A Step-By-Step Guide To Setting Up Your Own Blog for Newbies - Part 1

Even though the blog craze has started a while ago, it is still very trendy for personnal and corporate websites to have their own blog. Some people are blogging just for fun while others are blogging on a professional level. Either way, having a blog is within the reach of everybody and it isn’t that complicated to setup.

While there are some web hosting providers who offer blog hosting plans, these might not be the best thing since most of the time you won’t get to choose the blogging plateform and your hosting account will have very limited features.

This tutorial will show you the easiest way to setup your own blog on what I would call an “standard hosting account”. Don’t let yourself impress with the fact that this tutorial will be split into multiple parts: setting up your own blog won’t take more than an hour.

Step 1. Choosing a Web Host

Prior to getting a web hosting account, you should think of a domain name for your website. The domain name is the address users will type into their browser’s address bar to get to your website. Just think of a few ideas and variations. I’ll show you how to check the availability of a domain a little bit later.

The very first thing to do is to get a web hosting account.And to make things easier, the two things you must look for in a web host are cPanel and Fantastico Deluxe.

cPanel is the control panel that will allow you to manage your hosting account while Fantastico Deluxe is a script installer that will allow you to host some of the most popular web applications within a few clicks.

Here are three (3) web hosts I recommend for blogging:

• HostGator - $4.95 / month
• HostPapa - Free Domain - $4.95 / month
• BlueHost - Free Domain - $6.95 / month

They are all very good hosting companies for bloggers. If you choose to signup with Hostpapa, check our HostPapa Coupons page and you’ll find discounts worth up to $17.85.

Step 2. Signing Up With a Web Host

Once you’ve decided which web host you want, you need to signup with them. For this tutorial, I’ll show you how to signup with HostPapa but keep in the mind the process is pretty much the same for all 3 web hosts I’ve mentionned.

Supposing you chose HostPapa, head over to their website (http://www.hostpapa.com) and click the orange Buy Now! button.

You will now be asked to enter the domain name you’ve chosen. Type it in the blank field and click Next.

On the next page, you will now be told if the domain name is available or not. If it’s not available, you can either choose another domain name or you can try a different extension (.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info).

We’re almost done! Select the desired billing cycle, enter your HostPapa Coupon Code and specify your location. Click on Calculate Totals.

You will now be brought to a page where you can review your order details. Make sure everything is ok and hit Continue. You will finally have to submit your personnal information as well as your payment options. You can either pay with your credit card or you can also use Paypal.

One you’ve submited these information, your payment will be processed and you’ll get a confirmation email. Keep it preciously as you will need it to access your control panel.

Stay tuned as we will see how to install Wordpress (a free blogging platform) in the next post.

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