This is what I will be covering:
Why you need a self-hosted blog.
Many bloggers have been able to transform a side hustle into a full time business providing them with both financial security and the freedom to indulge and enjoy their lives.
Like me, many bloggers would have started with a free site like Blogger/Blogspot.
This will be suitable if you wish to blog occasionally as a hobby.
If however you want to turn your blogging into a business, you should seriously consider moving to a fee paying host as this has numerous advantages.
Paying for hosting gives you much more freedom to be creative and have a very professional site with your own domain name.
You can also display and run your own affiliate links and advertisements to generate an income which you cannot do with a free site.
Why BlueHost?
I have great experience using Bluehost and would personally recommend it as the ideal platform to host your WordPress blog for the following reasons…..
—>The pricing is very competitive starting at $2.95 a month
—->Bluehost allows an EASY seamless 1-click integration with WordPress. They make the perfect couple!!
—->In addition to a free WordPress account you will get a FREE domain name.
—->Bluehost has an awesome 24/7 support which I found most invaluable when i started my blog.
—-> there is a 30 day money back guarantee if you do change your mind.
It is no surprise Bluehost powers over 2 million websites worldwide.
How To Start A WordPress Blog On BlueHost
Creating your WordPress blog is simple.
Click here to get started with Bluehost, then follow the easy step-by-step tutorial below.
If you register for Bluehost through my link and encounter any difficulties during the setup, feel free to email me.
I also have a FREE 7 Day email course.
Which WordPress?
There are two versions of the free WordPress platform – WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
I would recommend you use WordPress.org as your blog platform.
Unlike the WordPress.com version you have the freedom to fully customize your blog and use your own domain name.
With WordPress.com you will get a blog address that reads www.yoursitename.wordpress.com.
You will get a WordPress.org platform with Bluehost.
STEP 1: Choose and Register Your Domain Name
If you have not chosen your domain name by now, this is the time to put on your thinking hat. This can often be difficult. If you have not registered a name previously then it is easy, once you decide on one, to get it free through Bluehost.
Ideally, choose a short memorable name that describes your blog. A .com domain name gives universal appeal and is easy to remember.
STEP 2: Select A Bluehost Plan
The next step is to select a hosting plan. You can start with the Basic plan and upgrade as your blog grows.
Press the select button to continue.
The next step allows you to choose your free domain name or if you already have an existing name, then use the right hand box and click NEXT.
STEP 3: Create Your Bluehost Account
The next step is to set up your account. You will be offered several extras which you can ignore at this stage.
You will have to pay for at least 12 months hosting in advance.
If you can afford it, the 24 and 36 month packages are more economical by offering cheaper monthly pricing.
After paying you will be asked to choose and create a password for your account.
Voila!…
You get a congratulatory message. Your account has been set up.
STEP 4: Connect Your Domain To Bluehost
This step is only necessary if you did not get your domain name from Bluehost. Your domain needs to point to Bluehost’s nameservers.
The Bluehost Nameservers are:
- ns1.bluehost.com
- ns2.bluehost.com
You need to go back to the web hosting company you bought your domain name from. Log into your account and find the ‘Custom DNS’ settings under ‘Manage Domains’. Change the nameservers to the two Bluehost Nameservers above and click save or update. Simple!
STEP 5: Set up WordPress on Bluehost
When you complete your account set up, you will receive an email from Bluehost with your log in details for WordPress including the temporary site, username and password. This email is very important and should be saved. You can change your password when you log in.
When you log in, Bluehost will take you through the process of setting up your FREE WordPress blog.
Choose a WordPress Theme
One of the initial tasks is choosing a theme for your blog site. These are templates for building your blog.
Bluehost has some free themes and there are are numerous free themes available outside Bluehost you can select from.
There are also ‘Premium’ themes you have to pay for. In general these offer better flexibility than free themes.
The good news is that you can start with a free theme and substitute when you find a theme that suits your needs. You can try a few.
After considerable search and several trials, I chose the OceanWP theme for my blog. OceanWP is one of the fastest growing WorpPress themes that helps you build beautiful and easily customizable websites using creative demos.
OceanWP also integrates very well with Elementor, a free, fast, easy to use drag and drop WordPress page builder that allows you to create beautiful, custom WordPress layouts without having any coding knowledge. Elementor also has some amazing templates.
OceanWP theme with the amazing Elementor page builder together would be my personal recommendation.
NEXT, click on the button Start Building.
On the next page choose between Business or Personal. You can click on ‘I don’t need help’.
Congratulations……..
……..your WordPress blog is ready for your content and set up.
WordPress Features
A panel opens up on the left hand side in your WordPress dashboard.
Click on Pages and Posts to add new pages to your blog and write your posts. Elementor makes it easy to create and customize your pages and posts.
On Media, you can store your images.
Under Appearance, you can customize the appearance of your blog including the menus, widgets and background. Through widgets you can design the footer and side bars.
One of the remarkable features of WordPress is the ability to hook up various plugins to your blog.
This is done through the plugin button on the dashboard and you can install whatever features or services you need to run your blog.
This will include plugins linked to your WordPress Theme, the Elementor page builder if you have download it, SEO, Google Analytics and so many more.
Email Marketing
The serious blogger will need an email autoresponder service which will integrate with your blog.
This will allow you to build an email list to which you can send emails and newsletters.
Your readers are also more likely to buy from you.
The two email autoresponder services I would recommend are Convertkit and Aweber.
Active Campaign, in addition to powerful automation, has an affordable CRM facility.
Marketing & Social Media Resources
You can create highly converting landing pages by linking to ClickFunnels. ClickFunnels also has a plugin to display your funnels on your WordPress blog using short codes.
Insert social media buttons. You can display how many times your content has been shared thereby build social proof and authority. Check out the beautiful buttons at the top of this page. I would recommend Social Warfare Pro which has extra functionality over the free plugin.
Tailwind is a valuable resource for scheduling pins and images to Pinterest and Instagram.
Use captivating images for your social media posts.
I use Picmonkey to to resize images for different social media platforms. You can also customize and design beautiful images from a range of templates.
All the resources are available here.
Feel free to email me if you encounter any difficulties setting up your blog.
Good Luck with your blog!!!
Affiliate Disclaimer: I hope you got value from this How To Start A WordPress Blog On BlueHost In 5 Easy Steps review. Please take note that some of the links inside this article may be affiliate links. That means that if you buy through one of our links, we may get an affiliate commission for it. If you do click on one of our links, we really appreciate it! Any money we make keeps this site running smoothly and allows us to keep producing these high-quality reviews.
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