Web Hosting with Bluehost.com
THE EASIEST WORDPRESS WEB HOSTING SETUP
Get your website hosting and domain up and running fast!
This is easy website hosting for those who are just starting out with their website, or are simply setting up their own hosting and don’t want to sift through technical jargon or up-sell confusion. I’ve worked with my share of web hosting companies and have had some really awful experiences. But I’ve found that Bluehost is the perfect starter service for your new website. I do have a couple of companies I work with, but if you are doing it yourself, this is the service I recommend.
Among its benefits are:
- Affordable pricing
- Free SSL encryption (other popular hosting companies make you pay annually for this)
- Free domain registration for your first year
- A long relationship with WordPress
It is the one I recommend (and have used) for getting hosting and domain accounts up and running quickly. For the price, you cannot beat it! In fact, I am an affiliate of only two hosting companies – one that’s more advanced that I use to set up clients, and Bluehost.com which is the easiest and most affordable for the average business owner to set up themselves, while also having a great up-time record, free SSL, free domain when you first join, and works specifically with WordPress.
How to Set Up Your Hosting
Getting Started
Now like all hosting companies, Bluehost has a few different sets of hosting plans, and it can be confusing as to which one to pick. I strongly suggest you click their “Get Started” button on the home page – don’t bother with the menu items at the top because they offer other variations and you may end up purchasing something you don’t need.
Select a Plan
Once you arrive on the “Select Your Plan” page, pick the Basic plan if you only want 1 website. If you will be adding more websites, then choose the Plus plan. There is no need to buy more than that for hosting. Note that the pricing they show is only if you make a 3-year purchase, which is reasonable. If you purchase less time, you still get a good price.
Select a New Domain Name or Use One You Already Have
You will be redirected to a page that asks if you have an existing domain located somewhere else that you want to connect to this site, or if you need to buy one. Enter the correct information accordingly. Provided that your chosen domain name is available, you will then be redirected to the “Create Your Account” page.
Creating Your Account
Here you enter your personal information and then there are two areas you need to make some service selections.
In the Package Information box, you can click the down arrow next to the Account Plan to see the pricing options for the various amounts of time. Pick the one you want.
Below that area is the Package Extras. Here’s where people tend to purchase more than they need because they don’t really understand it all. The ONLY one you really should buy is the Domain Privacy Protection option. This hides your personal information that gets tied to your domain name. To this point, all personal information has always been made public thus opening you up to a LOT of spam. The Privacy Protection prevents this and it is well worth it. Choose that service, but nothing else in that box.
And then of course, add your payment information, and submit the page.
At this point you have purchased and set up your hosting and domain. Bluehost automatically installs WordPress for you, so just look through the Bluehost interface to familiarize yourself with it. They offer a link that takes you into your WordPress dashboard where you can begin to create your new site.
That’s it! You are now ready to create your new WordPress website!
