How To Start a Website Blog on a Budget

Steps to create a website

1. Purchase a domain from Hover.com

   I recommend Hover because they have free privacy services and a chat service. I have sent numerous clients and students to Hover, and universally it has been a good experience.
   
   The next best alternative is domains.google.com, and their domains are less expensive. However, my students have had problems registering domains with Google. There is no service, and Google has add-ons that are confusing.
   
   Whatever you do, don’t purchase your domain name from GoDaddy, Hostgator, or Blue Host. I have had multiple problems with those domain registrars.

2. Purchase a hosting plan from Siteground

   I recommend that you buy a hosting plan from Siteground. It is the best value for hosting when you are starting out. Purchase the lowest cost plan for now. (You can always upgrade later if you need to.) Buy as many years of hosting as you can. Siteground offers heavy discounts for the initial purchase, and smaller discounts for renewals.
   
   Once you have built up a following, you may want to move to better hosting. I have experience with multiple website hosts and describe them in detail in this article on website hosts.
   
   (Note: I am a Siteground affiliate, so if you choose Siteground and click on the link, I will receive an affiliate credit.)

3. Set the nameservers at Hover.com

   After you have a domain and hosting, you need to connect them to each other. You do that by setting the nameservers at Hover.com. Once you are signed in to Hover, it is easy to navigate to the Nameservers. You will see it in the left column.
   
   If you are having problems, simply start a chat with Hover. Edit the nameservers to the nameservers provided by Siteground. They probably look something like the image below.

4. Install WordPress

   Siteground, and most website hosts, make this very easy. If your host doesn’t have a one-click installation of WordPress, then you may want to find a different website host.

5. Add SSL/HTTPS

   You need encryption on your website, and you set this up on the website host. Siteground makes this easy. First, click on Site Tools, and from there navigate to Security -> SSL Manager. There are two steps to setting up SSL. First, you need to choose the Let’s Encrypt from the Select SSL dropdown, then when that is installed, click on Enforce HTTPS. Enforce HTTPS redirects any website URLS from HTTP to HTTPS.

6. Add a WordPress Theme

   Your WordPress website will be preinstalled with some themes, including the built in WordPress themes, named after the year they were made, eg. Twenty-Twenty.
   
   I would recommend using the Genesis Framework and use the sample theme. It is now free. Genesis has an excellent reputation in the WordPress community. I don’t use Genesis as my first choice for my own websites, but Genesis is the right one for you, to keep your costs low and have a fast and efficient theme.
   
   I use Beaver Builder as my go-to theme, but it is rather expensive at $199 per year for the theme and page builder. If you decide to go that route, then I have a training program on how to use Beaver Builder.
   

7. Start writing posts

   Log in to your website, and start writing posts. After you are logged in, you will see a +New button. Click that to add a post. Once you have a couple of posts written, then come back to your home page and see how it all looks.

8. Customize

   Your probably want to do some work to decorate your website, and you start with that by clicking on Customize. Customize is where you add your website logo.