If you are looking to make money through blogging, you really should have a professional-looking, self-hosted website. Most readers won’t even stick around to check out your content if they don’t like the look of your blog.

There are resources out there that can get you more into the tech-savy side of things, but let’s call this post “How to Start a Blog for Technology Airheads.” I know that I was definitely one of the airhead when I got started, and I am now the proud owner of the site you are on right now.

For tips on getting started as a blogger and growing your blog, you want to check out this post here. The post you are reading now is just a how-to guide for the actual set-up of your website.

*Please note – this post contains affiliate links, see sidebar for details.

Let me walk you through it step-by-step and make this as simple as possible.

Step 1: Go to the Bluehost website

Click this link here to be taken to the Bluehost website.

Step 2: Click the green “get started now” button

Step 3: Select your plan

This part seems a little confusing or overwhelming for the airheads, but this chart breaks it down for you pretty well. If you are just getting started for the first time, the basic plan should be just fine for you, just know that you may need to do some research on when to upgrade down the road. (please note, the $3.95 price will likely not be the final price you pay, a lower promotional price is coming.)

Step 4: Choose your domain name.

Hopefully by the time that you are actually creating your blog or website, you have already decided on what you are going to name it. Your domain name is the address that people type into their web browser to get to your site. You want it to be something easy that includes either your name or the name of your blog or website. For example, Mommy: Home Manager’s domain name is mommyhomemanager so the website looks like www.mommyhomemanager.com

Now, just type your domain name into the Bluehost box and hit “next”.

Hooray, you now have a web address. 🙂 (well, almost)

Step 5: Create Your Account

This is the part when you enter all of your promotional information. It is also the part where the promotional price may come into play. I went through to write this post, and did an example sign-up. When I left this page sitting open for about a minute, a window popped up that asked if I would like additional savings bringing the monthly cost down to $2.65 per month when you purchase a three year plan. Of course, I like additional savings!

After you’ve completed steps 1-5, you are done with the web hosting part. Now comes the part where we match WordPress and Bluehost together.

Step 6: Install WordPress

Once you log into your Bluehost account, you will have all kinds of options for messing with your website within your control panel. You will see a W that says “Word Press” under the heading “Website Builders.” Once you click that, you will want to click “start” to install wordpress on your website.

Select your domain, and start the installation

That’s it! You now have your very own website to start putting together.  You can now either click the “browse all themes” button or login to wordpress by going to your admin URL and get to choosing a theme. Whether you want to pay for a theme or find one that is free is up to you. I use a free one for my page, and I love it. There are some limitations to the things that I can customize, but I have been able to make it work for me without spending a penny.

Congratulations and good luck with your new website! I’d love to check it out, so go ahead and send me a link when you are ready for a fan. 🙂