Want To Start A Blog?- Episode 2 Installing a Domain

want to start a blog all about domainsIn 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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?

*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

main page of godaddy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After you log into GoDaddy click on launch next to domains.

Step 3

nameserver godaddy

 

 

 

 

 

Click on Nameserver.

Step 4

set nameserver from go daddy to greengeeks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct your name server to your hosting provider.  In our case it was GreenGeeks.

Step 5

nameserver confirmation

 

 

 

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

domain section in cpanel

 

 

 

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

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