You can go from no blog to blog in 30 minutes.
This does assume you have several other things already set up and working (which we’ll discuss), but just know this: the act of bringing a blog into existence is not monumental. It’s trivial.
This isn’t a tutorial. It’s just a preview of the steps required. Like a dance instructor showing you the steps you’re going to be learning — step, kick, spin and step. You’re not expected to learn it from that. The idea is just to plant in your mind: it takes this long, it’s got this rhythm, its as easy as…this.
First, the broad strokes. To create this blog, I did this following.
- Found a domain name (15 minutes)
- Bought the domain name (5 minutes)
- Activated the domain as a WordPress site (10 minutes)
Now, with more detail
- Finding a domain name — I used the Mac terminal app to do a “whois” search (very easy) on domain names I liked
- Buying the domain name — I used BlueHost. Very quick and easy. $24 for the first year, including a privacy feature
- Activating the domain — Several little steps here, all within BlueHost. They’re easy, but can be a little hard to find. That’s what tutorials are for.
Additional notes
The prior setup — This kind of speed is only possible, as you might guess, for someone who’s already set up in various ways to do it. How long would it take to get set up that way? Maybe an hour. Again, not a monumental job. No genius required. Just a series of things most modern computer-using humans can do without breaking a sweat, if they have a good set of instructions. Again, we’re not covering the details here, but just showing you how easy it is once you know how to do it (step, kick, spin and step…).
- Have a BlueHost account — there are services that provide WordPress hosting, but this one is my favorite
- Have a Primary Domain — On your BlueHost account, register pick and buy a domain that will be your “primary domain.” You can use this domain as a blog in and of itself (or any other kind of website), but for the purpose of this discussion (creating a new blog in 30 minutes) we need this primary domain so we can use the “sub-domain” feature of BlueHost. Don’t worry about what that means. It’s just a technicality. You 30-minute blog will ultimately be exposed to the world as you expect(myfastandeasyblog.com).
Finding a Domain Name — This process can actually be the longest part of the process. I got lucky this time. More than once I’ve spent weeks or months coming up with a domain name I liked that wasn’t already taken. On the other hand, if you consider this part of the process a whole separate job (time-consuming probably, but not hard), you could actually go from blog to no blog in 15 minutes.
That’s all we’ll cover here. Look for tutorials to come on the separate steps we’ve discussed. None of them require a large amount of knowledge or time — and that’s the first thing to know. You, too, can do it.