In this fairly comprehensive article we will discuss two questions:
- How do you create a WordPress blog yourself?
- And how do you make a blog successful?
These are two big questions.
Let’s start with the first question.
How do I create a professional and / or stylish blog?
And that includes these questions:
- How difficult is it to create your own blog?
- How long does it take to create a great blog?
- What does it cost to create your own blog?
- How do I adjust the design of a blog?
- And finally create a step-by-step plan for creating your own blog
How difficult is it to create your own blog?
Creating a blog is fairly easy. Completely with WordPress. Everyone can do it. In no time you can create a simple well-assembled WordPress blog.
And you can adjust the design of your website quite easily.
This is the design when you install WordPress (the design is called Twenty Sixteen).
How long does it take to create a great blog?
- With 10 minutes of work a simple version of your blog is online.
- With 20 minutes of work you have arranged all the necessary things and in theory you could already start blogging.
- In an evening or two you have selected, bought and installed a beautiful design and added all functions, such as social media sharing buttons.
How long you spend creating a blog depends on your wishes. You can be completely ready in 20 minutes, but you can also spend a few evenings adjusting the blog to your liking.
How much does it cost to create a blog?
Yes, you can create a blog for free. And if you are going to make a travel blog and want to share your story with just your friends and family, then a free blog is fine.
For the rest it is better to pay something. Especially if you want to earn money later with your blog. Or if you want to make a professional impression. Or if you want freedom and flexibility in terms of design, functionality and quality.
What do you pay for?
For hosting and a domain name (web address). Hosting is basically renting a piece of writing space on which your website will appear. WordPress itself is free.
If you opt for a free blog, then your blog is actually on the web address of someone else (you will then receive a domain name such as besteekoffie.wordpress.com instead of besteekoffie.nl). Your website will also be placed on someone else’s hosting with a free blog. They determine how much writing space you get and how many visitors you can receive. If you suddenly receive a lot of visitors, it can happen that your website becomes very slow or cannot even be reached.
And if something is free, then you are the product. It is possible that they will place advertisements on your website (and for which you will not receive anything). Whether you have to pay for everything that wants to change. Another font? Pay. Want to change something in the code of your website? Pay.
If you buy everything yourself, then you are completely in charge of your website.
And it doesn’t cost that much. For 10 euros a month you have everything you need.
How do I adjust the design of a blog?
WordPress works with themes. A theme is actually the design of the website and the corresponding functionality. It is the jacket of your blog. And you can easily change this jacket.
You can choose from tens of thousands of free and paid themes. And you can download and install those themes with a few clicks.
- You have business themes
- You have personal themes
- Themes for food blogs, fashion blogs and sports blogs.
- For photographers, writers and designers.
- Actually, there are themes for every profession.
The free themes are not usually very well developed in terms of design and operation. The paid themes are in general this. Those paid themes are also created by professional web designers. A paid theme costs around 50 euros. You can do that pretty well. You can also have a customized theme made, but then you quickly lose 1,500 to 3,000 euros. For beginning bloggers and entrepreneurs, such a large investment is not necessary in the beginning.
Angelique Chrisafis is the Guardian’s Paris correspondent. She is responsible for churning out quality articles based on her research while keeping an eye on the tech world. She likes technology, gadgets, and food. Works as an individual contributor to the team.
