
Starting a blog for the first time is an amazing experience. But it is also hard for beginners as they have to experience multiple phases of blogging.
Every newbie blogger go through a ton of questions like –
- How to start a blog and make money?
- What to do before starting a blog?
- How to pick a perfect niche for a blog?
- And much more..
So, today we have prepared a list of some important tips you should consider before starting a blog.
Let’s dive straight in.
Table of Contents
1. Choose The Right Blogging Platform

Choosing the best and right blogging platform completely depends on your blogging goals.
If you want to do blogging as a hobby blogger or learning purposes, then you can start with popular free blogging platforms like –
- WordPress.com,
- Medium, and
- Blogger.
But if –
- You’re serious about blogging,
- Want to make money, and
- Want to make your website more powerful with plugins and boost your business.
Then you should choose WordPress.org as your blogging platform.
Our Recommendation
We will suggest you go with WordPress.org.
WordPress.org is the most popular blogging platform which now powers over 33% of all the websites on the internet.
But that’s not enough to convince you, right? Below are the reasons that support our suggestion –
- Free.
- SEO Friendly.
- Easy to set up, learn, and simple user interface.
- Gives you control over each aspect of your website.
- Thousands of free and paid themes and plugins available.
- Gives you access to over 55,000 free plugins with which you can extend your website’s functionality.
- You can add features like forums, eCommerce stores, membership to monetize and earn money from your website in just one click.
2. Self-hosted v/s Free Blog Hosting

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is that they choose free web hosting blog over a self-hosted blog.
Let’s understand the difference between a self-hosted blog and free web hosting first.
(a) Self-hosted Blog
In simple words, a self-hosted blog means you need to do everything from the beginning to end which includes –
- Find a domain name for your blog (which is going to be your brand name).
- Domain name registration.
- Pick a Blogging platform for your blog.
- Purchasing a web hosting server space.
- Installing the blogging software (WordPress) on your web server.
- Pick a WordPress theme for your blog.
- Install must-have WordPress plugins.
- Maintenance.
Benefits of a Self-hosted Blog
- Full control over your website (No limitations).
- You get your desired domain name.
- More storage compared to free hosting.
- Larger or even unlimited bandwidth. (Depends upon the hosting provider)
- Website security. (Web-hosting providers keep their servers secure)
- Technical Support. (From your web-hosting provider)
- Monetization Options
(b) Free Web Hosting
A free web-hosted blog means you don’t have to pay for hosting and start your blog in a few minutes.
But there are many things you won’t get with free web hosting and will have limitations.
Limitations of Free Web Hosting Blog
- You won’t get your desired domain name.
- Limited web hosting space.
- Limited bandwidth.
- No control over your website.
- Limited designing options.
- Less number of add-ons compared to self-hosted.
- Limited monetization options.
Our Recommendation
We will recommend you to go with a self-hosted blog.
Yes, it will cost you some amount in the beginning, but you will have complete control over your website.
You can customize it according to your needs, add plugins for whatever you need, try different monetization options.
You will not have any kind of limitations.
3. WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
It’s great that you’ve chosen WordPress as your blogging platform.
But which WordPress to choose from WordPress.com or WordPress.org?
This is one hell of a question which haunts almost every beginner and a newbie blogger.
WordPress offers 2 versions –
- WordPress.com which is free and provide hosting itself.
- WordPress.org which is also free but you need to purchase hosting from external sources.
We are sure the first option might sound a reliable option but its quite the opposite.
Let’s take a look at a quick comparison of WordPress.com vs WordPress.org.
(a) Pricing
WordPress.com and WordPress.org are both free.
But WordPress.com has limitations in the free version and later you need to buy paid plans to overcome those limitations.
(b) Themes
WordPress.com offers a limited number of themes to install. Apart from the number, you cannot customize or upload a custom theme.
But, WordPress.org gives you access to a huge number of free and paid themes.
You can even customize a theme according to your needs or upload a custom theme if you want to.
(c) Plugins
Like WordPress themes, you can’t install and upload plugins in WordPress.com.
You can only use the in-built plugins in WordPress.com
But in WordPress.org, you can install, upload, and customize plugins according to your needs.
(d) Monetization
WordPress.com doesn’t let you monetize before 25000 monthly pageviews in the free plan.
But, you are free to use any ad service, place Google AdSense on your site and sell as many ads you want to if you’re using WordPress.org.
(e) Branding
WordPress.com display “Powered by” link in the free version by-fault.
But when using WordPress.org, you’re free to remove any kind of copyright lines from your website. It’s completely your choice.
Our Recommendation
We will recommend you to go for the self-hosted WordPress.org instead of the free version of WordPress.com.
WordPress.org is the best blogging platform for –
- Personal blogs,
- Professional blogs,
- Hobby blogs,
- Travel blogs, and
- Other types of blogs.
4. Domain & Web Hosting
For a self-hosted WordPress blog, you’re going to need only 2 things –
(a) Choosing a Domain Name
A domain name is going to reflect as your brand name. So make sure you choose the right domain name for your blog.
Here are some quick tips on choosing a domain name –
- Try to choose .com extension for your domain name.
- Try to choose a name that’s easy to pronounce, spell, short, and remember.
Some Recommendations For Registering Domain Name
Below are some services from where you can register your domain name in cheap prices
Quick Tip Always check renewal prices while registering your domain name. You can register the domain name in cheap prices for the first year in some services. But they will overcharge you at renewal. So, make sure domain name renewal prices are also affordable.
(b) Choose The Right Web Hosting
Web hosting is where your site lives on the internet. It plays a crucial role in a website’s performance.
So, it’s important to choose the right web hosting.
You might get an option of free website hosting services, but we will recommend you to avoid those freebies.
Instead, we will recommend you to opt a paid web hosting instead of free web hosting services because –
- Low performance.
- Hidden charges.
- They have the right to lock your data.
- Irrelevant advertisements.
- Limited bandwidth,
- Limited control,
- Limited storage.
- Low security
Some Recommendations For Best Web Hosting Services
Here are some hosting recommendations from our side –
Over To You
Blogging takes more time and effort.
You will eventually learn a lot of amazing things on your blogging journey and will earn a decent amount of money from blogging.
But for now, our recommendation to you is that you should choose –
- WordPress.org as your blogging platform.
- Self-hosted blog over free web hosting.
- Register a domain name.
And if you’ve any other question or still confused with any of the steps mentioned above! Drop all your questions in the comment below.
