You indeed may have damaged the vocal cords, so please go see an ear-nose-throat specialist who has both enough skills and required tools to take a look at your throat properly.
In the future:
THE ONLY SAFE way to learn the correct singing techniques & to improve properly IS to take OFFLINE face-to-face singing lessons with a fully trained vocal teacher (in case you do not have a teacher yet)! The teacher HAS TO BE in the same room with you, so that he/she could give you proper feedback.
Please do NOT rely on any dodgy web tutorials because that way you can misunderstand things VERY EASILY and develop bad habits, hoarseness, vocal nodules and other nasties IN NO TIME, and even though you would sound good! It is always much wiser to invest a little bit of your money/time to face-to-face lessons rather than wasting the same amount of money (or even more!) to frequent ear-nose-throat specialist visits due to aforementioned problems, so please reconsider this. If you can't afford vocal lessons, then joining a choir is the only SAFE alternative option. And believe me, but even MANY of those who have music as their hobby DO take lessons as well!
Always remember to warm up your voice properly, but please know your limits and don't overdo your voice! Remember the diaphragmatic support, do not strain your throat too much! Also, remember good body posture!
Avoid fizzy drinks (burp danger), dairy products (mucus risk), caffeinated products (coffee & tea included, they dry up your throat) and spicy food (irritation risk)! You can consume these things, but NEVER before singing!
Do NOT shout, yell, scream nor otherwise abuse your voice AT ANY TIME! Also, please respect your vocal range; if your teacher says you are, say, more of an alto (baritone if you are male), then you ARE more of an alto (baritone).
DO NOT try to imitate anyone famous, that will usually give you just bad habits and even damage your throat. You are YOU and your voice is unique, so please learn to cherish that. The world does NOT need copycats.
Do NOT sing, whisper, shout, yell nor scream if having a sore throat/cold/flu, Also, do speak as little as you can if you have flu/cold/sore throat! Jumping the gun too early will only make things A LOT worse.
Remember to drink at least 2 litres of room-temperature still water every day, not just during singing days!
Smoking is a big no-no, as is inhaling secondhand smoke. Also, avoid staying in dusty and/or moldy environment.