How To Start A Blog: Domain Name and Hosting

how to start a natural hair blog

Second to being asked how to make natural hair grow faster by far the most popular question I get asked is “how do I start a natural hair blog?”. Further still, how do I make it successful?! So I’ve decided to put together this series to help aspiring, and maybe even established bloggers set up and grow their online brand. I make $2000-3000 a month blogging. That’s amazing supplemental income! You can do it too.

I’m going to start doing official Monthly Income Reports but here’s a quick snap shot of December 2016 These are now on my new site exclusively on blogging and branding COCOAUnderstood.com:

• Affiliate Marketing: $350
• Sponsored Posts: $975.95
• Advertising: $650
• Products: $388.68
TOTAL: $2364.63

WHY I STARTED A BLOG

First let me explain how I became a blogger. Long ago back in 2003 I started a fashion and lifestyle blog called I Like Her Style!. I knew nothing about blogging and was really just looking for a creative outlet. I stumbled through creating a blog, figuring out step-by-step how to build a site, edit HTML code, add imagery etc. There was no YouTube back then so I had to figure a lot of stuff out by reading tech blogs. My new blog COCOAUnderstood.com has all my blogging advice in one place so you don’t have to struggle like I did!

That said, it was the best thing I could have done as it opened my eyes to the world of digital and gave me a whole new set of invaluable skills! The blog was moderately successful garnering a few awards and plenty of press but it became overwhelming and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with the blog long term.

Fast forward to 2013 and I decided to give blogging another shot. This time I would focus on a topic dear to my heart with a focused strategy and clear goal. I’ve been natural pretty much my whole life but 12 years ago I decided to take my hair care to the next level. I saw nothing online that spoke to me, especially aesthetically. I knew I could fill a niche by presenting natural hair content in a fresh format. Sections like the Salon Directory helped the site to stand out.

how to start a natural hair blogIn the coming articles in this series I will expand on how CurlsUnderstood.com grew from nothing but for now I’ll discuss the logistics of getting your site up and running. That includes picking and registering your domain, choosing your hosting company and setting up your blogging platform.

CHOOSE YOUR SITE AND DOMAIN NAME

This is by far the hardest step in the process but without finalizing a blog name you can’t move forward with buying your domain (aka your .com). It’s totally worth taking your time and being satisfied with your choice as the two of you will be together for a long time! It’s probably more efficient for you to simultaneously check that your potential brand name is also available as a domain. No point falling in love with something if the .com is taken.

I settled on the brand name Curls Understood because it had my target keyword in it (“curls”) and my mission was to help women understand their curls better. Once you have your name picked and you know it’s available as a .com you can buy your domain name at the same place you plan to host your site…

BUY YOUR DOMAIN AND PICK A HOSTING COMPANY

I’ve been using Bluehost since my blog launched and had no visitors. Now Curls Understood has 200K page views a month and I still pay $7 a month. You can purchase your domain (.com) with a another company and then do your hosting (where your site lives) with Bluehost but Bluehost offers you a free domain with their hosting services starting at just $3.95 a month so definitely take advantage of this deal!

Here’s an easy link for you to remember. You’ll be re-directed to Bluehost through my affiliate link. Please read my disclosure for more info:

http://CurlsUnderstood.com/Bluehost

Step 1
Navigate to Bluehost using this link. Once you’re there click the big green “get started now” button.

how to start a natural hair blog

Step 2

Pick the plan you woud like. You get the cheapest monthly rate by selecting 36 months and paying upfront for this time frame. Don’t worry though, they offer a money-back guarantee too.

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Step 3

Next enter your new domain name (or you can even transfer an existing one to Bluehost). how to start a lifestyle blog

Step 4

Enter your personal and payment information and click “submit” to purchase. You don’t have to purchase the extras like security or site back up unless you want to.

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Step 5

Next create your password for your Bluehost account and go ahead and log in to your new account.

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Now it’s time to install WordPress. Bluehost makes it super easy to create a WordPress blog with just one click. See the final section below.

Set Up WordPress As Your Blogging Platform

Now that you have your domain name registered and your monthly hosting paid for you need to attach your site to a Content Management System (CMS) to actually create and manage your content. WordPress is by far the easiest blogging platform/CMS out there and Bluehost makes setting it up seamless. Just follow the next few steps below…

Step 6

Select a theme to get started but you can change this later to something else (see my tutorial on finding great themes).

Step 7

Now you will be redirected directly into WordPress. Now that the installation is successful you can log into your new WordPress site by using the link: http://yourdomainname.com/wp-admin.

Now you can start working on making your blog look professional by selecting the best template. Though WordPress offers some free templates, in a follow-up article I will walk you through how and where to pick the best WordPress templates for your brand.

Until next time feel free to leave questions below!

Active and aspiring bloggers join my private mastermind group on Facebook for daily tips, articles and support from fellow bloggers/influencers!

Free Blogging Bootcamp Curls Understood eBook

10 Comments

  • Mary Kimbugwe says:

    Thanks Sylvia. I’m natural too and will take up yr suggestion to start a blog. Let’s see how it goes. #Excited!

    Mary, London, UK

  • mary says:

    Hi Sylvia,

    I did it. So proud :)

    M.

  • Mary Taylor says:

    Hi! Thanks so much for this article! It was very helpful. I recently started my blog at the beginning of this month. I notice that you suggested a domain and a hosting site. I’m unclear on the need for bluehost and WordPress. I’m still new to this process and I’m learning as I go.. I started mine on WordPress. Do I need to add bluehost as well? If so which plan is best? Thanks so much in advance!

    • Hi Mary,

      First of all congratulations on starting. That’s always the most challenging part! Now to answer your question: WordPress is where you’re going to manage your content. Bluehost is where you host your site IF you choose to buy your own domain ie. MyBlog.com.

      If you’ve created your site on a free blogging platform like Blogger, Tumblr or even WordPress’ free blogging service then you DON’T need a hosting company as those free services will do the hosting for you.

      The disadvantage with this is that your domain/site will be something like MyBlog.blogspot.com / MyBlog.Tumblr.com / MyBlog.Wordpress.com etc. You can’t customize your domain/site address on these free services because they are letting you host your blog on their platform for free. Make sense?

      Use Bluehost (or convert from a free blogging platform) if you want to have your own .com site.

      Please do let me know if you have more questions,
      Sylvia

  • Olena says:

    Hello Sylvia. Thank you so much for this information! I am looking to set up a blog as well. It has been suggested to me by a few people, so I figured it’s now or never!

  • Jazzmond says:

    What if you are already hosting through WordPress.com and already have content, can you still switch to bluehost? Will your content transfer or be lost?

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