Starting My Blogging Journey: WordPress from Scratch as a Beginner

Hi, I’m Higashi no Kumo.
Yesterday, I officially kicked off my adventure in creating a blog using WordPress. Being a complete beginner, everything felt completely new and a little overwhelming. Most of the time, I depended on ChatGPT and YouTube tutorials to figure out my next steps. Honestly, I had no clue where to start at first — it was pure trial and error.

Day 1 – 6 Hours of Work

Here’s what I accomplished on my first day:

• Signed up with Xserver

• Set up my domain

• Installed WordPress

• Downloaded and configured the Cocoon theme

• Published my very first post

While the website was technically live, the homepage layout and category organization were still messy. Everything still looked like the default setup, and I realized there was a lot of work ahead to make the site appear professional. I even struggled to figure out where my posts were actually showing up!

Day 2 – 4 Hours of Work

On the second day, I spent another four hours:

• Installing necessary plugins

• Adjusting widgets

• Organizing categories

• Publishing a new article

It was mentally draining. Just understanding how each setting worked required full concentration, and yes, it was stressful. But at the same time, I could feel progress. Even though it’s tough, it’s incredibly satisfying to see the site gradually take shape. Creating something from nothing gives a sense of achievement that’s hard to describe.

Lessons Learned So Far

For beginners, WordPress combined with the Cocoon theme can be quite challenging. There are so many settings, and each plugin or theme functions differently. It’s easy to feel lost when you’re not sure what’s essential. I ended up redoing my social follow buttons, homepage layout, and category arrangement several times before getting things right.

Still, step by step, everything starts to click. That’s the rewarding part — even if it seems chaotic, every small effort teaches you something valuable. Every beginner blogger experiences confusion in the beginning, and that’s completely normal. The key is to keep improving and not give up.

My Goals Moving Forward

Through this blog, I plan to share my personal experience as a WordPress beginner, including how much I can realistically earn from blogging. I’ll also provide updates on what I learn, how I optimize the site, and the mistakes I make — everything will be transparent so that other beginners can relate and learn from it.

It’s challenging, but there’s also joy in witnessing small progress every day. This is my real-life beginner blogger diary, and I’ll continue to document it one step at a time.