I have been blogging for 6 years. From MySpace to Facebook to Blogger to WordPress.com to WordPress.org I have used just about every major blogging platform. Tumblr and Typepad are two other popular blogging tools. A survey of the top 100 blogs shows which platform is preferred by almost half of them(48%):
WordPress
Many people are familiar with wordpress.com which is a free solution. You can still see one of my original blogs at dailydoseofheath.wordpress.com. With wordpress.com you can also use your own domain which is where heathmullikin.com started several years ago. While free is great, it isn’t always better. With wordpress.com, you don’t have a ton of flexibility with how your blog looks and functions. Since wordpress.com is hosting the blog for you they have most of the control.
Three years ago I started Chase Your Lion as a self-hosted wordpress.org site. Why? I was looking to earn some money with my blog and wordpress.com does not allow affiliate links(to sites like Amazon) or ads. With a self hosted blog, I own the content, control the content, and can make money off the content. A self-hosted wordpress.org blog gives you total control over how your blog looks and functions. In early 2010, I moved this blog to a self hosted account.
There are probably three reasons you haven’t moved your blog to a self-hosted account:
- You don’t want to pay for your blog.
- You don’t know how to set it up.
- You don’t want to lose all your old posts from blogger or wordpress.com.
- WordPress SEO-helps people find your blog using search engines so you don’t have to rely on friends and family to read your blog.
- W3 Total Cache-keeps your blog running nice and fast
- Akismet-removes all comment spam
- Jetpack-provides various tools including blog stats and social network sharing
- nrelate-provides thumbnails to related posts to help people discover more of your content
BLUEHOST.COM is the number one hosting company recommended by wordpress.org. They have excellent 24/7 customer service, call you to verify your account set up, and do not allow pornographic sites on their servers. Their regular price is $8.95 per month but right now you can SIGNUP FOR 12 months at $6.95($83.40), 24 months at $5.95($142.80), or 36 months at $4.95($178.20). After your initial contract is up the cost goes up to $8.95 per month($107.40 yearly). Did I mention that this cost includes your domain name and if you already own a domain name BLUEHOST and I will show you how to switch it over?
What’s the Catch?
There is no catch. As an affiliate for BLUEHOST.COM I make a commission when you sign up. If you don’t like your blog when I’m done there is a 30 day money back guarantee they offer. If you’re not satisfied in any way they will refund all of your money and I will still email you the weekly blogging tips. My goal here is to build connections around the blogosphere and get more people blogging.
Step 1:
Sign up for Bluehost using one of the links provided or the banner below.
Step 2:
Choose a domain.
Step 3:
Choose your plan and payment options. I personally do not choose any of the extras that are offered.
Step 4:
Email your bluehost receipt and log in information to heath.mullikin at(@) gmail.com. Also include your name that you will be blogging under, the Title you want to use for your blog, and what it will be about. This information will be entered into your settings and can be changed at any time. After I email you your wordpress log in information I will destroy the email with your bluehost information.
Step 5:
Verify your account when BLUEHOST.COM calls.
Step 6:
Start Blogging!
What are you waiting for? CLICK HERE TO START YOUR NEW BLOG AT BLUEHOST.COM