Starting a Blog – Go to Video Explanation
Have you ever wanted to learn how to start a blog? You are not alone, it seems every week someone I know is asking me how to start a blog. After helping nearly 20 people start their own blogs, its time for a more efficient way of helping so I’ve recorded a video walkthrough of how to get started.
I will walk users through how to get started with their very own blog or website run on WordPress. While you could go to WordPress.com and get a free blog, that isn’t nearly as professional/cool/smart as running your blog on your own domain! That’s why these videos will talk you through how to set up a blog like a pro.
Today our video is going to run through how to get signed up for Hosting, Domain Name Selection, and WordPress Installation. If anything isn’t clear within the video, I have briefly overviewed each part we will be covering below the video.
Sign Up with Dreamhost – www.dreamhost.com
How to Start a Blog: Part 1 – Web Hosting and Domain Names
How to Start a Blog: Part 2 – Easily Install WordPress with Dreamhost
Why WordPress
Why WordPress? Well its free, its open source, it has an amazing community, and it’s a great Content Management System. It has a ton of free themes and plugins allowing the average bear to make an awesome website quickly and easily.
Explanation:
Hosting:
Now there is a ton of debate on which website host is the best, I’m a fan of Dreamhost so this tutorial will run you through the Dreamhost Signup process. Dreamhost is great for the less technically inclined (that might be you). They feature 1-Click Install of WordPress and great support.
To get started with Dreamhost, we will go through the signup process. For a discount on hosting use this signup link to www.dreamhost.com and save $20 on any hosting plan.
Domain Selection:
When you sign up with Dreamhost, you will have the opportunity to register a domain free. Lets take this opportunity to grab our domain. Now I’m not going to go in depth on how to go about choosing one, but some quick tips are to keep it short and sweet, avoid trademarks, stay away from dashes and go with .com or .org.
WordPress Installation:
Once you have signed up with Dreamhost and selected a domain name its time to install WordPress. This step is quite simple using Dreamhost’s one click install tool. Once you have installed it with the one click installation tool you will receive an email when it is complete. Visit your domain and go through the setup process as shown through the video.
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Nick Reese is the author of Traffic and Trust, and all round happy dude. When Nick isn't managing web properties he enjoys biking, shooting video, and drinking tea. You should follow Nick on twitter here.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I definitely have to say – a paid, self-hosted blog is the way to go. It is always annoying having to tell your friends “yea, my blog is at …blogspot.com or …wordpress.com”. It really isn’t that impressive if you can’t OWN your blog.
I have setup well over 30 blogs by now and have gone through the technical setup process so many times I could do it in my sleep : ). If you would like me to set it up for ya, I do it for free.
Happy Blogging!
– John
I’ve downloaded Wordpress, registered a domain name, upgraded to mapping and posted on my blog. I want to add Thesis 1.7 theme but need a host. Wordpress tells me I cannot add a new theme. I’m kind of doing this in reverse – instead of adding Dreamhost and then adding Wordpress. I have already added Wordpress and am now looking for a host. Do you have any suggestions as to what I should do next?
Are you on Wordpress.com or using a private Wordpress.org install?
Thanks so much for all of the info so far!
I have followed the instructions on this post, as well as on the 1 week blog challenge. I have registered my domain name on godaddy, then signed up for webhosting with dreamhost. Everything looked good until I tried to set up wordpress. I followed your steps here, and got the wordpress email, but when I clicked on my link, and it would not load the page. Any ideas? Perhaps something got lost between godaddy and dreamhost? It does have my domain name under my account on dreamhost.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
Cora
Cora,
Did you point the domain to Dreamhost’s name servers?
If not you will need to log into Godaddy and change the name servers to what Dreamhost gave you. If i remember correctly it should be:
ns1.dreamhost.com
ns2.dreamhost.com
ns3.dreamhost.com
Once you change your name servers it will take roughly 0-48 hours for the domain to be live and the link within your Wordpress email to be ready.
This is a godsend. Been immersed in support on Wordpress. I have a joomla site but want to start a fun blog. I have no idea how to upgrade. Wordpress tells you to do this but doesn’t tell you where to find the upgrade button. Please explain- do I need to have a host for wordpress. ie I’m not sure of the technology here- somebody else set up my other sites.
So to have wordpress, you have to sign on with a host, then with wordpress. I have secured my domain name. No idea how to domain map. Is there an easy guide with exact instructions? Thanks.
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