How to Host Your WordPress Blog in 2019

Creating a successful blog isn’t reserved for those with a strong editorial voice and an established platform. Thanks to platforms like WordPress, it is now possible to rapidly and effortlessly establish a platform for your creative ideas. Launching a blog might not be as easy as it seems, however, and there are numerous hurdles to overcome before you can even begin to consider your blog to be successful. In this article, we will discuss five ways you can host your WordPress blog and how to approach each stage to ensure you have the best possible chance of success.

Choosing The Right Domain Name

If you are completely new to web design, it can be difficult to know where to start. The first step to creating a successful blog is to ensure you have a functional and memorable domain name for your site. After all, it is highly likely that you will be choosing this name for the rest of your online career. Although, you don’t need to register a new domain just to use it, it is still a good idea to build a brand around a memorable and functioning name.

When selecting a domain name, you should first consider the extensions that are available. A good domain name will be memorable and easy to understand. In addition, you should also look for tlds (top-level domains) that are still available. For example,.com,.net, and.org are all incredibly popular and will likely never be taken off the registry. For a truly unique and memorable blog name, grab one of these tlds and use it with your existing platform (e.g., WordPress) to create a functional and attractive website.

Setting Up The Blog Platform

As we’ve established, the first step to creating a successful blog is to choose a platform that is both functional and attractive. WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems available, with over 64 million active monthly users as of October 2019. Although, there are numerous benefits to using WordPress as your blog platform, the most prominent are its open-source nature and the large base of third-party developers who contribute to its functionality.

Before you begin implementing any functionality, it is essential that you set up the platform correctly. Make sure you have the most recent version of WordPress installed on your computer. If you are downloading and installing it manually, make sure you are running the latest version of MySQL (MySQL 5.7 or greater is highly recommended). In addition, the software should be installed on a separate partition or drive so that you can easily remove it in case something happens to it (e.g., a virus).

Choosing A Suitable Hosting Provider

As we’ve established, WordPress is a content management system that is extremely flexible and able to be modified to suit almost any need or requirement. This being said, it is still extremely important to choose a suitable hosting provider for your WordPress blog. The host of your blog will impact its performance, functionality, and security in numerous ways, so it is essential that you choose a reliable and high-quality service.

There are various considerations that you need to make when selecting a host. One of the most important things to look for in a host is reliability. If you are unfamiliar with web hosting, it can be difficult to know what features to look for or what signs of a reliable host to look out for. Examples of unreliable hosts are ones that go down frequently or those that crash or lose data frequently. When it comes to pricing, it is important to choose a service that offers both affordability and value for money. There are numerous affordable and reliable web hosting companies out there, so it is important to do your research and find a service that meets your needs and expectations.

Installing WordPress

Once you have your host up and running, it’s time to install WordPress. Installing WordPress is quite simple, and it can be done in a matter of minutes. You will need to have PHP (hypertext preprocessor) enabled on your web server in order to install WordPress. You can do this via your web host’s control panel or by navigating to the directory where your web server’s index file is located and running the command “php artisan serve”. This will launch a local server that’s accessible at http://localhost:8000/. Once you’re at that page, you can click the “Install Now” button to begin installing WordPress.

Installing WordPress will not only set you up with a functional blogging platform, but it will also install a variety of beneficial extensions and themes that will enhance the functionality and appearance of your blog. It’s a good idea to install WordPress in a separate folder or partition on your hard drive so that you can easily remove it in case something happens to the original installation. In addition to being easily removable, WordPress installations can also be reset and reinstated if necessary.

Customizing Your Blog’s Theme

Now that you have WordPress installed, it’s time to customize its appearance. One of the most beneficial aspects of WordPress is that it provides you with a large base of functional themes and extensions that you can use to customize the appearance of your site. It is a good idea to look for a theme that suits both your needs and expectations and is also aesthetically pleasing.

It’s important to understand that, at this stage, you are still functioning off the default settings provided by WordPress. You can’t save changes you make to the theme unless you navigate to the Themes folder in your WordPress dashboard and click the “Reload Theme” button. Once you have reloaded the theme, the new settings will take effect.

Setting Up Your Blog’s Blogroll

In addition to changing the theme, you can also choose to add or remove posts from your blog’s blogroll. As the name suggests, a blogroll is a list of links to other blogs that you find interesting or authoritative. Setting up a blogroll is quite simple, and it involves adding links to other blogs that you find valuable. For a successful blog, a good rule of thumb is to add quality content to your blog that is both informative and original. In keeping with this rule, you should also avoid adding links to blogs that are significantly smaller than yours.

Adding a link to your blog’s blogroll is quite simple, and you can do it using the “Add New” button located in your WordPress dashboard’s sidebar. To add a link to your blog’s blogroll, enter the URL of the blog you want to add, and make sure you add at least three items. Clicking the “Add New” button will then pop up a dialog box where you can enter the name of the blog (it doesn’t have to be the URL) and add the blog’s RSS feed.

Cleaning Up Your Blog

Now that you have a functional blog, it’s time to start tidying it up. Although, you don’t need to do this stage immediately after setting up your blog, it is still a beneficial step to take. WordPress makes this easy to achieve by offering numerous tools that can be used for deleting and reorganizing content on your site. In addition to these tools, you have the option of using plugins to enhance the functionality of your site or to remove unwanted posts and templates that clog up your website.

As a general rule of thumb, it is a good idea to err on the side of caution when it comes to deleting content from your blog. If you are unsure what to delete or how to go about doing so, it is usually safer to leave things as they are and wait for some time before acting again.