Do you want to create a self hosted WordPress blog but don’t know how or where to begin? In this blog post, I’m going to talk about what you need should do to create a blog that has a good theme and has the basic plugins to get your feet off the ground. In 48 to 72 hours or less, you could have a blog up an running and ready to market online. There is just one thing, you will need your own domain in order to install a WordPress.org blog.
A domain is needed
The domain registrar that I always buy my domain names from is GoDaddy. Yes, they have had some bad press in the past but they still a good cheap register to buy domain names from. Do not buy web hosting from them. There has been reports about their web hosting for blog’s is horrible and the support as well. Only buy domains from Godaddy like I do.
Web Hosting Is needed
After you have bought your own domain, the next thing to do before even installing the self hosted WordPress.org software is to get a web hosting account all setup. I use specialized web hosting for this blog which is expensive. If you are looking for a good cheap shared web host than I would recommend using HostGator. There shared hosting packages look pretty good and their live support is great. I’ve had a few problems with their email support system in the past. The live chat feature I really liked. It’s faster to get help this way anyways. If you have the extra money, purchase a dedicated IP address with your shared hosting package. Talk to their support team about doing this. You don’t want to share your IP with other websites on the server that could be link farms or adult websites.
Once you have paid for your web hosting account, update your nameservers with the correct information that your web host gave you. If you won’t do this, you won’t be able to install WordPress. Takes up to 48 hours for the nameservers changes to take effect.
Installing The Self Hosted WordPress.org software
Now that you got a domain name and a web hosting account setup, the next thing that you need to do is download and then install the WordPress.org software on your domain. If you need detailed instructions, I’d like to direct you to the WordPress help guides for doing this: http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress
What next after WordPress Install Is Done
The hard part is installing WordPress and the easy part is customizing your blog. Don’t use the default theme for WordPress, it isn’t attractive for starters. I have created a list of Premium Themes for self hosted WordPress blogs for you to look at. The one that stands out the most is the StudioPress themes. Purchasing a theme from them is what I strongly recommend. Although it will cost you at least $80 for the framework and a StudioPress theme not to mention you will have some customizing of the theme to do yourself. I am always tweaking my current theme.
Now the fun part, experimenting on your blog. Don’t be afraid to do things a bit differently on your blog. It’s your blog and you want it to be unique in a way. Have fun creating categories, pages and writing blog posts. You will learn a lot about the capabilities of using a self hosted WordPress blog each day that you use it. I’m still learning things and tweaking things all the time. Just when you think that you mastered WordPress, they update their software and you have to learn about new features or just read about the security improvements.
This is just a basic starters guide to creating a blog. I’ve written other blog posts if you search the blogging section under my name for more blogging related.
Newbiz Web Hosting Discount Special
If you sign up with HostGator, use this coupon code below for a discount:
25package11
Don’t like Hostgator? Check out the alternative to HG which is Blue Host.
If you want to know the cost of starting a WordPress blog, you can read my blog post about this. I actually listed the price’s I paid to start this blog and what I pay each month for web hosting.
The Costs Of Starting a Self Hosted WordPress Blog
Happy Blogging!!
Derek
@snakeair2
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