HOW TO START A BLOG – THE BASICS
There are 3 basic things you need to start a blog and get your online business up and running in literally 30 minutes.
1. A Domain Name
A domain name is your address on the internet – the place where you tell people to go when they ask what your website URL is.
These days it can be really hard to get the exact domain you want as so many people have registered domains, so you may have to get a little creative when coming up with yours.
What I suggest doing is go to a domain name registrar such as GoDaddy and search for the names you have come up with to see if they are available.
Hint! Don’t register it yet as I have a way that you can get your domain name for free for the first year!
2. Blog Hosting
Blog hosting is your “block of land” on the internet where you park your website.
It’s important who your choose as your hosting provider as companies can vary widely in price as well as features and reliability.
There’s no point picking a hosting provider that has a below average “up time” because this means that when they are offline, so is your blog.
No, thanks!
Bluehost is one of the most popular hosting providers for bloggers and for good reason.
They are extremely affordable and they have a fantastic uptime rate.
Not only this, it’s very easy to get started with Bluehost, you don’t need any technical experience and you can install WordPress (your actual blog) with one click.
Oh, and remember earlier when I mentioned a free domain name?? Well, I have secured a special deal with Bluehost and you will get your domain name for free for the first year when you set your hosting up with them.
The links I provide here in this article that take you to Bluehost are exclusive to MyFreedomEmpire so make sure you use them in order to get access to your free domain name.
3. Install WordPress
WordPress is THE blogging application that is used by the majority of blogs out there. It’s easy to use, highly flexible and customisable and the best part is, it’s free.
It can’t get any easier to install WordPress – once you have signed up for hosting with Bluehost, they offer you a one click install option and everything is set up for you.
HOW TO SIGN UP TO BLUEHOST
One of the most important parts of your online business is your budget and if you are looking for affordable AND reliable blog hosting then Bluehost is a really great option for you.
Bluehost is one of the top, most popular hosting providers out there and you can start a blog with them from as low as $3.95 per month.
Click here to head over to Bluehost and then use this easy tutorial to set your domain name, hosting and blog up.
The Basic package should be sufficient for the majority of bloggers, especially during the growing phases of your blogging journey.
You should have already researched and settled on a domain name and done your checks to see if the one you want is actually available.
As Bluehost is so easy to use, it is pretty self-explanatory but here is where you type in your domain name in the box below “New Domain”.
Note: If you already registered a domain name elsewhere, just enter your domain in the “I Have A Domain Name” box.
OR if you haven’t decided on a domain name yet, don’t worry – just click that you haven’t chosen a domain name yet at the bottom of the page and you will receive a credit to get your free domain name later.
Enter in all your account information and then you’ll come to selecting which package you want to go ahead with.
As I mentioned earlier, the Basic package should suit the majority of new blogs.
The way to get the cheapest price possible with Bluehost is to sign up for a 36 month plan.
Signing up for 36 months locks in that low price of $3.95 for the next few years and it’s also something that you don’t have to think about or factor into your budget again for a long time.
If you budget allows, I’d suggest picking the longer plan to get the cheapest price.
If it doesn’t and you can only sign up for the 12 month plan, don’t stress – it is still very affordable.
You also have the option of adding extras to your hosting plan.
The only extra I highly suggest that you add is domain privacy protection to keep away spammers.
What is this?
What you might not realise is that you can look up the contact details of any domain name that’s registered.
If you don’t protect this or make it private, anyone can see the contact information you entered earlier.
So your name, address, phone number (not payment or credit card information).
Personally, I really don’t like my personal information available for anyone to see so I ALWAYS make this information private.
If you would like to hide this information also, definitely add this option.
There are a couple of last details you need to complete such as choosing a password for your Bluehost account and then you are all done setting up your blog hosting!
INSTALLING YOUR WORDPRESS BLOG
Soooo, see that “Start Building” button?
Yeah?
Click that once and WordPress will be automatically installed for you. Immediately.
Yep. That easy.
From here you can start to customise your blog and WordPress has a bit of a quick start wizard here, where it’ll ask you a few questions about your blog to set up some of the important settings for you.
AND, YOU’RE DONE! YOU ARE LIVE! YOU BLOG IS OUT THERE FOR THE WORLD TO SEE!
Of course there are lots of things you can now do to your blog to customise it as well as needing to add content to your blog, but the very basics of your blog is all set up ready for you to send people to.
SETTING UP A MONEY MAKING BLOG
If you have been directed to this post from my Blog Empire Course, then you will know the next steps you need to take to set your blog up to make money.
If you aren’t already in my Blog Empire Course, I highly recommend you checking it out.