My sister and also one of my best friends is wanting to start there own Product Review Blog and being a New Year I thought there might be others who would be interested as well.
I thought I would share tips to help you get started and if your a Review Blogger and have tips you would like to share leave me a comment and I will get them added as soon as possible.
In this post not only will I share how to start a Product Review Blog but how to get products to test for their new blog, and how to monetize a new blog. Are you ready to get started?
My family loves sharing brands I love, or ones I discover when shopping, and trying out for the first time. Then I share my thoughts with you. Then you can check the products out and add them to your daily life.
I’ve been able to review the latest toys and clothes. The best in beauty products and I was able to spend the weekend in Mesquite in a sponsored hotel. We’ve worked with restaurants and gotten meals, and attended plays and so much more!
Step #1 Select a Domain Name
This is also one of the most important steps because when you make the decision you’re going to be stuck with the name you chose for the most part.
I recommend doing extensive research and narrowing down to a list of 3 names you love. Once you’ve narrowed down your search you’ll want to go through the process of elimination by keeping the following things in mind:
- Check to make sure that your domain name is not in use.
- Make sure that the potential domain name is unique and not a similar name as another person’s review blog.
- Make sure it fits what you plan to discuss on your blog.
- Make sure there are no hyphens in the domain.
- Make sure the domain is easy to remember.
- Make sure that it doesn’t have alternative meanings.
- Make sure there are no trademarked words in it.
- Avoid using numbers.
- Make sure a .com version is available.
Make sure the name you pick will fit on a business card and isn’t to long.
Now that you’ve narrowed your domain name, it’s time to move on to registering your domain so someone else can’t start a website using the name you chose.
The easiest way to register is going to be via your web host as many of them offer deals when you register a domain and use their hosting services.
#2 Select a Web Host
Selecting a web host is something that’s going to take a bit of research on your end.
I recommend looking at reviews others have left about each of the web hosts your considering so you can decide which host will be the best for your needs.
The main things to keep in mind when researching web hosts are:
Make sure it’s a reputable company.
Make sure they have 99% or higher uptime.
DONT make your decision based on who offers the cheapest rate.
Make sure customer support can easily be contacted.
Make sure they are easy for beginners to use.
The items I have mentioned are important because as your site grows, your audience is going to be coming to your website for your expertise. The last thing you want to happen is them trying to access your site only to find that it’s always offline and then heading over to your competitors.
Your webhost is your blogs home. It is what allows you to control how accessible your website is and when it can’t be accessed you need to have peace of mind that they will get it back up quickly.
Here are some of the most popular web hosts to begin your research with:
- Liquid Web– has engineered the best WordPress hosting platform to make hosting simple. They focus on the hosting so you can focus on growing your blog.
- Unlike other hosting companies, Liquid Web doesn’t have Pageview/Traffic Limits and their platform is built on the latest technologies with the highest speeds.
- No hidden fees and affordable plans!
- Blue Host– powers over 2 million websites worldwide! You can enjoy hassle-free WordPress installation and have your product review blog up and running quickly with 1-click WordPress install. Great hosting platform for beginners.
Namecheap– is your one-stop-shop for all your blogging needs. They offer domain names, web hosting, SSL certificates, premium web security, all at the lowest price in the market!
There are many more sites out there so if these don’t offer what you’re looking for ask online and people would be happy to share what they use for their sites.
#3 Setting Up Your Web Host Account
Once you’ve selected your web host, the next step is to set up your account.
Most web hosts will begin by asking you if you want to purchase a domain or register one. Here you should be able to go ahead and purchase the domain name you decided on.
Once you’ve purchased your domain, the next step is going to be to select your hosting package. Since you’re just setting up a blog and have to grow your audience you don’t need to start off with a dedicated server package or the most expensive if it’s out of your budget. It’s perfectly okay to sign up for the cheaper packages and upgrade as your blog traffic grows.
When you’ve decided on your hosting package, you’ll have to enter your contact info and go through additional options. There will be many options for add-ons and what not. I recommend the following selections for new bloggers:
SSL: This lets readers know your website is safe to visit.
Monthly payments: This may be a little more expensive than paying annually, however, if you’re not sure that being a product review blogger is for you its best to start off with monthly payments.
When you’ve finished paying and checking out, you’re almost ready for the fun part – creating your new product review blog!
#4 Select Your Blog Platform
Selecting a blog platform allows you to move on to designing and creating content for your blog. There are quite a few options available from WordPress to Blogger to Square Space and more.
However, during your research, you’ve probably realized that WordPress is one of the most popular among bloggers for the plugins, therefore, we will be selecting the WordPress platform. Find top website builders online.
#5 Install WordPress
When you log into your back office of your blog there should be a control panel section (or similarly named section) where you’ll be able to install WordPress.
Once you locate the “Install WordPress” option you’ll go ahead and install it and go through the steps. It’ll ask you for your domain name, domain URL, and it’ll have you create a username and password.
When creating your username and password keep the following things in mind:
- Avoid usernames such as admin.
- Make your password very tough to guess. Ideally, it should be a combination of numbers, letters (upper and lower), and special characters.
This username and password is the gatekeeper to your site. The last thing you want is someone to be able to hack into your site and mess with your hard work.
Your product review blog is not only going to be a place for you to share your honest opinions, but its also going to be a business that makes you money.
#6 Design Your Product Review Blog
Now all of the hard work is out of the way. You’re ready to move on to the fun stuff. The first step is going to be to design your product review blog.
When it comes to designing the first thing you’re going to want to do is to select a theme. Theme wise you’ll have free and paid options to choose from.
Since you’re a new blogger you don’t have to start out hiring a professional website designer on day one. However, its recommended that you do go with a paid theme (if you can afford it).
Then your website stands out from other bloggers and gives off a professional feel to help jump-start your income opportunities. For me when I began I did use the Free Theme and it worked out fine for a couple years.
You can find reasonably affordable themes on:
Prices for premium themes can range from $20 – $100 from these sources.
The most thing to keep in mind when selecting a theme is you want to go with a responsive theme which fits your personality. While giving off a professional appearance.
You’ll want to make sure the theme doesn’t have a ton of add-on’s so you can use plugins without slowing down your site and losing functions when you decide to change themes.
If a free theme option is where you want to start you can find free themes in your WordPress admin portal by going to Appearance > Themes > Add New.
If this entire theme selection is making your head spin, don’t feel alone. If your budget allows it you may want to hire a website designer who can create a customized theme for you and get everything designed to your specifications.
Some affordable places to search for a website designer include:
#7 Make Sure Your Blog is Secure
While its true your username and password will keep most people from accessing your site, you must factor in hackers. Hackers have advanced ove and the last thing you want is for a hacker to gain access to the back office of your website and cause chaos. Security is something you should install from the beginning of your product review journey.
Ways to make sure your website is secure include:
Not using admin as your username.
Creating a strong password.
Always making sure you have the latest version of WordPress and any plugins you download installed.
Downloading a backup of your site to your computer once a week.
Delete unused plugins.
Download security plugins.
When it comes to security plugins that you can download, you’ll have quite a few options. These are some I would suggest:
Wordfence Security: Keep in mind they do have a paid version of this plugin, however, most folks find that the free version works just fine.
Sucuri Security: As with Wordfence Security there are free and paid versions available. However, you should be fine with the free version.
Google Authenticator: Two-factor authentication makes it super tough for people to get into your site. Therefore, this is quickly becoming a favorite security plugin among bloggers.
There are a ton of security plugins for WordPress and this gives you the rundown on each.
#8 Start Creating Content
Once you’ve gotten the technical details out of the way, it’s time to create content.
The WordPress platform is super easy to use, which is why I based this post off of this platform. When in your admin panel you just click Post > Add New and let your words come to life.
However, before getting started on your first blog post I recommend you go ahead and create the following pages, especially if your goal is to monetize your blog in the future:
About Page
Contact Page
Hire Me Page
Now that you’re a new product review blogger I would recommend you publish a post every day or every two days so you can start attracting people to your site.
When people see that you update your site regularly they’ll be more likely to subscribe and actually look forward to your blog posts.
Keep in mind my recommendation of daily, or close to daily publishing, remember that you only should blog when you have something to say. Don’t feel as though you have to force yourself to write something every day for the sake of having a new post as it will definitely show in your writing.
When writing your content make sure that you’re including photos in each post and incorporating SEO. There are a ton of guides on creating SEO Friendly Blog Post. If you’re unfamiliar with SEO I recommend giving some of them a read through or find a class you can take on Understanding and Using SEO.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
