A blog is an online journal displayed in a reverse chronological order where the latest information appears first. A blog can have one or more writers creating content either on the same or different subjects.
A blog can be used by either individuals or businesses writing about anything related to their speciality. Businesses can use a blog to market and drive more traffic to their services and products.
I will guide you on how to set up your blog on a self-hosted server using WordPress.
1. Buy Domain Name
It is important to have your WordPress blog on your own domain as you will have full control of your blog. When buying a domain name, consider a name that will match the main purpose of the blog. If you are going to talk about cooking swahili food, you can name it swahilifood.com so that people will be familier with the name.
2. Link Up Hosting
A hosting space where you will have your blog connected to the Domain Name through Domain Name Servers (DNS), will be needed. There are different hosting companies that offer reliable and affordable hosting around Mombasa. Crablinks Interactive can help you buy hosting based on your requirements and link it up with the domain name bought.
3. Install WordPress
After the domain name and hosting have been set-up, you can log into the Control Panel (cPanel) on your hosting and install WordPress using the QuickInstall available on most hosting providers.
4. Set up your WordPress
After installation, set it up by installing a theme on the theme repository. There are lots of themes designed for blogs. You can install a new theme on Appearance -> Themes -> Add New.
You should also install plugins that will improve your website performance and appearance. I recommend the following plugins:
i. WP Super Cache – Helps your website increase load speed.
ii. Contact Form 7 – Create contact form to help your guests send you email from the website
iii. Yoast SEO – Optimize your blog so that readers can find you through search engines
iv. JetPack by WordPress – Connect your self-hosted blog to wordpress.com so that you can let your readers subscribe to your blog and share to social media platforms.
v. Content Views – Helps you display your posts in categories in a page so that guests can see latest post in an organized page.
5. Start Blogging
Your blog is as good as the content that you write. Make compelling content, connect with your readers and share on your social networks.
I hope these tips will help you get started on building your self-hosted wordpress blog. If you need help, hit me up on @muradswaleh and I will be glad to help you out.
This blog post was first published on letswrite, a writers blog.