Congratulations! You’ve finally decided to start your own blog. You’re on the path toward creating a website that perfectly reflects your brand, brings in revenue and helps with search engine optimization. Oh, and delights your readers too!
But before we get carried away thinking about your future blogging successes, we’ve got to actually build a blog. Thankfully, when you use the right tools, setting up a well-designed blog is really easy. Just follow these three simple steps.
1. Select a hosting company
Every blog needs a place to live. Just like a real-world business, your blog has to have a physical location where you can store your product (in this case, the files of your website) so customers (your blog’s readers) can access them. This physical place is a specialized computer called a server. And that’s where WordPress web hosting companies, like Bluehost, come in. We provide space on a server for your website to reside.
For more than ten years, WordPress has recommended Bluehost as a top hosting company. And there are a lot of reasons why: we support all WordPress functionality, have a one-click WordPress install and provide 24/7 expert tech support. On top of that, signing up with Bluehost is easy and affordable. All you have to do is visit the Bluehost hosting page and click the “get started now” button.
Choose a hosting package and create a hosting account
Once you have clicked “get started now,” you can choose a hosting package. Bluehost offers three types of hosting: shared, dedicated and virtual private server. For someone’s who just starting out with blogging, we recommend checking the shared hosting options. Shared hosting plans are the most affordable and suitable for websites that don’t have too much monthly traffic.
There are four separate packages (basic, plus, and choice plus and pro) with varying benefits to suit your needs. If you’re unsure which plan to choose, it’s a good idea to compare the plans by clicking on the ‘compare all plans’ button. Or you could contact our customer support and we’ll help you pick the right plan.
After you select your desired hosting package, you will choose your domain name. Bluehost will check the database of all domains to make sure you aren’t trying to buy a name that already exists. Additionally, you’ll notice you have several top-level domains (TLDs) to choose from, including: “.com“, “.net“, “.org“
After you have selected your domain name, simply fill out basic account information, choose any add-on services that interest you, fill out your payment information, press submit, and you’re ready to roll. Your hosting account is created. After you submit your information, you are officially ready to install WordPress
2. Install WordPress
Installing WordPress sounds complicated, but Bluehost makes it a lot easier for you to do so. All you have to do is click a few buttons. That’s right! It’s really simple, and you can install WordPress right from within your Bluehost account.
To begin, you will need to log in to your Bluehost control panel.
1. Click on the My Sites tab from the side navigation menu to the left.
2. Click the Create Site button.
3. New windows appear for two highly recommended website builders.
4. Click the Start Building button under the WordPress option.
5. Enter the Admin Information.
Within the Admin Information, there are several fields you need to fill in:
1: Site Name – This will be the name displayed on your site. This is not the URL but simply the name used on your site.
2: Site Tagline – This should provide a brief description of your website.
3: Advanced tab – You can set up your login detail for your website in this tab, including:
- Email Address – This will be where your login information will be sent.
- WordPress Admin Username – The desired login name for your application
- WordPress Admin Password – The desired password for this application.
The installer will take a couple of minutes to complete. Once you have followed these steps, your new WordPress blog is set up. All that is left to do is log in to your new blog and start customizing the look and the feel.
3. Log in to your new blog and pick a theme
WordPress makes logging into your blog simple. To directly log in to your website, simply add “/wp-admin” to the end of your domain URL and hit enter to access the login screen. For example, you type in the address bar ‘www.WhateverYourNewDomainIs.com/wp-admin’, hit enter and then fill in your admin username and password.
Another way to log in to your blog is to do that right within your Bluehost account.
1: Click on the My Sites tab from the side navigation menu to the left.
2: Hover over the site you wish to manage, and click Manage Site.
3: On the upper right-most corner, click Log into WordPress.
4: Fill in your login details
Choose a theme for your blog
When you first log in, you’ll notice that your website may look a bit boring. To spice things up, you need to select a theme. A WordPress theme is your blog’s facade. It controls the look, feel, design, and all other front-end elements of your website.
There are several ways to do this, but one of the most common ways is to select a free theme from WordPress. If you are interested in something fancier, you can buy an affordable WordPress template in the Marketplace tab in your Bluehost control panel.
It can be a lot of work to select a theme, so we’ve put together this guide to choosing a suitable theme. Whatever themes you want to use, there are a few principles you should follow:
1: Select one that has easy-to-read fonts (Arial, Courier and Verdana are always safe choices).
2: Make sure it is mobile responsive.
3: Choose a theme that is customizable, so you can inject your own personality.
4: Choose a theme that’s fast and lightweight so your blog loads fast.
5: Only purchase a theme that provides proficient customer support and regular updates
6: Choose a theme that supports popular plugins. Plugins are an important part of your websites, so it only makes sense that the theme you choose should be compatible with your themes.
Final thoughts
Congratulations on setting up your very own blog! There are still a few things you should do before your site goes live like installing suitable plugins. But the most important thing to do is to start generating awesome content. And it’s okay if you struggle with writing blog posts. Just know this, writing blog posts does get easier. With consistent practice and value-inspired content, people will flock to your blog in no time!
Are you looking for expert guidance while creating your blog and filling it with valuable content? Get started with Blue Sky at Bluehost.
