How to Start a Blog in Kenya

Blogging is the most resilient form of digital content consumption since the 90s. Despite the more visually engaging content in the form of photos and video, billions of blog articles are still being consumed each day and the numbers are still going up.

For this reason, starting a blog could still be a profitable venture for anyone in Kenya today. Starting a blog is quite easy and takes a few minutes to get up and running.

Here’s a quick guide on how to start a blog in Kenya.

How to Start a Blog in Less Than 10 Minutes

If you intend to monetize your site, you’ll have to invest in the following items:

• A web hosting plan
• A domain name
• An SSL certificate
• A premium theme

Normally, getting all these items would be a bit expensive for many, but this guide is going to show you the cheapest and most reliable options that you can get in Kenya.

We’re moving on with the assumption that you’ve already identified a niche that you’re going to blog about.

Web Hosting

Like traditional physical businesses, blogs need a virtual location to operate from—a web host.

Think of it as a business premise that you’ll have to pay for on a monthly or annual basis. The latter would be cheaper. 

To make everything easier for you, I’ve identified Namecheap Hosting as an economical web hosting platform compared to many others.

Their base package (Stellar Plan) starts at just $22.88 for the first year and renews at $44.88

The package comes with the following:

• A free domain name
• 3 websites
• 20GB SSD
• Free CDN (Content Delivery Network)

These are some of the most competitive prices even in the Kenyan market. 3 websites are the deal maker here.

Namecheap’s mid-tier package (Stellar Plus) supports an unlimited number of sites and adds unmetered SSD plus AutoBackup.

The available plans offer a free cPanel account and a WordPress installation for each of your sites.

The Stellar Plus will set you back $34.88 renewing at $68.88 upon renewal. This plan is still quite cheap compared to other hosting providers.

However, the base plan should suffice for anyone who’s making the first steps toward becoming a successful blogger.

Domain Name

A domain name is a website/blog’s identifier. It is the address that your visitors will enter into their browsers.

Like many hosts, Namecheap also provides domain name services. What sets this provider apart from others is that the primary service they offer is domain names.

The benefit of having a hosting account with a company specializing in domain names is affordability. For the first year, buying a domain will cost you $5.98 and renew at around $13.98.

All Namecheap domains come with privacy protection. You won’t have to worry about your personal contact information being published in the WhoIs directory.

In addition, you’ll also get an SSL certificate for free for the first year of subscription (an SSL certificate enables a site to move from HTTP to HTTPS which is more secure).

Theme

Unless you’re a professional web developer, you will need to have a premium theme to make your blog aesthetically appealing.

You can achieve this with a bunch of free WordPress themes but these come with many customisation restrictions. For this reason, it would be worth investing in a premium theme.

Premium themes will cost you anything between KES 4,400—KES 8,500 each. The prices may sound quite expensive but they are a one-time payment—you won’t have to worry about renewal.

Most premium themes come with simple customising tools. You don’t need to have any coding or development knowledge at all and you’ll have a beautiful-looking site up and running in a matter of minutes.

If you’re short on your budget, there’s a legal way of avoiding paying for a premium theme.

ThemeForest has a monthly promotion where they offer customers an opportunity to get three random premium themes for free. You can take advantage of this offer by following this link.

Build an Online Presence

Starting a blog is quite simple—taking only a few minutes of your time. Content creation is the biggest hurdle that every new blogger has to jump over.

Not just content writing but consistent quality content creation.

SEO (search engine optimisation) is a must for a new blog to start ranking up on search engines. It may need a little bit of getting used to before you get a grip on it—but it is a skill that many learn on the job.

For a start, consistent quality blog posts should be enough. Monetisation strategies should come in after the above has been achieved. And for ideas on plugins once you decide to start a blog, check out these free WordPress plugins.

TL;DR

• Namecheap offers affordable domain names and hosting packages.
• How much does starting a blog in Kenya cost? Starting a blog in Kenya should cost you between KES 7,200—KES 11,000 (premium theme included).
• Just over KES 12,000 if you go for the Stellar Plus plan.
• Without the premium theme, you can get started for as little as KES 5,000.
• The cost is poised to rise in the subsequent years after the first subscription—but this shouldn’t be a problem as your blog may have started generating some income.
• Also, Namecheap is far more transparent on this issue than most similar service providers whose costs may be several times more than the initial entry offer.
• Consistent quality writing is an essential part of a successful blog alongside SEO.
• Premium themes will take a huge chunk of your budget but you can avoid the cost by taking advantage of the Themeforest promotion.