You may have come across a few articles in 2021 on how to start a blog, but you haven't been able to find a definitive one.

This article is the Ultimate Guide: How to Start a Blog in 2021. It has everything from getting your domain name, picking your blogging platform and plug-ins, finding the perfect theme, SEO tips and building an audience.

I'll also compare WordPress vs Tumblr vs Blogger to help you decide which is the best blogging platform for you to choose - based on your interests and needs.

By the end of this post, you should be ready to get started with your own blog by 2021! Can't wait that long? Go ahead and get started now!

Ready? Let's begin.

What do you want from a blog?

What are your goals for blogging?

What content will you be creating and sharing on your blog, and why would anyone care about what you have to say? When starting a blog, it can help to write down (or at least think through) some answers to these questions.

It will also help guide you when it comes time to choose your theme and layout. You'll eventually come back to this list, so make sure the foundation is solid before getting too deep into the weeds of design. This way, you'll always know why (your goals) and how (your chosen features) everything on your site exists in the first place.

Step 1: Choose your blogging platform

There are two main kinds of blog platforms you can use to get started with a new blog.

The first is self-hosted, where you have full control over your domain name and hosting setup - but have more responsibility when it comes time to upgrade or troubleshoot issues that arise in the future.

You'll also need to pay for a web hosting service every single month before 2021, which could end up being pretty pricey if you don't know what you're doing.

Another option is WordPress.com, where all of the technical challenges are handled by Automatic's team of engineers (so you can simply focus on creating content).

The downside is that they own your blog's domain name and there are some limitations to the plug-ins and themes you can use. They also run ads on your site, which could affect how much people trust your content.

Choosing between these two options will be a major decision in 2021. There isn't an easy answer for this one, because it depends on what kind of blog you want to create (e.g., do you need SEO capabilities or not?

Along with how technically savvy you are when it comes to maintaining a website (hosting is a lot easier than it was in 2021!).

If you're up for a challenge, self-hosted WordPress might be right for you - but if you just want to get started blogging ASAP without any of the "hidden" hassles, go with WordPress.com today.

Step 2: Choose Domain & Hosting for your blog

Now that you've decided on a blogging platform, it's time to get hosting.

You'll need to pick a domain name for your blog - the unique web address for your site.

If you choose WordPress.com as your blogging platform, this is already taken care of for you and you don't have to worry about any of the specifics under the hood.

You can sign up for a free trial or paid account here , and be ready to start your blog in 2021!

A self-hosted WordPress website will require a little more work on your end, because... well... you're doing all the work by yourself :-)

I recommend using Bluehost , which is one of the largest hosting companies in the world - so they have plenty of money to invest in their servers, bandwidth and uptime.

You can sign up for Bluehost here , but make sure you first purchase your domain name (e.g., www.yourblogname.com) through another service like GoDaddy or Namecheap .

You'll save $2 around tax if you go with the latter! Once you've completed both steps above, sit tight for 2021 - it could take a few minutes before Bluehost recognizes your newly purchased domain name.

Step 3: Find the right theme for your blog

Once you've chosen which blogging platform to use, it's time to find a theme that fits your goals - and there are thousands of free options available online in 2021!

WordPress themes are typically built for either self-hosted or WordPress.com users.

Just search around for more information on how this works if you want to move away from Automatic's service in future years (e.g., switching from WP.com to WP Self-Hosted).

Navigation is one of the most important things to consider when finding a new theme for your blog site in 2021 - you want to make sure that visitors can easily find what they're looking for across your entire site.

You should also keep the average reading speed in mind when choosing a theme, as well as how quickly it will load on mobile devices (which is super important by 2021).

Step 4: Pick a cool name and logo for your blog

Your site's domain name and your logo are both essential parts of any blog design - so you'll definitely want to start thinking about them before getting too far into 2021.

They won't be easy choices to make without having much information about your future audience yet - so don't spend more than five minutes on either of these right now.

Just go with something simple that matches the topic of your blog, and you can always change it later.

Keep in mind that your logo will be a lot more important here than most other types of business websites because it is one of the only ways to instantly identify with your blog.

The whole point is for people to see your logo and know they landed on the right site - even if they don't remember what the name was! So make sure it's a catchy design that gets attention out of all of those crazy designs coming out this year (e.g., Amazon logos).

Step 5: Develop an editorial schedule

One of the biggest reasons why people visit blogs in 2021 is because they're searching for fresh content about their favorite topics - which means building up enough material each week to give your readers something to look forward to.

It typically takes a lot of time and effort to put together posts that people actually want to read, so don't rush the development of your editorial calendar before 2021 (because it could easily take months or years for you to find out what topics tend to do well and which ones don't).

Once you have a better understanding of how much work goes into running a blog site in 2021, you'll probably want to hire some writers down the road.

If so, make sure they know how important it is that they stick with an established schedule too - as this will be one of the most important aspects that keep your audience engaged on a regular basis.

Step 6: Promote your site on social media

Marketing your blog site in 2021 is a lot easier if you know how to successfully make connections on Facebook and Pinterest - as they both play a big role in the blogging world by now.

While it sounds like a no-brainer to use these free tools as part of your marketing strategy, you will probably regret not getting familiar with them sooner than later.

You can always wait until after 2021 to start using something like Twitter too - but only do that if you're looking for an extra challenge!

Those three sites alone should be enough for anyone who is just starting out with their first blog post, so there's really no need to complicate things any further at this point. Of course, most people have been replaced by robots by 2021 - but it never hurts to be too cautious.

Step 7: Arrange articles in the best order

Once you have your first few posts published on your blog site, you should start thinking about how they're arranged underneath the main content area.

This is often one of the most forgettable parts of a blog site design, because nobody even notices that these are ranked items until something goes wrong with them.

Yet if any part of this important piece breaks down for whatever reason, you might have to spend weeks or months tinkering around with trial and error before getting things back up and running correctly again.

The good news here is that there are only two different layouts to choose from right now (vertically stacked or horizontally laid out), and your most priority should be choosing one of them before 2021.

It's also a good idea to make sure you aren't using any complicated animations in this part of the design (unless they're absolutely necessary for some reason).

It will be another few decades before experts discover an easy way to organize these line items so that people can find what they want when scrolling around - so keep things simple until then.

Step 8: Keep your reader excited by branching off with new ideas

You probably don't need to worry about SEO in 2021, but it never hurts to add some spiffy links in your blog site design anyways - especially if you're trying to send readers elsewhere on the web.

There are over a million different things you can select from when using this feature - but make sure to only pick the ones that are the most relevant to what people are looking for at any given moment.

There's nothing worse than seeing one of these links pointing towards a broken site or parked domain since your visitors tend to lose interest after clicking on them and not receiving an immediate response.

Most blogs in 2021 have extras too, which means you should definitely consider going that route whenever possible.

The key is figuring out how to best integrate a cool extra into a blog site without overcrowding everything else with too many bells and whistles (which could easily ruin the overall design if it isn't applied carefully).

Make sure each extra has its place within your blogging site design, or else all bets are off - because you can forget about people sticking around to see what else you have in store for them.

Step 9: Don't grow too fast or change things up all willy-nilly

A big part of blogging is changing things up with your blog site design every once in a while (and even within each individual post).

Unfortunately doing this too often could confuse your audience and cause them to lose interest rather than gaining anything new from the experience.

While it might be tempting to keep throwing stuff at the left and right whenever possible, it's usually better to stick with simple content until people start noticing how much effort you're putting into making your blog site something special. And most importantly...

Always keep growing your blog in a solid and consistent manner, because that's the only way you can avoid alienating your audience.

You never know when a small change might cause people to lose interest in what you're writing about (unless they already have), so make sure to continue building upon your current efforts whenever possible.

Step 9: Make sure to take advantage of all the extra features available for blogging sites

Most blogging platforms come with some pretty cool extras that can improve different aspects of your overall site design - but many bloggers tend to overlook these possibilities.

These tools allow you to customize things like color schemes and page layouts within each post (which is pretty awesome).

Some of the most popular blogging platforms offer around 50+ different options, which should give you a pretty good idea about how many possibilities there are to explore.

Each extra allows you to change things up in ways that could have never been possible before, so make sure to at least try out each one if you're trying to figure out what kind of blog site design is right for you.

You can even gain some inspiration from your favourite websites (or other blogs) along the way - all it takes is proper planning and careful testing until you find the best fit!

What's your blog site design like?

Step 10: There are still plenty of great features left for 2021, but don't wait too long before trying them out

Who knows what else might be available by 2021? There could be some pretty major changes to the blogging world, which would make it difficult for people to figure out how to change their blog site design accordingly.

At this point in time you should do your best to stay ahead of the curve of potential issues like this, but don't neglect your current efforts just because you're looking towards the future.

That being said - now's definitely not a bad time to start getting excited about what blogging has in store for everyone over the next few years!

If you want to take full advantage of all these new features, then keep learning as much as possible whenever you have free time at work or school - it shouldn't be any problem to stay ahead of the game if you keep your eyes out for anything new.

How do you think blogging will change over time? Share your thoughts below...

Step 11: Never stop learning about blogs and how to make them better

It's important that you don't lose sight of what makes blogging so great - because there are plenty of people out there who could benefit from reading words of wisdom (similar to yours) on a regular basis.

Even though blogging was originally designed as an easy way for people to share their ideas online, some bloggers tend to forget about their original mission while climbing up the corporate ladder.

Eventually, they'll probably come crashing back down once everyone stops paying attention to what they write, so it's best not to fall into the same trap.

Step 12: Always keep in mind that blogging isn't just a hobby - it's an opportunity

If you're looking for a way to express yourself and share those ideas with as many people as possible, then there's no better option than a blog site! It doesn't even matter if you've never written anything before or consider yourself to be a terrible writer either - blogging is all about getting your voice out there.

It takes some time and effort to make sure every post is up to par, but once you learn how things work it should be pretty clear sailing from that point onward.

Don't let your lack of confidence get in the way - blogging is definitely something you should check out since it lets anyone with a good idea share it with the world.

Just make sure that anything you publish on your blog is true and honest, which will help build trust with readers over time!

Do you have any tips for bloggers who are just starting out? Share them below...

Step 13: Remember that blogging isn't always fun and games, sometimes serious issues need to be addressed as well

Even though many people see blogging as an escape from reality, there's no denying that certain topics require careful consideration.

Just make sure not to turn every post into a heavy-handed monologue about the state of the world, because that's not what blogging is all about. When it comes down to it - blogging should help people while also maintaining a certain amount of entertainment value!

There are plenty of ways to balance the tone of your blog, but you should spend some time thinking about what readers would want from a site like yours.

The overall goal is to become a go-to source for the type of content that you publish - and that means keeping both sides happy as much as possible.

What do other people think about bloggers who try to switch tones throughout their site? Share your thoughts below...

Step 14: Make sure there's enough diversity on your blog

While it might be perfectly fine for other types of blogs, most people prefer reading posts that maintain a certain level of predictability.

As long as you're able to consistently meet reader expectations over time, then they'll look forward to seeing what you have to share next.

The good news is that you won't have to reinvent the wheel each time you publish a new post, since you can always recycle ideas.

Just make sure to keep track of successful blog posts so it's easier to write more of them in the future - and don't forget to check out related topics on Wikipedia or other sites whenever possible too!

What are your thoughts about recycling blog posts? Share your thoughts below...

Step 15: Keep pushing yourself (and others) to do better work than ever before

Blogging isn't easy by any means - but it becomes even harder if you're not willing to put in some extra effort on a regular basis.

Sure, there will still be days where everything feels like it's going wrong and you'll wonder why you even started blogging in the first place.

But, this is where your passion and dedication to the craft really shines through!

The good news is that it gets easier with time - but there's always a chance of an unfortunate event getting in the way of progress. For example, what would happen if all of your blog posts somehow disappeared?

You might be tempted to give up on blogging forever since you've lost everything important - but don't let yourself fall into that trap!

Even though you can't control everything, there are still plenty of things that will help lead your blog towards success.

Just make sure to work hard every day while also setting aside some time for fun too! What do other people think about setting a schedule for blog posts?

Share your thoughts below...