{"id":122836,"date":"2023-10-27T04:36:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T08:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/?p=122836"},"modified":"2024-12-05T05:11:03","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T05:11:03","slug":"how-to-start-a-blog-to-make-money-pt-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/2023\/10\/27\/how-to-start-a-blog-to-make-money-pt-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Start A Blog To Make Money, Pt 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span>Estimated reading time: <\/span>9<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m back with part two of three<\/strong> to teach you how to start a blog and make money without having to pull your hair out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read part one of the How To Start A Blog Series<\/a><\/strong>, first if you stumbled on this post before reading it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you have a domain name and a hosting account, great! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next three steps are these:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. You want to \u201cpoint\u201d your domain to your hosting account (associate it with your hosting account),<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Install WordPress on your hosting account (and understand the difference between \u201cself-hosted WordPress\u201d and Wordpress.com),<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Know how to log into your new WordPress site and get started blogging.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    How To Point Your Domain To Your Hosting Account<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    This step is where you are essentially telling your domain name where your hosting is, its internet \u201caddress,\u201d so that when someone types in your domain name, they are taken to the content on your hosting account. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    First, find out what your hosting service\u2019s nameservers are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You probably got an email with this information when you signed up for hosting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If not, search online for \u201c[your host] nameservers,\u201d for example, \u201cbigscoots nameservers\u201d (without the quotes). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Usually, they\u2019re very straightforward, something like ns1.bigscoots.com. There will be two nameservers, so make sure to note them both down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (img of nameservers)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tip: Copy & paste the nameserver addresses into a text file so you can then copy & paste them again when needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Next, log into where you purchased your domain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You will need to find where to change your \u201cDNS\u201d settings; some domain registrars will have a place to change nameservers separate from \u201cadvance\u201d DNS, and some will have nameservers in with DNS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Just search online for \u201c[your domain registrar] change nameservers\u201d (again without quotes or brackets), and you should find instructions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Once you find the spot where you add nameservers, add in the ones you have from the first step above, save, and done!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (img of nameserver area of a domain registrar) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It can take a few minutes to a few hours and up to a day or so before your changes are visible online – any time you make changes to a domain, it needs time to \u201cpropagate\u201d across the entire internet, which means time for those changes to be seen by every other computer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (The internet is fast, but \u201cfast\u201d is often a relative term!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How To Install WordPress On Your Hosting Account<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Once your domain name is associated with your hosting account, it\u2019s time to log into your hosting account and install WordPress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is a lot faster now than it was a few years ago; the way WordPress was installed years ago was by creating a database, then downloading the entire WordPress program, uploading it to your hosting account, opening its settings file, and entering in the details of the database you created, then going to the installation page and running the installation script. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It didn\u2019t take that long, and it\u2019s pretty simple, but when you tell people to \u201ccreate a database\u201d and \u201crun an installation,\u201d they assume it\u2019s much worse than it is and usually don\u2019t bother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So, thankfully, someone figured out a way to automate the entire process and make installing WordPress VERY quick and simple now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But before I explain how to do that, I want to clarify the difference between what I just described – manually installing WordPress – and the website WordPress.com. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Seems like they should be the same, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But they\u2019re not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\"WordPress.com\"<\/a>\n\n\n\n

    What is the difference between WordPress dot org and WordPress dot com?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The program you download and install (and create a database for, etc) is available (freely) at wordpress.org – emphasis on the \u201cdot org\u201d part. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is where WordPress started life back in the early 2000s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you used WordPress, wordpress.org was where it came from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You would download it, install it, and away you go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But some years after WordPress started, blogger.com<\/strong> became the popular new kid on the block\u2026they offered free blogs that did not require a domain name or hosting account. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Blogger grew in popularity enough that WordPress wanted some of those users, so they created WordPress.com, which offered WordPress-powered blogs for free – no domain name or hosting account (or installation!) required. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The caveat was that you could not use plugins or do much customization\u2026but that didn\u2019t matter back then like it usually does today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So wordpress.com became the place to get a free WordPress-powered blog, and wordpress.org was where you got the full program you installed on your hosting account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So \u201cself-hosted<\/strong>\u201d WordPress means you have your hosting account and run your copy of WordPress on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cWordpress dot com\u201d refers to\u2026well, it used to mean free WordPress-powered blogs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But these days, you can pay for upgrades at wordpress.com and have a fully-capable WordPress site with plugins, custom themes, and everything that a self-hosted WordPress has & can do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Confused yet? Yeah, it\u2019s all a bit muddy now, ha. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Think of \u201cself-hosted\u201d when you have a hosting account to run your site. \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Wondering why you should do self-hosted instead of just getting upgrades from wordpress.com? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is much cheaper to do a self-hosted site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Installing WordPress <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    So now it\u2019s time to install WordPress on your site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The exact place\/steps to do this will vary by host, but these are the general steps: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You log into your hosting account, find where they have the WordPress installation button, click it, change a few details, click install, and done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It’s much better than the old way of doing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here are detailed steps for the hosts I\u2019ve mentioned so you can see how much it can vary, but it\u2019s all still straightforward – it\u2019s a matter of finding where your host puts the install buttons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n