Blogging for Fun, not Profit – Simple Tips for Survival

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Are you thinking of blogging for fun, not profit?

Have you done a Google search on “How to start a blog” and been overwhelmed by the huge volume of results? ( Over 5 billion as at today’s date! )

Are you bewildered by the assumption that you are looking to turn your blog into a money-making endeavour?

Don’t worry. I’ll run through exactly what you need.

Before we move on, let me tell you why there is so much focus on this area:

Show Me The Money!

There are a number of ways in which a blog can be used to make money. The two main ones are:

  • Selling online products (like courses or e-books)
  • Affiliate marketing

The latter entails the blog providing a link to a product or service whereby if a purchase is made the blog owner receives a small commission. The cost to the purchaser is unchanged – the commission comes out of the reseller’s profit.

Any blog that is making use of affiliate marketing should have an Affiliate Disclaimer page. It should also have a brief paragraph on each page containing affiliate links making it clear to the reader that this is the case.

Be Cynical!

One of the biggest providers of Web Hosting is a company called Bluehost. They have had a reputation for poor site speed, poor service to customers, and high commissions to affiliates.

So, can you guess which company is most commonly recommended to new bloggers?

To be fair, I understand that there have been improvements and that, depending on the structure of your site, site speed is OK. And they are often one of the cheapest options available (which is a factor for new bloggers).

Blogging for fun not profit - stacks of money
There is a lot of money in affiliate sales

There is nothing wrong with affiliate marketing but I would urge you to be a little cynical.

Is the blog owner’s objective to use their own experience of the product to make a legitimate recommendation?

… or is it solely driven by a desire to earn a commission?

In fact, I use some affiliate links in my posts. They are never going to make me a fortune but they make a contribution towards the cost of running this blog.

The products and services that I provide affiliate links to are ones that I use and that I believe would be good choices for you. I would still recommend them to you even without the affiliate connection.

In fact, if you have any reservations, just search for the item in Google and use that link instead of mine.

A Question of Priorities

Now, wanting to make money from your blog is perfectly fine.

It’s just a question of priorities. Do you want to blog for fun? Or do you want to blog because you want to make money?

I’m blogging because I enjoy helping people. If I earned nothing from doing it then I would still do it. It’s a hobby. A source of enjoyment.

If your focus is on making money then that is likely to suck the fun out of the actual blogging aspect. It can start to become more of a chore or even, dare I say it, a job!

Fear not, potential blogger. In this post, I’ll run through what you need to know in order to start a blog for fun.

Affiliate Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS WHICH WILL PAY A COMMISSION IF YOU FOLLOW THEM AND MAKE A PURCHASE. THIS IS AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE READ THE AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER PAGE.

1 Terminology

As always, when you start to learn something new, there is a certain amount of terminology that you need to become familiar with.

1.1 Blogging

Since we are considering the topic of blogging for fun, not profit, we should make sure that we actually understand what blogging is.

a regular record of your thoughts, opinions, or experiences that you put on the internet for other people to read:

* She writes a food blog in which she shares recipes, tips, and restaurant reviews.

* I read about it in/on a blog.

Cambridge Dictionary

Another way to think of blogging is like this:

The blog posts that you publish on your website are akin to an electronic version of you providing books to a library. They both provide information so that others can read it.

Blogging for fun not profit - volumes of britannica
Before blogs and the internet we had … books!

1.2 Content Management System

So, having established what a blog is, how does it actually work?

Well, the online content of your blog is maintained by software known as a Content Management System (“CMS”). The CMS allows the user, or multiple users if desired, to create, edit, and publish content without the need for any specialist coding knowledge.

The content (the text and images that form the basis of your blog) is stored in a database.

By far the most popular CMS is WordPress. Others include: Wix, Squarespace, and Joomla.

1.3 Domain Name

A domain name is basically your website’s online address. It’s what people type into the URL address bar to visit your website.

If you imagine a giant, global network of computers connected together through a network of cables – that is the internet. In order to identify individual computers, each one is given a unique address.

Blogging for fun not profit - global network of laptops
The internet makes the world seem a small place

This is known as the IP address. The IP address is a fairly meaningless (to us humans) set of four numbers. Each number ranges between 0 and 255.

We find numbers quite difficult to remember. Therefore, domain names are given to the IP addresses to make them easier to remember.

When you search for the domain name, for example https://richiesroom.com, a network of servers (the Domain Name System or DNS servers) look up that name to where it is registered and forward the request there.

It will be registered with your host company. They will access the information needed (your website information) and return this to the user performing the search.

1.4 Hosting

Hosting providers make their servers available to store your blog’s various files and to make these visible online for people to see.

A server is simply a computer that enables content to be stored and made available to other internet users.

Now, just as cars come in many different specifications to match the tasks they will be required to do, and, of course, user preferences, so too do hosting services. Hosting providers cater to all needs from small blogs to massive businesses.

You will, therefore, need to assess what your requirements and wishes are for the services to be provided and how much you are prepared to pay for those services. You’ll find that the various hosting providers will provide a range of hosting plans for you to choose from.

Let’s look at some related terminology that you may come across when making your choice:

Shared hosting

As the name suggests, in this scenario you are sharing a single server with multiple other websites. Each user will have a limit on how much of the server’s resources they can utilise. And a limit to what modifications, if any, they may make.

If one user experiences a huge spike in traffic then any resultant decline in server performance will impact on all of the other users too.

Shared hosting is usually the cheapest of the options offered by a hosting provider.

Going back to the car analogy, shared hosting is like a basic family saloon car. It doesn’t accelerate as fast as high-performance cars, nor have maximum speeds that are as high, but it gets you from A to B.

And, as long as you have good support (an experienced mechanic, for example) this car will serve you well. In fact, you may never feel the need to upgrade your car.

Virtual Private Server (VPS)

VPS hosting uses some fancy technology to create a number of virtual servers on one real server.

This means that you have your own dedicated resources that you don’t have to share with others. This allows you to, for example, install your own software on the VPS.

And, any traffic spikes for other users will not now have a detrimental impact on your site.

In car terms, we’re looking at a high-performance version of a normal saloon car. You know, the ones where the engine has been modified to produce more power, a turbo-charger has been fitted, the suspension has been stiffened, and it has low-profile tyres.

Dedicated hosting

With dedicated hosting, as you might imagine, you have a server dedicated solely to serving your website. You have complete control over resources and can customise things to your heart’s content.

We’re now looking at high-performance sports cars!

And a price-tag to match!

If you need, or just want, the best then this is the hosting for you.

How to pick web hosting

  • Cost. There’s no getting away from it, this is the major consideration for many people. With each host provider, the services listed above will be in ascending order of cost – the better the service, the higher the cost.

    If your objective is blogging for fun, not profit, then it’s quite possible that a shared hosting plan will be sufficient for your needs. You can always upgrade later if you outgrow it.
  • Technical Support. If things go wrong (it’s rare, but it happens) then it’s nice to be able to contact your hosting provider’s support team and get a fast and reliable response.

    The first web host I used was very cheap. And their customer support was very poor.

    I’d contact them about a technical issue and get a reply along the lines of:

    “Thank you for your message. This is a known issue. Our technical department is working on it and it will be fixed within 3-5 hours. Please rate my help as 10/10.”

    And, naively, I did rate them 10/10 the first time.

    A week or so later the issue still persisted. I contacted support again and got exactly the same response. When I mentioned this, the adviser extended the fix time to 2-4 days. And still wanted a 10/10 rating.

    This time I did not provide a 10!

    This followed the same pattern for several months (imagine if it were a business site rather than just a hobby blog!).

    Eventually, I gave up and moved host!
  • Features. In addition to the two key criteria listed above, you may also wish to consider:

    Reliability. How is the host rated by the people that use it? Look for customer reviews on things like Trust Pilot.

    Backups. Does the host backup your data on a regular basis?

    Control Panel. This is an application provided by hosts. It allows you to manage various aspects of your website. For example, if there is a new version of PHP then you could choose to update it through the ‘cPanel’ rather than asking support to do it.

    Email. Does the host allow you to have email addresses linked to your chosen domain?

    Number of sites. Does the plan you are considering allow for more than one website should you wish to add another (or multiple) at a later date?

2 Choosing Your Blogging Platform

Blogging for fun not profit - wordpress logo
WordPress is the best choice for a CMS

There are plenty of options here. However, I’m going to recommend that you choose WordPress.

Why?

  • It’s what I use. Having first-hand experience of how brilliantly capable it is at being a CMS for a blog I can whole-heartedly recommend it.
  • It is hugely popular. According to WordPress38% of the web uses WordPress, from hobby blogs to the biggest news sites online”. And over 90% of all blogs use it. As a result, if you do have any issues then you have a high probability of being able to find some help online.
  • It is very easy to use, even for beginners.
  • It has a fantastic price – FREE.
  • Plugins. These are little add-ons to enhance WordPress. There are plugins for pretty much anything you can think of in relation to WordPress – caching to improve site speed, firewalls for site security, backups, image optimisation, SEO, and on and on and on.

Note that it is possible to use dedicated blogging platforms. Things like Blogger, Medium, Tumblr. And also WordPress.com – note that this is very different to WordPress.org (aka “the real WordPress”), which is what we are referring to above.

While these platforms are useable they do have disadvantages. You will be limited in terms of your blog’s appearance (no themes to allow customisation and limits applied to how many images that you are permitted), your blog is not really yours – the platform can shut it down, or even delete if they wish, and you are stuck with a weird-looking domain name.

3 Choosing Your Blog’s Domain Name

Choosing your blog’s domain name is an important step. This is how your blog is going to be referred to from this point forward.

Picking something that is witty or topical now may not be so in the future.

Here are some things that you may want to consider:

  • Choose a name that is simple to remember. Make it easy for people to find you!
  • Don’t use special characters ( # , – , _ , @ , ! , £ , $ , & )
  • Avoid weird-looking spellings ( NO: russsshoes.com , YES: shoesfromruss.com ).
  • Picking a .com address is likely to be the best option ( easier to remember ).

Also, think about what you will be blogging about.

If you are planning to blog on a number of topics then you can go for something generic. If, however, you are confident that you will just be blogging on one subject alone then try to include it in the name (like shoes in the examples above).

The annual cost of a .com domain name registration is usually between £10-£15.

Don’t buy your domain name just yet though – you can buy it at the time as your hosting.

4 Purchasing Hosting

Blogging for fun not profit - the internet
There are lots of things to consider when blogging (but remember to have fun!)

So, we now know some basic terminology, including what hosting is, and we know what domain name we want to use. The next step is to actually buy the hosting that we want.

You remember the factors to consider when buying hosting, right? OK.

I’ll confess, when I picked my first host I did exactly what I’ve told you not to do. I failed to do my research – which would have warned me about the poor standard of support from the host. Learn from my mistake, don’t repeat it!

Just keep this in mind:

A good host will make your blogging experience as painless as possible. A bad host will, at best, make you regret choosing them, and, at worst, make you consider stopping altogether.

Pick wisely.

The host that I use is Krystal.

I have been extremely happy with the hosting service provided by this company and would wholeheartedly recommend them.

Factors that appeal to me are:

  • I’d done my research this time (once bitten and all that!) and had identified Krystal as a potential provider. I contacted them by Web Chat to discuss signing-up and they were quick to respond and very helpful. A good first impression.
  • This high level of support continued after I signed-up. The support team is UK-based and is focused on helping you resolve your issues (not on internal scoring systems!).
  • Reliability. I’ve never experienced any downtime. They guarantee 99.99% uptime!
  • Easy WordPress installation.
  • Even the most basic package enables you to have 2 unique websites (just in case 1 isn’t enough to start with!). The higher-level packages provide for unlimited websites.
  • Generous disk space allowance. I’m not a frequent poster compared to many bloggers. But my posts are usually quite detailed and often contain multiple pictures and videos (it’s all about making it a pleasant read for my visitors). I’ve been blogging for a little over 12 months and I’ve only used 8% of my allowance.
  • Regular backups. If things go wrong, you’ll be glad to have a backup.
  • Highly rated. In the 2018 ISPA awards, they won “Best Host”. And they include Cadbury, NHS, and Nike among their clients.

Do you remember when we discussed hosting in the Terminology section? And how you should consider the reliability of your host provider by looking at things like TrustPilot?

Well, consider these TrustPilot reviews:

The Bluehost review gives a rating of 1.6 / 5.0, with a staggering 83% considering the service to be ‘bad‘ (the lowest option).

The Krystal review, on the other hand, is 5.0 / 5.0, with an impressive 97% rating the service as ‘excellent‘ (the highest option).

In my opinion, Krystal would be an excellent choice for your web hosting. Give them a try – I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

The links contained in this section are affiliate links. If you have any reservations about using the links I would urge you to Google “Krystal Hosting” and follow those links instead. ( Obviously, I’d rather that you used my links. But my objective is for you to get a good host – which Krystal is. )

During the signing-up process you will be given the option to (and should):

  • Add your chosen Domain Name
  • Install WordPress

Don’t worry if you miss the WordPress install. You can always add it later through the cPanel or ask support to do it for you.

5 Choosing a Blog Theme

You could, at this stage, just start producing content in WordPress.

Blogging for fun not profit - hands on keyboard and content on screen
This blogger seems content with his content!

However, one of the great things about WordPress is the ability to customise it. This is done, in large part, by the use of Themes.

Now, I need to caution you here. Try not to get too carried away with the customisation process. The more stuff that you add to your blog, the greater the likelihood that it will become slower.

And slower is bad.

It’s primarily bad because it provides a poorer experience for people visiting your blog. However, it’s also bad because search engines take account of speed when ranking your posts – if your site is slow it will be further down the search results than a comparable site that is fast.

There is an enormous range of themes available for WordPress. At the time of writing this article there are 7,729!

Some are free, some are commercial.

Some focus on bells and whistles, others focus on speed.

Initially, at least, I would urge you to focus on speed and simplicity.

I’ve tried a few different themes and, in my view, the one that best fits the bill for this focus is GeneratePress. It’s the theme that I use for my blog and I’ve been very impressed with it.

As with my choice of hosting company, what has really impressed me is the technical support provided. Tom Usborne (the developer of GeneratePress) and his team are incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and prompt in answering queries.

And it’s not just me. On WordPress.org it has over a thousand 5-star reviews.

And if you find that there are things that you would like to tweak you can do this by using a little bit of code (HTML and CSS – see later). And, again, if you get stuck with this Tom and his team will help you out!

6 The Importance of Site Speed

Blogging for fun not profit - cheetah
When it comes to site speed … be a Cheetah

We, humans, are an impatient species.

How long do you think a web user on their mobile ‘phone will wait for a page to load?

Well, research by Google indicates that 53% of users will leave if a page fails to load within 3 seconds.

3 seconds!!!

Are our lives really so hectic that a few seconds longer makes that much difference? What would we do with those extra few seconds that we’ve decided we can’t spare? Nothing probably. But this is what you are up against if you want people to read your blog posts.

So, before we move on to looking at how you actually start creating your blog, let’s take a minute or two to consider what you can do, as a complete beginner, to ensure that your site loads quickly (or, at the very least, doesn’t load slowly!).

Start as you mean to go on – it’ll be easier than trying to fix things later!

6.1 Faster Hosting

We’ve already discussed the importance of choosing a good host.

Well, here’s another good reason – it will have an impact on the speed of your site.

In its article on optimization WordPress specifically mentions Server Load as an important factor:

The amount of traffic on your server and how it’s configured to handle the load will have a huge impact as well. For example, if you don’t use a caching solution, performance will slow to a halt as additional page requests come in and stack up, often crashing your web or database server.

WordPress.org

So, two key factors: your server hosting and having a caching solution (more on this later).

I’m very pleased with the speeds I’m getting for my blog. And, in part, this is due to the hosting service with Krystal.

Take a look at the screenshot below for the speed evaluation of the Richie’s Room home page.

Blogging for fun not profit - GTMetrix updated load-time
Faster than Jimmy McFast – the fastest person in fast land on a particularly fast day!

Now, if you’ve looked at my home page you’ll have noticed that it is basically just a gateway to the content on the site. It has two pictures, a small amount of text, and links to various posts within the blog.

So, in fairness, that’s not a true representation of the speed that you might experience while browsing the various pages and posts on the site.

Let’s have a look at this post – Why Do Dogs Bark?

This is a monster of a post. Over 9,000 words! Plus 19 pictures and 3 videos. And a good number of comments.

Blogging for fun not profit - GTMetrix updated load-time #2
Jimmy returns!

Still pretty fast.

And this isn’t on a dedicated server. Nor even a VPS. It’s on one of Krystal’s shared hosting options.

Based in the USA?

No problem. Krystal now has data centres in both New York and Phoenix. Give them a try – I’m confident that you will be happy with the service.

6.2 Faster Themes

You need to think carefully about your theme choice.

In an ideal world, you’d be able to have a theme with every conceivable feature that you could possibly want and it would still be blazingly fast.

But this isn’t an ideal world.

And you can’t have both of those things. There must always be a compromise because it is the added features that result in the loss of speed.

I’m reminded of when I first started becoming proficient in VBA for Excel. I’d think “Hey, look I can do this.” Or “Wow, I can do that”. Before you know it, you’re stuffing the workbook with ‘this and that’ and producing code that isn’t really necessary – just because you can.

And what did I learn from this?

Just because you can, doesn’t mean that you should.

Similarly, when it comes to themes, don’t pick one stuffed with ‘this and that’. Pick one that is built for speed.

GeneratePress was built for speed.

This is what I use and recommend. It, too, plays its part in the speeds demonstrated in the previous section.

6.3 Pagebuilders – Blog Snail Creators!

Blogging for fun not profit - snail
Your blog carrying it’s pagebuilder bloat

WordPress is more than capable of coping with all of your needs in terms of producing the pages and posts that you want.

The trouble is, some people will tell you that it isn’t enough.

They will tell you that you need this pagebuilder or that pagebuilder.

Guess what?

You don’t!

Sure, it will provide you with more ‘this and that’. But, as we’ve already discussed, this will be to the detriment of your page speed.

There is no point building the most beautiful website in the world if it loads so slowly that nobody is prepared to wait to see it!

Furthermore, I can assure you that many of the ‘features’ that may seem initially appealing are very often just an annoyance to your readers.

You want people to read your blog posts, don’t you?

If so, rather than adding things that will annoy them (don’t even get me started on pop-ups!), focus on making it as easy and enjoyable as possible.

A final point:

It will be much easier to start right (without a pagebuilder) than to realise later and try to correct the situation at that point. I speak from experience.

Don’t be a blog snail!

6.4 Images – Size Does Matter!

So, you’d like to include some images in your blog posts, would you?

Excellent. Images are a fantastic way of breaking up the text in a post, thereby making it a more pleasurable experience for your readers.

And, well, they’re nice to look at!

The trouble is, while a picture might be worth a thousand words it has a corresponding impact on the amount of resources that it consumes.

On the vast majority of sites, the biggest component in the consumption of resources is images. Therefore, in terms of making your site efficient, it makes sense to devote some effort to minimising this consumption but without any loss in image quality.

Scaled images

Have you ever bought a (real) Christmas tree, had it wrapped in that netting that squashes all of the branches together, stuffed it into your car, driven home, and then …

found that it’s too big for the area that you had planned to display it in!

You’re then left to hack at it with a saw, and maybe even an axe, to get it to display properly.

Well, if you have images that are not the correct size then they, too, have to be re-sized before they can be displayed in your blog post.

If you have an image that is 6400px wide and it needs to fit into an 800px wide area then it will need to be converted. And that takes time. Time you can save by scaling the image to the correct size in the first place.

Hold on a minute!” you might be thinking “I’m new to all this blogging stuff. How on earth do I do this scaling thing?”

Fortunately, there are many programs available that will do this for you. One of the better ones is the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP for short but don’t let the name put you off!).

This is a hugely impressive program. It’s basically a free alternative to Photoshop.

Download it and install it. Then, to re-scale an image follow the following procedure:

  • Click on the File menu item and then select Open
  • Navigate to the directory containing your chosen image, select it, and click on Open
  • Click on the Image menu item and then select Scale Image
  • A Scale Image window will open with options to change the Width and Height
  • Click on the figure for Width and change it to the desired width
  • Hit the Return key and you will see that the Height figure changes automatically
  • Click on the Scale button
  • Click on the File menu item and then select Export As
  • Give the image a new Name if you wish and navigate to the chosen Save directory
  • Click on Export
  • An Export Image window will open with various options
  • You can experiment with the options at a later date but for now click Export
  • Done! You’ve re-scaled your image

Image Compression

OK, having scaled your image to the appropriate dimensions you can now upload it to WordPress.

Once uploaded, the next step, before actually incorporating the image into any blog posts, is to optimise it.

You can do this by using an appropriate WordPress plugin. The one that I use is ShortPixel. ShortPixel uses magic clever compression algorithms that allow you to retain image quality while still reducing the image weight.

To see how impressive this is, when you go to the ShortPixel site click on the Compress menu item and drag and drop an image onto the indicated area. Then see if you can spot the difference between the ‘original’ and the ‘compressed’ image.

Once this plugin is installed in WordPress you will be able to optimise the various images in your Media library.

You can now happily use these scaled and compressed images safe in the knowledge that their impact on site speed has been minimised.

6.5 Caching – And Why You Need It

Blogging for fun not profit - google on laptop
How quickly will your page load when somebody searches for it?

Let’s imagine that Spike wants to have a house built.

Spike approaches Tom, the contractor. Tom knows what Spike wants but doesn’t have an existing house that matches Spike’s requirements.

Tom contacts Jerry, the materials supplier, and asks for the materials for the foundations. Jerry constructs or buys these materials and then supplies them to Tom.

Tom then asks for the materials to build the structure of the house and Jerry obliges.

And the materials for electricity supply, water supply, waste disposal, doors, windows, stairs, toilets, washbasins, baths, and showers. And so on and so on.

Eventually, the construction of the house is finished and Tom presents the house to Spike.

Now, if Spike were to make a request for the same type of house to be built again the process would be much quicker if Jerry kept a record of all of the materials that were needed and kept them in stock ready to be supplied.

This is akin to an internet user (Spike) using a web browser (Tom) to obtain information for the construction of a web page from the various elements stored on a server (Jerry).

This is where a caching program comes in.

The caching program basically tells the server to store some files so that it can quickly duplicate the same content if it is requested again.

And the result? Much faster page loading times!

So, having established that caching is a good thing, how do we cache our blog pages? Well, as you might imagine, there is a plugin that will do it.

In fact, there are many plugins that will do it. And many advocates of these plugins, each claiming that their option is the fastest. Truth be told, this is a complex area and what works well for one user may not necessarily work well for another.

The best option is probably to try two or three and see which works best for you and then stick with that.

What’s that? How will you know which is best?

Do you remember the page speed images that I showed above for my homepage and the monster blog page? Those are produced using a speed measurement site called GTMetrix. Here is what I suggest:

  • After you have produced a couple of pages and posts, measure how quickly they load
  • Then install caching plugin #1 and test the speed of those pages/posts
  • Test each page/post twice and record the second speed result
  • Uninstall #1 and install #2 and test the speed again
  • And then again with #3
A quick caveat in relation to GTMetrix (and all such speed measurement sites). Focus on site speed. Do not focus on scores. Your blog visitors don’t care what scores you get – they care how quickly your site loads!

Got a clear winner? Good, go for that one.

Not much in it? Then also take into account the user interface of the plugin. If you find it a hassle to use and the options unclear then perhaps discount that in favour of another.

I’ve tried a few caching plugins and the two that I would recommend are:

  • LiteSpeed Cache. This only works on LiteSpeed servers (like those used by Krystal) but it is very impressive. And free!
  • SWIFT Performance. There are lite (free) and full-fat (paid for) versions of this plugin. In whichever form it comes in it is widely regarded as one of the best caching plugins.

6.6 More? You Want More Speed?

To be honest, the two factors outlined above (Image size and Caching) will make a substantial difference to your site speed on their own.

Frankly, you could (and probably should!), at this point, move on to the Security section below and then get cracking on ‘blogging for fun, not profit‘.

If, however, you want to make a few more tweaks here and there to improve site speed still further then consider these:

  • Upgrade your PHP version
    Go to your cPanel and make sure you are up-to-date. If you aren’t confident doing this (or don’t know what your cPanel is!) then ask your host to do it for you.

    A quick caveat: Making a minor update, say from 7.3 to 7.4, is going to be pretty safe. Making a major update, say from 7.4 to 8.0, perhaps requires a little more thought – it may be prudent to wait for a few months until any initial bugs have been ironed out.
  • Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
    As you might imagine, if your host’s server is in London and the person looking for your site is also in London then the information will reach them quicker than it will a person in Australia that is looking.

    If you want your site to be fast everywhere, rather than just where the host is located, then you may benefit from a CDN.

    A CDN has servers scattered around the world and will store copies of your site’s pages/posts on these servers. This shortens the distance that the information has to travel and so makes the process faster.

    If you are on a LiteSpeed server (like the ones used by Krystal), consider using the QUIC.cloud CDN.

    I’ve been using the free QUIC.cloud CDN for a while now (shortly after joining Krystal) and I have to say that I have been very pleased with it in terms of speed, reliability, and support. I also like the fact that it links directly with the LiteSpeed Cache plugin referenced above.

    If you aren’t on a LiteSpeed server then the best first step is likely to be to sign-up for a free account with Cloudflare.

    You can always look at paid options at a later date.
  • Plugin management
    There are two sides to this:

    1. Don’t go wild like a kid in a sweet shop. Pick only the plugins that you need.

    2. Do some research to see which plugin may be best for your requirements. For example, which caching plugin is ‘best’ or which security plugin is ‘best’. You’ll find many different opinions on what is ‘best’! Your research may also help to highlight any that plugins that it is recommended to avoid – perhaps it is too slow, or has major bugs.
  • Font management
    Pick a font and stick with it. Having lots of different fonts means lots of requests to download these fonts, which slows down your site’s load time.
  • Use a fast social sharing plugin
    Do you know how those social sharing icons appear at the end of a blog post? That’s right, a plugin.

    As always, there are numerous to choose from. Pick one which offers the options that you want and which is considered to be quick.
  • Analyse the GTMetrix speed report and identify areas for improvement
    GTMetrix provides lots of information for your consideration. If you are that way inclined, by all means, take a look at them and see whether there are any ‘easy fixes’.

7 WordPress Security

Blogging for fun not profit - hacked wording with hoodie wearer
Why do hackers always wear hoodies?

OK, first of all, the bad news:

In all likelihood, somebody will try to hack into your blog!

Why?!

It’s nothing personal. Hackers are looking for ways to further their own objectives. This may be using your site as part of a denial of service attack, promoting goods or services on your site (of the type that you probably don’t want to be associated with!), or just for bragging rights (Hey! Look! I’ve hacked this site!).

And the good news?

There are plenty of steps that you can take to minimise the risk of your site being compromised.

Usernames and Passwords

DO NOT leave your user name as ‘admin’ and DO NOT pick a password that is easily guessed, like your name, ‘Password’, ‘Letmein’, or ‘123456’.

There is a useful saying for usernames and passwords – “Length is strength“. Ideally, go with something that is at least 10 characters long.

Try to avoid names, words or phrases. Use a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and non-alpha numeric characters.

“spike” is a poor choice.

“S)9wc£-2!z” is much better.

Don’t use the same username and password for anything else.

Two Factor Authentication (2FA)

Hackers often automate their attacks (they aren’t sat at the keyboard, furiously typing away, they have programs that do all the labour-intensive work for them).

And this provides a method of foiling their efforts.

If they were to somehow guess both your username and password, what if they still couldn’t gain access unless they had a code? A code that is only shown on your mobile ‘phone!

You can easily implement 2FA by combining a plugin in WordPress and an app on your mobile ‘phone.

Malware Scanner and Firewall

Two of the most important aspects for the protection of your site are a malware scanner and a Web Application Firewall (WAF).

The firewall is there to reduce the chances of anybody getting unauthorised access to your site. The malware scanner is there to scan for any malicious code that does somehow make it through.

The plugin that I use for these aspects is Wordfence.

As an added bonus, Wordfence also provides the 2FA feature described above.

Backups

Do you know the key feature of backups?

Peace of mind!

If, despite your best efforts, your site is successfully attacked you can go back to your most recent backup and your back in the game.

Decent hosts will provide a backup service for you (the frequency will vary, depending upon the level of service that you choose).

In addition, you might also like to consider a plugin backup. Or, perhaps, a backup backup!

The one that I use is UpdraftPlus (the free version).

Other mentions

You might also like to consider another two plugins on the security front.

  • Block Bad Queries (BBQ). This protects against malicious url requests. Anything nasty is blocked. It’s much like a bouncer at a club!
  • Limit Log In Attempts Reloaded. As the name suggests, this limits the number of attempts at logging in to WordPress.

    So, the hacker with his automated system of usernames and passwords being used to gain access to your site is greatly hampered. Rather than trying thousands of combinations per hour he might just have 5 attempts and then be blocked for 24 hours!

8 Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Blogging for fun not profit - SEO in google format
Excellent. Another TLA (Three Letter Acronym)!

We’ve already discussed the fact that there are millions of blogs out there. Some of them are likely to be competing with you for attention from Google and the other search engines.

For example, let’s say that your blog is primarily focused on your love of dogs (can’t imagine who this example is based on!). Dogs are very popular pets in the UK, the USA, and throughout most of the world.

Consequently, there is a strong chance of there being lots of blogs that write about dogs. If I write a blog post, what can I do to increase the chances of it being found towards the top of the search results?

Well, what you can do is make use of SEO.

Let’s flip things on their head for a minute. Rather than starting with our post, let’s start with the internet user.

The user wants to find information on a chosen subject. To do this they use a search engine. The search engine wants the user to be successful in his search (because this will encourage him to use that search engine again and increase revenue from advertising).

So, the search engine puts a huge amount of effort into helping the user find what he is looking for:

  • An answer to his question
  • In a post that provides all of the detail needed
  • In an easily readable format
  • With images and videos
  • With links out to sites that have high authority
  • And links into the post from other sites
  • Having shares/likes on the various social media platforms
  • With blog post comments from those that have read the post
  • On a site where the pages/posts load quickly

If you want your post to be found, and read, by internet users then your task is to help the search engine complete its task.

SEO is a huge topic. Google apparently has over 200 factors in its search algorithm. And people are constantly trying to figure out what they are in order to improve their chances of ranking highly!

If SEO is something that interests you then by all means do some further research. If you just want to cover the basics and move on to the ‘blogging for fun’ part then this is what I suggest:

8.1 SEO Plugin

Install an SEO plugin. The one that I use is The SEO Framework. This is highly regarded and very easy to use.

This will help you make sure that you get most of the basics covered – meta titles and descriptions, social media links etc.

8.2 Choice of Keywords

Consider your choice of keywords for each post.

“Consider them! I don’t even know what the hell they are!” I hear you shout.

Keywords are basically what people type into Google (other search engines are available!) when they are looking for something.

Going back to our earlier example, if somebody types “dogs” into Google, then that is a very short and broad category keyword. As a consequence, it will get a lot of results.

Try it for yourself. I just did and got over 4 BILLION results!

How the heck do you ever hope to compete with that and get your blog post found?

You don’t!

You use long-tail keywords. That is, you expand upon the starting keyword and make the search more specific.

So, instead of just “dogs“. What if we wrote about “dogs and fireworks“?

That brings us down to a mere 33 million.

Some more refinement is needed. What about “dogs and fireworks-induced stress“?

Bingo! We’re now down to 1 million.

So, before you start writing, give a little thought to what you want the focus of your blog post to be about.

8.3 Presentation

Presentation is important.

Make your posts easy to read. Don’t have massive paragraphs running to twenty lines or more – aim for 4-5 maximum. Sometimes, just 1 line is fine. White space is good.

Pick a font that is easy to read. Not some fancy, swirly design. Not some wacky colour. And not too small. Entertain! Not eye strain!

Pick a catchy title. And use headings to clearly show how information is grouped together.

Use images. They help to break up the text and … people like pictures.

8.4 Have a Table of Contents

Have a Table of Contents.

It gives the reader an outline of what to expect. And makes the post easier to navigate if they are looking for information on a particular topic.

It also makes it easier for Google to understand the nature of your post.

You have 2 choices here:

1. You use another plugin. Like this one : Easy Table of Contents
2. You learn some HTML and CSS and write your own.

Blogging for fun not profit - html on screen
Learning a little HTML (and CSS) can be very useful

I went for the second option and I’ve really enjoyed learning a little about these languages.

If you are interested in doing the same then I’d recommend taking a look at the Interneting Is Hard site.

8.5 Use Social Media

Like it or loathe it, social media is huge these days.

And if you don’t use it to promote your blog posts then you are missing out. A simple Share, Pin, or Tweet by a reader that enjoyed your post opens it up to a whole new audience.

So, first things first, open accounts with the main social media platforms to use for promoting your blog posts. I’d say pick 4 to start with and take it from there.

Blogging for fun not profit - social media icons in a circle with world map background
So many to choose from …

Second, get yourself a social sharing plugin. This will add the little icons that allow people to use their preferred method of sharing content. I use Shared Counts.

And, whenever you make a new post, share it on your social media channels.

9 Blogging for Fun, not Profit – First Steps

OK, that took a little longer than I’d anticipated!

Let’s have a quick re-cap:

  • Contrary to popular opinion, blogging for fun, not profit, is still possible! If your motivation is to share stuff with other people to help them then that’s good. Don’t feel obliged to devote all, or a majority, of your efforts to making money from your blog.
  • You’ll need a CMS. The best one is WordPress.
  • Your blog will require a Domain Name.
  • Hosting will be needed as your blog’s ‘home’. I recommend Krystal.
  • Choose a good WordPress Theme. I use GeneratePress.
  • Like Maverick and Goose in Top Gun – feel the need … the need for speed!
    Recommended Graphics Program: GIMP (image scaling and much more)
    Recommended Plugins: ShortPixel (image optimisation), LiteSpeed Cache (caching on LiteSpeed servers only) or SWIFT Performance (caching).
  • Protect your blog with some security measures.
    Recommended Plugins: Wordfence (Firewall and malware scanner), UpdraftPlus (backups)
  • When planning your posts, think about SEO.
    Recommended Plugin: The SEO Framework (SEO optimisation)

Right, let’s actually get started in WordPress …

To start with, take a look below at the WordPress menu.

Blogging for fun - WordPress menu
WordPress – the place where your blogging fun takes place

Plugins

First, select the Plugins option from the menu.

Then select the “Add New” button next to the Plugins title at the top.

Now use the “Search plugins” box to find, one at a time, each of the recommended plugins above. And then Install them.

Take a little time to go through the settings on each and get them set-up.

Settings

Talking of settings, now that we have our plugins installed, let’s take a look at the WordPress Settings menu item.

Go to the General section first and add your blog details.

Next, Permalinks. These determine the url structure of your posts. It’s best to have urls that are simple and easily understandable. I would recommend the “Post name” option here.

Pages and Posts

Pages are your static content that rarely changes. Things like your “About” page, for example.

Posts, on the other hand, are what you use for your blog content.

Your First Post

Ready?!

Select the Post menu item and then Add New. You’ll see something similar to this:

Blogging for fun - new post
The first post (as opposed to the last post!)

See that bit that says “Add title“? Guess what you do there? That’s right, you add your post title.

Once you’ve done that, click on the section that says “Start writing …”. And away you go! Start crafting your first masterpiece.

See that plus sign? Click on that and you can add different types of content. Headings, Lists, Custom HTML, Images, and on and on. Experiment – have fun!

When you’ve had enough for one session, click on the “Save draft” item at the top right of the screen.

Finished the post completely? OK, click on “Publish” to unleash your post on the world!

What’s that? You’ve spotted a spelling mistake after publishing the post? Don’t worry. You can still edit published posts. You’ll notice when you do this that your “Publish” option has now become “Update” – just click on that when you are finished editing.

Well done! Your blogging for fun, not profit, journey has begun.

Keep Having Fun

When blogging first started, everybody blogged for fun.

Then people started making it about money.

Then people started coming up with ‘rules‘ for what bloggers should be doing:

  • You must have a niche and all of your blog posts must be about this narrow topic. You are not allowed to blog about anything else.
  • You must produce regular, scheduled content. If you don’t, Google will hate you and nobody will read your posts.
  • You must spend as much time promoting your post as you do creating it. Share it here, share it there, share it every feckin’ where. You must, of course, schedule your social sharing endeavours.
  • You must ‘engage’ with other bloggers. Comment on their posts and expect them, in return, to comment on yours.
  • You must have an email list. Not for letting people know about your latest post – but to sell stuff to them.
That’s right, the Blog Grinches stole “blogging for fun”!

But do you know what? We can bring it back!

I’ve already enlisted a helper …

Blogging for fun not profit - dog resting head on keyboard
Nope, you can’t use these keys – you’ve got plenty of others!

My helper’s suggestions are:

Have fun!

OK, he kinda ran out of steam after that one. But, to be honest, he’s said all that needs to be said.

It’s your blog. Have fun with it. Ignore the Blog Grinches and their rules.

These are my ‘rules’ (you can, and should, come up with your own):

  1. I don’t want a second job or a replacement job. If I can earn a little to help cover the running costs of the blog then that’s great, but not essential. I’m blogging for fun, not profit!
  2. Mis-quoting from Top Gun … I’ll post when I’m goddamn good and ready! If the other commitments on my time mean that I only post once a month then I’m fine with that. I’d rather produce one quality post once a month than a fluff post twice a week.
  3. I’ll post about whatever subject I want to post about. Not picking a niche area and sticking to it may well not be the recommended approach, but I don’t care. It’s like telling a child he can only play with one toy. Or a diner that he can only choose one meal. Variety is the spice of life.
  4. I enjoy writing blog posts. I also enjoy reading posts by other bloggers. If I have something to say, I’ll leave a comment. If they find a topic in my blog that appeals to them and they return a comment, that’s great. But they are not required to do so. Blog comments should be freely given, not demanded.
  5. As my helper said, HAVE FUN!

10 Frequently Asked Questions

How do You Start a Blog for Fun?

Despite appearances when you use your favourite search engine, blogging for fun, not profit, is possible. It’s a question of priorities: Don’t obsess over affiliate sales and the like. Instead, focus on posting about things that you enjoy and which will help or be of interest to others.

All you need is: a blogging platform, a domain name, hosting, and a theme. Sure, there are other bits and pieces that you can add for site speed, security, and SEO, but these will be enough to get you started.

Can You Make Money Blogging and Quit Your Job?

Many bloggers think that they’ll be the next Pat Flynn and be making $200,000 / month as he does. This is pretty unlikely. Contrary to popular opinion, blogging is not easy. Or rather, making lots of money for little effort is not easy.

Much like a job, it depends on how good you are at it and how much effort you put in. If you want to give it a go it’s probably best to start it alongside your current job and see how you get on for a few months.

How Long Should Blog Posts be?

All of your blog posts should be exactly 5,733 words long!

Seriously though, they should be as long as they need to be for you to convey to your readers the information that you are trying to impart. If you can do that in 2,500 words then that is how long the post should be. If it needs 6,000 words then you write 6,000.

Do You Have to use Social Media to Promote Your Blog?

No, you don’t have to.

However, social media provides instant access to potential readers of your blog. Rather than contacting people on an individual basis, you could reach thousands with a single message. That said, if it all seems a little daunting just pick one medium to focus on initially.

Blogging for fun not profit - home-office macbook & coffee
Blogging for fun, not profit. Take a break – have a coffee.

11 Acknowledgements

Featured image provided courtesy of Jess Foami

And …

12 The End

Richie's Room - Harv leaving
Time to go!

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this post.

Feel free to navigate around the site to see if there is anything else that may be of interest to you.

If you liked this post please share it. Thank you 🙂

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And, if you’d like to add a comment that would be great too – you can do that below.

134 thoughts on “Blogging for Fun, not Profit – Simple Tips for Survival”

  1. Dear Richie,

    I’m fundamentally a writer for TV creatives and magazines.
    While I’ve been ecstatic to see revenue trickle on the 3rd month of the blog, well yea, I have to stay grounded and true to my soul. this is a great reminder of that

    Reply
  2. Richie thanks so much for this helpful and insightful post! As you know I’m getting ready to transfer my site to a new host and this post couldn’t come at a better time! I’ll admit the thought of it is overwhelming but with your post as guidance will help me in this process.

    Thanks so much for sharing these great tips!

    Reply
    • Hi Rebekah. I’m really glad that you found the post to be useful. If you need any further help, just let me know.

      Reply
  3. This is a very well-written, informative post! Lots of helpful information for someone very new to the blogging community and needing a guide on where to start. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  4. Great piece Richie. I blog for fun as well as for making money. I typically promote by books through my blog. I am learning about affiliate marketing, but still a long way to go. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  5. Really nice post! I’m blogging for fun too! And you gave me nice hints. I’m using blogger just because I have a gmail account, do you think it worth to pass at wordpress?

    Thank you

    Reply
    • Thank you, Flavio. Well, I’ve certainly been very pleased with WordPress. I think it offers a lot more flexibility than platforms like Blogger.

      Reply
  6. A really interesting, detailed and useful post. I feel like I’ve learnt a lot. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Great post, and so informative! I like to blog for fun but it’s so interesting to learn the more in depth information. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

    Reply
  8. You’ve got some great information here, however, I would argue that blogging for money doesn’t have to suck the fun out of the process! If you pick a niche that you’re genuinely passionate about, it can be both… I LOVE blogging, I love learning about the inner workings of a successful blog, I love digital marketing (it’s what I went to school for) and I love pets. Therefore, running a money-making pet blog just combines all of that for me in a way that pays the bills!

    Reply
    • Hi Britt, thanks for your feedback. Yes, of course, it doesn’t have to be the case. I just get the impression that, for some people, the money-making is a bit of an Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole that they disappear into. Before you know it, they are having to ‘take a break’ from their blog. I hope that you continue to be able to blog for fun AND make a profit 🙂

      Reply
  9. I tried blogging for money and it took all the fun out of it. Now I blog for fun and a stipend from another blogger and the fun is back again 🙂

    Reply
    • Glad you found it helpful, Jen. Thank you for your feedback. Yeah, I’ve been with Bluehost – I won’t be going back! 🙂

      Reply
  10. “All of your blog posts should be exactly 5,733 words long!” This made me laugh! I like exact answers 😉

    There’s so much helpful information in here. I’ve bookmarked the post so I can go through some of the plug ins you suggested. I often think about the 3 seconds people tolerate for a page to load and think I need to speed up our site. Thanks for sharing all of this info!

    Reply
    • Hi Alison. Well, if I manage to both entertain and inform then I must be doing something right! Thank you.

      Reply
  11. Hi Richie, solid advice in this article, and I like the vibe that it transmits. I especially liked your own rules 2 and 3!

    When I started my blog almost one year ago, I initially considered it for making money out of it. But then, the more I thought about it, the more it felt as if I’d be straying away from the main reason why I was setting up my website: spreading scientific knowledge about our interconnected nature. I did not want it to turn into something I had to do.

    Even after one year, I enjoy writing every article, just because it is fun, and because I love to write, even though I’m not making money off it.

    Reply
    • Hi Olivier. That’s great to hear. I think the fact that you are blogging for fun is evident in the posts that you make. The scientific knowledge that you spread can be very technical but you make it easy to understand and make your posts easy to read. Keep having fun!

      Reply
  12. A very extensive post! As a book blogger, I’m totally in this for fun and to share my enthusiasm for reading. I’m privileged enough to receive advanced reader copies to feed this hobby.

    Reply
    • Hi. Thank you for your feedback. I’m glad to hear that you are blogging for fun, not profit – keep it up!

      Reply
    • Hi Alison. Thank you, I’m glad that you enjoyed it. Nice to see that there are some positives coming out of Covid too – I hope it all works out for you.

      Reply
  13. Thanks for this post Richie. It’s incredibly informative & detailed.

    I’ve had my blog running for a while but there’s quite a few things in this post that I hadn’t even considered doing.

    I’m going to work through them this month & put them in place.

    I’d never heard of Krystal before. If I ever decide to change my host I’ll look into it.

    Reply
    • No problem, Vicky, I’m glad that you found it useful. I’ve been very happy with Krystal – certainly worth a look if you do decide to change hosts.

      Reply
  14. I hope my blog brings an income one day, but in the meantime, it’s important to enjoy the process, even without a payout! There’s always so much to learn about blogging!

    Reply
  15. The best thing I did today is to drop by this post! As a newbie, this is what I really need, not the confusing and not-so-newbie-friendly ones. Thanks for this!

    Reply
  16. Wow very comprehensive post! I learned blogging from scratch and until now there are things I need to do. I did have issues with speed and resources almost maxed out. So, install plug-ins that you NEED and resize photos. I’m still figuring out how to make my site better. Great effort on this!

    Reply
    • Thanks for your comment, Vinn, much appreciated. I think site improvement is a constant thing – there is always something that we can do a little better.

      Reply
  17. Love your approach to it all Richie! Great stuff and thanks for sharing.

    Can you share what plugins, theme and hosting you use? That site speed is amazing, congrats!!

    Reply
  18. This is so informative and truthful! I’ve been blogging for years and always get asked if I’m making money, it’s as if blogging and profit must go hand in hand! Obviously I’d like to make some money but it’s not my main goal, which is to have fun and write about what i like.

    Thank you so much for sharing this and for all of your suggestions (hosting, themes etc).

    Reply
    • Thanks, Loren. It’s nice to know that there are still plenty of us that are blogging for fun.

      Reply
  19. Wow, Richie, this has to be one of the most comprehensive posts on how to start a blog I’ve EVER read – I can’t think of a single point you haven’t covered! I like your point about blogs not having to be for money, that blogging for fun is equally valid. Brilliant post, will definitely share this one! 🙂

    Reply
    • To be honest, Lisa, I started off thinking “This will probably be one of my shorter posts.”! 🙂

      However, I also wanted to be able to at least give a flavour of the various aspects of blogging for anybody just starting out. Hopefully, this will enable people to set off on the right foot. Of course, as they gain more experience they may decide to do things differently, and that’s fine once they have that experience – I just don’t want anybody starting out to be sucked into “high affiliate payout / low quality” products (as I was).

      Reply
  20. Hey Richie,

    What a great post. The information you shared here is very useful for those who wants to grow as a blogger like myself. This is a very useful reference. Something that should be read not only once, but to be consulted once in a while. Like you, I enjoy blogging for the sake of it. Earning money is not the reason at all why I blog.

    Thank you so much for this post!

    Greetings,
    Ray

    Reply
    • Greetings Ray. Thank you very much for your kind words. I’m glad that you found the post useful. Keep blogging for fun! 🙂

      Reply
  21. Great advice. I absolutely hate my host provider, but I’m finding it impossible to move to a new host due to domain issues, help moving from one host to another when you have zero relevant skills, costs, etc. I’ve been blogging not really for fun but to try and help others, but I’ve been basically doing it for free. So I need to sort out some sort of income stream from it

    Reply
    • Hi. Thanks for your comment, much appreciated. What domain issues are you having? I’m sure that a decent new host would try to help you resolve these.

      Reply
  22. This is such a great and thorough post, especially for anyone new to the blogging world. I always think that you should start a blog for the fun, and then see if it can be developed into making money. You wouldn’t want to be stuck with a blog that you don’t have any passion for, do you?

    Thanks for sharing!

    Aimsy xoxo

    Reply
  23. Thank you for this helpful and insightful post, Richie! I love writing and reading since I was 10, and when blogging, I enjoyed it so much! Plus if you can make money from something that you love, why not? That’s win-win 🙂

    Reply
  24. Such an informative post! I’ve been working on seo to help raise my DA but there’s just so much to think about It gets a little overwhelming 😂

    Reply
  25. Great post! I know exactly where you’re coming from with affiliate links. I only use them for products that I use and love myself (usually just clothing that I own and have worn in blog posts).

    Blogging for me started off as a bit of fun and, although it’s grown since I first started I definitely still see it as a fun hobby.

    I started with wordpress.com before making the switch to wordpress.org and have loved the experience of using WordPress. It’s just such a user friendly site and I love the freedom you get to customise with plugins etc.

    I’ve never heard of Krystal hosting before but am thinking about switching my hosting in the new year as it’s gotten expensive! I’ll have a proper look into them and see 🙂

    Reply
    • Thank you, Faye, that’s very kind. I’m really glad that you still see blogging as being fun.

      I’ve found Krystal to be fantastic. If you have any queries, just use the direct chat option on their site – they are really friendly and helpful.

      Reply
  26. Really informative post. I really learnt a lot. I was thinking of using blue host before but I’ve been seeing some bad reviews so I’m not sure which to go for.

    Reply
    • Thank you, Anita, I’m glad that you found the post to be useful. I would stay clear of bluehost if I were you – do some research and pick a host that is highly regarded by its users.

      Reply
  27. This is a tremendous amount of valuable information for beginner bloggers. I am glad you can write about what you love without the pressure of needing to make a living from it.

    Reply
  28. I love this post. It’s refreshing to see someone talk about just blogging for fun instead of blogging for money. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Thank you, Charity. Sadly, I think blogging for fun is in the minority these days – but I plan to carry on 🙂

      Reply
  29. Wow, great article and your pinpointed crystal clear explanation was awesome.
    Thanks for sharing such an excellent blog post 🙂 🙂

    Reply
  30. Wow what a helpful post for beginner bloggers! When I started my blogging journey 5 years ago, I wanted to have fun and be creative. I think that blogging should be started with that mindframe – not one of thinking you’ll be famous or rich!

    Rosie

    Reply
    • Hi Rosie. Thank you for your kind words. And I completely agree – fun, fun, fun that’s where it’s at!

      Reply
  31. I’ve always blogged because I’ve loved doing it but right now I’m so blessed that it also makes me a full time profit!
    These are some really great tips and will be so helpful to bloggers x

    Reply
    • Thanks for your comment, Kayleigh. If you are having fun AND making a profit then you must be doing something right – keep doing it! 🙂

      Reply
  32. What a great resource Richie! I see sooooooo many of these guides for people that want to make money from their blogs but almost none for hobby blogging!

    When I was just getting started I fell into the bluehost trap :-/ they really are slow and their customer service people seem to know very little. Especially about WordPress which seems like a huge problem to me! It is so sad that there are people out there singing their praise just for a quick buck. I even took my time and did research on them but found TONS of blogs saying awesome things about them! (Now I know that this is because they were likely affiliates for them – something I didn’t understand prior to starting). 🤦🏻‍♀️

    Reply
    • Thanks, Clarissa, much appreciated.

      I have no problem with people promoting (and getting a commission for) a product or service that they genuinely believe is of value to the reader. The trouble is I think some bloggers are more influenced by the amount of the commission than by doing what is best for their readers.

      Reply
  33. Love all of these tips for making money from blogging – it can be fun in the process too. It is so important that you enjoy what you do. If not, people will have a harder time relating to you and it’s a sales fail at that point. So important to have the right SEO and the right layout. The last thing you want is to have a blog that is hard to navigate through!! Lots of resources out there to simplify technical work 🙂

    Nancy ✨

    Reply
  34. This is a helpful post! I have my own domain name & a plan through WordPress. I mainly blog for fun, but I do have ads on my blog & I do have occasional sponsored posts. I don’t make a ton of money from doing that, but it does help offset the cost of running my blog.

    Reply
    • Thank you very much, Karalee, for your comment. I’m glad to see that you are managing to blog for fun 🙂

      Reply
  35. Agghh Richie, get out of my head! This was an awesome read, extremely helpful to me. I am brand new to blogging and very keen to “run before I can walk”. This information has given me clarity and perspective – 2 things that take a back seat when I get the bit between my teeth – imagine a dog and sexy squirrel scenario!
    Thank you very much for taking the time to “layman” the process.
    Looking forward to publishing my blog sooner rather than later.

    Kind Regards

    Carrie 🙂

    Reply
  36. I think this is a great post for people who are brand new to blogging. I had no idea what I was doing when I started.

    All the best, Michelle (michellesclutterbox.com)

    Reply
    • Hi Michelle. Thank you for your comment. Yes, I think many of us started off without much of a clue! 🙂

      Reply
  37. Hi there. I am somewhat confused with the krystal thing and the website seems to actively discurrage me from contacting them.
    Basically I have a wordpress.com blog. I want to move to wordpress.org and use krystal via your link (so you get at least some money for your great help here). Now I found a domain which is currently not used and when I put the URL in my browser comes up for sale through domain.com
    If I buy it from them, can I then host it on krystal and migrate my wordpress.com site without losing the followers from there? And if yes, do I choose “transfer domain” or “existing domain”?
    Thanks for your support!

    Reply
    • Hi Julia. Thanks for your comment. The guys at Krystal provide excellent support (although obviously, things are a little awkward at the moment with the impact of coronavirus) – I’ll contact them to see if I can get somebody to help you out.

      Reply
  38. I wish I knew some of these when I set up my blog 7 years ago! I have taken a short course on setting up a blog and trust me when I say it had half the information you provided here!
    This is definitely very helpful, thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  39. Hey Richie, this is such a remarkable piece of writing. You have explained everything so well including examples, facts, figures and personal experiences. And it’s actually great to see anyone recommending something other than Bluehost. Thank you for sharing this with us. Cheers!

    Reply
  40. This was a really helpful post. I’ve been considering looking into other hosting sites for a while now and Krystal wasn’t even one that was on my radar. I really appreciate how much detail is in this post so thank you for putting it together 🙂

    Reply
    • Hi Kate and thank you very much for your comment. I’m pleased that you found the post to be helpful and I would highly recommend Krystal (I’m still with them and remain very happy with the service).

      Reply
    • Hi Tangela. Thanks very much for your comment. I’m glad that you found the post to be helpful.

      Reply
  41. Whoa!! This is amazingly thorough, too bad I didn’t run across this post when I was just starting my blog. I wish new bloggers luck!

    Reply
  42. I absolutely love the way you’ve structured this post- it’s so full of information! Definitely needed a guide like this when I started out- will be saving for further recommendations 🙂

    Reply
  43. Wow Richie, what an amazingly detailed and thorough post! Definitely a great resource and I’m sure so many people will benefit from this. Starting out blogging can feel scary so having a detailed post like this with tips on images, themes, going hosted etc… is brilliant!

    Reply
  44. This was awesome! Permission to blog for fun…OMG!!! I am so over being told I should be monetising, selling courses, doing 1:1 coaching calls. My whole blog was about being fun and inspiring for women in midlife. Trying to make money out of it just felt wrong. You know, ppl are OK about volunteering their time, but saying you blog for fun – they look at you like you are bonkers. This is a conversation that needs to be heard.

    Reply
    • Thank you very much, Katherine. I know, people seem amazed that there are bloggers who do not want to blog as their full-time job. Crazy huh?

      Reply
  45. Hello Richie, it’s a pleasure to read your article. The way you described how to establish a blog was excellent, and the advice you provided was quite useful.

    Reply
    • Hi Arpit. Thanks very much for your comment, I’m glad that you found the post a pleasure to read.

      Reply
    • Hi MCA. Thanks very much for your comment. I’m glad that you found the post to be useful – if you are looking for a new host I’m sure you’ll like Krystal.

      Reply

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