In a previous post, I told you about the 5 reasons why you should start a blog. Today, I’m going to show you how to start your own blog/website in under 7 minutes, for free!
Check out the screencast I made below. It shows you how to quickly get started with a free blog/website at WordPress.com.
Here are the steps you should follow:
- Sign up for a free account at WordPress.com.
- Name your site/blog.
- Choose a theme. I like Independent Publisher 2.
- Publish your first blog post.
What Will You Write About?
Write about the things you are learning. What are you currently learning that might be helpful to others? Start with that. A book review, movie review, podcast summary, or your unique thoughts about a subject. Billionaire Peter Theil says to focus on the things that you believe that no one else does.
Check out the video below from Ali Abdaal. In it, he talks about how starting a personal blog set him on a path where he quit being a doctor to focus full time on creating content around his interests such as productivity and learning.
While you may not want to quit your day job to blog, blogging has other straightforward benefits such as giving you an outlet for creative expression.
Blogging makes you more creative, improves your writing, helps you meet cool people, allows you to show your work, and helps you learn out loud.
Benefits of WordPress.com
WordPress.com has a lot of benefits over starting your own self-hosted WordPress installation. They manage all the difficult behind-the-scenes stuff. They even have a way to allow people to subscribe to your blog through email.
On the other hand, a self-hosted WordPress installation is where you pay someone to host your WordPress installation and you are responsible for things like your SSL, domain, updates, backups, and managing plugins. I’ve done this in the past and found it to be tiresome.
I’d rather focus on blogging instead of managing a site.
WordPress.com Already Has a Community of Bloggers
WordPress.com already has a ton of bloggers on its platform. This means that there are bloggers and readers of blogs who will likely be interested in what you are writing about. They make it easy for you to follow and like other bloggers’ posts. You’ll probably get a few likes, comments, and follows within your first few blog posts. Likes and follows are a real boost to keep going!
If you were to start your own self-hosted version of WordPress, you’ll have to build engagement through organic traffic, which can take a while.
Other Options for Starting a Blog
There are a ton of different options out there to start a blog right now. Another option worth considering is Ghost. Ghost is sort of like a lite version of WordPress.com. Ghost costs $9 per month, while WordPress.com is free.
You can read more about my experience with Ghost in a previous post.
Substack.com is another option. It’s free, which is awesome! The thing I don’t like about it is that it isn’t great at SEO or helping people discover your older posts. On the other hand, they have some great writers such as Bryan Caplan who extol the virtues of substack. If you want something simple to get started, it’s worth checking out.
What Are You Waiting For?
So what are you waiting for? If you still need a boost to get going, read Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. He’ll inspire you to get started creating and sharing your work with the world.
I think starting a free site at WordPress.com is a no-brainer. If you decide later on that you want to switch to something else, you can always do that.
Originally published at aaronolson.blog.
