How to Start a Blog | Start a WordPress Blog with Bluehost

How to Start a WordPress Blog with Bluehost

If you’re trying to figure out how to start a blog then you came to the right place. I want to help you create your very own blog and teach you how to start a WordPress blog with Bluehost. I know, starting a blog can be totally nerve wrecking, but in the end you’ll totally thank yourself. Blogging online is the beginning of building your own brand and can start generating monthly cash-flow. What makes it all better is that you can start a money-making blog for just a few dollars a month!!

Starting my travel blog was one of the best decisions I made. One, because it’s a place where I can write down all my memories and experiences. Two, I can share those experiences with you guys. And three, I have a place where I can track my income / expenses and why I do what I do.

Below you will learn everything you need to know about starting your own blog for cheap! I have included discounted pricing for starting a blog through Bluehost with a free blog domain!! What’s the best part is that starting your own blog doesn’t have to be expensive! You can starting generating income with a blog for only a couple dollars a month. 

Before you start, this is a brief overview on how to start a blog:

1. Find a kickass & catchy blog name
2. Set up web hosting for your blog
3. Install WordPress
4. Figure out how your blog dashboard works
5. Download an awesome theme
6. Create a eye-catching logo
7. Install plugins to make your blog more user-friendly
8. Figure out what you want to write about a start creating content
9. Determine what niche you want to target & start building your audience!

This is the series of steps that will lead you to having your own blog! Click here to start a blog on WordPress then follow the rest of this tutorial for step by step directions.

When I was first trying to start my blog I was really nervous. I loved tumblr and talking about my life on there, but it got annoying how I wasn’t able to control any of it. Once I thought about going full force into blogging and spending several days comparing different web hosts, I finally chose Bluehost. I can tell you personally Bluehost is a great web host and I have had an awesome experience with their site and customer service!!

One of my favorite things about blogging is being able to build my brand from my laptop. I absolutely love traveling (just in case you couldn’t tell) so being able to work from anywhere was a double whammy for me. Paying for blog hosting is an investment that’s totally worth it and I’m sure you will be able to make the money you spend back with your blog. Investing money on yourself and your own knowledge is the best investment you can make anyway!

Bluehost has awesome reviews and is one of the top web hosting companies! What’s so awesome is that you can start your own blog with them for as low as $3.95 a month (through my link only)! If you sign up with my link and purchase a 12 month or longer hosting plan, you will get your domain for free (a $10-$20 value)!! Getting at least a 12 month hosting plan will save you a lot of money and push you to go all in on this blog The best value would be purchasing a 36 month plan since your overhead rate would be much lower, but the 12 month plan is still very good!

If you’re thinking “what the hell, there’s web hosts that let you make a blog for free” then you totally have the wrong mindset and you won’t be able to succeed making money through a blog. Signing up with a free web host gives you no control over your blog AT ALL. This means there’s someone out there that has control over all your posts and can just randomly shut down and wipe out your entire blog!! A blogspot blog won’t let you customize your URL which makes your content look unreliable and unprofessional!! To avoid all the bad things that can happen with a free webhost, I totally recommend setting up a WordPress blog on Bluehost!!

Here’s a list of reason’s why you might want to choose Bluehost for your WordPress blog:

• Bluehost makes it extremely easy to create a WordPress blog
• If you aren’t tech savvy, Bluehost has tech support that’s so so helpful!
• You get a FREE blog domain
• Bluehost offers cheap prices and is super affordable! The only real expense you need to pay starts as low as $3.95 a month~
• Your blog will be self-hosted, which means you’ll be able to monetize for your blog!
• WordPress through Bluehost is FREE!

Before continuing the rest of this tutorial you will need to head over to Bluehost. I’ve met many bloggers personally that chose Bluehost as their web host and have also seen amazing results!

If you want to start a blog and want to learn how to start a blog on Bluehost, continue below. Remember, if you feel any confusion throughout the process of signing up with Bluehost, you can always shoot me an email and I can help you out!!

Click here to start the process.

How to start a WordPress blog on Bluehost

1. Pick a Blog Name & Register it as your domain name

You can click here to purchase a domain name and to start creating your own blog.

The very first thing you’ll need to think about is what you want your blog name to be. Try thinking of something short & sweet, but also catchy. This is going to be hard so put some thought into it before jumping full force into it. If you’re still struggling on what to name your blog after reading the list below, then check out my post: How To Pick a Kickass Blog Name 

Try to Stand out of the Crowd

Pick something that’s out of the ordinary. Nomadic[name], Adventurous[name], Wanderlust[name] are some examples of overused travel blogger names. Pick something that’s unique to you, something that you will be able to grow with. You’ll want something that’s catchy and different so your followers will be able to easily remember your blog name.

Avoid using Hypens / Numbers

You want to be able to say your blog name easily so other people can write it down and remember it easily. Here’s an example of something you should not do in convo:

Potential follower: “Oh you have a blog, so cool! What’s it called?”
Me: “Ang hypen around hyphen the hypen globe the number 21 dot com” 

Do you now see how dificult that can be. Try your best to avoid these and try creating a blog name that you can swiftly say out loud.

How I Came Up with Ang Around The Globe

When I was going on my first backpacking trip I created Ang Around The Globe kinda as a joke, but then it stuck. My name allows me to talkabout everything related to how I travel, why I travel, how I afford to travel, and way more! It’s a blog name I know I can continue to grow with no matter which direction I want to to my blog since my end goal will always be wanting to travel!

Your blog name will come randomly and at the right time, so don’t rush this process! Finding the perfect domain name will come naturally, so be patient 🙂

How to Get your own Blog Name and How to Register it as Your Domain

You can get your domain name directly through Bluehost which makes the whole process super easy! If you register with my link, you will get a FREE domain for the first year as long as you buy at least 12 months of Bluehost web hosting. It’s totally worth it because having to pay for a domain name and web hosting usually costs so much! You get a better deal when buying at least 12 months of Bluehost web hosting anyway! And with Bluehost, you hit a double whammy by doing it all in one go! If you want even better pricing then you can puchase the 36 month plan which makes your monthly overhead even lower!

If you decide to go with a free domain name then continue below. You can create your free domain name and buy your Bluehost web hosting at the same time!

The “basic” package is all you’ll need to start off your blog and you can always upgrade later if you need to! Don’t spend more then you need to.

2. Get Hosting for Your Blog

Before diving into the rest of this, we’ll talk about cost first.

• The “Basic” plan is the cheapest price to start a blog and it’s really all you need. It’s only $3.95/month through my link (due in full upfront) if you sign up for 36 months. Which is such a sweet deal! If you sign up for a 24 month plan, it’s $4.95/month. If you sign up for the 12 month plan, it’s $5.95/month. All of these options are extremely affordable since you also get a free domain! If you are still testing out the blogging waters then I’d sign up for the 12 month plan since it’s very affordable for a full year of blogging!!
• The “Basic” plan is the cheapest and all you really need to start your own blog. You don’t need the Plus or Business Pro (which is even better since they are more expensive anyway). You can always upgrade your plan later anyway!!
• I’d also recommend paying for Domain Privacy Protection. This is so your contact information / identity stays safe and it’s only $0.99 per month!!
• I don’t think you need any of the other items Bluehost offers so I’d uncheck any of the other extras that are automatically checked.
• Remember, if you sign up with my link then you’ll get a FREE domain when you purchase a blog hosting plan for at least 12 months!

The best thing about using Bluehost as your hosting plan is because of how affordable it is! Like I said before, you’ll get a free domain which is to your benefit so you don’t have to deal with an expired website after every month! For example, your site can shut down completely if you don’t renew your hosting on time which would totally suck for you and your blog! Anyway, paying month-by-month is way more expensive and less time-efficient when trying to scale up your new blog.

If you register through my link, blog hosting for a full year will cost on average only $72 a year, or $143 for three years! That’s such a good deal!!

To start your blog, follow this couple of steps to buy hosting for your blog.

1. Go to Bluehost and click the “Get Started Now” button
2. Click on the package you want (I’d only do the “Basic” plan)
3. Sign up for a new domain name here or enter a domain name that you already have registered
4. Enter your information
5. Enter a password and make sure it’s super secure to keep your identity safe!

If you have any issues, please send me an email at angaroundtheglobe@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to help you out and answer any questions!!

3. Link your domain name and your hosting

If you bought your domain directly through domain then you can skip this entire section section (Section 3)

If you buy your domain through Go Daddy (like I did initially) then you will have to manually connect your domain to your hosting account. Don’t worry, it’s not difficult and Go Daddy has a support page made for linking servers to domain names.

If you are using Go Daddy for your domain and Bluehost as your web host then you will need to modify your DNS Nameservers. To do this, follow the step by step guide below!

1. Go to your Account Manager on GoDaddy.com
2. Click Manage Domains from the Domain Names drop down menu
3. Select the domain name you wish to modify by clicking Set Name Servers
4. Enter your updated server information under the blue Name Servers heading on the right save and then Save!! It should look something like this: ns1.bluehost.com; ns2.bluehost.com

You’ll then need to add the domain you bough separately as an addon domain to your web host on Bluehost. When you’re logged into your Bluehost account click on Domains and then click assign. It’ll show you steps on how to complete the process and it’s very straightforward!

4. Install WordPress on Bluehost

I saved the very best and most exciting part for last: the beginning of starting your own blog. If you want to continue setting up your WordPress blog on Bluehost then keep on going (don’t worry, you’re almost there)

Bluehost makes it extremely easy to create a WordPress blog for FREE. Bluehost will guide you through what you need to do to start a blog. Kinda similar to setting up a new phone but way more exciting.

First, you’ll need to pick a theme. You can find one that really catches your eye but don’t worry you can change it an unlimited amount of times. There’s a lot of really good free themes too that work really well!!

Second, you can pick “Business” or “Personal” as your blog preference. It’s completely up to you based on which direction you want to go with your blog. You can generate income from both styles!!

And there you have it, you now have a kickass WordPress blog and now you’ll need to starting creating content!! I wish you the best of luck on all your blogging adventures and hope this post helped you learn how to start a blog.

If you have read through this and still are confused or have any questions, please shoot me an email at angaroundtheglobe@gmail.com. I’d be more than happy to help you succeed with your blog!!

I’d love to hear your thoughts based on your blogging experiences so I can share them with new bloggers too! Best of luck and I’m glad I could be a part of your journey!

Xoxo, Angelique Vestil – Ang Around The Globe

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