The British Berliner
A lifestyle expat travel blog about culture, history, Brexit, the Royal Family, travels around the world, Europe, and being British in Berlin!
How to start a blog in just a mere 10 minutes: A simple guide!
UPDATED – JANUARY 2021!
In just 2 weeks, the ITB will take place in Berlin, and it’s so exciting!
In my mind, the ITB is one of the best places to go to if you’re a travel blogger, and for me that is where all the magic happened and I met a real-life blogger for the very first time!
Mind you, not all of them were nice, and one person in particular was pretty awful, but this is where I found out how useful my blog was, and where I received my first press trip. A mere five (5) months after my blog came into existence!
I’ve been very lucky!
I’ve also been at the right place at the right time. And where’s that maestro?
Why, Berlin of course!
Berlin is hip and trendy!
Mind you, it really helps if you can speak German, so go ahead, and book a class, and tell them that I sent you!
The other day, I went to a bloggers get-together, and I met a fellow who couldn’t understand how a blog could be made. He thought it was really difficult.
It really isn’t!
©Pascale Scerbo Sarro
Having said that, if you’re going to survive in this business, it helps if you can write really well, or you have some other skill….
Now, I can’t help you with that, but I can show you how to start a blog for yourself.
Here goes!
HOW TO START A BLOG IN JUST A MERE 10 MINUTES: A SIMPLE GUIDE!
For many, when they think of WordPress, they think blog.
WHAT THE HELL IS WORDPRESS?
WordPress is web publishing software you can use to create your own website, blog, or app. Since it was released in 2003, WordPress has become one of the world’s largest and most popular web publishing platforms. Today it powers more than 70 million websites!
WordPress is much more just a blogging tool. It’s also a highly flexible content management system (CMS) that enables you to build and manage your own full-featured website using just your web browser. Best of all, it’s completely FREE!
And it’s free of charge because WordPress is an Open Source project because hundreds of volunteers from all around the world constantly create and improve the code for the WordPress software. And, there are thousands of plugins, widgets, and themes that enable you to build just about any type of website you can imagine!
This post will show you how easy it is to get your blog, or website, up and running quickly.
CHOOSE A WEB HOST:
There are hundreds of thousands of web hosts out there, and choosing one from the crowd can be confusing. Depending on the country that you live in, choose whichever you are comfortable with.
If you don’t need the flexibility of a full web host, you may consider getting a free blog on WordPress.com. which is how I first started. And there’s perfectly nothing wrong with doing that!
However, I also mixed and blended as I went along mapping my free blog with my premium paid host which is why you either see my blog as this or this and if I leave a comment on your website (if you haven’t got one, all the better to be reading this post!), you’ll see my blog as this!
Having said that, if you’re looking for a popular well-known host, and a host that won’t suddenly go bankrupt, then Bluehost should definitely be at the top of anyone’s list because Bluehost is one of the only hosting services officially recommended by WordPress and has been the top recommended hosting service for their platform for almost 10 years!
There are many reasons why Bluehost is so highly recommended, but here are just a few:
- Premium customer service, reliability and usability
- Easy-to-use control panel
- Custom-built servers to provide the most stable and reliable hosting environment
- Quickly get started with a one-click WordPress install, provided by MOJO Marketplace
- Expert, in-house technical support provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Unlimited websites, email accounts, and domains – all on one account, at an affordable price
- No gimmicks, no contracts so that you can enjoy the comfort of a 30-day money back guarantee and the option to cancel at any time.
And to sweeten the deal even more, if you sign up through this tutorial, you’ll get a special offer of shared hosting at $3.95/month for 36 months, as well as a free domain name for a year!
To set up your hosting account with Bluehost, follow the steps below.
HOW TO SET UP YOUR HOSTING ACCOUNT:
- Firstly, go to Bluehost’s home page. where you will see the image below!
- Once you do so, the next page will see select your plan.
- Click Get started now and choose which hosting package you want for a special introductory offer and a 30-day money-back guarantee!
- On this page you will see three (3) different plan options: Basic, Plus, and Prime. I recommend the basic option at the beginning, and then as your traffic begins to grow and your blog expands, you could always consider upgrading to Plus or Prime.
- If you’re still not sure, go for the free hosting package on WordPress.com but if you’re ready to get professional or at least look professional from the start, then go for self-hosting instead. Bluehost has great rates and they’ll also give you your domain name for free, if you decide to host with them!
- The next page will direct you to the Sign Up Now page.
- If you already own a domain name, you can enter it here, and you will just have to go through a few extra steps to make sure you get your DNS pointed to Bluehost.
- If you don’t already have a domain name, you can purchase one from right in the sign up process, and the best part is, it comes free with your new WordPress hosting account purchase.
So for this you need to choose a domain name for your site:
Choosing a blog name is extremely difficult! You need a name that’s going to stick, something that’s catchy and memorable, but also something that you can grow with, and that won’t make you look like a Silly Billy five (5) years down the line!
Really think about it!
If you make your domain name destination specific, what happens when you move? If you make your domain name age specific, what happens when you grow up? If you make your domain name budget specific, what happens when you start to become successful, and can afford much more than a budget of $10.00 a day?
There is a reason that my blog is called The British Berliner.
Before this here blog ever existed, I lived in Berlin, and have always called myself The British Berliner. It used to be a running joke but when you think about it, it fits the label and is what it says on the tin!
I have lived in Berlin for over 15 years. I’m married, have a husband, and a teen. I’m pretty settled, and not likely to move anywhere else.
At least I don’t think so lol!
p.s If you’re booking hotels, houses and apartments, use this link to save 20% or more, between 5th January and 31st March 2021!
Booking.com
@Visit England – Rich J Jones
I’m also British. And regardless of that awful situation of Brexit, I love my country, and that won’t ever go away.
I’m both British and German.
So think carefully about your domain name.
- Once you’ve entered a domain name, the next page will lead you to creating your account. This is where you should fill in your personal information.
This page will have a section where there’s:
- Account Information for putting in your personal details
- Package Information for choosing which package you want to purchase
- Payment Information for making payment via credit card or paypal
By the way, basic shared hosting is priced at 12, 24 and 36 month terms thus:
- A Basic 12 month package is $5.45 or €5.44 per month
- A Basic 24 month package is $4.95 or €4.52 per month
- A Basic 36 month package is $3.95 or €3.61 per month
To help save you money, obviously the longer the term you purchase, the lower the monthly rate will be. By choosing a 36-month hosting term, you can get the great introductory rate of $3.95 or €3.61 per month. And, because you’ve chosen to host with Bluehost, if you ever need more than a shared hosting account, Bluehost provides seamless upgrades to VPS, or dedicated server hosting accounts from inside your control panel!
- After you’ve filled in your information and chosen your hosting package, click the Submit button to complete your purchase.
- You’ll then be asked to create a password for your account.
- You can use the Password Generator to create a strong and secure password, or create one yourself.
It is required to have both capital and lowercase letters, a number, and a special character (?!#, etc.) in order to have a strong enough password to protect your account.
Now that you are all signed up and are able to log into your account, you can get started installing WordPress and writing your blog!
HOW TO START WRITING YOUR BLOG!
This may seem like the most complicated step, but it really isn’t! Bluehost has worked hard to make this one of the easiest things for you to do.
Once you log in, you’ll then get to make a few decisions about how your blog will look.
As part of the setup, Bluehost will suggest a few themes.
- Click on any theme at all. Don’t worry, you can always change it later!
- Once you’ve done this, click on the button that says Start Building.
- You’ll then see the dashboard below as soon as you click on the blue button.
You can choose either to click on Business or Personal.
- If you’re interested in monetizing straight off, and know exactly what you’re doing click on Business. If on the other hand, you’re like me and want to build up gradually, click on Personal.
I started with a free blog, and now I have a combination of the two!
Almost done!
Now you just need to write a little blurb for your website or blog, in order to launch it.
- For the Site Title, I wrote – The British Berliner.
- For Site Description, I wrote – A lifestyle expat travel blog about culture, history, Brexit, the Royal Family, travels around the world, Europe, and being British in Berlin!
I’ve tweaked and changed it over time, so don’t worry if you’re not sure.
You can always change it!
- Click on Next Step.
The following page will pop up.
- Click on the blue button that says Launch.
And voila!
- You can log into your WordPress website anytime you like. Simply go into the admin login URL. If you do this, a login box will pop up.
- Enter your username and password, then click Log In and you’re in!
Congratulations! You’ve just created your first website or blog!
- Once you’ve logged in, you’ll be taken to your WordPress dashboard. From here, you can control everything to do with your WordPress site, such as creating pages, writing posts, and changing the appearance.
- Then all you have to do next is to write something, or add a picture, and when you’re ready, hit publish!
Keep it sweet and simple and you’ll be fine!
Wow!
Welcome to your first post and the virtual bloggers club, otherwise known as twitter!
Remember, if you sign up through this tutorial, you’ll receive a special offer of shared hosting at €3.30 a month for 36 months, as well as 1-Click WordPress Install, 24/7 Support, a free SSL Certificate and a free domain name for a year!
I’m not an expert in the technical field, but if I can setup a WordPress blog all by myself, so can you!
If you have any additional questions, comments or simply need more help, just ask, and I’ll do my best to help!
Here’s my link to a $25 discount in credit with any paid plan with WordPress. Don’t say that I don’t give you anything!
Here’s the link again: http://wordpress.com/refer-a-friend/qyyjJjnfWBnRGPVRj0V
*The promotional price for Bluehost website hosting is for the first initial term only and renews at the regular rate.
HOW TO START A BLOG IN JUST A MERE 10 MINUTES: A SIMPLE GUIDE!
This article is not sponsored and all opinions and brilliant thoughts, are my very own!
If you’re not in Berlin in March, you’re positively dull!
DISCLOSURE!
Please note that there is now a bluehost and WordPress affiliate link connected to this post. Please consider using the link, because every time some sort of website hosting is booked via my link I get a little percentage, but at no extra cost to yourself!
A win-win for all!
Thanks a million!
Do you have any other questions about how to start a blog? Any comments or suggestions? Let me know below!
See you in Berlin.
If you have any questions send me a tweet, talk to me on Facebook, find me on Linkedin, make a comment below or send me an Email: victoria@thebritishberliner.com
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46 Comments on “How to start a blog in just a mere 10 minutes: A simple guide!”
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I went over this internet site and I believe you have a lot of excellent information, saved to bookmarks (:.
Thanks very much!
What was your own expereince of starting a blog? Did you find it easy or difficult?
I’ve been meaning to move my blog from WordPress.com to .org self hosting but it’s such a pain at this point. Have fun at the show! I’ll be heading to the Travel and Adventure Expo over in my neighborhood next weekend…super exciting! ITB sounds awesome, wish I could make it!
Thanks so much Heather. I hear you. It can sound like such a drag but WordPress.org have people who will help and support your move. Although for a website like your own best to do it at a very low lull period like Xmas or something…!
I’ve not heard of the Travel and Adventure Expo before, but don’t you live in LA? I thought it was just the East Coast.
Oh, I’ve just had a look, LA & San Diego are included too! Isn’t it nice to go to a travel trade fair which is just around the corner? And ITB is awesome, as far as I understand it, the largest in the world. And all in my little corner of Berlin. For this, I pretty much take the week off lol!
‘Hope you can come to our side of the pond one day. 🙂
Yeah, it will be a project for sure! I tried to move it over once but something got screwed up with the XML file and I decided I would abort and put it off for another day, haha.
I grew up in Los Angeles, but I live in San Diego now. They are only a couple hours drive apart, so I spend a lot of time in both cities though 🙂 So nice to have a travel show near home…makes things easy!
I’m hoping to go to France and Spain next year as I’ve never been to Spain, and I have a friend in France who is begging us to come for a visit. Germany is on the to-travel list as well, but probably next year. I think my mom wants to do a Germany Christmas markets trip for Christmas one year so I may do it then with her 🙂
Totally understand re moving over. It can be a bit of a drag sometimes which is why the advice is usually to do self-hosting at the beginning, but it’s really difficult to do so as you really have no idea whether you’ll like blogging, whether it’s worth it. whether you’ll put so much time into it. Unsurprisingly, for most of us, it’s oh no I’ve got too much stuff on my blog. The price of success!
You’ll enjoy Spain. It’s such a great sunny country and even though South America is next door to you, the Spanish spoken there is totally differently. It’s like Australian English for Americans or Deep Southern accents for us Brits. We really haven’t a clue what people are saying! I have a clipped posh (independent school) English accent and when we went to America, most people couldn’t understand what I said. They loved my accent and kept asking where I was from!
If you’re in Europe, France is a must, and Germany if you can squeeze it in. And definitely a Germany Christmas is something you’ll never forget!
haha you pretty much described my situation to a T. Started the blog just to try it out, found out I loved it, blog got “too big for it’s britches”, so to speak, and now it’s a ginormous pain in the butt to move it over. I’ll get around to it one of these days, haha. It’s a good problem to have 🙂
I’m interested to experience the Spain Spanish dialect. I speak a fair bit of Spanish as I’ve lived so close to Mexico my whole life, studied Spanish, and spent a lot of time growing up in the homes of my Mexican immigrant friends whose parents really didn’t know much English.
I love France. Spent some time there when I was in college, but it’s been a while. And Germany at Christmas is something I HAVE to do!
Where did you visit in the U.S.? Our accents and culture are pretty different from region to region 🙂
Ho! Ho! When we went to America in 2011 (and I’ve only been once), we loved it! We went to California (of course), Nevada, Utah and Arizona. We went to 4 National Parks, Route 66, San Fransciso, Vegas, The Grand Canyon, Santa Barbara, Disneyland California. It was amazing. Sadly, we were only able to spend a month as it was January (my son was in international school at the time so you could take time off “to travel”). As most parents were internationally mobile, diplomats, or investment bankers, it wasn’t an issue to be away for a while. Most of the kids were in and out to Japan, the US, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the UK, etc. We did have to take homework with us though. We did the same when we went to Asia in 2014….
I’d like to go to America again. But perhaps not just now….but when we do it’ll be to New York and the West Coast!
Wow, you really did do quite the tour! Glad you enjoyed yourself 🙂 Let me know when you make it back out to the West Coast 🙂
I’ve been wanting to do a long weekend in New York for a while but I keep checking prices and getting scared away. It will happen eventually.
International school sounds amazing. My husband went to one in Italy when he was a child as his parents were teachers there. Sounds amazing!
Indeed we did. And so worth it! We were in the US for the very first time and we really wanted to make a good job of it. It was hilarious too as we started in LA which was sunny and ended up with snow in some of the National Parks and in the Grand Canyon! We also met quite a few raccoons on our National Park waterfall-facing-room terrace that scared the hell out of us (as we had never seen a racoon before. We thought it was a badger!) and wolves just outside our car door! Ha! Ha! That was a shock!
Re-New York, I know it’ll be expensive and when the time comes teen son isn’t going with us. It’ll be a round of parties, theatres, and cocktails lol!
p.s. International school is the best. As it was so important to me that my British culture was part of his life too, and not just the German one. Son is 14 now so we moved him to a German elite school for scientists and mathematicians. The Germans are anything if not efficient, so the days of hopping across the world during school term, is sadly, now firmly over! 🙁
Don’t worry, I’ve seen raccoons my whole life and they still scare the hell out of me. I got out of my car about a month ago at home and saw raccoons in the tree and RAN for inside the house.
Your NY trip sounds fun…I’ll probably do the same when I get there 🙂
I mean, YOLO right!
One of the raccoons was on our terrace and came into the corner of our room. And the other one, we found in the laundry room! All of them at night. Eek!
NY is just a dream right now bearing in mind the political nature….but once we get there, Ms. Sarah Jessica Parker eat your heart out! 🙂 🙂
Oh no, that’s way too close!!! If there was a raccoon in my laundry room the scream would be heard from 100 miles away.
If you’re worried about visiting anywhere in the U.S. due to the current politics, NY would be fine, as will California. We West Coast and Northeast Americans are a world apart from some other areas that I won’t mention 🙂
I know right! I’m not easily scared, but I was scared!
Re- the US. I’m not super worried. I would still recommend that people visit the US, but to be alert and cautious ‘cos nobody is immuned from extra interrogation, if the airport staff feel it fit to do so!
And yes, I know most States are against this type of behaviour. Quite similar to Brexit in my home-country of England. But what a mess! 🙁
What a mess indeed! All I can do is dig my heels in, take action when I can, and hope for the best in the future. Blah.
And I hear you about the airports. Our airports are awful in the U.S. Even as a citizen I get nervous about going back through when I come home.
When I recently came home from Japan they were yelling things at everybody in line and I was thinking, these poor Japanese people if they don’t speak English…all they will know is that somebody is yelling something at them but not what to do. Sigh.
Sigh! It can only get better as it can get any worse. And the US is such a beautiful country. I can’t wait to visit again, once things have cooled down. You won’t believe how many readers have been asking if going to the UK will be a problem. I always tell them, that it’s usually OK providng you have visas, etc in order, as people are on edge. My advice: If in Europe, sit back and take the train. If in the US, go on a roadtrip lol! 🙂
For sure!!! Unless it’s really far in the IS. In that case, fly, Hahahaha. There are some really long, boring stretches of road!
I wish people weren’t so afraid of traveling to my country. I understand. There are some terrible things happening in the news. And maybe because I live in an extremely liberal state, I’m not seeing it either, but it just makes me sad that the world is so at odds right now.
I heard the other day the EU voted to require visas for Americans. Who knows if it will happen or not, and selfishly I hope it doesn’t, but it just makes me sad. I want the world to be a more open, welcoming place for all.
I don’t think people are afraid to visit the US really. Its more anxiety. Having said that, the UK is no better. Or Australia. Everyone is slightly on edge. As for the EU voting for American visa. Nothing will change in Britain, as the UK was never part of the Schengen Agreement in the first place!
However, it’s to do with the US I’m afraid. The visa-free travel for US citizens within the EU was voted to end by the European Parliament, after the US failed to agree upon visa-free travel for the citizens of the five following EU countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland, Croatia, and Romania, as part of the reciprocity agreement. However, the US is not alone as Australia, Japan, Canada, and Brunei also failed in their visa-free obligations, but all four countries are soon to lift any visa restrictions on travel for citizens of the EU.
As far as the EU is concerned, it’s one for one and one for all! I can see it turning rather nasty in the US v EU months to come. 🙁
Yeah, I certainly hope it doesn’t. I don’t have any faith that things will de-escalate any time soon, and I’m slightly bummed because we plan to visit friends in France and then head down to Spain in 2018, but we’ll see. It won’t stop me or anything, but extra bureaucracy is always a bummer. I wonder what kind of visa it would be if they do implement it. I hope it’s on arrival like Japan or at the very least an easy ETSA like Australia.
I wouldn’t worry about it right now. It’ll take ages to sort out. Just come visit, have a great time, and enjoy. American tourists are not the enemy. In fact, international tourists, the world over, are always welcome wherever they go, and wherever they come from! 🙂
I think the world could use more tourism. Travel opens people’s eyes to the fact that we’re all just…people!
Totally! Travel is the best thing! 🙂
I love that photo of you with the mic. And those socks! =) Precious.
Starting a blog really is so simple, and yet it intimidates people to no end. It’s still my top question I get—I want to start a blog; how do I do it? (Apparently, most people don’t know how to use Google lol.)
Thanks so much Kristin! I might be living in Germany, but you won’t be able to take my British pop socks away from me lol!
Indeed, starting a blog is as easy as a slice of bread n’ butter! But nobody ever believes me! And it’s no wonder, just 3 years ago, I went to a networking session with scientists and academics at the ITB. Most of them had never ever heard of a blog!
p.s. I love Google. They’ve been very kind. 🙂
I’ve been wondering this for a while… what does your blog host actually do for you? Just help you if you have a problem? Coding? Backups? If you decide to go self-hosted, is it necessary to buy hosting services from somewhere like Bluehost or can you decide to do everything on your own? – Great post, btw! 🙂
Thanks so much! You can buy hosting services wherever you want. And if you’re technologically inclined, you can do it yourself. I’m not, so I need a webhost to “look after” things for me. With free-hosting, it’s all done automatically so you dont have to worry about a thing however, if you want to be more adventurous or thinking about making a business, you can’t really use it as the plugin are blocked! For that, you would have to self-host. The choice is yours! Any questions about the technical aspect, just direct them to bluehost. They’re nice people!
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Thank you Alicia. Which part of the article did you like most?
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