4 Steps on How to Start a Blog or Website
If you have any business whatsoever, you MUST have a presence on the web if you ever want to succeed.
Once upon a time, you had to have a great deal of technical knowledge to build a website but with the introduction of WordPress, that’s no longer true. Many people are put off by starting their own blog because they mistakenly believe that they have to be a tech person.
Having the mindset that you can build it and they will come, is not realistic. You need to drive traffic to your website on a regular basis, otherwise very few people will even know it exists. A great way of doing this is to publish regular content/articles which people will find interesting to read and be valuable, such as sharing a helpful strategy that you have learned.
Find out what you should take into consideration when starting a blog or website and what steps you need to take to make your website successful.
The main 4 steps are detailed below
Step #1 is get your own hosting and domain name
You may be thinking that you could use free sites like blogger.com or wordpress.com but if you want to build a professional and profitable website, you need to get your own hosting and domain name.
Step #2 Install WordPress onto your domain
WordPress allows you to add your pages and posts to your website – no cost involved with this part.
Step #3 Install your theme
You want your website to stop people in their tracks and impress them. WordPress has lots of free themes to choose from – pick the design you want for your site.
Step #4 Add content to your site
Adding content to your site comes in the form of pages and posts.
Pages are usually the main part of your blog and are static. These pages appear in the menu at the top of your site. Examples are: Home Page, About Page, Contact Page, Services/Products etc.
Posts are what you’re going to write about, so for example, if you want to share a cool strategy that you’ve just discovered about how to get traffic from YouTube, this would be a post.
It is recommended to have at least 5 posts on your website to start with, any less would appear unprofessional. Determine your own publishing schedule and regularly add content to build your site and drive traffic.
We have provided below our recommendation for hosting below and how to start a blog in 30 seconds or less using their Quick Start Wizard.
GreenGeeks Hosting to Help You Get Started
GreenGeeks was founded in 2008 and now hosts over 300,000 websites. Boasting ‘the latest speed technology for blazing-fast page loads,’ GreenGeeks web hosting is fast, secure, and eco-friendly.
GreenGeeks caters to any web hosting needs you might have, from WordPress hosting and online retail to reseller hosting and virtual private servers with an array of hosting options and a number of affordable price packages available.
What Services does GreenGeeks Supply?
Building your website on GreenGeeks is as simple as dragging and dropping the elements you want where you want them with a user-friendly interface. Suitable for new users and expert website builders alike, the site is WordPress compatible, so if that’s more your style, GreenGeeks also caters to you. Users also receive a domain name with their website, which is free for your first year, making it a simple, fuss-free, and affordable option for users building their first blog or website.
Suppose you already have a website and want to migrate it from a different host over to GreenGeeks. In that case, they offer a free migration service, expertly run to allow for as little disruption as possible.
If you use WooCommerce, then GreenGeeks will provide you with an easy 1-click installer, automatic updates, daily backups, and advanced security to keep your store safe around the clock.
The reseller platform lets you earn recurring income securely and with flexibility that will allow you to work with GreenGeeks for many years to come. Their ability to scale their hosting plans up or down to suit your needs makes them evergreen and reliable.
Finally, GreenGeeks’ VPS hosting gives you a fully managed, monitored, and supported system and free cPanel migrations. You’ll also be given a dedicated IP and the ability to blacklist suspicious IP addresses. In addition, GreenGeeks offers a free Spam Assassin tool to protect your email accounts.
With all of these hosting options, GreenGeeks uses cPanel, which includes Fantastico and Softaculous script installers, enabling you to install blogging platforms and content management systems to suit any of your website needs.
How Secure is GreenGeeks?
Security is of utmost importance to GreenGeeks, and their use of a container-based approach to hosting means that every user’s account is secure, isolated, and uses private and dedicated resources and a secured virtual file system. If another site using the shared server wants to take more space, your website’s performance won’t be affected. If someone else’s site is attacked by malware, yours will remain out of harm’s way.
In addition to this, the host’s excellent Server Monitoring and threat analysis technology means that the first line of defense against malware and viruses is incredibly strong, giving GreenGeeks the ability to take action against security threats at the very early stages, reducing the need for downtime.
How Eco-Friendly are They?
One of the most prominent features that GreenGeeks Hosting takes pride in is how eco-friendly their service is. Aside from using eco-friendly data centers and servers, GreenGeeks matches three times the amount of energy the hosting consumes from the grid in the form of renewable energy credits. This means that any website hosted by GreenGeeks will be 300% green. A massive amount of the energy used by the company is replaced by green power in the form of wind energy created by them.
The company is multi-award-winning and widely celebrated for being one of the top hosting companies in America and becoming a completely eco-friendly company, thanks to their carbon-negative output. When so many of us spend so much time on our computers these days, it’s nice to know that the way you’re working is doing some good to the environment, as well as to your business. In fact, GreenGeeks is the number one host and number two overall company in green power percentage of total electricity use, according to the EPA’s Green Power Partner List.
What is their Customer Service Like?
Phone support is available during business hours, and live chat support is available 24/7/365. GreenGeeks is also contactable via email and claims to have a response time of 15-20 minutes, and the online support center features a searchable database and FAQs to help troubleshoot common issues. The website also features an education center where you can find tutorials, videos, and useful articles to help you through every step of your website journey.
If you’re a fledgling business and are new to the world of website building, GreenGeeks can also provide information to help you launch your business and build your online presence. Answering questions like “how to start an online store” and “how to start a blog,” GreenGeeks is with you every step of the way and frequently updates their content to help you find your first steps.
A 30-day money-back guarantee applies to all packages. However, this isn’t 100% money back. The price will be deducted for any domain names you’ve purchased and any setup or transfer fees incurred.
All packages come with a variety of price plans to choose from, each offering different options and becoming more comprehensive as the price goes up. A simple web hosting package starts at just 2.95 USD a month, and the most expensive package, the 8GB VPS package, comes in at 109.95 USD a month.
Are there any Cons?
GreenGeeks hosting is a comprehensive service that offers excellence to its customers. However, no company is without flaws. While the hosting solutions provided are scalable and include many great features, it doesn’t provide Windows server hosting, and the dedicated VPS hosting options are somewhat pricier than others on the market. The pricing structures also seem a little misleading, and customers do have to commit to a 3-year plan to get the price listed on the site.
Having said that, GreenGeek’s commitment to security, customer service, and sustainability put this hosting company on the top of many ‘best of lists’ and make them the number 1 choice for tens of thousands of happy customers, with the company’s pros vastly outweighing the cons.
Best Value Add Features:
- Free Domain, SSL Certificates & Website Migration
- Multi-user Access on all of our plans
- Access to WordPress Repair Tool
- Fully Managed WordPress service.
Take advantage of GreenGeeks Shared Hosting Summer Savings
Lite: $2.49/mo. (Regular: $10.95/mo)
Pro: $4.95/mo. (Regular: $15.95/mo)
Premium: $8.95/mo. (Regular: $25.95/mo)
Starting a blog with GreenGeeks in 30 seconds
Step 1 – Set-up your domain name
Step 2 – Enter your account information
Step 3 – Select what you want to do – start a new site, migrate website etc
Step 4 – Select your app
Step 5 – Choose your theme
Step 6 – You’re done!
Quick Starter Tools – for those that are short on time or knowledge
Quickly and easily launch WordPress websites in seconds using the proprietary On-boarding tool for WordPress, powered by GreenGeeks Web Hosting.
Tool includes:
- Quick launch wizard to get your website up and running in record time
- Free migration tool to transfer your website from your old host to GreenGeeks – average turnaround time 24-48 hours
- Starter Site – don’t have time to create your new website – you supply the content and we’ll design the website for you for FREE – average turnaround time 24-72 hours
Check out the video below for further details
