How to get started on your blog today (A step by step game plan form the Coach)

So, you want to start your own blog in 2017? Now is the time to “Get N The Game!”

Whether you’re looking to blog to build your personal or small business brand it all starts at the same place. Getting started. And if you want to get through this part without hassles, you found the right Coach to help you.

Here, you’ll learn how to set up your own blog within 30 minutes or less. Even if you’re a complete newbie like I was with no prior knowledge.

All you have to do is read the detailed guide below and other linked pages, and follow the steps to create your own WordPress blog.

Within thirty minutes or thereabout, you should have your own blog live on the web!

Now, let’s get started with the game plan.

At this point, I want to assume that you’ve already figured why you want to start blogging, and you’ve decided on the topic you want to blog about. So, I won’t bother dwelling on those aspects. Let’s move on fast.

Before proceeding to set up your blog, you need to do two important things: First, choose a domain name. And second, decide on which blogging platform to use.

We covered this in my most recent blog post here. This guide is for WordPress.Org sites that require cost, but give you full control of your blog to customize at your discretion. I strongly recommend building your personal and small business brands here. You’ll see why below.

Choosing a domain name

Your domain name is going to be your identity in the “blogosphere”, so you need to choose it carefully. Opt for a domain name that is unique, easy to remember, and short. Though including words that reflect your blog topic isn’t a must, it is recommended.

Bear in mind that your most preferred name might not be available, so you should have a number of other options by the side. Better yet, consider other domain extensions (that is, if  the .com is no longer available, consider .net, or .org).

And if all else fails, it doesn’t hurt to use your name. Many successful bloggers use have their names as their blog’s domain names.

Deciding on a blogging platform

This area can be really confusing for most beginner bloggers because they really don’t know the options they have. And when they do, they don’t know which option is preferable and why. But I’ll explain the options in simple terms here, so you can make a well informed decision.

Your blogging platform is the program that holds your blog and makes it available on the web. The two most popular blogging platforms are Blogger (owned by Google) and WordPress. While Blogger is a totally free platform, WordPress has both a free option (WordPress.com) and a self-hosted option (WordPress.org).

If you ask me and most other professional bloggers out there which platform is the best, our answer will be the same — self-hosted WordPress.

While Blogger and WordPress.com come at no cost, there are so many pesky limitations to using both free platforms. And here are some of them:

You’ll have to include an ugly extension in your blog URL, so you get something like yourblog.blogspot.com or yourblog.wordpress.com. (Though you can get a yourblog.com name, it won’t come for free).

You don’t have access to the thousands of plugins and themes available to a self-hosted blog. To gain access to some — not even all — of them, you have to part with some bucks.

Your blog can be deleted anytime you post information that is regarded as spam or sensitive content by the platform’s overzealous bots. And most of the time, you can’t get it back.

You can’t use a custom email like yourname@yourblog.com. You can only get to use such on a self-hosted blog.

You can’t monetize your blog as freely as you like. While Blogger allows a number of monetization options, WordPress.com allows none (unless you agree to share a whopping 50 percent of your profit with them — and that’s just crazy!).

However, with a self-hosted WordPress blog, you’ll be able to get started with a cool domain name like yourdomain.com or yourdomain.org. And You’ll be able to customize your blog as much as you like with the thousands of plugins and themes available.

In addition, you’ll be able to share whatever content you like on your blog without nursing any fears of having it deleted. And you’ll be able to make money through any monetization method you want. In short, you’ll be in absolute control of your blog.

So, how much does it cost to create a self-hosted WordPress blog?

Very cheap. With less than $60, you can set up a self-hosted WordPress blog — and you won’t get to spend anything extra until after one year. A small investment into your personal or small business for 2017.

First, you have to register your domain name for about $15 per year.

Next, you need to purchase a hosting plan. This plan provides the space that your blog will occupy on the web.

There are more than countable companies on the web offering hosting services to individuals and companies looking to host their blogs and websites. And trying to figure out the good ones can easily get you confused. But I’ve done all the homework for you.

Which web hosting company should you choose?

Having worked with a number of hosting companies and learning about other customer’s experiences with many others, I’ve developed strong confidence in a few of them, and I can vouch for services of those few.

However, the hosting company I particularly love to recommend is Bluehost. And here are my reasons:

They have a clean user interface; you can easily find your way around without getting lost — even if you have no previous experience of blog or website creation.

They have 24 hour customer support chat for all your questions. Their customer support staff is responsive and is always ready to

help you with any issues you may have with their service. They guarantee and provide amazing server uptime of 99.9%.

Now that you’ve understood why you should go for a self-hosted WordPress blog, and why you should choose Bluehost as your hosting service provider, let’s discuss how to set up your self-hosted WordPress blog using Bluehost.

How to create a blog using Bluehost

At this point, you’re just a few minutes away from getting your self-hosted WordPress blog live on the web. Just get your credit card and follow the steps below.

Simply watch this video to walk you through the set up here.

Now, you can login to your WordPress blog and start blogging right away!

Login to your blog and start blogging

To gain access to your blog, you need to login to the back-end. To do this, simply open a new browser tab and enter the Login URL you were provided after your WordPress installation. The Login URL should look like http://yourblog.com/wp-admin.

Your blog’s login page will be displayed next. Enter your username and password in the spaces provided, then click “Login”.

Congratulations, you’ve gotten in the game! Here is your Dashboard. That’s the “back-end” of your blog where you make changes to your blog and set everything that you readers will see on the “front end”.

The dashboard above might look somewhat overwhelming at first, but you’ll get used to it in no time at all, I promise.

Now that you’ve logged in to your new WordPress blog, you can publish your first post, just to see how simple the process is.

To publish your first post, start by moving your mouse pointer to the menu on the left. Hover your mouse on “Posts” and click “Add New” from the sub-menus that pop out.

Add the title of your blog post in the first field, and write your post content in the second, larger field.

Click “Publish” by the right hand side.

The next page shows a notification that your post has been published. Click the “View Post” to see how your new post would appear to your readers.

And that’s all there is to creating your WordPress blog! All you need is 30 minutes or even less.

Next, it’s time to learn a bit more about how to make your blog look great. You can check out the following links for more details:

How to login to your WordPress dashboard. How to Install a WordPress How to Install a Theme in WordPress How to Install WordPress Plugins (series) How to Create Posts and Pages for Your WordPress Blog How to Set Up Menus and Widgets

Now, you can see how easy the whole set up process is.

Are you ready to get started now? Click here to head over to Bluehost and start creating your blog!

Do you need my help?

In case you get stuck at any point while setting up your blog, get in touch with me through barrygipson@shareplaylearn.info, and I’d readily help you out for free.