How to Start a Health and Wellness Blog in 10 Easy Steps

Starting a health and wellness blog is a great way to build a passive income stream using your health-related expertise.

We’ve earned substantial revenue from our own blogging projects – including one in the health space. Here’s a small sample of our earnings over the years.

We’ve also taught more than 14,000 students how to build similarly successful blogs.

If you’d like to follow in their footsteps, check out our 10-step guide to starting your own health and wellness blog.

Why Start a Health and Wellness Blog

There are a few reasons you might want to start a health and wellness blog.

Our affiliate marketing statistics show that health bloggers earn an average of $7,194 monthly. There’s a lot of potential to earn through affiliate marketing, display ads, selling products, and more.

A blog also allows you to share your journey through medical hardship. People facing similar challenges can find comfort, reassurance, and community on your blog.

Similarly, your blog can raise awareness surrounding uncommon or rare health conditions. This can help foster understanding and empathy within the broader public.

Examples of Successful Health and Wellness Blogs

Before launching your own health blog, it’s beneficial to draw inspiration from those who’ve successfully established their presence in the niche. Here are a few examples:

A Healthy Slice of Life

A Healthy Slice of Life is a family-run health and lifestyle blog that covers healthy eating, parenting, and travel.

NutritionFacts.org

The doctor-run NutritionFacts.org blog provides science-driven food and diet recommendations.

The Healthy Maven

The Healthy Maven was started by Davida Lederle to help women live healthy lives by sharing content about recipes, clean beauty, and overall wellness.

How To Start a Health Blog in 10 Steps

If you’re ready to venture into the world of health blogging, follow this step-by-step to hit the ground running.

1 Narrow Down Your Health Niche

Health and wellness is a huge niche covering a wide variety of topics. As a new health blogger, you should prioritize one of the sub-topics or sub-niches and focus on producing content covering it in-depth.

Visitors are more likely to trust sites that specialize in a specific sub-niche rather than a general site glossing over every health topic. This demonstrates your experience & expertise in that area and portrays you as an authority.

Here are a few example health sub-niches that you can consider blogging on:

• Holistic Nutrition: Think plant-based, paleo, or keto diets.
• Mental Wellbeing: Explore meditation, stress management, or MBSR.
• Sleep: Cover sleep hygiene, insomnia remedies, or delve into CBT-I.
• Sexual Health: Touch on sex-ed, reproduction challenges, or STI prevention.
• Child Wellness: Topics like adolescent mental health or pediatric nutrition.
• Chronic Illness: Share life with conditions like diabetes or arthritis.
• Alternative Medicine: Discuss herbal treatments, acupuncture, or aromatherapy.

Note: Since the 2018 medic update, Google closely monitors alternative medicine sites due to scant scientific evidence. Because of this, big names like DrAxe and Wellness Mama lost significant search traffic.

If you want to blog about alternative medicine, prioritize factual accuracy, cite authoritative sources, and avoid making definitive claims.

When picking a sub-niche, start by listing 5-7 topics that intrigue you. After that, qualify these niches by looking for high-traffic blogs covering that niche. A lack of high-traffic blogs indicates a lack of interest in the topic, making it less profitable for blogging.

Here’s a 3-step process for niche qualification.

First, brainstorm topics related to your sub-niche and search for them on Google. Make a list of relevant blogs that show up. A blog aggregator like Detailed can help you expand this list.

You can also insert a health blog into Ahrefs and use the “Organic Competitors” tool to get a list of all other competing blogs.

Next, you’ll need to see how much traffic each blog gets. Sign up for a free trial of SE Ranking, go to SEO Tools > Competitive Research, and input the blog names to see monthly traffic values.

You can also use Google Trends to compare interest between sub-niches. You can enter up to five topics and compare user interest over time.

You can also check out our detailed video guide on niche selection for further assistance:

Once you find a topic with decent traffic potential, move on to the next step. Choosing a good niche is important, but you don’t want to get stuck in a cycle of endless analysis.

2 Choose a Blogging Platform

A blogging platform is the tool you’ll use to write, publish, manage, and share your health and wellness content online.

Check out this list of the best blogging platforms to make your pick.

Many beginners flock to free blogging platforms like Medium or Blogger. However, these have a few notable limitations:

• The platform can decide what you can and cannot publish. This can be especially limiting if you discuss controversial health topics.
• There’s limited monetization potential.
• They have barebones designing and branding options. Your blog will look nearly identical to all the other blogs on the platform.

Therefore, I highly recommend setting up your own blog, especially if you’re looking to build a financially successful business from it. Here’s a quick look at some of the benefits:

• Complete control over the content, including its presentation and visibility.
• Build a distinctive brand by tweaking the layout, color scheme, and UI elements.
• Countless monetization options include display ads, affiliate marketing, and selling branded products and courses.
• Set your own editorial and publishing guidelines. No one can remove your content or shut down your blog.
• Access powerful search engine optimization (SEO) features and strategically integrate social sharing options to drive more traffic.
• Place email opt-in CTAs in your blog to build an email list, giving you direct access to your audience and safeguarding against Google algorithm shifts.
• Over time, your blog will become an asset you can sell.

👉 See also: Read our case study on how we sold an 18-month-old blog for mid-6-figures.

Thanks to all the modern tools, you can build a new website in under an hour. We recommend using WordPress.org (not to be confused with WordPress.com). The core software is free and powers 43% of the web, including AuthorityHacker.com.

That said, you must purchase a domain and hosting to get your WordPress blog online. It’ll cost you around $45 for the first year ($10 for domain, and $35 for hosting), which is a steal considering all the benefits.

3 Choose Your Domain Name

Your domain name is the name of your website followed by an extension like .com, .org, etc. It essentially functions as the address for your website, where someone types it into a browser’s address bar to land on your website.

For example, our domain name is authorityhacker.com – which is our site’s name, “Authority Hacker” followed by the .com domain.

You also want a .com extension whenever possible. It’s one of the most familiar domain extensions which makes it the most trusted. But, if it’s unavailable, you can consider these popular .com alternatives as well.

When naming your website, you’ll want to pick something catchy, easy to read, and memorable since it’ll function as your brand identity. Here’s a checklist to help you choose the perfect name:

• Keep it short. 6-14 characters is best.
• Focus on readability. Don’t use consecutive letters, numbers, or hyphens.
• Include a niche-related word. A prefix or suffix like “med”, “doc”, “health”, or “nutri” can help with branding.
• Don’t use spammy names. Most people won’t trust a blog titled SuperHealthHacksProMax.info.
• Avoid domain names with registered trademarks. You can check using this trademark search tool.

Brainstorming a name that checks all these boxes can be hard. That’s why we developed our AI domain name generator – Brandsnap.ai – to help you find unique and available domains for your new website.

After choosing a domain name, you need to register it. All domain registrars offer the same basic service, so we recommend saving your money and picking Namecheap. You can get a .com domain registered for $10 per year.

4 Buy Web Hosting

Web hosting is a service that lets you rent server space to install WordPress and manage all your health and wellness content.

You have a ton of web hosting providers to choose from – Bluehost is one of the most affordable and popular among beginners.

However, our top recommendation is SiteGround. It costs a little more but delivers noticeably better performance and reliability – crucial for any reputable health blog on the rise.

Here’s a quick guide on setting up SiteGround and launching your health and wellness blog:

Step 1: Go to SiteGround’s WordPress hosting page.

Step 2: Get the StartUp Plan – it’s powerful enough for a new WordPress blog.

Note: New customers enjoy a highly discounted rate on their 1st 12-month hosting plan. But you will be rebilled at the higher standard rate after that.

Step 3: Enter your registered domain name into the field and select “I already have a domain” option.

Step 4: Provide account information and location details.

Step 5: Enter payment info and pick a subscription period. The 12-month plan is the best value for money.

Step 6: Don’t select the extra services. They are unnecessary for new blogs.

Step 7: Point your Namecheap registered domain name to your new SiteGround hosting server. You can follow this DIY guide or contact SiteGround tech support for help.

And that’s it! Your health blog is now live and accessible to anyone searching for the domain name. In the following section, I’ll show you how to design your health blog and fill it with content.

5 Choose a Theme for Your Health Blog

In the WordPress ecosystem, themes determine your blog’s visual design and layout. In fact, many of them are tailored for health and wellness blogs, allowing you to set a professional-looking design with a few clicks.

That said, looks aren’t everything, and you should prioritize the following features when choosing a theme:

• Fast loading speeds
• Mobile-friendly design
• Clean and uncluttered design
• User-friendly navigation
• Intuitive customization options
• Quality after-sales support

You may find some of these features with free WordPress themes, but they generally have poor performance and flexibility. It might not feel like a big deal at first, but as you grow your blog with more health-related content, you’ll see your site slowing down.

Many are “freemium,” letting you start free and upgrade later for advanced features. Here are three standout options – GeneratePress, Kadence, and Astra:

Most Templates

Mix and match pre-built designs to quickly create a visually appealing layout.

Get Astra

Easy to Use

Offers drag-and-drop header and footer builder with detailed design control.

Get Kadence

Fastest

A performance-focused theme with a minimalistic design.

Get GeneratePress

Once you pick your theme, follow these steps to install it:

Step 1: Login to your WordPress dashboard.

Step 1: Go to Appearance > Theme from the left-hand sidebar.

Step 3: Click “Add New.”

Step 4: Type the name of the theme you want to install.

Step 5: Click “Install Now” followed by “Activate.”

After installing the theme, you can tweak colors and add a logo. Up next, we’ll dive into these branding specifics.

6 Decide on Design & Branding

After installing your WordPress theme, it’s time to start designing it. Here are a few health-specific design tips:

• Choose a soft, neutral backdrop: think white, beige, or muted gray.
• Embrace a minimalistic layout with limited UI clutter.
• Integrate nature-inspired visuals like leaves or water droplets.
• Try rounded UI elements over angular ones.

After creating the design and layout, you’ll need to configure a color scheme. Much of your blog’s personality will come from the colors you use. For example, a blog centered on nutrition and healthy eating can use a color palette that includes fresh greens, vibrant fruit-inspired hues like orange or berry, and earthy browns.

To create a cohesive color scheme, I recommend using Coolors. It’s an intuitive tool that generates complementary colors.

Next up is creating the logo. I suggest using Canva for this. There are hundreds of health and wellness logo templates that you can mix and match to create something unique.

Search for “health logos” or “wellness logos” and make your pick. You can edit the logo to reflect your brand name and color scheme.

7 Create Essential Pages

With your blog’s design ready, it’s time to populate it with some content. Start with these essential pages every health blog must have.

Homepage

The homepage is the main hub of your website. It should clarify what your website is about and feature your latest posts and most popular content.

About Page

This page lets you educate your audience about who you are and why you started this health blog. To help readers and search engines trust you, share your background in the health and wellness space along with any relevant certifications.

👉 If you need inspiration, check out these killer About Me page examples.

Contact Page

This page should contain a contact form to allow users to get in touch with you. You can also include your business address, phone number, and email address to help boost SEO.

Legal Pages

Necessary legal pages include the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions pages. Use these to define the user rights, data handling practices, and expected site behavior. They should also emphasize your content is for informational purposes and not medical advice.

To set up your legal pages, you can use a tool like PrivacyPolicies.com.

Quick Tutorial: To create new pages on WordPress, simply log in to your WordPress dashboard and select Pages > Add New from the left sidebar.

8 Start Creating Content

As your health blog takes shape, we are off to the next crucial step – creating content.

To generate consistent traffic, you need to use a keyword-focused content strategy. Here’s how that works:

1. Find health and wellness keywords users type into search engines.
2. Understand the search intent of those keywords.
3. Analyze top-ranking articles for those keywords and understand what’s working.
4. Craft comprehensive blog posts addressing the search intent and offering more value than existing content.

After writing and publishing a blog post, Google will eventually scan it. If it’s relevant and better than other posts, they’ll show it on the search results page, bringing free organic traffic to your blog.  

Now, to get the best results, target keywords with high search volume but limited coverage.

You can manually do this by brainstorming keywords, googling them, and analyzing ranking articles for potential gaps. Alternatively, use an SEO tool like Ahrefs to find these keywords with a few clicks.

For example, here are a few keyword recommendations I got from entering “yoga” into Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer tool.

Once you have a few keywords, use them to create some blog post titles. Here are a few examples:

• 7 Ways to enhance your yoga sessions using yoga blocks
• How to use yoga wheels to build core strength
• Couples yoga basics: 10 best two people yoga poses

Continue this process with different “seed keywords” until you build a list of 10 blog post ideas.

Once you have a list of ideas, you can focus on writing SEO articles. Here’s a simple checklist of best practices for writing health and wellness blog posts:

• Mention your content is for informational purposes and not a substitute for medical evaluation.
• Avoid offering treatments, solutions, or diagnoses. Encourage readers to consult a doctor if they fear they have a problem.
• Back up everything you say with credible authoritative sources, preferably from medical institutions.
• Avoid medical jargon and make the content accessible to the general public.
• Provide clear, actionable steps. Health content can be hard to understand, so make the content as clear as possible.
• Follow a professional tone while practicing empathy. Share personal experiences wherever applicable.
• Include visual aids like infographics and images whenever possible.
• Try to follow and include content guidelines from health authorities like the FDA or WHO.

I understand these rules can be overwhelming for a new health and wellness blogger. If I had to boil it down to one guideline, it’d be to provide content that is as helpful and direct as possible.

Have Medical Professionals Write or Review Medical Content

Many health and wellness topics fall under Google’s YMYL (Your Money Your Life) label, which includes topics that directly influence a person’s health or financial stability.

As such, when a user searches for medical queries, like “how to manage diabetes,” Google only shows posts written or reviewed by medical professionals.

Right now, if you want to write on YMYL topics but you’re not a doctor, you have two options:

1. Hire a doctor to write blog posts
2. Write it yourself and have a doctor review it

Remember to give the doctor a dedicated author or reviewer page showcasing their credentials. This will ensure your article gets a fair chance to rank – provided it’s still quality content.

To further increase your chances of ranking your content, you should also optimize your posts for E-E-A-T – Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust.

Google uses these metrics to determine the trustworthiness of your website, and it’s especially important for sites in YMYL niches.

Our video will tell you everything you need to know about E-E-A-T optimization:

9 Promote Your Health Blog

While your blog posts might not instantly appear in search results, you can still drive traffic to them early on. Here are a few effective promotion tactics for health blogs:

• Engage in health forums. Dive into Facebook groups, subreddits, and Quora spaces. Answer questions and offer insights.
• Craft and share infographics. Use tools like infogr.am, create visuals, and post on Pinterest and Instagram, linking back to your blog.
• Collaborate with other health bloggers. Competitors can be friends, and writing guest posts on their blogs can bring traffic to yours.
• Attend health events. Network with other attendees and discuss how you use your blog to help others.

Remember, it’s not about outright promotion. Focus on offering genuine value, and readers will naturally be drawn to your blog.

10 Monetize Your Health Blog

With your health blog getting visitors, you can now think about monetizing this traffic. Here are some practical monetization strategies for health and wellness blogs:

Affiliate Marketing

Recommend health supplements, wellness courses, and other health products you’ve reviewed and loved. If someone purchases using your affiliate link, you’ll earn a commission.

Why It’s Great: Health products like supplements and courses offer high commissions due to their high margins.

Get Started: Read our guide on how to start affiliate marketing and our list of the best health affiliate programs.

Selling Your Own Courses or Health Products

Create and sell your own health courses or products catering to your target audience.

Why It’s Great: You get complete control over pricing and marketing, and it also helps boost your brand’s authority. Google has also been favoring blogs that sell products since the September 2023 Helpful Content Update.

Get Started: Design courses using Teachable or Thikific. For creating health products, partner with local manufacturers and sell them under your brand.

Pro Tip: Promote an affiliate’s courses or supplements first. Understand what works, then roll out similar products under your brand.

Offer Coaching Services

Become a certified health coach and help others achieve their health goals.

Why It’s Great: You can build a career out of health coaching with your website as the foundation.

Get Started: Get a health coaching certification and begin advertising your services on your website. This can work especially well if you make a personal blog to build a stronger connection with your audience.

Display Ads

Show ads to blog visits and earn money for the total number of views or clicks on the ads.

Why It’s Great: It’s a no-effort passive income stream where you don’t have to ask users to spend money.

Get Started: You can quickly set up ads using Ezoic. But it can slow down your site, so pivot to a better ad network like Mediavine (>50,000 monthly visitors) and Raptive (>100,000 monthly visitors) when you get more traffic.

Summing Up

We’ve covered the essential steps toward starting a successful health and wellness blog…

…but there’s so much more I couldn’t cover.

Blogging has a deep learning curve, and if I tried to cover every important tip and strategy to maximize your chances of success, I’d probably have to write more than a million words.

To help you learn the deeper tactics that will make you more likely to succeed, we created a free training that covers some of the best secrets and tactics we’ve learned in over 10 years of profitable blogging.

On average, bloggers who use this free training are 83% more successful than those who don’t.

Get the free training now.

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