Start A Blog

This is a guide of sorts to help you start your own blog.  Many people have asked me how to start a weight loss blog and even found my blog searching for advice on how to create a weight loss blog.  I figured I should be nice and explain what I know about the subject in hopes that someone can start their own blog and find it as useful as I have found mine. After all, I love writing a weight loss/healthy living blog and it’s been critical in keeping me accountable in losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle.

Although I mentioned that this is a guide to start a weight loss or healthy living blog, it is really a guide to start any kind of blog.  If you have a desire to go start a blog about smurfs or tornadoes or bed linens or anything else, this advice still applies.

ABOUT SELF HOSTING

I recommend anyone who wants to blog for real to buy a domain name and self-host their blogs.  There is nothing wrong with having a blogger or wordpress.com blog, but I think the couple bucks you will spend for self-hosting will further commit you to writing the blog. Further, sometimes sites like WordPress.com and blogspot.com go down or have problems. When you self host your blog there is no need to worry about that.

Additionally I believe hosting your own blog with your own domain name gives your blog a better look, it’s easier for people to remember the name, and you have much more freedom with what you can do.  Plus, YOU will own it.  No company will have a say in what you do with your blog because it will be yours.

NOTE: The following advice is about switching a wordpress.com blog to a self-hosted WordPress blog.  I have found WordPress to be the best way to create and manage a blog because of the great amounts of support, plugins, themes and more available for self-hosted WordPress users.  If you decide not to go this route, you can still blog with blogger.com, wordpress.com, or Blog to Lose (weight loss).  If you have a Blogger blog and don’t want to self-host you can consider mapping a custom domain name to your blog.

CREATING A BLOG FROM SCRATCH

It’s easiest to start a blog from the beginning, which I will explain now, but you can also transfer a wordpress.com blog to self-hosted wordpress easily.  Here are the steps for starting a blog from the very beginning:

1. Click “Sign Up Now” at your chosen host’s website. I chose to host this blog on Hostmonster (at $6.95 per month or less if they have a special deal) because they have a good reputation and the ability to one-click install WordPress (it’s SUPER EASY).  I have been with them for almost four years and they have never let me down. They have helped me through every technical issue I’ve encountered and my blog has rarely experienced downtime. Update: I’ve also recently had experience using Host Gator for another project and can fully recommend them as an affordable quality web host (use the coupon code “amerrylife” for $9.94 off your purchase at Hostgator!).
   The rest of these steps are specific to Hostmonster, but if you decide to use another company, you can probably still figure out what to do from these steps because they are all very similar.
2. Note: if you decide to go with Hostmonster and use this how-to guide because it is easy and awesome, I’d appreciate it if you use the affiliate link so I can earn money to support my blog.
3. In the “I Need a Domain” option, fill in your DESIRED domain name. For example: amerrylife.com  Choose the “.com” extension, unless you have a good reason not to and don’t enter the “http://www.” part of a domain.   Think about your domain name first and don’t get frustrated if your first choices are taken.  Something good will come to you, but make sure you have a domain you will like for a long time.
4. When domain name is available, you’ll be asked to fill in your billing information. Make sure you enter a complicated password (write it down somewhere) that will keep your information safe.  When you sign up you will have to pay for a year of hosting up front, and your domain name will come with that package.
5. Once your account is active, login to Hostmonster and go to the Hostmonster Control Panel (cPanel).
   
6. Near the bottom of the page, in the “Software/Services” section, click the WordPress icon.
7. Under Installation Options click the green “Install” button to install a new version.
   
8. In the box under “Where would you like WordPress installed?” your domain name should appear. For example, it should say in the box: http://www.yourdomain.com.  If there’s any chance you will ever want to create a website to accompany your blog, you may want to consider typing “blog” in the box on the right.  This would install your blog at http://yourdomain.com/blog. This is a good option if you feel you want to create more than just a blog and you can always later set up a redirect so traffic to http://yourdomain.com goes to http://yourdomain.com/blog where your blog is.
9. Read the legal information, and if you agree, check the box and complete the install.
10. Login and start blogging.

WOOHOOO!! You did it!!  You just created your own domain and your own-self hosted blog.  Way to go. :)

You will receive an email with a temporary username and password to your blog and the login address for your WordPress dashboard.  When you get this go in and immediately change the username and password to whatever you want, just make sure it is secure.

MOVING A WORDPRESS BLOG TO SELF-HOSTING

If you aren’t starting from the very beginning and have decided to move a wordpress.com blog to your own domain name with self-hosting, you should follow the above steps to create a new wordpress blog on your domain and then you will have to export and import your old blog posts into the new one.  These steps a for a wordpress.com blogger.

EXPORTING AND IMPORTING YOUR OLD BLOG

1. Login to your OLD blog, at WordPress.com.
2. From the Dashboard, on the left, click “Tools.” Under that, click “Export.”
3. Choose “All Authors” in the dropdown box, and click “Download Export File.”
4. Save the file in place where you’ll be able to find it.
5. Login to your NEW blog.
6. From the Dashboard, on the left, click “Tools.” Under that, click “Import.”
   
7. In the list of choices, click “WordPress.”
8. Find the file using “Browse,” then click “Upload file and import.”
9. When you are asked to map authors, decide whether you want everything from your old blog to be under a single author name, which by default will be your current user name. If you want multiple author names, you’ll need to create new users, which you can do in your new blog’s Dashboard.

Finished!  You blog is nice and shiny and new now!  Go back to your old blog and write a new post redirecting your readers to your new site.  It is probably a good idea not to delete your old blog due to scammy spammer activities.  You can go back and make it private or delete the posts (not the blog) or just redirect it and leave it all up.

FOR BLOGGER USERS

Like I said before, I use and LOVE WordPress.  And it’s now super easy to switch from Blogger to WordPress.  You don’t have to do any exporting and importing – WordPress does it all for you.  So if you have ever wanted to switch, now is a great time.  Here are the instructions:

1. Log in to your WordPress blog. From the Dashboard, on the left, click “Tools.” Under than, click “Blogger.”
2. You have to let WordPress access your Blogger account, so click “Authorize” and then “Grant access.”
3. You will then be taken back to WordPress and your blogger blog(s) will be listed. Click on the “Import” button on the right of your blog listing under “The Magic Button.”
4. After it imports click the button again to set authors.
5. When you are asked to map authors, decide whether you want everything from your old blog to be under a single author name, which by default will be your current user name. If you want multiple author names, you’ll need to create new users, which you can do in your new blog’s Dashboard.
6. Click “Save changes” and you are done! The old blogger posts will appear in your WordPress blog complete with comments and all.

If you are happy with your Blogger blog and only want to create a new domain name that will be easier for people to remember than yourblog.blogspot.com, I’m happy to say domain mapping is also super easy with Blogger blogs.  Check out this tutorial on how to get a custom domain name for your Blogger blog (you can even buy a domain through Blogger, it’s that easy).

QUESTIONS?

If you encounter any questions along the way, so feel free to send me questions via my contact form or send me a message on Twitter at @amerrylife.  I’ll be happy to help you.  When in doubt, go to wordpress.org and type your question in the search box.  They have great support pages that can help  Also, don’t hestitate to call up the people at Hostmonster, your new hosting company.  They have great tech support and can talk you through any problem.  If you are transfering a blog, don’t worry if anything goes wrong.  You always have your old blog still available and can work through any problem.  Never panic over delays or snags.

And if you still feel completely lost or just don’t want to do this, fill out the contact form and I will set up a new blog for you for the extremely low fee of $25.00 (way less than anyone else charges).  ;)

AWESOME BLOGGERS WHO HAVE DONE IT!

Alison – Waisting Duxie

Amanda – The Health Happy Girl

Becky – Life Ain’t Always Beautiful

Jason – The Big Mouth Blog

Kelli – Food, Fitness, & Fun in All 50 States

Kendra – Voice In Recovery

Meegan – redstar5 – Work In Progress

Melissa – The Journey To Marvelous

Poppy – From Fried Chicken To Tofu

Rachel – Grown Up Rachel

Randi – Kickin Fat

Rita – The Giggly Bits

Roder – Time I Finish What I Started

Sarah – Skinny Genes

The Fat Kid – Memoirs Of A Fat Kid

If you have made the switch using my directions then let me know.  I’ll add you to the growing list of awesome bloggers!  (Links are good for your blog, so you definitely want one here.) Congrats to all you have made the switch and started their own blogs! :)

MORE: HOW TO CREATE AN AWESOME BLOG

After giving out advice and being asked a ton of questions about how to create a weight loss blog that is well read and visited (and even makes you some money), I decided to compile all my knowledge into an ebook about creating a better health blog. If you are just starting your blog the ebook will save you literally MONTHS of hard work and help you jump past the initial learning curve in blogging. Check out the A Merry Life Guide To Creating A Better Health Blog ebook page for more information.

I also highly recommend the e-book 31 Days To Build A Better Blog from Darren Rowse, aka ProBlogger. It will lead you through a month of exercise to improve your blog drastically. Thousands of bloggers have used it to improve their blogs because it actually helps.