How to Start a WordPress Blog | Get Started in 10 Simple Steps (2022)

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Sign Up to a WordPress Hosting Provider Go to the top

Hosting providers basically give your site a space on the internet where it can go live. Without hosting, nobody will see your beautiful blog, so it’s important to sign up to a provider before you try to publish anything.

There are tons of providers out there, and lots of different types of hosting plans, too. You need to find the one that’s right for you – the wrong hosting plan can see your site speeds suffering, and even cause your blog to crash!

It’s a good idea to choose WordPress specific hosting, as these plans are specially designed to support WordPress sites and come with features to make your life easier. There are two main types of WordPress hosting: shared and managed. 

Shared vs Managed WordPress Hosting

Shared hosting is the most basic type of hosting. It means you share a server with other websites, so that your resources (such as storage) are spread between all of you. Use this if you’re keeping things small, or aren’t planning on making money from your blog.

A good way to think of shared hosting is to imagine it like living in a shared house – you each have your own bedroom, but you share resources between you. If one person leaves their lights on all the time and runs down the electric meter, then there’s none left for the rest of you.

Managed WordPress hosting is more advanced – you get better features, such as expert WordPress support and automatic updates. This type of hosting can support much larger WordPress sites than shared hosting, and is a popular choice for businesses – as well as big blogs!

Managed WordPress hosting is better than shared hosting, and perfect if you’ve got a slightly more generous budget or you’re planning a large project. It has better features, and makes running your site much easier.

What to Look For in Your Hosting Provider

WordPress has three requirements for hosting. Whichever provider you choose, make sure they have:

• PHP version 7.2 or higher
• MySQL version 5.6 or greater, OR MariaDB version 10.0 or greater
• HTTPS support

Top Tip! Look out for providers that offer one-click WordPress installation – this will make your life much easier when you get to the next step in our guide!

Not sure where to start? Don’t worry – we’ve already researched the best WordPress hosting providers around, and have some top hosts to recommend:

• Bluehost: Undoubtedly the best WordPress hosting provider on the market, Bluehost is the best place to start. Offering one-click installs on both shared and managed WordPress hosting, along with free backups, automatic software updates, and the bonus of a free domain, Bluehost really does have the full package.
• A2 Hosting: This provider offers both shared and managed WordPress hosting, although we can recommend its managed WordPress plans as being particularly good. With both software and plugin updates, as well as free backups, it even keeps pace with Bluehost – although it doesn’t provide a free domain.
• HostGator: If you’re just after shared WordPress hosting, but don’t see the appeal of Bluehost, then we can recommend HostGator’s WordPress plans instead. You’ll get a free domain, unlimited storage, and updates to both software and plugins (which is unusual on shared hosting plans.) Throw in an incredibly impressive uptime score of 99.99%, and it’s a solid choice!

Further Information

• Find your perfect provider – read our review of the Best WordPress Hosting Providers for a detailed look at both shared and managed WordPress hosts.
• Will your blog need the best service? Read our review of the Best Managed WordPress Hosting Providers for a full list.

While all of these providers scored impressively in our research, the standout winner was undeniably Bluehost. Not only did it rank number one for both shared and managed WordPress hosting, it’s also been recommended as the best provider by WordPress itself.

You can see why Bluehost is the provider we most recommend for WordPress users. If you want to sign up, we’ve outlined a few handy steps below to help you get started.

Bluehost is the best WordPress hosting provider on the market. Explore its website to see if it’s the right choice for your blog!

Visit Bluehost

Top Tip! If hosting is sounding too challenging right now, that’s okay – you can launch your blog on a website builder first. Website builders host your site for you, so all you need to do is sign up and start publishing. This is an easy way to build your confidence before moving to WordPress.

Pick a Plan

The first thing you need to do is pick the right plan for you. For Bluehost’s shared WordPress hosting, prices start at just $2.75 per month for your first term. The plan then renews at the regular rate of $7.99 per month.

You have three plans to choose from in total, ranging from $2.75 to $5.45 per month.

Bluehost has three shared WordPress hosting plans, and offers a discount for first-time customers.

The main reason for signing up to Bluehost’s recommended plan is that it provides you with free backups. Otherwise, the Basic plan should serve you fine – as long as your site is also very basic.

If you’d rather have managed WordPress hosting, your cheapest plan will be $19.95 per month (this will renew at $29.99 per month once your first term is over). Again, you have three plans to choose from, this time ranging from $19.95 to $49.95 per month.

Bluehost’s managed WordPress hosting starts at $19.95 per month, and comes with advanced features such as premium themes and daily backups.

We recommend these plans for when you’re trying to grow your blog, and to make it more professional. However, it’s very unlikely you’ll need the most expensive plan – or even the Grow plan – so don’t feel pressured to sign up to the more expensive options.

If you’re serious about your blog, you should start off with the $19.95 per month Build plan, rather than choosing shared hosting. This is because you get more sophisticated features, such as malware protection, daily backups, and even a marketing center.

Are you ready to get your blog off the ground? Go to Bluehost’s website to explore your hosting options today.

Visit Bluehost

Connect Your Domain

Once you’ve signed up, you can connect your domain. Bluehost provides a free domain for your first year on all its plans, so if you don’t yet have a domain name, this is an easy (and free) way of registering one.

When you select your plan, you’ll be taken straight to a page where you can either search for your new domain name, or enter an existing one. Simply follow the prompts – it takes less than a minute!

Bluehost makes it easy to get started, whether you’re creating a new domain or connecting an existing one.

Create an Account

Once you’ve chosen a domain, you’ll be taken to the account page. There, you enter your details, select your plan settings, and choose any extras you want. This is also where you enter your payment information, so it’s a good idea to have your credit card at the ready!

This is the page you’ll see when you sign up to a Bluehost plan.

Go over this page carefully to make sure you’re happy with all the details – pay special attention to the length of your contract (the default setting will be 36 months), and any package extras. 

You can select package extras if you want additional features included in your plan, such as SEO tools.

Hosting providers sometimes tick the extras boxes automatically – if this is the case, you can just un-tick whatever you don’t need. 

Before moving on to the next step, make sure you’ve:

• Decided which type of hosting you need
• Researched the best hosting provider for your blog
• Chosen a hosting plan that’s right for your site
• Signed up, connected your domain, and created an account with your provider

Further Information

• Read our in-depth Bluehost Review to find out why it’s the best WordPress hosting provider.
• Want to keep your blog within budget? Read our Bluehost Pricing Review for a full look at its plans and pricing.
• Compare the best hosting providers in our Web Hosting Services Comparison Chart.