Blogging can seem like the kind of hobby (and a potential income source) that requires no upfront costs at all.
But that’s nothing more than a misconception. The reality is, you’ll have to pay for the domain name, buy hosting, and more.
That said, you don’t have to spend a small fortune on setting up your blog. If you’re wise about your expenses, the monthly cost of running a website can be as low as $5!
Of course, there’s a tradeoff: if you get things like themes and plugins for free, you’ll need more time and effort to set them up according to your needs.
So, you might need to offload your homework to an academic essay writer service by EssayPro to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Plus, blogging is so time-consuming as a whole that you have to find a way to make time for putting your best foot forward at every part of the way. Also read about student budget.
But how do you set up your blog on a shoestring budget, exactly?
1. Shop Around For A Domain Name
A domain name is, in a nutshell, the URL of your website. It doesn’t come for free, of course. But if you’re flexible enough and window-shop a bit, it can cost you around $8-$12 per year.
Here’s your step-by-step guide for getting a domain name that won’t break your bank:
1. Brainstorm several domain names. Remember to keep them concise (up to 15 characters) and avoid numbers or hyphens.
2. Check their availability. Visit several domain registrars like GoDaddy, Google Domain, and Domain.com. Compare prices: they may vary from one domain name to another, based on their popularity.
3. Settle on the top-level domain (TLD). Aim to purchase a .com TLD. They’re always cheaper – and easier for users to remember, too. Fancy TLDs like .art, .me, and .store can cost you two to five times more!
Keep in mind: your website’s URL isn’t the key to its success. Yes, it has to be memorable enough for people to remember it, but that’s all.
The name itself won’t bring you more readers; only your content can do it. So, don’t overthink it!
2. Choose The Blogging Platform
Next up is the blogging platform that you’ll use to manage pages, create blog posts, and so on. You have two broad categories of blogging platforms to choose from:
1. Paid content management systems (Wix, Squarespace). They typically come with the domain name and web hosting in the bundle, so you don’t have to pay separate fees. However, depending on the plan, you may have restrictions on storage space, bandwidth, ads displayed, etc.
2. Self-hosted content management systems (WordPress). ‘Self-hosted’ means that you need to acquire a domain name and pay for web hosting services yourself. That means you’ll need a bit more time for shopping around, but the CMS itself is completely free of charge – and highly customizable, too.
So, which platform fits a student budget the best? It’s WordPress, hands down.
Since this CMS is free to install and use (and it’s fairly user-friendly, too), it’s the top choice among bloggers and businesses alike. It powers 43% of the web, no less!
3. Pick Your Web Hosting Provider
Let’s say you’ve settled on using WordPress. Now, you need to find a web hosting provider. It’s a company that owns and maintains a bunch of servers.
Those servers will store your website’s source code and make it available to anyone online 24/7.
Yes, there is such a thing as free web hosting. But don’t go there: if the product is free, it means you’re the product! You can find affordable services for anywhere from $3 to $8 per month.
Here are five companies that you should check out when you shop around for web hosting services:
- Bluehost;
- HostGator;
- Hostinger;
- SiteGround;
- DreamHost.
Keep in mind: most web hosting companies offer a great price tag for the first year.
But after renewal, your annual costs can double or even triple! So, compare the so-called standard rates before committing to a provider – migrating a website is a pain.
4. Get Yourself An SSL Certificate
If your website doesn’t have this certificate, search engines and browsers will automatically mark it as ‘not secure’ and show a scary warning to users who try to access it.
The reason is, the SSL certificate encrypts all the data passed between the user and the website’s servers.
So, whether you want it or not, this certificate is a must. But how do you get one?
Many web hosting providers offer a free SSL certificate along with their services. But if yours doesn’t, you can get it free of charge with Let’s Encrypt or SSL For Free.
You’ll have to renew the certificate manually every three months.
5. Browse Free Themes & Plugins
WordPress is unrivaled when it comes to themes: there are over 9,000 free themes you can use for your website.
Since they’re completely free to download and install, you’ll essentially be saving thousands of dollars in web development and design!
That said, you might need to spend an evening or several to customize the theme’s layout or design to match your vision. But don’t worry: coding isn’t necessary for 99% of tweaks.
If you’ve opted for WordPress, you also have over 59,000 free plugins to choose from. They’re akin to the tools you can add to turn your toolbox into exactly what you need.
Here are five free plugins that are a must-have:
- Updraft – for automated backups;
- Yoast SEO – for search engine optimization;
- MonsterInsights – for adding Google Analytics to the dashboard;
- Elementor – for drag-and-drop website builder;
- WPForms – for building forms.
6. Promote Your Blog For Free
Contrary to a popular belief, you don’t have to invest in ads on Google or social media to drive traffic to your blog.
You can do it without spending a dime – and, arguably, you’ll gain more high-quality organic traffic as a result. Here’s how:
1. Your social media. Share your blog posts on your personal accounts and ask your friends and family to do the same.
2. Collaboration with other bloggers. Reach out to other bloggers in your niche and offer to collaborate on a project together or to write a guest post.
3. Search engine optimization. There’s nothing overly complicated about leveraging SEO to help more people find your content. All you need to do is bring yourself up to speed on the essentials with Moz’s, HubSpot’s, or Yoast’s free online courses.
4. Link building. This is a strategy that boils down to sharing links to your content on other websites. You can do it by writing answers on Quora and Reddit, commenting on YouTube, or posting on medium.com.
In Conclusion: What’s Next?
Once you’re done with the steps above, you remain at the beginning of your path toward running a popular blog.
There are plenty of pitfalls you’re going to encounter on your way, so here are three more things you should keep in mind down the road:
- Create quality content. While keywords are important, aim to create engaging posts above everything else. Focus on evergreen content – i.e., content that remains consistently interesting throughout the years.
- Stick to an editorial calendar. Your readers will want to see new content regularly. This calendar will help you stick to a schedule and give them what they want.
- Test, review, and adapt. Let’s be clear: you won’t sweep your target audience off their feet with your first ten blog posts. You’ll have to go through some trial and error to discover which formats and topics are the most engaging for your users.
