Do you want to start your own blog or online business? Are you wondering where to start without spending a lot of money and time?
If you have no prior experience with creating a new blog or website, the first things that may come to your mind are:
- You will need to spend hundreds of dollars on a website building company, as they usually price their services between $500-$700
- You need a lot of money for web hosting services, domain registration and related services.
Well, here’s what happened Internet marketers want you to believe and they are glad you did…
That truth would you be able to achieve all this by spending very little money or without spending anything!
So to clarify, to start your own online site or blog, all you need is:
- A domain name
- Web hosting services (free or paid)
- Platforms (CMS) such as WordPress
So there are two ways to go:
First choice:
If you just want a personal blog to express your opinion & interact with your audience, you don’t have to spend a dime!
All you have to do is:
- Choose a blogging provider like WordPress or Google Blogspot (I highly recommend both). It works as a web hosting provider and CMS at the same time!
Blogspot is easier for beginners and easier to use, you don’t even need a tutorial in most cases.
WordPress is a little more difficult if you’re just starting out, but offers a lot more options & themes to choose from. You may need to watch some tutorials if you need to add more advanced features to your site.
- Choose a name for your blog. It is completely free but the downside is that your domain name will include Blogspot.com or WordPress.com at the end (eg mysite.wordpress.com). This is totally fine if you don’t care about monetizing your site.
Whichever platform you choose to start with, just visit their site. The two platforms are self-explanatory, so you can get started now even if it’s your first time building a website!
Second option:
If you are thinking of starting your online business without paying a web construction company, you are in the right place! Although you will have to pay some fees for the domain name and web hosting server. This is important because with a free website you lose a lot of credibility.
- Choose a web hosting provider (like Siteground , Bluehost or whatever provider you prefer). The price for the average plan is around $100 per year. Although you can have more than one site with the same account
- Choose your domain name. It costs around $10 per year. Web hosting providers often include registration of your site’s name in their packages. If not, you can choose another provider to register your domain name.
- Choose a platform (CMS) like WordPress or Joomla. I highly recommend WordPress because it offers lots of useful free extras & lets you choose from thousands of pre-built themes. All you have to do is change the tag name of the previously created theme. Check WordPress website builder for quick and easy setup of your own first website.
And that’s it! In 10 minutes, you can set up your site on line!
Feel free to share your experience with us about your first steps in website creation & ask any questions!
