A lot of people surf the the internet daily visiting several blogs for daily inspiration, news and resources. Eventually some get the feeling: “I can do this too!” but sometimes it can feel complicated to actually take the first effort necessary to set up your own blog. Today I bring you the first essential steps you need to follow.

1. Get a Domain Name

For this first step you will need to have a form of payment online like credit card and go to a domain seller like GoDaddy where you can get a .com domain for as cheap as $10. Just choose a catchy name that is available and claim it yours!

2. Get a Hosting Plan

So you have a neat url but no online space to set up your blog. You need a hosting service!
Once again you will need to have a form of online payment and choose the right hosting plan for your needs. If you are gonna use wordpress as a blogging platform there are several worpress optimized hosting services like: WPWebHost or WestHost that will cost you $4-$8 month. For a premium service (especially good for USA audience) you can visit (MT) Media Temple wordpress services that will cost you from $20 to $50.

3. Set up Your Blogging Platform

You have your url and your online space but nothing inside! Time for the real deal!
WordPress is the most famous and supported platform but you might want to use a different one like Expression Engine. After you make your choice you will need to download the platform and upload it to your ftp available through your new hosting. I recommend FireFTP for firefox but there are a bunch of other programs you can use. The installation can be a little tricky for first-timers but keep up with the installation manual and you should be fine.

4. Choose Your Niche

You start to see something happening! Now you need to choose your niche…yes niche:

A special area of demand for a product or service.

You might want to approach the Web Design community, the Dog-Lovers community, etc etc
Basically you need to choose a specific subject to blog about with a target community.

5. Choose Your Template

Now you need a template. There are literally millions of options here. From free templates to premium or even custom designed templates you can spend too much of your attention on this point. Here are some links to get you started:

Premium Themes:

• WooThemes
• Elegant Themes
• Premium WordPress
• Theme Forest – WordPress

Free Themes:

• WordPress Free Themes Directory
• TopWpThemes
• WPThemeSpot
• Free WPThemes
• 100 free high-quality WordPress themes

6. Start Posting

Everything is set up…but something is missing? That’s right, content!
Time to get those fingers ready and start posting some nice content. Get ideas from other blogs on the same niche, but don’t steal or copy, just get inspired and start posting your own original posts. Be careful with the use of images without permission!

7. Go Social

Your blog is looking good so all that is missing is: audience!
Time to go social and start making some friends. Use Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, Niche Gathering News, E-Mail, etc. Consider contacting other bloggers in the same niche and create some guest posts! Spread The Word! Good Luck!

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