Now there are many options for creating a blog and customizing it but going to keep this simple based on my experience. WordPress is the standard content management for blog posts.
So, in step 5( Blogging For Passive Income, Step 5: Find A Blog Hosting Service. ), we picked a hosting provided, and I recommended Cloudways(https://Cloudways.com), which allows for the instant creation of WordPress blog applications on your domain, step 4( Blogging For Passive Income, Step 4: Register Your Blog’s Domain Name. ).
Follow the hosting provider’s directions regardless of which hosting provider you went with. Now with services like BlueHost, from my experience, they will preload several plugins you do not want.
Simple New Blog Settings
These are simple settings recommended to me, and I will pass them on to others.
1.- WordPress Blog General Settings.
From the WordPress dashboard, click “settings,” and it should open to “General”.
In this section, enter the basic information about your blog; every reader should know immediately about your site.
Site Title – A descriptive, simple name, for your blog. Related to the topic, a domain name helps keeps consistency with your blog’s branding.
Example: This blog’s title is Growing PIGs!
The title is related to the topic and domain name, and if you under the stand the punishing nature of the name, it’s about Passive Income Generators and growing them. 😀
Tagline In a few words, explain what this site is about. – A nice tagline that further elaborates the topic of your blog; in the case of this blog, GrowingPIGs.com, I added this tagline:
“A Lifetime Of Growing Passive Income Generators (PIGs).“
A simple short tagline for the blog that describes its purpose to the blog reader.
WordPress Address (URL) & Site Address (URL) – Just as it reads, I have both set to my blog HTTPS address, https://GrowingPIGs.com
Simple and easy. 😀
2.- Permalinks.
From the WordPress dashboard, click “settings” then “permalinks”.
This is a setting on how your posts will be accessed from the URL of browsers and will make up your linking structure.
Change the setting to “Post Name.”
Now your links will contain text in the link that you can later tune to match the topics you are covering for your readers.
This makes the link easier for readers to determine what your post is about, and search engines identify your post topic quicker.
Themes: Keep It Simple, Smart-person(K.I.S.S.)
I spent too much time trying to figure out what theme I wanted and what color scheme I wanted. What would also make my site look good?
Well, from this site, GrowingPIGs.com, you probably guessed I gave up.
No, a good page is pleasing to the reader, but you have no readers early on in the blog creation cycle. Well, until you create some content that is worth reading that they can find.
So my recommendation, save time better spent on creating good content and go with a simple theme for your new blog.
I like free versions of GeneratePress, HemmingWay, and Astra.
These themes are simple, scalable, and, more importantly, fast.
Fast for loading for both readers and search engine bots. This way, your readers can get information quickly, and search engines can crawl your site to figure out how you are a resource for their searchers.
So Keep It Simple, Smart-person. 😀
Necessary Blog Plugins That Make Sense.
Now WordPress plugins should be a whole separate post, but going to keep this simple as well. These are quick high-level steps to get your blog up and running quickly and start getting traffic.
I am creating a new blog with minimal cost.
So let’s only focus on simple plugins that work and keep costs down.
An SEO plugin.
I use RankMath.
In the past, I used (All In One Search Engine Optimization)AIOSEO and Yoast. Yoast is the standard SEO Plugin people recommend, and it was ok, and AIOSEO was more helpful than Yoast.
However, I went with RankMath. Felt it wasn’t filled with SEO fluff, and it did exactly what I wanted. I could turn off and on the features I wanted.
Later in the content creation, I will cover the most basic of on-page SEO information, which is the same as most SEO plugins. Just a mental checklist you can keep when you start creating your blog posts.
A Contact Form Plugin
Readers having the ability to contact you about your blog is essential.
Often I am contacted by readers who want to leave feedback about and suggestions for posts.
I initially thought having a contact form opened me to spam, which will be addressed in the following plugin, but I can’t believe how many fan letters my blog has received. A real boost to the writer’s block we blog creators often suffer from.
Oh, the plugin I use is.”CaptainForm“.
It’s an older plugin, which should immediately set off warning bells since older plugins without current updates are a concern.
However, I’ve been using this plugin for a while now, and it works without having an active mail server on your blog, so it works.
Having a simple plugin that works constantly, I would only change to another contact form creator using the CaptainForm plugin.
Blog Security With Wordfence Plugin.
I am a member of a Blogging forum, and too often, I read about how people’s blogs have been hacked and turned their trusted blog sites into nothing more than a cheap spam directory.
With the Wordfence Plugin, even the free version, you can scan your site, ensure plugins and themes are safe, and, more importantly, lock down your security.
With Wordfence, I have 2FA turned on.
Passwords get brute force attacked; passwords are leaked by harmful software, but with 2FA, a not-so-inconvenient additional step can be taken to help secure your blog.
Also, with wardens, it can block wrong IP addresses or block logins after x many attempts helping to prevent brute force attacks on your site.
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam
Only important if you allow comments on your blog, something you can turn off, but you need to include targeted dialogs on your posts.
Comment spam is relatively common and often created by bots. Automated software tries to flood the web with links back to their services or products.
Trying to direct your trusted readership away from your blog to their ‘junk.’
I use WP Armour’s Honeypot Anti Spam plugin to reduce the spam I receive on my blog.
Before using WP Armor – Honeypot Anti Spam plugin, I got a lot of spam comments. I just manually deleted them in the past, and there is only a little work cleaning out spam comments, but this plugin saves time.
There are other plugins, and as we create content and need them, I will cover more about them.
Use enough plugins to make your site readable and, more importantly, searchable.
Setting Up Your Blog Is Simple And Easy.
Just gross adjustments to the blog, and later we will fine-tune it.
So how do you feel, like you are now a blogger?
Back To Main Blogging Steps List: How Do I Create A Side Hustle Blog
Please wait until we start creating content for our good readers to find and enjoy!
See you in the next step: Create Blogging Content.
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 Myself with an interesting Bull Sculpture. Notice: No Lambo’s. :/ | Hi I’m Tom, A Blogger And A PIG Farmer. PIG Farmer as in I grow Passive Income Generators(PIG’s). I’ve been playing with stocks, mutual funds, and options for decades, as well as always working on my side hustle stacks. Unlike what you read online, I’ve yet to find a way to get rich quickly. Get Rich Quick isn’t happening for me. My journey has been long and continues. I hope to have so many PIGs I can stop working at my current job and volunteer as a medical worker overseas. Still waiting, but getting there. I still am a family man, and while on this Journey of Growing PIGs. I wanted to share my adventures(ups and downs), hoping you will contribute with your feedback and comments. Fun Fact: In my spare time, I am a Band-Dad! |