How Do You Blog on WordPress?

WordPress is one of the most popular tools for bloggers today. The site is a one-stop-shop for those who want to start and maintain their blogs. You can create a website (in many cases for free) and get right to writing. WordPress provides its users with analytics and insights and helpful tips that will pave the way to success.

If you’re looking to start blogging and have your site on the web, WordPress is certainly worth exploring. This article will walk you through the steps and everything you need to know about getting started with WordPress.

Getting Started

There are a few steps you need to take before moving onto your blog. We’ll review them in this section. If you already have your website, skip ahead to our overview of WordPress further below.

Build Your Website

Before we get to your blog, let’s take a moment to create your website. It’s really easy and only takes a few minutes.

1. Visit the WordPress website on your web browser and visit this link. Then, click ‘Start Your Website.’
2. Sign up for the website with an email address, username, and password.
   
3. At the top of this page type your Website’s name and search for domain names available. You can click ‘Select’ next to the free website or continue to pay for one of the available domain names available.
   
4. Now, you can choose which WordPress plan is right for your blog. If you’d like to move forward without paying by clicking on ‘Start with a free site’ near the top of the screen. Keep in mind, you can upgrade your plan later on.
   
5. The next page gives you a helpful list of tasks to complete and will walk you through each one individually. When you’ve completed each task, you can click ‘Launch your Site’ or write your blog first, then launch the site.
6. After setting up your website, it’s time to start writing your blog! Click ‘Write’ in the upper right corner to move forward.
   

Set Up Your Blog Post

After you’ve moved forward to the block editor, you can dive straight into writing your blog post. Here’s what to do:

1. If you already know the title of your post (something descriptive and eye-catching), click ‘Add title’ and start typing.
   
2. Next, click in the Start writing box, and begin typing the body of your blog post.
   
3. To move to the next paragraph you can click ‘Enter’ on your keyboard. Press the ‘+’ symbol to the right and choose your block if you’d like to choose an alternative block type (such as an image, heading, FAQs, etc.).
   
4. Click on the block to add effects. In the pop-up box you will see the ‘P’ option (paragraph) to change the text to a heading, list, group, etc. The next block lets you center your text or move it to the left or right. The section in the middle will let you bold, italicize, or add a hyperlink.
   
5. Click on the dropdown arrow within the box to add an image, strikethrough text, change the font color, etc.
6. Click the three vertical dots to remove an entire block, duplicate it, and more.
   

Go through each section, typing your content as you’d like it, and be sure to add images, hyperlinks, and keywords throughout. Before posting, it’s a good idea to use third-party software to check your grammar and spelling. Grammarly is available as a browser extension and will review your work as you go. You can also copy and paste the text of your blog post into the Hemingway app to ensure proper readability among average readers.

Publish Your Post

Now that you’ve written the perfect blog post let’s get it published. Here’s how:

1. Using the menu to the right, verify that the date and time is correct. If you’re writing this post ahead of schedule, you can delay publishing by selecting the time and date that you do want it to go live.
   
2. Update your visibility. You can select ‘Public,’ ‘Private,’ or ‘Password Protected.’ Note: If you don’t want everyone to see your blog just yet, check the ‘Pending review’ box and you can go back and edit your post before publishing.
   
3. Next, add any tags, categories, or featured images (what your readers will see at the top of your post).
4. When ready, click ‘Publish’ at the top. Your blog post will go live at the time and date you’ve set in step one of this section.
   

Once you’ve published your article, you can view or edit the post from the WordPress dashboard, which we’ll review below.

Getting to Know WordPress

Aside from setting up your blog posts and publishing them, there is a lot more to learn about WordPress. As mentioned above, you can maintain your website, monitor your success, and more. In this section, we’ll review several WordPress features.

Admin Page

The admin page is where you log into your WordPress site. You’ll enter your username and password and then, you’ll be on the main screen called the dashboard.

The dashboard is where you’ll see an overview of WordPress news, your activity within your site, what updates are needed, settings, and everything you need to run your WordPress Blog.

WordPress Dashboard

When you log into your WordPress admin page you then, end up on your WordPress dashboard page.  This dashboard is where you’ll start every time your log in to your WordPress site.

WordPress lets its users customize their dashboard. Click on your name on the upper right-hand side of your WordPress screen.  Then, you’ll have the option of changing your color scheme and if you’d like the toolbar shown while you’re viewing your site while previewing a page or post. Also, disable or enable the visual editor while you write.  

There are other things you can do on this profile page, like add your social media profiles, write up your writer bio, and even add a photo you’d like to display with your profile. So, it’s completely customizable to suit you.

Let’s move back to the Dashboard. Do that by clicking on Dashboard in the upper left-hand side right below the name of your WordPress site.  On the left side, you’ll see a list of options included with your initial installation of WordPress.  They are:

• Posts
• Media
• Pages
• Comments
• Appearance
• Plugins
• Users
• Tools
• Settings

Posts

The Posts section is where you’ll write your blog articles.  If you hover your mouse or pointer over Posts, you’ll see a sub-menu appear.  In the submenu, you’ll see; all posts, add new, categories, and tags.  To create a new blog post, you’re going to either hover over posts and then click ‘Add new’ or click on ‘Posts’ and choose the add new button on the next page that appears.  

Once you’ve chosen one of the above ways to start a new post, you’ll then be on your new post page. It’s a blank canvas waiting for you to give it a title and fill it with words. At the top of the page under Add New Post is where you’ll enter the title for your blog post. Then, you’ll do your blog writing in the large box below it.

After you’ve finished writing your blog post, click on the ‘Save Draft’ button under Publish.  

Make sure you proofread and check your writing for spelling and grammar errors before hitting the publish button. You don’t want the grammar police coming after you. You can preview your blog post and how it’ll appear to your readers by clicking on the Preview button to the right of where you saved your draft.                        

Then, another page opens in your browser, and you’ll see the preview page of the blog post you’ve written. The blog post looks like this in preview mode.

Depending on your theme and font choice, it’ll most likely look different than the ones shown.  However, this gives you an idea of WordPress preview mode and how you can do it on your WordPress blog site.

Once you’re satisfied with the post you’ve written, click the publish button for it to go live.  If you’d like to add images, audio, or video to your blog, you can do that with media.

Media

There are a few ways you can upload media to your WordPress blog. First, you can hover your pointer or mouse over Media in the left side panel and choose to add new. The next way is to click on media, and you’ll be taken to the page to upload your items.                                                                                                                                                 

As you’re writing a post or have just completed one, you may want to add an image, audio, or video. Do it right from the Post page. Just click on the add media button right above your writing area.                          

Then in the media box that opens, select Upload in the upper-left. You’ll have the option to drag and drop your file(s) or upload them from your computer.                                                                                                              

Now, if you want to add a featured image to be on display with your written post, you can also do that.

Click ‘Add Media’ at the top of your post page. Then, you’ll see the featured image in the left panel.  Click on it and drag and drop or select the picture file from your computer.                                                                               

The second way to set a featured image for a blog post in the lower part of your posts page.  Scroll down the page until you see ‘Featured image’ on the right side of your page.  Next, click on the set featured image link.  

The featured image pop-up will appear, and you can select or drag your chosen photo. You can also choose a picture you’ve already uploaded to your media library.                                                                                    

So, at this point, you have the skills needed to navigate around your WordPress site know how to write a blog post and add media files to it.  These are the two most important things required for you to start blogging on the WordPress platform.

Other Helpful Features

WordPress is packed full of functionality. Successful bloggers do more than simply update new content. They interact with their readers and use search engine optimization tools to attract new readers. Here are some more things you should know about when using WordPress to blog.

Comments

This section on your WordPress blog allows you to interact with your readers. Your readers can provide feedback on what you’ve written about and hold a conversation through the comment feature. You don’t have to enable comments. But, if you’re looking to gain a dedicated group of readers and followers, interacting with them is a good idea.

Appearance

Once you’ve selected a theme for your WordPress blog, appearance is where you’ll customize the look and feel of everything. Appearance could very well be a topic to cover more in-depth in another article.  So, we won’t get too carried away here. You can also add widgets and personalized menus.

Plugins

Plugins can add even more functionality to your WordPress site.  You can use Plugins to monitor the statistics of your blog, keep track of who’s searching for your posts, and get an analytic overview of your WordPress Blogs’ performance.

Other plugins let you add social media sharing icons to your blog posts and customize which networks readers can share your content. Add a contact form for your blog followers to get in touch with you. There are a lot of different plugins for whatever you need. You can search to find what you’re looking for to enhance your WordPress site and blog traffic.

Users

It’s pretty self-explanatory. Users are the people you’ve allowed to publish posts and content on your WordPress Blog. It can be just you, or you can add others who are authorized to publish if you expand your blog and gain new writers to work with you. You’ll have a list of All Users, Add new and the ability to view your profile or others should you add them.

Tools

The WordPress tools you have available to use are by default. Press this option to grab pieces of content from the web to create blog posts relating to that topic. Grab some text, photos, or videos to use in your blog posts that relate to what you’re writing.

Other tools you may have are things like a categories and tags converter or Website verification service depend on how you have your WordPress site set up for your blogging needs.

Settings

The Settings page is where you have the general information about your WordPress site contained.  Your site title, your tag line complement your title and give an actionable meaning for your site as a whole.  It’ll also display your WordPress address and site address.  That’s the URL such as http://techjunkie.com, for example.

You’ll see that your email address also shows.  That’s where you’ll receive admin notifications.  This can include letting you know when a new user has joined your site or left a comment.  It also allows you to set the time, date, when you want the week to start, and your language preference.

Wrapping Up

Blogging on WordPress is quite easy once you get the hang of finding your way around the platform. It may seem a little overwhelming if you’re new to the blogosphere, but hopefully, we’ve made it clear and less frightening for you.

Just get your WordPress site up and running then, you can start writing away to your heart’s content almost immediately.  You’ll learn the ins and outs of tweaking your blog to represent what you want as you progress.

The most important thing about blogging with WordPress is learning how to develop topics and posts that are relevant and resonate with your readers.  Your writing improves and comes more naturally the more you do it.

WordPress is made to be intuitive for the most part, and learning it isn’t hard. So, if you’ve wanted to start up a blog then, WordPress is one of the best options out there.  Go for it!