How to Start a WordPress Blog with HostGator

 “If you Think every day, Blog every day. This is key to building a Highly Popular (Blog) Website that Makes You Money Even while you Sleep.”

I wrote my first blog post 10 years ago. Nobody read it. My friends were reluctant to even spend 5 minutes thereon. How bad can it be?

 

I persisted. After a couple of months a couple of “Strangers” read it multiple times. Started commenting. Sharing. Applying.

Today, tens of thousands of “Strangers” read my blog monthly. Friends and family barely read what I wrote. Took it without any consideration. A lesson in there.

 

Want to understand what changed for me? Read on to seek out…

The goal of ThinkMaverick is to seek out the signal within the noise and supply important new information about my pursuit of happiness. what's happening within the world? What skills does one need? And step-by-step tutorials on getting those skills. Business opportunities and step-by-step the way to execute on them. And fun.

Each month, 409 million people spend hours reading 20 billion WordPress pages, give or take.

Because everyone was ordered to remain reception for the past 3 to five months during the pandemic (and many still forced to remain home), the numbers being discussed lately were staggering — could also be up to 1 billion that normally would’ve been halved of that.

I saw an 80% increase in my overall traffic during that point.

What’s alluring is that 77% of internet users today read blogs. Replace your bare website with WordPress! and you'll usher in 3X more traffic overnight.

 

Unfortunately, fixing a blog is often incredibly tricky if you’re a beginner. Many still believe 3rd party developers with obscene prices.

But I’m itching to point out you ways easy starting a blog in WordPress is often because it is exciting and rewarding at an equivalent time.

The best thing is, you simply got to do that once!

If you’re serious about getting more traffic and eventually making money online, you’ll get to take full control of your own content on WordPress via self-hosting.

Why should you Self-host your Blog?

There are many benefits of hosting your own blog:

1. you've got full control and authority over your blog. you'll decide what you would like to try to do together with your blog including design, layout, advertising revenue, searching engine optimization, and more.

2. you'll start making money online once you’ve established your self-hosted blog. you'll prefer to monetize your blog by using Affiliate Marketing, Paid reviews, AdSense, and more.

3. You gain complete access to your backend files, which suggests you'll make any changes and customize the codes.

4. It’s easy and affordable. It costs only a couple of dollars per month (as low as $2.75/month).

There are plenty of blogging platforms out there, which you'll prefer to create a blog. Having said that; it might be in your best interest if you select to blog using your own name and hosting.

 To do that, you've got to shop for your own name and hosting service to run a self-hosted blog. HostGator may be a pioneer during this space. Basically, you’re renting digital space for storing from this third party to form your site life and available to the planet.

In this article, I’m getting to show you ways to start out your very own blog using WordPress and self-hosted through HostGator. 

Note – I started my first blog on Hostgator and have personally negotiated with them in order that all of you'll start a blog for a reason. If you buy through this or any of the links on this post I’ll earn a little commission at no extra cost to you. It helps us support the running of this website and still publish helpful content. I only promote things I exploit and love myself and am always transparent about it! many thanks all for your support!

How to start a WordPress blog on HostGator (in less than 30 minutes)

Step 1: Choose a Plan

Starting your own website may sound sort of a massive step, however, it’s not as hard as you'll think. HostGator has made it simple for you to host your own blog and offers excellent 24/7 customer service and support.

 

The first step in starting a WordPress blog is to settle on a hosting package. an internet host is where your blog lives, where you’ll store all of your content: text, images, and videos.

 HostGator offers AFFORDABLE web hosting plans. Plans start at $2.75/month.

Go to HostGator's official site, click “Get started!”

HostGator has different hosting packages depends on your needs and budget as below.

Choosing the simplest plan might be tricky. I might suggest you begin with the smallest amount you'll afford, you'll always upgrade later as your website grows.

 

The most popular HostGator plan is Baby Plan. This blog is currently on HostGator’s Cloud Hosting Plan which may be a wee costlier, but it can cater to more traffic.

 If you're just starting, I’d recommend the Hatchling plan. With a Baby Plan, you'll run multiples blogs. Start with a rock bottom plan then gradually proportion like me.

 

The key difference between the 2 is that with the Hatchling plan you'll only register one domain, which is ideal for beginners. If you’re getting to run multiple websites, then you’ll need the Baby Plan. you ought to take into consideration that it’ll prevent money if you select an extended plan that goes for one year or longer.

 

All the hosting plans accompany unlimited email addresses and storage. Also, HostGator has the drag-and-drop website builder option which is extremely easy to use, you don’t need to skills to code to use it. You’ll get a Google Adwords and Bing/Yahoo credit too so you'll advertise your blog.

 Once you’ve chosen the proper package, click the “Sign Up Now” button and fill in the required information.

Action: check-in for the Hatchling package. you'll upgrade the plan later once you want to start out another website.

Step 2: Register a domain

A domain name should be a mirrored image of your business name or what you’re doing. It’s vital because your website name is that the very first thing your visitors will see. It’s also how people will find you online. you would like an honest name that will make an enduring and positive impression.

 

You can check domain availability on HostGator. On the HostGator Order Wizard page, simply type in your selected name and click on “Search”. it'll tell you the supply of that specific name. If the name is already taken, then you can't use it. you want to use a website that nobody has registered yet.

For example, my name is thinkmaverick.com. So your website name would be yourname.com.

The new name will cost from $0.95-12.95 per annum, which can be added to the entire at the top. It’s worth paying for the “.com” extension which usually costs $12.95/year.

Tips for choosing a domain name

1.Keep it short, simple, and easy to remember. Unfortunately, most of the short domain names are already taken. you'll find one that’s available using the domain search function on Hostgator once you are check-in.

 

2. Make it easy to spell. Avoid employing a long and confusing name. You don’t want your visitors to mistype your name and find yourself on a special website.

3. Use .com extension rather than others like .org, .net, .info, .biz. consistent with Registrar Stats research, over 75%of the domains have “.com”, followed by “.net” and “.org”. “.com “is easier to recollect and more familiar.

4. Think long-term. Your domain will define your brand and business for years. You don’t undergo the difficulty of adjusting your name within the future which can cost you money, SEO rankings, and branding.

Read more: How to Choose a Domain name

You can register a website with another company like NameCheap and host it on HostGator. But you would like to try the additional step of connecting your domain to your web hosting account. to try to that login into your NameCheap account, and modify your DNS Nameservers.

If you would like further help, inspect this HostGator support portal on this subject.

If you don’t have a website name yet, I like to recommend you register your domain and host it at an equivalent place in order that HostGator can look out for everything for you.

Once you’ve picked your name, you'll see there’s an option “Domain Privacy Protection”. you'll prefer to pay an additional $1.25 per month to feature privacy to your domain. When people look for information about your domain in WHOIS or at ICANN, your personal information (name and get in touch with information) won’t be available.

👉 Also, you can read: HostGator Website Builder Review

A note about domain privacy:

Without any domain privacy, all of your contact information (which is required once you register a domain) is out there to anyone online.

But there’s an argument that hiding your identity might make your site seem to be less trustworthy. Most scammers wish to use this service to hide their identity, making it harder to seek out and report them. you would possibly have your information protected with the domain privacy add-on, but people can easily determine your information online especially through social media.

 Ultimately, it’s up to you to make a decision considering both the pros and cons.

Are you okay with having all of your contact information released to the public?

 Are you okay with getting spam emails and phone calls?

Step 3: Complete the HostGator Order Form

Next, you've got to enter your hosting package information. you'll save extra money by signing up for an extended period within the “Billing Cycle” section. I purchased 36months up front which is that the cheapest option per month. The Hatching plan, it costs about $75 for 3 years.

Then, you've got to enter your billing information, choosing any add-ons, and make a HostGator account.

Step 4: Install WordPress

Now, you've got to create your own website! Let’s find out how to put WordPress on your site.

WordPress is one of the foremost popular and easy-to-use blogging options. And it’s free!

 

After fixing an account on HostGator, you’ll receive a welcome email from HostGator. Open this email which contains your account information so you'll log in.

 Click on the instrument panel (cPanel) link that's sent to your email.

Once you’re on the instrument panel, scroll right down to “Software/Services” and click on “Quick Install”. From there you’ll be ready to install WordPress with just a click.

• On the left-hand side, search for “WordPress” and click on thereon.
• Click “Continue”
• Next, select the domain that you simply want to put in WordPress on and click on “Next”.

• Then, enter your admin email, first and surname, admin user, blog title

• Click “Install”.
• On the subsequent page, you'll receive a message. make certain to save lots of the link to your admin area, user name, and password.

Step 5: Get a Theme

Well done!

Now you've got started a WordPress blog on HostGator. Next, you'll work on the planning by selecting a topic for your blog.

There is a spread of lovely free themes on WordPress to settle on from.

Whether you’re trying to find free or premium WordPress themes with advanced functionality, here’s an inventory of the simplest themes/templates for your blog/website.

Step 6: Start Blogging!

Now your blog is up and running, let’s start creating your first blog post.

Login to your WordPress dashboard, click “Posts” > “Add New” on the sidebar menu.

Next, you’ll see a post editor screen. this is often where you write your first blog post:

• Write a catchy headline or blog title for your post
• Write your post content
• Add a picture, video, or GIF to your post by clicking “Add media”
• Change the text size or color
• Once you finish writing your post, click “Publish” on the highest right of your editor to publish it.

That’s it. Now you’re blogging.

Step 7: Customize your WordPress with Plugins

After publishing your first blog post, you would possibly get to add some essential WordPress plugins to reinforce your blog like improve SEO and build a much bigger following.

I’ve written a fast guide on the way to install a WordPress plugin here.

Here’s an inventory of the highest 12 must-have WordPress plugins for your new blog.

Pro tip: WPForms is that the no 1, Must-Have plugin that you’ll get to install on your blog. It’s far and away from the foremost powerful and beginner-friendly plugin for creating contact forms.

 

WPForms Lite version is totally free while its Pro version allows you to simply create different sorts of forms like Conversational Forms, Signature Forms, Payment Forms, and more.

Bonus Step: Marketing Ideas To Get More Traffic

Most people just write and forget. What’s important isn't to forget to market each blog post you published by sharing on social media too.

 

It's also vital for you to create your email list in order that you'll send instant messages to your readers telling them you only wrote a replacement blog post, you'll use:

• Sendinblue
• ConvertKit
• Sendinpulse

 

After that, you'll try using Sked Social to schedule for all of your social media needs.

 Last but not least, use a number of these free logo makers to make your own unique logo.

 I want to listen to from you!

 

Do you have any concerns about to not self-host your own blog?

 

Do you have any problems or questions following this tutorial to make your own blog with HostGator? be happy to comment below

 

Once you found out about your own blog, please tell me about it and remember to send me your link! you'll leave a comment below or find me on Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram! Welcome to the Family!