How To Start A Christian Blog - Step-By-Step
Do you think God might be calling you to start a Christian Blog?Are you interested in learning more about how to start a Christian Blog?It's been a journey for me, and I thought I would share my story so that you might be able to learn from my experiences! Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I might earn a commission if you click through and purchase. 
How to Start a Christian Blog - Step-By-Step#1- Start at the starting place- Ask God for guidance for your ministry
Blogs are powerful. There's nothing else I can do with my spare hours that can reach thousands of unique individuals a day with the Gospel.Ask God for guidance for your blog... if you should blog, or if He is leading you in another direction. You don't want to get involved if it isn't part of God's will.I've had my moments of pride, but God always humbles me. I prayed and committed my ministry to His name. I wish I would have wrote down my exact prayer, but it went something like this:
"God, I dedicate this blog to You. I give You power to keep it going or shut it down. Help me be faithful with what You've given me. Help me reach Christian moms, but help me reach more than Christian moms. Give me unreached souls who need to hear the Gospel. Use me for Your work. Amen"
The Bible states it clearly. Live your life for God.
In everything you do, put God first, and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success.Proverbs 3:6 (TLB)
and another important Scripture:
For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by His power, and everything is for His glory. To Him be glory evermore.Romans 11:36 (TLB)
Read more: How to Hear God's Voice Today - 6 Practical Tips
How to Start a Christian Blog - Step-By-Step#2- Find your niche
Once you've got confirmation from God that this is a ministry that you can be a part of, you should seek to narrow down to a specific message that He might have planned for you.Blogs that have a specific purpose are easier for readers to find and identify with.There's lots of Christian blog niches that you could write in. Here's some off the top of my head.
- Devotions
- Christian Marriage
- Christian Motherhood
- Faith and Business
- Christian Budgeting
- Crafters and Quilters who are Christian
- Stay-At-Home Moms
- Christian Musicians
- Athletes who are seeking growth in their faith
- Christian Dating/ Engagement
- Blended Families/ Second Marriages seeking Christ
- Christian Parenting of Children of Special Needs
- Christian Addiction Recovery/ Counseling
- Homemaking/Hospitality in the name of Christ
- Christian Bloggers
- Christian Social Media Help/ Consulting for Bloggers or Business Owners
There's tons more. You can do a more general Christian blog, but remember that if you niche down, you'll be more likely to find people that say "A-ha! I found my tribe!!" than if you try to write to all of the audiences. Read more: Yes, Christian Mom, You Should Start A Christian Blog- 7 Reasons
How to Start a Christian Blog - Step-By-Step#3- Search for a domain name
This was my hardest step! SO many of the best ones are taken, and I was REALLY itching to start my ministry. I started using LibertyGraceLove.com in my first 6 months of blogging, but I got quite a few people who thought I was political, which I have political feelings, but would rather write on more eternal matters. The truth was, I just wasn't in love with LibertyGraceLove. I felt it was too broad and confusing, but I bought it and bought a 36-month hosting package with it... and felt stuck. However, I found out transferring the guts of a blog to a new domain name was possible, and I immediately started shopping for a new domain name. The next day, I found ChristCenteredMama.com in June of 2017 and bought it. Bluehost transferred all of my existing content over to the new domain name.I still have some old articles with the LibertyGraceLove branding on them because I got pregnant in June of 2017 as well... and had debilitating morning sickness until September. When I think of it, I update one or two a month.
My advice for choosing a Christian domain name
Write down every word related to your niche that you can think of. Post it on your bedroom wall. Write new words that come to mind whenever you walk by. Get 100 words on a piece of paper and I promise you that you'll find a domain name that no one else has thought of before.Then buy it.Quickly. Because if you search for the availability and someone notices that you searched for it (the internet isn't as private as you think) and they want to buy it, they will.That happened to me in my search process! :ODon't let it happen to you.
Bonus Hint
Check out your domain name on NameCh_k before you buy. It's a free service that lets you see if your social media accounts that match your domain name are available.Here's the link to that free and super useful tool: namechk.com Read more: How I Make Money By Running A Christian Blog
How to Start a Christian Blog - Step-By-Step#4- Buy your domain name and get it set up for Wordpress
A host is your first step in Christian blogging. You need both a domain name AND a host... think of the domain name as your home address... 208 Oak Street for example. Your host is the real estate that your website sits on. You can SAY that you blog at 208 Oak Street but you have to pay for the real estate that is actually there otherwise nothing will happen when people look for you.I love Bluehost. I got a good deal through a blogger affiliate, and christcenteredmama.com, as well as my personal website, sarahliberty.com, are both hosted by them.So here's my affiliate link. Or click this banner for the latest sale: 
Bluehost helped me transfer all of my content and set up my redirect without payment, so I'm kind of in love with them. That service would normally cost over $100, easily.
About WordPress
This blog is set up on WordPress. If the domain name were the physical address, and the host was the real estate that it sits on, then WordPress would be the flooring, sheetrock, and permanent fixtures.Bluehost makes it easy to connect to WordPress with one-click. Another reason they are the best host out there for beginners like me.
What's a Theme?
Walk into your vacant house. Looks boring. And uninviting.That's where your theme comes in.Your theme would be your furniture and interior decor.Check out these AWESOME and feminine themes that are perfect for Christian Bloggers from Restored316.
How to Start a Christian Blog - Step-By-Step#5- Find 3-6 subtopics or categories that you can consistently write on
This is important, because it lets your readers know what to expect, and while it might make you feel stuck, it actually helps you stay unstuck.I know this means that you will not be able to write about everything that you love, but you just can't.
You can see my subtopics in the menu above:
- motherhood
- theology
- marriage
- christian blogging
I could write about other stuff... I'm also passionate about ministry, being a pastor's wife, Adventure Time (yes, the cartoon series...), travel (I've been to 7 countries and 49 states), playing piano, teaching piano lessons, and alternative worship music (like Rend Collective, etc).But my audience is (mostly) not. That's ok. In my opinion, this is why niched websites typically do better than personal blogs... personal blogs are really just for friends, which is fine unless you want to grow past that circle of readers. Read more: 4 Reasons I'm Terrified Of Being A Christian Blogger
How to Start a Christian Blog - Step-By-Step#6- Write only in the 3-6 subtopics or categories, and write your first 4-6 articles and then you can publish your site!
Another reason I only have 4 subtopics because I feel that they are so broad. I might add another in the future, but for now, I have plenty of ideas to consistently fill these categories.Write some articles so that people who visit your otherwise blank site for the first time can get a taste of what you think you'll write about. Your voice might change and improve, your topics might change and improve, but if you're only offering a blank page or one or two articles, people will visit your site and it will be hard for them to commit to being a reader.Also worth noting- I originally started with the categories of theology, motherhood, and homemaking - simply because one of my favorite blogs (youngwifesguide.com) wrote often on homemaking and I felt that a blog wasn't complete unless it had something super practical like that on it.This would be fine, but I am not a natural homemaker. When I have a clean, beautiful home, it's because I spent a lot of time planning it, or because I have company coming over soon.Moral of the story- your categories might change. It isn't a marriage contract. Choose some subtopics that you are currently passionate about, all as related as possible to your chosen niche.
How to Start a Christian Blog - Step-By-Step#7- Set up social media accounts that share the same name as your new domain name
You don't have to get them all active immediately, but get them reserved.I used NameCh_k to see if ChristCenteredMama was available on all social media platforms before I bought and I'm so glad I did... I love having them all matchy-matchy.Facebook.com/ChristCenteredMamaInstagram.com/ChristCenteredMamaPinterest.com/ChristCenteredMamaTwitter.com/ChristCenterMom(ok, twitter doesn't match because they are stingy with the amount of letters you can use in your username... :/ )I even started a Christian Moms group on Facebook available atFacebook.com/groups/ChristCenteredMamas
How to Start a Christian Blog - Step-By-Step#8- Set up an email list
I use MailChimp.com and send out an RSS feed of my blog posts to my subscribers. You need to view your subscribers, the people who let you in their inbox, as personal friends. These people trust you and identify with you in some form.They will communicate with you, and let you know the topics they need prayer or guidance on. Start collecting email addresses from day 1. Because every day you wait to get this set up, you'll miss people who want to hear more from you.And that's not only encouraging to them, but to you. By the way, you can sign up for the Christ-Centered Mama email list in the sidebar to the right, or here at the bottom of this article: Christian Family Rules- The Importance of Family Rules
What about you?
Are you interested in learning how to start a Christian Blog?Or... if you have a Christian Blog, leave your URL below in the comments so others can find you!