A guide for beginners on starting a WordPress blog in 2024–

Choose a Domain Name and Web Hosting:

Domain Name:

Choose a domain name that reflects your blog’s content or brand.
Select the domain extension (.com). .net, .org) that aligns with your blog’s purpose.

Web Hosting:

Find a hosting provider that provides excellent customer support, dependable server performance, and scalability.
Consider the Select a hosting plan that meets your requirements and consider factors like storage, bandwidth, and server location.

Install WordPress:

One-Click Installation:

A simple and one-click WordPress installation process is offered by numerous hosting providers.
Check your The hosting provider’s documentation or support for detailed instructions.

Manual Installation:

Go to WordPress.org and download the most recent version of WordPress.
Follow the detailed installation guide that is given on the WordPress website.

For those who are already proficient in performing such installations, this is a quick version of the instructions.

• Download and unzip the WordPress package if you haven’t already.
• Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as a MySQL (or MariaDB) user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.
• (Optional) Find and rename wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php, then edit the file (see Editing wp-config.php) and add your database information.
• Note: If you are not comfortable with renaming files, step 3 is optional and you can skip it as the install program will create the wp-config.php file for you.
• Upload the WordPress files to the desired location on your web server:
• If you want to integrate WordPress into the root of your domain (e.g. http://example.com/), move or upload all contents of the unzipped WordPress directory (excluding the WordPress directory itself) into the root directory of your web server.
• If you want to have your WordPress installation in its own subdirectory on your website (e.g. http://example.com/blog/), create the blog directory on your server and upload the contents of the unzipped WordPress package to the directory via FTP.
• Run the WordPress installation script by accessing the URL in a web browser. This should be the URL where you uploaded the WordPress files.
• If your WordPress installation is in the root directory, you should go to http://example.com/.
• If WordPress was installed in a subdirectory called ‘blog’, for instance, you should go to http://example.com/blog/.
• That’s it! WordPress should now be installed.

Configure Basic Settings:

General Settings

Site title

The name of your site (or blog) can be entered here. This title is usually displayed at the top of every page and in the reader’s browser title bar in most themes. WordPress uses this title to identify your syndicated feeds.

Tagline

Give a brief description of your website. Entering your site’s slogan or tagline can be done here. To convey the website’s essence, a tagline is a short phrase or sentence that is often humorous or eye-catching. The tagline defaults to an empty string.

WordPress Address (URL)

Enter the full URL of the directory containing your WordPress core application files (e.g., wp-config.php, wp-admin, wp-content, and wp-includes). If you set up WordPress in a directory named ‘blog’, the WordPress address would be http://example.net/blog (where example.net is your domain).

If you install WordPress in your web root, this address will be the root URL: http://example.net. WordPress will trim a slash (/) from the end. If you defined the WP_SITEURL constant in your wp-config.php file, that value will appear in this field and you will not be able to make changes to it from the WordPress administration screen.

Site Address (URL)

Enter the address that people should type in their browser to access your WordPress site. The main directory for WordPress’s index.php file is located here. If you’re giving WordPress its own directory, the site address (URL) (above) is identical to the WordPress address (URL) (above). WordPress will trim a slash (/) from the end. If you defined the WP_HOME constant in your wp-config.php file, that value will appear in this field and you will not be able to make changes to it from the WordPress administration screen.

E-mail Address

Enter the email address to which WordPress should send messages regarding the administration and maintenance of your WordPress site. A notification will be sent to this address via email if you permit new users to register as members of your site (see Membership below).

In addition, if the option, An administrator must always approve the comment, is set in Administration > Settings > Discussion, this e-mail address will receive notification that the comment is being held for moderation. Please note this is different than the address you supplied for the admin user account; the admin account e-mail address is sent an e-mail only when someone submits a comment to a post by admin.

Membership

If you wish for anyone to register an account on your site, please check this box.

New User Default Role

This drop-down box enables you to choose the default Role that is given to new users. This Default Role will be assigned to newly registered members or users added via the Administration > Users > Users Screen. Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, or Subscriber are all valid options.

Site Language

The WordPress dashboard language.

Timezone

Choose a city in the same time zone as you using the drop-down box. For example, under America, select New York if you reside in the Eastern Timezone of the United States that honors daylight savings times.

If you can’t identify a city in your timezone, select one of the Etc GMT settings that represents the number of hours by which your time differs from Greenwich Mean Time. Click the Save Changes button and the UTC time and “Local time” will display to confirm the correct Timezone was selected.

Date Format

The format in which to display dates on your site. The Date Format setting is intended to be used by theme designers in displaying dates on your site, but does not control how the date is displayed in the Administrative Screens (e.g. Manage Posts). Click the Save Changes button and the “Output” example below will show the current date in the format entered. See Formatting Date and Time for some of the formats available.

Time Format

The format in which to display times on your site. The Time Format setting is intended to be used by theme designers in displaying time on your site, but does not control how the time is displayed in the Administrative Screens (e.g. Write Post edit of timestamp). Click the Save Changes button and the “Output” example below will show the current time in the format entered. For a list of available formats, refer to Formatting Date and Time.

Week Starts On

Pick the start date you prefer for WordPress calendars from the drop-down list. Monday is the default setting for this drop-down, meaning a monthly calendar will show Monday in the first column. To have Sunday as the first column on your calendar, select Sunday from the drop-down menu.

Save Changes

To ensure that any changes you make to your settings are saved to your database, click the Save Changes button. A confirmation text box will appear at the top of the page when you click the button to confirm that your settings have been saved.

Choose a Theme:

Managing your Themes is possible through the Appearance Themes Screen. Themes can be installed, previewed, deleted, activated, and updated.

A WordPress theme consists of files that work together to create a graphical interface with a underlying unifying design for a weblog. These files are referred to as template files. The way the site is displayed can be modified by a theme, without changing the underlying software. Themes may include customized template files, image files (*.jpg, *.gif), style sheets (.css), custom Pages, as well as any necessary code files (.php).

Theme Selection:

Choose a theme that aligns with your blog’s niche and provides a good user experience.

Ensure The theme is optimized for optimal viewing on various devices.

Customization:

Adjust colors, fonts, and layout options by using the WordPress Customizer to customize the theme.

Install Essential Plugins:

By using the Plugins Screen, you can manage your Plugins. It is necessary to manage plugins by activating, deactivating, updating, editing, and deleting them.

Visit the Plugins Add New Screen to install new plugins by clicking Add New link at the top of this screen or Select Plugins > Add New from left side menu. Here is where you can activate a plugin that has been installed.

The Plugins table has the following columns:

[ ] – This checkbox, when clicked (checked), ‘selects’ that particular plugin to be processed by a Bulk Action.
Plugin – The name of the Plugin.
Description – information about its Plugin. Contains version number, plugin author name, and hyperlink to the plugin’s webpage for further information or assistance.

Popular Plugin

Yoast/Rank Math SEO:
Make your content search engine-friendly by including meta titles, descriptions, and sitemaps.

Akismet:
Defend your blog from spam comments.

Jetpack:
Make sure that features like social sharing, site statistics, and security tools are enabled.

Create Essential Pages:

The Pages Screen enables the management of all Pages in a blog. This screen has the ability to edit, delete, and view pages. Quickly finding Pages that match certain criteria can be achieved by filtering and searching.

Several powerful features allow Pages to be edited in bulk (en masse) allowing fields such as Author, Parent, Template, Comments Allowed, Status, and Pings Allowed, to be changed for a whole batch of Pages. In addition, the Quick Edit feature provides an easy method to change multiple values, such as Title, Slug, Date, and Author, for a given page.

Some Example are:
About Us:
Share the details of your story, mission, and background.

Contact:
Create a way for readers, brands, or collaborators to communicate with each other.

Privacy Policy:
Comply with privacy regulations and guarantee visitors’ data protection.

Write Your First Blog Post

The Posts screen provides the ability to manage all the posts in a blog. Posts can be edited, deleted, and viewed via this screen. Quickly finding posts matching certain criteria is made easy by filtering and searching.

A powerful bulk edit feature allows Posts to be edited in bulk (en masse) allowing fields such as Author, Comments Allowed, Status, Pings Allowed, and Sticky to be changed for a whole batch of Posts.

It is important to note that Categories and Tags can be ADDED in bulk to a set of Posts, but it is not possible to CHANGE, or DELETE, a Category, or Tag, for those Posts. Additionally, a Quick Edit feature offers an easy method to change multiple values, such as Title, Slug, Date, and Category, for a given post.

The Posts table has the following columns:

[ ] – This checkbox, when clicked (checked), ‘selects’ that particular Post to be processed by a Bulk Action.

Title – This is the Post’s Title displayed as a link. Click the title link to allow editing of this post. Next to the title, bold text will display if a post is of a Draft, Private, Pending, Sticky, or Password Protected nature.

“ID” – This is not a column in the Table, but by hovering the mouse over the Post Title, the Post ID is revealed as part of the URL displayed in the browser status bar (in Firefox the status bar is displayed at the bottom of the screen). The unique number used by WordPress’ database to identify individual posts is a Post’s ID number.

Author – Displayed in the form of a link, this is the author who wrote the Post. Clicking the author link causes all the Posts authored by that user to be displayed in the Table of Posts (thus allowing a Bulk Action to be applied to all Posts for a given author).

Categories – Displays all the Categories, in the form of links, to which this Post belongs. Each Category link, when clicked will cause the list of Posts assigned that Category to be displayed in the Table of Posts (note the Category Filter box at the top of the Table will depict the Category being displayed).

Tags – Displays all the Tags, in the form of links, associated with a Post. When a Tag link is clicked, the Table of Posts will display the list of Posts assigned to that Tag.

comment bubble – A comment bubble is the column heading, and each Post row has comment bubble with the number of comments for that Post. If there are any comments on a post, they will be displayed in a blue bubble. By clicking on a blue comment bubble, the Comments Screen is displayed, which allows for the moderation of those comments.

Date – The Date column for each Post shows the Date ‘Published’ for Published Posts or the Date ‘Last Modified’ for other Posts. The scheduled date for publishing is shown if the Post is a ‘future Post’.

Content Creation:
Create content that is both engaging and informative.
Utilize Headings, images, and multimedia can enhance readability.

Categories and Tags:
Tag and categorize your posts to improve organization and navigation.

Configure Permalinks:

Permalinks are the permanent URLs to your individual pages and blog posts, as well as your category and tag archives. A permalink is the web address used to link to your content. The URL to each post should be permanent and never change — hence the name permalink.

You can select your default permalink structure on the ‘Settings Permalinks’ screen. You have the option to select from standard settings or create unique URL structures. Clicking the Save Changes button at the bottom of the screen is required for the new settings to take effect.

WordPress’ default method is to use web URLs that include a date and a name, but you have the option to create a custom URL structure for your permalinks and archives. The aesthetics, usability, and forward compatibility of your links can be enhanced with this.

SEO-Friendly URLs:
Choose a URL structure that includes post titles for better search engine optimization.

Set Up Categories and Tags:

Each WordPress post is categorized into one or more categories. This enables navigation and grouping posts with similar content.

Each category can be assigned to a parent category, which allows you to establish a hierarchy within the category structure. When creating categories, recognize that each category name must be unique. Despite having two different parents, two Categories must still have different names.

Each WordPress post can be categorised under one or more Tags. Navigating becomes easier and posts can be grouped with others of similar content thanks to this.

Tags, unlike Categories, do not have a hierarchy, meaning that there is no Parent->Child relationship like in Categories. Like Categories, Tag names are required to be unique.

Organize Content:
Organize similar content into categories that are relevant.
Add tags to specify topics within posts.

Optimize for SEO:

WordPress is built from the ground up to welcome search engines. Its features and functions lead a search engine through articles, pages, and categories to assist the search engine in crawling your site and gathering the information required to add your site in its database.

WordPress has various built-in search optimization features, such as the ability to use.htaccess to establish permalinks, blogrolling, and pinging. There are additional third-party plugins and hacks available for search engine optimization (SEO).

However, if you begin to utilize different WordPress Themes and customize WordPress to match your specific needs, you may break some of those helpful search engine friendly characteristics. Here are a few pointers to keep your WordPress site friendly to search engine spiders and crawlers.

Keyword Research:
Identify relevant keywords using tools like Google Keyword Planner.
Naturally incorporate keywords into your content.

Yoast SEO Plugin:
Follow Yoast’s recommendations for improving on-page SEO.

Enable Comments and Social Sharing:

Engagement:
Enhance the sense of community by allowing and responding to comments.
Integrate or Use social sharing buttons to encourage readers to share your content.

Configure Backups:

Backup Plugins:
Install a backup plugin that is reliable, such as UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy.
Schedule regular backups that are automated.

Enhance Security:

Security Plugins:
Use a security plugin to protect against threats.
Use strong passwords and consider two-factor authentication.

Performance Optimization:

Caching:
Speed up page load times by enabling caching.
Utilize a content delivery network (CDN) for faster content delivery.

Image Optimization:
Reduce file sizes by compressing and optimizing images.

Launch Your Blog:

Announcement:
Post your blog launch on social media.
Consider writing a launch post to introduce your blog and its purpose.

Regular Maintenance:

Update Regularly:
To ensure security and performance, it is important to update WordPress, themes, and plugins.
Regularly check for broken links and fix them.

Monetization (Optional):

Affiliate Marketing:
Search for affiliate marketing programs that are relevant to your niche.

Sponsored Content:
Think about collaborating with brands on sponsored posts.

Ad Placements:
Use ad networks like Google AdSense to place ads.

Engage with Your Audience:

Community Building:
Make sure to respond to comments promptly and encourage discussions.
Consider hosting giveaways or contests to engage your audience.

Newsletter:
Create a newsletter to keep subscribers up-to-date with new content and updates.

Analytics:

Google Analytics:
Configure Google Analytics to track website traffic and user behavior.
Use insights to refine your content strategy.

Scale and Grow:

Diversify Content:
Try different types of content (like videos, podcasts, and infographics).
Explore new topics and trends in your niche.

Networking:
Connect with other bloggers and influencers in your field.
Attend industry events and participate in online communities.

By This detailed A guide for beginners on starting a WordPress blog in 2023 will help you create and grow a successful WordPress blog. Happy blogging!