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The Best Ways to Use Bluehost for Blogs
Bluehost is a web hosting company that has various services that support small to large business with business needs.
Bluehost has become a leading company among bloggers mainly because of the additional services they offer bloggers.
Whether you are experienced or new, there is help designed to grow your blogging business. This post will showcase why Bluehost is favored among other bloggers and ecommerce owners. One of the main advantages to host with Bluehost, is mainly because of their customer service, this is especially important if you are still new to ecommerce and blogging as they will show you exactly what to do, or at best, they will do it for you.
Many new bloggers are so fearful to the “technical aspect of blogging” and yet everything is done for you and no coding, editing HTML or CSS. If you can use an email service, such as Hotmail, you can start and run your blog successfully. Bluehost, a renowned web hosting provider, offers a robust platform that is not only user-friendly but also highly adaptable for bloggers of all levels. Whether you’re a seasoned blogger or just starting your online journey, Bluehost provides a plethora of features and tools to help you establish and grow your blog. One of its standout offerings is the seamless integration with popular content management systems like WordPress, allowing you to effortlessly create and manage your blog with just a few clicks. Bluehost also provides a selection of customizable themes and templates, giving your blog a unique and professional look. Its reliable and high-performance hosting ensures that your blog loads quickly and stays accessible to your audience. The post will show how simple it is to start your blog.
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PLAN: OFFERS OTHER BLOGGING SERVICES
There are many free services that come with the Bluehost basic hosting plan. Other hosting companies seem to be in a race to charge more money for each service they offer. As a blogger there are many services, tips or guides all that help with structuring and improving your blog, with Bluehost, their services focus on blogging needs. Click Here To Start Hosting with Bluehost
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Free Services from Bluehost
1 WEBSITE: to secure a domain name, you have to pay for it, usually about $10 and then you have to renew it every year. Bluehost: offers you a free website for the 1st year
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50 GB SSD STORAGE: this is important because it helps your website to be fast. Bluehost offers one of the highest storage and it’s free.
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CUSTOM THEMES: Bluehost has a partnership with WordPress and as soon as you purchase your domain and hosting, you are able select a custom theme. PS: WordPress offers free themes regardless of hosting company, but the difference is the customer service help you get from Bluehost, should you need it.
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24/7 CUSTOMER SERVICE: this is the leading factor to new bloggers because it can be so confusing. This is where Bluehost becomes a top choice, they offer customer service that is tailored to meet your needs. Call in, email or chat and they assign an agent to help you. The best part about Bluehost customer service is that they focus on bloggers and their customer service is well versed on blogging issues.
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FREE CDN: this also helps in end user experience because it speeds up the search times. The closer the CDN server is to the user geographically, the faster the content will be delivered to the user.
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FREE SSL: I had to pay additional money each year to have the SSL certificate applied to my websites. This is so important to have as it reflects how secure your website is. Two ways your website shows how secure it by having:
- when there is a padlock next to the website link
- https means your site it secure and has the SSL Certificate (http is not secure)
TIP1: if you are going to sell anything on your site, you need the SSL Certificate
TIP 2: if you do not have an SSL Certificate, if someone searches your site it may come up as blocked or not safe and most visitors will click away.
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AUTOMATIC WORDPRESS INSTALLATION: as soon as you purchase your domain and hosting plan, you are given the option if you want Bluehost to install WordPress. This is all done automatically for you. No coding, no transfer of files or html modification. Once the installation is complete, you select your username and password and your blog is LIVE!!
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AUTOMATIC WORDPRESS UPDATE: this may seem unnecessary, but it is very important to do. WordPress is the platform where you write, keep and publish your blog posts and as you can imagine, it is very important to keep your WordPress secure. WordPress actively releases security updates, and you have to manually update those. Bluehost, does that for automatically. TIP: PLEASE CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS AND LOGINS AS SOON AS YOU INSTALL WORDPRESS. THEY ARE GENERIC AND EASY TO HACK INTO. If you are not familiar with the process, simply reach out to Bluehost customer services for help.
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WHY BLUEHOST IS GREAT FOR BLOGGERS
Not only does Bluehost come with top free services as mentioned above but for an additional fee, they also have services that help bloggers succeed, below are some of their additional services:.
SEO: they help with optimizing your website by assessing effective keywords. You also get access to review website analytics and see how many visitors your site is getting. SEO is Search Engine Optimization, this helps in increasing traffic to your site by optimizing your content with search keywords used by visitors. This is the reason why it is important to learn how to properly use keywords in your content, as this will generate organic keywords.
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PAY-PER-CLICK SERVICES: Bluehost experts can create various advertising campaigns to market your website. This may be an effective way to drive traffic. Pay-per-click is a form of advertising where you bid for keywords, the one with the highest bid gets the traffic sent to their website. TIP: I would not recommend new bloggers to use this type of advertising, because if you do not know what you are doing, you will spend a lot of money. My best tip is to learn how to search and use keywords the correct way, as this is free and more sustainable, in bringing traffic for longer periods of time.
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ADVERTISING / SOCIAL MEDIA: if you choose, you can get Bluehost experts to help you with the latest and most impactful advertising strategies. One of their leading strategies is advertising strategies in different social media platforms. Before you take this service, please ask exactly what the targeted results are and what method are they going to use.
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How to Sign Up With Bluehost
Now that we have gone over what Bluehost offers and how it can benefit your blog. In this section will showcase how to sign up for Bluehost. I get so many questions on How to Start a Blog, well this section will showcase the step-by-step process of signing up with Bluehost
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WordPress Blogging Platform
There are many blogging platforms that your blog can be housed on, but the leading platform is WordPress. WordPress is a great platform for bloggers as it is user friendly and there is no coding needed. Below is a WordPress dashboard, as you can see each tab focuses on a section that helps in managing your website. The first step, would be to identify which blogging platform you want to use, if you choose Bluehost as your hosting company, they automatically install WordPress to be connected to your domain and hosting plan.
TIP: you can use Bluehost or any hosting company and connect to any blogging platform such as Blogger or Weebly. I advocate WordPress because it is perfect for bloggers and as your site increases in traffic and technical needs, WordPress can easily accommodate those needs.
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Below is the WordPress dashboard for DesignYourFinances.com as you can see, it is so simple to manage this blog. Everything is clearly labeled, when I publish any posts, I go to the POSTS TAB, add the blog post, hit publish and its live!!
Buy a Domain
Once you have established which blogging platform you prefer, the next step is to buy your domain name. Your domain name is your website address. Take the time to research and come up with different potential names of what you like your domain to be called. Usually, most website owners, they try to get a domain name that references the niche, statement or simply stand out. If your domain name is available you can purchase, but if it is not, you are given options or you can choose a different name.
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In the search bar, enter your desired website page. If your domain is unavailable, then you have to select a new name. Below is what you get when the domain is available. TIP: you do have the option of choosing whether you want the extension to be .com .net or .org
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Hosting
Once you have selected your domain name, the next stage is to select your hosting plan. Hosting is a service that allows your website to connect to the internet. If you do not activate a hosting plan, then your website cannot be searched on the internet. The reason why I recommend Bluehost Hosting is because it is recommended by WordPress. Below are the steps to connect your new website name to Bluehost hosting plan.
STEP 1: Go to Bluehost page and click get started
STEP 2: go to the domain section, search for your desired domain and purchase your domain.
- if you have a website name already you can enter it and get your DNS pointed to your website name
STEP 3: select your hosting plan, enter your details and hit next to complete your hosting plan purchase. In this section you will be asked to choose a password. You can choose a password through a password generator or make you own.
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Installing WordPress
In this section, you are connecting all three services in order to make your blog live. Bluehost package can do this for you automatically, you do not have to code or edit any html, just by a push of a button, your blog is set.
- DOMAIN NAME: this is your website name you have just bought
- HOSTING PLAN: this connects your website to the internet so that its searchable
- WORDPRESS PLATFORM: this is where you publish your blog post, and visitors can read your blog post
TIP 1: cPanel is where the technical stuff of your blog is stored. So you log into your cPanel from Bluehost. WordPress is where you manage, edit and publish your blog post.
In your Bluehost dashboard,
- go to cPanel
- select the install WordPress.
- choose your domain name
- enter your admin and password for your WordPress
- and select Install NOW
You will get a message that states WordPress Installation complete. At this point, you can go to WordPress and enter your login details.
CONGRATULATIONS YOUR WEBSITE IS LIVE!!!!!
After Installation
One of the greatest advantages of using Bluehost, is that when you buy the domain from Bluehost, you can also get their hosting services and this will save you from the hassle of trying to connect domain website from different platforms. Another outstanding advantage is that you have customer service that is readily available to assist you with any technical issues. There are many services and products that Bluehost has that are all made to improve your site and business.
Additionally, Bluehost offers essential security features, including SSL certificates and automated backups, to safeguard your blog’s data. Moreover, its user-friendly control panel simplifies domain management and email setup, making it convenient for bloggers to focus on creating content rather than navigating technical complexities. Whether you’re looking to start a personal blog, monetize your content, or run a business blog, Bluehost’s versatile hosting solutions and blogging-friendly features provide the ideal foundation to bring your blogging aspirations to life.
Cheering To Your Success
Brenda | www.DesignYourFinances.com
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