There are 3 main steps in starting a blog which I have given below and these are pretty much the basic things you will need to start a blog.
Nowdays many websites use this popular blogging platform (wordpress) for websites and blogs as well , because with the features and design available with the wordpress blogging platform , you can easily make a blog look like a professional website and a website look like a blog.
In-fact you can have a professional looking website, with a blog included in the same wordpress website install.
WordPress is one of the most popular software that is used to run websites on the internet and for a very good reason, because its the most easiest software to use for blogging or making a good looking and flexible website.
To start a blog , involves the three things below:
1. Getting a Domain name
2. Choosing the right hosting service for your blog
3.Choosing a professional design for your blog ( WordPress theme)
Step 1: Buying a domain name
Im not going to get into much detail with this step as its pretty straight forward, my favourite domain provider is godaddy so i i would recommend them, they are also one of the biggest domain name providers on the internet.
All you need to do is go to the Godaddy website and search for you domain name by putting your choice of name in the search button and see if its available , if its not try your next preferred name until you get one that’s available and buy it. Next step is hosting
Step 2: Blog Web Hosting
You’ Might have already heard the term “Web Hosting” used before. But what does it really mean ? And why is it hosting so important if you want to start a new blog or a personal website or even business website?
What is Web Hosting?
If you want to start a blog or a personal or business website you will need to find a reliable and easy to use web host. Preferably also a hosting company with good support. A web hosting company allows you to save your blogs or websites content like articles you have written , images , videos on its computers (or servers) that are connected to the Internet by extremely high-speed connections. When someone visits your website or blog they are actually viewing the files stored on the servers of you web hosting company.
What is the price of Web Hosting ?
There is a popular misconception that webhosting is very expensive , which is untrue. Hosting costs for a small blog or website from a good hosting provider can be as low as a few dollars a month ( anywhere from $3 to $7 a month) – the cost of one coffee & muffin really! You can check out a detailed comparison of Hosting plans for blog and websites over here
What’s the deal with FREE Blog Hosting Services?
I know about free blog hosting services as i started there , And I truly regret having taken a a free service . Firstly because I lost one blog with all my content on the free blogger service for a violation of a policy, that i wasn’t even aware off and i had content on that blog for three years and built up a massive following ,all gone just like that.
Its really – “You get what you pay for.” The other factors is you have limited monetization options if your blog really gets popular on a free blog service. With gettting a free blog from free services like wordpress or blogger or tumblr you will always have a long domain name like mydigitalgrogblog.blogspot.com or something long . Not exactly easy to remember and does not create much of an impact.. does it ?
But what’s even more worrying is that you don’t have much control over a free blogging service and if you want to move your blog to your own domain in a couple years, you’re going to have nothing but problems. Furthermore, free hosting services shut down all the time – and if this happens to you , then you could possibly lose your entire site with little notice. Geocities from yahoo which hosted over a million sites, is such an example where many bloggers were left stranded after years of working and setting up a blog, it shut down a couple years ago. Just something to be aware of when you’re considering a free hosting service.
Which Web Host do you recommend?
I have used many different web hosts over my 10 + years in blogging and it still use hosts like bluehost, Hostagtor , hostmonster and godaddy for my various websites. It’s a tough job for even for experienced web developers like me to choose a good web host. If you are stuck with a unreliable host then you can spend more time trying to get things fixed up all the time rather than just focusing on writing good content for your blog.
Identifying a good web hosting company is crucial task in getting your blog or website started.
I have been with many more hosting providers than what I have mentioned above and my choice is bluehost for a starter blog. They meet all the criteria for those who want to host a blog, a personal website, or even a small business website which is good uptime , easy to use , good support and supports most popular blogging platforms
→BlueHost Hosting & even Godaddy was our top choice for several reasons:
Here are the features that stand out and are essential for your blog-hosting company
-
- Very Affordable – For only a few dollars a month, you can be guaranteed that your website or blog is hosted with a good web hosting company.
- 1-Click WordPress Setup – Ease of use is definitely a good feature with 1 click set up your blog will be online in minutes. WordPress is one of the best and most widely used website or blog platform on the Internet and you website-hosting company should support it. It’s an extremely easy to use method for publishing blogs and alos business websites (more details about WordPress in my next section, ‘Step 3: Blog website Design‘ ).
- Multiple Blog Hosting – Just purchase one hosting account and have multiple blogs on them.They also provide a service to register your domain with hosting as a deal if you wish to purchase both with them.
- Unlimited Features – Unlimited value plans as you can see below in their features Some of the main features include:
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Unlimited Disk Space
- Unlimited Domain Names hosted on one account
- FREE Domain Name
- Free Setup
I have been using both bluehost and Godaddy for the last 6+ years now!
Disclosure: I believe in being up front, so we want to let you know that we receive compensation for some of the products we suggest. However, this is an independent website and the opinions expressed here are my own.
→ Finally let’s Go to the last step before we start building your website
As I said hosting is the most crucial part of your blog becoming popular , domain buying i easy and getting a good webs design for your blog is even easier. By default wordpress offers free themes which is available once you login into your blog.
However i would suggest investing in a good paid theme if you really want o get the most out of your blog. Paid themes are always more robust and regularly updated if it si needed with every wordpress update. They are providers that also have paid themes at a reasonable price so you don’t have to spend too much , elegant themes if one of them and you get 80+ pro themes at the price of 1 theme. You can check out my review of different wordpress themes providers <— over here
Or you can just buy the theme that i use from solostream here which is little bit more pricey then elegant themes.
Now that the most important technical matters for setting up a blog has been covered, the only thing you need is “GOOD Interesting Content” which will make you blog popular and well known.
Good luck!
And shoot me a question here on my blog if you need any help, i will be glad to help you out!
(Note: → You will most certainly want to compare Web Hosting providers , as this is one of the ongoing cost for blogging you will have to bear if you dont pay it annually Read my article, Web Hosting – the best hosting comparison for Bloggers ! to get the right deal that you can afford )
Dont start your new blog yet before you read my more detailed articles about The best cheap Domains , Compare Hosting providers and review the best WordPress Themes
Hi, On occasion your navigation bar becomes invisible on my iPad, I figured you may want to know.