How To Buy Web Hosting With A Free Domain Name For Your WordPress Blog

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Buy Web Hosting With A Free Domain Name
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Here at ShoutMeLoud, I thought I had covered everything with how to start a blog and make money from a blog. But one thing I missed was how to buy web hosting and a domain name.

Well, that changes right now.

Many new bloggers make the mistake of buying hosting from unreliable companies, and they regret this misstep later. In this step-by-step guide, I will share everything you need to know to buy reliable web hosting and a domain name.

For the purpose of this tutorial, I will buy hosting from Bluehost, which is an officially recommended hosting service for WordPress. As a bonus, with Bluehost, you will get one free domain name

Not only will this save you money, it will also allow you to manage everything in one place.

Bluehost offers free SSL certificate which is must have & also you have an option to upgrade to PHP 7.0x

Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase a tool through one of the links, SML will receive a small commission for coffee ☕️, at no additional cost to you.

I suggest you follow along with this guide and purchase your hosting plan and domain name as outlined here. Note: This guide is detailed, so grab a cup of coffee, and follow along closely and carefully!

Before we begin, here are a couple of things you need to have in preparation:

1. Domain Name

A domain name is like your online address. This is where your blog/website lives.

You will get one free domain name with Bluehost, or you can use any of your existing domain names if you already have one purchased. (Even if you don’t need the free domain name now, you can use it later.) 

If you have not yet decided on your domain name, this guide will be helpful to you. You can also use a free service like BustAName, or LeanDomainSearch, or NameStation to find a good domain name.

2. Payment Mode

When purchasing a web hosting and domain, you can make payment via credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Be sure to have your payment mode on hand.

Here is one guide that I recommend you read first. This will give you some basic information about web hosting, and you will learn how to save money on your web hosting purchases.

  1. How To Save Money On Web Hosting Renewals

Now let’s buy hosting…

The step-by-step guide to buying a web hosting plan:

To begin, head over to Bluehost homepage and click on “get started now”.

Bluehost Hosting
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This will take you to a page where you will see three different packages from which to choose. I will quickly explain the various packages, but you should also read this guide to get a deeper understanding of what these packages offer.

Bluehost Hosting Plans
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Here are my recommendations:

  • Running only one site: Basic
  • Running more than one site: Plus
  • Need who.is guard:  Choice Plus

Since the price difference between plus and Choice Plus package is not much, you should opt for Choice Plus.  Even if right now you’re only hosting one site, with the Choice PLus package, you can host unlimited sites in the future if you need to.

Note: The links I give here will give you a big discount on all of these packages. But this discount is only for the first bill, so it’s better to buy a package for 2-3 years to save money.

Click on “select” in front of the plan you have chosen.

Note: In this tutorial, I’m buying the Starter plan for 12 months. The process is the same regardless of which plan you choose.

Step 1: Choose a new (free) domain, or use an existing domain.

After selecting your plan, you can either choose to get a free domain name from Bluehost, or you can use any of your existing domain names.

Bluehost Domain
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Remember that you can use your free domain name later if you don’t need it now.

You can also claim your free domain at a later point. Just email Bluehost’s customer service team and they’ll help you out.

If you are using an existing domain name, you need to change the nameservers at your domain registrar to:

  • NS1.Bluehost.com
  • NS2.Bluehost.com

If you want to keep things simple, enter the domain name you wish to buy in the “new domain” field, and your free domain will be activated with the web hosting plan.

Click on “next”, and from here, the remaining steps will be very simple.

Step 2: Enter your account details.

Create Account on Bluehost
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In this section, you need to enter your details (name, email address, address, etc.).

Make sure you verify every detail, especially your email address. Your login and hosting information will be sent to your email address.

Step 3: Select the right package.

This part is crucial, and you should pay extra attention here to make sure that you are not overcharged for add-ons that you do not need.

Choose your hosting package for a 12 or 36 month term.  You will notice that the price decreases as the tenure increases.

Bluehost Package
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Be sure to deselect the options Codeguard Basic, Yoast SEO Premium, Single Domain SSL, and Sitelock Security as you don’t really need them.

Step 4: Complete your hosting purchase.

Bluehost Payment
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Before you make your payment, I suggest that you scroll up and verify all of the information once again.

By default, you will see the option to make payment via credit card only, but if you want to make payment via PayPal, click on “more payment options” and it will reveal the pay by PayPal option as well.

After making the payment, you will see another sales page like the one below.

Hosting Payment Confirmation
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Ignore this.

Click on “no thanks” at the end of the page.

On the next page, you will see a confirmation of your hosting package purchase, and you will see a screen like the one below.

Click on “create your password”.

Bluehost Welcome Screen
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Step 5: Select a password.

This is the final stage of your web hosting purchase.

You can choose a password, or you can use a password generator to create a complex password (which I recommend). Copy and paste the password in a safe place, and click on “Paste”.

Click on “Create”, and that’s it!

Create Bluehost Password
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Now the process of buying web hosting for your blog is 98% complete.

Step 6: Log into your web hosting cPanel.

Check your email inbox, and you will find a confirmation email with all of the login information for your web hosting account. The only thing that will not be included in the email is the password you created in the last step — this is for your security.

FTP information
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Go to Bluehost.com, and click on “login” at the top.

In the login field, type your domain name or username and the password which you have chosen or generated.

Click “submit”.

Bluehost Login
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You will now be inside of your Bluehost Dashboard which is optimized for WordPress:

Bluehost Dashboard
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That’s it! Congratulations! You have just purchased your web hosting package and domain name.

Here is a video that will give you a demo of Bluehost’s cPanel and dashboard:

Subscribe on YouTube

Here are a couple of tutorials that you should follow to properly set up your WordPress blog:

If you have followed the steps mentioned in this article and the above two articles, you have successfully purchased domain and hosting.

Did you use this guide to buy your hosting package? Did you get stuck somewhere in the middle? Let me know how it went in the comments below!

If you find this guide useful, be sure to share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

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Authored By
A Blogger, Author and a speaker! Harsh Agrawal is recognized as a leader in digital marketing and FinTech space. Fountainhead of ShoutMeLoud, and a Speaker at ASW, Hero Mindmine, Inorbit, IBM, India blockchain summit. Also, an award-winning blogger.

73 thoughts on “How To Buy Web Hosting With A Free Domain Name For Your WordPress Blog”

  1. James David

    Hey Harsh, I hope you are doing great. I have been following you and your blog posts for a while now 🙂 Just like all your posts, this one is alsio amazing and if someone asks me for my recommendation I will go for Bluehost without a second thought. I have been using it for years and believe me it never disappointed me.

    For the people who want to start new websites or blogs, Bluehost is one of the best options to choose from.

    Cheers…

  2. Aju Jacob

    Hi sir, I am new to blogging, after reading your very informative articles I came to a decision which I’m going to buy a server from bluehost.com. But the problem is I don’t have a credit card and I was not able to pay through PayPal as I’m using sbi classic debit card. Also PayPal website says sbi debit card is not supported, only credit card of sbi is valid for payments. PayPal website mentions that debit card of federal bank is supported.
    My doubt is can I buy my hosting using my friends credit card or do I need to apply for new federal bank account.?

    Kindly give me a solution sir…

    1. Harsh Agrawal

      Hello Aju,

      You can use your friends credit card and buy the hosting.

  3. Namuna

    What is The Best Bluehost Hosting Plan? I want Switch To Bluehost (WordPress)

  4. Sameer Khan

    Hi Harsh, I read your all related articles carefully but still I am not sure about — “Bluehost India” offers US Hosting option also.

    If I want to target USA users, then cannot I purchase USA Hosting plan from bluehost india? Actually I do not have credit card.

    Kindly reply me urgently.

    1. Harsh Agrawal

      Hey Sameer,

      If you want to target USA audience you should go for Bluehost U.S rather than India. if you don’t have a credit card, I suggest you to borrow it from your friends or family.

  5. Jaspreet Singh

    Really a good service and easy to manage(Bluehost). I have already Bluehost hosting account but expire in next month. I will be continued to buy this hosting for three years. You have also done good work to ask the people that which hosting is good or not?

  6. chirag+gupta

    Hey harsh
    Blue host is good but I think godaddy is better for first year to buy domain because godaddy gives best offer for first year

  7. Jyo

    Hey Harsh,
    How good is the 24/7 support offered by Bluehost.com v/s bluehost.in?
    I am from India and it seems for the .com, the phone support is an international number. So if you face any problems and need to get on the phone, it would be costly. You do have chat and emails but having a phone call is much faster.
    Please suggest.

    1. Harsh Agrawal

      @Jyo
      You can always call using Google voice (Its free) 🙂

  8. Ifeanyi

    does bluehost still give free domain when you purchase a hosting plan?

    1. Harsh Agrawal

      yes, it does give you a free domain.

  9. Shreekant

    Hi Harsh, I would love to buy Bluehost web hosting as you’ve explained it in a really amazing way.

    Bluehost USA is a way better than Bluehost India.

  10. Solas Dalia

    Hi Harsh, thank you for this tutorial.

    I actually started my blogging journey with the free blogger but later on bought custom domain to look more professional. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to keep up with my schedule and had to let the blog die. Now I recently started another one outside the blogger platform and I’m working hard at it. I’m hoping I will start seeing some motivating stats in the next few months though…

  11. Bhanu

    Hi Harsh,

    I am trying to learn basic concepts from here , really lot of useful information for a newbie like me. After reading some of the blogs from here i decide wordpress.org can be best. Can you please explain me the difference between buying a domian from godady (which is cheap) and the wordpress providing free domain which we can use at anytime. I’m confused what actually happens bwtween buying one and free one.

    I have read somewhere in your blog that buying domain from godady and using it in bluehost will be good option. what do you suggest? .

    Thanks,
    Bhanu

  12. kunal

    one last confusion sir…
    while filling form for bluehost u.s they ask address,so we have to fill our present address information right…but it shows country like u.s,and we cant change country to india,which country address to fill…???

    1. Harsh Agrawal

      @Kunal
      You should be able to change the country location to India. I just tested again & it’s right below the Business name field.
      Try again & let me know how it goes.

  13. kunal

    Sir how to pay for bluehost U.S from india,i mean if i want to purchase u.s hosting from india.we can use indian debit card or paypal..?plz reply

    1. Harsh Agrawal

      @Kunal
      Yes, you can pay via PayPal or even via Debit card.

  14. Vikash Choudhary

    Hi Harsh,
    Even after reading many posts about hosting and WP I’m still a bit confused. What are the WordPress paid plans (which are displayed on the WordPress website) about? Do I have to buy a plan with BlueHost and also buy another plan with WordPress? If I just pay for a WordPress plan will I get a custom domain name and hosting

    1. Harsh Agrawal

      Hey Vikash,

      There are two types of wordpress:wordpress.com and wordpress.org. WordPress.org requires a domain and hosting. WordPress.com is free and has different plans which you see on their website. I would suggest you go with wordpress.org. Buy a hosting from bluehost.com you will get a domain name free and start your blog.

  15. Fahad Jaswal

    A very useful and informative article about wordpress. I love the way you write. Thanks for sharing such nice information

    1. Pamela

      Yes, I agree! I really like how Harsh lays out the process step by step. It can be a little confusing if you have never done this before. I also like getting the free domain name. It’s like a small thank you for using their service. Every dollar you can save is helpful!

  16. james

    Hey Harsh, what if at some point you decide to change your blog Host, what will happen to the free domain name you’ve got?

    1. Harsh Agrawal

      @James
      The first year domain name is free & after that you can keep domain name witH Bluehost & just for usual renewal. Or, you can also move domain to new hosting or domain registrar. This shouldn’t be a problem!

  17. Ravi Vaghmashi

    Hi Harsh,

    I have a gaming youtube channel and I want to make a website for my channel.
    My question is that, Is this hosting service is best for me?

  18. Liyanage

    Bluehost is certainly a great hosting seller. I recommend them too for hosting and domain names. thanks for sharing this.

  19. Jayant

    Thank you Harsh for sharing this post but i have already been hosting from the Godaddy.

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