Prelude: Before I begin I want to make one point very clear. Stay away from free blogs! Although the guide on this site is free, I strongly recommend  that you DO NOT use free platforms like Blogger.com, Blogspot.com, WordPress.com, Weebly.com etc. to create your blog.

I’ll explain why free blogs are not good:

• You could get hacked. Due to the low security system on those free sites, it’s fairly easy for hackers to hack into your website. You will loose your entire blog and end up with all your efforts going down the drain.
• You have no scope of earning from your blog by selling products, services or ad space which are the most common ways of making money. Rather, they earn money from your blog through advertisements and selling, without sharing the profits with you.
• They can ban you or delete your site anytime they want and people are not going to take you professionally. You actually have no rights to the so-called “free” site because it does not belong to you.
• You can’t change the design and other features of your site however you want to. If you don’t have any control over how to mould your own site then you can well imagine how your site will eventually look like.
• Free blogs aren’t absolutely free. Some free blog sites charge you to upgrade and use some of the premium services and features, and some bill you for additional charges, or worse, hidden fees. That, at no stretch of imagination, can be termed free.
• When you sign up for a free blog, your site will have a domain name that is long and boring …Nothing screams “I’m a wannabe” than some weird-looking free domain names. I am sure you would prefer your blog be known as yourblogname.com, right?

Now that I’ve made my point clear let’s begin our free beginners guide to blogging.

The first question that comes to the minds of every new blogger is – what are the basics of blogging? No newbie can proceed without understanding that. So let’s begin this step-by-step blogging guide with this question itself – what are the basics of blogging?

If you want to install a blog, you first need to have some resources. Happily, you only need two:

1. A domain name

2. Web hosting

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is the address or link to a site. For instance, if you type BlogEarner.com in the address bar of any browser you will be directed to this site.

You need to register a domain name for the site from one of the domain name companies out there which will grant you the right to use it for your own blog.

Your domain name will end with a .com, .info, .org or other extensions depending on what you chose it to be when you register it at the start. The .com, .org and .net are the most popular and recommended extensions and will give your blog a global audience.

How to get a domain name?

There are a lot of domain name companies such as GoDaddy and Namecheap you can register a domain name with. You have to go to their website and check if the domain name you want is available. It will tell you if it is available automatically when you type it into the search box.

When you register a new domain name you have to make it short and catchy and avoid dashes as much as possible without stuffing keywords.

Do you already have a domain name in mind? If yes, you can check if it’s available or not. You can always search for another similar one even if it’s not! Simply use the search box below:

What is Web Hosting?

Hosting is like a stock room that stores the files and everything of your site. You can simply buy a hosting service from one of the top hosting companies out there and you will receive your login details in an email to log into your account and start creating and uploading files on your site.

How to sign up?

Right at the onset, simply avoid free blogs such as blogger.com and similar sites to avoid a horrible experience.

When choosing a hosting company to buy hosting service from, you have to make sure that the hosting company offers first class customer support, and has excellent uptime guarantee, a refund policy, email forwarding or other features. Also, auto install features that will let you set up a WordPress blog automatically if you want to, should also be kept in mind. If you are unaware, WordPress is the most user friendly blogging software that runs on a web hosting service.

I have dabbled with various hosts such as Go Daddy, Host Gator, 1 and 1, FatCow, and Host Monster but was disappointed for some or the other reason. Unlike Bluehost.

I use Bluehost for this and several other sites and have never had any kind of major problems with them. And the few minor ones were resolved in a jiffy.

Hence, I recommend Bluehost to all my clients for the following reasons:

1. You can choose Bluehost because it has a robust 24/7 customer support via phone, email, or chat.

2. It also has a 1-click auto install feature and it’s good for hosting WordPress sites.

3. WordPress.org vouches for it as the #1 hosting for blogs and websites.

4. With over 2 million websites being hosted with them worldwide, they are considered the best.

5. You will also get a free domain name and free SSL certificate along with your web hosting account.

6. They offer a money-back guarantee if you are in any way unsatisfied.

Because Bluehost is a top-notch hosting service it charges a little bit extra then the rest. All things premium come with a small extra price tag. But it is now offering you a discount, so take advantage of it while the offer lasts.

Visit Bluehost To Grab Your Discount Now!

Happily, you can get both, a domain name and a hosting account from one place. When you buy hosting from Bluehost you will get a free domain name and SSL certificate as well. You can sign up, get a free domain name and get moving.

What next?

Having covered the topic on ‘what are the basics of blogging’ let me now move on to the 2nd step to show you how a blog is set up.

But before I proceed let me make you a promise: If for any reason you are unable to follow the screenshots in the next step to complete the process, I’ll do it for you free of cost. It so happens that Bluehost compensates me for every sign-up, so it’s a win-win situation for all. Contact me without hesitation and I’ll help you out.