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Are you new to blogging, mama?
I’m sure you read a lot of mom blogs, go on Facebook, and hang out on Pinterest when your little one is sleeping eh?
You see everyone online with their blog, and you’re getting the itch. You want to join this awesome community. I can’t blame you.
I’ve been blogging for two years (but only blogging on this blog for under a year) and let me tell you, starting a mom blog was the best decision I ever made.
I love blogging so much, and that’s probably why two years ago I decided to become a freelance writer. I blog for a living, and it’s been the best decision I made for my family and me.
You know why? My family has been sick. We’ve all had the flu, stomach flu, icky colds, low-grade fevers and more for over a month! Because I have a blog, I can take care of my twins at home every day, and not have to worry about going back to work, hiring a babysitter or taking them to day care.
I can stay home, make an online income and take care of my twins. Do you want that mama? I know you do.
You can make money on your blog as long as you’re willing to put in the time and effort to grow your blog. If you’re not sure if you can, just look at these bloggers who started out just like you and grew their blog to thousands a month!
- Abby from Just A Girl and Her Blog – $40,124 in one month
- Rosemarie from The Busy Budgeter – $32,469 in one month
- Lena from What Mommy Does – $9,997 in one month
- Jenn Snyder of Women Winning Online – $2,419 in one month
I’ve had so many moms email me personally telling me their story for wanting to start a blog, but they had no idea what to do or where to go.
If you want to start a mom blog, don’t worry, it’s easy, quick and you don’t need to know any tech stuff. Trust me. I’m tech illiterate, and I was able to start a blog with SiteGround in under 10 minutes!
Okay.
Let’s break this down and start from the beginning!
1. Figure Out Your Niche
One thing you need to think about when starting your blog is what you plan to write about. This can be a challenge for a lot of people. I struggled too.
When I first started Twins Mommy, I decided to write for work-at-home moms with little ones. But, this soon turned to mom bloggers who wanted to become mompreneurs. And even now, I’m honing my niche to make sure I focus on traffic growth, income growth, and email list growth. I will, of course, talk about my twins and being productive, but it’s not my blog’s focus.
You might be wondering, why do I even need a niche? There’s a lot of lifestyle blogs that talk about career, travel, beauty, parenting and DIY.
For your first blog, though, I suggest you find a niche. You know why? It will help you grow your blog and your following quicker.
People will remember you when they can think of your whole blog and what you stand for.
So, to find your niche, ask these questions:
What am I passionate about?
What’s that one thing that keeps you up at night? Look at your hobbies and find out what you enjoy and can write about it for a long time.
You can also look at previous experience to help you decide your niche. My background is in education and being a mama, but my online experience is in digital marketing. When I created Twins Mommy I drew from those experiences.
Is there a need for my niche?
This is a little bit more challenging. How do you find out if there’s a need when, on Pinterest, you see like a gazillion blogs that talk about the same thing? One easy way is to check on Facebook. Go to a few groups you belong to and use their search function.
Just type in your niche or keyword that represents your blog and see if there are lots of questions surrounding that topic. If so, you have a viable niche!
Can you monetize it?
Listen, we all love blogging for fun, but if you really want to stay home with your little one or be able to quit that 9-5 job you hate, you need to find a way to monetize your niche. For some, that’s doing sponsored posts, for others, it’s affiliate marketing, and for others, it’s starting a service (like me!).
Answer those three questions, and that should help you find your niche.
2. Choose a Blogging Platform
This site is a WordPress.org blog and while there are other blogging platforms to choose from – SquareSpace for example – for the sake of this tutorial, I’ll walk you through how to start a WordPress.org blog.
A WordPress.org blog requires hosting and this post walks you through how to set up your hosting using SiteGround.
I recommend starting a blog with WordPress because:
- Most sites are WordPress sites (like The New Yorker and even Beyoncé!)
- You have more options to customize your site with WordPress plugins and thousands of themes to choose from (both free and paid) to make your blog look the way you want it to.
- There is a lot of support to help you with your WordPress blog. There are YouTube videos, blog posts and WordPress forums – not to mention me! – that can help you with your blog’s theme and site.
3. Choose a Domain Name
This is the fun part, mamas! This is where your creativity comes out of the bag and can play 🙂 It’s time to create your website’s name. What are you going to name your blog? This will be what you type in the address bar – http://yourblogname.com.
It’s probably a good idea to have your niche somewhere in your website name.
But, if you take a look at my blog’s name – Twins Mommy – this doesn’t scream helping moms become mompreneurs!
So, don’t spend days thinking of the perfect name. Make sure, though, to have a couple of names in case the .com is already taken. I also suggest trying to get a .com since that’s the most common and easy to remember ( just make a list for now. Once we get into starting a mom blog, I’ll show you how to get your domain name!).
As a rule, make sure your domain name is simple, short and easy to spell, and relates to your overall brand.
Some of my favorite mom blog names are:
Kids, Cash, Chaos
Crazy Life With Littles
Living For Naptime
Okay! Now it’s time to create a blog.
4. Time to Start a Mom Blog with SiteGround and WordPress
When I first started Twins Mommy I wanted to try a secure and reliable web host and SiteGround is one of the best hosting companies out there and a great value too, mamas!
I had no problems with them even when my blog traffic started growing a lot, which is great because I don’t want my site to be slow.
Why Choose SiteGround?
There’s a lot of other hosts to choose from, so why choose SiteGround to host your blog? There are three main reasons why I started my mom blog with SiteGround.
1. Their Uptime is 99.99% – That’s Amazing!
It sucks for bloggers when their blog goes down.
I mean, you’re missing potential subscribers, readers and customers. Yikes! But, with SiteGround, they have an incredible uptime – 99.99%.
In fact, over the past year, SiteGround’s 99.996% uptime means they’ve only been down for about 20 minutes total! Let’s just say this is an amazing feat that many other hosts can’t even compete with.
Your blog won’t be down when you need it up the most, mamas!
2. They Have 24/7 Support For All of Your Questions
If you have a problem or question, you don’t have to wait over an hour for a representative. SiteGround’s fantastic tech support will answer your questions any time of the day or night, and do it quickly.
You can choose to phone or chat online with their tech support team. Since their support team is available 24/7 you have access to their support team all the time.
If you’re a mom, I suggest the chat option in case your little one wants to test our their lungs 🙂
3. SiteGround is Equipped with SuperCacher – The Uber Best Thing for Bloggers
Your blog will get traffic mama! Don’t think that it won’t. Whether it’s 5 people a day or 500 people a day or even 5, 000 people a day (crossing fingers!!!), SiteGround’s SuperCacher can handle a viral pin or a boost in your traffic.
According to SiteGround, your site can be:
- 4x faster – your blog will have hyper speed power mamas!
- Be able to “handle up to 100 times more hits” – with SiteGround’s SuperCacher, your site is cached so it can serve more visitors. I know, it’s getting all geeky up in here, but just think FASTER website.
- Improved – with SiteGround and their improved site tools, you’re site will just be better equipped for a better user experience.
Note: SuperCacher is available on the GrowBig plan and higher (which I highly recommend)!
So, you see, starting your blog using SiteGround for your hosting has a lot of great features for you, mama! Psst…there’s something else that I love about SiteGround, but I have to wait a bit until I tell you about it!
Okay. Are you ready to get started? Follow this quick tutorial and you can get your blog up and running in 10 minutes! And for moms, that’s the perfect time before you have to get back into mom-mode.
Before we begin, the best way to follow this tutorial is to also do it with me! So click over to SiteGround right now and follow along!
Step 1: Choose Your Plan
SiteGround has three plans to choose from: StartUp, GrowBig and GoGeek. The most basic plan is the StartUp, but the plan I recommend bloggers running WordPress start with is GrowBig.
If you use my special link, you will save 60% off the regular price!
**when you’re on SiteGround’s plan page, hover over the highlighted links and you can see exactly what the features are for each plan***
If you want the best performance for your WordPress site – or if you think you’re going to have more than one website (which you eventually will…making new sites is sooooo addicting) – choose the GrowBig plan with included SuperCacher. This is the plan I use, and it’s also very budget-friendly – starting at $5.95 a month!
It comes with more space and resources, as well as premium features like the SuperCacher I talked about earlier. (Can you tell I love the SuperCacher? Be honest mamas, don’t you just hate slow websites?!)
If you’re a brand new blogger and you just want to get your new blog up and running, the StartUp plan starts at only $3.95/month.
This plan is great for you if you’re bootstrapping your online biz and need to keep expenses down!
Finally, if you want to get your geek on, the high-performance GoGeek plan is $11.95/month to start. If you’ve already got an existing high-traffic site, if you’re a developer who loves advanced features or if you’re running an ecommerce site that demands PCI compliance, you’ll get top-of-the line performance and support with the GoGeek plan.
When it comes to support, SiteGround is known for their insanely fast, and insanely helpful support – but the GrowBig and GoGeek plans come with even more priority support…something to keep in mind for the novice blogger.
Many people don’t think of this, but you can lock in the special discounted pricing for longer than one year. Yup, that’s right mamas. Choose the 2-year or the 3-year term for big savings up front. And bonus points…you won’t have to worry about a hosting bill for another 2 (or 3) years!
Click on the Order Now button for any of the plans. This will take you to step 2.
Step 2: Choose Your Domain Name
Remember the list you made of potential website names? Your domain name is what people will remember you by when they are on Pinterest or Facebook.
It’s also what will set your brand apart from others. So, when someone thinks of your site’s name, it should represent your brand. As I stated already, Twins Mommy isn’t such a great domain name since I changed my niche and decided to talk more about business than twins. But, I am still building a brand with Twins Mommy. People “know” me for my strategies to grow a blog.
When you get to this page, you can use your existing domain name or pick a new domain name.
Type in your website’s name, and it will check if it’s available. You can pick your domain extension like .com, .org, .net, but I highly suggest you stick with .com since it’s easier to brand and remember.
If your website name is available, you can move on to step 3.
Step 3: Your Account Info
Fill out your account and client information.
Next, fill out your payment and purchase information (make sure you pick the 12 month period (or longer) in order to get the 60% discount for the whole year).
At the bottom are a couple of Extra Services that you can choose to keep or not – they’re pretty self explanatory so if you don’t need them, you’ll save a few dollars! At the bottom is your total for a year’s worth of hosting.
Below the title, make sure you click the box that you agree to the terms of service, and then click Pay Now.
Congrats mama! You now have hosting for your blog! Easy-peasy right? Now you just need to install WordPress and start getting creative with those color palettes and designs for your new blog.
But wait, remember when I told you there was one more awesome feature that I like about SiteGround? Well, if you’re a total wreck when it comes to tech (like me) then the tech team at SiteGround can set it up for you! Wha-what? Yes.
All you need to do is go to “live chat” and talk to a SiteGround representative. Ask them if they can set up your WordPress site and send over your login details…that’s it! In about 15 minutes you’ll have access you new blog mama!
Install WordPress
If you want to configure WordPress yourself, you can totally do it – it’s easy too!
First, got to the My Accounts tab and click on Go to cPanel.
Next, click on WordPress in the Autoinstallers section.
Click on the blue Install button.
After install, fill in the information in the next screen.
- Choose Protocol – generally keep it the same – http://
- Choose Domain – choose your domain name from the choices in the drop-down menu – but, most likely the first choice you see is the one you want.
- In Directory – unless you know you want this, leave it blank.
- Site Name – This is the name of your site you picked out earlier. You can change this later.
- Site Description – A brief description of what your site is about, or you can leave this blank. Again, you can change this later.
- Admin Username – This will be the name you use to log into your WordPress blog (or you can always use email address here)
- Admin Password – This is the password to access your WordPress backend (your blog’s dashboard). Choose a strong, but easy-to-remember, password.
- Admin email – Enter your email address
- Choose Theme – While you can install your theme right in SiteGround, I suggest not installing any theme until you’re in the backend of your WordPress blog. There are many free themes to choose from so you can find one that will fit your brand easily!
Click Install and there ya go!
You did it, mama! Now, you can log in with your username (or email) and password!
Boom! You Have a Mom Blog!
Are you excited? I know when I started my blog I had about a million topics to write about!! ha..well not that much. But, I was excited and rearing to start publishing posts.
Now what?
Here are some posts in my Blogging Basics series that might help you:
- Blogging Basics: Why Every Blogger Needs a Gravatar (And How to Set One Up)
- Blogging Basics: The Best Types of Posts to Have on Your New Blog
- Blogging Basics: How to Write a Blog Post That Gets a Ton of Comments
I want to hear from you – when you set up your blog tell me about it and make sure to give me your link! Email me or leave a comment or find me on Facebook or Twitter!
As a thank you, check out Start | Grow | Earn – a 6 day free email course for new bloggers. Start your blog, grow your blog and earn from your blog today!
Start | Grow | Earn – 6 Day Free Email Course (+93 Freebies!)
Hi, do you have any advice for me? I would like to start a blog on showing people step by step using pictures on how to make crafty things. Thanks Rene from Canada
Hi Rene!
Thanks for stopping by! There are many wonderful blogs about crafting. You can totally do this and share it on Pinterest since it’s very visual! Good luck!
Elna, thank you for this information! I am confused (I am not techie). I tried WP and I had 48 hours of well you can guess. Why did you suggest wp.org? The one thing I am really confused about is the email. Do I have to use the email created by SG or WP?
Hi Peggy!
Yes, I would suggest self-hosted, which is WordPress.org. I know, it’s totally confusing and doesn’t make sense eh? As for your email, you can set it up with your hosting provider (SiteGround), but most people don’t. They use an email service provider like MailChimp to start their email list. What you want from your provider is a domain email address. This is your site’s email address. So, for example, myname@twinsmommy.com (my blog). If you need help I’m sure SiteGround can do it for you!
Hi Elna,
Thank you posting these insightful tips. Although I’m not yet a mom, I wish to start blogging soon. However, about the sites you can use to blog, what do you think about wix? Because with wix you don’t have to pay anything except if you want to buy your domain name. Can I drive traffic to my blog through wix? Because you mentioned other websites and I was wondering if I can have all the advantages the other sites offer if I use wix since I’m broke. And will I be able to get some money through wix again? or? whats your take on this. Thank you
Hi!
Sorry, I don’t know much about wix. All I know is that WordPress is the most popular content service platform. Maybe someone else can help?
I loved your step by step guide on how to set up a blog! I’ve heard about blogging and it sounded really difficult as far as set up went but you made it really easy to understand. After reading your post I thought long and hard if I would have anything to offer in a blog; then I remembered I’ve been looking for a way to educate and tell people about my experience using essential oils and herbs in every day mommy life. I have a 2 year old little girl, husband, family and friends that know to come to me with questions on EO or herbs for ailments but I have been itching to share with more people. I think that blogging is the way to go and with your tutorial it gave me the last push I needed. I will post my website soon for you to check out and look forward to following your blog as well for tips and tricks. Thanks again 🙂
Hi Ashley!
Thanks a bunch mama! <3 I think that niche would be good for your blog!
Passion is SO important to this recipe, especially in 2017! There are so many blogs out there now that even if yours is successful, it will probably take a little time to get traction. The easiest way to keep going through that initial growth period is to write about something you love and want to educate people about. It can be a slow grind, but if I’ve learned anything it’s that people can recognize passion and are drawn to it. Just keep putting it out there, and followers will come!
Hi Elna,
Thank you for sharing this wonderful information. I just started my own blog and this information was very helpful! Thank you.
Congrats Ashna!
I can’t wait to read your first post!
Hi Elna,
A friend of mine has been suggesting that I start a blog for quite a bit of time now . I’m actually thinking of it. Your post was super informative. It looks a bit overwhelming as a first timer. I wouldn’t even know wherected to start. I’m a mom in brooklyn raising a 3 1/2 yr old girl , my girl who’s 7 months , my 8yr old pitbull and of course my husband so I have 4 kids, lol. And we are vegan.
Hi Yesenia!
I totally suggest you take the email course. It’s more guided and takes it a bitter slowly since it breaks up the tasks!
this is fantastic, ive always wanted to have my own business at home, but can i choose some other niche like a product to sell from a big company like Amazon and still use your process same steps, thank you.
I am so excited to start my blog but I am curious how do you initially get traffic to your blog? When someone googles a topic that is close to your blog post does it pop up? What would be some examples?
Hey Anna,
Google is the primary platform to search for topics but it can be hard to be ranked in Google as a brand new blogger. Instead, I would focus your keyword strategy on Pinterest! Check out my free traffic accelerator course that will walk you through the steps you need to put in place for major traffic growth! https://twinsmommy.com/traffic-accelerator-challenge/
Every question I had about starting a blog led me to one of your posts. Thank you so much for making it so simple to get so much valuable information in one place! I’ll be following you on every form of media to stay up to date and have all the information at my fingertips! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
You’re welcome Sara!
So happy you found some answers to your questions. Starting a blog has a lot of information and can be overwhelming!
You’re welcome Sara!
So happy you found some answers to your questions. Starting a blog has a lot of information and can be overwhelming!
Hello,
I have started blogging myself. I am trying to find out the basic problems that my blog is having and looking for solutions. Also, I’m searching for some basic things like themes and other stuff.
I have read your whole article, I am looking forward to getting a positive result after performing this myself.
Can you suggest me any basic idea that I might need in the future as a new blogger?
Thank you
Hey Jamie,
Congrats on starting your blog already! As a new blogger, maybe you need Tailwind or an email service provider like MailChimp or ConvertKit?
This is not a comment, but an inquiry.
In one of the courses you’re offering READY SET BLOG for TRAFFIC, one of the question is if the course work for international bloggers? and you said it’s geared for English speaking audience.
Now, when I am out of Canada, and is in Jamaica where I spend some time it the winter months will I be able to access the course?
Hi Audley,
This course is geared for any blogger with a blog online 🙂 I say English Speaking as I’m teaching in English. But you can use those tactics in your native language. As for accessing the course, yes you can access it in Jamaica as long as you have internet connection and the URL of the course.
Hi Elna, I’m a stay at home mom, but to a 17 yr. Old and a husband lol! That’s like another kid!! I really want my own blog I have so much time on my hands now that my son is older and my husband is a major loner! I’m just really intimidated by all the writing cause I need to brush up on my writing skills. And I learn best if someone tells me how to do thing verbally. when I read here how to do it I get overwhelmed because I’m frightened I will not understand clearly. Please help!! Thank you, Carla
Hey Carla,
Thanks so much and YES, a hubby can be another child (I should know) 🙂 If you need help setting everything up go ahead and join the free blogging course at the bottom of this post. It will walk you through step-by-step and give you a lot of freebie guides and things. I even give you a WordPress guide so you can have your site up and running in no time.
Hi Elna! I loved your article. My case is maybe similar to some other moms. I’m a mom of 3, working now, barely have time to spend with them because of my job😞, but if I don’t work, no money gets in. I would love to start a blog, but I’m still really unsure if I’m gonna be good at it.
I think I could share tips when traveling, budgeting, kids, school, everything all moms talk about, but I think I’m not getting my niche like that right? Is it too wide open topics to share ? Should I think on one or two topics max?
Hi Andrea,
Congrats on your three kids! Cherish those moments for sure! I think starting a blog is a great idea for you. As for your topics you can be a lifestyle mom with all of those topics. Then in a couple of months you can see which topic is most popular and then write mostly in that niche! Good luck!
Hi Elna! Really enjoyed reading your post – so informative yet easy to understand.
I’m a mama of 8 (ages ranging from 6 months to 10 years!) As you can imagine my days will range from “Awwwww” to “Aarrrgghh” in a matter of seconds. Besides keeping my kids, my husband and myself (almost barely haha) alive – I am passionate about my faith as a Christian. I also took up a network marketing business which I do struggle with as I’m a bit of an introvert so the outside world tends to intimidate me (just a tad). However, the challenge of building a network marketing business is the “circle” outside my everyday Mummy/Wifey “square” – meanwhile my church duties as a piano player and choir director are also in the mix there somewhere somehow.
I havea passion for putting my thoughts onto paper (although I may need to brush up on grammar haha). Should I focus on just one angle of my collage of a lifestyle or is there a way I can create a niche by combining my interests/duties/lifestyle into the one blog? Which by the way I’ve never attempted to write one before, causing my Facebook friends to have no choice but read my overly long statuses on their newsfeeds instead 🙄😅
Any input would be tremendously appreciated!
Hi Eva!
What a nice story! Wow, eight kids…congrats and let me give you a hug. My twins are such a big challenge I can’t imagine throwing in a few more! 🙂 Blogging is a great way to get your creativity out and have some fun.
As for a niche, you can do a lifestyle type of blog. Blog about different topics and see which topics are attracting more traffic. From there you can focus your blog in that vein! Good luck!
Hi ! We just started our blog too! We will read your others post ‘Blogging Basics series’. We will add personal stories soon. Thank you! http://www.newmommag.com/
Mag,
How great! I can see this being a big blog for a lot of moms. Can’t wait to see it evolve.
Hi:
Thank for the tips on how to create a blog! I am new to this “world” and I have so much to learn. There is a bunch of new terminology that I need to understand, but there I go! I just publish my first post!!!! It is pretty excited! Thank You!
Evamarie,
Congrats! So happy for you! Enjoy blogging.
I just started my mom blog last month ! It’s been great to connect with other moms!
https://dailydoseofmotherhood.com
Hi Tinicia,
That’s fantastic! So happy you took the plunge and started a blog!
Hey Elna!
My name is Inna and I’m thrilled to be a mom. I only have 3 months to go and I am joining the bandwagon of amazing women on this world. However, I am not a newbie in the blogging world. I’ve been blogging since I was in grade school but stopped during college. Now I am back again, and hopefully you can check my blog out. Please let me know what I can improve.
Congrats Inna on your expected little one!
Your blog is cute and refreshing. It’s clean and easy to navigate! So glad you took blogging up again! Good luck!
Love, love, love, this. Just started my mom blog!
Hey Janice!
Oh yea! You go mama!
Hi Elna
Brilliant actionable advice.
I only have a tablet ATM. Can I set up my website using my tablet ? Hard at
work saving up for a laptop.
I’m very keen to set up my website. So I’m eagerly awaiting your response.
Hey!
Yup you can start a blog on your tablet!
Hello Elna
Let me first start off saying Thank You for your clear and concise instruction on starting a blog, I found it quite informative. I was employed for 14 plus years with the gov’t and lost my job 2 wks before Christmas behind being a nursing mother in the workforce and a strong female. I am now a mother of a 2 yr old and a 3 mnth old and a full time homemaker to them and my truck driver husband. The daily challenges that come with our dynamic life style demanded learning on the fly and relying on social media sites and support groups to maintain a successful and proficient household. I am finding it a chore to narrow down my niche for my passion of starting my blog. Any suggestions that you may have I thank you in advance.
Hi Melanie!
Congrats on persevering! Yes, my life is crazy too with twins that are 4 years old. I have to hold my tongue a lot!!! 🙂 As for a niche, what you can do is create a lifestyle blog at first. Blog your heart out and figure out what you like to blog about. Also, find out if it’s profitable. Are there services or products in that niche? I hope that helps!
Thanks for your clear instructions on how to get started with a blog. Many people think it will be difficult but you showed how simple it really is to get going.
The most challenging part is usually choosing a niche market and figuring out a great domain name!
Thanks again!
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Yes, finding a niche is difficult, but I find just blogging about topics that interest you first helps. From there you will realize what you really like to blog about, OR what type of people are coming to your blog and engaging with you. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi, Just stumbled upon your blog from Pinterest and believe me I am loving each post of yours. So I am certainly going to stay here for long and read your posts. I have also recently started my blog and that’s why I am pretty excited.
Hi Elna,
I really enjoyed your write-up. I am a Nigerian and I’ve been looking forward to starting a blog. How do I monetize my blog? I have a 6 months old daughter and would love to make income working from home. I am comfortable with the prices of SiteGround. Am I eligible to starting a blog from your link?
Hi!
Yes, monetizing your blog is a great strategy for new bloggers. You can do affiliate marketing or offer a service. I started by offering a service and then moved on to affiliate marketing.
Good luck!
Hi elna i must say and admire thst your an amazing writer, i am from Italy and stay home mom of 5 months old dolly Angel. I need to know few things i am not clear about is their any fee to pay to WordPress to or its only siteground as i am a little confuse here another question does SiteGround work with the same accuracy to European countries like Italy. I am interested in an yearly plan using your link.
Your post is really helpful
Hi Nido,
I’m sure you’ll be able to use SiteGround as your web hosting in Italy! Try it out and see!
Hi Elna,
You really know your stuff. I like the sound of Siteground and the prices do seem very reasonable. I wondered if it possible to use in the U.K.? Sometimes when you have to add the zip code or postcode in U.K it can cause problems in that it stops you setting the account up, therefore, you then cannot carry on at all.
I have tried creating websites before as an affiliate. But it didn’t work out for me because of a very tight budget at the time. I learned a lot and now I see it as a positive thing.
I have been toying with the idea of doing another blog and found yours on Pinterest where you are indeed pinned for easy access for me.
You have given me a renewed feeling of confidence.
Hello Elna,
Thank you for sharing such informative article.
Starting a blog is a great way to share your story as a mother.
Keep sharing 🙂
Hi Elna,
I am a mother of a 16 month old boy and i found that during my pregnancy and now raising a child i have become very knowledgable when it comes to mommy hood. i find that a lot of my friends ask me many questions that vary from different topics and with great delight i answer them or find an answer for them. I am very passionate about it and think that running a blog is definitely a part of my calling. I am also very religious and cultural and i wonder how i can incorporate all that into a blog !
Hi Dolly!
Those are great topics to do for your blog. Christian lifestyle blogs are great! Good luck!
Very great read. I’m so excited to start my new blog and this post helped me so much.. I was stuck on finding a web hosting and now I’m definitely going to use Site Ground thanks to you. I’m still in the process of making profile pics and details for my social media sites but I’m getting closer and closer. Thank you for this post! 🙂
Hi Brandi!
Hooray! So happy you found a good hosting for your blog! SiteGround is reputable and great for bloggers!
Hi Elna,
I am so enthused by everything that I am learning so far. I must admit that I am a total newbie at blogging but have always been interested in it.
My question is this. Can I be successful at blogging while living in the Caribbean? I just keep second guessing myself and wondering whether or not this can work. I believe it will. I guess I am just hunting for reassurance.
I am a primary school teacher and mother of a six (soon to be seven) year old and an eighteen month old. Both of whom are very hyperactive. I also have a brother who is autistic and being the eldest of three, I help to care for him. How do I harness this into a blog from my island home and make it work? Or should I blog about my island home as a great vacation destination.
I want this to be fun, easy to read and easy to follow but bottom line: profitable. Any suggestions?
Andena
Hi Andrea!
Thanks so much. You have a lot of rich experience to start a blog. It’s up to you where you want your focus. If you want to blog about your family like and ways to help other moms cope or inspire than that’s a great niche. You’ll be able to join related FB groups and Pinterest groups.
You can also blog about travel and cater to those interested in travel (varied demographic niche). Good luck!
I have been wanting to start a blog for a long time now but I think I have too many topics!
I am a holistic nutritionist, crossfitter, trainer, soon to be mom (2 weeks left), home remedy queen and love to bake and cook. Would you suggest narrowing down topics or are they similar enough to fall under one blog?
Any suggestions would be great! Thank you!
Hi Anna!
Well that is a lot of interests! You can do a demographic niche if you want? That means picking one type of demographic readers like young moms, moms with school-aged kids or toddlers or newborns etc….and then cater to them with the topics on your blog. That’s what I’m doing with TwinsMommy. I blog for mom bloggers that want to move to being a mompreneur.
Hi Elna! I loved reading this as I have been thinking about starting a blog. The thing is, I’m not sure if it’s a niche, or a novelty? I want it to be a niche, though, so I can write about it! I have 2 biological boys, one on the autism spectrum, 1 was born with albinism (albino). Then that led us to go adopt 2 girls (diff times) from China with albinism. Our story is so crazy though, and how we managed to survive it and continue to walk it out-that’s what I want to blog about. I feel that with all of our issues I could surely help someone? I’m pursuing a degree in Human Services and feel I have a gift for encouragement. I would appreciate your thoughts on this. Thank you!
Hi Carolyn,
I think you have the perfect story to share with the world. Just remember, though, that if you want to eventually monetize your blog, you should be helping your readers cope and be educated in those topics.
So, if you do open up your story on your blog, instead of making it a diary, make it helpful. For example, you have a child with autism, you can create posts Melt-down activities to combat tantrums, or how to use social stories to facilitate self-help skills and things like that. You can, of course, create posts that are more inspirational. I do that with my twins posts. It’s your blog after all. 🙂 Have fun!
Great post, thank you! What do you think is the best way to narrow down what to blog about? I have no kids yet, but that phase of life is coming fast, and I want to get an author/book website going. I also want to dabble in the art community with freelance writing. There is so much I want to do. Is there a way to mix these things together?
Hi Haley,
That’ sounds awesome! As for narrowing down your niche, you could open up a service-based website and talk about the behind the scenes of that and incorporate your topics? Finding your niche will evolve and it will reveal itself eventually 🙂 It did for me!
Great post! We run an adventure travel blog and I think the most important thing we tell people is to travel with a purpose, Do not just wander around the world aimlessly. (Like ours is to experience and document the Top 100 Travel Adventures) So many travel blogs do not really have a purpose or a niche. Niche is key and many miss out on that because they want to cover and do it all. Do not just start a blog because you think you will get rich quick and be able to travel the world. It takes a lot of work and lots of time.
Hi Elna,
Amazing blog! started my blog in 2014, but failed to grow it due to not putting in the proper efforts and because of working. I’m now laid off and I am ready to grow my blog. I get so overwhelmed with all of the aspects of growing the blog (affiliate marketing, pins, traffic…). I will begin to take it one day at a time. I’m about to revamp my website as I see that it’s a complete mess. I wanted to know which theme are you using? My website is kindridwestsuccess.com where I help to build success in health, finance, and personal development as I am an accountant, personal trainer, and self-help enthusiast. Thank you for the advise.
Hi Kindrid,
It happens to all of us eh? Life gets in the way or you move on. I’m glad you have refocused on blogging! As for my theme, it’s actually a customized theme that my husband and I created 🙂 Thanks!
Thanks Elna for your response. Keep up the great work!😊
Hello again Elna! I think I am going to go ahead and take the leap with beginning a 2nd blog and have it be a little bit about everything that I do. My kids especially, my crafting and when I figuore out what I’m doing, my blogging. 🙂 Wish me luck! Thanks so much for your previous advice. I love your blog and I have to say I got a lot of my ideas from reading some of your blog. Your my “twin” twin mommy. 😉 Keep a look out for my blog in a while. I don’t know what the name of it will be yet though. 🙂 Have a good day!
Hi Melody!
Thanks so much 🙂 That’s fantastic that you want to go ahead and create a second blog! I know a lot of bloggers are doing that. I LOVE blogging and it’s really addictive 🙂 Ha! Good luck!
Hey! Amazing tips! My blog has now been up and running for a couple of weeks – yay! Blogging about family travel and life in Saudi Arabia mostly 😊🌍
@ourdreamsincolour
That’s great!! Enjoy blogging!!
Hey Elna!
I simply love your blogs. I, too, wanna start blogging and I will, sooner or later. I am in the learning phase and your blogs are just giving me all the information needed. Thanks a lot.☺
Thanks a bunch!
Good luck on starting your blog 🙂 Make sure to share it with me!
I really want to start a blog. I want a blog that will make me money. My biggest hesitation is being able to get the traffic to my blog. Getting traffic to any business or blog is the biggest challenge. Do you have any words of wisdom or help that you can give me.
Thank You, Karen
Hey Karen!
That sounds good to start blog. I am starting a product to help with traffic, so keep on the lookout for that by joining my newsletter!
Am I still a Mompreneur if my kids are grown (barely)?
Hey mama!
Of course. If you’re a mom and have a biz you’re a mompreneur 🙂
Hi Elna!
I love your articles, you’re my go to resource for all things blogging!
My blog is in its infancy and I want to get it right. I started it with the idea I would give advice to new twin moms so my website is twoplustwins.com. I just don’t feel like it’s going to workout for consistent content. I love how you incorporate cute twin posts into your blog but its not the actual focus of your blog.
I have recently decided to try and niche down on what I’m more passionate which is my weight loss journey, healthy tips, chronic disease prevention, etc. I’ve given myself a year to get into shape and hope to grow a motivational blog from that journey. I know the weight loss area is saturated but I’ve read one should go big when blogging.
My questions are:
1. Should I start over with a new domain name that is related to weight loss?
2. Are affiliate links only for established blogs?
3. I’m really struggling with the niching down part. Do you think a blog about plus size twin moms is too limiting? I noticed there were no Facebook groups related to twin moms who were plus sized so I’m not sure if it’s a dead zone or if there’s potential there.
I would appreciate any advice you have!
Hi Elise!
Thank you for your comment! I LOVE learning about new blogs and people. And hey! You’re a twin mama!! I stayed in the house the first year 🙂 No outings…only doctor visits and stroller walks. Nothing else. They didn’t go to a play group until they were almost 2 years old. Yes…I fear going out alone with them. They are four and I am more confident now. But, my husband works from home also, so I don’t have to work on that. Anyways, I digress.
As you can tell, I took a looky-loo at your blog and I like the content. One quick pro tip: please separate your paragraphs into smaller paragraphs. It’s hard to read your post when you have big blocks of text. Also, play around with subheadings as this breaks up your post even more, making it easier to read!
For your question, you don’t have to create a new blog for your weight loss journey. You can still use twoplustwins. I mean, I mostly blog about growing your blog and my site’s name is Twins Mommy 🙂 Go figure.
As for affiliate links, some programs may want a mature site, but many don’t. Sign up and see what happens. You can also sign up to be an affiliate for digital courses.
As for niching down, you can brand yourself as the twin mom weight loss blog?
Thanks for looking at my blog Elna! I really appreciate it and will definitely take your advice in cleaning it up. I needed that boost of encouragement.
Congratulations on making it through the baby years!
Twin mom power! 🙌🏻
Hello, I just followed your instructions to set up a blog and got as far as signing into the admin page but the connection isn’t secure. It states that logins here could be compromised. Any idea of how to make the connection secure so I can sign in? Thank you!
I figured it out! So never mind. 🙂
Phew! Good to know 🙂
Can you pay by the month with this service or are you billed for the whole year?
To get the best savings, it’s recommended you pay for the year (or more!) up front.
Thank you, Elna for this post. I have talked about starting a blog for a few years now even going as far as setting up free blogs but never truly committing. Your posts have inspired me on a deeper level that makes me believe that I can and WILL commit this time!
I actually set up a hosted blog today AND took your advice on setting up my gravitar (this is my test to see if I did it right! *fingers crossed*) Now, with tomorrow being day 2, I hope I can do better figuring out how to run my new blog. Wish me luck and keep up the good work!
Hi Crystal,
Thanks so much! I’m so happy to hear you are giving blogging a second chance! Blogging is such a great outlet for moms and so happy you are starting again!
Great tips! Setting up my blog now.
Thanks!
I became recommended your blog by our cousin.. domino We’re no longer favourable when it put up can be created by method of the pup as nobody else realize these kinds of particular close to my own trouble. You might be awesome! Thank you!
Thanks for coming over!
Hi Elna! I just published my first blog post today! I would not have been able to do it without your blog. I appreciate all of your practical and easy to read and follow tips. Thank you so much!
Hey Cara!
So happy you have your blog 🙂 Yay!! Make sure to join us in the Mom to Mompreneur Facebook so you can promote your new blog post 🙂
This is an amazing tutorial. Elna is my hero for providing her Write Your Way to Your First $1k course. I am a newbie to blogging and freelance writing and almost have my site and blog ready to roll. Thank you Elna!
Hey mama!
Thank you so much and glad you are enjoying the course! Make sure to say hi in the private Facebook group!
Lots of great information! I have been wanting to start a blog for YEARS and am finally diving in this adventure! Siteground no longer has a free domain name though. :/ I will be looking forward to your posts in the future! If you do guest blogging, I’d love to have you!
Hey Lacy,
Yeah I just got notified and updated the post 🙁 I’m upset by that..
thank you very much for all this information! I already have a blog through Word Press, so I was wondering if I could transfer all my info from Word Press to the new domain or I would have to start all over again?
Hi Alan,
Yes you can. There are tutorials on all that 🙂
This is an amazingly helpful tutorial! I’ve been blogging for a long time, but on Blogger. Recently I have decided to start an additional site, but have been hesitant to make the jump to WordPress. It all seems so foreign, but this tutorial has me thinking I may just go for it.
Hey Vanessa!
Thanks so much 🙂 Happy to hear you have the blogging itch…as I so much do! I have four sites! Well one is my freelance writing service site so that’s static. But this one, ElnaCain.com and FreelancerFAQs.com 🙂 I’m pretty busy but I love it. Make sure to tell me about your new site when it’s live!
Elna,
Some great advice and simple – thanks! I started my niche years ago before kids came on the scene (http://equus-blog.com – equine careers and education), but now that I’m home with 2 under 3, I am working to turn it into a viable income earner! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Christine,
Thanks so much and yes! You can totally turn your blog around to a new niche! Good luck!
Hi Elna, I just stumbled upon this post (metaphorically, not using the website lol), and it’s a great help! I’m just starting off on my own blogging journey, so I’m positive I’ll be coming back to reference this guide in the future.
Thanks again for your clarity & insight!
Hey Molly!
Nice website name 🙂 ha..That’s great you are out there blogging away. Thanks so much for wanting to reference this when you want a self-hosted blog 🙂
Awesome tutorial!! Smashing as usual!!! 😉
Hi Ana!
Aww thanks so much 🙂
Hello Elna,
May I ask what plugin do you use for that image and button (click to download)?
Your tutorial is great by the way! I recently switched from WordPress.com to WordPress.org and it is really much better)
Hi Maria,
The image is something I made in Photoshop (but you can make it in Canva). I then linked it to OptinMonster 🙂
Hi Elna,
Really helpful article. With all the inspiration from here I have started my food blog. Hope I could be a successful blogger.
Do visit my page.
Here’s link to my site:
https://cookwithdesitadka.wordpress.com/
Hi Priya,
That’s great. Good luck with your cooking blog and if you’re ready for self-hosting, I know SiteGround is one of the best!!
Really helpful tutorial for a beginner ! My wife want to make a blog and want to earn online money, she wanted from me a good resources/tutorial for learning blog promotion. I think this post will be definitely helpful for her. I will gift your posts link to my wife 🙂 . Great tutorial step by step. Get it up.
Thanks !
Hi Andrew! That’s great. Make sure she shares her new blog with me!
So I have a blog on WordPress.com but what exactly is SiteGround? Is it like WordPress or what exactly? I would love to switch to SiteGround or do whatever it is I need to do. If you could email me and maybe help me I would appreciate it so much.
Hi Katie,
SiteGround is hosting service for your website on WordPress.org (not .com). If you follow my step-by-step tutorial you can set up your new WordPres blog. Why switch? Well with a WordPress.com your URL has .wordpress.com in it rather than just a URL with http://yourblogname.com Doesn’t that look a bit more professional?
I’ll be sure to email you soon!
Really great tips! I’ve been thinking of starting a blog for a few months now, but it seems a bit overwhelming. So far I have just been brainstorming ideas, but I would really like to be up and running within the next month.
Hi Lauren,
Thanks so much! Yes, starting a blog is a step-by-step tutorial. Once you have your WordPress blog, there are YouTube videos to walk you through how to get a theme and set it up. At this time, I don’t have anything set up, but will hopefully have something soon!
That is definitely a helpful tutorial on how to start your blog. I also really like Siteground. I used their chat a lot in the beginning and they were very helpful.
Hi Brenda!
Thank you so much. So happy you found it helpful. And yes, SiteGround is da best!
I took the leap and started a blog (with siteground too!) before I found your blog post.
I’m stuck on monetizing and adding ads. I thought this was a great post and actually went searching through your series for one on monetizing and adding ads (a visual how to like this one) but there’s not one. Any tips?
Thanks!
Hi Brandi!
That’s awesome and so happy you started a blog 🙂 As for monetizing, you can check out my post about affiliate marketing https://twinsmommy.com/triple-affiliate-earnings/ but I don’t have on on ads since I’ve never used them! For affiliate marketing, find products or services that you enjoy or have used. For example, I’m an affiliate for ConvertKit and Tailwind. I’ve been using them and LOVE them. Once you find those products, you can create tutorials on how to use them (video also helps) and place your links in your email (if it’s allowed) and on your side bar or menu! Good luck!
I’ve been pushing back creating a mom blog for quite some time and have finally decided to commit and push forward. This is honestly the most helpful, concise, and simple “How to Start a Blog” tutorial. Thanks so much for the motivation!!
Hi Christina!
That’s great! So happy for you and good luck on your new blog. If you need more help with getting your blog up and running you can totally email me and I can help you 🙂 elna@elnacain.com
Wow!! what an awesome tutorial on getting a blog. i have read several tutorials on getting a blog , but none of them were as easy as yours. Thank you so very much! I am definitely going to get a blog now.
Hey Tina!
Thanks so much! Glad you liked it 🙂
This is a great tutorial on how to start a blog! I recently just started my blog and this is very informational! Great Stuff 🙂
Hi Crystal!
Thanks so much! So happy you enjoyed the post 🙂 Good luck on your new blog!