How To Set Up A Personal Blog With Your Preferred Domain Name

It's not always wise to set up a free blog because sometimes, free blogs do get deleted without warning. If you are creating a blog for fun and you don't mind losing the content, then by all means, sign up with a free blog host. But if your intention is to create a long term blog or if you want to make money with it, then it's always good to create a blog with your own domain name and host it on your own servers. Here is what you do.

Step 1: Find a good domain name.

Step 2: Register it with your preferred registrar.

Step 3: Identify a reliable hosting company.

Step 4: Point your nameservers at the right address.

Step 5: Use Cpanel to install the blog.

Step 1: Find a good domain name.

A good domain name can be hard to find these days. Almost all the words that means something are take up. So either you choose a top level extension that is less common (e.g. - .tv, .cc) or you choose a name that is very rare. At the end of the day, it has to be a name that you like. If you can't think of anything good to register, try registering for a keyword domain name. This is a name is that based on two to three words. There is a higher chance that such a name is still available for registration.

Step 2: Register it with your preferred registrar.

Go to your favorite domain registrar - e.g. GoDaddy or Namecheap, and buy the name. Don't worry about the name servers and stuff. Just register the name so that no one else gets it. You can also look around for coupons that will give you a discount when you check out. If you pay for multiple years, the discount will be larger. This is one way to lock down the price so that you don't get affected by price increases when its time for renewals.

Step 3: Identify a reliable hosting company.

Read reviews to find out who the more reliable hosting companies are. Then check out the features that they offer. The prices are rather competitive these days, so you should be able to get something that is rather affordable. In most cases, you shouldn't need to spend more than $10 per month for a hosting plan.

Step 4: Point your nameservers at the right address.

Once you have signed up for an account, go back to your domain registrar and update your nameservers. You only need 2 pieces of information - the primary nameserver, and the secondary nameserver. They look something like this:

ns1[dot]yourhostingprovider[dot]com

ns2[dot]yourhostingprovider[dot]com

Your service provide should provide you with this information when you sign up. Look out for it in the welcome email.

Step 5: Use Cpanel to install the blog.

Login to your Cpanel account and use Fantastico to install your Wordpress driven blog. This will take just a few short minutes. After installation, start customizing your blog - install themes and plugins.