HOW TO START A BLOG IN 3 SIMPLE STEPS

I wanted to make this process as simple and fast for you as possible, so I’ve broken it all down in three simple steps. Here’s what you will need to know before getting started.

1. Select the Right Blogging Platform – This is how you will create a blog and new content for your site.
2. Set up Your Domain Name and Hosting – These are required to make your site content accessible around the world.
3. Creating a Blog with Purpose – Once your blog is live, I’ll show you how to make it look amazing and professional.

If some of these don’t make sense to you right now, don’t worry about it. I’m going to show you how simple it is to go live with a blog in just minutes, while also requiring no technical or programming skills.

STEP 1 – CHOOSING THE RIGHT BLOGGING PLATFORM

Starting a blog or a website today is much easier, faster and cheaper today than it was in previous years. This is mainly due to free software solutions becoming available that allow site owners to create content and go live with a site without the need to know any programming or have any design skills. In short, if you know how to type or send an email, you are more than well-equipped to start a blog of your own.However, before going live with your blog, you need to know which blogging platform is best for you and your site. In the chart below you will see a breakdown of the most popular blogging content management systems being used today.

WORDPRESS IS THE BEST SOLUTION FOR STARTING A NEW BLOG.

As you can see from the visual above, WordPress is the clear winner. In comparison to the thousands of different site design editors, platforms and content management solutions on the internet today, more than 26% of all sites on the internet use WordPress (just like this website is also using WordPress).So what does this mean for you? In short… WordPress is going to make your life and blogging a whole lot easier.Here are a few reasons why you will love using WordPress:

• It’s 100% Free – Amazingly enough, one of the most powerful software solutions in the world today is 100% free! No gimmicks, no up-sells… just free.
• Extremely Easy for Beginners – WordPress has become one of the most popular platforms in the world today not only because it’s free, but also because it’s so easy to use. Instead of requiring site owners to use custom designs or programming, there are thousands of free WordPress Themes and Plugins that you can use to customize all aspects of your blog.
• Free Resources, Guides and Community Support – With WordPress being used by so many websites, you can pretty much find any resources, guides, tutorials or support that you need. In addition to the free sources found on the main WordPress site, you will also find endless resources on other blogging resources sites.
• WordPress Looks Great on Mobile – With more people using their mobile devices to access the internet than ever before, it’s important to make sure your blog looks great on all devices as well. This is another area that WordPress has you taken care of. Create a blog in minutes and your site and content will look great on desktops, tablets, mobile devices and more.
• WordPress is Huge! – WordPress has been downloaded over 100 million times and is the software of choice by millions of bloggers and many of the top blogs in the world today, such as TED, NBA Sports, CNN, and TechCrunch. Best of all… it’s free to use!
• Now that you’ve seen why and how WordPress is being used to make blogging and site creation so easy, let’s move along in the process and get you started with a site of your own. The next step in the process is to select a hosting provider and pick a great domain name for your site. This is one of my favorite parts when launching a new site or blog!

STEP 2 –  SELECTING YOUR DOMAIN NAME AND BLOG HOSTING

With WordPress being selected as our blogging platform, it’s now time to set up the other two most important factors to getting your blog live:

• A Domain Name – This is the address you type in whenever you want to visit a site. (www.name.com)
• A Hosting Provider – This is the service that places your site content on the internet for others to see.

Again, even if you never created a website or blog before, don’t worry! The process of setting these up is extremely simple and once it’s done, you won’t need to mess around with any of these settings again.HOW TO GET A FREE DOMAIN NAME

Anyone can register a domain name. The toughest part is simply coming up with an original name that isn’t already registered yet. On average, domain names will cost around $15 per year to register. However, I was able to get an amazing promotion from my recommended web host, Bluehost.com, where they will give you a free domain name if you set up a web hosting plan today. Not only do I recommend Bluehost, WordPress recommends them as well!In addition to a free domain name, when you setup your hosting with Bluehost, you will also receive premium hosting for just pennies per day. This will also allow you to setup a unique email account for your site as well (such as name@yourblogname.com), which is a lot more professional than a free Yahoo, Hotmail or Gmail account. It’s all very easy to setup once setup with Bluehost.How to Pick a Great Domain NameWith all of that in mind, here are a few tips on how to pick a great domain name for your blog.

• Keep it short and simple
• Stay away from numbers and dashes
• Pick a name that is easy to spell and memorable
• Don’t use any copyright or trademarked names
• Use keywords that are relevant to your topic
• Stick with a .com, .net or .org domain extension
• If it’s available, always try to register YourName.com

Thousands of domain names are registered every day, so if you keep finding that your requested domain name is already taken, don’t get discouraged. If you can’t think of anything unique, I always recommend seeing if your personal name is available as a domain. This is always good to try and register, as it likely won’t be available forever!Which extension should you pick for your domain name?Also, when choosing a domain name, you will have a few different options as for the type of domain extension you want to use. The ‘.com’ is always going to be the most popular, followed by ‘.net’ and then ‘.org’. However, there are many other extensions to choose from — though I recommend you stick with any of the three mentioned here. They are the most professional and well-known around the world.Very exciting! We decided on using WordPress as our blogging platform and also know how to setup hosting and selecting a domain name for your site. Now it’s time to bring it all together and put it in motion.