Last Update January 25th, 2016.

Thinking that you’d like to start a blog this year? This post is for you.

Today I’m going to show you some really important things you need to know before you jump in.

If you follow these tips you’ll save a lot of time and valuable energy.

NOTE: This post on starting a blog contains some affiliate links. If you purchase a service through one of my links I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for the support! It means a lot.

 

The quick steps involved in starting a blog
First up, if you don’t have a blog yet and are wondering about the best way to get started there are a few quick steps you’ll want to follow:

Set short and long term goals.
Get a domain name and blog host from BlueHost and install WordPress as your blogging platform.
Choose a theme and decide on branding elements like logos and colors.
Add an opt-in form to start collecting email subscribers.
Begin producing strategic content that helps people.The content below will go into much deeper detail about starting a blog this year and give you a bunch of helpful resources that you can use to skyrocket your blogging progress.

What’s different about starting a blog this year?
Some things never change when it comes to blogging.

Other things, however, change quite regularly and it can be really confusing if you’re new or just looking to get started.

I constantly get asked questions like:

“Where do I start a blog?”

“Should I use WordPress or Blogger or Tumblr?”

“Do I need Aweber or will Feedburner suffice for my mailing list?”

“Should I update my blog daily?”

“How should I monetize my blog?”

“Etc. ad infinitum.”

These types of questions are timeless but the answers often change from year to year. And even if the answers don’t change it is sometimes necessary to remind bloggers that the answers haven’t changed! That is: keep doing what you’re doing.

Let’s do some of that now.

So you’re starting a blog? What do you need to know?
Here are some of the most important things you’ll want to pay attention if you want to make this blogging thing work for you:

1. A self-hosted WordPress blog is still your best bet

We harp on about this a lot but best thing you can do about blog hosting is to set up your own WordPress.org blog on your own host. I am still of the firm belief that free blogs like Tumblr and Blogger (and even WordPress.com) do not give you the control, ownership and branding options that you need.

Here’s a quick graphic I shared over on Google+ about the difference between a free WordPress blog and a WordPress blog that you host for yourself. Even here you’ll notice that the differences are huge.

 

 

As I’ve said before, the one prediction I have for people using a free blog host is that one day you will want to migrate it to your own host. And that can be a really annoying process. It’s much better to set yourself up the right way from the beginning.

I recommend BlueHost for all new bloggers (get a Blog Tyrant special discount rate of $3.49 per month on a 12-month starter plan). This tutorial will take you through the setup process – step by step. It should take around 5 minutes to get completely set up!