Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - concrete block steps

I have an old (50's) small brick home, which has the typical narrow entrance: a "front porch" (not even wide enough to put a rocking chair on) with an ugly black iron railing. 3 steps are located near the driveway, from which the "porch" runs until shortly after the front door.
my plan is as follows: tear out the iron railing and construct some steps that will come off the front "porch" where the doorway is. i'd like the steps to connect to the front porch in appearance only, by having the steps be flush with, but not fastened to, the porch.
i was told the easiest way to do this would be with concrete block layed over tamped sand. i bought the concrete blocks, but am now having second thoughts about whether i need to poor a concrete base first. do i?
the soil around here is sandy loam, with a strong emphasis on 'sandy'. will just compacting it be enough? if so, do i need to use some sort of anchors to keep the block attached to the ground in place?
also, just in case it matters, i should note that i plan on veneering some sort of attractive covering like tile over the steps.
thanks for your help.

You neeed a concrete foundation for the steps.

Your steps should have a foundation below the frost level or you run the chance of having them heave up in the winter and they may not come back down in the spring.

Dick

Do you know the best way to go about tiling over concrete steps?