Setting Up a WordPress Blog on Bluehost: Step-by-Step Guide
There is a lot of debate in the blogging community about what web hosting company to use. I always recommend setting up a WordPress blog on Bluehost.
I’ve run many blogs, directories, and client websites on Bluehost and have always been pleased with the platform and service.
In today’s tutorial, I will show you the exact steps for setting up a WordPress blog on Bluehost and, as an extra bonus, some of my favorite themes and plugins! Additionally, I’ll explain all the reasons why I personal like Bluehost for my web hosting.
I hope you find this tutorial helpful and please let me know in the comments if you have any questions!
Let’s dive in!
Here are a few of the reasons why I recommend Bluehost
Included Email Addresses
It’s so nice to have an email address that matches my website. It looks much more professional too! I’ll be honest and say that I don’t really care for the platforms that Bluehost offers for viewing and sending emails, but it’s nice that I can set up my email to run through services like Gmail and Outlook.
Site Backups
It’s happened before… I completely messed something up and crashed the whole site. Not a happy time for me, but thankfully Bluehost automatically has a back-up your website so you can revert back to an earlier version. This has been a lifesaver on more than one occasion!
Free SSL Certificates for Shared Hosting Accounts
This is the type of hosting that most bloggers will have. A secured site is becoming more and more of a ranking factor on search engines. Having an SSL certificate that you can install for free with a click of a button is a huge plus!
Here are step-by-step instructions for installing a free SLL certificate on your Bluehost WordPress site.
Easy WordPress Installation
This is a given! (Especially since this blog is called “Setting Up a WordPress Blog on Bluehost”) Bluehost makes it really easy to install WordPress.org on your hosting account. I’ll show you exactly how below!
Customer Support
Occasionally I’ll run into a problem that I can’t figure out on my own, so it’s pivotal to have a support team that can be counted on. I have found that using their instant chat is better than calling most of the time. However, every time I’ve needed their help, I’ve been able to get my questions answered or problem fixed.
Setting Up a WordPress Blog on Bluehost
Step 1:
After you have purchased your hosting account and your domain name, you will have a cpanel that looks like the image below. To install WordPress, you need to click on “WordPress Tools” in the top menu bar.
Step 2:
On the WordPress Tools page, you need to click on “New Install”.
Step 3:
On the New Install page, you’ll see a dropdown box next to the word “Domain”. Make sure that your domain is selected. If your domain is not there, there are two reasons why:
Your domain is not registered with BluehostOR
If you registered your domain with another company (like GoDaddy), you need to make sure the nameservers are changed (contact your domain host to do this) and that you assigned the domain to your Bluehost account.
My domain looks slightly different because I am installing on a subdomain for the purposes of this tutorial.
The next option, “Path”, is optional. This selection is for installing WordPress on a sub-directory like example.com/blog then you need to enter “blog” in the path field. Leave it blank if you want to install WordPress in the root directory, like example.com. I recommend leaving the box blank.
Next, fill in your blog name, username, password, and admin email address.
When you’ve finished filling out all the information, click the green “Install WordPress” button.
When your install is complete, you’ll receive an email that shows your username and login link.
Step 4:
Go to the login link provided in the email and sign in with the username and password that you just created.
Congratulations!
You just finished setting up a WordPress blog on Bluehost!
WordPress is installed… now what?
Install one of these themes:
Install these plugins:
checkYoast SEO
checkAkismet Anti-Spam
checkSocial Warfare
You can read more about my theme recommendations on my blog post, “Best WordPress Themes for Beginners“.
Conclusion
Setting up a WordPress blog on Bluehost is really easy and I think you’ll agree once you try it! However, sometime things just don’t work out the way we thought. I can’t emphasis enough how beneficial the Bluehost online chat has been for me so I would direct you there for any issues.
You can also contact me at any time or leave a comment on this post with any questions!
