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Jessica Slaughter

How To Start A Blog

Since you ended up on this page somehow, you’ve admitted that you’re at least kind of interested in starting a blog. It might sound like a totally daunting task, but the best way to find out if you want to have a blog is to just start one. You don’t need to have a whole business/finance/advertisement plan prepared, or even any writing skills, just a little motivation to try something that you could potentially fall in love with.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. You can read my disclosure by clicking here!

Starting a blog is actually extremely easy. (tldr: head here to set up your self-hosted blog in less than 20 minutes) You don’t need to know how to code, though you’ll probably learn a bit just out of curiosity. You don’t need a ton of money (the host I use costs just a few dollars a month, so fill a jar of coins and you’re covered), and it doesn’t have to be a full-time job (I’ll go months without posting, and then post 3 times in a week—you can literally do whatever you want).

While there are some free blogging platforms out there, like Blogger and WordPress.com (there are two versions of WordPress, one is free and the other requires a few dollars a month), I honestly recommend starting a self-hosted WordPress blog. Why?

  • There are endless possibilities for your blog in terms of design
  • If you get really serious and want to branch out even more, you can easily add a shop to your website
  • It only costs like, $5 a month. That’s like the cheapest hobby there is!
  • Tons of bloggers are making the switch to self-hosted WordPress, meaning you’ll be ahead of the game and jumping into a community of people on the same platform as you (so lots of help available!)
  • You won’t have to switch over later (which could end up costing a lot more money than you would’ve paid by just starting self-hosted)
  • There are tons of tutorials available if you ever get stuck, including on my blog

All you need to set up your WordPress is a spare half hour, and this handy dandy tutorial I wrote on setting one up with SiteGround!

Head here to learn how to set up your own WordPress blog!

Here are a few posts I’ve written to help you get started, and you can find the rest in here!

  • How To Start Making Money Blogging
  • How To Find A Beautiful Blog Design
  • Investments Worth Making For Your Blog
  • Websites That Offer Free Stock Photos For Your Blog
  • How To Find Your Blogging Niche

If you have any other questions about starting a blog, feel free to message me!

Jessica Slaughter Blogger

Hey there! I'm Jessica, a 22 year old Software Engineer at Google living in Seattle, Washington. Welcome to my blog! Expect a lot of college, blogging, career, and healthy living advice along with some mixed-in life ramblings!

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Disclosure

Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you click on a product link, I may receive compensation. This compensation comes at no additional cost to you, and as always I only recommend products I trust!

Jessica Slaughter is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.