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The start of a new year is the ideal time for new beginnings and adventures.

This isn’t just a cliché, I really believe that it’s an amazing chance to start something in life – and I have a great idea for something that can change your life 🙂

After many weeks of pondering {and many inquiries I got by e-mail and Facebook}, I decided it’s time to write a post explaining how to easily start a WordPress blog.

This guide will explain how to start a WordPress blog step by step – all that you have to do is follow the easy instructions and in less than 15 minutes you’ll have a corner of your own online!

My blog changed my life and allowed me to work at a job I love, just before I lost hope.

Before I'll explain how to start a successful blog quickly and easily, it is important for me to tell the circumstances that led me to open my own blog. I'm sharing this story not so you will feel sorry for me, but to inspire you to take the first step toward self-realization and a life you can be proud of every morning.

It was important for me to write this guide because I truly believe there is no reason for people to live a boring life, without satisfaction from their job.

A life in which you have to go to your 9 to 5 job every day just to wait to get home from the moment you get there.

A whole life in which you spend your time waiting for weekends, holidays and vacations to arrive – just because you want to escape the routine that you've fallen into, because you did not make sure to pave the way that suits YOU.

I promise you it can be different – you can live differently!

So how did it all start?

Two and a half years ago I made the biggest change in my life.

I left my hometown, Jerusalem, the place I had known all my life, and moved to the most isolated city in Israel – Eilat.

It was right after I graduated from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and got my bachelor's degree in business administration and communications cum laude, and I decided to put an end to the long-distance relationship with Daniel, who moved to Eilat a year and a half before following a job offer.

You know how it is… What won’t you do for love?

It wasn’t easy at all – being separated from my family, friends and all that was safe and familiar to me all my life.

Until then my life path was planned in detail… like everyone else in Israel I graduated high school, went to the army {yep, it’s mandatory even for girls!}, finished with the Israeli SAT test, traveled to South America and studied in university what I thought would help me achieve my dream job in marketing or journalism.

Then boom, the whole route planned changed in one phone call when Daniel informed me that he will have to move to Eilat for at least five years.

I remember that call as a total shock, completely out of the blue – after all, what do I have to do with Eilat?

I was in the middle of graduate school, but it was clear from the first second that as soon as I finished my studies I would move in with Daniel.

And that is exactly what happened – I packed everything up and moved to the most remote city in the country.

As someone quite pessimistic by nature, I was relatively optimistic when it came to finding a job in the city. After all, I had just finished my bachelor's degree and I thought it would give me some advantage in finding a job.

You can say that I was certainly wrong – not only that it’s not easy to find rewarding job after even after receiving a degree {no matter where are}, in Eilat – a city that’s mainly based on tourism, most jobs ranged from working in a hotel and waiting tables at a restaurant.

So I was a waitress in a few places and worked in a good position at one of the big hotels in Eilat, but it just wasn’t it. Each job there made me feel drained out when I got home and left me with a feeling most people probably know – “I hate my job!”.

This was the worst year of my life – I couldn’t find myself, I felt like I wasn’t taking advantage of my full potential and I was literally stuck at the end of the world.

Then came the enlightenment that changed everything.

I really don’t remember where exactly I got the idea to start a blog, but from the second I started dealing with it, it became clearer that this is exactly what will make my life much happier.

Wow – I was definitely right!

I started the HEDONISTIT blog a year and a half ago, just when I started working at a small marketing company in Eilat. Half a year later I got my first job as a freelancer {thanks to this very blog!} and decided to leave my job and become independent and self-employed.

Today, I work from home, my daily schedule is much more flexible {I get up whenever I want to and work hours that are best for me}, I have the freedom to travel whenever I want {without asking for anyone’s permission!} and I get to cover things that I really love for my blog – I really love my life!

A lot of people play around with the idea of starting a blog but don’t really know for what purpose, and if there’s even room for them on the Internet. Many also shy away from writing blogs because they think they must be familiar with programming languages or other technical things in order to operate a blog.

Let me tell you one thing – anyone can start a blog! Starting a blog is much more simple than people think and there’s no need to know HTML, CSS or other things that sound like gibberish to you. I have no knowledge regarding these things and you can agree with me that my blog looks pretty good 😉

Secondly – I believe that everyone has a story, so anyone can start an interesting blog that will inspire others. You can start the blog as a hobby {and after a few months find out that you can make a nice amount of money from it, and who knows, you might even be able to quit your day job}, and if you’re independent or a small shop owner, you should definitely start a blog to help promote your business!

Three basic terms you should know if you're planning on starting a blog :

Hosting – Websites are built from various computer files {text, images, videos, etc.}. In order for these files to appear on the internet, you need to have a server with a super-fast internet connection which will store all of your files. If this sounds a bit complicated, think about it this way – hosting online is actually like a house that you rent to keep your belongings protected and available at all times. The good news is that unlike the regular rental of property – online hosting is actually really cheap!

Domain – A domain address is in fact the name you choose for your website. If hosting is your home, then the domain is the address of the house 🙂 For example, my domain is: hedonistit.com.

WordPress – WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world. This system is great for blogs, business websites and online stores {even APPLE chose them!}.

Bluehost is one of the leading companies in recent years to host websites. One of the reasons that that so many people chose to host their website with them is because they allow starting an independent blog with a very low cost and they provide reliable hosting services.

But why is it even worth creating a website that requires payment with wordpress.org, when you can start a free blog through WordPress.com or Blogger?

Like many things in life, sometimes free things end up costing us a lot of money.

There are many reasons why it’s worth investing some money and getting a completely independent website :

Domain – If you choose to start a blog with one of the free systems, you won’t be able to choose your own domain address and you’ll have to use a long and messy sub-domain address instead {instead of .com it will end, for example, like blogspot.co.il}. Not only does it really suck, it also appears less serious and quite childish.

Ownership – With free systems the ownership of the website is the system’s, rather than yours {even though the content is yours}. If the system decides that you’re violating the site’s policy in any way, your blog will be deleted without warning. Moreover, even if your site is successful and you’ll be able to make money from it at some point with advertising – the system won’t allow it.

Design – Design is one of the most important things on the website, not only does it look good – it also provides a much more pleasant browsing experience. In most free systems, you can’t choose a design template, and in the systems that you can – there aren’t many options and they’re quite unattractive.

If you want to start a website the right way – go for an independent website. A few dollars a month won’t make you poor, but an independent blog can certainly give you a lot of money.

Did I convince you that a free blog sucks? Great, then I already saved you future frustration… {Still not sure about WordPress? Thinking about starting a blog with WIX? Check out my comparison between the two site building platforms here}

Okay, okay, but why you should choose Bluehost and not a different hosting company after all of my searches online?

It’s recommended by many bloggers and websites in the field.

Like I said – it’s very cheap!! Bluehost allows you to build a completely independent website at the cost of a few dollars a month { and if you sign up to Bluehost through my link only you'll receive a very special discount!

Bluehost’s hosting package includes a FREE domain { saves you $15 }.

It’s very easy to use { and my guide makes it even easier! }.

They have excellent customer service – at the beginning I had some questions regarding the use of their services and they answered quickly and professionally.

If you signed up for Bluehost and decided that you’re not happy with it, you can get your money back within 30 days.

If you got here after this long intro, you definitely want to start a blog! Yay – so exciting!! 🙂

So come on, let's get to the point here…

Click here to start a blog and progress step by step according to the guide I wrote below.

How to start a WordPress blog on Bluehost (The updated 2019 version!):

If you’ve decided to subscribe to Bluehost, and you find that even after the tutorial you are still confused about how pricing works, which plan to choose, or anything else you’re unsure of, do not hesitate to send me an email and together we can work it out 🙂 I have lots of experience when it comes to this, and this is precisely what I’m here for!

1. SELECT YOUR PLAN

Go for the basic plan– it is the one most recommended for bloggers, and you can always upgrade (and pay the difference) when you’re ready.

2. CHOOSE A DOMAIN NAME

This, in my opinion, is the most important step, because this will become your blog’s name. Your domain should represent your blog’s theme and style. Try to choose a catchy name that people will not find difficult to type.

When choosing the name for my own blog I wanted it to express the essence of the blog – a lifestyle guide to living the good life – in one word. Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure as a way of life, and so I came up with Hedonistit – the perfect term.

You may find that the name you would like is already taken by someone else. In that case, Bluehost will suggest alternative options or a different domain extension.

Here, you can check if your domain of choice is available:

* Make sure to type “www” if you’d like to include it in your domain 🙂

As I said, Bluehost will give you a free domain for one year when you purchase a plan for 12 months or more.

3. CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT

On this page you must fill in your personal info and then go on to choose how long you would like your website to be hosted by Bluehost. Bluehost prices are pretty cheap as it is – but since a great community of future bloggers has evolved around Hedonistit, I decided to turn to Bluehost and request a special discount for my readers – and whaddya know, they agreed! The price you will get is 50% less if purchased via my link!!

For the best price, you should choose the 36 month plan. Apart from the amount you will save now, it will save you lots of money in the future because this promotional price is for new members only! Better to choose the long-term plan so that you won’t have to deal with renewing your blog each year – believe me, renewing your subscription is not something you want to forget….

If you’re not ready to commit to a longer plan {although you can take back your decision and be reimbursed within the first 30 days…} go for the short-term plan and set yourself a reminder of the date on which you will need to renew your subscription, if you wish to do so. The cost will be just a little bit higher, though still low considering the fact that you’re getting a free domain for one year.

The 12 month plan will cost you about $60 for a full year, while the 36 month plan will cost about $118 for three years – totally worth it!

For a few more dollars a month, Bluehost offers additional services, most of which you won’t be needing. Uncheck them all, except for the one titled Domain Privacy Protection, which secures your personal information.

Now, all that’s left to do is select your form of payment – credit or Paypal, accept the terms and conditions, and click Submit.

4. CONGRATULATIONS! YOU NOW HAVE STORAGE SPACE FOR YOUR BLOG 🙂

At this point, Bluehost will propose some kind of benefit. If you’re not interested, you can skip by clicking “no thanks”.

5. CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND ACTIVATE YOUR DOMAIN BY OPENING THE EMAIL YOU HAVE JUST RECEIVED FROM BLUEHOST

The email will look like the screenshot on the left in the image below. A click on the green will confirm your email address.

6. CREATE A PASSWORD FOR YOUR BLUEHOST ACCOUNT



It is very important to choose a secure password, one that is difficult to hack {composed of uppercase and lowercase letters, and special characters} and save it somewhere safe. This new password will give you access to Bluehost’s Admin panel {you will want to get in there to make use of their excellent support as well as to renew your domain or prolong your storage once it’s over}.

7. START YOUR WORDPRESS BLOG

The moment of truth – it is time to start your very own WordPress blog!

Everything was pretty simple and clear until now, right?

At this point Bluehost has done almost all of your work for you, just a few more steps and you’re there!

*Your website will at first be stored on a temporary domain created for you by Bluehost, while your purchased domain will automatically update itself within 4-6 hours. {If it doesn’t do so, you can contact their terrific chat support and they will update your domain in just a few minutes}

Log in on the next page:

Now, Bluehost will recommend that you choose a design template, I suggest that you skip this step at the moment and return to it once you’ve completed the initial setup of your blog. No matter what, you can always easily go back and change your blog’s design 🙂

After you select a template, or rather, skip that option, you will arrive at the following screen. Now click on the blue button.

On the next screen you may choose between a business or personal website in order to receive help and support from WordPress. If you’re not interested, simply click “I don’t need help”.

8. SET UP YOUR WORDPRESS USERNAME AND PASSWORD



To select a username and password to manage your blog, click “Users” in the left side menu, then click “Your Profile”.

Now, there are three things you should do:

1. In the box next to the word “Nickname”, update your nickname to one you would like to be identified with on your blog.

2. Add your email address in the box near the word “Email”. This will be the username you use to connect to your blog's Admin panel.

3. To create your password, click on “Generate Password”. Here, too, it is important to choose a secure password that is difficult to hack and save it in a safe place!

To save and continue, click “Update Profile”.

Now, you can connect to your blog's Admin panel from any computer in the world with your domain address and the “/wp-admin” extension {for example, www.YOURDOMAIN.com/wp-admin} using the email address you have entered and the password you’ve created 🙂

You did it! You have started an all-new WordPress blog on your own!!

What’s next, you ask?

Glad you asked! 🙂

The next step is to find a design that best reflects your style. In addition to the templates offered by Bluehost, you can come across a number of free templates via WordPress. Click on “Appearance” on the side menu on your website’s home page, and choose “Themes” to select and activate your template of choice.

If you want your website to really stand out and give it a real “wow effect” you should invest in a special, less generic, design template. My favorite website for WordPress templates is themeforest – the selection is huge and template prices start at $20.

Take the time to choose a design that will cause you to miss a beat 🙂

Click here for a complete step-by-step guide on how to choose the best design template for your site!

What made you want to start your own blog? Share your blog story with me in a comment below, and don’t forget to add a link so that I can follow it!

If you haven’t started a blog yet but plan to do so in the future – don’t forget to save this little guide to Pinterest!