How to Start a Blog the Easy Way

In this post you will learn all about how to start a blog quickly and for little cost and easily creating a blog on your own. Bluehost is a great easy option as a hosting provider, WordPress is a great blogging platform, and with very little technical knowledge required, which is why I decided to introduce them for those of you who are new to blogging.

how to start a blog

how to start a blog

Why You Should Start a Blog Today

Blogging has been a game changer for me. It allowed me to earn an income in the golden age of the internet, all from writing about my passion in travel and lifestyle. What I find to be amazing is that, at our fingertips, we have tools that give us the chance to build a corner of the web that will connect you to over 3.5 billion people online.

Click here to start a blog on WordPress, and then use my tutorial below for easy to follow step-by-step instructions. To clarify, this is to install a self-hosted WordPress.org blog on your chosen domain name, which is very different to WordPress.com (not self-hosted and you have no control over your website).

Now, anyone with an internet connection can start a blog. It is also one of the best ways to create passive income online. But rather than having your blog hosted on Blogspot.com or WordPress.com without your complete control over the customisation options, it is much better to have a blog that is self-hosted by providers such as Bluehost.

With the little initial investment in creating your blog for long-term success, I recovered this initial cost very quickly with income from blogging.

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Why Bluehost?

Bluehost is currently one of the top hosting companies in 2017 and will continue to be one of the most reliable market leaders. The best part is you can start a blog with Bluehost for as little as $3.95 per month as a special intro offer for my readers, with a free domain name. You’ll also have 30-days money back guarantee should you change your mind.

The reason why I’m such a passionate believer in WordPress is because all of my own blogging website are built on WordPress. Bluehost just made it that much easier to do a 1-click install which I will describe in more detail below.

Why You Should Not Start Your Blog on Blogger, Blogspot, WordPress.com

how to start a blog

You may be tempted to start a blog on Blogger, Blogspot and WordPress.com for free. Please DON’T do that. There are many reasons why having your blog on Blogger, Blogspot and WordPress.com is a bad idea, even though it might seem free/cheaper for now, the headache and admin required to move the site over to self-hosted WordPress later is definitely not worth the pain. Trust me, I’ve been through it.

There are many reasons why having your blog on Blogger, Blogspot and WordPress.com is a bad idea, even though it might seem free/cheaper for now, the headache and admin required to move the site over to self-hosted WordPress later is definitely not worth the pain. Trust me, I’ve been through it.

Also, if you are serious about blogging and would like to make an income from all of your hard work, self-hosted WordPress blog with a reliable hosting company such as Bluehost is a must. Other blogging website will not allow you to have the freedom to feature your own advertisements and sponsored advertisements. Also, most brands and advertisers will usually avoid Blogger websites because they don’t view these to be as professional as self-hosted WordPress blogs.

You can get Bluehost’s discount hosting price from $3.95 per month for my readers and follow my step-by-step tutorial to help you start a WordPress blog.

With so many reasons on why you should start a WordPress blog on Bluehost, here are just a few for you to consider:

  • Bluehost made it super easy to install WordPress on to your blog with a 1-click install option. Anyone can do it by following my tutorial below.
  • You get a FREE website domain.
  • With prices starting from $3.95/month, it is extremely affordable as a cheap but reliable hosting option.
  • WordPress itself is also a FREE software.
  • You have a 30-days money back guarantee with Bluehost and pro-rated refunds after that. There is no risk.
  • By having a professional looking self-hosted blog, you’ll get a much higher chance of being approached by brands, advertisers and attract more readers.
  • If you would like to make an income from your blog, you will need a self-hosted WordPress blog.
  • Any issues you may have on setting up your blog, feel free to send me an email directly or access the 24/7 Bluehost support.

If you plan on starting a blog on Bluehost and you are interested in learning how to start a blog on WordPress, then read the tutorial below. Remember, after you sign up for Bluehost, if you have any questions, I’m just an email away!

Click here to start your blogging journey.

How to Start a WordPress Blog on Bluehost

1. Choosing your domain name for your blog

Click here to purchase your domain and create a blog, which will take you to this page, you can get started by clicking on the green “get started now” button.

start a wordpress blog

Have a think about what you would like to name your blog and whether this domain name is available or not. Remember to keep it short if possible, memorable and contains no spelling mistakes.

Just a little tip, I came up with my blog name when I first started without too much of consideration for the length and ease for my readers to remember it. If I could start again, would have loved to have thought about a shorter blog name!

Because Bluehost provides you with a FREE domain name when you sign up for hosting with them, they make the domain process very easy as you can get your domain directly through Bluehost. You’ll have to buy at least 12 months of web hosting to get the free domain name. This is a reasonable time frame because you’ll want to give yourself at least 12 months to grow your blog in the first year!

start a wordpress blog on bluehost

A “Basic” plan is all you need at this time. Then, you’ll want to type your domain name in the “new domain” box and click “next”.

start a wordpress blog on bluehost

After this, just fill out your contact details and payment information.

I recommend that you buy the “Domain Privacy Protection” option, because you’ll want to protect your personal information from others.

start a wordpress blog

2. Buy hosting for your blog

It’s easy to setup a WordPress blog on Bluehost. Let’s go through the cost of blogging:

  • Remember that the “Basic” package is all that you need to start your blog. It’s only $3.95 through my link, if you sign up for 36 months. If you sign up for a 24-month plan, then the price is $4.95 per month. If you sign up for a 12-month plan, then the price is $5.45 per month. $5.45 is still extremely affordable and it’s a great plan to choose (especially when you get a free domain at this price!).
  • If you are unsure about blogging, then 12-month plan is a great option. Your total price is only $65.40 per year, which is still a great price.
  • If you would like to start with the Basic plan and later upgrade to the Plus and Prime plan, you can always do that at a later stage. There is no need to sign up for features that you do not need at this stage.
  • The only item I recommend to check on when purchasing your hosting is the Domain Privacy Protection, this is worth the money so that your contact information remains safe.
  • Remember to uncheck everything else on the list of products, as you don’t need the additional items that Bluehost sells.
  • If you purchase the hosting through my link, you’ll get a free domain name with a 12-months or longer hosting plan.

I recommend the 12 months or longer hosting plan on Bluehost because it’s very ineffective for you to remember when to renew your hosting from month to month. You will get a free domain name, lower hosting pricing, and avoid dealing with issues such an expired website (this is very dangerous as others can purchase your website domain straight away and try to sell it back to you at a higher price.)

You are not locked into a long term contract as Bluehost is reputable and reliable to guarantee full refund within 30 days and pro-rated refund after that for the months that you have not used. There is absolutely no risk involved.

When you are ready to create your blog, follow the steps below to buy hosting for your blog.

1. Go to Bluehost and click the “Get Started Now” button.
2. Click on the package option you would like (Basic, Plus, Prime).
3. Enter your domain name you registered with earlier, or sign up for a new domain name here.
4. Enter your personal and payment information.
5. Next you will be asked to enter a password. Choose one that is very secure and memorable for you.

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3. Connect your domain with hosting

If you bought your domain through Bluehost, you can skip this step as it will have all been taken care of for you.

If you buy your domain through any of the other domain resellers out there, such as GoDaddy, 123 Reg, Namecheap, and a few others, you will have to modify your DNS nameservers for your domain.

Here is a snippet through 123 Reg and GoDaddy’s guidebook on setting name servers for your domain names, but don’t worry, I’ll show you below step-by-step on how to modify your DNS nameservers to connect your domain with hosting.

Domain Name Servers or DNS are the Internet’s equivalent of a phone book, translating domain names into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Although computers or machines access websites based on their IP address, people can remember an easier web address such as company.name than an IP address like 194.154.164.196.

After you determine which hosting provider to use, you can change your domain name’s nameservers to remove the parked page and activate your domain name.

For demonstrating purposes, I’ll go through below on how to modify DNS nameservers when you are using GoDaddy for your domain and Bluehost for your hosting:

  1. Log in to your GoDaddy account
  2. Select Manage Domains from the Domain Names drop-down menu or the Manage Your Account list.
  3. Select the domain name you wish to modify using the checkboxes and then click Set Name Servers.
  4. Enter your updated name server information in the spaces provided under the blue Name Servers heading on the right side of your page and click Save Changes at the bottom.
  5. Your entries should look like this: ns1.bluehost.com; ns2.bluehost.com.

Now, all you need to do is add the domain you just bought with GoDaddy or whichever domain name provider to your Bluehost web hosting. You can do this when you click on “Domains” when you are in your Bluehost hosting account, and you can click on assign. Just follow these steps and you can complete the process in a few minutes!

start a wordpress blog on bluehost

4. Install WordPress on Bluehost

The most important and final step, is how to install a WordPress blog on your Bluehost account.
Let’s do this!

This is the easiest part, because Bluehost made it very straightforward for its users. WordPress.org is free and to install your WordPress blog on Bluehost is free and easy.

  1. Log in to your cPanel on your Bluehost account (you should have the login information from your Bluehost welcome email).
  2. Find and click on the image that says “One Click Install”.
  3. Then, click on the WordPress icon in the next page, just underneath “Blogs”.
  4. Click on the “Start” button, this will start the installation.
  5. Once the installation starts, it will ask you which domain you would like to install WordPress on. Select the domain you want in the dropdown menu.
  6. Now, look for “Advanced Options”. Choose your username and password for your WordPress blog. Please do not use “Admin” as your username, this is the biggest reason of many website being hacked as people know that Admin is the common username to hack into websites. Use a username is a combination of different letters, upper and lower cases, as well as numbers.
  7. Check the option “Automatically create a new database for this installation.”
  8. Click “Install Now”.
  9. Don’t forget to save your username and password somewhere safe!

Alright! You now have a WordPress blog to start you on your blogging journey. Pat yourself on the back and now let’s get working on creating great content for your readers.

At anytime you have a question about the setup and would like some extra guidance, please don’t hesitate to send me an email.
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Here are my most recommended tools for you to use with WordPress:

  • If you are looking to send newsletters to your users and readers, I highly recommend AWeber. Similar to Bluehost’s refund policy, there is a 3o days risk-free trial with all features.
  • For something a little bit more advanced to collect email addresses for newsletters, you can also use OptinMonster to create a variety of pop-up email sign-up forms.
  • For premium themes, I recommend Genesis and Studiopress, which is one of the most popular used themes for professional bloggers and those who are serious about building a strong WordPress website. There are also lots of free WordPress themes that you can use too.

This page may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Did this help you on creating your first blog? Do you use Bluehost for hosting? Hope you found my tutorial helpful on how to start a blog.

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