Here I’m going to show you how just how simple it is to take the first step towards creating your own website or blog with Bluehost.
The very first thing you need to do is to sign up with Bluehost. But how do you actually do it? What’s the process?
Now, there are a bunch of different web hosts you can use. One of the better options for beginners is Bluehost – review here.
They’re definately one of the cheapest options around, they’re beginner-friendly and give you a free domain name, and is a good all-round web host for your personal or small business site.
Bluehost has a lot of good features that make it a good option for web hosting, for example:
- The ability to cancel at any time, their 30 day, money back guarantee gives you full refund.
- Simple to use control panel (an especially good feature for people new to web hosting and website building).
- Free domain name, unmetered bandwidth, unlimited domains and unlimited email accounts (except on their basic plan), plus lots more.
- Click-of-a-button WordPress installation (See my WordPress installation guide here ).
So, with that out of the way, let’s cover how do I sign up with Bluehost?.
Step 1. Go To Bluehost.com
Go to their website and look for the “get started now” button. It will be prominently displayed on the homepage.
Step 2. Choose a web hosting plan
Once you click the get started now button, you are given four shared hosting plans to choose from. Basic, plus, prime and business pro.
Here are some of the features you will get with each one (all plans come with a free domain name):
Basic plan
- Host one website with 50GB of space
- Unmetered bandwidth
- 5 email accounts with 100MB per account
- [This is the plan I recommend you start out with]
Plus plan
- Host unlimited websites with unmetered space
- Unlimited email accounts with unlimited storage space
- Included spam protection
Prime plan
- Host unlimited websites with unmetered space
- Unlimited email accounts and storage space
- Includes website backups, domain privacy, and more
Business Pro plan
- Host unlimited websites with unmetered space
- Unlimited email accounts and storage space
- Includes spam protection, SSL certificate, dedicated IP, domain privacy, and more
I recommend that you start with the basic plan, as it’s the cheapest and easiest to start with.
You can always upgrade later if you want more power and features.
If you only intend to run a single business website or a personal blog, then you really should not need to go for a more expensive package.
The plus, prime, and pro Bluehost plans really only come in handy if you intend to run several websites at once, or if you intend to launch an ecommerce site using WooCommerce.
Step 3. Choose your domain name
Once you have picked a plan you will be asked to enter your domain name.
You will be given two options, you can register a “new domain” (which is included for free for the first year)
Or if you already have a domain you want to use you choose “I have a domain.”
Enter the domain name and then choose whether you can your website to be .com, .org, .net, etc.
Step 4. Enter your personal information
Once your domain name is taken care of, you will be asked to enter personal information to create your account.
It is the standard stuff you see on every website’s checkout, first and last name, email, password, country, phone number, etc.
You will also be asked to pick a payment option; Bluehost allows you to pay via credit card or PayPal.
Step 5. Select (Optional) Add-Ons
So, now you can pick how long you want your Bluehost package to last (12, 24, or 36 months) and pick some add-ons.
Not all the addons are necessary, so I will briefly explain each one, so you can know if you need it or not.
Domain Privacy
For an extra $0.99 a month, Bluehost can hide your personal contact information (name, address and email) from being accessible through the public whois information. This is a good idea if you want to keep your personal information anonymous.
I recommend that you get this addon.
Site Backup Pro
Another $2.99 a month add-on, site backup pro will regularly create backups of your website.
So if your website crashes or you make a major mistake, you can click one button and restore your website using the last backup. You can also download compress files containing all your website’s resources.
I recommend that you get this addon.
Search Engine Jumpstart
For $2.99 a month, Bluehost will help get your website onto the big three search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing) as quickly as possible.
I don’t recommend that you get this add-on.
SiteLock Security
This $1.99 a month add-on provides some extra security for your domain, including malware scans DDoS protection and some other standard website protection.
This add-on is best suited for people running websites where products are sold and payment information may be stored.
I don’t recommend that you get this add-on.
SSL Certificate
An SSL certificate protects your customer’s sensitive information. This add-on is best suited for people running websites where products are sold and customer personal details and payment information may be stored.
I don’t recommend that you get this add-on.
Step 6. That’s it – You’ve signed up with Bluehost!
Once you have chosen your add-ons you are finished. Hit the “submit” button and you’re done.
You will receive a welcome email very shortly confirming your hosting account with Bluehost and it has all the login details you need to get started.
Congratulations, you have now taken your first step towards actually creating your website. The next step is to install WordPress (See my installation guide here )
If you haven’t already, go to Bluehost.com and sign up right now.