I Purchase Domain and WordPress Hosting, But CPanel Not Showing in Godaddy
Hi, Nice to meet you! I’m Lisa Van Hyfte and I’m a graphic designer from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. I work with businesses around the world to create unique designs that appeal to their customers.
I’ve been a web designer for over a decade and have witnessed the amazing growth of the web. When I first started designing websites, the only thing available was paid hosting or building your own server with cpanel. Both had its perks and quirks, but for the most part, it was very limited in terms of what you could do.
Then, around 2010, came the great WordPress revolution. Suddenly, everyone had a blog and sharing words and pictures was as easy as taking a photo and dropping it in a post.
WordPress made it easier than ever for people to create a small business website and engage with their audience. It was like a gift from God!
So, I wanted to share with you 11 things you need to know about launching a WordPress blog. Hopefully, this will help you choose the right hosting for your needs and show you the simplicity of creating a profitable blog using WordPress.
1. Choose A Domain Name That Works With Your Blog
This is an obvious one, but don’t just pick any old.com or.org you find online. These top-level domains (TLDs) are like the street addresses of the internet. For example,.com is associated with commercial use and.org is associated with non-profit organizations. This means that if you go to either of these domains, you will find websites that are related to what you are looking for, but it is also highly likely that you will find unrelated websites that share the same TLD. To avoid this, try and choose a.com or.org domain that is as close to your niche as possible. For example, if you are a nail polish artist, you might want to register a.nailpolishdomain.com.
2. Register Your Blog With WordPress
This is the step that many people neglect. When you choose a domain name that is already taken, you have two options: move on to option #3 or try and register your blog with WordPress. If you go with the first option, you are out of luck. The second one is completely free and requires you to follow a few simple steps.
First, visit https://wordpress.com/ and click on the Get a free WordPress Blog button. It will walk you through the whole set-up process and then you can start creating your blog. From here, everything is automated.
Second, you will need to decide on a theme for your blog. There are hundreds of free themes available for WordPress. Just search for the one that suits you best and install it. Some themes are designed for businesses while others are more suitable for personal use. When choosing a theme, it is important to remember that you are not locked into using it. You can always switch to a different theme with one click.
3. Install WordPress On A Dedicated Server
This option is great for people who are looking for a high performance website. A dedicated server is a physical server that is solely used to host your WordPress blog. The advantage of this is that it increases speed and reliability. In the beginning, dedicated hosting was just a luxury that few could afford. Now, it is extremely affordable and as a result, more and more people are taking advantage of its fantastic perks.
You can find a dedicated server with WordPress installed at any reputable web hosting company. Once you have purchased the hosting package, you can simply install WordPress using the 1-click installer. Doing this on your own server reduces the likelihood of encountering any glitches or performance issues.
4. Choose A Hosting Provider That Is Highly Reliable
This is a critical decision and one that can potentially damage your business. You will need to choose a web host that is extremely reliable and offers a good level of support if you are to trade on the internet. A reliable host will make you feel comfortable enough to put your faith in the platform and trust that your data is being stored and transferred to your website safely.
It is also important to look for a host that is based in a reliable country. There are certain countries where internet censorship is prevalent and if you are to take your blog abroad, it is crucial that your hosting company is a reputable one that is confident enough in its legal standing to host any content that could be offensive to governments and religious groups.
With so much competition, it is essential that you find a way to stand out from the crowd. One option is to offer additional services that are not commonly found on the best-liked web hosts. For example, you could offer SEO services or web design packages. These are all profitable side-hustles that you can explore and potentially build a business around.
5. Consider Using A Virtual Private Network (VPN)
This option will also increase your security and privacy on the internet. A VPN allows you to connect to the internet via a secure private connection. Using a VPN also means that your internet traffic is encrypted, safely guarded from prying eyes.
Many web hosts offer VPNs as an additional perk. Some even require you to connect to make use of certain features, like domain name changing or setting up email accounts. You can get a taste of what a VPN can offer from the Nord VPN service. It is totally free for basic use and offers highly secured connections along with an ultra-fast server that will make surfing the web feel like a dream.
6. Use A Content Delivery Network (CDN) To Deliver Your Content
A content delivery network (CDN) is a collection of web servers that are situated in different parts of the world and that work together to deliver content to users. When a user requests content from your blog, the server closest to them will respond and send the content to the user. This reduces your workload and makes your content available to more people.
You can find a CDN that will suit your needs and budget from the great people at Flatiron. They have great prices for personal use and as a result, many people choose to sign up with them simply to use the CDN feature.
The best part about a CDN is that it takes the workload off of your server and allows you to focus on what’s important to you. More and more people are realizing the power of a content delivery network and the advantages it can offer.
7. Create Additional Website For Your Blog
If you are looking to branch out and try something new, why not create a website that is specifically designed for your blog. You can use your existing blog as a content source for the new site and draw on its audience to get the new site off the ground. Building a secondary site can be a great way to experiment and learn while also making money off your existing content.
If you decide to take this route, make sure to create a separate email for the secondary site. You can use your main email for the blog and switch to the secondary email for the new site. Doing this will prevent any confusion about which email to use when contacting you.
8. Use Email Marketing To Grow Your Blog’s Audience
An effective way to gain new subscribers for your blog is to send out regular emails. The emails you send out will depend on what stage your blog is at in terms of its growth. For example, you may want to email your existing subscribers to keep them updated about new content or to invite them to events.
Pro-Tip: If you want to create an email list, you can use a free tool like MailChimp that allows you to do so in no time. Just make sure to set up a filter on your email so that you do not send emails to people who have not taken the step to subscribe to your list.
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