This
is a step by step and easy to follow guide that will help you setup your own
blog from the start. This guide is not to motivate someone to start blogging.
It is best suited for someone who already made the decision to start a blog and
need some step by step direction of the whole process.
1. Decide What To Blog About
Blogging will not bring you
millions overnight. Like any other business, it requires time, patience, and
commitment, so pick a topic or niche you are passionate or knowledgeable about.
Trust me, your audience can tell when you love discussing the topic in your
blog posts and that will build credibility and loyalty.
Furthermore, a unique experience
or perspective on a subject will help you stand out from other bloggers online,
and encourage social media sharing from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest,
Instagram, etc. These mediums can provide exposure and drive huge amounts of
traffic to your site.
2. Which Blogging Platform To Use
A majority of blogs on the
internet are made using the free WordPress blogging platform. A bloggingplatform or CMS helps manage your content, images, and design. WordPress
is the best in terms of being simple, reliable, and flexible. It is so
easy to use that nearly 100 million websites use WordPress and hosting
companies offer “1-Click Blog Installation” features specifically for new
bloggers who want to install WordPress. Without any HTML or technical
knowledge, you can build your own blog and customize it with different
free themes (designs), layouts, plugins, and features.
On the other hand, you may want
to learn how to start a blog for free using Blogger, Tumblr, Wix or Weebly. If
you intend on making any money blogging online, I can tell you that starting a
free blog is the wrong decision. Let me explain why “free” is not actually
free.
·
You can’t
have your own domain. This site, Flicker.com,
Google.com and CNN.com have their own domains. With a self-hosted blog, you can
pick any available domain name you want and register it. However, if you choose
to start a blog on Blogger.com or Tumblr.com, your website’s URL will look like
YourSite.Blogger.com or YourSite.Tumblr.com. Imagine if you had to go to
Yahoo.Blogger.com – what would you think? Credible or easy to remember? Would you
share that “blog” with your family and friends?
·
You don’t
really own your blog. Because your blog is hosted
on their site, you aren’t even the “owner” of it. Your blog can be removed
or deleted without warning. If you decide to move to your own domain and
hosting later, you won’t be able to take your traffic or readership with you,
either.
·
There is no
flexibility. When you make a blog using
a free blogging service, you are limited to their infrastructure, design, and
layout. The themes these platforms offer are limited and boring, and you can’t
install any 3rd-party plugins.
·
You can’t
make money, or at least not as much. Many
people make money blogging, from $100 a month to $1,000,000 per month.
Unfortunately for you, most of these free blogging sites won’t allow you to,
and if they do, the platform will take a percentage of your earnings.
For all these reasons and more, I
highly recommend you buy your own domain (i.e. MyBlog.com or MyBlog.org) and
use a cheap hosting company.
Cost of Starting A Self-Hosted
Blog On Your Own Domain
The biggest advantage of starting
a blog or business online is that it’s incredibly cheap. Here are the costs you
may incur hosting your own blog using WordPress’s free blog software.
·
Domain: $15 per year
·
Hosting: $3 – $7 per month, or about $50 per year with
a one-year discount.
The best part is there is no
commitment. If after a month or two, you decide blogging isn’t for you, you can
cancel and get a refund. Many hosting companies even offer a 30-Day or Anytime
Money-Back Guarantee. You really have nothing to lose at this point. The
tutorial below will walk you through how to create a blog.
3. Choose A Domain or Blog Name
Hopefully you’ve decided to
self-host a blog on your own domain. Now comes the fun part – picking your
blog name and domain.
Picking A Domain
Selecting a domain or blog name
can be a challenge for some bloggers because it needs to be brandable,
meaningful, short and easy to remember. If you are interested in blogging about
healthy food and Game, a domain like My-Favorite-Game.com or MyFavoritegame.com
is not the way to go. Try a catchy, unique domain such crazygame.com.
Similarly, you can brand your domain after yourself by using your name.
Where To Buy A Domain
It is usually best for you to buy
a domain and hosting package together, especially since the best hosting
companies will give you the domain for free when you buy hosting, saving you
both time and money. Although there are lots of registrars to buy domains from,
it is always better to go with a reputable company.
4. Web Hosting
In my years building blogs, I’ve
learned that BlueHost is
one of the best WordPress hosting companies. BlueHost excels in the following
categories:
·
Reputation, Uptime, and Security
·
Customer Service and Technical
Support
·
Price and Money Back Guarantee
·
Features and Free Email Accounts
BlueHost’s shared hosting plans
include a free domain, unlimited everything (space, bandwidth, email accounts,
etc.), automated backups, 24/7 technical support via phone and chat, and an
average up-time of 99.9% so you don’t have to deal with server crashes and
network outages. BlueHost is also highly recommended for 1-click WordPress
installs. Their extremely user-friendly control panel means you can start yourblog in 15 minutes.
Overall, BlueHost offers powerful
servers, fast connections, and unlimited bandwidth/disk space, all of which are
critical to your future success making money blogging online.
How To Set Up A Blog
– A Step-By-Step Guide on Starting A Blog
So, “how do I start a blog?”
First, click here or the image below to
take advantage of myspecial 40% off discount with BlueHost. On the
BlueHost homepage, click on the “Get Started Now” button.
You will be asked to choose a
hosting package. I recommend the “Starter” option for new bloggers, but
if you can afford it and want the added flexibility of starting multiple
blogs on the same server without buying new hosting, I suggest you opt for the
“Plus” option.
On the next page, in the “New
Domain” box, choose your desired domain name. If the domain is available,
you will move on to the next step of the registration process. Otherwise, you
will need to choose another name. If you already own a domain name, input
it in the “I Have A Domain Name” box to proceed.
Once you have chosen a
blog name, you will need to fill out your account information.
Afterwards, scroll down the page
to select your web hosting and options. As a new blogger, we recommend picking
the “36 Month” option because it maximizes your discount and since
BlueHost offers a “Money-Back Guarantee”, you can cancel your hosting plan
anytime you want to get a refund of your balance. Plus, your domain
is free with BlueHost – a $15 savings.
However, if you aren’t completely
sure about starting a blog and making money but still want to take advantage of
a discounted rate, choose the “12 Month” option and give yourself a year
to grow your blog.
Please keep in mind that you will
be required to make payment upfront. That’s how BlueHost is able to offer my
readers some of the lowest prices in the industry. Here’s the math, based on
using my special discount.
·
12 months at $4.95 per month is
$59.40 per year and $59.40 upfront.
·
24 months at $3.95 per month is
$47.40 per year and $94.80 upfront.
·
36 months at $3.49 per month is
$41.88 per year and $125.64 upfront.
Additionally, we recommend you
uncheck all the add-on options, but keep the “Domain Privacy Protection”
to protect your blog’s ownership details (your name, mailing address, email,
phone number, etc.) from being associated with your domain name and publicly
shared.
Finally, you will need to input
your billing and payment information. BlueHost is one of the best and most
secure hosting companies, so you can feel safe inputting your credit card
details.
When the transaction completes,
you will receive an email to confirm the creation of your BlueHost account. Log
in to your new BlueHost account to install your WordPress blog. On the main
page, find the “Website” section and click on “Install WordPress”
to begin the installation process.
On the pop-up screen, you’ll want
to click on “Install” to start a brand new installation of WordPress.
On this page, choose your domain
from the drop-down list to install your WordPress there. Leave the second
“Directory” box empty.
The last step is to setup your
basic WordPress login details.
Click “Show Advanced Options”
to type in your credentials. Your “Site Name” is effectively your blog name,
and can always be changed later. Your “Admin Username” should be something
unique and not publicly available for security purposes. Finally, choose an
easy to remember “Admin Password”, which you also change later. Obviously keep
your username/password login information handy because you will need it to
access the back-end of your fresh WP install.
Finally, press “Install
Now” to start the WordPress installation.
After the installation is
complete, visit your “Site URL” to check out the template WordPress theme and
layout, which you will be able to edit and customize. To log in to the
back-end, click on the “Login URL” and enter the username/password you
created above.For convenience, bookmark “yourdomain.com/wp-login.php” or
“yourdomain.com/wp-admin/” because that will be your login URL going forward.
