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How to Set Up A Blog The Easy Way…1,2,3

The easiest way to set up a wordpress blog is to sign up for an account from Bluehost and then let me set up the blog for you for free. See here for details. If you want to set it up yourself (still super easy) keep reading.

Blogging is one of the best ways to build a targeted group of followers in your niche. For 10 reasons you should start blogging now check out my blog post on the subject here.

The easiest way to get started blogging is to get a free blog from Google’s blogspot.com platform. It is free. You do not have to worry about anything technical and Google owns your content and can delete your entire blog anytime at their whim.

The Easiest Way to Get Started is With Google’s Free Blogspot.com Platform But They Own Your Content and Can Delete Your Blog Anytime

Easy but not without a price. It costs you your birth right basically.  When you set up a free blog on blogspot.com or other similar platforms you do not own the content and the host can delete your blog at anytime for any reason and they do occasionally.

I do not like being at anybody’s whim. Especially when it comes to a project which will take hours of my time as well as my heart and soul.

So I have chosen to host my own blog on my own domain name using a leased web hosting account. I own all the content, I own the domain name. If for some reason my web host does not like my blog I can easily move it to another host. I own the domain name so I own the internet real estate associated with my blog. People have sold domain names and blogs have sold for millions of dollars so this is a real asset to own.

Owning Your Own Domain Name is Like Owning Internet Real Estate. Domain Names and Blogs Have Sold For Millions of Dollars.

Most people get hung up on the expense and technicalities of setting up your own self-hosted blog. I have good news. It is now super easy to set up and dirt cheap to set up your own self-hosted blog. Here is how you do it.

Get Yourself a Domain Name.

Think about your domain name strategy. Do you have a brand that you will be building? Maybe you are the brand. Then the domain would be “yourname.com” if available. Maybe you are trying to rank for a specific keyword in Google. If so then think about including your keyword in your domain name.

Here is an example. I created a directory of Plumbers in the Ft. Lauderdale Florida area. I specifically wanted to rank in Google for the keywords “Best Plumber Fort Lauderdale.” I reserved the domain name “bestplumberfortlauderdale.com” and created my directory. If you Google “best plumber fort lauderdale” my site is on the first page of Google for these keywords.

.Com is generally the best but other extensions can work too. I know this blog is .net. It is an old domain that I had built up over the years. However, I definitely would have preferred quickregister.com. I already have momentum on this domain so it works for me. But I would always go for .com first if possible. However, the others can work well too depending on your strategy.

You can check and see what domain names are available from this widget.

Get Yourself Web Hosting

The most important factor for me in when hosting is reliability not price. Why? Say you are making $50. per day with your website and it goes down for 1 day. You lose 50 bucks plus a heap of credibility. Say the difference in the reliable web hosting and the cheapo web hosting was $10 per month? Do the math. If you went with the reliable web host and paid more you actually made more money.

Reliability is More Important Than Price When it Comes To Web Hosting.

I spend about $400. a month on web hosting and it is worth every penny. If you are just getting started with your blog I do not suggest you spend that kind of money. It makes no sense. You can start out small and build up as needed. If you are just getting started I suggest getting an account with Bluehost. Here is why I suggest Bluehost:

1. Bluehost is reliable. They host over 2 million websites! They have 24/7 customer service. If you have a problem with your site at 3 am there is somebody there to help you. Actually before I would hire a hosting company I would not call their sales office but try to contact their support desk at some ungodly hour. If they responded I knew I had a winner!
2. Bluehost is the easiest simplest platform to use to set up a wordpress self hosted blog I have ever seen. It literally can be done in a few clicks. Maybe that is why WordPress themselves recommends Bluehost as one of their 3 recommended hosting companies.
3. Bluehost is a great deal. Hosting with Bluehost starts at just $3.49 per month PLUS they include a free domain name! Domain names usually cost about $10. per year. With Bluehost you get both the domain name free and the hosting for the price of a latte each month.
4. If you go with Bluehost I will set up your blog for you for free. It is super easy to set up a wordpress blog with Bluehost. But it you want me to set it up for you for free see here for details. It is so easy it just takes me a few minutes.

Here is a video of me setting up a blog on Bluehost for the first time.:
Here is how to set up your Bluehost account and get your wordpress blog set up.

1. Go here to the Bluehost website. You will see something like this: Click the green button that says “Get Started Now” or it might say “Start Your Website.”
2. Now select your plan. If you are just going to have one domain name and one website I would just choose the “Starter Plan.” If you are actually going to set up several different domain names and websites then you might go with the Plus or Business Pro plan. If confused just go with the Starter Plan. You can always upgrade as your needs change.

3. Choose your domain name. This is the part where you choose your domain name. Of if you already registered your domain name with another registrar enter it where it says transfer domain. See the screenshot below:

4. Just fill out the information, choose your plan (I would not worry about all the extras they suggest), enter your credit card and and press submit. If the domain name you choose was available then you should see a screen which says “Sign Up – Congratulations!” along with the other information you see below.

5. Create your password. Wait a minute or so for your order to process and you should see the welcome screen below:

Use this Password Generator to create a hard to hack password. Copy this password using Control-C  if you are on a PC or ?-C if you are on a Mac. Then just paste the password where you are asked for the password.

Click the checkbox where it asks if you agree to the terms and conditions. This should bring you to the Bluehost login screen where you can log into your control panel to set up your wordpress blog.

6. Log into your new Bluehost account.

7. Click where it says “Install WordPress.”

8. Click the green install button.

9. Click “Check Domain.” If you are just installing your blog on your domain name just leave it the way it is and click Check Domain.

Click where it says I agree to terms and conditions and Click “Install Now.” You will be re-directed to a page where they ask you to get an upgraded theme. I would not worry about that now. You can always take your time and look for a custom theme later.

Your blog is now being set up. You just have to wait a few minutes and you will see this at the top of your screen.

10. Click on where it says view credentials. You will then see the log in for your blog. It will be something like:

http://www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin

username: yourdomain.com

passwords: yourpassword

You can then go to the url above and log into your blog for the first time.

Your blog is now set up and ready for you to make posts! There are endless modifications you can make to your blog and we cannot go into all these here. But if you follow all these steps your blog will be ready to accept new posts and will be live on the internet for everyone to see!

If you want to get started setting up your own blog you can start the whole process here.

Once you sign up with a Bluehost account and if you want me to set up the initial blog for you see here.

Remember there is no risk. You will not get stuck on some technical issue. I will set up the initial blog for you if you wish. Bluehost will help you and you can even ask me questions at info at quickregisterseo.com . Please put “Bluehost Blog Question” in the subject.

I have set up many blogs the old fashioned hard way so we can get you going for sure. You probably can just do it yourself after reading all this.

If you think this blog post is helpful you are welcome to link to it as a resource and share on social media.

Much Success,

Matt