How to Start a Blog of Your Own
I thought it might be somewhat helpful for other people who want to know how to start a blog to see some of the products and services I use with this blog. If you have any questions about any of these resources, feel free to contact me and I will do my very best to help out.
Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links. I recommend these products because they are products that I personally use or companies that I have found trustworthy.
Website Domain Name Purchasing: GoDaddy.com
I use GoDaddy.com to buy most of my domain names. I have used them for years and everything works out nicely, so I don’t bother shopping around. The only downside to buying from GoDaddy instead of through your hosting company is that you have to point the name servers in your GoDaddy account to your hosting account. It might sound a little difficult, but trust me, it’s not.
Website Hosting Services: Bluehost
I recently switched over to Bluehost.com for hosting this site. They are extremely affordable and the customer service has been really good. If you already have an existing site and you are not super happy with them, Bluehost even offers a service to move everything over for you. When I moved my site over, I severely messed it up and ended up having Bluehost move it over for me anyway. Should have just saved myself the headaches…You can also buy your domain name right through Bluehost as well to keep everything in the same spot if you’d like.
Website Themes: Themeforest – Envato Market
Designing a website is not easy, that is why I bought a WordPress theme through Themeforest (part of the Envato Market). They seem to have a really good selection and usually have several on the top lists for popular themes. Just make sure to read the reviews and make sure there is good support.
You can also find a lot of great free themes from WordPress.org.
Pinterest Automation: Tailwind App
If you get to a point where you are starting to Pin a lot of your posts on Pinterest (and you should be), Tailwind is cheap, easy to set-up and makes life so much easier. Tailwind helps you automate your pinning so you can spend your time writing instead of getting engulfed in Pinterest. This is truly a set-it and forget-it type of system. It is approved by Pinterest and is also set up to automate your Instagram posts as well. You also cannot underestimate the power of their Communities section for getting your pins the eyeballs on them that they deserve.
I’ll update and add to this as I find more resources that you may find helpful!