Use this step-by-step Bluehost tutorial and get your wordpress blog started today! This is the easiest way to set up a blog using bluehost and wordpress.
The Tech Side Of Blogging
Getting a website up and running can be a little daunting. Web hosting, domain registration, HTML code… say whaaaat? The tech side of blogging can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be!
That’s why I’m breaking it all down into a step-by-step bluehost tutorial (with screenshots!). Even if you have no prior blogging experience, and limited tech abilities, you should be able to follow this bluehost tutorial successfully.
It will show you the exact steps I took to get my site up and running using Bluehost and Wordpress.
Wordpress (.org) is the blogging platform I use and recommend. Make sure you’re not blogging on Wordpress.com. That is the free site, and there isn’t a good way to monetize on a free platform, because it isn’t yours… you do not own it.
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Helpful Tech Definitions
Before we jump right into the Bluehost tutorial, let’s just quickly go over what domain registration and web hosting are.
What is Domain registration?
Domain registration is what connects a URL (ex: joyfullygrowingblog.com) to the computer where your web host is storing your website.
Think of it like an internet phonebook for websites. Domain registration is like paying to get your URL into into the phonebook.
Not all hosts provide domain registration, but if you choose to follow this Bluehost tutorial, they will provide free domain registration!
What Is Web Hosting?
A web host is the company that provides space on its servers to store your blog content and connects it to the internet. The web host that you choose will have the biggest overall impact on the speed of your site, and how quickly the webpages load for your viewers. This is really important because no one likes slow internet!
If you want to learn more about web hosting, I wrote an entire blog post called that is all about the most important features for a web host, and why it is super important to have a FAST website.
Why Should You Choose Bluehost?
There are a lot of options for domain registration and hosting. Researching all the options and choosing one can be really overwhelming. We did a ton of research comparing the pros and cons of different companies, and ended up choosing Bluehost to launch Joyfully Growing Blog.
We’ve had a great experience with them, and highly recommend to anyone starting a blog. Not only is Bluehost one of the cheapest hosting platforms (great for new blogs that don’t earn an income yet), but it’s basically a one stop shop! You can register your domain name for free through any of the Bluehost plans. This simplifies the process and gets you one step closer to launching your blog. If you want to get your own blog up and running, then just follow the steps in this easy Bluehost tutorial!
Step By Step Bluehost Tutorial
Step 1:
Go to Bluehost and click ‘get started now’
Step 2:
Select the hosting plan. The ‘basic’ option is great to get started with! I recommend sticking with the Basic plan because all the options should be perfectly sufficient to get started, and paying a little bit extra to upgrade to plus or choice plus isn’t going to provide you with any additional value up front.
Step 3:
Next, choose a domain name. If you’re reading a bluehost tutorial, then I’m guessing that you’ve already thought about a domain name. Choosing a good domain name is an important step because you want your website to have a catch and unique name, but you don’t want it to be overly long. Make sure that your domain name is easy to say, and easy to type. You want it to be as simple as possible for people to type. If possible, try to incorporate a keyword into your name.
Step 4:
Fill in your personal information, and then select a hosting package.
We recommend 36 months because the longer terms offer the best value. If you decided to upgrade early before your 36 months are complete, the cost of the unused months will be applied to your new Bluehost plan. There is really no down side other than the additional up front cost.
Step 5:
Enter your payment information. Be sure to keep a record of the receipt so that you can use it as an expense and save money on your taxes!
Step 6:
Read the ‘fine print’, check the box if you agree to the terms, and hit submit!
Step 7:
Click ‘Create your password’. Make sure to use a secure and strong password. You will be investing tons of time and effort into your blog, so you want to be sure that it’s protected with a good password! Allowing Google Chrome to autosuggest a secure password is an excellent way to be sure that your password is strong enough.
Step 8:
Yay! You’re done creating your account. Now you can login.
Connecting Bluehost to Wordpress
Now that you have completed the Bluehost tutorial, let’s move on to connecting Wordpress. This step is actually super simple because Bluehost automatically installs Wordpress for you. It seems redundant but I included this as a step because we have had readers ask how to connect Bluehost to Wordpress. It doest take a few minutes to install, so just make sure to take a coffee break before logging in for the very first time.
When you login, the Wordpress install should be in progress or completed. It should look like this:
Once Wordpress is installed, you will want to create a “new user” and add your username, email, etc. Change the user role to Administrator (you do not want to keep the username as ‘Admin’). Be sure to save the auto-generated password here too! You will need this to login to your Wordpress dashboard (http://yourURLhere.com/wp-login.php).
When you login to your Wordpress dashboard, it should look like this:
This will be where you login every day to create new posts, update links, and make changes to your blog! Start learning your way around this dashboard. Don’t worry, it’ll be a familiar place in no time! 😉
There you have it, you are officially setup with a self-hosted platform (Wordpress),an awesome hosting company: Bluehost and your new blog is allllll yours! Next, you’ll want to make your site pretty and start writing posts!
Thanks so much for following along and I hope this Bluehost Tutorial was helpful!
Don’t forget to join my Blogger Series where I share behind the scenes tips and an insider look at what MY blogging stats look like! Enter your information below to sign up!
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To get exclusive behind the scenes content about how to boost your traffic, make affiliate sales, and tons of other blogging tips (including an insider look at what MY stats look like!) - sign up to get my Blogger Series emails sent right to your inbox!
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Bluehost Tutorial Using Wordpress
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To get exclusive behind the scenes content about how to boost your traffic, make affiliate sales, and tons of other blogging tips (including an insider look at what MY stats look like!) - sign up to get my Blogger Series emails sent right to your inbox!