do your research to avoid any legal issues and to stay complaint.
Checklist
- Have you designed your blog?
- Have you installed plugins?
- Have you added legal pages?
Plan and Write Content
- Make a content plan with topics and how often you will be posting.
- Most bloggers aim to post one to three times a week; however, quality posts and being consistent are more important. So, if you can only do one quality post a week, stick to that and don’t rush your posts.
- Write valuable, engaging posts that help your readers solve problems or share insights.
- Break up text by using headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs for easier reading.
- Make sure to use royalty-free photos or take your own photographs to avoid copyright issues.
Optimise for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
- Use keywords naturally in titles and text.
- Don’t forget to add meta descriptions and alt text for images.
- Add links to other posts and credible sources.
- The topic of SEO is massive. I haven’t fully got the hang of it. Here’s a link that could help you. and me!
- moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo
- Another website link that could help you is
- wordstream.com/keywords
- When I understand SEO better, I will update this section.
Promote Your Blog
- Add social media handles for the ones you want to use. Don’t try to do all the social media sites, as it will become overwhelming. Start with 1 or 2, get the hang of them.
- The advice on Google for Facebook is to post around 3 to 5 times per week. You can schedule your posts for the month in the content library.
- Whereas on Pinterest, the advice is 1 to 5 fresh pins per day. You can use the business scheduler to batch post, and this will spread it out through the week. This lets you get 4 weeks in front.
- Share your posts on social media regularly.
- Join online communities related to your topics.
Stay Consistent
- Post regularly, engage with readers, and update old content to keep it fresh.
Checklist
- Do you have a plan for posting?
- Are your posts optimised for SEO?
- Have you added social media pages?
- Are you posting consistently?
Monetise (Optional)
Once you have steady traffic, you can earn through
- Display ads
- Affiliate marketing
- Sponsored posts
- Digital products
- Online courses
- Freelance services
You will need loyal readers and credibility before you can do this. How long it takes to start earning depends on a lot of factors, most blogs earn little or nothing during the first year. Focus on helping readers before focusing on income. After around 12-24 months, you could be earning if you have quality content and good SEO.
With a lot of patience and consistency, your blog can grow into a creative outlet—or even a source of income.
When I am up to this stage I will definitely come back and add more to this section.
Further Reading:
- thriveandsave.co.uk/step-by-step-guide-to-job-searching
- thriveandsave.co.uk/a-guide-to-working-from-home-jobs
- thriveandsave.co.uk/cover-letter
- thriveandsave.co.uk/simplify-life
- thriveandsave.co.uk/tiny-life-improvements
If you have set up a blog, please let me know in the comments section if you have any good advice! It’s a massive learning curve for beginners!
