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How to Setup A Blog In Less Than 5 Minutes
Everybody wants to blog but no one knows how to exactly go about doing it. Well I have broken down the barrier for you so that you can just follow a simple step-by-step post to help you get your blog up and running with 5 minutes. If you want to get started down the blogging path, you need to put some skin into the game and there is no better way to do that than starting with Bluehost. This is where we started and now, this is what we do full time.
We use wordpress for our blog and I would highly suggest that you do as well. Though Blogger and WordPress.com are free, everyone who becomes serious with blogging eventually transitions over to a platform such as WordPress (not to be confused with WordPress.com) because of the flexibility in it’s design and function.
LDS SMILE receives a million pageviews a month and has allowed us to blog full time and do this for a living. Blogging isn’t an overnight success but with some pointers, you can definitely reduce your time from 4 years to 2 or from 2 years to 1.
LDS SMILE is hosted by Bluehost Web Hosting. It’s only $3.95 a month and they will help you set up your hosting services.
So without any further wait, let’s get into this and get started.
Step 1: Choosing a Company to Host Your Blog
There are plenty of companies to choose from but Bluehost is the only hosting service officially recommended by WordPress and has been the number-one recommended hosting service for their platform for almost 10 years. Some of the reasons why I love being with Bluehost are listed below.
- Great customer service.
- Easy-to-use control panel
- Custom-built servers
- Super easy to install WordPress. Just one-click and they’ll automatically setup everything you need to use WordPress right away.
- Expert, in-house technical support provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Unlimited websites, email accounts, and domains – all on one account at an affordable price
- No gimmicks, no contracts. Enjoy the comfort of a 30-day money back guarantee and the option to cancel at any time. You can even get a prorated refund of your remaining contract at any time
- And to sweeten the deal even more, if you sign up through this post today, you’ll get a special offer of shared hosting at $3.95/month for 36 months, as well as a free domain name for a year!
- To set up your hosting account with Bluehost, follow the steps below. If you have your domain name ready of what you want it to be and your credit card ready, this setup will take less than 5 minutes.So let’s get started, just click here on the Bluehost link we we’ll get underway. Just click “Get Started Now” and you’ll be on your way.
Step 2. Set up your hosting account
Choose the plan you’d like to start with. (You can upgrade at any time.) I typically recommend going with the Plus plan because you get more unlimited features but if you go with starter plan, you can’t go wrong. Note that all plans come with one free domain.Just click one of the green “select” buttons to move to the next step.
Step 3. Choosing a Domain
Enter a new domain name on the left. A domain name is your desired web address, like LDSSMILE.com.Make sure .com, or the extension of your choice, is selected from the drop down menu beside it. If you’ve already registered a domain name elsewhere, enter it on the right (don’t worry, it won’t mess things up if you’re using the domain already, this only identifies your account).
Then click the blue Next button.
Tips for choosing a domain name:
Go with a .com whenever possible.
Make it easy to say and spell.Don’t include hyphens, numbers, obscure terms or confusing strings
of words.If you’re not sure what to use, your name is a safe bet to start. Be creative and try a phrase if you’re having trouble finding an available name.
Step 4: Enter Your Personal Information
On the next page, enter your account info. Make sure you use a working email address because this is where your login information will be sent.Step 5: Choosing a Hosting Package
This is going to be a personal preference. You can get the lowest per month payment by going with the longest term possible. However, I would advise going with the shortest term of 12 months. The reasoning behind this is because in 12 month, you’ll know whether or not this particular blog is going to work for you or not. If you haven’t seen traction by 12 months, you’re probably not going to get it. I live by a modified version of “fail fast, fail often”. Learn fast and learn often is my motto and don’t just keep pounding away at something if it’s not working. So stick with the 12 month plan for now and upgrade later if you need to.I also skip all the add-ons including the domain privacy. People are super anal about their privacy but the reality of the situation is that in the world we live in today, privacy is just a mere mirage. You can come back later and add them as you need to.
Step 6: Enter your billing info
Fill in your billing information, confirm that you’ve read the fine print and then click Next.
Step 7: Skip the upgrades
On the next page you’ll be asked if you want to add any upgrades. I just skip them. Continue on to complete your purchase. After completing your purchase, check your email. You’ll find a welcome email from Bluehost with your control panel (cpanel) login info. Keep this information for future reference.
Congratulations, you just purchased hosting! Next up is to install WordPress…
Step 8: Login to your cpanel
Go back to Bluehost and click the Login button in the top right corner of your screen. Alternatively, you can use the link to your cpanel contained in the welcome email.
Step 9: Setting up WordPress on Your Blog
Check out this video tutorial produced by Bluehost to walk you through the WordPress Installation…it’s super easy.
This may seem like the most complicated step, but Bluehost has done a tremendous job of making this as seamless as possible.
