The Best Webhost for Beginners
When you’re starting a blog it can be hard to know where to begin.
Not only do you have to know the purpose of your site and plan the content you’re going to create, you’re also facing the challenge of setting up a website.
Building a website can be technical and overwhelming if you don’t really know what you’re doing. To make the set-up process of your blog easy you need to pick a good web host.
You need to choose a web host that does all the technical stuff for you.
Choosing the right web host can make all the difference in having an easy set up process or one that makes you want to give up before you’ve even started.
Ok, let’s dive in!
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Choosing the best Web Host for you
Every website or blog needs a web host. A web host is basically where your website lives on the world wide web.
You can use free website builders like Wix or WordPress.com but these platforms are not meant for professional blogging.
The 3 problems with free blogging platforms:
#1. You don’t get your own domain name, it will look something like this: www.mysite.wordpress.com which does not look professional.
#2. You don’t own your site. If you ever outgrow or decide to leave your free platform it can be tricky or impossible to migrate your site, meaning you might have to start all over again.
#3. Most of these free platforms have restrictions when it comes to placing ads or using affiliate links.
My advice is: Think twice before you start your blog on a free platform, especially if you’re thinking of buying your own domain name because attaching a domain name to a free site often costs more than a complete self-hosted site. And don’t worry, setting up a self-hosted site is easy to do, I’ll walk you through it in a minute.
If you intend to make money with your blog, and if you’d like people to take your blog seriously, I highly recommend using WordPress.org and creating a self-hosted site.
When shopping for a web host the following things are important:
- Speed: your website speed or loading time is very important. Studies show that a 1 second drop in website speed can decrease your conversion rate by 7%. A 3 second delay can cost you 50% of your traffic.
- Up Time: You don’t want your blog to be out of action, so an up time or 99% or higher is desirable.
- Price: Is the more expensive host the best one? From my experience, expensive is not always the best. I have actually come across two terrible web hosts that were quite expensive (around $30 p/m).
- Customer Service: Do they offer fast 24/7/365 support?
There are lots of good web hosts but one that stands out for me is Bluehost. Not only do they offer all the points mentioned above, the main thing that I like about Bluehost is that they make it easy for you to set up a blog, especially if you are a beginner.
Other hosts will tell you to install WordPress yourself or set up your SSL certificate in your c-panel, but do you want to do that?
No.
Do you even know how to do that?
Probably not.
Another thing that is awesome about Bluehost is that you get a free domain name for the first year. This is not only saving you about $14.95, this also bypasses the headache of having to point your domain name at your web host’s name servers.
Another thing you don’t want to worry about.
Basically Bluehost has taken all the technical obstacles away by doing it for you so all you have to do is login to your site and start blogging!
What is the secret?
The trick is to buy Bluehost WordPress Hosting, it costs $3.95 per month which is the same price as their regular shared hosting package. But the WordPress Hosting comes with WordPress already installed.
Let’s summarise:
Bluehost WordPress Hosting includes:
- Automatic WordPress install & updates
- Free SSL certificate (this means your site visitors won’t get a horrible warning that your site is not secure, very worth it!)
- Free domain name (yay!)
- Free webmail email address
- 24/7 awesome support
- Money back guarantee
Sounds pretty good?
Are you ready to set up your blog?
The set up process is quick and easy, just follow along with the next few steps and you’ll have your blog set up in no time.
Step 1. Go to Bluehost WordPress Hosting
Click here to go to the Bluehost WordPress Hosting page.
Step 2. Choose a Plan
If you are planning to create one blog or website the Basic plan will be enough for you.
Step 3. Choose your Domain Name
Here you can claim your free domain name or if you already have one go to: I have a domain name.
Step 4. Enter your details
Once you’ve claimed your domain, it’s time to enter some personal details to create your account.
Step 5. Choose your package
Here you can choose how many years of hosting you’d like to buy. You get the best price per month if you pay for 3 years.
Step 6. Choose your package extra’s
Here you can add some extra services. One I recommend is Domain Privacy, a paid service that will keep your personal information private on WHOIS databases.
Untick any services you do not want.
Step 7. Add your payment information
Select more payment options if you want to pay with PayPal.
Step 8. Create a password for your account
Make sure it’s long and impossible to guess, you don’t want to get hacked!
Write it down somewhere safe.
Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of a website!
Bluehost will send you an email confirmation with a link to your website.
Click on this link and you’ll see a login screen where you enter your domain name and the password you wrote down earlier.
Next you’ll be asked to name your site and add a tagline. If you don’t have a tagline, just describe in a few words what your blog is about. Click Continue.
Now you will be asked to answer a few more question about the goals of your site. This is so Bluehost can recommend certain plugins for your site. Tick the boxes that are relevant for your site and click continue.
Next you can pick a WordPress theme. You can choose one of these free themes or you can scroll to the bottom and click ‘skip this step’ if you want to install a premium theme. (I recommend using a premium theme as this will make your web design process a lot easier. A great theme for beginners is Divi)
After this you’ll end up in the Bluehost Portal. Have a look around to familiarise yourself. To get to your website click on the blue WordPress button, this will take you to the backend of your new website: the WordPress Dashboard.
(Another way to login is to go to your browser and in the top url bar type: www.yourdomainname.com/wp-admin Make sure to replace it with your domain name )
If this is your first time configuring a WordPress website and you don’t know what to do next, make sure to read:
What to do after you install WordPress
I hope you’ve found this post helpful, if you have any questions just let me know in the comments below.
To help you plan out every detail of your blog I’ve created the Ultimate Blog Planner Workbook. Fill out the form below and I’ll send it to you straight away.
Till next time, happy blogging!
GET THE FREE
ULTIMATE BLOG PLANNER WORKBOOK
Did this tutorial help you set up your blog?
Let me know in the comments below.
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Quick question – on step 6, package extras – you’ve recommended to include a Domain Privacy. Do we need to choose both ‘SiteLock Security’ AND ‘Codeguard Basic’? Or, just one of the two? I’m a new blogger and recently found your site. I have totally learned something new from every one of your posts thus far! Thanks so much!!
Hi Lisa, you don’t have to choose Sitelock security and codeguard basic. You can install plugins on your website that secure your site like iThemes Security or Wordfence Security. And Codeguard keeps a back up of your site which you can do for free with the plugin: Updraft Backup & Restore.
Glad to hear you find my blog posts helpful!! 🙂
It’s always a good idea to look into a platform before you start blogging. You never know if those restrictions will hold you back in the future.
Yes definitely Bethany, you want your blog to be able to grow without limitations!
Fabulous post with thorough steps and perceptive insights. This is an excellent resource for new bloggers.
Thanks Kimberlie 🙂