So, are you truly ready to create your blog?  Don’t worry, you can do this. At first, it will appear to be overwhelming. Remember the old saying, “If you fail to plan, plan on failing”.   That is exactly what will happen if you don’t plan this out and keep things organized!
When I first started, it was so overwhelming that I had felt like I was running……in place.  Basically, going nowhere because of information overload. I will attempt to make this as easy as possible but I strongly suggest you get organized NOW!  I recently came across a free service called AIRTABLE.  It’s basically like Excel, but much more user-friendly both on desktop and mobile. It helped me to stay organized and control the chaos.  You do not need to start with it right now, but the longer you wait, the harder it will be to go backward and gather the information that you want to keep organized. You can learn more about that free service here.  It is free so you can’t go wrong!
Enough small talk, let’s get started!
Ok, before we actually start building the blog itself, make sure you have completed the first two steps:
1. Choose Your NicheÂ
Before you head out to get that domain name, lets make sure you know what your niche will be. In other words, what is the main topic of discussion for your blog? This is a very important step.  If you don’t get a handle on this easy step, you may find yourself working very hard at building posts, only to find out that you need to start all over!  If you don’t know what a niche is or you have not chosen one yet, read this  article to learn more about how to choose your niche.
2. Choose & Register Your Domain name.
This is a task that you can really get caught up on.  Trust me. I think I had spent 2 weeks choosing a domain name.  I wasted so much time.  Yes, it is an important step, but not as important as your content.  Remember, being a blogger you need to learn to become very efficient with your time or this will consume you.  Read this article to learn more about choosing your domain name if you haven’t done so already or head on over to NameCheap.com.
3. Install WordPress
Before you can actually install WordPress, you will need to open up an account at your hosting company.  I will show you the step-by-step process using Siteground as the hosting company since they are my recommended hosting company.
Let’s get started.  First, head over to SiteGround.Com and select, “See Plans”.
You will see three options: StartUp, GrowBig, and GoGeek.  You can choose either one, but if you are just starting out, I’d recommend “GrowBig” because it has sufficient room for monthly visitor growth and most importantly, it has SuperCacher to speed up your website. This is very important when it comes to Google ranking.  Once you’ve chosen the plan of your choice, go ahead and click the “Get Started” button at Step 1 below.
On this next page, you will have the option on either entering the domain name that you already own or registering a new domain. If you followed the steps from earlier, you should already have a domain from NameCheap.Com. I personally recommend that you keep your domain registrations separate from your hosting.  So, if you already have your domain registered from NameCheap, select “I already have a domain” and enter it in the box below and then click “Proceed”.
On this next page, you will be asked for your Account information, such as your name, address, email, phone, etc.  Then they will ask you for payment information.  After that, they will want to review the purchase details.
After you submitted payment for processing, you will see a confirmation screen informing you that your account has been successfully created.  At this point, you can then “Proceed to Customer Area” where you can set up your username, password and get access to the cPanel.
Upon entering the customer area your first time, you will see a popup asking if you want WordPress installed on your account. Â You should select this option and then continue. Â This will install WordPress automatically saving you from the headache of doing it manually. Â Just another perk for choosing SiteGround.
The following screen will ask you to enter your login credentials for WordPress.  You can also choose one of the free WordPress themes here as well.  Choose any theme at this point and you can change it later if you’d like.
Ok, you have finally reached the last screen. Â This is where you will find the link that takes you to the WordPress admin tools. Â This is where the fun starts. Â You should be able to go to your domain at this point and see your new blog!
If you visit your domain and see a “Coming Soon” page, you will need to go to your domain registrar, CheapNames.Com in this scenario, and update the name server. Â This step would link your domain at CheapNames.Com with your hosting company at Siteground.
In an upcoming article, I will walk you through the WordPress Admin section. Â In the meantime, if you have any questions that I can help you on, please head over to the forum for more help.
