How to Start a Blog

11 Easy steps on how to start a blog

Table of Contents

I wanted to write a step-by-step guide on how to start a blog. Since the inception of The Motivated M.D. I have leaned on multiple resources to create and build a blog space that I am proud of. However, I had a lot of difficulties getting off the ground!

There I was… a physician trying to create an online space to share my thoughts. I knew literally nothing about the subject. So, I turned to what I was comfortable with… research! I researched website building and blog creation non-stop for months. Meanwhile, I wrote. I knew I would eventually start a blog. I figured until that fateful day, I will create content that will be ready to publish.

Months passed by until I had the freedom in my schedule to buy a domain, purchase a domain hosting service, and build my website. This blog post is the culmination of my knowledge on the subject. What follows is a succinct list on every step needed to be successful starting a blog. I hope you find it helpful and informative. Enjoy!

1. Determine your niche

The first step is to determine your niche. What are you planning on writing about? Are you building a travel blog? Are you writing about cooking? Sharing recipes? Is this a finance blog, or more narrowly…a physician personal finance blog? The possibilities are endless when it comes to building an online space, but you need to tease out your audience. This step is built around your interests, your expectations, and some research.

What do you find intriguing? What do you feel passionate enough about that you could write endlessly on the subject? If you have discovered this then research what others are doing in this niche online? Is it already a saturated landscape? Are there questions you find yourself asking that have not been addressed? If so, begin to keep notes on gaps in information. This is often where you can get your foot in the door.

2. Figure out your name

Ok, so you have determined your niche. Your next step is to figure out how you will name yourself.

For example, when I started The Motivated M.D. I had to find a name that was easy to remember, not too much like competitors, and not already taken! I knew my niche would be personal finance and side hustles, primarily directed at healthcare workers. There are already several names occupying this space including the White Coat Investor, the Physician on FIRE, the Frugal Physician, etc. Like all of them, I was a physician trying to make a name for myself in the field. What I brought to the table was my knowledge of physician finances with an original perspective given my dual-physician income and my medical student debt.

What set me apart was my motivation to share the process of pursuing a side hustle through blogging, specifically. I had a perspective that was original to the space given my debt-to-income ratio as well as my decision to refinance. I needed a name that shared my medical authenticity and my work ethic. Thus, The Motivated M.D. was born.

Your job is to find a brand name that defines you. Preferably one that is short, direct, and available. Got it?

3. Buy a domain

We now move past the planning stage and onto purchasing. Next you need to purchase your domain name. A domain is your virtual address. My domain is themotivatedmd.com. When someone wishes to be directed to my website, they need to have a virtual address to get them there. The domain name that you purchase will be your online address. There are a few places to do this.

Google Domains is easy and user friendly. If you navigate to Google Domains you can type in your name and see if it is available. It is vital that you find a domain name that is as close to matching your brand name as possible. You also should prioritize obtaining a ‘.com’ domain. ‘.com’ has become the standard domain for the public.

For The Motivated M.D. I realized that I should not put periods between ‘M.D.’ Further I realized that there may be other interpretations of my name. Some may search for ‘the motivated md,’ others may search for ‘motivated md,’ etc. For this reason, I made it a point to purchase both themotivatedmd.com and motivatedmd.com. This would act as a net to capture and redirect anyone who didn’t include ‘the’ before ‘Motivated M.D.’ Domains usually cost between $9.99-$13.99 (purchased annually).

Here are a few great locations to purchase domains. I Initially purchased my domains through Google Domains, but later transferred them all to Bluehost for ease of access. There are often benefits to having your domains and domain hosting under one provider (i.e. Bluehost, HostGator, etc).

4. Buy domain hosting

Next, we need to buy a server to host your blog. A server is a physical site where your website resides. When an individual searches for your website using a search engine, the internet will direct them to the physical location where this information is housed. A domain hosting server is a physical location that houses your website’s data. It is generally ill-advised to host from a computer, as viewer traffic increases, it generally places too much demand on the CPU. You need a site that houses servers large enough to handle the traffic.

There are many hosting companies that will sell you server space. This virtual real estate is normally sold on an annual basis. In my experience purchasing your domain name through a hosting service like Bluehost or HostGator offers extra benefits.

I initially purchased my domains form Google Domains, but later moved them all to Bluehost as this was my hosting service. Moving the domains from Google to Bluehost lead to some frustrations and required patience. Learn from my mistakes. Purchase both your server hosting and domain name from the same service.

One last thing before we move on. Make sure your hosting service offers a web designer like WordPress, Ghost, Elementor, etc. This will be the platform that you create your website in. Most come with WordPress, but double check before purchase. I use WordPress and love it.

Here are some great domain hosting providers:

5. Choose a theme

Now that you own a domain, and have hosting, it is time to bring your website to life! Depending on the web design tool you utilize this next step may vary slightly. I currently use WordPress. WordPress is arguably the most commonly used website creator out there. The benefit of using WordPress is that there are endless tutorials and videos circling the internet that can help you build the perfect website. A theme is the aesthetic look your website will have.

With The Motivated M.D. I wanted a theme that was clean and user friendly. When searching for this theme, I sought out simplicity over everything else. WordPress has themes that come with the software as well as premium themes that you can purchase for varying amounts. Premium themes generally run between $19.99-$59.99. The benefit of a premium theme is that they can often look more professional and polished.

No matter your theme, make sure that it does not distract from your most important asset, your content. For most choosing to start a blog, your content will be your best feature. When individuals navigate to your website, they are coming there for your content. Make sure to pick a theme you are comfortable with that also allows your viewers to readily find your posts.

I have found it very helpful to use a theme that provides the option for a sidebar. The Sidebar is a column of media (see…my website) that houses tools or further media (a.k.a. widgets). My sidebar includes social media icons that link to my social media accounts. It includes a search engine for my posts and even has an archive section. All of these are user-friendly tools to help my viewer base navigate to more content. The sidebar can also come in handy as you try to monetize your website. It offers a location for ads that keep your site looking clean and professional.

6. Optimize your homepage

A homepage will be the face of your website. This will be the first (and sometimes only) interaction many will have with your blog. A well-presented homepage can work wonders for establishing traffic and building a viewer base.

A well-designed homepage quickly and efficiently lays out the value and originality of your blog. There are a few necessities for a great homepage:

Your name/logo should be readily available. It does not have to be front and center, but from the time your website loads, your viewer should know they have come to the right location.
Your menu bar should be easily navigable. Generally, this will include a homepage, your blog, an about section, and a contact page.
Most states require by law a disclosers section and a privacy policy. You do not necessarily have to include this in your primary menu, but it should be accessible somewhere on your homepage. Mine is in my primary menu but often I see bloggers include it in their footer.
Your highest-ranking posts should be front and center. This is your click bait. If you have posts that consistently bring traffic to your website, you want these taking center stage.
I would encourage you to have a ‘recent posts’ section. It looks great to demonstrate a steady stream of content. Show this off!
Your website’s footer should act as a surrogate main menu. When individuals finish reading a post, or navigate to the bottom of your homepage, they should still be able to navigate around your site. Often the same menu items are housed here. A footer is also a great space to include social media icons. This inclusion will help people share and follow your writing.
As previously mentioned, I utilize a sidebar on my homepage. This is another great media space for interacting with your community. If you have a sidebar as an option, seriously consider using it!
Keep a united theme and color palette for the entirety of your website, but especially your homepage! This makes the website easy on the eyes and easily maneuverable.

7. Create content

I have made content creation the next step, but truly this should occur well before you take your site live. When I originally had an idea for starting a blog, I didn’t know where to begin. From what I had researched though, I knew that more content equals more traffic. With that in mind, I started writing. I normally write in Microsoft Word first. This helps me monitor my grammar (as best as I can). Microsoft Word also makes it easy to monitor my word count.

During the entirety of the blog creation process you should be writing content. I would make a habit of writing multiple times a week. Good or bad…just keep writing. Your schedule will dictate how often you can write a post.

In general, my advice would be to have (at least) 10-20 well written posts before you start your website. This number is in no way rooted in research. However, the sooner you can have multiple well written posts, the sooner search engines will route traffic to your site.

For me, I am a working physician with a family. If I want to be the physician, as well as the husband and father I expect of myself, I cannot spend all my free time writing. For this reason, I normally task myself with writing at least one post a week. I will often start writing early in the morning, save my work, and come back to it periodically throughout the week. I will edit and rewrite sections until it meets my expectations. If you get in a routine like this, it will become habit! With habit will come a steady stream of content.

Pro-tip

I keep a running list on my phone of blogging ideas. This will help prevent writer’s block. Every time I think of another topic that would be worth my readers time, I write it down. Now I have a working list of topics to write about any time I have a chance to.

One big way to drive traffic to your site is through social media. This step is optional in my opinion, but incredibly helpful if you are looking to build a following fast. Some of the bigger names in social media include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, LinkedIn, RSS feed, etc.

Social media accounts are a great way to network with others in your niche. By creating accounts and interacting with others, you can expose your content to others with an established following. I recommend choosing social media account names (usernames) that are representative of your website. For example, the social media accounts associated with The Motivated M.D. are ‘themotivatedmd’ for my twitter and Instagram accounts. This makes navigation across multiple platforms easy.

Use these accounts to cooperate. Post your new content on social media. Ask questions and engage others. For many platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter included) there is an option to boost your posts. Boosting essentially turns your social media posts into an advertisement. This is a paid option, but can drastically share your content to thousands. All of this is optional, but I would consider it if you are looking to establish a foothold fast.

9. Take your site live!

Once you have your homepage optimized, and some content uploaded, its time to take your site live. For many web-design tools you will be given the option to preview the site. Often times you can preview your website as it would appear on multiple platforms (i.e. desktop, tablet, or mobile phone).

Here is your opportunity to make sure your website fits your expectations to all eyes, on all devices. Thoroughly comb through your website and make sure everything is functioning properly. Check for grammar errors. Make sure all hyperlinks direct you to the appropriate page or post. Confirm your social media buttons are linked appropriately. Review all uploaded content and make sure it is readable and digestible.

Once your have done this and you feel ready, allow the site to go live for all the world to see!

Congratulations!

But you are not finished…

10. Maintain your blog

This next step is by far the most important. Now that your site is live, your job is to continue to produce valuable content. As mentioned above, make sure you have created a schedule for writing and posting. If this is new to you, or you have a busy schedule, start out slow.

Maybe you set the expectation to publish one post a week. That gives you a few days to write, a few days to edit, and a day of publishing and posting (social media included)! If you repeat this cycle, you will quickly build a large volume of helpful content that will drive traffic to your site.

As your content grows, make sure to review your statistics. When is your website’s busiest day for viewer traffic? What articles drive the most pageviews? Where is your traffic coming from? All of these statistics can be helpful in helping you target the right demographic and post at the most opportune time.

But above all else…just…keep…creating. As your find yourself easing into the writing, maybe try for two posts a week and so on. You’ve got this!

11. Monetize your site (optional)

This last step is optional as well, but worth addressing as so many turn to blogging as a means of creating ‘side hustle’ income. I too have chosen blogging as my physician side hustle, but it still requires an immense amount of work on the frontend.

Before we address monetization, we need to discuss page views and traffic. Reimbursement for advertisements on your site are directly correlated with website traffic. Tools like Google Analytics and Monster Insights can help you understand your websites traffic. Most websites generally take months to years to build a steady stream of traffic. This is largely affected by the amount of valuable content on your website as well as how saturated your niche is.

Understand that it is completely normal to see zero traffic the first few months of blogging. Even more so, it is totally normal to only see a few hundred pageviews a month for the first 6 months to a year or more. That is OK.

For those of you who stay the course and continue to post, the traffic will come. I would encourage most new bloggers to focus all their time (during the first 6 months) on content creation. Do not spend your time worrying about numbers and statistics. The sooner you produce content, the sooner an audience will follow.

Once you have a regular following and a steady stream of pageviews, then you can consider monetization. Monetization of a website can include placing ads. The most common ad companies include:

The above entails adding a bit of code so that these companies can embed ads to your site. Ad reimbursement is generally based on ‘per 1000 pageviews.’ You can see how it would be beneficial to already establish an audience before you start placing ads on your website.

Affiliate links

The next means of website monetization includes affiliates. These are often companies that sell a product and are willing to offer an incentive if you drive traffic to their website (and it leads to a sale). In the physician finance sector, affiliates with loan refinancing companies are a great example. I can become an affiliate with a loan servicer and if a viewer of mine chooses one of my affiliate links to refinance their loans, I can receive a small reimbursement for that service. Building a catalog of affiliate links that are helpful and related to your niche generally produces more revenue than ads.

Electronic products

Another means of monetization includes the sale of electronic products. This can be anything from an e-book you create, to an electronic tool. Using physician personal finance as an example, this can include budgeting templates or debt elimination calculators. All of these electronic products can be sold on your website. Another great reason to provide electronic products is they can be used to incentivize traffic to your website. Offering a free e-book or template to individuals who subscribe is a great way to bring in steady pageviews.

Take home points

I hope this guide was helpful to those looking to create a blog. My hopes are that this was informative, educational, and motivating. By following these 11 easy steps, you too can create a virtual space to be proud of. Blogging for me has been an outlet for my thoughts, as well as a platform to interact with others. For those looking to supplement your income, you should be reimbursed for creating something of value. Get out there and let your voice be heard!

Stay motivated,

The Motivated M.D.

Thank you for reading our guide on how to start a blog! If you enjoyed this guide, please let us know in the comments section down below! Please make sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Standard Disclaimer: None of the information on this website is meant as individualized financial or medical advice. These posts may contain affiliate links.