In my last post of the Want To Blog series I talked about considerations to think about when starting a blog and the pros and cons of Blogger vs. WordPress.
Check out! Should You Trust a Blog Review? Learn To Spot Quality Blog Reviews.
Regardless if you want to blog for professional or personal reasons I strongly suggest you purchase your own domain.
I recommend this for a few reasons:
- It is always easier to remember yourblogname.com than yourblogname.blogspot.com. Remember back in the day when we all had Angelfire websites dedicated to our favourite boy bands and teeny bopper bands – wait are you saying that was just me?! – The urls were ridiculously hard to remember www.angelfire.com/me2/whatever13yearoldmethoughtwouldbeagoodsitename. Same rules apply. Your blog will be much harder to find and remember if you do not have a unique name.
- Trademark. Your blog cannot be called the same name as any other. By snapping up the domain (and not just the .org version of a .com already in existence) you are preventing someone else from grabbing it. The strongest domain names are unique and memorable. Jen Yate’s Epbot is an excellent example of this.
- Investment. As long as you are not looking to purchase an extremely popular domain name they do not cost a lot of money. Your average domain will cost you around $10.00 a year. The ROI (return on investment) is great. If you ever decide to sell your business and/or blog you can always find a buyer willing to spend what you paid for it, if not more.
What do I do once I buy a domain?
If you chose to blog on a self-hosted wordpress platform follow the instructions below.
If you went with Blogger please see this post for instructions.
What you need?
- Domain. We recommend GoDaddy.
- Hosting Package. We use GreenGeeks and love them. We have also heard great things about Blue Host and HostGator.
*We purchased our domain through godaddy and have our hosting through GreenGeeks. If you use different companies everything may look a little different but the general idea will be the same.*
Step 1
Log into GoDaddy. Click on Account Manager at the very bottom of the page.
Step 2
After you log into GoDaddy click on launch next to domains.
Step 3
Click on Nameserver.
Step 4
Direct your name server to your hosting provider. In our case it was GreenGeeks.
Step 5
Wait and let the internet do its computer magic. You will be emailed once your domain has been transferred to your hosting provider.
Step 6
Log into your hosting account’s cpanel.
Step 7
Click on add domain.
Step 8
Add the domain which you had transferred.
Once you have a domain you can do a few different things with it including it as a redirect or adding a subdomain. Our next post in the Want To Blog series will cover those two things.
Want To Blog? Series
Episode 1 – Worpress Vs. Blogger
Episode 2 – Installing a Domain
Episode 3 – Having Fun With Domains
Great instructions! Thanks for sharing
Thanks for the feedback Anna.
This is great info that I’m going to need very soon! Thanks!
Great tutorial!
I read several books about setting up a blog before I started mine and they all recommended buying a domain name and I am so glad I did! Many companies won’t work with you if you don’t own your domain. I use HostGator as my host and I love them. Great customer service and really easy to use.
Great point about buying a domain so others will work with you. A simple thing really builds confidence.
Great tips for beginners!
Great tips! I just had to purchase my own domain because blogspot spammed my account after almost a year and 2 months later never got it back up or responded, I was totally freaking out because I had no idea what to do. Sure could’ve used this information. I will bookmark this in case I ever need to do it again.
I am so sorry that happened. I am sure you will love having your own domain though – silver lining 🙂
Good information! When I’m ready, the only thing I think I’ll change is the host. GoDaddy has such misogynistic commercials, so I don’t really want to support them. There are other hosting services out there that are just a good!
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