But as a newbie, you might be wondering which platform is best for you and how it can meet your needs.

If that is the case then, you’ve landed at the right place.

There are too many blogging platforms out there. And almost all are accessible from anywhere in the world; let alone India. And I know for a starter it is going to be very confusing while picking the right one.

So, I won’t confuse you anymore by covering all the platforms I know of. Instead, I will just show you the best ones where you can start your blog for free.

In this guide, I will show you how to pick the right platform and how to create a blog using 6 of the top free blogging platforms.

The best thing about the discussed platforms is, they all have a mobile app, which means you can blog anytime from anywhere using your smartphone only.

The Best Blogging Platforms in India.

A Free blogging platform is best for you – if you haven’t yet figured out your niche. If you’re not sure whether your blog topic will work or not. Or if you just want to do a trial run of your ideas before spending any of your hard-earned money.

Whatever the reason might be, I have got your back.

Although, if you’re confident about your writing and the niche that you’ve picked; I would recommend you to go for a Paid self-hosted WordPress blog. Of course, only if you can afford. Also, if you’re serious about it and see it as a long term thing.

Why am I emphasizing more on a Self-hosted blog? because let’s say, you started a blog on blogger.com. And after a year you realized you want to switch to a paid option; since it is almost impossible to scale a blog on a free platform, sooner or later you will have to move to a paid option.

So, now, migrating your free blog to a paid self-hosted site could be hectic for a newbie.

Firstly, you won’t be able to migrate it as it is; that means you will have to redesign your blog.

Secondly, you’ll have to transfer the existing content to your new blog and also might need to take care of SEO again.

Thirdly, if you don’t know how to redesign your blog or transfer your content to the new platform you’ll end up hiring someone to do it for you and that will eventually cost you some extra money.

However,  by that time you might have enough money compared to your current situation that you won’t mind hiring someone. But it is still going to be a big headache according to me.

My point is if you’re confident that blogging is something you’ll never give up on, and can somehow manage the investment right now, then go with the paid option right away, instead of waiting for a year or so.

It will hardly cost you around INR3000-INR5000 for a year.

I am not saying this is not a big amount; I know it is. I’ve been in your shoes. All I am saying if you can somehow afford the amount now then you can save yourself some time and money in the future.

And also by opting for a self-hosted blog, you can work on growing it from day 1. Since the free sites lake a lot of the premium features, it becomes very hard to grow your blog on a free platform.

Anyways, you know yourself and your situation better than me or anyone else. So, you make the final call.

For now, I have listed below the top free blogging sites that are available in India. Go ahead and pick the one that best suits your needs.

6 Best Blogging Sites in India [FREE]:

1. Blogger.com
2. WordPress.com
3. Tumblr.com
4. Medium.com
5. Linkedin.com
6. Quora.com [Not Available anymore]

Let’s dive in and understand how you can make your own blog on each platform.

How to Use Blogger to Start a Blog for FREE:

My no.1 recommendation is blogger.com. It is one of the best blogging sites in India. It is a free blogging platform introduced by Google. It is good for any niche. You just need to signup for an account and you’re good to go.

The other best thing about Blogger is – you can work on building your brand from day 1.

Blogger has an inbuilt feature, using which you can connect a custom domain to your yourblog.blogger.com blog without having to buy a hosting plan.

Meaning, you buy a domain name now and host it on blogger.com.

Promote your blog’s custom URL and in the future when you decide to move to a paid platform you can simply host the same custom domain on the new site and your users won’t have to do anything to find your new blog, hence you won’t lose your brand recognition.

Confused??

let me simplify it…

When you signup at blogger.com, by default you get a URL (something like myfirstblog.blogger.com).

Let’s say, instead of using the default URL, you bought a domain name (custom URL) called myfirstblog.com and you hosted it on blogger.com. You wrote a few articles and shared them with your followers on Facebook, Instagram or anywhere else on the web.

Now, when people try to find your blog, they won’t use or see the default URL (myfirstblog.blogger.com), instead, they will remember and use the custom URL (myfirstblog.com) that you just bought and hosted.

This way, in the future, when you move to a paid platform, and your new blog is ready to go public, you can simply remove the custom domain from your blogger.com blog and host it on the new blogging platform.

Now, when your readers go to myfirstblog.com, it will take them to the new blog instead of your old blog. Which means you won’t lose any of the hard build audiences.

How to use Blogger to set up a free blog:

1. Go to blogger.com
2. Click “Create Your Blog”
3. Sign up with your Gmail ID.
4. “Confirm Your Profile” and “Continue to Blogger”
5. Click on “Create New Blog”
6. Give your blog a name and pick a sub-domain and a theme you like
7. Once all filled up, click on “Create blog!”
8. Google will ask if you like to buy a custom domain, you can skip it by clicking “no thanks”
9. Create your first post, publish it.

That’s it!

So, if you want your blog to have a unique domain name instead of the yourblog.blogger.com, and not ready to invest in a hosting plan right now, then just go buy a domain name from GoDaddy.com, Namecheap.com or anywhere you like and host it on blogger.com for FREE.

If you buy from namecheap.com I will get a small commission as I am part of their affiliate program. But if you’re a first time customer, I would recommend you get a domain name from Godaddy.com (I am not an affiliate there) and you can get one for as low as Rs.350/-.

Anyways, follow the steps below to host your blogger.com blog on a custom domain for FREE.

How to use Blogger with a custom domain?

Step 1: Log in to blogger.com

Step 2: Go to Settings

Step 3: Navigate to Publishing (Blog Address)

Step 4: Click on “Set up a third-party URL for your blog”

Step 5: Inside “Third-party domain settings” enter your domain name and click “Save”.

Step 6: Now blogger will ask you to add two CNAME records on your domain registrar’s website to verify the domain; Copy them.

Step 7: Log in to your domain registrar’s website on a different tab and locate the DNS settings of your domain.

Step 8: Inside, you’ll see a button that says, “ADD” or “Add Records”. Click it and select the Type as “CNAME” and add the details (both) accordingly and click on Save (refer to the image below if you’re on Godaddy).

Step 9: Head back to blogger.com and click on Save.

Voila! that’s it.. your blog is all set.

If you don’t want to go with blogger (or the Google blog) you can use any of the other free options that I have shared below:

How to Create a Blog on WordPress for FREE:

Just like blogger.com, wordpress.com is also another awesome blogging platform in India to start a free site.

It is a product by a company name Automattic, the same company behind some more cool tools like WordPress.org, Jetpack or Gravatar; there’s a few more I am not taking the names here.

WordPress.org is more famous than the free version wordpress.com.

Just like Blogger.com, you need to sign up for a free account on wordpress.com and start blogging right away.

Here are the steps to start a free WordPress blog:

Step 1. Go to wordpress.com

Step 2. Click on “Get Started”

Step 3. Pick a unique username and then select the first option that says “Free”

WordPress also has a custom domain mapping option, but unlike Blogger, you will have to pay for the hosting.

So, if you’re planning to have a custom domain then go with blogger.com or tumblr.com (which we will be talking about next)

Moving on…

Step 4. WordPress will ask you to pick a paid package, don’t fall for that, instead, scroll down and click on “Start with Free”

Step 5. Sign up with your Gmail id and click “Continue”

Step 6. You’re almost ready to blog. Just confirm your email ID and customize the site as per your liking.

Step 7. Start publishing content on your new blog and start blogging.

How to Create a Blog on Tumblr for FREE:

Tumblr is founded by David Karp in February 2007. It is available in 18 languages.

Tumblr is more of a social media site then a blogging platform. That being said, Tumblr is perfect for microblogging. In other words, it is for those who like to create short-form of content.

For example; it is best for you if you like to share photos, small videos, write poems, small stories, quotes or anything that doesn’t take much time to consume.

So, if you think it’s the perfect match, then let’s learn how you can get started with it.

Here are the steps to start a free blog on Tumblr:

1. Go to tumblr.com
2. Click on “Get Started”
3. Sign up with your Gmail id and create a username for your blog (you can change it later)
4. Enter your age, agree to the “Terms of Service” by checking the box and click “Next”.
5. Verify yourself as human by using the captcha, and click “Almost Done”
6. Pick at least 5 interesting topics you would like to follow and click “Next”.
7. Verify your email id, customize the look and feel and start posting.

Like I mentioned above, Tumblr also has an option to map a custom domain to your blog.

This is how to do it? (Godaddy is my domain registrar)

How to set up a custom domain on tumblr.com?

In case the video is not showing, here is the direct youtube link: https://youtu.be/ZmLdYuJUS84

How to Start a Blog on Medium for FREE:

Medium.com is a community of bloggers. Although, some of the bloggers I follow use it as their secondary blog.

Medium is a very good choice for a newbie as you don’t need to worry much about customizing anything; you just need to sign up and start blogging.

Moreover, medium.com gives you the opportunity to connect with other bloggers and your readers. As it also works so much like a social media platform you can quickly create a good readership.

So, just clap, share, comment and connect with the people that matter. And once you have a good readership you can start a self-hosted blog and redirect your audience to your main blog (that’s what most of the pro bloggers do).

Okay! let’s show you how you can get started with Medium.com

Steps to start a free blog on Medium:

1. Head over to medium.com
2. Find the “Get started” button at the top
3. You have two options to join medium, either with your Facebook account or your Gmail account. Use whatever works for you.
4. Next, Dive in and pick all the topics that you would like to show up on your page.
5. Once your page is set, go to your profile and write a short bio.
6. Click on your picture at the right top, select “New story” and start writing your first blog.

How to Start a Blog on Linkedin:

If you have ever looked for a job, you probably have heard or used Linkedin. BTW, Linkedin is not a job portal.

Although, it connects the people who are looking for a job and the people who are looking for someone to fill a vacancy, so, I guess, it does function as a job portal at some point.

Linkedin is a platform that brings together people from all professions. You can connect with the people working in your field or literally with anyone from any field of work in the world. It’s social media for professionals.

Even though Linkedin has a blog writing feature, it is still not an ideal place to start just any blog. It is best for an authority blogger.

So, if you’re someone who likes to write about his field of work and doesn’t care about having a blog of his own, instead, someone who cares about reaching the right people who would want to know his point of view on a particular niche or field of work.

Meaning?

The Linkedin blogging platform is not a place to start a fashion blog or a travel blog, it is a place to blog about your professional expertise; like, marketing, finance, business, investments, or whatever the skills you have.

Linkedin is a perfect place to showcase your professional skills, and to create a professional portfolio.

Think LinkedIn is for you? then here is how to start…

Steps to start blogging on Linkedin:

1. Go to linkedin.com and sign up.

Once you’re done with your profile and logged in, go to your home page; if you already have an account you can directly go here www.linkedin.com/post/ as well.

2. On your home page, below the Start a post button you’ll see a link that says “Write an article on LinkedIn”. Click the link and it will take you to a new page, opened on a new tab.

3. In the new tab, the in Publishing editor will open up. The first thing you can do here is adding a featured image to your article. Click the icon with two dummy images and a plus sign in between (refer to the screenshot below), and select the image from your system and upload it.

Once the image is uploaded, hover over the image you’ll see 3 icons appear at the bottom of the image; you can use the first one to stretch the image to fit in full screen or simply hit the middle icon to fit the image as it is, irrespective to its size, And use the third icon to delete the image that you’ve uploaded.

Below the icons, you can see a box that says “Add credit and caption“. If you’ve taken the image from google or anywhere else and if you’re not 100% sure it is free, then you can use this option to credit the actual owner of the image or the source where you found it.

And also you can use this space to briefly describe the image if you like.

4.  Here on it’s straight forward. Use the Headline box to give a catchy title to your article. And use the content box below to add your content (text, image, video, links, etc.)

You can use the text format bar at the top to format your content. And once you’re done writing your article just hit the Publish at the top-right or you can use the Draft button next to it to save your unfinished article to rework later.

How to Start a Blog on Quora for FREE:

No longer Available – Quora removed this option

This section is only for your reference. 

Quora.com is not exactly a blogging platform; it’s more of a platform where people come either to ask questions or to answer questions.

Quora has a huge number of user base and since it does have an option to start a blog, so it automatically becomes one of the best blogging platforms in India or anywhere on the surface.

Instead of answering what is being asked, you can just pour out your heart just the way you like, whoever needs it, they will come crawling in. No obligations at all.

Quora says “We want to connect the people who have the knowledge to the people who need it.”

This is exactly what blogging is all about; coming out of the shell and sharing your knowledge and experiences with the people who would benefit from it.

So, if you feel anything like Quora does then it might be the perfect place to start your blog. And compared to the other platforms above, getting noticed on Quora is very easy. You just need to sit down and give insightful answers to the questions being asked.

Already feeling for Quora? then get onto it.

Steps to start a free blog on Quora:

1. Go to quora.com
2. Sign up with your Facebook, Google plus or by simply using your email id
3. Pick a few interests, which you’d like to read about.
4. Pick a few interests, which you’d like to write about.
5. Select your languages; by default, Quora is in English but you can pick other regional languages that are available.
6. Next, Quora will ask if you’d like to connect your account to Facebook so that you can find your FB friends that are also in Quora. If you don’t want to connect just click “Not now”.
7. Once your profile is ready, confirm your email id and now you can create your blog. Just follow the screenshots below:

That’s it! you now have all the information you needed to make your free blog on any of the platforms we have discussed today. So just go ahead and start your blog already.

Just pick the one suite your need and follow the steps above; you’re good to go.

Best Blogging Site in India – FREE

If you’re still not sure which one Blogging Platform India to pick from then pick blogger.com

It is the best of all the free options we have discussed above.

Here are the reasons why:

1. It’s free
2. A Google product
3. You can use with a custom domain
4. Beginner-friendly
5. Perfect for any niche

Once more advantage you have with Blogger; if you have a well-maintained Blogger blog, it’s easy to get approval for Adsense compared to the other platforms.

Over to You:

Check out each platform and decide which one will work best for you. In fact, if you like, sign up for all of them, that’s even better.

You can buy a domain name and map it to your Blogger or Tumblr blog and make it your primary blog and signup for the other platforms as well and make them your secondary blogs.

This way you can reach more people and the best part is you don’t need to create separate content for these other blogs.

First, publish your content on your primary blog and then copy that same content and publish it on the other platforms as well.

Just leave a link back to your main content page on your primary blog for the search engines to decide its original source. It’s totally legal.

I hope I have helped you to figure out the best blogging site to get started.

P.S. If you’ve stuck till here, and if I have done my part well then please share this post to your network on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere you hang out. It would be a great help on your part.

Okay! I am always here to help you out, so if you have any queries leave it in the comments and I will surely get back to you.

Happy Blogging

Buh-bye!

The post 6 Best Blogging Sites in India 2024 appeared first on Blogging Venture.

Well, to be fair, it doesn’t really matter if you’re from India or anywhere else in the world, the process to start a blog is exactly the same.

So, even if you’re not from India, you can still use this guide to get started with your blogging journey.

Okay, before starting the Guide, you must first buy a Domain name and Hosting Plan.

If you’re not familiar with the words WordPress, Domain and Hosting then here’s a brief:

Domain name – is the address where you send people to read your blog, it is also called a URL; for example, facebook.com.

Hosting – is where you store your website’s files and data.

WordPress – is the application that runs your blog.

Here is an analogy for you to make it even simpler:

If someone asks you to open a specific word file from a flash drive, which is not your – first, you will need the file name, that is your domain name – second, you will need the flash drive (storage drive), that is your hosting – and lastly you will need an application like MS office to open the file, that is WordPress.

I hope you’ve understood. if not, let me know in the comment section at the bottom of this blog post.

How to Start A Self-Hosted WordPress Blog in India?

Okay, now that you have bought your web-hosting and domain name, I don’t see any point in delaying your blogging venture.

Let’s not wait anymore and get your blog up and running.

The 6 steps to Start A Self-Hosted WordPress Blog:

1. Buy a domain name and hosting
2. Install WordPress
3. Install a theme
4. Install the required Plugins
5. Connect your new blog to Google Search Console
6. Publish your first blog post and start blogging

#Step1 – Buy a domain name and hosting

We have already talked about what is a domain and hosting. So, let’s talk about why and where to get them?

FYI, it is possible to use your laptop or desktop to host a website. Just google it you’ll find the answers, but it’s not worth the time.

Even if you manage to set it up there are still going to be many complications, here are the most basic ones:

• – you’ll have to keep your laptop or desktop switched on all the time, 24/7 and 365 days
• – your laptop or desktop won’t be able to handle the heavy load.
• – it will constantly need technical assistance, anything goes wrong your site will go down.

It is a stupid idea to configure a hosting server of our own at home because it will cost you a lot of money and time.

So, the wise thing to do here is buying the hosting space you required, for a monthly fee from a company that will take care of everything for you.

Besides, buying a hosting plan will take away all the unnecessary hassles from you and let you fully focus on your main goal, to grow your blog.

If you’re looking for recommendations then here are the best service providers I know:

To buy Domain Name – Namecheap – you can save money in the long run.

To buy Hosting Plan – A2Hosting (I am currently using this one), Bluehost

So, go ahead first make the purchases then come back here. If you’re on a tight budget and you’re from India then Hostgator is another good option.

If you’re from India and looking for a hosting provider that accepts Indian debit cards and allows you to pay in INR, then, A2Hosting and Hostgator are the options.

#Step3 – Install WordPress

Now, I would suggest, don’t rush into anything and do whatever you’ve been told, not knowing what you did exactly.

Don’t just follow the steps I share, whatever you’re doing, understand it.

Take your time, take hours. If needed, take the whole day, even the whole week, but don’t just follow the instructions without having any clue about what you’re doing.

Think of it this way, you’re about to get into a new relationship. So, just like any relationship, you need to know it inside and out. That will come in handy in the long run.

I don’t want you to get too technical with it and screw your head up. I just meant that, be aware of the steps and consciously perform the steps. If you’re typing a URL, then just know why you did that, and what will be the effects.

You’ll thank me, if in the future you come across any minor issues or bugs with the blog, you will have a broader scope to troubleshoot the problem yourself, instead of depending on someone else.

Enough said, let’s dive right in…

Note: I am using A2Hosting for the demonstration. But the process is almost the same for any hosting plan from any hosting provider. And most of the time the dashboard also looks similar. So, just follow the steps, you’ll be ok. Still, if you find difficulties, send me an email I will help you out.

Okay great! Let’s get into details.

If you’ve bought your domain and hosting from different companies then first you’ll have to point your domain name to your hosting server.

But, in case you’ve bought the domain and hosting from the same company or got your domain for free with your hosting plan then you can skip this step and move forward.

Connect your domain to your hosting server

To connect your domain with your hosting server, you need to update your domain’s default nameservers with the nameservers provided by your hosting provider.

In my case, I have bought my domain from Godaddy and I’ll be hosting my blog in A2Hosting.

So, I will be updating my domain’s nameservers in Godaddy with the nameservers provided by A2Hosting.

Note: in case you can’t find your host’s nameservers, just contact their support and ask them, I am sure they will help you with the same immediately.

And if you’ve bought your hosting from A2Hosting then just use the nameservers shared below:

ns1.a2hosting.com

ns2.a2hosting.com

ns3.a2hosting.com

ns4.a2hosting.com

Just log in to the account from where you’ve bought your domain name and locate the DNS settings of your domain, and update the nameservers.

If you’re on Godaddy, this is how to do it:

Log in to your GoDaddy account, go to My Products from the menu, and locate the section that says Domains.

Inside Domains you should see your domain name, just click the DNS button seen against it (Refer to the image)

Now, inside domain settings scroll down to find the Nameservers section. Here, hit the Change button and a drop-down will appear, select Custom from the list.

Now two new blank boxes will appear, where you need to enter the nameservers you’ve received from your hosting provider.

In the case of A2Hosting, use the above-shared nameservers.

Enter one in each box, use the Add Nameserver button seen right-below to add extra boxes (refer to the image).

Once you’ve entered the nameservers correctly, just hit the Save button and you’re done.

Note: in some cases, the DNS gets updated right away and in others, it might take up to 48 hours to get successfully updated. So have patience.

In meanwhile, you can still install the WordPress in your hosting plan and connect it to your domain; and once the DNS is successfully updated you can access your blog by typing your URL in the web browser.

Before you could install WordPress, if you’ve registered your hosting plan with a different domain then you will have to create an Addon Domain for the domain where you want to install WordPress.

Create an addon domain

To do that,  at first login to your hosting account or cPanel, navigate to Addon Domains, and create your domain.

If you’re on A2Hosting, then follow the steps below:

Login to your A2Hosting cPanel,

Locate Domains section, find Addon Domains

Enter your domain name and hit the Add Domain button below

In case, if you’re getting any error message, something similar to this – “You cannot park your main domain.” This simply means you’re trying to add the domain that you’ve already registered with your hosting plan while buying the plan.

So, you don’t need to add the domain you can directly start installing WordPress.

How to install WordPress on your Hosting Server?

Just follow the steps carefully and you’ll be good to go:

Step 1: – Log in to your hosting account ( in my case, I will log in to my A2Hosting account). If you’ve bought your plan from Siteground, Bluehost or Hostgator then log in to that.

If you haven’t already bought your hosting plan then here are the offer links:

A2Hosting – Get a 51% discount on the Regular price

Bluehost – Get a 60% discount on the Regular price

Hostgator – Get a 50% discount on the Regular price

Step 2: – Find the cPanel link and click on the button that says, “cPanel login”.

Step 3: – Locate the “WordPress A2 Optimised” icon inside the dashboard. In the case of Sitegroud or any of the other hostings, it will be just “WordPress”. Once you find it click it to go inside.

Step 4: – Inside the next page scroll down, you should see a screen with 2 buttons, something like the screenshot below; Just ignore the My Apps button and click on “Install Now”.

Step 5: – Fill out the form on the next page.

Software Setup:

From the drop-down, select your protocol and domain name.

Note:  in the case of A2Hosting, the HTTPS protocol gets enabled by default once you’ve registered your hosting plan with the domain name or you added it as an addon domain. But in the case of Sitegoround, select it as HTTP and you’ll get the option to enable the HTTPS feature once you’ve installed the WordPress and have installed Siteground’s in-house plugin “SG Optimiser” in your WP blog.

· Keep the install path/ In Directory space blank.

In Site Settings:

· Give your blog a name; I am sure you have already decided what your blog name would be, but in case you haven’t, just keep whatever you like, you can change it later. Site Description is basically your tagline.

· Create an admin username, set a password, and type in the Email ID where you want to receive admin notifications related to your blog.

· Now while choosing your username, don’t just keep “admin” as it is easy for anyone to hack. And you’re also not allowed to use characters like, “-”, “@”, “#”, “$”, “%”, “^”, “&”, “*”, “(”, “)” or the so-called symbols.

Use your creativity and mix it up with some numbers and make it something non-guessable and yet you can easily remember.

Select your preferred language, and once you’re all set, click on the blue button that says, “Install”

…your installation will start now.  it will take a few minutes, and if you like you can switch tabs since it requires no supervision.

Finally, “Congratulations, the software was installed successfully”; if you have done everything right so far then you should see this message.

It can vary depending on your hosting provider. And, In case you’re not seeing the success message, then, just start over and make sure you didn’t miss anything.

Okay, now below the success message you’ll see your just installed blog URL and its admin URL. Refer to the screenshot below.

Note: if you’re not using A2Hosting then the admin URL would be something like this: http://yourdomainname.com/wp-admin; A2Hosting adds extra protection by changing your admin URL so that no one can guess the URL and try to hack into your admin dashboard. Although, with the other hosting providers you can install a WP Security plugin to do the same.

You can now log in to your blog’s dashboard by going to the admin URL and using the username and password you set during the installation.

And by clicking the “Return to Overview” link on the same page you can see your currently installed WordPress sites.

Congratulations!! Now you’re ready to customize your blog the way you like.

If you had decided to go with Hostgator, then, here’s a guide to Start a WordPress Blog in Hostgator. I published this post when I was just getting started with WordPress.

So, it can be a bit outdated but you can still follow the instructions, the look and feel of the interface might have changed but the whole procedure should still be the same.

And in case you’re on Siteground, then here’s a link to a video that should help you out: https://youtu.be/Sm9RcNJVn9c

The next step, install a theme. let’s start…

#Step4 – Install a theme

You can install a theme in three different ways, by search, by upload, and by FTP.

Here, I have shared the easiest one of all of those three techniques.

You can check out the other techniques here >> 3 ways to Install A Theme in WordPress

How to install a WordPress theme?

When you are just starting up with blogging, chances are high that you won’t go right away for a premium theme. First, you would want to understand the platform, how it works.

So it’s obvious that you will start your blog with a free theme.

The best way to install a free theme is, log in to your WP dashboard and go to > Appearance > Themes>

Here you will see the default themes that are already installed. It’s highly likely that you are not going to use any of the defaults; so, first, delete* all the default themes.

Note: you cannot delete the theme that is currently active on your blog; so, first find a new theme and then come back here and delete the default.

Here are the steps to find and install a theme from the WP Dashboard.

Step 1: Once you are on the themes page, click on the Add new button on the top left after the title “Themes”.

You can also click on the big plus sign next to the installed themes.

On the next screen, you will see some themes under the featured section; these are the ones that are promoted by WordPress. On the right to it, you will have the options to filter out the latest themes, the most popular ones, your favourite ones, and then the advance filtration option to filter out the themes as per your requirement.

The latest and the popular sections are easy to understand; it simply shows you the latest themes that are added and the most popular ones.

The favourites section simply allows you to see the themes that you have favourited while browsing through themes at wordpress.org.

To take advantage of this feature, you will have to use wordpress.org as you cannot favourite a theme from inside the WP dashboard.

You will first have to create an account at wordpress.org.

Go to >wordpress.org, create a new account, confirm your email id and you are good to go.

Now you can browse through all the themes available at wordpress.org and you can favourite the ones that you like and would want to refer back to later, before finalizing the theme for your blog.

Note: You have this feature for plugins as well; The feature works exactly the same for both. So, next time when you read about some plugins or themes that you would want to try out, just make a search in wordpress.org (given it is not a third-party plugin or theme) hit the love icon to favourite it and you can always come back to it later.

To see the themes that you have favourited, navigate to Appearance>Themes>Add new>Favorites and type in your user name and click on the button that says “Get Favorites”; it will list down all the themes that you have loved so far.

Next, you have the Feature Filter section; here you have the advanced options to narrow down your choices.

Simply select what type of layout you want, what features you want and select the subject of your blog and click on “Apply Filters”; it will list down all the themes that have those features you have just checked off.

Finally, if you have already researched and decided on your theme, then just type in the name of it in the search box to the right side of the filter bar.

Step 2:  Navigate to the theme you want to install. When you hover over the theme thumbnail the “Install” and “Preview” buttons will appear.

Click on “Install”

Step 3: Now, once the installation is finished, the “Install” button will turn into “Activate” and the “Preview” button will change to “Live Preview”.

You can activate or have a live preview of your blog from here by clicking the respective buttons or you can go back to the installed themes page and activate the theme from there.

That’s it! now go ahead and customize your blog the way you want.

But before that let’s install the required plugins as well.

#Step5 – Install the required Plugins

Just like themes, there are three ways you can install a WordPress plugin; by search, by upload, and by FTP.

Here, I have shared the easiest one of all of those three techniques – that is from the dashboard, by searching.

You can check out the other techniques here >> 3 ways to Install A Plugin in WordPress

How to Install a Plugin in WordPress?

Step 1: first thing first, login to your WordPress dashboard, if you have not already.

Step 2: Go to > Plugins > Add new

You can either navigate to it from the side menu or from inside the plugins page. It will open up the page where you can see a list of plugins available with WP.

There are more than 50,650 plugins available with WordPress. It’s easy to get lost when there’s a plugin for literally anything you can imagine doing on your blog.

So, just stay focused and stick to what you had planned, search the plugin you were looking for.

If you are not sure which plugin you should use, then, here’s my list of the must-have plugins for any blog.

Go ahead and check out the list and if any of the plugins match your requirement, then, you can surely opt-in for the one I have listed, as the list was made after extensive experimentation on more than ten websites. I have only listed the best as per my opinion.

If you like, you can also test all the available plugins for yourself and pick the best ones as per your liking.

Just make sure you don’t do it on your primary domain as you might screw up the whole website if you are not adept with coding or if you’re not from a technical background. So, either buy a secondary domain or create a sub-domain on the main domain and do all your testings on that.

Step 3: Type in the name of the plugin or a keyword related to the plugin in the search box.

It will show the most relevant plugins based on your search terms.

Step 4: Pick the one you want to install and click on the “Install Now” button next to it.

Now it will turn into a blue-coloured button written as “activate”; which means the plugin is successfully is installed.

Step 5: Now, you can either click on the blue button available here to activate the plugin or you can go back to the installed plugins page and find the plugin you’ve just installed and “activate” it from there.

All set! Now you can start configuring the plugin as you want.

Note: After the installation, the plugin should show up in the side menu of the dashboard. If it is not showing there, check if it is inside any of the other side menu items – plugins, tools, appearance, media or the settings menu.

Look for a name that is similar to the name of the newly installed plugin. For example, Yoast SEO will show up as just “SEO”, WP Facebook Messenger will show up as only “Facebook Messenger”.

And sometimes, some plugins for custom fonts or some shortcode plugins might not even show up anywhere in the side menu, these usually show up when you add a new post or edit one.

And some plugins might not show up anywhere at all, for example, Hellobar; the plugin is simply used to connect your blog to the Hellobar dashboard outside of your blog.

#Step6 – Connect your Blog to Google Search Console

If you want your blog to be found in Google when people type in some specific keywords in your niche then you’ll need to do SEO.

And in SEO, connecting your blog to the search console is the first step.

Now, if you are a complete beginner then connecting your blog to the search console might seem like a daunting task. But trust me, it is not.

Just follow the steps below and you will be ok.

Let’s start…

First, go ahead and sign in to Google Search Console with your Gmail account.

You should see a Welcome page once you’ve signed in.

Step 1: – Insert your blog’s URL where it says, “Site URL” and click on ADD PROPERTY

Step 2: – A pop up should appear asking you to verify your ownership of the domain.

Now, it will give you 5 different ways to verify your domain. You need to use just one.

Here we will talk about the easiest one of all, by installing an HTML tag.

Let’s start…

Inside the popup only, scroll down to see the alternative methods and Click the first option that says, “HTML tag”.

It will unfold and show you an HTML meta tag that should go in the section of your blog, before the first section.

If you understand what Google is asking you to do here, by all means, go ahead and do the needful. But if you’re not technically strong, then, don’t worry, just follow the instructions below.

So, to make it as simple as possible, we will use an inbuilt feature of the Yoast SEO plugin to verify our domain.

Note: For this option to work you must always have the Yoast SEO plugin installed in your WordPress and never remove the tag. But, in case, in the future, if you decide to try another SEO plugin or don’t want to use any at all, then, verify your domain with any of the other options that are available or use this one only by editing the header file of your blog.

Okay, now, instead of copying the whole meta tag just copy the section found in the content tag without the quotes. Refer to the image below:

Now,  login to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to SEO>General>Webmaster Tools>

Here locate “Google verification code“, paste the copied code inside the box against it and save the settings.

Now, go back to Google Search Console and click on verify (make sure you’ve selected HTML tag as the verifying option.)

If you did exactly as instructed, you should now see the congratulations message from Google.

Technically you have now successfully connected your blog to the Google search console.

The Google bots would now start crawling your blog and start to index the pages and posts, but the bots don’t know your site that well yet, so to make it easier for them, it is important that you submit a sitemap of your blog to the search console.

Here is how to do this:

Step 1: Go to SEO> General>Features

Scroll down a bit and locate XML Sitemaps; enable it, if it is not by default.

Step 2: Now, make sure the sitemap is working; go to http://www.yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml. Replace “yourdomain” with your own domain name.

For Example, here’s mine: https://honingbird.com/sitemap_index.xml

Step 3: Next Log in to the dashboard of Google Search Console. Click on Sitemaps on the left sidebar menu.

On the right side of the menu, you will see a tab that says “Add a new sitemap“. And under that, you will see your blog’s link and a blank space after it. Just type in “sitemap_index.xml” here and hit “SUBMIT“. refer to the screenshot below.

Below that section you’ll see a section called “Submitted sitemaps”; here you’ll find the submitted sitemaps and their current status.

That’s it if you have followed all the instructions right then your sitemap is now successfully submitted to Google and the Google bots will start to index your blog soon.

#Step6 – Publish your first Blog Post

Once all of the above requirements are met, it’s time to start blogging.

Clicking a few buttons is very easy, but the hard part is creating content for your blog. If you’re still having trouble figuring out what you’re going to write, I recommend revisiting your interests.

Also, I recommend you read my guide on blogging in India first.

Okay, now if you’re ready and know what you’re going to write, then let’s not waste any more time and let me show you how to post content on your blog.

How to Write a Blog post in Self-Hosted WordPress?

I will keep short and as simple as possible.

Starting from version 5.0, WordPress has changed the interface of the post and page editor. However, WordPress still has an option to revert back to the old interface, in case we find it hard to get our heads around the new interface.

In its initial release, the interface was not getting along with a few of the important plugins that I use. But it seems to be working fine now; at least for me.

So, I will be showing you how to use the new interface only, since it is going to be the one that will permanently stay after 2020.

Okay, then, go ahead and log in to your WordPress Dashboard, if you’re not already.

Step 1:-  In the side menu, just below the Dashboard tab, you have the Posts tab. Now if you hover over it, you’ll see 4 options here; refer to the screenshot below.

How to Start A Self-Hosted WordPress Blog in India [The Non-Technical Guide] appeared first on Blogging Venture.

Many people love to cook and love to share their cooking experiences with others. Blogging is a great way of doing this.

You can use your blog as a platform for promoting your personal skills, sharing your recipe ideas, discussing food-related topics, showcasing healthy recipes and providing healthy meal options to the world.

7 Reasons Why You Should Start a Food Blog Today!

There are many reasons why one should start a food blog and here are some of them.

1. You love cooking and want to share your recipes with the world.
2. You want to make money from your hobby of cooking by selling your own products or services.
3. You have a special diet that you follow and you want to help others with similar dietary requirements.
4. You would like to work from home but don’t know how to start a business on the internet.
5. You want to be more creative in what you do for work and this is an outlet for you.
6. You don’t like the taste of meat, but you enjoy eating vegetarian dishes.
7. It’s been a while since you cooked and your friends are asking for your recipes

One of the most rewarding aspects of starting a food blog is that you not only have the opportunity to express what’s inside you but also there is a possibility for you to make money through ads or by selling products related to food on your blog.

So, if you’re passionate about food and enjoy spending time cooking then just jump in already!

How to Get Started with Your Indian Food Blog:

If you are wondering what is the best way to get started with your Indian food blog, you might not be the only one. There are many people who want to start their food blog in India, but they don’t know how to start.

The first thing that you need to do before starting a food blog in India is to make sure you know your audience and understand what they want from your content.

Create a content plan…

What are you going to be covering on the blog?

With an Indian food blog, you can share your love for cooking with others, you can share Indian recipes that are loved by many, you can also offer tips on how to make the recipes more delicious or how to make them healthier by substituting some of the ingredients and so on…

Next comes the technical part…

How to Start a Food Blog in India using WordPress?

The first step is to choose a domain name. you can get one from NameCheap

Choosing the right domain name can be a difficult task. With so many options to choose from, it’s hard to find the perfect domain name for your blog.

The best way is to start with what you want your blog to be about.

For example, if you are starting a food blog to help people who want to go vegan, then perhaps you should use a domain like ‘goingvegan101’ and if you want to share your experiences with food, then a domain like ‘myfoodadventures’ would be a perfect choice.

Just make sure that the domain doesn’t have any typos or spelling errors because this will give off an unprofessional vibe.

Choosing a good domain for your blog can be tough but it’s important to get it right because it will help people remember who you are when they visit your site in the future.

If you need more help with picking the right domain name then read this

Step 2, you need to sign up for a hosting service. There are many hosting services available, but the most popular ones are Bluehost and A2Hosting. I am using A2Hosting myself for this blog.

Step 3: Once you have chosen your hosting provider, sign up for an account. You can install WordPress using this account.

WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms and it has a lot of great features that make it easy for you to create a beautiful website.

WordPress has done the heavy lifting for you in terms of structuring your website. You can install different plugins to optimize SEO, security, and usability without any coding knowledge.

Step 4: Install the recommended Plugins on your Food Blog (Check the list below).

Tutorial: How to Install a Plugin in WordPress?

Step 5: Install any of the recommended Themes on your Food Blog (Check the list below).

Tutorial: How to Install a Theme in WordPress?

Step 6: Connect your blog with Google Search Console and Google Analytics

Tutorials:

Step 7: Start Creating Content for your Food Blog

Blogging is a great way to engage your audience and get them interested in what you have to offer.

So, it is important that you make sure that your first blog post is as good as it can be. This will set the tone for all other posts you put out there in the future.

Please go and read the 10 Easy Steps to Write an Awesome Blog Post

Step 8: Promote

There are many different ways to drive traffic to your blog.

Here are the Top 3:

The First way is through SEO (Search engine optimization).

SEO is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a web search engine’s free results—often referred to as “natural”, “organic”, or “earned” results. The higher ranked on search engines the more visitors you will get.

Follow these 2 guides to learn how to optimize your food blog for Search Engines:

The second way is through social media. This can be done by posting links to your blog content on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or any other social media platform that you use.

You can also share your content on niche-specific forums and groups as well as influencer sites such as Medium or LinkedIn.

The third way is through guest blogging. Guest blogging is when you write a post for someone else’s website and submit it for them to publish on their site as well.

Guest blogging is a great way of driving traffic because you’re reaching an audience that might not have found out about your blog otherwise.

Best WordPress Plugins for Food Bloggers:

Plugins play an important role in the success of a blog, and this is especially true for food bloggers. These are some of the best WordPress plugins for food bloggers.

1) WP Recipe Maker: It automatically generates a recipe card with a picture, title, ingredients list and directions. All you have to do is input your recipe’s ingredients and it will generate everything else from there!

2) WP Smush Pro: This plugin optimizes images on your site by removing unnecessary data from them – reducing file size without compromising quality.

3) WP Super Cache: This plugin caches your pages so that they load faster when someone visits

4) Recipe Card: With this plugin, your site visitors can print and save recipes, so they can actually have the recipe with them to cook at home.

5) Pinterest Pin It Button: With this plugin, readers can click a ‘Pin It’ button on any image and quickly share it on Pinterest.

6) Yoast SEO: You should have this great SEO plugin to help your blog rank better on search engines and get more visitors.

7) OptinMonster: It’s a leading provider of lead generation software for companies around the world. Their platform can help you grow your email list with popups, social sharing, and more.

Best WordPress Themes for Food Bloggers:

Themes are the backbone of any blog. They provide the design and functionality that give your blog its personality. If you’re looking for a theme for your food blog, there are many free and premium options available to you.

Below is a list of 5 of the best themes for food bloggers:

1. Foodie Pro: Foodie Pro, built on the Genesis Framework, is an SEO-friendly food theme that adds credibility to your website. Ease of use is their goal. The interface is clean and minimal, with so many colour customization options to choose from. Plus, there are also exclusive recipe pages that make it so easy for any food blogger to get their website up and running. Check out the Theme

2. Neptune:  This food theme is the perfect solution for any aspiring blogger who is looking for something different. Your readers will love the new, helpful layout! They can find all the essential information at a glance: ingredients lists, nutrition data, and cooking instructions. Plus as a bonus, they’ll have access to a related recipes block that shows other recipes or ingredients they may also like! Check out the Theme

3. MagPlus: MagPlus is a responsive WordPress theme that is great for publicity and community sites and an awesome choice for food bloggers. You can use the easy-to-use one-click import feature to import any of the demo sites you like in seconds. You can also easily create an online shop with WooCommerce. Check out the Theme

4. EasyMeals:  EasyMeals is the perfect theme for your new personal or community food blog website. This theme offers handy functionalities that will allow you to share all important information about the meal. Add preparation time, suggest serving customs or suggest matching drinks that are perfect for that dish! Check out the Theme

5. Foodica:  Foodica is focused on simple, clean design but doesn’t skimp when it comes to its features. In fact, there are 9 different colour schemes to choose from so you can customize the site as you want.

If you want to create a gorgeous recipe site or share your ideas about food with the world, Foodica is for you. It has many features that make creating a food blog easy and efficient! Check out the Theme

How to Make Money from a Food Blog in India

Making money from a blog can be done in many different ways.

Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular and profitable methods of monetizing a blog. It allows you to generate income by promoting other people’s products.

The most common way to do this is by using links and banners on your blog posts or website that will link back to the affiliate’s site, where they will then earn a commission if someone purchases their product through the link.

Another way to make money from your blog is by selling your own products. This can be done either through an e-commerce store or by linking to your own product pages on other sites like Amazon.

Recommended Read: 15 Best Ways to Make Money Blogging?

Wrap Up:

With some time invested, your food blog can be successful. You could eventually make passive income and might be able to travel the world cooking with chefs.

In the last few years, many Indian food bloggers have been making their way onto the world stage.

There is a wave of first-time food bloggers coming from India, and they are using Indian cuisine as a starting point for their new blogs.

In India, there is a rich culinary history that has been growing over thousands of years. Now it’s your turn to explore this culinary culture and share it with the world.

Just remember “Starting A Successful Food Blog Takes Time and Effort but is Worth It in the Long Run“

The post How to Start a Food Blog in India 2024 appeared first on Blogging Venture.