Setup Guide: 1 Steps

1. Register Your Domain Name

WordPress is free. But the catch is that you have to set it up and host a WordPress site yourself. Domain names and web hosting aren’t free.

Hosting services usually cost $7.99/month. Many people don’t realize that there are website maintenance costs like this.

And a domain name (“yourblog.com”) usually costs $14.99/year.

I struck a deal with my favorite webhost, Bluehost, which gets you a free domain name as long as you buy 12 months worth of hosting from them. And with my link, the hosting is 60% off.

Install WordPress

Once you’ve registered for hosting and a domain name, find an email from Bluehost in your inbox. In that email, you will click through to your web hosting control panel (cPanel).

In the cPanel, find the “Install WordPress” icon.

Plugins

They can help you optimize your post for search engine optimization, with a plugin called Yoast.
Or, implement a refer-a-friend plugin.
Or, stream all your Tweets or Instagram posts live on your site.
Or, allow users to comment on your posts.

To find the universe of WordPress plugins, toggle to the “Plugins” section of the WordPress dashboard. You will be directed to a page that will basically look like an App Store for WordPress plugins.

Choose a Theme

Once you’ve had a chance to look around WordPress, it’s time to design your travel blog. WordPress comes with a default theme which, especially without any blog posts, doesn’t look very good. You might be looking at an empty front page of your new blog .

Promoting Your Content

But you have to get your content out there first. Unfortunately, if you build it, they will not come. You have to make people come.

This is where social media channels and SEO come in handy. And since there’s a lot to learn on the topics, I recommend the following articles to help when you’re just starting travel blogging. Don’t read them all in one day, though—it will make you dizzy. Come back, read them one-by-one and digest them slowly.

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