A Simple Guide to Setting up your Blog

In this post, we will go through all the steps required to start blogging. Hopefully you’ve read my article on how to make money blogging – if not I suggest you read that article first to get a feel for blogging and then jump back here to follow these steps to get set up :)

If you’re looking to start a WordPress blog for cheap, then choosing Bluehost or GoDaddy for your hosting is your best option. Bluehost is a great web host and I personally have had great experiences with them. Blue Host and GoDaddy have great customer support which is think is the most important thing. If anything goes wrong, these guys can step in and sort it for you. I am not a technical person by any means but these hosting companies are designed for anyone and make it very easy.

I love blogging – I am able to work from home, I can travel whenever I want, I have a flexible schedule and I can spend time with my family. If you are serious about blogging then follow these steps to get set up!

Anyone can make money with a blog, and I was able to make the money back that I paid for blog hosting very quickly. It is well worth it to pay for blog hosting and I’m sure you will be able to make your money back quickly as well.

There are a few reasons for why you may want to choose self-hosting over a ‘free’ hosting option.

It’s easy to use. Yes, ANYONE can create a WordPress blog easily. Bluehost makes it very easy to create a WordPress blog.
Bluehost web hosting offers technical support.
Bluehost is extremely affordable and they offer cheap web hosting. You can have a blog of your own and the only real expense you need to pay is the cheap blog hosting which starts at just $3.49 per month.
You get a FREE blog domain.
You will be self-hosted. If you want to monetize your blog, then you will want to be self-hosted.
You will appear much more professional to readers, companies, and so on if you are self-hosted on Bluehost than being on Blogspot.
First, you will need to head on over to Bluehost to do any of this. There are many web hosting companies out there, but Bluehost is honestly one of the best. There is a reason why many bloggers choose Bluehost for their web hosting needs.

Get the Process Started:

1. Register your domain name.

Simple type a name into the hosting provider and see if its available. Pick a name that will reflect your blog and don’t include any trademark words, e.g. name’s of companies, as you may get in trouble if your blog got big. But really, you can pick anything. Also, think about the end of the domain, e.g. if you want ‘.com’ or ‘.net’ or even ‘.org’ This can give an impression to your visitors right away. I would try to get a .com domain as these are generally more trusted than .net.

Don’t ask why I picked Champagne and Crayons – I guess I felt these two items best reflected my life at the time I started the blog. I hope it also gives an indication into who the blog is aimed at. I’m sure a 15 boy wouldn’t find my blog that interested, but that’s ok, its really targeted a women with families who are looking to save money and earn extra incomes online.

 

2. Buy hosting for your blog.

You can get hosting specifically for WordPress which makes things even easier. Select the hosting you want and add to cart.

To receive the cheapest price to start a blog, then choosing the “Starter” plan is really all you need. It’s only $3.49 per month through my link (due upfront in full) if you sign up for 36 months. If you sign up for a 24 month plan, then the price is $3.95 per month. If you sign up for a 12 month plan, then the price is $4.95 per month. $4.95 is still extremely affordable and it’s a great plan to choose. If you are unsure about blogging, I would sign up for the 12 month plan as this is still a great price and very affordable for one year of blogging. If you purchase a 12 month plan, your total price is only $59 a year, which is still a great price. Plus, you still receive the free domain name when you sign up for 12 months or more which saves you money.

Feel free to click any of the other items that they recommend. I personally don’t but I know lots of people who like to register an email account, privacy settings etc. It’s really up to you. You don’t need any of the extras but some people prefer having them.

3. Connect your domain and your hosting.

This depends which hosting company you picked but generally it’s really not too hard.

Basically, your hosting and domain will probably already be matched up, however if you host multiple domains then you might have to do it manually. If so, simply add the domain to the hosting option.

 

4. Install WordPress.

This is the final piece to the puzzle. Whatever hosting you are using install WordPress. If you got the hosting option specifically made for WordPress then this is done for you. This part isn’t hard at all. Bluehost makes it very easy to create a WordPress blog.

When you are in your cPanel there will be an option to install WordPress. Once WordPress is installed, you will be asked to pick a username and password.

Once this is done, you are all sorted!!!!!

Now if you want to edit your blog, just go to www.yourwebsite.com/wp-admin Once you type in this, you’ve get a screen asking for your username and password. You can access your site through this way as it’s very easy and fast. And then start editing… easy as that!

Whitney