Your options: Get creative or buy an existing domain.
From Experience: My recommendation for the best web host.
Future Proof Yourself: Go with what professionals use.
Stand Out: Give your new blog a unique look.
Customize your Blog: Add plugins for extra functionality.
The first step to starting a website is figuring out what you're going to call it ("registering the domain" in old timey talk). If you're going to host your site with Dreamhost, you can just do it when you sign up for hosting - it will be simpler for you and free. Going with your own domain is the obvious choice for a number of reasons.
For domains you're looking are 3 main options:
If you come up with a name that has not been previously taken, congrats! That's getting rarer and rarer these days. Usually I check if a domain name is taken at whois.domaintools.com - if a domain name is taken it often links to where it's available to buy in the aftermarket (see below).
.com rules the world - it's like the Jay-z of the domain universe. If you can't find a good .com available, you can always get creative. I almost always go with a .com even if I have to spend the money, however I've registered a few .me domains and a few domain hacks like refram.es.
Once I know a domain name is available, I like to register the domain at Godaddy or Namecheap. I like Godaddy but ever since the Bob Parson's incident (to which we all overreacted) and their tendency to objectify women (leave that to gangsta rap videos, Bob!) I am getting more reluctant to promote them. If you don't care to be political go to Godaddy, if you do feel like you don't agree with Godaddy's practices, go with Namecheap.
Both of these registrars offer dynamic DNS (which is good if you want to move hosts quickly), have free url forwarding, and offer email services.
Since most of the good domains are already registered, there are several options of getting one that someone already owns. The following places offer domains you can buy from their owners:
Most of the time I don't search these markets individually but instead use the Domain Tools For Sale search or contact the owner directly from the whois records (found via whois search) and email him/her directly asking if the domain name is for sale and if so, at what price. I've been able to pick up several quality domains that way - ranging in price from $70 to $7,250 depending on the quality.
Bonus tip: if you find a domain via buy domains, call them and bargain with them - often they will take a price that's 10-20% off if you're a serious buyer.
I've picked up a number of good domains by monitoring dropping domain auctions. When a person does not renew a domain they own, it typically drops 45-90 days after by that domain's registrar. These days, most of these domains are auctioned off to the highest bidder before they actually drop.
A few great places to look for domains that are dropping are:
I recently picked up dmad.com from a godaddy auction (for about $560) and have seen some great domain bargains there.
If you register a domain, search for a coupon code to save a few bucks. For Godaddy, check out this Fat Wallet Coupon page, which lists the most up-to-date discount codes.
I typically do not add any services when I buy the domain, such as private registration or "registered" registration, or SSL certificates, or any of that crap. Just get the domain. If you need anything else later, you can always add it (you won't need to).
Over the past 10 years I've tried out dozens of different hosts and there's one thing I've learned: there is no such thing as a perfect host. Every time a host started having problems, I moved providers hoping the next one will be the magic host. That process repeated until I accepted that there's no such thing as a host with 100% uptime or one without any problems.
I've also spent more money than I needed to to find out that for practical purposes, you probably don't really need a VPS or anything super complicated.
I've tried VPS.net, Dreamhost, BlueHost, Hostgator, Pair, DotBlock, Site5, and lots of other web hosts. I want to stress this point - there are good commissions for recommending hosting accounts out there so a lot of articles and guides are biased (or mostly profit driven). While I do get a commission from my recommendation, I feel good about it since I've actually tested (signed up for, paid for, and tried out) all these hosts - and am walking my own talk.
So after years of trial and error - all my current sites are split between HostGator and Dreamhost.
If you use the link above I get a commission, if you're really tight on money, use code MONEYLOVE instead and it will give you the maximum discount (and no kickback to me) - hey, I understand either way :)
Dreamhost is cheap, reliable, and has been a around long enough to deal with problems well when they arise. My girlfriend's site runs 250,000 pageviews per month, I host a bunch of sites on the same account too, and it's been very solid with few hiccups. The biggest con is that support is done via e-mail, but when my girlfriend's sites have been down, they've responded in a reasonable timeframe.
If phone support is really important to you, go with Hostgator. Personally I would avoid Godaddy and Bluehost. I was not thrilled with their services.
Some other hosting services that look good are Rackspace (probably the best hosting provider out there but very expensive!), Slicehost (good for developers), or the most specific Wordpress host page.ly (if you only need 1 Wordpress website hosted).
One of the biggest reasons to go with Dreamhost is how easy it is to setup a Wordpress site with them. They have 1-click install service, which is the fastest way to get a site up and running in my experience.
When I was with VPS.net, it took longer to install Wordpress (and cost more to have cPanel and Fantastico installed in order to make this happen). Plus once the site was setup, I manually had to change permissions on folders so that uploads worked. While this was presumably more secure, it was also a royal pain in the ass.
I've setup dozens of websites with Dreamhost, and the 1-click install made it really easy. Also, they offer an automatic update function so that you're always updated to the most recent version of Wordpress (if you so choose), which is good for security and to keep the functionality updated (but mostly for security).
The software I use to run 98% of my websites is Wordpress. Over the years Wordpress has proven itself to be the best go-to CMS (content management system) out there. It has tons of plugins, themes, and add-ons (free and paid) that you can use to create almost any website or blog you can imagine. The world's biggest sites like Mashable, Techcrunch & Wired use Wordpress to power their websites.
The only reason NOT to use Wordpress is if you want to run an online store and need to sell products online. There are e-commerce plugins available for Wordpress that turn it into a shopping cart solution.
If you need any more convincing, Cody has great reasons for why you should be using Wordpress and here's a great infographic about Wordpress stats.
If you took my advice in section 2 - get a hosting account - then installing Wordpress in Dreamhost is super easy. Just watch this screencast or look at this post and follow the simple instructions.
I've already written about this when I wrote the one week challenge on Art of Blog. I'll cover the basics here again. In your Dashboard go to:
Next we'll look at installing a Wordpress theme to change the look (and functionality) of your site.
I have a passion for finding, playing with, and modifying Wordpress themes. I've spent thousands of dollars and have downloaded 100+ Wordpress themes over the past few years. I've played with individual themes, function-specific themes, theme frameworks, child themes, you name it.
Here are my recommendations:
There are also a lot of free themes available out there. While I've used a number of free themes over the years, I now mostly buy themes for 3 main reasons:
If you need to know how to install a theme, watch this video. If you want to start learning how a theme works, here is a good explanation of the anatomy of a wordpress theme.
There are literally thousands of plugins available for Wordpress out there that give it just about any functionality that you can think of. There are simple and complex plugins, everything from adding social buttons to giving your site an entire backend for managing real estate listings.
Some premium themes take care of a lot of these functions (have them built-in) and some don't - so after you pick a theme see which functions are included - and take care of the rest of what you need with plugins.
Be careful not to install too many plugins, however, since it bloats your code and increases security risks. This is why I recommend going with the minimal number of plugins and making sure you only install ones from reputable companies and programmers.
These are the Wordpress plugins that I've tested and currently use:
The good news is that you now have a world class website under your control! {maniacal evil genius laugh} The bad news is that this is only the beginning so you're gonna have to go fill it with awesomeness! Wait, that's not bad news. It's great news! Go get em tiger!