Blogging may appear to be the type of activity (and a potential source of money) that requires no initial investment.
That, however, is a misunderstanding. You’ll have to pay for a domain name, hosting, and other services.
You don’t have to invest a lot of money to have your blog up and running. The monthly cost of hosting a website might be as low as $5 if you’re frugal with your money.
Of course, there’s a catch: if you get free themes and plugins, you’ll have to put in more time and effort to customize them to meet your demands.
Of course, there is one catch: if you get free themes and plugins, you will have to spend more time and effort customizing them to your requirements. There is not much time during the learning process, and there is a lot of homework to do in addition to blogging. For example, if you as a student need help with history, then you can turn to specialized sites that can qualitatively do the assignment for you.
But, exactly, how can you start a blog on a small budget?
Research For A Domain Name
In a word, a domain name is your website’s URL. Of course, it isn’t without cost. However, if you’re willing to be flexible and window-shop a little, it can be as low as $8-$12 each year.
Here’s a step-by-step method to getting a domain name at a reasonable price:
- Create a list of potential domain names. Keep them short (up to 15 characters) and avoid using numerals or hyphens. If you can’t come up with your own, you can ask a thesis writer from EssayAssistant, who can give you some good suggestions for names.
- Make sure they’re available. Visit GoDaddy, Google Domains, and Domain.com, among other domain registrars. Compare prices: depending on their popularity, prices may differ from one domain name to the next.
- Choose a top-level domain (TLD). Aim for a.com top-level domain. They’re always less expensive, and they’re also easier for people to remember. Fancy TLDs such as .art, .me, and .store can cost up to five times as much!
Keep in mind that the URL of your website isn’t the most important factor in its success. Yes, it must be memorable for people to remember it, but that is all there is.
Your name alone will not get you additional readers; only your substance will. As a result, don’t overthink it!
Select A Blogging Application
The blogging platform, which you’ll use to manage pages, write blog posts, and so on, comes next. There are two types of blogging platforms from which to choose:
- Content management systems for a fee (Wix, Squarespace). They usually include a domain name and web hosting as part of the package, so you won’t have to pay extra. However, depending on the plan, you may be limited in terms of storage space, bandwidth, and the adverts that are displayed, among other things.
- Content management solutions that are self-hosted (WordPress). ‘Self-hosted’ implies that you must purchase your domain name and pay for web hosting services. That means you’ll have to spend a little more time looking around, but the CMS is entirely free — and incredibly configurable.
So, which platform is the most cost-effective for a student? Without a doubt, it’s WordPress.
Bloggers and businesses alike choose this CMS because it’s free to install and use (and fairly user-friendly). No less than 43% of the internet is powered by it!
Choose Your Web Hosting Company
Assume you’ve decided to use WordPress. You must now locate a site hosting service. It’s a firm that manages and owns several servers.
Those servers will store the source code for your website and make it accessible to everyone online at any time.
Yes, there is free web hosting available. But don’t go there: if a thing is free, you are the product! You can get services for as little as $3 per month to $8 per month.
When you’re looking for web hosting services, here are five firms to consider:
- Bluehost
- HostGator
- Hostinger
- SiteGround
- DreamHost
Keep in mind that most web hosting companies provide a low-cost first year.
However, your annual costs may treble or even quadruple following renewal! So, before committing to a service, evaluate the so-called standard rates — transferring a website is a nightmare.
Obtain An Ssl Certificate For Yourself
Suppose your website does not have this certificate. In that case, search engines and browsers will automatically classify it as ‘not secure,’ and users who try to access it will see a frightening warning.
Because the SSL certificate encrypts all data sent between the user and the website’s servers, this is the case.
So, whether you like it or not, you must have this certificate. But where do you look for one?
Many web hosting companies include a free SSL certificate as part of their package. If yours doesn’t, Let’s Encrypt or SSL For Free can help you get it for free.
Every three months, you’ll have to renew the certificate manually.
Search For Free Themes And Plugins
When it comes to themes, WordPress is unrivaled: there are over 9,000 free themes available for your website.
You’ll save thousands of dollars in web development and design because they’re free to download and install!
However, you may need to devote an evening or several evenings to customizing the theme’s layout or style to meet your needs. But don’t worry: for 99 percent of adjustments.
If you go with WordPress, you’ll have access to over 59,000 free plugins. They’re similar to the tools you can add to your toolbox to make it exactly what you need.
Here are five must-have plugins for free:
- Updraft – for automated backups
- Yoast SEO – for search engine optimization
- MonsterInsights – for integrating Google Analytics into the dashboard
- Elementor – for drag-and-drop website building
- WPForms – for creating forms
Get Free Promotion For Your Blog
Contrary to widespread assumption, you don’t need to spend money on Google or social media ads to generate visitors to your site.
You can do it for free, and you’ll almost certainly get more high-quality organic traffic. Here’s how to do it:
- Your online presence. Share your blog entries on social media and encourage your friends and family to do so. But it is desirable to put up posts at a certain time.
- Working together with other bloggers. Please make contact with other bloggers in your niche and offer to cooperate on a project or write a guest post for them.
- SEM (search engine marketing). Using SEO to increase the number of people who see your content isn’t difficult. All you have to do now is brush up on the fundamentals with Moz, HubSpot, or Yoast’s free online courses.
- The creation of links. This method essentially entails posting links to your material on other websites. You can accomplish that by answering questions on Quora and Reddit, leaving comments on YouTube, or creating a blog article on Medium.com.
Final Thoughts: What’s Next?
Once you’ve completed the steps above, you’re still at the start of your journey to become a famous blogger. But if you try hard enough, you can become famous in just six months and start monetizing your blog.
There are several pitfalls you’ll find along the route, so here are three more things to keep in mind:
Produce high-quality material. While keywords are helpful, the most crucial goal is to write entertaining pieces. Also, focus on evergreen content, which is content that has a continuous level of interest over time.
Maintain a strict editorial schedule. Your readers will expect new content regularly. This calendar will assist you in sticking to a schedule and providing them with what they desire.
Test, review, and make changes as needed. Let’s be clear: your first ten blog entries aren’t going to blow your target audience away. To figure out which forms and themes are the most interesting for your users, you’ll have to trial and error.