Tips for making a blog on a budget

When you get interested to create a blog, the first thing that comes to mind is money as this process isn’t exactly cheap. You will obviously need to upgrade a personal blog if you are looking for making money via blogging. Although, there are many ways to start a blog for free that are not going to get any money quickly or easily. You don’t need a lot of money to start your own blog. With smartness and proper guidance, you can start one just with $50 or even less. In short, you can start a blog on a budget you can afford.

So here are some tips and tools that will help you to start a new blog on a low budget.

1. Pick a Niche and Know Your Blog Subject – this process is free

You must have a clear idea about what you want to blog about. If you aren’t sure, then you can get an idea considering these –

Your hobbies

You can make your blog about your favorite things. It’s easy to blog when you are interested in the topic, of which you have good knowledge and you can talk about that then non-stop.

Your problems

People come online often to find solutions for their problems. So you can make a short-listed niche with some common issues and start blogging on them. Such as –

• Relationships & family

• Health

• Money

• Cooking

• Employment

• Depression

Your Fears

It will be quite brilliant if you make a niche about your fears and start blogging on the idea. The things or situations you are afraid of and how you plan to overcome them – such things can make a great blog and many people too will find that helpful. Such as –

• Fear of failure

• Fear of public speaking

• Fear of driving

• Fear of height

Some other niche ideas

• Weight loss

• Technology

• Fashion and beauty

• Online marketing

• Travel

• Games

Make sure that the niche you pick is something you yourself are interested in.

2. Choosing free Domain and a good hosting:

To start, you can choose an affordable hosting provider that offers you a free domain name. You should consider some facts before picking up a domain name. There are mainly two types of domain names, like –

Keyword-based domain name

This one gives you a term or phase-specific to your topic. That way your domain name itself showcases the niche of your blog.

Brandable domain name

If you don’t get a keyword-specific domain name, then you must pick a domain name that is brandable.

Also, some bloggers use their own names as the domain. Make sure that the name you pick is worthy and usable across different social media for advertising the brand everywhere.

When you are done with the domain name and checked its availability, then it’s time to fill out the registration form, purchase your new domain and a hosting package. If you have some extra budget, then it’s better to buy the domain privacy too.

3. Installing WordPress on your own:

Once your hosting and domain are set, it’s time to install WordPress, which is accessible from the control panel. There is no reason to hire anybody for the installation of WordPress as it is very simple to use and operate.

Here are some good reasons that you should install WordPress –

• It’s simple to install and you can set-up on your own.

• You can easily install WordPress and write your content even without any knowledge of HTML or coding. WordPress will give your blog a professional look.

• WordPress gives you a large range of variety regarding themes and website templates. You can easily choose the most suitable one for your site and also easily change it when you want.

• You can add Plugins and make your blog’s design and functionality better.

• As it’s hugely used worldwide by so many users, you can find many guides and tutorials about the same online for any help.

3. Creating a Logo with the help of tutorials

You can use free methods to make a logo for your site. If you have confidence in your creativity and have a tight budget, then let your innovation create a free logo for your purpose. There are many video tutorials available on the Internet which can help you to get proper guidance in making a logo. With the help of such tutorials, you can build all by yourself and there is no reason to hire somebody and spend money to build a logo.

You must consider mainly 3 things while creating a logo. Such as –

Color scheme – Know your color scheme well before making your logo so that the colors you choose can run through the whole brand. If you don’t have much knowledge to choose color schemes properly, then you can take the help of various online tools that generate different color schemes.

These designing tools give you many options for editing photos, banners, and much more. Also, some of these tools offer you direct professional help to create a logo suitable for your site.

Style – What’s your favorite style – minimalist, feminist or bold? You must be sure about that and only proceed to choose fonts, colors, or even for designing the logo.

Simplicity – There’s no need to design a complex logo. Simplicity is always the best of all. Even a simple logo, built with creativity and brilliance can create that magic charm.

4. Choosing a free Theme

You must choose a perfect theme for your blog. If you want to stick to a low budget, then free WordPress themes are the best options for you. You can simply choose a theme from thousands of free themes there that match your concept and topic the best.

There’s also an option to get paid premium themes, even in WordPress. Some Premium themes are very much low priced, as low as $20 and they have striking benefits, like –

• You will get access to theme support and regular theme updates.

• Several premium themes give you in-built SEO options and clean code for super-fast loading.

• With a premium package, you get higher quality, better security and advanced functionality. There are a lot more options for customization too that will help you to get the exact look for your site that you dream about.

There’s no obligation that you must buy a premium theme. Decide on your own and choose as per your budget.

5. Free marketing – Building an Email List

It’s mandatory to build a mailing list so that you can retain your readers and stay in touch with them on a regular basis. That’s why it’s said that the money lies within the list! You may share your newest blog post, promote any latest product or just keep your readers informed about what’s going on with your blog. You can easily get all this set up for free or invest if see fit to grow your email list.

There are two vital steps to build your list and retain readers –

• Get yourself a tool for collecting emails.

• Get another tool that will send out emails to your subscribers.

Bonus Tools:

If you still have some money left, then you can go for some bonus tools as well, like –

• SEO tools

• Social media marketing

• Scheduling tools

Conclusion

So now you have some basic ideas about what is needed to start a blog and also you have some brilliant tips to build a successful blog within a low budget. Always remember that proper planning, creativity, and management skills are all that you need to be a successful blogger.

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