I’ve written a full-article about why blogging still remains one of the ultimate side-hustles you can start in 2019. If you’re wanting the full run-down on the potential of blogging, that article will give you all the information you need. If you’ve thumbed through that information and want to know how to start a blog, then this page has you covered.
(Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. That means if you purchase something, we may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you).
This article focuses on the step-by-step process of how to start a blog and what it involves. The first topic we will talk about is the idea of web-hosting.
The Web-Host.
There are a million different web-hosting services to choose from. While the actual number is much lower, it certainly feels like a million different web-hosting services are running out in the open. Because of this, it can almost feel like an overwhelming cascade of information when trying to decide how to start a blog. Most don’t even understanding what web-hosting is. (I certainly didn’t when I first started!).
Web Hosting concerns which company is responsible for providing the internet-space and a web-template for you to write your content. Unless you are tech-savvy enough to build and code a website from scratch, I recommend all beginners who want to know how to start a blog choose a host that provides not only internet-real-estate but also allows you to implement the almighty WordPress system (more on this in the paragraphs below).
Using a third-party-hosting service makes it easy to get in touch with a representative if something happens to your website and it allows you to make easy renewals for your website’s domain name.
There are a number of major web-hosts to consider.
–Wix
–Squarespace
–Hostgator
–Blogger
–Go Daddy
–Dreamhost
–Hostinger
-…and Bluehost.
Out of all the hosting options available, Bluehost remains by far and away the best website-hosting for beginners who plan to do a traditional-blogging-approach consisting of articles and possible products for sale.
Wix and Squarespace are good for establishing a personal brand or acting as a web-page for something that already has a brick-and-mortar equivalent. Their templates are photo-based instead of article based and it’s difficult to utilize for those planning to write words.
– Others, like GoDaddy.com, Dreamhost, and Hostinger, do not offer the same value in terms of digital-data-storage, security, and pricing that Bluehost does. Should the unthinkable happen and your website get infected or wiped, Bluehost offers easy data-backups from their control panel whereas GoDaddy.com and the others do not.
The final reason for the Blue Machine’s supremacy is simple:Bluehost not only features a user-friendly-design in helping beginners get started, they’re second-to-none in offering security features and customer support. Not only do they offer multiple security plugins to help your website fend off would-be-hacking and malware attacks, they also feature 24/7 customer support.
If something goes wrong at 2:30 in the morning, you can get into contact with them. If you want an easy way to showcase and sell the products and services your blog will offer, Bluehost features multiple blog-plugins and assistance to help you do so.
Other bloggers have pointed out the ease-of-use, customer-support, and quality that Bluehost gives new bloggers. More good news is that if you want to go with a different host in a few years, you can do so with their easy WordPress-Implementation. Multiple blogs use WordPress to power their web-design and Bluehost is no different.
Now at this time, you may be asking yourself: what isWordPress?
The Power of WordPress Compels You.
Design-website Themeisle brands WordPress as your website’s operating system (article link) and they’re not far off. If Bluehost is how you lay the foundation, then WordPress is the architectural design. It is estimated that WordPress powers around thirty percent of websites across the internet. That’s one brand harboring a thirdof the internet’s website designs. Talk about being the unquestioned leader in your space!
The point still stand that Bluehost offers easy implementation of WordPress and if you get their correct hosting package, you don’t need to pay for a separate Bluehost or WordPress account. By going through five simple steps, I can help get you started with the ultimate side-hustle…blogging!
The Catch.
Starting a blog requires money upfront. Depending what additions you get will make the final price anywhere between $180-$250 (or more, if you sign up for multiple years). However, it’s important to think of this upfront cost as an investment in order to start a blog.
Would you be willing to pay $250 now so that two years from now, you’ll be able to make $250 (or more) a month?
I certainly would.
This investment is peanuts compared to the millions of dollars required in large-scale real-estate-investing, or the fancy portfolios in Wall Street. Utilizing $250 to take a chance on blogging about video games for more than $250 a month? Now that’s an investment with a much lower risk-factor.
Now am I saying this will just magically happen? No, of course not. But with enough written articles and basic-marketing-smarts it could certainly happen.
Taking the Plunge.
Click this link—or open it in a new tab—and follow the following five steps to get started!
- Start By Creating Your Account.
So when we get to the official Bluehost website, you’ll see a homepage identical–or similiar–to this:
The first step is very simple. Hit the Get Started button to move forward!
When you hit the button, you will be greeted with a screen asking you to choose your hosting plan.
You are going to see four different options showing a list of differences between them. You’re going to see terms like Unlimited, Bandwidth, SSL Storage, and a million other terms that sound important but are completely superfluous.
A lot of these terms would be important if you had a team of people that were planning to work on multiple websites under one umbrella; similar to how a network of websites lets you hop from one to the other. If you’re a one-person show needing one website, you only have to sign up for the Basic Plan.
When you select the Basic Plan, you’ll be brought to the next section.
2. Picking a Website Title.
After clicking on the green select tab, you will come to a another screen requesting you to choose your domain. The domain name is the title of any website in relation to the space it occupies. YouTube.com, Walmart.com, Wired.com, cornell.edu, or nasa.gov are all examples of domain names.
The moniker www (world wide web) usually precedes the titles. Since you are buying hosting-space through a third-party-company, the www is not needed.(If you ever end up crafting a site from scratch, you can use the triple-w if you want. Since we are just starting out, we won’t worry about it just yet).
Depending on what you want to blog about, you might agonize over what to call your blog. After all, the greatest brands, companies, and websites all have catchy titles, right? Well, yes and no. The good news is that your content is much more important than your title.
Now, you’ll at least want a title that will roll off the tongue easier than not.Marcusmakesmodeltrains.com is a better title than trainsunleashed360noscopedoomslayer336muffins.com.
One title has an air of professionalism and establishes two facts: there’s somebody named Marcus and they make model trains. The second title is almost comical in how much of a word-salad it is. It tries to establish about three or four different things at once and it can’t even be taken seriously. If Marcus was trying to sell model trains using this name, business would be an uphill battle just based on the name alone.
Three things to keep in mind:
- Keep the title relatively simple.
- Keep it related to your topics, brand, or services you’re blogging about.
- Make sure it’s something easy to remember.
After you feel like you’ve crafted the perfect title, put it into space designated for domains.
Note: I strongly recommend you choose the .com branch of online-real-estate-top-level-designation. You will be fighting an uphill battle if you choose .co, .tech, .blog or another other ending-domain.
The three biggest top-level-domains people tend to search for and remember are .com, .edu, and .gov. If you don’t have something related to an official academic institution or government body, it’s best to stay on the safe side and just go with .com.
After you’ve picked a title and clicked submit, the engine will tell you if that name is already taken. If it is, you’ll need to pick another one. If it’s not, congratulations, you’ve just named your website!
3. Creating Your Account.
Once you’ve moved past that part, you will come to another screen requesting personal information.
This section will serve as your billing and mailing address for your account. Either use your own address or a post-office-box as as substitute. Scrolling down, you will then get to the next part.
4. Picking Your Account Plan.
This section is where you will choose your annual plan–and this is also where your cost comes in.
Bluehost has pricing options for one year, two years, and three years.
The only package-extra I recommend getting would be Domain Privacy+Protection and Sitelock Security-Find. You don’t need to worry about Codeguard Basic, the SEO Tools, or even the 365 Mailbox. Those add-ons can be implemented through free plugins or even a couple of Google-searches. By all means, get them if you want them but they’re not necessary.
5. Payment Information.
After choosing the number of months (years) you want to have an account with them, continue on down to the payment information section, which contains a spot for you to put down your credit or debit-card information. Make sure it’s going to be an account you plan to have for a while in case you plan to auto-renew.
Then simply accept the terms and conditions and hit submit!
Congratulations!You’ve started a blog!
Aftermath.
This article was written to get you started and as of right now, it’s coming to a close. Once you move past this section, you will then be prompted to choose a theme and install WordPress.
The great news with Bluehost is that WordPress automatically comes with your account, so you can install it right away without having to pay for it! Even more great news involves WordPress offering tutorials to help get you started in picking and customizing a theme!
You can use a free theme if you’d like, or you can head to a place like themeforest.net to purchase a theme of your own. If you’re just starting out, I recommending sticking with a free theme until you get used to the ins and outs of the WordPress system. You can always change your theme later.
As of this writing, there will be articles in the following weeks and months on this website that will go over the finer points of all things related to blogging. If you still need some help in the finer points of getting your blog set up, I recommend using the tutorials provided by WordPress.
Starting a blog can be a harrowing journey but the rewards are more than worth it. Not only do you get to write about some of your favorite topics but you can make money from doing that as well! By implementing a strategy of advertising, affiliate-marketing, and product-selling, the amount of side-hustle-money you could make is truly endless!
May you go forth and prosper in your blogging endeavors!
If you’ve made it this far and still haven’t committed, take the plunge and get started!
Good luck!
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Let’s crush our dreams together,
Samuel Carlton
