For photography enthusiasts, starting a blog can be a great way to build a community, grow a reputation as a photographer, and even make money. Or it can just be a casual hobby. Either way, it should be fun, but many people don’t do it because they think starting a blog is hard.
With the right tools, though, starting a blog can be fast and easy, especially if you use a blogging platform like Hostinger to help you set up your domain and WordPress. In this guide, we break down how to set up the tech, the content, and the visuals for a photography blog, all in just 10 easy steps.
Crazy Egg’s Favorite Tools for Starting a Photography Blog
Below you’ll find our Golden Eggs, the best blogging platforms for new bloggers we’ve chosen based on all the options we researched for our detailed review.
WordPress with Hostinger is the best option for new bloggers because it integrates directly with WordPress and is easy to use, even without experience. Right now, you can get started with a plan for just $1.99 a month.
Wix is a great option for a visually striking and simple site, with lots of templates and great pricing plans. You can get started here for free, no credit card required.
Strikingly is a good choice for photographers who want to get creative with their website theme and sell photographs using the integrations. You can create your first site here in minutes for free.
More Top Blogging Platforms and Blog Sites
We’ve spent hours testing and reviewing all the best blogging platforms out there, and we’ve put together a detailed review of our favorites. Everyone has different goals when they start a blog, so check out the full list to see the different features and choose one that works for you. See our full list of blogging platforms here.
Step 1: Get Signed Up With WordPress on Hostinger
The first thing you’ll need to do before you start your photography blog is to set up web hosting and WordPress.
If you head over to Hostinger’s home page, you can sign up for an account by clicking on Hosting in the menu bar and then WordPress Hosting.
Next, choose your hosting plan. Hostinger often does discounts and sales on their plans throughout the year, so check to see if there are any deals on offer.
We recommend choosing the WordPress Starter Pack because you’ll get access to a free domain for the first year, and it has everything you need as a new blogger.
Then, add your choice to the cart, and choose how many months you want to subscribe for. The longer your plan, the more of a discount you’ll get, but you might want to stick with one year, as you don’t know if your blog is going to be a success.
Next, add your payment information and purchase your plan.
Now you’re ready to get started with WordPress and set up your blog. You can log in to your Hostinger account and your dashboard, where you’ll see your plan and the option to Set Up.
We’ll go over that in a few steps. But first, there are a few other things we need to do.
Step 2: Choose a Niche
Before you can set up your blog, you need to do some planning.
This includes working out what your niche is and who your target audience is. Although a photography blog is already, in itself, a niche, it’s still a very broad category. If you want your blog to be successful, you need to get clearer on who your target audience is.
For example, you could focus on teaching people photography, taking photos of amazing landscapes, or want to review cameras and equipment. The clearer you can get on your niche and sub-niche, the easier it will be for you to build a recognizable brand and grow your audience.
After you’ve decided on your niche, you need to think about who might be interested in it. If you are teaching photography, for example, you might target new and younger photographers. If you’re reviewing equipment, you might target more experienced and/or professional photographers.
The more you know about your audience and your niche, the easier it will be to brand your blog and market yourself on social media. Once you’re clear on your niche, move on to Step 3.
Step 3: Choose a Blog Name
Once you have a niche in mind, you can choose your blog name. This will also be your domain name, and it’s how people will find you online.
You want to choose a good name that reflects your niche and brand, but there are other things to consider.
Here are the main things you want to think about when choosing a blog name:
- Choose a name that is relevant to photography and to your niche (this can even be your own name, especially if you are showcasing your photography)
- Choose a name that is short and easy to remember
- Choose a name that is easy to type and easy to spell
- Choose a blog name that has an available domain and social media handles
- Choose a .com domain name because it’s easier to monetize and looks more professional
Hostinger actually has a domain name search that will tell you if your domain is available or not.
It can be tempting to use a domain name that’s similar to another blog if you really like the name and it’s available. Avoid doing this, though, because if you want to monetize your blog, you can get into issues with copyright if your name is too close to someone else’s, especially if they have trademarked theirs.
Choosing a distinctive, unique name at the start will make it easier for you to build a recognizable and distinctive brand.
Once you’ve decided on a domain name and know it’s available, go to Set Up in your Hostinger dashboard and claim your free domain. Then, choose Build a New Website and move on to the next step.
Step 4: Set Up Your Site and Activate Your SSL
Now that you’ve done the groundwork for your blog, you’re ready to actually set up your site.
In your Hostinger Setup, once you’ve selected Build a New Website, you’ll be asked to choose a hosting platform. Choose WordPress, and then create a Login and Password for your WordPress Account.
You can then choose a theme or a layout. Use the search bar to look for blog layouts. You can edit your layout later and change your theme, but starting with a template will make everything much easier, especially as a new blogger.
Once you choose your theme, you’ll get to a page that says your site is ready. Before you go to your WordPress Dashboard, though, you’ll want to make sure your SSL certificate is installed. Go to the option that says Control Panel and click Manage Site.
If you need to set up your SSL, you’ll see a yellow button that says Finish Domain Registration. Click on it. You’ll then just need to add all your details like name, address, phone number, etc. Once you’re finished, click Set Up, and then Continue to Control Panel.
Next, head to the Hosting section of the top menu bar and select Manage next to your website. You’ll be taken to the Hosting Account page, and you need to scroll through the different options and icons until you reach the advanced section, where you’ll see the SSL icon. Click on it.
Then click Set Up, then Activate, then Install. Your site is now set up and ready to be customized. Once you’ve finished this step, move on to the next one.
Step 5: Set Up Your Social Media
Before you actually start editing your blog, you should set up social media, so no one has a chance to take your handles.
For a photography blog, you want to focus on photo-heavy social media platforms, like Instagram and Pinterest, because your audience is more likely to be hanging out there. You can set up professional accounts on most social media, which will give you insights into your statistics and how your audience interacts with your posts.
With a professional account, you can also add your blog directly to your profile once you’ve got it up and running.
Once you’ve created social media accounts for your blog, you can go back to your Hostinger Dashboard and move on to Step 6.
Step 6: Customize Your Blog
Now that you’ve gotten all the technical setup out of the way, you’re ready to start editing your blog.
If you use a template to set it up, you can go and look at your site by typing in your URL. This will give you an idea of what you do or don’t like about the template so far, and what you want to change.
Next, go to your WordPress dashboard by adding /wp-admin to the end of your URL. From here, you’ll be able to edit your blog, choose a new theme, and add plugins.
If you go to Appearance, you’ll have the option to choose a new theme. You don’t have to do this, but if you don’t like any of the themes that were suggested with Hostinger, you can choose a theme here.
You do also have the option to purchase a premade theme through WordPress or through a third party and then upload it. You don’t have to do this, but it will give you more options when it comes to having an aesthetic blog, and for photography, you might want to choose something visually striking to showcase your photos.
You can find lots of beautiful themes on sites like Etsy that you can then upload into WordPress. When you purchase the theme, they’ll give you detailed instructions on how to add your theme to your WordPress site.
Regardless of which theme you choose, you should also be able to update the colors and fonts to make them more personal to you and consistent with your brand. You can also add your own photography and really showcase your best work.
Once you’ve customized your blog’s appearance, move on to Step 7.
Step 7: Add Copy To Your Blog
Once you’ve set up your blog’s theme, you need to go ahead and update the copy for your blog.
This just means adding content to your blog (excluding the blog posts, which we’ll cover later.)
Your template might not come with any copy included, so choosing what to write might require some research. You’ll need to add content to your homepage, welcoming people to your blog, and you’ll also need to add content to your About Page and your Contact Page.
To get an idea of what copy you want to add, take a look at some of your favorite blogs for inspiration. What kind of content do they include on the homepage? What do they say about themselves on their about page? What kind of CTA’s do they have on the buttons?
Obviously, you can’t copy and paste anything. But you CAN use other blogs just as inspiration on what kind of things you can write. Don’t be scared to let your personality shine through in your copy because you want your audience to get a feel for your voice and feel more connected with you.
Once you’ve added copy to all of your pages and checked the grammar using a free tool like Grammarly, you can move on to Step 8.
Step 8: Add Plugins
The next thing you need to do is choose some plugins to upload to your blog.
Plugins are tools that you upload or add to your blog that help you add features like email subscriber forms, blocking spam comments, or optimizing site speed. When you first set up WordPress, some plugins might have already been included.
To see your plugins, go to your WordPress dashboard and select Plugins. You’ll then see a list of the plugins you already have and a button at the top of the page that says Add New.
If you click that, you can search plugins or Upload Plugins if you have downloaded any.
There’s no set rule on which plugins you need, but it’s a good idea to include:
- A plugin that blocks spam, like Akismet Anti-Spam, to avoid annoying comments on all your posts
- A plugin that caches your site and optimizes speed, like WP Fastest Cache.
- A plugin that backs up your site, like Updraft, so that you never lose anything
- An SEO plugin, like Yoast SEO, to help you optimize your posts.
- A plugin like Cookie Notice lets people opt in or out of cookies.
Any other plugins you add are up to you and will depend on what features you want to add to your blog. If you want help choosing plugins, we have reviewed the best WordPress plugins here.
After you’ve added your plugins, you can move on to the next step.
Step 9: Add Legal Pages
The penultimate step for starting your photography blog is to add legal pages. These are pages that are required by law on any website and include things like a Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.
A Privacy Policy lets users know how their data is handled and which third-party plugins they are using and might share their data with. This is required by law in many countries and states, so make sure you add the link to the page somewhere clear, like your footer menu.
Terms and Conditions are also required by many countries, and these just let your audience know what rules you have for your blog, like how old someone should be to access it, or whether any of your photographs are available for public use.
To help you draft these pages, you can easily use a generator like Termly, or Terms Feed to get templates. However, as a disclaimer, these are not the same as getting official pages drawn up by a lawyer, and if you want to be sure your legal pages are correct, you should always consult with a legal professional.
Once you’ve set your legal pages up and added them to a menu that’s easy to find, like your footer menu, you can move on to the last step!
Step 10: Plan Your First Few Posts
The last step is to actually start creating content!
It’s better to try to get 5-10 pieces live on the blog before you start promoting it on social media or marketing it.
This is the fun part because you get to sit down and plan ideas based on your market research and niche about what posts you want to write. A good way to plan is to start with one topic and create a map of posts that are related to it for the other pieces of content, so you can start building links.
For example, if you write one blog post about using the manual settings on a camera, you could write another post about how to use a tripod to remove blur on manual photos. These posts can then link to each other, making your audience stay on your site longer and making it easier for them to navigate between posts.
Once you’ve planned at least three posts, you finally get to sit down and write them. Be sure to edit them a few times and add some high-quality photos to make the text easier to scan before you upload them onto your blog.
To upload the posts, just go to Post in your WordPress dashboard, and Add New. Then, edit them in the WordPress editor, and publish the posts. And then you’re done. Congratulations! You’ve officially started your very own photography blog.
