In less than a year, we started our first blog (Avocadu.com) completely from scratch and turned it into a money-making machine. You can see our income reports, and they will show you that we average around $20,000/month with our little health and fitness blog.
It’s not just the money though. It’s what this WordPress blog has done for our LIFE that is most important. We can wake up every morning, have our coffee, and completely design our day. We have been able to visit family more often and travel to countries like Nicaragua and Bali and still work while having fun!
Today, we want to walk you through how to set up your first blog and get you on your way to designing your own life!
The following will be a step-by-step guide to creating the blog of your dreams and actually make money from it! And trust us when we say this: If we can do it, ANYONE can!
Click here to start a blog on WordPress, then use the tutorial below for easy step-by-step directions.
In this article, we are going to talk about starting a blog the ONLY way you should – through Bluehost. Why Bluehost?
Well, they are CHEAP! You can start a blog with Bluehost for just $2.95/month when you sign up (that low price is through our link only!) . That’s just under $36/year, AND you get a FREE domain name when you sing up through our link! This is so important at the beginning before you are making money to cover your expenses.
Bluehost is also incredibly easy to use. The process to start a blog can get a little confusing when you start talking about domain names, hosting packages, etc. Our step-by-step tutorial below has images, and we even set up a new domain just to show you how it works.
Lastly, Bluehost also offers a complete guarantee on their hosting packages. If you sign up for 12 months or more (best pricing option) and decide that it’s not right for you, they will refund any portion of it that you have not used. There really is no risk.
Let me also just say that we didn’t initially start out with Bluehost. Our transition happened when we had an issue with another popular hosting company, Siteground. Basically, we had an unexpected influx of traffic from Pinterest, and our entire website shut down.
This cost us a TON of money in forgone sales, and we vowed that it would NEVER happen again. We got on the phone with Bluehost, and their awesome customer service team took care of everything for us! They are available by phone 24/7, and they take care of whatever issues you throw at them!
Also, this article is focused on a successful blog (or blog that actually makes some dolla dolla bills) and not a personal journal or diary blog. There are other resources out there for things like that (but not here).
On that note about starting a blog that actually makes money (who can afford to give out free content all day???)… Let’s talk briefly about free vs. self-hosted.
There are free blog hosting and free plans (think blogger.com), but there is also a reason why 99.9% of profitable blogs don’t run on them and why you should not use them…
- It looks incredibly sloppy.
- The customizations are limited.
- The websites are slow (there’s nothing more frustrating than a slow website).
- I personally know of ZERO successful entrepreneurs who use them.
Because of these glaring flaws, we are going to focus on self-hosting (think Bluehost) in this article, because that is the ONLY way a profitable blog will ever run.
The difference truly is only $2.95/month, so you can’t afford NOT to go with self-hosting!
Okay so this post is going to EPIC. It will walk you through how to do EVERYTHING. Make sure to save/pin this, and come back to it for later if you can’t finish everything today.
Setup your WordPress blog in 5 easy steps:
- → Step #1. Decide on a domain name and get web hosting.
- → Step #2. Follow these steps to get everything set up.
- → Step #3. Install WordPress – One Click Install
- → Step #4. Log In and Choose a Theme
- → Step #5. Some Additional Help for Your Blogging Adventure
- → Step #6. Get Visitors to Your Blog
How to Start a WordPress Blog in 2017 – Step-by-Step Guide
Step #1. Decide on a domain name and get web hosting.
Domain name is the name used for the website address. For instance, Pinterest’s domain name is Pinterest.com.Hosting is a little different. It’s the power to your website and backend that other people don’t see. Without hosting, your website has nowhere to run and will not exist.
Anyone who wants to have their own blog has to pay for a domain name and hosting.
It’s also not something you want to skimp out on. A bad host we used one time almost cost us $20,000+ in sales over the course of a month.
Trust us, you NEED a good host.
The good news?
It’s ridiculously cheap with the right host.
A powerful host like Bluehost (the host that powers over 850,000 successful blogs and only costs $2.95 a month – less than a fancy coffee).
*Note that the above pricing is only with our special deal, so make sure you use any of of our links on this page to get the special pricing!
To find your blog name you can use this tool:
Your name might not be available and that’s okay. Try a few variations or even using your name can help.
If you need more help we have a great article on How to Come Up with a Great Blog Name in 30 Minutes or Less.
You can add unlimited websites and blogs to your BlueHost account so don’t worry too much if you’re not totally sold on your current domain name idea.
Step #2. Follow these steps to get everything set up.
We have reviewed and used every host you can imagine. Without a doubt, Bluehost is the best for your blogging needs.(The following images are screenshots I’ve taken from BlueHost so you know what to do. Click here to open up BlueHost in a new window and follow along.)
Yep, those are our bright, shining faces greeting you on the page!
Click the green Get Started Now button at BlueHost to get started.
On the next page, enter in the domain name that you’d like to use.
The next step is easy – just fill out all your contact details and payment information (billed annually).
As you can see below, that same screen has some optional extras. It is up to you whether or not you purchase these but I would generally recommend you buy the Domain Privacy Protection. This keeps your details private.
Finally all you have to do is add in your credit card details, check the standard Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, and hit the green submit button!
Congrats! You officially own your own blog!
Step #3. Now let’s install WordPress – One-Click Install
Login to your Bluehost account (if you aren’t logged in already), and click on “hosting” from the top menu bar. Scroll down until you see this…
Click on the “Install WordPress” icon, and follow these quick steps to install WordPress on your new site:
- Select your domain from the dropdown menu, and click “submit.”
- Now Bluehost will take care of the entire installation process, and when it is finished, you’ll receive some important login URLs.
At this point, do not exit out, make sure to save this information (screenshot it or copy it into a text document), and click “configure your password.”
- Next, create a username and password, and store this information in a safe place! Click “complete setup” when you’re finished!
Now remember that information you saved (see the photo above)? You want to open up your LOGIN URL in your browser. When you do that, you will be take to a page that looks like this:
Fill in your name and password, and you have now logged into your WordPress website! Now it’s time to select a theme and make your website look awesome!
Step #4. Log in and choose a theme.
Once logged into your WordPress website, follow the instructions on this page, and make sure to click ”yes.”
WordPress will walk you through the basics of starting your website and start to get you familiar with the platform.
At some point, you will see the back of the dashboard which will look similar to this:
Click “appearances” and then “themes.”
It’s now time to find a great theme for your blog and start making it look how you want!
Note that WordPress has a few free themes that you can choose from, so play around with those a bit to get started and find one that works for you.
This one below is Twenty Sixteen:
Congrats on setting up your WordPress and installing your first theme!
If you’re looking for a theme with a little more customizability, we recommend the theme that we started out with on all of our blogs: X Theme.Starting with X Theme was one of the best decisions we made as newbie bloggers.
It does cost about $60, but it’s incredibly easy to use and provides for a lot of customizability.
Step #5. Get some additional help for your blogging adventure!
Join our FREE 7-Day Blogging eCourse!Step #6. Get visitors to your blog!
So you have your brand new blog started, but how do you get people there??As a new blogger, social media can be a little overwhelming. Facebook… Instagram… Pinterest… Google… Where do I start??
The best place to start is with our FREE 4-Day eCourse on Pinterest Marketing for Beginners!
We’ll discuss WHY Pinterest is the absolute best platform to get started with and to invest your time in as a blogger.
Here’s the short list:
- You can forget throwing your money away on Facebook ads.
- Avoid the desperate process of trying to get Instagram followers.
- Google SEO will likely take you YEARS to see any real traffic, if ever.
- Pinterest provides the opportunity for real, free, and viral traffic!
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