This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links and images, at no extra costs to you. Please read the full disclosure here.

Whether you are a wannabe blogger or an author, blogging is not just a great way to start your own business but it can help you increase your book sales and provide you with additional income.

If you want to learn how to start a blog in 2021 but you’re not sure where to start then why don’t we begin with the basic tools to set up your blog and get you on the road to having a full-time fun job blogging, or part-time hustle for self-published authors.

1 | Choose Your Niche

As I’ve mentioned above, my blog is about books: my own books, books I like to read, writing and tips and advice about self-publishing.

However, if you don’t have any ideas on what to blog about, try and find something that interests you. Don’t blog for the sake of it or you will become disinterested. If you lose interest, you won’t want to blog and you won’t make money.

Here are some niche ideas:

• DIY
• Fashion and Beauty
• Food
• Health and Fitness
• Home and garden
• Lifestyle
• New mums/parenting
• Making money online
• Personal finance
• Travel

Or combine a few of the above into your blog, as I have.

2 | Choose Your Blog’s Platform

Fkmaddison.com is a self-hosted WordPress blog. This means my website is run on the WordPress.org platform, and not WordPress.com

• A free, none self-hosted, platform like WordPress.com, Wix or Squarespace are very limiting in the service they can provide you;
• You are only given basic features, which means you then need to pay to upgrade;
  Your website name will look weird – i.e., if I was on a free site my web address would look like this: fkmaddison.wordpress.com or fkmaddison.blogspot.com;
• Point 3 means your site looks unprofessional;
• If it looks unprofessional, it is harder for you to be accepted onto affiliate programmes (companies want professional people representing their products, which means no amateur sounding/looking blog sites);
• So, if you choose WordPress, choose WordPress.org (this does not mean you have .org at the end of your web address either. This is just the place where your blog runs from).

BUT before you start installing WordPress, check out Fashosts first:

3 | Choose Your Blog Host

Once you have chosen your niche to blog about and your blog platform, you will need a domain name and somewhere to host your blog. Confused?

Don’t worry, this sounds like jargon but it’s pretty straight forward.

All websites, including blogs, need a domain name. This is a website address, such as fkmaddison.com.

Secondly, the address/domain needs to be hosted. A host is a server that stores and serves your blog files via the internet. Think of this as where your blog lives online.

There are many domain names and hosting options out there, but personally, I use Fasthosts. They have a couple of price plans, but if you are just starting out you really only need the basic plan. Plus, with just one click, you can install WordPress through Fasthosts!

You can start with Fasthosts from as little as £2.50 per month!

4 | Choose Your Blog Theme

Now you have your platform, domain name and host, it’s time to choose your blog theme.

But what is a theme?

A theme is what your website looks like, from the front page to where your adverts are displayed, contact forms, social media icons et cetera.

You can get free themes from WordPress, but like free hosting options you are limited to what you can do and will always end up spending additional money to upgrade areas of your blog.

I chose to pay for my theme because:

• I wasn’t keen on the offered free themes, and I would end up spending time and extra money making it look better;
• I wanted something more professional, more tailored without having to do all the extra work;
• If your website looks good, people are more likely to stay on your website.

I chose the Pepper+ theme by Artisan Themes because it was SEO-ready (categories and tags are built-in, making it smoother for me to work with and easier for Google to search my site and rank it). The Pepper+ theme is really versatile and fun to use – including their array of module templates which helps me to customize the look and feel of my site, pages and posts.

Artisan Themes also provide you with insightful tools, including video tutorials and are always on hand to help you out if you get a little stuck with the setup. And if you don’t want to build the look of your site yourself, you can install one of their ready-made templates.

However, when it comes to the theme, it all depends on how much you want to spend at the outset. But I would invest this small amount of money to make your blog look as professional as possible from the outset.

Learn more about Artisan Themes in my post, Best WordPress Themes for Authors & Bloggers.

5 | Blog Logos

It is entirely up to you if you want a blog logo. Personally, because I am an author and I will be publishing books in more than one series and genre, I decided to not have one. However, if you are a business or want to remain anonymous, Canva.com is a great place to make a logo and it’s free (see point 8).

A lot of bloggers like to remain anonymous, and creating a logo is a great way to do this but will also make your blog and the subject(s) you write about look more professional.

6 | Writing Your Posts: SEO and Helpful Plugins

Once your blog is up and running it’s entirely up to you how may blog posts you write each week. But whether you aim to write 1 post weekly or 1 every day, I recommend planning your posts in advance. This way you are always prepped with posts to update your blog with and not stress at the last minute to get something written.

You will also need to brush up on your SEO (search engine optimisation) skills. This is vital if you want Google to send traffic to your website.

A great way to check that your site is search engine optimised is with the Yoast SEO plugin. This is the free version which is all you need as a beginner. Once WordPress is installed, all you need to do is click on add new plugin, search for the Yoast plugin and download it.

7 | Drive Traffic to Your Blog With Pinterest

Along with Google, you can start driving traffic to your blog via Pinterest.

Trust me, Pinterest is not just pretty pictures it’s also your friend when it comes to business.

Just like Google, Pinterest is a search engine. Everyone there is looking for pins on how to make recipes or get ideas for their wedding. You name it, there will be a pin on there for it.

So how does Pinterest help drive traffic to your blog?

If you don’t have an account already, head on over to Pinterest and set one up. Then make your profile a business account – and it’s totally free to do this!

With your business account set up, you can link it to your blog, Instagram and Youtube. If it’s not already taken, go with a Pinterest name that matches your blog name or something similar.

Some bloggers advise to create a minimum of 10 boards, but I would create as little or as many as you need to, depending on your niche and work from there. Anything on your Pinterest that is not relevant to your blog, delete or use the hide option.

Remember, Pinterest is a search engine and it needs to know that your boards and what you are pinning are relevant to your topic! Otherwise, it will get confused and send the traffic somewhere else – keep it simple and clear.

Now start pinning, but pin with intent! For every blog post you do, make 2-3 pins related to it and then pin and schedule those pins to your other boards, as well as group boards.

8 | Make Pinterest Pins with Canva

How do you make pins, I hear you ask?

To make my pins, I use Canva.com. It’s free and comes with loads of free template ideas across all social media.

Just type in Pinterest Pin to get started. Once you’ve completed your pin, download it to your computer and you’re ready to upload to Pinterest!

Click on this Canva link to join now and get a free Canva credit to a premium element.

If you are strapped for time or need more guidance, try my ready-made, SEO-ready Pinterest templates.

9 | Increase Your Blog Traffic with Tailwind Scheduler

And now it’s time to schedule your pins using Tailwind!

I LOVE Tailwind! It’s easy to use and saves you so much time!

Once you have pinned a new pin to your main boards, schedule it to re-pin to your other boards using Tailwind.

A pin has a lifespan of about three months, but the longevity of the pin can be increased if you use Tailwind to pin and re-pin over several months or seasonally. You can do this using the Smartloop tool on Tailwind.

This is the best way to drive traffic to your site as Tailwind will continuously help you to promote your blog posts through the pins on your Pinterest account, even whilst you sleep. Think of this as the number one tool to market your blog!

And don’t forget to schedule to some Tailwind Tribes – these, like Group boards, will help grow your reach, find new related content for your boards and meet like-minded people in your niche.

How to Start a Blog

Ultimately, don’t get scared off. A blog is simple to set up, you just have to come up with an idea, stick to it and start blogging.

But no one said it was easy. Setting up is the easy part, now you need to invest some time building your blog and getting it out there to your intended audience.

If you work full-time, set up a schedule on when to write your posts, when to post them and then market them through Pinterest and Tailwind.

And even if you don’t work full-time, stick to a schedule. You may have set it up to make you some money but it’s also meant to be fun. You don’t need to be spending every waking hour on it.

Start scheduling the days you blog and your blog ideas with my monthly, weekly and daily printable blogging planners.

And remember, blogging is not difficult but it takes time. Be patient and you will see the rewards!