Guide to writing a successful blog (hopefully) | Week 1

To my crew of future successful bloggers (click the banner above to set up your blog, and receive a FREE domain)

Each week, I walk through steps to starting a successful blog (that’s every bloggers dream right?). This is week one. Check out my journey and results below.

There are amazing blog guides out there, however, all of them are from the perspective of an established blogger. They tend to skip over some of important (and frustrating) steps and obstacles. Each week, I will detail what it takes to set up a successful blog, from there perspective of someone who is doing it now.

First, if you want to follow the journey to writing a successful blog, please sign up for my “Free Weekly Blog Guide” below.

Success!

Statistics (Week 1):

– Cost: $467.00

– Ad Revenue: $0

– Net Revenue: ($467.00)

– Weekly Page Views | Visitors: 1,806 | 1,075

Milestones (Week 1)

1. Purchased a Google domain (mistake, a Bluehost plan includes domain registration)

2. Purchased a Bluehost web hosting service plan, and set up WordPress

3. Set up a Google Analytics account (track viewership), failed at figuring out Google AdSense

4. Downloaded the WordPress app, Google Analytics app (to track viewership on phone).

5. Purchased Ashe Pro theme for word press (mistake, could have used free versions)

6. Designed a logo, do you like? Free Logo Services (was not free)

7. Asked Google over a hundred questions about how to design webpages

8. Signed up for three email list platforms to test. Bloggers seem to like ConvertKit

9. Read hundreds of blog posts about city living, personal finance, side hustles, and blogging

10. Wrote 9 blog posts!

Cost Breakdown

– Domain = $12

– Blue Host Annual Subscription = $255

– AsheTheme = $40 (oops, mistake)

– Social Media Promotions = $100

– Logo = $60

Guide to writing a successful blog, week 1

1. The first step to writing a successful blog is to find your niche

I am a 32 year old DINC (Double Income, No Kids), living in an expensive city. My Fiancee and I work hard and earn a solid living. I am blessed and privileged with amazing opportunity, I know. Yet, cities are becoming more and more expensive. I find it hard to invest in our future, upgrade from a small apartment, or even go out with friends some weekends.

I’m somewhat obsessed when it comes to achieving financial independence (having enough wealth to live on without working). My goal is to retire when I am 45 years old. Maybe I’ll get there, but until then, I spend every single day strategizing about our future, analyzing my financial picture on Personal Capital, and looking on Zillow for houses in my city. I read tons of financial books. I also love finance blogs. My favorites are Millennial Money and Millennial Money Man.

The Millennial generation, while creative and optimistic, is expected to be less financially successful than our parents. How is our generation going to survive living in cities that keep getting more expensive? I have some thoughts about this topic. I’ve also had countless conversations with other millennials who are also struggling to get by just like me. So I decided to write a successful blog.

I found my niche: Combining a passion for city living with a focus on financial success for millennials.

2. Register a domain, web hosting service, and start writing

I was lucky. My first choice cityformillennials.com was available. What I did not realize is that you can register a domain with your Bluehost subscription. Click the banner above for a free domain, and a hosting service! I paid Google Domains $12 for my domain. It works. Finding a domain name that is specific to your niche is important. To make a successful blog you will need to find one that is short, to the point, and rememberable.

All the successful bloggers are using Bluehost with WordPress. I recommend using the same. Most of the help tips for blogging can be found for Bluehost. I paid for an annual subscription to reduce the monthly costs. I also paid for anti-spam and security, but I’m told the basic version is just fine. Millennial Money is offering a discount for Bluehost. Check out his page for the discount! I’m still not sure why my url does not include the www prefix, however, most of the successful bloggers out there do not either. I plan to figure out how to switch from http to https to provide more security in future weeks. This apparently helps with Google rankings.

The best tip for a successful blog is to start writing, and then write some more. Try not to worry about viewership, advertisements, or layout this early on. It is most important to write solid, focused content with strong keywords so you will rank on google. Organic viewership from Google searches is important. Focus on content and keywords for your niche.

3. Tip to make things look pretty, SEO, and ads

I knew absolutely nothing about creating a webpage. TBH, the first few days were very frustrating. I stayed up all night trying to get my theme and layout organized. I strongly recommend focusing on content and publishing posts before beauty. If you must focus on the design and layout, ask Google to help solve your problems. But my best advice is to have patience. Over time you will build a fantastic webpage. For pictures, I recommend using Unsplash.

Focus on Search Engine Optimizer (SEO). SEO is the process of making your content visible on Google searches. Once your content ranks in Google, you will see organic growth in views to your page. A great way to start this is to add a SEO plugin into WordPress. This lets you add keywords and analyze your post for readability and SEO success. I am using Yoast SEO right now. It came free with my pro theme purchase. Yoast SEO will give your post a grade for these two categories. This post shows “good” for both readability and SEO. Overtime, you can rank on Google and grow organically. This is the compound interest of your blog.

Ultimately you will want to monetize your blog. In the short term, I recommend focusing on content. See above. You can add Google Adsense to your page to start, but it pays very little. I also could not figure out how to add the Google Adsense code into the html header. I’m focusing on writing posts and growing my audience before I spend too much time on affiliate marketing. In week two, I am thinking about taking a affiliate marketing course at the Making Sense of Affiliate Marking School.

4. Create a social media presence

I focused on FB and Instagram mainly because I know how to use them. Check them out!

A post shared by The City for Millennial$ (@thecityformillennials) on Apr 7, 2026 at 10:46pm PDT

🌇Surviving Expensive Cities

✈City Adventures on a Budget

💲City Side Hustles

🏡Real Estate Hacks

🚀financial Independence

🤑Millennial Mindset

I learned how to embed these social media pages in my blog by asking Google. Here’s my Facebook Page.

5. Try not to obsess over the blog, have patience.

Im having a blast figuring out how to make a successful blog. I love writing content and figuring out how to display everything on the page. Over the last 7 days, I lived and dreamt blogging. I forgot two things. 1) to take care of myself and 2) enjoy time with loved ones. There is more to life than blogging, side hustling and making money. Don’t forget to live! I actually posted this on day 8 because I wanted to spend quality time with my Fiancee Sunday night.