So you want to Start a Blog but you don’t have any idea where to start, right? Today I’m gonna be showing you How To Start a Blog on Bluehost.
Starting your own blog is easier than you think. You don’t need to know anything about HTML, CSS or programming. But there are so many different choices available that you might feel a bit overwhelmed.
This is why I decided to create this Step-by-step Tutorial on How To Start a Blog.
6 STEPS TO START A BLOG
Step #1: Choose a Domain Name
You should choose a domain name related to your blog’s main subject. This way, people will know instantly what you’ll be talking about. Another option you have is to use your own name as the domain.
Many people, especially authoritative people in their industries chooses this option.
Example: www.yourname.com, www.myname.com
You can use a domain name suggestion tool like FirstSiteGuide’s Business Name Generator Tool to search for your desired domain name.
After that, you just need to choose the extension. It can be either a .com, .net, .org, among others. Try to use one of these, by this order.
.com extension is the best option here, .net and .org are only the second choice.
Purchasing a domain name will cost $10 to $15 a year. If you are looking for a very cheap price domain you can visit Namecheap. You can register your desired domain name or whatever domain names you want for $0.88/year only. See that? Yeah, very cheap right?
Step #2 – Choose Your Hosting
The hosting is where all the files of your blog will be stored. You need to find a good and reliable hosting company that offers a good quality for the price.
Make sure they handle WordPress websites well so you won’t have any problems with loading speed.
Bluehost is one of the most reliable Webhosting for beginners but if you want more power you can go to Siteground (These two Webhosting companies are recommended by WordPress).
Many popular bloggers like Pat Flynn (SmartPassiveIncome.com), Pauline Cabrera (TwelveSkip.com) used Bluehost as their WebHosting Provider.
I made a step by step tutorial below that you can follow to start your blog today!
How To Register a Domain and Webhosting with Bluehost
Follow this steps and in 10 minutes your site with Bluehost will be created. Let’s get started!
#1) Go to Bluehost (you’ll be redirected to the Bluehost website). You’ll be prompted like the image below.
See that “Get Started Now” button. Click it.
Next Selecting your plan
In this case, you choose the Basic Plan for only $3.95 a month. This plan is enough because you only host one website of yours. You can choose Plus Plan if you want to host unlimited websites to Bluehost.
Select Your Plan
Next “Enter Your Desired Domain Name.” You can use you name as you domain name. Many successful bloggers did that. If you have already a domain name you can enter it on the right that says “I have a domain name” else you will get a new domain from Bluehost for FREE! After that click NEXT button.
Next Creating Your Account. You’ll be asked to enter our details here. If your domain name is available you’ll see the page like the one below.
I entered blogsamplesetup with the .com extension and it says that it is available. You’ll see this message yourself if the domain you enter is also available for registration. Enter your first name, last name, (just skip the business name) your country, street address, state, zip code, your phone number and the most important part, the email address. As you can see, your receipt will be delivered here. So make sure that the spelling is correct.
On the same Page below our Account Information is the Package Information. See the image below.
You have three (3) choices here. You can go to 12 months plan (for $5.95/month) and 24 months plan (for $4.95/month) if you like. But I recommend that you choose the 36 months plan (for only $3.95/month) to save up to 50% off with the regular price.
I recommend Domain Privacy Protection for security (visitors will not able to see your account information). Make sure to include that. Click it. Untick Site backup Pro, Search Engine Jumpstart and Site Security – Find. These 3 are not necessary this time so make sure that you’ll not include them.
On the same page also Your Payment Information.
Enter your credit card information (credit card number /expiration date /cvv2 code). If you prefer to pay using Paypal, you can click More Payment Options located above left the big orange circle then click Paypal as you payment option.
Then click the “I confirm I have read and agree to the terms” then click Submit Button. (Using Paypal You will be redirected to the Paypal website to agree for payment after you click the Submit Button).
And that’s it! You will be asked to create a password to login to CPANEL and You’re done!
Step #3 – WordPress Installation
Most hosting companies use cPanel. cPanel is where you have all the applications and software available you can use. As well as some statistics and emails.
One of the best things about cPanel is that it usually comes with Softaculous. A simple to use software that allows you to install WordPress in a matter of minutes.
In the old days, you had to download WordPress files, create a database and upload the WordPress files again to your server. With Softaculous, it’s immediate and all you need to do is to follow the instructions.
Once the installation is complete, Softaculous will tell you the Admin area URL, as well as your username and password. Just click on the link and enter there. You are now ready to start defining the looks of your blog.
Installing WordPress on CPanel could be a little bit scary for new bloggers. The good news is, I can do the rest for you. I’ll be the one who will handle the hard intimidating part for you. All you have to do is sit back and relax.
For more information you can head over to my Free WordPress Installation Service.
Step #4 – Defining Some WordPress Options & Choosing a Theme
Just take your time to see all the Admin area of your blog. There are a lot of things you can customize like the Blog title, changing your permalink, among others.
Don’t forget to check the “Add a new post” section. This is where you’ll write your content to publish.
WordPress comes with default themes you can use. Themes allow you to change the look of your blog. In case you don’t like any of them, there are plenty of free themes, as well as paid themes.
It really depends on the visual you want to give to your blog.
Popular WordPress Theme Providers That I Use and Recommend
- MyThemeShop – I used the Socially Viral Theme on my 2nd Website. I guess you’ll love their Themes specially TruePixel and Authority Themes.
- StudioPress – Leading WordPress Theme Provider. I used Genesis as my Blog Theme. I think you’ll love their variety of Premium Themes too.
- Elegant Themes – as a member of elegant Themes I recommend Divi Theme if you are looking for a drag and drop builder. Divi Theme is one of the most popular WordPress Themes this day so I suggest to take a look at it.
- ThemeForest – a library of WordPress Themes from $29 and up.
- ThriveThemes – They have a lot of beautiful themes like Rise and FocusBlog. They have also a drag and drop builder like the Thrive Content Builder which is good for beginners.
Step 5 – Add Some Plugins
You can look at plugins as software to help you handle some tasks on your WordPress blog. You can, for example, add a plugin to have Google analytics (to see your blog visitors) and etc.
Here is a list of basic plugins to consider:
- Yoast SEO by Team Yoast (a popular SEO WordPress Plugin that will maximize your traffic by optimizing some your keywords)
- W3 Total Cache (a powerful WordPress Caching Plugin that will maximize the speed and performance of your blog.)
- WP Smush (a plugin use to reduce the size of all your blog images automatically)
- WP Spamshield ( a Spam Protection Plugin that will block all the spams without even using captcha.)
- Contact Form 7 (Visitors will be able to send you messages using this plugin.)
For more WordPress Plugins you can head over to WordPress.org
Step #6 – Start Writing
It’s finally time! Your blog is ready to get some high-quality and engaging content published. Just go to the “Add a new post” section and start writing.
If you find writing is not your expertise, you can hire someone to write for your blog. A lot of bloggers, content marketers, internet marketers do this so don’t worry.
You can find great writers from these freelancing websites.
- Freelancer
- Fiverr – It is my favorite place to outsource. You can buy a gig for just $5.
- Problogger.net/jobs
- Elance
- Truelancer
So That’s it! If you follow all the steps here, no doubt you’ll start your blog in just 10 minutes.