Last Updated July 2021 by Crystallace

Hey there! Welcome back to my blog.

If you’re new here, I’m sure you’re doing a little research on how to start a blog and how much will it cost. Perfect, I can help with that. I wrote a blog post detailing how to start a blog that makes money, you can check it out here. As far as….

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Blog

let’s dive in….

You see, compared to other businesses, a blog is not as expensive as it looks. In fact, you only need 3 things to get started. These 3 things are: 

Domain name

A domain name is how you want your blog to be called. You can see that mine is heycrystallace.com, You can purchase your domain name for as low as $9.99/year. Then, it may go up a little bit in price each year you renew it, depending on where you bought it from. Some of the most common sites you can buy domain names from are:

• Go Daddy
• Namecheap
• Domain.com
• Hostgator
• Dreamhost

Web Hosting

For your web hosting service, there are companies that would charge as low as $5/month for shared web hosting. Meanwhile, you can get cloud hosting for as low as $10/month. Please note that these hosting services may require you to purchase their services annually, so be sure to take advantage of any promotion they’re having. 

You will often see Bluehost being advertised a lot on the internet. When I first starting blogging back in 2012, I had Bluehost hosting. But honestly it wasn’t the best choice. I often had problems with speed, hacking, and customer service.

When I did my blog relaunch I decided to make the switch to SiteGround. SiteGround is worth the price for the speed alone. You will scare off your visitors if your site takes too long to load. No one has patience for slow websites these days.

Legal Pages

For this, I highly highly recommend my Website Legal Bundle. In this bundle, you will get 3 legal pages that every blog and website must have. That is the Privacy Policy, Disclaimer, and Terms and Conditions. I cannot stress enough how important this is. A lot of bloggers tend to put this off and say “I’ll just buy legal pages when I get extra money,” but here is the issue with that.

First, you are not in compliance with the law and you risk your blog being shut down at any time.

Second, you put yourself and your business at risk of being sued.

Third, you miss out on your blog making money. Most affiliate programs and advertisers will not work with blog that are not legally compliant.

You can get these blog legal pages, written by me, a lawyer and fellow blogger for only $99.99 and payment plans are offered. Please do not make the mistake of not blogging legally from jump.

So, how much does it cost to start a blog?

Let’s do the math. 

$9.99  – domain name for the first year

$120.00 – web hosting for 12 months ($10/mo)

$99.99 – legal pages (one-time purchase)

In total, you can start a blog for as low as $229.98!

Can I start a blog for free? 

Yes. There are platforms out there that you can use at no cost. 

• WordPress.com
• Wix
• Blogger
• Tumblr
• Medium

But remember, using a free platform may put your original content at risk. Anyone can steal your work without your knowledge. It’s inevitable. But if you’re using a self-hosted WordPress website, you have control over how your content is being used. 

Moreover, having legal pages will help your blog and your business prevent theft and other lawsuits. 

What if I have a few extra dollars to spend on my blog? What else can I buy? 

Here are some of the tools that can help you work efficiently. 

1. Premium WordPress theme – As a beginner, it’s okay to use a free WordPress theme. Eventually, you’re gonna have to upgrade and pick a more aesthetically pleasing web design. Here, I found a list of premium WordPress themes you can try. These themes will cost around $25-$60. Etsy is another cool place to find low cost themes.

2. WordPress plugins (paid) – While it’s okay to settle with free plugins, there are those that are actually worth buying. For example, Wordfence. Wordfence keeps your website safe by blocking malicious traffic, malware, and others. This plugin is a life saver or should I say blog saver. The last thing you want to happen if to wake up and find your blog hacked and routing traffic to spammy foreign site. I have had this happen to me! Another one is Link Whisper, a powerful and clever tool that helps you build internal links. 

3. Email software – We all know that building an email list is important for bloggers. For this, I recommend some of the best email software providers today:

• Convertkit
• Mailerlite
• Constant Contact
• Drip 
• Mailchimp

4. Grammarly – The free version is excellent in correcting punctuations, subject-verb agreement, and spelling. But the premium version offers everything plus: 

• Word choice
• Formality level
• Fluency
• Plagiarism (super important)

5. Tailwind – If your blog thrives on Pinterest and Instagram, you probably need a scheduler that allows you to prepare content ahead of time. For this, I highly recommend Tailwind. The free version has all the essentials. But the Pro version can help you schedule up to 100 posts and get access to advanced analytics. 

6. SEO tools – SEO is another important element in running a successful blogging business. Below are tools that offer free trials. But when the time comes when you’re ready to scale your blog to a new level, you will find the premium versions of these tools just as helpful. I found this free SEO course for bloggers, you can check it out here.

• Ubersuggest – This SEO tool from Neil Patel is free for up to 3 searches per day. They have a monthly and lifetime plan that you can get for as low as $12/month.
• Keysearch – Their 30-day trial is no longer available. But you can take advantage of their services for only $17/month
• Ahrefs – Ahrefs offers a 7-day trial for $7. Moving forward, you can get the Lite plan for $99/month. Pay annually, and you get 2 months free. 
• Keyword Chef – Keyword Chef offers credits instead of monthly fees. This way, you only pay for keywords when you need them. You can start buying credits for as low as $20/1,200 credits 

Final thoughts 

I hope the information you learned today will finally convince you to get that blog started. 

Don’t worry about spending.  Besides, every business, no matter how big or small, needs capital to run. 

Think of your business expenses as an initial investment. 

Believe me, it will pay off if you stay committed and consistent.

Are you thinking about starting a blog? Let me know in the comments.