If you want to create and control your online brand that allows you to communicate to a global audience then you can do it for free with sites like WordPress.com, Tumblr and Blogger.com.

You can even setup a Facebook page as some have done.

Free is good but it comes with some downsides. The challenge is that the providers who own those platforms have certain features and functions that limits your flexibility and control. You are operating under their terms and conditions and you also don’t know if they will be around next year.

If you want to lay a strong foundation that will be sustainable into the future then you need to create your own WordPress blog with your domain that is self hosted. This will provide you with the ultimate in flexibility and control.

I made the mistake of using WordPress.com when starting and a year later I had to go through the pain of transferring it.

The technology challenge

The reason most of us take the easy route is often because of the cost or the perceived complexity of dealing with technology.  I know in the early days I had to go through a fast learning curve that sometimes many of us do not have the time for or the skill and aptitude to handle.

To remove that fear and to make it easy I have been working over the last few months with Bluehost to make it simple and low cost.
 

How to launch a self hosted WordPress blog

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Choosing a web host

There are many hosting companies out there, but for a WordPress site, Bluehost should definitely be at the top of anyone’s list. Bluehost is the only hosting service officially recommended by WordPress and has been the number-one recommended hosting service for their platform for almost 10 years. There are many reasons why Bluehost is so highly recommended, but here are just a few:

• Premium customer service, reliability and usability
• Easy-to-use control panel
• Custom-built servers to provide the most stable and reliable hosting environment
• Quickly get started with our one-click WordPress install provided by MOJO Marketplace
• Expert, in-house technical support provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Unlimited websites, email accounts, and domains – all on one account at an affordable price
• No gimmicks, no contracts. Enjoy the comfort of a 30-day money back guarantee and the option to cancel at any time.

And to sweeten the deal even more, if you sign up through this tutorial, you’ll get a special offer of shared hosting at $3.95/month for 36 months, as well as a free domain name for a year!

To set up your hosting account with Bluehost, follow the steps below. It will speed up the process to think of a domain name you want to use and to have your credit card for payment ready to go before you get started.

Step 2. Set up your hosting account

To get started, go to Bluehost’s home page and click “Sign Up Now.”

 Next, you need to choose a domain name for your site. If you already own a domain name, you can enter it here, and you will just have to go through a few extra steps to make sure you get your DNS pointed to Bluehost. If you don’t already have a domain name, you can purchase one from right in the sign up process, and the best part is, it comes free with your new hosting account purchase.

Once you’ve entered a domain name, you’ll fill in your personal information.

Then, you’ll choose which hosting package you want. Normal, shared hosting is priced at 12, 24 and 36-month terms. To help save you money, the longer term you purchase, the lower the monthly rate will be. For example, by choosing a 36-month hosting term, you can get the great introductory rate of $3.95/month. And, because you’ve chosen to host with Bluehost, if you ever need more than a shared hosting account, Bluehost provides seamless upgrades to VPS or dedicated server hosting accounts from inside your control panel.

There are few other offers provided at sign up, which you can include at your discretion. One I recommend is Domain Privacy, a paid service that allows personal information to be kept private on WHOIS databases.

After you’ve filled in your information and chosen your hosting package, click the “Next” button to complete your purchase. You’ll then be asked to create a password for your account. You can use the Password Generator to create a strong and secure password, or create one yourself. It is required to have both capital and lowercase letters, a number, and a special character (?!#, etc.) in order to have a strong enough password to protect your account.

Now that you are all signed up and are able to log into your account, you can get started installing WordPress!

Step 3: Installing WordPress

This may seem like the most complicated step, but Bluehost has worked hard to make this one of the easiest things for you to do by using the new MOJO Marketplace for installing WordPress and other applications. In your cPanel, scroll to the section titled “MOJO Marketplace” and choose the “One-Click Installs” button. This will take you to a page inside MOJO Marketplace called Scripts and Platforms. The blog section is at the very top, so all you have to do here is click on the WordPress icon.

This will open the installation window. Click on the green “Start” button that will start the WordPress installation process, which has a few easy steps.

Step 1: Choose where you want to install WordPress

This can be any domain on your account, or a subdomain or a folder for one of your domains. Next, click on “Check Domain,” which will make sure the domain is assigned and pointing to your account. You may get a warning that you are overwriting files, but as long as you don’t have another website built yet, you can check the box and continue. This is mostly to make sure that you really want to install in that location. If you do have other sites built, you will want to make sure you’re not overwriting something important.

Step 2: Show advanced options

This section allows you to set up your own username and password for your WordPress install. IT is recommended to use a different username than “admin” and a very strong password. Make sure that the “Automatically create a new database for this installation” box is checked, unless you have a database already set up that you want to use.

Step 3: Agree to “T’s & C’s”

After you’ve read the terms and conditions, check the box indicating that you’ve done so, then click “Install Now.”

 Now you’ll see the progress page, which will show you how far along the installation is. Once WordPress is fully installed, it will provide you with your site URL, the admin login URL, your username, and password. You will get a copy of this information, except your password, in your email as well. Make sure to keep it in a safe place.

Now you can log into your WordPress site by going to the admin login URL. Enter your username and password, then click “Log In.” This will take you to your WordPress dashboard. From here, you can control everything to do with your WordPress site, such as creating pages, writing posts, and changing the appearance.

Remember, if you sign up through this tutorial, you’ll receive a special offer of shared hosting at $3.95/month for 36 months, as well as a free domain name for a year!

Want to learn how to market your blog with social media, search engines and email?

My book – “Blogging the Smart Way – How to Create and Market a Killer Blog with Social Media” – will show you how.