Around 5 years ago my lawyer buddy Jonathan Bunge and I set up a blog that was dedicated to lovers of Star Wars and for people who loved to collect memorabilia. My memory of that time was that it took us weeks to try and set up our own blog as we had absolutely no technical ability whatsoever and we were relying solely on forums and online guides to show us how to get set up needless to say, it didn’t look great.
I decided to help my 10 year old set up a blog recently and I was absolutely stunned how easy it now is and in fact, it took my just under an hour to go from nothing to a fully designed blog. If you want to set up a blog and you’re worried that you don’t have the technical know how then don’t worry as it is very simple, and here is how.
Buying the Domain
First step is to head over to GoDaddy where you can buy the domain name that you want (www.janedoe.com for example. You simply search for the domain that you want and if nobody already owns it, click buy. This shouldn’t set you back more than $15.
Hosting the Domain
Every domain in the world needs to be hosted by someone, it is kind of like renting land where you can put your house. With a quick Google search you can find a host and this shouldn’t cost more than $2 each month.
Content Management System
The reason why you don’t need much technical knowledge to se up your very own blog is of content management systems such as WordPress which allow you to manage and design your site in simple terms. Once you have decided on your content management system, you can start to put together the blog which people are going to see.
Designing the Site
Don’t worry too much when it comes to designing your site as the CMS makes it very easy for you to do so. You can easily add and change fonts, colors and designs on your site from preloaded options. Equally, if you are in any doubt or lacking creativity when it comes to your web design, you can use one of the templates that has already been designed for you and then tweak it to your liking. If you want to find some inspiration then have a look around at some of your favorite websites and borrow their color scheme or layout.
Content
The final piece of the puzzle is to add content to your site and the beauty is that you can add absolutely anything that you like on whatever subject matter that you see fit. Here you can write articles or add photos and videos to your blog and the only key to doing so is that you are putting high quality content on your blog and that you are giving you readers value.
And that ladies and gentlemen is how to set up a blog at speed.