QUESTION:

I have a (free) WordPress blog. I want to invest in my own blog/website which I can monetize and also use video’s as a part of the blog posts/ content. I have zero knowledge about website and domain purchase, i.e., how they work and how to monetize my blog. Since I am considering blogging/ vlogging as a full time work for myself, I need your guidance on how to begin with this. Also, how much it will cost me? At this very moment, I can’t afford to invest too much but I do not want to stop now as I have started to build a momentum.

ANSWER:

Website Platform:

If you are looking for some self hosted website option, the go-to choice is WordPress.org. WordPress is a free and open-source content management system based on PHP and MySQL. To function, WordPress has to be installed on a web server. WordPress.org is the leading option today for self hosted websites because of its easy to use features and regular security updates.

WordPress comes in two options: free WordPress (where your blog URL will always be appended by wordpress.com, e.g. myblog.wordpress.com) and paid WordPress (WordPress.org).

Hosting Service:

The next step is to look for a good hosting service. There are several very good options available online, such as, Siteground, GoDaddy and Bluehost. We personally recommend Siteground because their customer service is simply amazing.

All famous hosting providers have a “managed WordPress” package. It’s an easy way to start off with WordPress self hosted websites as in this case, your hosting service takes care of many things like updating WordPress.org software whenever a new one comes out, managed FTP, regular backups, etc. [If you are unfamiliar with these terms, don’t fret, they are made with end users in mind and there is no way you wouldn’t be able to get a hang of these.] The services provided depends on the hosting company and their packages. so a little Google survey will help you a great deal.

Pricing:

Most hosting services offer a discount on the first year of hosting. Like for example, you need to pay $3.95/month for hosted plus managed WordPress on Siteground. But from my second year onward the price goes a little high.

Registered Domain:

A domain name is as important as the website title itself. A catchy and easy to remember domain name will ensure that your website stays in the mind of a potential reader/visitor. A domain name is available for a very cheap price of around $12 annually on a .com domain. Prices can vary mildly according to the kind of domain you want (e.g. .com, .org, .net, etc).

You can buy the domain name from some other company other than your hosting service. GoDaddy is a very famous website for buying domain names.

Website Design:

Then there is buying your theme. Themes vary largely in prices but the best top notch themes in the market cost around $60. If you have a custom theme built then they have their own pricing. But you can get a really good theme in a much less price than that. A good theme is the one which fulfills all your requirements do a proper theme survey before buying is a must.

If you are looking for top notch WordPress themes in a range of different prices then our favorite is ThemeForest.

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All in all, these are the basic steps to setting up your own self hosted WordPress website. We assume that you are familiar with the WordPress CMS so working on it should be fairly easy. It is to be noted that when you are on WordPress.org, your WordPress Dashboard and the features available on it will vary according to the theme you are using. Each paid theme has an extensive user manual available with it which you can refer any time you find it difficult to use it.