This is day 1 of a 10 day series of starting a blog.
Welcome to your very first day of starting a blog, and since this is the official launch of BloggerGo.com, I will be accompanying you through the exact day-to-day steps that are necessary to start your blog off the right way and put it on the fast track to becoming a success story. This is in fact my 2nd blogging venture, and speaking from experience, blogging is an adventure and a treat. Hold on and enjoy the ride.
Before we get started, we are going to pretend that you have already accomplished step one of starting a blog and have chosen a topic that you plan to blog about. And we are going to assume that this is a topic that you are passionate and knowledgeable about; a topic that you are confident that you have much to offer and share with your future readers. Word of advice, if you can not come up with 15 to 20 individual post titles that are related to your topic within 5 minutes, you’ll need to select another blogging topic. It is imperative to ensure that you have selected a topic that offers the potential for long-term, quality content. If your topic is thin, you’ll get bored fast and your blog will drown.
Register a Domain Name
Day one of starting a blog should be focused on finding and acquiring your domain name. Example: YourSiteName.com. I use 1and1.com for all of my domain needs, but godaddy.com is another popular choice as well. I have found 1and1.com to be very reasonable in pricing, and have never had a complaint with regards to their customer service when I require assistance.
Find a domain name that is related to your blogging topic, short in length, easy to spell, and easy to remember.
Always try to purchase a .com extension. If .com is not available, .net will do. But try to stay away from .org, .info, .us, .biz, etc.
Also, let me offer some precious words of advice from my personal experience: If you have found that perfect .com domain name, purchase ALL available extensions, including .net, .info, .org, .biz, etc. I realize that money might be an issue but if you can afford it, purchase them all. You will only be using the .com domain name, but this will prevent copycats from trying to steal your site name and ideas. There is nothing more frustrating then spending countless hours building “YourSite.com,” and a copycat comes along and begins building “YourSite.net.” Believe me, this happens, and I am speaking from experience. Think of your blog title as your brand; don’t give anyone the potential of stealing your brand name. The easiest and most cost-effective way to prevent this is to purchase all available versions of your domain name. Like I said, you won’t be using them, but you’ll take them off the market.
Research and purchase a Web Hosting package
The rest of your day should be spent researching a hosting provider that you are going to use to host your brand new domain and blog. For this service, I recommend HostGator.com. HostGator provides all of the necessary services that I need for $9.95 per month. I have been blogging for a couple of years now, and have never outgrown my $9.95 package. In my professional opinion, this is a bargain, and their online chat and phone support are top notch.
Of course, you’ll need to find a hosting service that you are confident in and that fits into your budget. In the beginning stages of your blog, unless you have an outside source for funding and managing expenses, you’ll want to minimize your monthly costs as much as possible until your blog begins providing you with a return on your investment.
When you research a potential hosting provider, my only word of advice is this: Make sure that they offer a c-Panel. If you do not know what this means, not to worry, you’ll learn. But do not select a hosting provider that does not offer c-Panel capabilities.
Once you have chosen your preferred hosting provider, you’ll want to immediately begin the process referred to as “Changing Name Servers.” I don’t want to get too technical here, but this is the process where you change your advanced DNS settings and in simpler terms, move your domain name from the company where you registered it to your hosting provider so that they can effectively begin hosting your new blog.
Please be advised that this involves a period of 48 to 72 hours (the time it takes to propagate), before this process is complete. If memory serves me, this process took 48 hours on my first blog. However, this blog was ready to go in less than 24 hours. It just depends! For this reason, you’ll want to get this process started immediately to alleviate any downtime. When you are in a hurry to launch your blog, waiting two or three days is excruciating.
To begin this process, just simply contact your new hosting provider and they will walk you through this process.
Please note that you can eliminate this step if you are willing to purchase your domain name directly through your hosting provider. But in most cases, this is more expensive. If you are on a budget, it is cheaper to bite the bullet and wait the two or three days. Besides, you can still accomplish a lot while you are waiting. In our next two articles, we will be covering what you can be doing tomorrow and the day after while you are waiting for your domain to propagate. This way you will not be wasting any valuable time.
Once you have selected a catchy domain name, secured a web hosting provider, and began the 48-72 hour process of changing your name servers, your first day of starting a blog is now complete. Now, go spend time with your family and try to get some sleep because you have a busy next few days ahead of you. We’ll see you tomorrow.
1 Comments on "Starting a Blog Day 1 – Finding a Domain & Web Hosting"
Very important blog to host our website.Thanks.