How to Start Blogging Anonymously With WordPress (In 5 Steps)

Starting a personal blog can be a great way to hone your writing craft and express yourself. However, if you don’t have a lot of experience as a writer or you want to protect your privacy, publicly blogging may not appeal to you. Fortunately, blogging anonymously is a viable workaround.

In this post, we’ll show you how to do it in five steps. Most of them have multiple options, with some offering a greater level of anonymity than others. We’ll present you with these variations so you can decide which approach works best for you.

Let’s dive right in! 🥽

How to start blogging anonymously with WordPress

For the most part, the process is straightforward and setting up can be done relatively quickly. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. Sign up for a VPN 🚇

When you’re surfing the web, your device will need to connect to the servers that power the websites you’re trying to access. However, a virtual private network (VPN) lets you re-route those requests to another computer before making a connection.

It’s basically a form of encryption. That means using a VPN makes it impossible for your internet connection to be traced back to your personal device. So, the first step to blogging anonymously is signing up for a VPN.

Fortunately, there are lots of quality yet affordable VPNs to choose from. For example, Mullvad is a popular choice. Just be mindful before making your purchase and do a little bit of research before committing to a service, as some VPN providers have had data breaches in the past.

2. Create an untraceable email address 📧

Once your connection is private, the next step is to create an untraceable email address. You’ll need it later on in order to create an account with your web host and to set up WordPress.

Fortunately, there are plenty of email service providers that are hyper-focused on privacy. A popular choice is ProtonMail:

Proton is headquartered in Switzerland, which has some of the strictest privacy laws in the world. It also comes with a whole suite of features to help you maintain anonymity.

They even have an Onion version of their site, which you can use in conjunction with a Tor browser to maintain the utmost level of anonymity. This is probably overkill for most bloggers, but it’s worth a mention in case you live in a location with a highly repressive government and you plan on doing activism blogging. If that does describe you, then you might also want to add Tails to your toolkit.

Another useful aspect of using Proton is that they offer a VPN service. If you sign up for the Proton Unlimited plan, they include it as part of the package – which gives you one less thing to worry about.

Plus you can pay for everything using Bitcoin, thus adding an additional layer of anonymity to your setup and making your email close to untraceable.

We say close to and not completely because if some truly relentless individuals (or intelligence services) are working 24/7 to find out who owns your blog, then Bitcoin isn’t completely anonymous. A stronger option is another cryptocurrency called Monero, but unfortunately ProtonMail doesn’t currently support it.

However, there is another privacy-focused email service provider based out of Germany called Tuta mail, which does let you pay through a proxy service that accepts Monero. Coincidentally, that proxy service is also an official Mullvad VPN reseller. This means you can load up your balance there and then pay for both your VPN and untraceable email in a very anonymous way.

👀 If you want to comparison shop, check out Tuta’s plans and also consider CTemplar (based in Iceland). Both have free plans.

3. Use a secure CMS, web host, and domain registrar 🔒️

Now, it’s time to get into the technical details of your blog configuration. How you approach these details will depend on how important privacy is to your situation.

For example, there’s a big difference between blogging anonymously because you don’t want your coworkers to know about your blog and blogging anonymously because you live in a country where you’re worried about government repression.

There are three parts to consider here:

• Content management system (CMS) – we recommend using a self-hosted tool that’s privacy-friendly. The self-hosted WordPress.org software is a great option, but you can find other platforms like Ghost.
• Web hosting – your web host powers your blogging software (e.g., WordPress). Depending on how far you want to go in terms of privacy, you can use a regular web host or consider an offshore web host that accepts cryptocurrency.
• Domain name – at a bare minimum, you’ll want to use a domain registrar that offers WHOIS privacy. If you want to go further, consider a service like Njalla.

👉 Content management system (CMS)

Again, we recommend WordPress for your content management system. Here’s our introduction to WordPress, as well as why we recommend it.

To help you get started, we have a guide on how to set up a WordPress blog.

👉 Web hosting

You can technically blog anonymously using any web host. However, some web hosts are better than others when it comes to privacy. It can be especially important if you have more serious reasons for blogging anonymously (e.g., government repression).

For example, there are certain jurisdictions that are more privacy-friendly, like the Netherlands. And, where your servers are hosted can impact the privacy laws that apply to you.

That’s why it’s good to consider offshore web hosting. Some offshore web hosts, like Shinjiru, even let you pay with Bitcoin to further protect your anonymity:

On the other hand, if you’re interested in blogging anonymously just because you don’t want your friends/coworkers to know about your blog, you’ll probably be fine with a regular web host, such as Bluehost.

👉 Domain name

Your domain name is your blog’s permanent address on the internet. Because the governing body behind domain names requires you to provide your contact information to register a domain name, it can be another possible way to leak your identity.

At a bare minimum, you’ll want to use a domain registrar that offers WHOIS privacy. This will prevent people from searching your contact information in the WHOIS database. Most quality domain registrars offer this service.

If you just want to stop nosy people from finding your identity, WHOIS privacy might be all you need. However, your contact information is still on file with the domain registrar, even if it’s not publicly available.

If you’re really worried about privacy, you can use a service like Njalla, which was created by Peter Sunde (the founder of The Pirate Bay).

When you use Njalla, it technically owns the domain for you, which means your contact information isn’t on file anywhere. You can also pay using cryptocurrency, so your payment information isn’t on file, either. This is the best option from a privacy perspective.

However, be aware that you don’t technically “own” your domain name (even though you can fully manage it). As such, you’re putting a lot of trust in the Njalla service.

If privacy is of paramount importance to you, the risk might be worth it. But for most people looking to blog anonymously, you can just use a regular domain registrar with WHOIS privacy.

💻️ Setting things up…

Once you’ve found a reliable web host / domain registrar, make sure to use your untraceable email and other fictional data to sign up.

Then, you should be ready to install WordPress. Your web host may enable you to do this in one click. If not, you might need to consult our guide on how to install WordPress. As you complete this process, don’t forget to set up forwarding to your untraceable email (assuming your hosting plan offers email hosting as a service). 💽

4. Choose a pen name / author persona 🧑‍💻

Now, you’re ready to build out your personal blog. This will require you to choose a WordPress theme and design any web pages you want to include (in addition to your blog feed).

At this point, you may want to create an author persona, making an “about” page for your fictional identity. Alternatively, you could opt for revealing minimal data, and just provide a pen name.

When creating your pseudonym, just make sure you’re considering the legal issues associated with it. For instance, don’t use a trademarked name.

And, while it’s okay to use the name of a real person (since thinking up something totally original will likely be difficult), you’ll want it to be clear that you’re not intentionally impersonating anyone. Otherwise, you could be accused of identify theft. 🧔

5. Don’t reveal personal information ✋

Finally, you’re ready to start! Just keep in mind that setting up your blog anonymously is only half the battle. You’ll then need to make sure you maintain that anonymity.

The key is to not reveal any personal information in your blog posts. For instance, unless you live in a huge metropolis like Istanbul, Tokyo, or New York City, it’s best not to reference the specifics of where you’re located.

If geography is important to the “voice” you’re aiming to achieve, then keep things broad. As an example, you could say you’re a “blogger from the midwest.”

Also, you can “fictionalize” your content to protect your identity. Change the names of people mentioned and invent a name for your favorite coffee shop. ☕

How to promote and monetize your anonymous blog

As we discussed, there are many reasons to start blogging anonymously with WordPress. However, we haven’t talked about what happens if your blog becomes successful, or if making money blogging was always your goal.

In either scenario, you may want to start monetizing and promoting your anonymous blog. The good news is that doing this is pretty simple.

When it comes to promoting / marketing your blog, you could start by creating anonymous social media accounts. Then, use them to share your content.

Or, develop a guest blogging strategy, but using your pen name. You could even hire a third-party ad agency to promote your blog.

As you may already know, there are tons of ways to monetize your blog, from affiliate marketing to membership sites. When using any of these strategies, just make sure to create all the necessary profiles using your private / untraceable email address.

Then, remember to accept payments anonymously, using an alternative like cryptocurrency. For instance, you can easily accept Bitcoin on WordPress. 💰

Should you blog anonymously with WordPress?

If you clicked on this tutorial then you were already probably convinced of the benefits of starting an anonymous blog. But just in case you were on the fence and needed some more positive reinforcement, below are a few reminders of why you might want to do it:

• Improve your writing skills. 👨‍💻 You may want to become an anonymous blogger simply so you can hone your writing craft. Having a blog could help you maintain a consistent writing schedule, and remaining anonymous can shield you from any judgmental critics.
• Share bold opinions. ⌛ It’s okay to have strong opinions, but the backlash for sharing them may be a concern. Since online harassment is worse than ever, remaining anonymous can be a great way to avoid the alternative of self-censoring.
• Protect your privacy. 💂‍♂️ You might just want to conceal your identity in order to maintain your current private life. Some people have no desire to be famous!

Also, specifically choosing WordPress.org as the base for an anonymous blog offers powerful privacy advantages. Its self-hosted nature allows for privacy customizations and a level of control that WordPress.com and many other website builders simply cannot match.

Your voice deserves to be heard 🦸‍♂️

Fortunately, blogging anonymously is always an option. You can take some simple steps to conceal your identity and ensure your site isn’t traced back to you.

🏁 For starters, you can use a VPN and anonymize all your personal details. Additionally, protecting your domain via privacy services is also key, as well as potentially using offshore web hosting if you really want to protect your information.

And now that you’ve read this, you’re equipped with everything you need to get started. Your WordPress blog awaits – whether your name is attached to it or not.

Do you have any questions? Let us know in the comments section below!