Preparing for the Launch of Your Blog

Starting a blog can be one of the most exciting times for you and your business, but before spending any money or getting too excited there are a few things you will need to consider first. Since I’ve personally created hundreds of web sites and blogs over the years, I can help you avoid any wasted money, time and effort in this area.

First off, you are going to need to choose a domain name and a web host for your blog. This might already sound complicated, but it’s actually extremely simple and can be done in the same process. I’ve broken down each of these steps for you below.

If at anytime you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email through the comments page and I will give you my best advice or thoughts on whatever question you might have.

Choosing Your Domain Name

A domain name is the actual URL address of your site. For example, the domain of this blog is zacjohnson.com. A domain name is unique and there is no other one like it in the world. This means you will likely have to get creative with choosing a domain name or have a very unique personal name if you want to go that route. If the domain name you are looking for isn’t available, you can also choose the .NET or .ORG version, however I would greatly recommend getting a .COM address.

Getting back to “being creative” with your domain name… you can get creative, but don’t get crazy. Stay away from using NUMBERS and DASHES in your domain name. I would also try not to use a “K” instead of a “C” (as in “CASH” vs. “KASH”) as this will make it hard for people to remember the name of your site if you were to verbally tell someone. You don’t want to have to say “with a K” every time you tell someone your site name.

If you already have a domain name, then you will just need to setup your hosting and transfer the domain so it points to your new host. For anyone that doesn’t already have a domain name, you can get a FREE domain through my recommended web hosting service below.

Choose a Quality Web Host

Once your blog is live, it will be accessible to everyone throughout the world. This is made possible through the use of a “web host”. The concept of web hosting is simply being able to upload content (blog articles, images etc.) to a server which allows your data to be accessed by anyone in the world as long as they are connected to the internet. This already sounds complicating, but it’s not. Once you are setup with web hosting you will rarely ever never need to worry about the specifics of your host again.

If you were to search for a web hosting company on your own, this would not only take you a few days but you would end up pulling your hair out of give up due to the frustrations of trying to compare all of the services and their monthly rates. Over the years I’ve been with a ton of different hosting companies, some good… some bad. To make it easy on you, I will simply recommend that you use BlueHost, who I am currently hosting a number of web sites and blogs with right now.

BlueHost is one of the largest hosting companies in the world and are based out of Orem, Utah with over 700 employees. In addition to being my preferred web host, they are also currently hosting millions of web sites and have over 20,000 new customers using their service every month. The most important thing you need to know is that you will only need to pay $4.95 a month (usually $6.99, but you will instantly save 30% with my partner discount) for your hosting, which includes unlimited domain names, hosting space, email account and also gives you a FREE domain name when you join!

In addition to a free domain name, you will also get over $200 in coupons and offers to advertise with Google and Facebook to kickstart you blog with high quality and targeted traffic.

Click Here to Register Your Free Domain Name and Get Your Web Hosting Setup.

Once you signed up for your hosting account, shoot me an email and I will install your WordPress blog for you and also send you a premium $79 WordPress Theme at no extra cost.

In the next section of  my “Seven Days of Blogging: My Personal Guide to Blogging” I will be covering the simple process of how to install your blog in just 5 minutes! This is an awesome tutorial and it walks you through the process step-by-step!