A blog is a simple and effective way to write about a specific topic and present your interests to your readers. In this article, I'll show you how to create your own WordPress blog in just seven steps. From finding a topic to content strategy.

The term blog is short for weblog and is made up of the two English words "web" and "log". Literally translated, it is therefore a web diary. The topics that users write about on their blogs vary greatly - it could be recipes, finance or fashion. Or you can write about your ideas, services and products.

The WordPress content management system (CMS) is particularly popular due to its quick and easy installation, the large selection of themes (designs for how the blog should look) and plugins (technical extension of the functions). It is also popular because of the large WordPress community, which you can participate in and which will also help you.

Below, I'll show you the seven most important steps to creating your own blog with WordPress.

Step 1: Find the right topic

Before you start with the actual creation of your blog, you should determine the topic. As a general rule, the more specific your topic, the better. Not only will you set yourself apart from other blogs, but you will also automatically build up your expert status. And that is one of the crucial points of your blog: Your readers perceive you as an expert.

Many private individuals therefore use their personal interests as the theme of their WordPress blog. It is important that you know what you are writing about. See the food blog "Die Frau am Grill" as a good example . Companies now also often have a blog alongside their main website, in which products and services are explained in more detail, thereby strengthening their position as experts.

In this first step, it also makes sense to determine the type of content. For example, do you want to create a classic blog where the focus is on the text? Or would you prefer a photo or video blog that is more about the visuals than the text itself? See the article Creating videos on a budget. Depending on the type of content you want to create on your blog in the future, you will have different requirements for the design of your WordPress blog.

Step 2: Choose the blog system

As soon as you have found the topic for your blog, it's time to start creating it. To do this, you start by selecting the content management system or blogging software. You have the option of opting for a service such as ghost.org. These services are easy and intuitive to use, but the individual design options are limited. You are also making yourself dependent on an external provider where you don't know how long it - and therefore your blog - will exist.

As we explain how to create your WordPress blog in this article, we recommend the WordPress content management system. This is open source software that is basically available to everyone free of charge. The advantage is that you can design your blog with WordPress exactly as you want it. The large community is also constantly developing the content management system.

Step 3: The right WordPress hosting

If you are starting your WordPress blog from scratch, you will need a suitable hosting package. WordPress hosting is mainly there to provide you with storage space for your blog.

If you want to get the most out of your WordPress blog, then it makes sense to choose a host that specializes in WordPress - like Raidboxes. Here you not only get hosting for your blog, but also an infrastructure optimized for the CMS and support to help you with specific questions. See the articles 13 advantages of managed WordPress hosting and WordPress hosting comparison and test.

In addition to the hosting package, you also need a domain, i.e. the digital address where your readers will find you in the future. A term related to your topic makes sense for the domain name. Companies usually choose their own name or brand for the domain. If your desired domain is still available, you should register it.

An SSL certificate is also important for your blog. The certificate ensures that communication between your blog and your readers is encrypted. At the same time, it enables secure connections from a web server to a browser. You and your readers can recognize the SSL certificate by the URL, which always starts with "https". Raidboxes takes care of all these points for you. Depending on the size of your project, you can opt for different packages.

Step 4: Determine the design of your blog

The next step is to design your blog so that it looks the way you want it to. You can choose from various WordPress themes for your WordPress blog.

Themes are programmed design templates that already provide you with a basic structure. The advantage of WordPress is that you have a very large selection of different designs, which can usually still be customized.

You can choose from free and paid themes, see our article The best free WordPress themes. The paid themes usually differ from the free design templates in terms of more functions and support. Once you have decided on a suitable theme, you can install it in the WordPress dashboard with just one click.

Choose a theme that suits you and your blog. Your readers will decide within a very short time whether they find your blog appealing and want to find out more. That's why you'll find design templates for a wide range of topics, from cooking blogs to photography blogs and fashion blogs.

Step 5: Add blog functions with plugins

The basic structure of your WordPress blog is always the same after installation. However, depending on the theme or specific content, you may need different functions. WordPress provides you with numerous extensions (plugins) for precisely this purpose.

Plugins are modules that you can use to add various functions to your blog. As WordPress is an open source system, there are no limits to your extensions. For example, if you want to offer your readers your own products for sale, you can add an online store to your blog using WooCommerce.

Many blog operators also use plugins to improve security, speed and blog SEO (search engine optimization). Installation is just as easy as with themes in the WordPress backend. In theory, you can try out many of the plugins. However, please note that you should delete them if they are not suitable for your blog.

Otherwise, this can have a negative impact on the performance and security of your blog. On the one hand, there are numerous free plugins available to you, but on the other hand, there are also many paid extensions.

Step 6: The target-oriented content strategy

You have chosen your topic, your content management system, the hosting and a domain, the design and the functions of your blog - so the basic structure is in place. The next step is to work on your content and your content strategy so that your content is well received by Google and potential readers.

What exactly you write about is already determined by your topic. If you have chosen this as specifically as possible, it will be easier for your content strategy not to deviate from the actual topic.

The aim of your content strategy should be to make your posts as unique and interesting as possible. Be authentic and stay true to your style so that you can convince new readers of you and your content. Also make sure to publish useful content for your readers. This will automatically increase your status as an expert over time. Regularity also plays an important role.

Another option is to create a content plan that covers the most important keywords, either on your own using an SEO tool or together with SEO experts. This makes particular sense in a professional environment if you want to attract new customers or orders via your blog.

A topic and editorial plan is also useful. In this plan, you record which topics you want to publish, sort them according to relevance and determine when you want to produce the content. The editorial plan helps you to avoid getting confused. It offers a simple way to clearly present the upcoming topics. Incidentally, this makes particular sense if you are not running your blog alone, but have several people involved in the project.

Step 7: Fill the blog with content

The last step is to fill your blog and find new readers. This takes a lot of time in the first phase. Take your time until you have found your own routine and publish content regularly. However, this alone is usually not enough to attract new readers.

Focus on well-written, unique and relevant articles, but also pay attention to search engine optimization. See the following articles:

• WordPress SEO: Optimizing texts for search engines
• Internal linking with WordPress
• SEO success with keyword research
• 8 steps to an SEO audit and better rankings

Through optimization, you increase the chance that your articles will be found by readers via search engines. You also have other marketing options at your disposal, such as social media and YouTube SEO, to make your blog better known.

Especially if you run your blog alone or with a small team, it can be important not to use all social media platforms at once, but rather to concentrate on one or two platforms. You should consider which platforms are best suited to your topic. Visual topics, such as cooking, fashion or DIY, are well received on Instagram, YouTube or Pinterest. Finance, business and B2B topics, on the other hand, are better suited to LinkedIn, Xing and Facebook (especially Facebook groups).

Also note that your WordPress blog needs to be maintained regularly. This means carrying out necessary updates, deleting unused plugins or modernizing the theme. The user experience, which includes a fast loading time for your posts or a modern design, should always be a top priority for you. This increases the chance that readers will keep coming back to your blog.

Conclusion: Creating a WordPress blog is not rocket science

As you can see, you can create your own WordPress blog in just seven steps. With the right theme, interesting and unique posts and the right WordPress hosting, creating a blog is not rocket science and not a challenge for beginners. A WordPress blog is ideal for anyone who wants to create articles about their own interests. But it is also ideal for companies that want to provide their customers with more detailed information about products or services and expand their expert status.