Newbies Guide To Starting A Blog

Group: Blog Your Brand

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Written by on Mar 7, 2009 6:59 pm

Read More: Technology | Website Development

So, you want to get started blogging?

Many people get online wanting to start branding themselves or their company but have no idea how to get started. Blogging is one of the most basic forms of a website that can be made other than a lead capture page. So for newbies, a blog is a great way to start out. That is how I stated, and what I recommend anyone to do who is just starting out.

The Basic 3 Steps to Getting Started

Step 1: Get a Domain Name

The first thing that you will need to do when starting any website is to get a domain. The most popular domain registrar in the world is www.Godaddy.com. There you will be able to get domain names at a very fair price. You can get a .com ($9.99 a year) a .net ($2.99 a year) and a .info ($1.99 a year). Most people chose to go for a .com and that is what I would suggest as well. Most people naturally type in .com so you do not want to miss out on that traffic. I have a few coupon codes for Godaddy, so be sure to contact me, and I can see which one would be best for you. Once you find a domain you like, purchase it because you never know if it will be there later. Godaddy is going to try to push on extra stuff for you, but only go for getting the domain and thats it.

Step 2: Get Web Hosting

Web Hosting is exactly as it sounds. Your web host is going to host your website. Now, web hosting does tend to cost more than a domain, but it is still not very expensive. Most web hosts will charge anywhere from $5 -$20 a month. I really recommend Hostgator. That is the host that I use for this blog, and it is fabulous. The customer service could not be better, and the price is very reasonable. Not to mention, it is one of the most popular hosts in the world. For $9.95 a month I get to host unlimited websites with unlimited space.

As you will notice, the price above is for a commitment, the $9.95 a month is for a monthly package. Now there are 3 packages to chose from, but I highly recommend their middle package. It offers everything that you need for a great price. Basically for the $2 more you get to host unlimited websites as opposed to 1. So you really can not beat that.

Heads Up If you want to get your web hosting for$.01 for you first month, then contact me. You head right, thats ONE PENNY. All you need to do is email me, and I will give you a free promotional code to get your first month at hostgator for 1 cent.

3. Final Steps

Now that you have gotten wordpress, there are a couple steps that you will need to take in order to get your blog up and running.

1.) You will need to go back to godaddy and change your domains name servers to the name servers given to you by hostgator.

2.) Next you are going to have to go and login to your hostgator control panel (ip address given/cpanel). Once inside your control panel you will need to go towards the bottom and look for fantastico.

3.) Next once inside of Fantastico Deluxe, you are going to want to look on the left side for wordpress. Then Once you are in wordpress, you will be set to install it.

So once you are done installing wordpress on your hosted server, you are set to start blogging. Just go to the location given to you to login to your blog (ex. http://mydomain.com/wp-admin)

Final Thoughts

Now if you are still unsure about starting your own blog, or are confused, do not hesitate to start. Blogging is a big part of web 2.0 which is going to take over the internet. Consider this, as of 2006 there were about 50 million blogs, now in 2009 we have more than 150 million blogs. Blogging is becoming more and more popular.

With the ability to get a blog started for $2 in your first month, there is really no reason not to get started now. $2 you say, well you can get started for that today. $1.99 for a .info domain and $.01 for your first month with hostgator. If you want to get started, contact me now and I will be able to help you get off of the ground.