Today, you will learn all about easily creating a blog on your own and how to start a WordPress blog. Blogging is what changed my life and allowed me to make thousands of dollars a month, all by doing something that I love. Plus, you can start a money-making blog for just a few dollars a month! Below, I have included discounted pricing that I personally negotiated with Bluehost so that all of you can start a blog for cheap. You will also receive a free blog domain through my link too. Act quick though because I’m not sure how long these low prices will last!
Disclosure: I am an affiliate for Bluehost, and will receive a commission if you sign up through my referral link. This is at no additional cost to you, and you will get great pricing and a free domain name through my link.
Click here to start a blog on WordPress, then use the tutorial below for the easy directions.
If you’re looking to start a WordPress blog for cheap, then choosing Bluehost for your hosting needs may be your answer. Bluehost is a great web host and I personally have had a great experience with them.
Blogging has been one of the best things ever for me. As you can tell from my business income reports, I have made over $5,000,000 from my blogging-related services. I earned over $979,000 in one year through blogging, over $1,500,000 another year, for example.
I am able to work from home, I can travel whenever I want, I have a flexible schedule and more. I am absolutely loving life and I can’t believe how much my life has improved in just the past few years.
Anyone can make money with a blog, and I was able to make the money back that I paid for blog hosting very quickly. It is well worth it to pay for blog hosting and I’m sure you will be able to make your money back quickly as well.
Bluehost is one of the top web hosting companies this year and you can start your own blog with them for as low as $1.99 a month (this low price is through my link only)! Also, if you sign up using my link, then you will get your domain for free if you purchase a 12 month or longer hosting plan (a $15 value). I highly recommend signing up for the 12 month hosting plan through Bluehost. It’s affordable and you can save a lot of money by signing up for at least 12 months.
You may be thinking, “Well I can just start on Blogger for a little cheaper and learn how to make a blog that way” NOOOOO… Don’t do that. There are so many reasons for why a Blogger/Blogspot blog is a really bad idea, and why you should instead setup a WordPress blog on Bluehost.
If you are interested in ever making money off your blog, freelancing or turning it into a business, then paying for your hosting, such as through Bluehost, is a MUST. It’s extremely cheap as well to go through Bluehost AND you get a free domain (for the first year). You can run any of your own advertisements, affiliate links, direct advertising, etc. with a blog ran on Bluehost. Making money on Blogger or any other free blogging platform is very difficult, and in many cases never happens. Most advertisers and companies tend to run away from Blogger websites because they don’t view them as professional as self-hosted WordPress blogs, so that’s another big reason to use Bluehost.
Also, if you take a look at my past income reports, you can tell that my income through blogging didn’t take off until right at the exact moment I switched to WordPress. That’s a lot of proof right there that being self-hosted on WordPress is the way to go!
There are many reasons for why you may want to choose Bluehost for your WordPress blog and I honestly believe they are one of the best web hosting providers. These reasons include:
- It’s easy to use. Yes, ANYONE can create a WordPress blog easily with my tutorial below. Bluehost makes it very easy to create a WordPress blog.
- Bluehost web hosting offers technical support.
- Bluehost is extremely affordable and they offer cheap web hosting. You can have a blog of your own and the only real expense you need to pay is the cheap blog hosting which starts at just $1.99 per month.
- You get a FREE blog domain.
- WordPress through Bluehost is FREE.
- Bluehost offers a guarantee in case you determine that it is not for you. If you sign up for Bluehost, but you are confused for any reason (such as how to set it up, picking a plan, pricing, etc.), you can always send me an email and I can help you out.
- You will be self-hosted. If you want to monetize your blog, then you will want to be self-hosted.
- You will appear much more professional to readers, companies, and so on if you are self-hosted on Bluehost than being on Blogspot.
First, you will need to head on over to Bluehost to do any of this. There are many web hosting companies out there, but Bluehost is honestly one of the best. There is a reason why many bloggers choose Bluehost for their web hosting needs.
If you plan on starting a blog on Bluehost and you are interested in learning how to start a blog on WordPress, continue below. Remember, if you sign up for Bluehost, but you are confused for any reason (such as how to set it up, picking a plan, pricing, etc.), you can always send me an email and I can help you out. That’s what I’m here for so don’t be afraid to send me an email.
Click here to start the process.
How to start a WordPress blog on Bluehost
1. Register your domain name.
You can click here to purchase a domain name and create a blog, then continue to follow the easy steps below.
The very first thing you will need to do when starting a WordPress blog on Bluehost is to think about what you want your domain name to be. This can be tough, and I would give some serious thought to this.
I don’t even remember how I came up with my blog name. It’s a long one though and at times I regret it. Trying to spell out my blog name to people who don’t know about it can get frustrating because they don’t know if I’m saying “cents” or “sense!”
You can get your domain directly through Bluehost and make the whole process very easy. If you do this, you can get a FREE domain for the first year as long as you buy 12 months worth of Bluehost web hosting. This makes it well worth it to sign up for at least 12 months of hosting as you will be saving a good amount of money this way. You also get a cheaper monthly price when you buy at least 12 months of hosting, so the free domain just makes it even better. If you decide to get the free domain, just continue to the next step as you can buy your hosting and get the free domain all in one step.
Note: If you see a crazy high cost for your domain (like over $1,000) or if it says “Premium Domain”, then it is not a free domain. It is owned by someone else and they are selling it. You will want to skip these and think of another domain name.
2. Buy hosting for your blog.
Setting up a WordPress blog on Bluehost is very easy. First, we will talk about the costs of blogging:
- To receive the cheapest price to start a blog, then choosing the “Basic” plan is really all you need. It’s only $1.99 per month through my link (due upfront in full) if you sign up for 12 months, which is a great price. If you are unsure about blogging, I would sign up for the 12 month plan as this is a great price and very affordable for one year of blogging. If you purchase a 12 month plan, your total price is only $24 a year, which is a great price. Plus, you still receive the free domain name when you sign up for 12 months or more which saves you money.
- The Basic plan is all you really need for now, so skip the Plus and Business Pro plans as they are more expensive. You can always change it later to a different plan if you want to (and just pay the difference), so there is no need to sign up for extra that you do not need.
- The other item you may want to pay for when it comes to blogging is Domain Privacy Protection, which is only around $15 per year. This is so that your contact information stays safe. Sometimes, this is not listed when signing up.
- Other than the above, you do not need the other items that Bluehost sells, so I would uncheck any of the extras that are listed.
- Remember, if you sign up using my link, then you will get your domain for free if you purchase a 12 month or longer blog hosting plan.
I want to reiterate why you should purchase at least a 12 month hosting plan. Month-to-month is less effective, and I highly recommend signing up for a minimum of 12 months for many reasons. By signing up for a minimum of 12 months, you will receive a free domain name, lower pricing, and you won’t have to deal with an expired website after each month. For example, if hosting is not renewed or if the card expires, then your website is down and you risk losing business (visitors/traffic) when you pay on a month-to-month basis. It’s also exceptionally more expensive to pay month-by-month rather than in one lump sum. The more years you sign up for, the less you pay.
Blog hosting will most likely cost you around $50 a year on average, which is a great deal! If you purchase a 12 month plan, your price is only $24 a year, which is a great price.
When you are ready to create your blog, follow the steps below to buy hosting for your blog.
- Go to Bluehost and click the “Get Started Now” button.
- Click on the package you are interested in.
- Enter your domain name you registered with earlier, or sign up for a new domain name here.
- Enter your personal and payment information.
- Next you will be asked to enter a password. Make sure it’s secure as this information is very important.
If you have any problems, please send me an email at michelle@makingsenseofcents.com. I have a great person at Bluehost who can help solve any of your issues quickly and easily!
3. Connect your domain and your hosting.
Note: You can skip this section (Section 3) if you buy your domain directly through Bluehost.
If you buy your domain through Go Daddy, then you will need to connect your domain to your hosting account. Go Daddy has a full support page for setting nameservers for your domain names. Below is a snippet:
“When you register a domain name with us, we set it up on our parked nameservers so a temporary page displays when visitors go to your website. 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.
If you registered your domain name with another provider, you can still purchase a hosting account with us, use our Off-site DNS services, or use our CashParking® or Quick Content services. If you do any of those, you must view your nameservers in your account with us, and then set the nameservers with your domain name registrar.”
How to modify your DNS Nameservers when you are using Go Daddy for your domain and Bluehost for your hosting:
- Log into the GoDaddy.com Account Manager.
- Select Manage Domains from the Domain Names drop-down menu or the Manage Your Account list.
- Select the domain name you wish to modify using the checkboxes and then click Set Name Servers.
- 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. Your entries should look like this: ns1.bluehost.com; ns2.bluehost.com.
You will then need to add the domain you bought (such as through GoDaddy) as an addon domain to your Bluehost web hosting. You can do this by clicking on “Domains” when logged into your Bluehost web hosting account and then clicking on “assign.” Follow the steps and it is very easy!
4. Install WordPress on Bluehost.
Okay, this is probably the step that all of you have been waiting for. If you want to start a WordPress blog on Bluehost then continue reading.
This part isn’t hard at all. Bluehost makes it very easy to create a WordPress blog and it is FREE.
- After you create your password, Bluehost guides you through exactly what you need to do in order to start a blog.
- First, Bluehost will ask you to pick a theme. You can just pick a random one here or find one that you actually like. You can change it later so it’s not a big deal or just scroll to the bottom and skip this step. Remember, there are many free ones too!
- Click on “Start Building”
- On the next screen, you can choose “Business” or “Personal” – it’s up to you. Or, you can click the “I don’t need help.”
WOOHOO! You now have a WordPress blog. You will have to work on the design and producing high-quality content, of course. Good luck!
If you sign up for Bluehost, but you are confused for any reason (such as how to set it up, picking a plan, pricing, etc.), you can always send me an email and I can help you out. That’s what I’m here for so don’t be afraid to send me an email at michelle@makingsenseofcents.com
Some general tips for how to navigate WordPress:
- You can add and create new posts by clicking on “Posts” on the left-hand side when you are logged in.
- If you want to add an image, click on “Media” on the left-hand side.
- You can go to “Appearance,” then “Widgets” in order to add items to your sidebar, footer, and so on.
- If you are looking for a way to send newsletters or emails to your readers, I recommend Convertkit.
- If you are looking into the actual design of your blog, Kadence and Astra seem to be the most popular right now. Or, there are free themes through WordPress you can use too. Just go to “Appearance” on the left-hand side when you are logged into your WordPress website and click on “Themes,” then activate whichever one you are interested in testing out. By doing this, you can start designing your website easily!
- Another option would be to buy a pre-made blog design, which you can find on Etsy or searching on Google. Two premade blog design sites that I recommend are Restored316 (my favorite!) and Bluchic. Need to build a website that is custom, professional, and budget-friendly? They have you covered! There is no need to code or stress over graphic design, either. These templates are easy to use. You can see the many different Bluchic designs here.
- I recommend checking out my online course for bloggers, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. I have earned over $1,000,000 through affiliate marketing and I share my exact strategy and tips in this very informative online course. If you’re a blogger (even if you’re a new blogger!), then you NEED this course.
How To Start a Blog
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to start a blog for beginners. I absolutely love running a blogging business, and it takes minimal equipment to get started. All you really need is a laptop/computer and an internet connection.
There are many different blog topics that you can write about on your blog, from food, finance, lifestyle, travel, family, house, news blogs, and more.
Have fun writing your first blog post and creating your own successful blog.
Here are more blogging-related posts you should take a look at after you learn how to start a WordPress blog:
- How To Earn Money Blogging: Your Top Questions Answered
- Should I Start A Blog? Here Are The Top Reasons You Will Love Blogging
- The Free Blogging Planner Workbook
- How 17 Bloggers Earned Their First Affiliate Income
- The Daily, Weekly and Monthly Habits for Building a $100,000 Blog
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