Learning how to create a blog website for free can be very beneficial in this day in age because of the number of people that your website can be extended to. All over the world people are creating a name for themselves in the online space to help build their businesses or personal branding. It’s so much easier to reach your audience on a larger scale with the help of the internet since there are nearly 400 million daily active users.
What to expect
In this article, I am going to walk you through a step-by-step process on how to create a blog website for free. I will be discussing this using WordPress, choosing a theme, as well as posting your very first blog.
This process can take you about 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on your speed. Now once you do end up getting the hang of creating your first blog post, you will get much better at it. Now if you’re ready let me show you the steps I took to create this website you see here.
Step 1:
Choose your niche
Your niche is going to be the subject matter that you will be providing information on. Once you have a subject you are passionate about then let’s continue.
Now in this post, I am going to be demonstrating this on the Wealthy Affiliate platform which is what I use for all of my web functions. There are so many of them that you can choose to get you started but this one, in particular, offers free sub-domains, hosting, marketing strategies, and more.
>>Skip this step if aren’t using Wealthy Affiliate<<
Once you are on your Wealthy Affiliate dashboard on the left side, you are going to click where it says “websites,” and upon the top, you are going to click the + sign.
You will then have the option to purchase a domain or use a free sub-domain. No worries you can buy a domain name later on, for now, let’s continue to the next steps.
Now you will see where you can choose a theme right from the platform. Go ahead and choose a theme, I will show you where to change if you don’t like what you picked
Step 2 Decide on web hosting
If you haven’t decided on hosting options check out this deals page that will help you decide which hosting is right for you.
>>DEALS Page here<<
You can also read website hosting reviews below.
Now since this post is based on a FREE website here is a hosting platform you can choose to get you started.
Step 3 Choose your website’s appearance
You will then be taken to the main dashboard of WordPress where you will have a variety of menus. If you aren’t particularly happy with your theme to go ahead and change it, click on appearance + theme + add a new theme.
At the very top right you can also type in “blog” so you can see themes that closely match what would appear to be a blog site.
Once you see one you might want to customize and work with go ahead and click activate your theme.
Image of a WordPress dashboard.
Read this if you aren’t familiar with theme customization
If you aren’t familiar with WordPress customization, then let’s go ahead and add some plugins so you can have a fully responsive website. Some of these themes aren’t going to display how it’s shown on the actual preview which is why this is a good alternative.
Go ahead and download Elementor and Astra Sites since we are on the plugins page go ahead and add the following as well.
Recommended plugins
- Yoast SEO
- EWWW image optimizer
- Elementor
- Astra Sites
Once you have your plugins downloaded, go to the Appearance menu and look for Astra Site. Then where it says choose a builder to go ahead and scroll down to Elementor.
Activate your plugins
Once your plugins are activated, go to Astra Site on the dashboard to the left then on the top menu choose free or blog to have a complete website built for you. This theme is fully customizable.
Activate and import your FREE site
Once you have your theme go ahead and on the upper left facing you will see a button to activate and import your website as shown in the image below. Your website will then be fully customizable and responsive.
Remove unnecessary menus
Once your theme is activated, go ahead and customize your menu go to appearance + menu then go ahead and remove the unnecessary menus from your list and save it.
Your website will then look like this, I added a blog section and removed what I didn’t want to appear upon the top. This will give you an idea of what it will look like.
Step 4 Optimize for Search Engine Traffic [blog post ready!]
If you haven’t already heard of SEO, it’s a particualr keyword or phrase that is highlighted on your website. People are searching online for these words or phrases in hopes that they receive the answers they are looking for in a specific subject matter.
Monetizing your website with SEO is a billion-dollar industry since so many people are more comfortable with online shopping for products and services and or recommendations.
How would you know if your sites are readable or are lacking on the backend? This part of my post is going to discuss a plugin recommendation to help you properly optimize your website and make it SEO-ready.
Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is going to act as a guide for each post that you create making sure that it passes SEO standards. First, let’s take a more in-depth look at the settings.
Go to > SEO settings and click on Webmaster tools, there you will see four categories, let’s focus on obtaining a Google verification code.
Create a Google Console account that will help you measure your site’s performance
Once you sign up to Google Console go to your settings tab and retrieve the generated HTML tag to incorporate it into your website.
Then insert the HTML tag to your Yoast settings and save your changes. Now you can monitor your site’s performance.
>> learn how to test your sites speed here.<<
Step 5 Start your first blog post
Now for the good stuff, the start of your blog post. On the dashboard go ahead and click on post. You will see your screen look like this and it will have the add media button for you to add some photos. The top is where your heading goes, and you will see your word count on the bottom along with the date your post was created.
Take your time and explore the whole page so you can familiarize yourself with it.
NOTE: This is an older version of WordPress to have this layout please download the Classic Editor plugin.
The goal is to have your website checked green across the board with readability and SEO using your Yoast SEO plugin as your guide.
Step 6 Familiarize yourself with your screen
Understanding all functions on the backend of your dashboard is going to extend your visibility and your online reach. It will also help you customize your website much faster. Google and crawl engines can quickly identify the category of your website which also helps with SEO. Besides, you want your readers to immediately engage on great content so they can continuously go on your website which hence increases traffic.
As you scroll down your page, you are going to see where you have your readability analysis and your focus phrases. Try to get them all as green as possible. Keeping up with your site analytics is very beneficial for you and other social engagements.
Step 7 Add a Meta Tag
Meta tags are essential for your SEO as well; this tag is a structured code embedded in your website’s heading. You add meta tags on each of your blog posts so that readers can quickly identify what your post will be about. Make sure it’s short and catchy to catch the reader’s attention.
>>Click here to learn more on META TAGS<<
Step 8 Social recommendations
If you want to provide a product or service on your blog post, consider creating some professional profiles.
- Google My Business
- Facebook Business Page
- Linkedin Business Page
These are my top recommended professional profiles. These profiles will allow your customers to leave reviews on your products and services that you provide. Remember people are always looking for quality services that they would be able to rely on.
Check out this Google My Business training that will give you a better understanding of social engagement.
>>Click Here<<
Conclusion
To become proficient at blogging, posting, or anything you do, you have to research relevant facts. There are a ton of free resources online that you can use to get better.
There are hundreds of free online tutorials and places where you can research tons of information related to your niche. You have to put the work in and do some reading.
What has been the most rewarding platform for me in all areas of online presence is the Wealthy Affiliate platform. As I stated earlier I use this platform for all of my online functions. But if there is one that you like better please feel free to share.
Check out the list of FREE reads and tutorials you receive by just signing up.
Please leave your thoughts below if you have a favorite learning platform.
This covers a lot of stuff in a short period of time. Starting a website is much easier them people would think. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist or a computer guru to have an amazing site.
The most important thing people need is good training with step by step instructions. This is the format the WA offers. It is, in my opinion, the BEST step by step training platform available to the public.
Thank you so much for your comment, Ken. My goal is so everyone can benefit from my post if I can assist in any way please feel free to reach out.
Hmm… wealthy affiliate has changed since last time i had a go.
when i tried a free starter membership, i had two free siterubix sites and no option to add a domain.
i also was restricted to about 12 themes with no access to the vast quantity on wordpress.
I couldn’t install any plugins , i had to make do with all in one seo and akismet anti spam.
so to be able to fully customize a site with plugins and add a domain to my account for free, i will definitely have another go.
Are these really options for a free starter mebership?
Hi, Phil, thank you for your comment yes that is correct Wealthy Affiliate offers you free hosting with two sub-domains. The free version will give you access to functions and bandwidth space just as any other free services. You just have to seek which will be beneficial to you. In regards to creating a free blog post you still have enough resources to do that with the WA platform. There are other great platforms out there that you can use check out my deals page there are some free website options there as well.
What a nice post you wrote! I really enjoyed reading it and I could not be silent about your post so I decided to leave my comment here and say Thank You! For sharing this quality post with others.
Actually this is exactly the information that I was looking for about how to create a blog for free and when I landed to your website and read this post, it answered all my questions in details.
So I’m happy that you decided to write about this topic and share it with people. It’s very useful and can definitely be used as a great source for everyone.
I will come back to your website again for sure and I’m looking forward to reading your new posts.)
Thanks!
Hi Ali thank you so much for your comment it is great to know that I can help. 🙂
Wow! You’ve packed a lot of information into one post. I have already set up a couple of websites, but if I was a total newbie this would be super helpful to me. Even knowing what I know, I managed to learn a couple of new things from your post.
Have you tried any other SEO plugins besides Yoast? I have currently use all-in-one SEO and I’m wondering if there would be any benefits in switching to Yoast. I would appreciate your input on this as you clearly have a lot of website building knowledge!
Hi, Mariah so happy you found my post beneficial to you. I actually used all-in-one-SEO at some point. They both have a lot to offer when it comes to optimizing your website. I always go back to Yoast it’s one of my preferences.
Wealthy Affiliate has changed my life entirely. I realized that now I can create a marvellous website with no coding skills required. When I think that before joining WA I took a Udemy course on web development and went to the Inspect this element and I saw on every blog post around 2000 lines of code, I was like: “When I have the time to write even 500 lines of code!”.Luckily I didn’t have to do that as WordPress provides you with amazing customizable themes and plugins that can do the job for you!
Anyway, thank you, Viviane, for presenting in a simple way the initial setup of any website!
Cheers,
Sebastian
Hi, Sebastian thank you so much for emphasizing that. I completely agree Wealthy Affiliate has done a lot for me as well. I was able to create a few websites and monetize them to where I make some income. Not only that I was able to extend my services as a freelancer. Such a great way to connect with people in the online space.
This is really a great way to explain the step by step procedure, of how you can create your own online business. You have really laid out with you pictures how things look and then we can follow along. I think it is important for people to see the visuals, like you have provided. Great job and best of luck.
Thank you so much, Coralie, I wanted to create a more in-depth post on how-tos since I find that it can be extremely helpful for others to follow.
Hi! I love your website. It is such a great tool for those who are looking to build a website. We live in a day in age where people want to know what they are getting before they start up. You do a great job of sharing the whole process of building a website on Wealthy Affiliate.
It can be very scary at first. But one of the many strengths of WA is that they walk you through the set up steps. Click Click and your done!
You will not believe this but I have 23 website on WA!!! So I know the process well.
I have tried other website hosting companies. Crazy how complex it is even for a veteran like me. It takes me hours to set up my other sites. No kidding. With WA it takes me under 5 minutes.
Keep up sharing this great stuff!
HI, Ceddy thank you so much for your comment I complete agree Wealthy Affiliate is definitely a more functional platform for me. Thanks for sharing your experience 🙂
Hello, I’m i the process of building my website through Wealthy Affiliate. Still the most crucial and sometimes troublesome part of this for me is keywords. They are often not words but sentences or questions. I’m not as agile with Jaaxy as I’d like to be. Perhaps you could offer a video on how to use it. I know Wealthy Affiliate offers one, but the more, the merrier. I notice you did include a video in one of your posts, and that is very helpful. Your “contact us” feature is very reassuring. It’s probably the first thing I would look for after reading an article or two. I’m still confused over the difference between a website, a website name, and a domain. I know domain is the real estate. I guess a website resides in there. With the same name? Different name? Anyway, you’re on your way. Carole
Hi, Carole thank you so much for replying to my post. Yes, I know there can be a lot of components for building a website and creating web content. This is why I created s more functional site to help others find all the resources they need in one space. I have content created on domains and hosting and other useful post please give it a shot and check them out and see if this is something that might benefit you. Thank you so much for stopping by hope to see you again on the comments. 🙂
Thank you for such informative article. My knowledge of How to create a blog website for free has increased