How to Set Up Your First Blog the Right Way the First Time

Are you convinced you need to start a blog, but you’re overwhelmed by the setup process?

If this describes you and you’d like a little hand-holding in setting up your own blog, I’ve been secretly working with Chris Garrett on a free resource that’s designed just for you. It’s called:

Getting Started Blogging

It is a six-part course that will walk you through everything you need to know about setting up your blog the right way, the first time.

Set up your blog with good foundations

In a recent survey of ProBlogger readers, I discovered two fairly large groups of visitors with similar needs:

Group 1. Readers who were yet to start their first blog.

I was a little surprised to find this out at first, but it makes sense. Many people reading this blog are PreBloggers—they’re convinced that they need a blog, and they’re now researching how to do it.

When I drilled down into the needs and challenges of these bloggers, I found that many felt real apprehension and fear about the setup process, and wanted some hand-holding in getting started.

Group 2. Readers who had started their first blog, but had regrets about the way they’d set things up.

This group had taken action on their desire to start a blog, but they’d done it in a way that left them with regrets. Perhaps they’d made poor domain choices, hadn’t thought through platform selection, or hadn’t thought carefully about content and technical issues that hampered them as their blogs grew.

Many of this second group were reading ProBlogger as a way to research setting up their second blog in a way that was better than their first.

Getting Started Blogging

Whether you’re just starting your first blog, or you’re setting up your second, third, or fourth, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed by the options and how to do it right. Chris and I would love to walk you through the process and help you set up a blog with good foundations.

This course will walk you through six lessons:

1. Preparation. In this lesson, you’ll get tips on naming your blog, keyword research, and domain names.
2. Platforms. Where will your blog live, and which platform is right for you?
3. Types of Blogs.  This class is an introduction to some of the different blogging approaches you might consider.
4. WordPress. Here, we cover how to install and customize WordPress.
5. Adding Killer Content to Your Blog. This lesson is an introduction to the types of content you’ll want to add to your blog.
6. Introduction to the Pillars of ProBlogging. Once you’ve got the foundations right, I’ll walk you through four areas you’ll need to work on moving forward to build a successful blog.

Lessons contain a mix of both video content and articles. This course is completely free and is being run over at SitePoint’s courses area. And you’ll get immediate access to it all six lessons when you sign up.

We’ll send you daily reminders over the week to help you keep on track, but you can take the course at your own pace—all in one go, or over a longer period if you choose.

Interested? Sign up for Getting Started Blogging now.

Too Basic for You? Check out the ProBlogger Academy

Getting Started Blogging is unashamedly for those at the beginning of their blogging journey—those who are starting their first blog.

If you’re more experienced, you’re still welcome to take the course, but you might also be interested in a new series of short courses that Chris Garrett and I are putting together at the ProBlogger Academy.

These four courses can be completed as a bundle, or you can pick and choose the topics that are most suited to your needs from the following:

1. Creating Killer Content
2. Boosting Your Blog Traffic
3. Building a Community on your Blog
4. Monetizing Your Blog

Each course will be held over a week, and will have a forum area as well as Q&A sessions with Chris and myself.

These courses are not live yet, but they will be rolled out in the coming months. You can sign up now or leave your email address to be notified of them as they go live.