Want to start a blog?
Well that’s a silly question since you’re reading this post.
Over the past several years that I’ve been blogging, people always ask me, ‘How do you create a blog (website)?’
So I figured, let me outline how exactly you can create your own website. Well here you go.
Blogging Platform
First you need to choose a blogging platform. There are plenty of good ones from Tumblr, to Blogger to Live Journal to Wix.
But I need to be honest with you, the best is WordPress by far.
The reason WordPress is the best is that it gives you the most flexibility to customize your website to your liking. Large companies like the NFL, CNN, ESPN and many more all use WordPress.
In order to use WordPress you’ll need to sign up for a hosting account. We’ll get to that in a bit.
Domain Name
You need to first come up with a domain name. This is easier said than done since most good .com’s are taken. So you might have go with a .net, if you’re ok with that or get creative when coming up with a name.
It took me about three days to come up with my latest site (thefootballview.com) since most football domain names are taken.
My one recommendation is to try and buy a domain that has your main keyword in it. For example if your website is about books, try to get an URL with “book’s” in it.
The good news is that a domain name only costs about $10 a year from Name Cheap.
Hosting
Next you will need to purchase a hosting plan.
I’ve tried about 1o different hosting companies over the years from big ones like Host Gator to small ones that you’ve never heard of and the best one by far is Name Cheap. They have great customer service and their up-time is actually really good. Most companies claim their up-time is great and it never is.
To start off you can purchase a package that will only cost you as low as $9.88 for the first year. After the first year, you will only pay $38.88 for every year after.
Once you have your hosting account set up, you can then set up your website.
If you need help setting everything up, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Theme
Once you set up your website, you will need to install a theme. You can go with the basic WordPress theme or choose from the numerous free WordPress themes. But if you want to take your website to the next level, I recommend Studio Press.
Now while Studio Press costs a pretty penny, their themes are light weight, SEO friendly and won’t cause you any problems.
The one issue with a free theme is that they can leave your website open to being hacked if there are security glitches within the coding.
Once again if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
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