Domain Names

How To — Start A WordPress Blog — Change Domain Nameservers

by MAHESH MOHAN on October 31, 2017

How To Start A WordPress Blog Change Domain Nameservers

When your domain name registrar and the web hosting company are different, you will have to update the nameservers (or name servers) of your domain name. For instance, my blog is currently hosted with InMotion Hosting and its nameservers are ns1.inmotionhosting.com and ns2.inmotionhosting.com. So when you type www.minterest.com into the address bar, your computer fetches the page from the servers of InMotion Hosting.

And if I’m migrating my blog from InMotion Hosting to Hawk Host then my new nameservers become ns1.hawkhost.com and ns2.hawkhost.com. So I need to update the nameservers of my domain name by logging in to my Namecheap account (which is my domain registrar). Once the nameservers are updated, when you type www.minterest.com into the address bar, your computer will fetch the page from the servers of Hawk Host (and NOT from InMotion Hosting).

So let’s get started!

How To — Start A WordPress Blog — Buy A Web Hosting Plan

by MAHESH MOHAN on October 31, 2017

How To Start A WordPress Blog Buy A Web Hosting Plan

A website can’t exist without a domain name and a web hosting plan. There are a ton of web hosting companies on the web and then there is countless web hosting comparisons, reviews, coupons, and deals of those hosting companies. And almost all of the bloggers recommend at least one web hosting company of their choice.

The problem is, the web hosting provider recommended by ‘Blogger A’ could be the worst rated hosting company by ‘Blogger B’ or vice versa. Again, a good percentage of the bloggers or the “best web hosting reviews and ratings” are biased.

I would say there’s no such thing as a perfect web hosting company. You need to select a web hosting plan based on your actual requirements and budget. If you are unsure about it then the best thing is to get help from your geeky friend or ask on a web hosting forum.

You can also check out my Web Hosting Handbook to know all (almost) things web hosting. Anyway, I’m recommending a shared hosting plan by Hawk Host (for this very tutorial) as it’s reliable and affordable (especially when it comes to renewal).

Just in case, Shared Hosting is the most popular — and also the most affordable — web hosting plan. It’s super-easy to manage a shared hosting plan and it’s equally good for beginners as well as experienced webmasters.

Shared hosting basically means that you’re sharing your server (resources as well as the cost) with hundreds of other websites. And that makes it affordable for everyone.

The majority of websites on the web are actually hosted on a shared hosting plan. It can cost as low as $1 per month to as high as $25 per month depending upon the hosting brand and their resources. If you are new to blogging or have an existing WordPress.com or BlogSpot.com blog that’s not getting a lot of traffic, a shared hosting plan is all that you need.

Also, shared hosting is good for a personal website or a small business website (assuming that you don’t expect too much traffic every single day, and all you need is an online presence plus business email).

And hey, a shared hosting may also be suitable when you need to host multiple websites — as long as you don’t expect hundreds of thousands of visits an hour to each website.

So let’s get started! [Read more…] about How To — Start A WordPress Blog — Buy A Web Hosting Plan

How To — Start A WordPress Blog — Buy A Domain Name

by MAHESH MOHAN on October 31, 2017

How To Start A WordPress Blog Buy A Domain Name

The first step in building an online business is registering a domain name. It’s like incorporating a company when you want to set up a business. The only problem is, it takes a lot of thinking and patience to find a perfect domain name that reflects your personality or business, or both.

A domain name is your identity on the web. So try to find a name that’s unique, memorable, short, readable, and brandable (preferably a .com). You will also have to make sure that it doesn’t conflict with other brand names or trademarks.

Recommended Read: How To Choose A Domain Name For Your Blog

Even though you usually get a free domain name when you sign up for a 12-month web hosting plan, I would recommend purchasing a domain name on your own from a domain registrar like Namecheap.com or GoDaddy.com and it costs $10-$15 per year.

Doing so will make it easy to manage all your domain names from a single dashboard (assuming that you will need more domain names in the future).

Web Hosting Companies offer a domain name free of cost only for the first year, after which they start charging a premium rate. There’s every chance that you might not stick with the same web hosting company in the future, so it’s always better to purchase your domain names elsewhere and manage them separately.

So let’s get started! [Read more…] about How To — Start A WordPress Blog — Buy A Domain Name

How To Start A Food Blog (And Probably Make Money)

by MAHESH MOHAN on October 18, 2017

I don’t cook (and am not a foodie either!) However, I do manage a food blog (its technical aspects, SEO, and monetization) that belongs to my sister who is a big-time foodie.

Apart from that, I also get a handful of emails from my readers who love cooking and who wants to get into food blogging. That is, they want to start a food blog and make money. Well, it’s simple but not easy.

You know why? Because anyone can start a food blog and all it takes is around $100 per year and few hours a day (to actually publish recipes). But that doesn’t guarantee a single penny.

Oh yeah, there are a ton of how to start a food blog and make money kind of tutorials on the web but the reality is that you’re hardly going to make any money (at least for the first few months or even years) unless you already know what you need to know about food blogging and digital marketing.

If you have already started a WordPress blog in the past then you have some edge, and if you are also willing to spend some money on marketing and promotion then you are even better placed to start a food blog than another beginner.

Just beware that as a newbie food blogger no one is aware of your blog, no one might read and use your recipes. It will be just another food blog. Well, it’s a start. A beginning. And yes, in time, you can make all the difference.

Don’t Miss: 27 Things Before Starting A WordPress Blog

First things first.

So, What’s A Blog, Anyhow?

A blog is basically an online diary where our blog content (also known as blog posts or simply posts) are sorted chronologically – usually in a reverse chronological order. The act of updating a blog (with fresh content) is known as “blogging”. So how’s a blog different from a website? All blogs are websites but not all websites are blogs. Simple as that.

“Blog” is an abbreviated version of “weblog” that features diary-type commentary and links to articles on other Web sites, usually presented as a list of entries in reverse chronological order. — WordPress

It’s super easy to create a free blog as there are tons of blogging platforms out there like Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr, Medium.com, Squarespace (Premium), etc.

You can start a blog for FREE on any of those platforms so that you’ll get a blog like your-name.blogspot.com OR your-name.wordpress.com OR your-name.tumblr.com. In other words, you can’t get your-name.com for free from any of those platforms (unless you pay for it). Starting a blog on any of those platforms is simple and easy as it’s just like updating status on your Facebook or Twitter – so it takes less than 10 minutes to actually create a free blog.

But I wouldn’t recommend any of the above platforms as in that case you technically don’t own the blog. Don’t believe me? Check out How Google Shuts Down Popular Blogger John Hempton After Publishing Controversial Post.

WordPress is web’s favorite blogging platform. It’s a software that lets you create, manage and publish your content seamlessly. That’s why over 20% of the web or almost 50% of all blogs are powered by WordPress. WordPress has two flavors, namely: WordPress.com (the free hosted version — like example.wordpress.com) and WordPress.org (self-hosted version — like my blog).

WordPress.com is the hosted version of WordPress.org itself and is owned by Automattic (the company who created WordPress). Since it’s managed by Automattic, you don’t have to worry about upgrades, installation, security or maintenance.

WordPress.org is an open-source blogging software. So, anyone can download the WordPress software from WordPress.org and install on their website for FREE. And then you own it and you manage it. It’s limited only by your imagination (and tech chops) as there are thousands of themes, plugins, and widgets available to transform your WordPress site into almost anything that you can imagine.

Don’t Miss: WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org: The Ultimate Comparison With Pros & Cons

When you sign up for a free WordPress.com account your blog address will look like your-username.wordpress.com and if you choose the self-hosted version of WordPress (that is, WordPress.org) then you can start your blog with a branded address like your-name.com.

So my aim is to help you set up a food blog on the world’s most awesome blogging platform – WordPress.org.

And I’m going to assume that:

You want to start a self-hosted WordPress blog (that is, your own .com blog).
You do not want to start a free blog on Blogger.com or WordPress.com. Confused? Check out Blogger vs. WordPress and WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org.
You’re willing to read a lot. I mean, A LOTT.
You understand that blogging is simple but not easy and it’s NOT for everyone.
You’ve realized that you can’t ‘start’ a blog in 10 minutes.
You’ve researched competitors and have already figured out how to stand out.

How To Start A WordPress Blog (Step by Step Screencasts)

by MAHESH MOHAN on October 14, 2017

How To Start A WordPress Blog (Step by Step Screencasts)

You CAN’T start a WordPress blog in 10 minutes. And you can’t start a blog in 10 hours either. You know why? Because it takes countless hours to customize WordPress and make things look the way you want (unless you are a WordPress geek). And hey, I didn’t even count the actual time required to actually create content. That’s the real purpose of a blog, right?

I have noticed several times that whenever I start a WordPress blog, I end up doing the same things over and over and over. So below are the steps that I personally follow when I start a new WordPress site. And no, it’s NOT another start a WordPress blog in 5 minutes kind of guide or video. Yes, I (and probably you) have seen a gazillion “How To Start A WordPress Blog In 5 Minutes” videos and tutorials.

But the reality is that it doesn’t work that way. Why? Because they’re all basically about how to buy a domain name (that is, a .com), web hosting plan (that is, your own server space where you can upload files), and install blogging software (that is, WordPress). Yes, that’s all you can do in 5 minutes or even 10 minutes and it’s far away from a perfect blog as there are a lot of other things that you must know and do.

Don’t Miss: 27 Things Before Starting A WordPress Blog
[Read more…] about How To Start A WordPress Blog (Step by Step Screencasts)

How To — Start A Food Blog — Buy A Domain Name & Web Hosting

by MAHESH MOHAN on October 8, 2017

How To — Start A Food Blog — Buy A Domain Name & Web Hosting

Recommended Read: How To Choose A Domain Name For Your Blog

Even though you usually get a free domain name when you sign up for a 12-month web hosting plan, I would recommend purchasing a domain name on your own from a domain registrar like Namecheap.com or GoDaddy.com and it costs $10-$15 per year.

Doing so will make it easy to manage all your domain names from a single dashboard (assuming that you will need more domain names in the future).

Web hosting companies offer a domain name free of cost only for the first year, after which they start charging a premium rate. There’s every chance that you might not stick with the same web hosting company in the future, so it’s always better to purchase your domain names elsewhere and manage them separately.

You can also check out my Web Hosting Handbook to know all (almost) things web hosting. Anyway, I’m recommending a shared hosting plan by InMotion Hosting (oh yeah, Minterest is also hosted by them).

Shared hosting basically means that you’re sharing your server (resources as well as the cost) with hundreds of other websites. And that makes it affordable for everyone.

And hey, a shared hosting may also be suitable when you need to host multiple websites — as long as you don’t expect hundreds of thousands of visits an hour to each website.

So let’s get started! [Read more…] about How To — Start A Food Blog — Buy A Domain Name & Web Hosting

Here’s Why You Should Auto Renew Your Domain Names (And Maybe Web Hosting Too)

by MAHESH MOHAN on December 18, 2012

Confused: Auto Renew or Manual Renew

One thing I hate about most Domain Name registrars and Web Hosting companies is that the auto renewal options is turned on by default unless you have turned it off manually. And hence the first thing I do whenever I register a domain name or a web hosting is set the “Auto Renewal” to off.

Recently I changed my mind and I chose to auto renew all the *important* domain names. Why? Because as Go Daddy says “Activate Auto Renew and never worry about expiration dates again”.

If you choose not to renew the domains automatically then you need to renew them manually. And if you don’t renew the domain name after its expiration then you may even incur a $80 fee if it’s done after the grace period which is 12 days (for Go Daddy).