We started out with our blog on the servers at BlueHost ten years ago and we have had an AWESOME experience – we are so glad we chose BlueHost.
WHY BLUEHOST for Your Food Blog?
1. Customer support is second to none.
2. Rock-solid servers that just don’t crash. Enjoy 99.9% uptime regularly.
3. Easy As Pie for Beginners!
4. Very fair (OK, Ultra-Cheap!) prices.
How to Start Your Food Blog on Bluehost?
Bluehost domain hosting (goes to their site) is the only website hosting service for beginners. We wouldn’t recommend anyone else for you, and we’ve recommended this service to my husband’s brother and his wife, his sister, and our best friends over the years. There is no other choice for beginners – just get this and make your blogging life a whole lot easier – believe us!
You can start your own food blog (or any blog) with Bluehost for under $4 each month if you click one of our links – like this one. Not only that but, if you haven’t bought your domain name yet (you know, like yourfoodblog.com) then you can get it for the first year for FREE when you buy a 12-month or longer plan.
Sounds perfect, right? It is! That’s why I’m telling you this! 😛
Some of you have been around a little bit and you might be wondering to yourself,
“Couldn’t I just start my blog on blogger.com or some other free hosting service?”
Sure, you could. But you don’t want to do that. Honestly, you’d be adding stress to your life and decreasing the chances that you’re going to really charge forward with blogging.
Why?
Free platforms are free for a reason. Very little support is one. Did you ever use Google for anything? Almost all of their services are free. We use YouTube for free, we use Google Docs for free and we love it. But guess what? If you EVER have a problem, their support is absolute GARBAGE.
It’s frustrating and yet you can’t complain, it’s free. It’s MUCH better to pay under $5 per month and get AWESOME SUPPORT. If you want to make money from your blog – you’ll have more problems than you can count with free hosting. With Bluehost – no problem, you can make money with your blog, and our site here will help you do it.
One thing you’ll appreciate more than the extremely low prices of Bluehost is the absolutely STELLAR SUPPORT they give their customers! I know, you can’t believe it. We didn’t either, eight years ago when we first joined with them.
We had Godaddy hosting before that, and it was a real nightmare. Bluehost has brought us happiness for the past 8 years and we want to share that with you now.
Oh, and one more thing. Bluehost makes it as easy as PIE to set up your blog on WordPress. A couple of clicks and you’re set and ready to blog. We will show you everything too – it is easy and you can walk through it step-by-step with us!
Click the image above to get started at just $3.95 per month before this offer is removed.
Here Are Simple Directions for Starting Your WordPress Blog on Bluehost:
1. If you haven’t clicked the image above yet, go to Bluehost by clicking here to sign up for their $3.95 per month web hosting service for 36 months. Save lots of money. Don’t worry about choosing other services for more money. When you are just starting out – the package they give you for under $4 a month is just perfect for what you need. They call it the STARTER PACKAGE. This gives you a lot of room to grow also. Just choose the cheapest plan.
Price plans:
- $3.95 for 36 months of hosting (best deal)
- $5.95 for unlimited plans – which, honestly you don’t even need as you are just beginning.
Any way you choose, you cannot lose. These are all great deals. You may also want the “Domain Privacy Protection”. This is just 83 cents per month and it hides your contact information so you don’t receive as much spam and cold calls. We have it for JoysThaiFood.com.
Choose the BASIC PLAN.
Choose the domain you want – IT’S FREE.
They will tell you right away if it is available. Or, you might already have your domain name. No problem. Choose a name that describes what your blog will be about, but keeps it under around 15 characters. Choose a name that is memorable. If it’s about food, maybe include food in the name. JoysThaiFood.com was a no-brainer, it describes our site perfectly.
Don’t worry if you want to change the domain name later – it is possible, and will only cost you the price of the domain name – the hosting is a constant that can stay with whatever domain name you choose to use it with.
Fill in your billing information.
You can pay with a credit card, or, choose “More Billing Options” to pay with Paypal.
Go through the Bluehost payment process.
How To Start A WordPress Blog On Bluehost
1. Go To BlueHost and buy their service. You won’t be disappointed. Once you have your hosting and domain name you are ready to begin the process of starting your WordPress blog on Bluehost.
Setting up a WordPress blog on Bluehost is very easy.
2. Link your Domain Name and Hosting.
Note: You can skip this section if you buy your domain directly through Bluehost because it is linked automatically.
If you buy your domain through GoDaddy or some other service, then you will need to connect your domain to your hosting account. This is very simple and requires only a few steps.
3. Change Your NameServers at Godaddy:
A. Log in to the GoDaddy.com Account Manager.
B. Click MY ACCOUNT link in the upper right.
C. Select Manage My Domains.
D. Click your domain name – it will be a blue link.
E. Under the Nameservers section, click Manage.
F. Choose Custom. Edit your nameservers as follows.
G. Add these two nameservers in all capital letters:
NS1.BLUEHOST.COM and NS2.BLUEHOST.COM
Save the changes.
This change will take up to a couple of hours to be updated. Usually for about 30 minutes.
H. Now you must add your new Godaddy Domain Name as an add-on domain to your Bluehost web hosting. You can do this by clicking on Domains when logged into your Bluehost web hosting account and then clicking on Assign. Follow the steps and it is very easy!
4. To Install WordPress on your BlueHost Account
OKAY, we’re getting there! Nearly done!
To set up your WordPress blog on Bluehost just continue reading and following these simple steps. Bluehost makes it as simple as possible for you to create a WordPress blog.
Login at Bluehost. Look for the WordPress icon below:
Click the Install WordPress” Icon. You’ll see this:
Click on the “Install” button and you’ll see this:
Click the “Install Now” button.
Click on the WordPress icon on the next page located under Blogs.
Click on the start button. Your WordPress files will be installed automatically.
Once in the installation process, you will have to decide which domain you will want to install WordPress on. Click the drop-down menu to choose your domain.
Advanced Options are next. You will choose your Username and Password so you can log in to your WordPress website. You should choose something secure. Don’t use admin as your username. Use some nonsense word nobody would guess.
Choose “Automatically create a new database for this installation.
Click Install Now.
Remember to save your Username and Password in a safe spot.
YOU’RE DONE!
Well, nearly done! Your WordPress blog is connected with your Bluehost blog hosting service. You will need to add some new posts to your blog and learn about posting images, videos, and other things. The good news is that the HARD PART is finished. You have hosting, a domain name, and WordPress.
Did you choose your Domain Name yet? Want to see if the one you like is available?
WHAT IS NEXT?
WordPress comes with some free themes you can use to get started. A theme is like a magazine cover for your blog. You can change these at any time. The free themes are a bit stale and boring. If you want to present yourself in the best light, you’ll buy a premium theme like the rest of us do!
Which WordPress Themes Are Best?
We highly recommend WOOTHEMES (affiliate link). We’ve been using them for half a dozen years and have had great experiences with them. If you want to see the theme we are using on JoysThaiFood.com, we are currently using: THIS DIY theme (affiliate link).
Last Step – Email List Service
The last thing you will need for a while is a way to collect and manage your email list. The benefits of an email list are MANY and it is the main goal of most people making money from their blogs online. We have used two companies: MailChimp and Aweber. We highly recommend Aweber for beginners. It is the standard in the industry and there is none better for new bloggers starting out.
It is more intuitive and easy to figure out than MailChimp, and the whole experience is better. You can always move up to a more robust email list-handling service in the future – so start with Aweber by clicking here (affiliate link).
Do you have a blog? Why or why not? Share your blogging mistakes as well!
The Series: How To Start Your Own Food Blog and Make Income
- 1 – Creating Your Food Blog
- 2 – Your Domain Name
- 3 – Hosting for Your Food Blog
- 4 – Choosing a WordPress theme
- 5 – The Basics of Food Blogging (this page)
- 6 – Finding Followers
- 7 – 25 Food Photography Tips
- 8 – Making Money from Your Food Blog
- 9 – Creating Food eBooks
- 10 – Starting an Email Newsletter
- 11 – Getting Traffic (visitors) to Visit Your Blog
We decided to become affiliates for Bluehost.com because we have enjoyed their hosting services over a decade of time. We’ve been extremely satisfied with them, and so we pass on to you our recommendation that you also join them.
There are far too many poor hosting services available online. We receive a commission from Bluehost for referrals from this site. If you would, please go there through one of our blue links on the page so we can continue to give you great articles on hosting your food blog, and cooking Thai food! 😛 Joy B.
