How and Where to Start a Blog and Get Making Money From Home!

Step 3: Select a Hosting Provider

When considering “where to start a blog”, you’re really talking about two different things:

• Where to host your blog.
• Where to build your blog.

Let’s start with where to host your blog. You definitely want to consider several factors when picking a hosting provider. These considerations should include:

• Reliability – You want to ensure your hosting provider is not some 12-year-old kid with a server in his or her garage. If your hosting provider has issues your site has issues and that is not a good user experience.
• Support – You want to pick a hosting provider that has helpful and accessible customer service personnel. If your site is having issues you need to be able to reach out to someone (preferably someone knowledgeable) at any time, day or night.
• Features – You want to pick a hosting provider that offers any features you think might be important or nice to have. For example, with Bluehost you get a free domain registration.
• Cost – When you’re first launching a blog you probably won’t want to spend a ton of money, so cost is definitely something to keep in mind.

Last but not least, when figuring out where to start a blog, always remember that you can switch later! You are not locked into your hosting provider forever.

Bluehost is a great hosting provider option especially for beginners. Benefits include:

• Packages that start at just $5.95 per month (or if you use this special Bluehost link you can get the starter package for $3.49 a month).
• Free domain registration.
• Free site builders – more on this later, but it makes setting up your WordPress blog a snap.
• 24/7 support.
• The functionality to run advertisements, affiliate links, etc.

Pretty nice, right? In addition, Bluehost can grow with you and your blog. They offer pricier options that are great for more robust blogs (with lots of traffic).

If you’re following my tips to start a blog, you’ll be choosing Bluehost to register your domain and act as your hosting provider. Let’s talk about how to set that up.

Step 4: Connect Your Domain and Hosting Provider

Once you decide Bluehost is right for where to start a blog, moving forward is super simple. Just follow these steps:

1. Go to Bluehost.

2. Click “Get Started Now”.

3. Choose your desired package. I recommended starting with the starter (lowest) package.

4. Enter your desired domain name in the “New Domain” box.
Note: If you purchased your domain elsewhere, enter your domain name in the “Transfer Domain” box.

5. Fill in the account and billing information and confirm your package options.

6. Click “Next”.

7. Select any add-ons you want for your blog. I recommend skipping these for now. You can always add them later if you find them to be necessary.

8. Create your Bluehost password.

That’s it! You now have a Bluehost account. I told you it was easy! 🙂

But wait, we’re not done answering the question “how and where to start a blog?”