We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
I want to start by clarifying that there are two different WordPress sites.
There is a WordPress.com and a WordPress.org.
I was so incredibly confused about this when I created my first WordPress site so I want to clarify that for all of you right off the bat.
What you want is WordPress.org.
HOWEVER, you don’t set your site up by going to WordPress.org so please keep reading.
The reasons you want WordPress.org are:
- It’s going to be cheaper in the long run. With WordPress.org you have to buy your own domain which is about $12 per year and hosting which is $5.95 per month through HostGator and then you’re done and ready to start building and monetizing your site. With WordPress.com you can start for free but if you ever want to have add banner ads to monetize your site, you’ll have to upgrade to at least the Premium plan which is $8.25 per month. From experience, you will save yourself hours of time and a headache or two if you spend the measly few dollars and do it right to start with.
- You are going to have your own domain. What that means is in my case I have www.homeofficehappiness.com instead of www.wordpress.com/homeofficehappiness. Again, you can upgrade on WordPress.com to get your custom domain but it’s $2.99 per month and essentially all that does is remove the wordpress.com from the front so you’re still going to have more customization and monetization options with a custom domain through HostGator for just a few dollars a month more.
- Personalized email addresses. If you read my About page you may have noticed that I have an email address that is Mylee [at] Home Office Happiness dot com. You can have personalized email addresses as well for free as part of your own domain. And you can set up several different emails to suite your needs or as your blog grows. I also have one for Advertising [at] Home Office Happiness dot com. Just to give you some ideas.
- WordPress.com features are linked to your WordPress.org site through a Plugin so you aren’t going to miss out on anything at all.
I just can’t stress enough that I’ve done this both ways and it will truly save you so much time and stress if you just spend a few dollars and do it correctly to begin with.
So now that you’re convinced a self-hosted WordPress site is hands-down the best route to take, just click here to go to HostGator.com. Then select the Domains link on the top to get your domain reserved. Once you get your domain reserved, selected the WordPress Hosting link to get your Starter Plan for $5.95 per month. ALSO, if you use code 1CENT you’ll get your first month for just a penny!
Once you get your domain and hosting set up through HostGator, check out my next blog post to get your WordPress site set up. REMEMBER WHAT I SAID at the beginning of this post… You don’t set your site up from WordPress.org.
You actually set your site up through your HostGator Control Panel which is really easy too so make sure to read on.
Click here to go directly to the next post.
Until then…
This post may contain affiliate links. However, I only recommend companies or products that I trust and believe in.
https://www.facebook.com/homeofficehappiness/
https://www.pinterest.com/homeofficehappy/
https://www.instagram.com/home_office_happiness/
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