Free WordPress Blog Setup

I’ve written before about how I redesigned my blog and how to have a professional blog without hiring anyone. Now I’m offering this blog setup process for free. Free WordPress blog setup? Yep. I can do that for you through February 28. Here’s how it works.

1. To have a WordPress blog, you must have a domain name (like somethingsomething.com rather than somethingsomething.blogspot.com) and a hosting account. If you use my hosting affiliate link to purchase your hosting, I get paid an affiliate commission but you don’t pay anything extra. That’s how I can afford to set it up for free for you. You get a free setup, I get a commission, and HostGator gets a new customer. Win, win, win!
   • ✔ Sign-up for your domain name using NameCheap.com here. NameCheap domains are under $10 and they throw in free domain protection so that people can’t look up your domain name and get your address. Other companies charge extra for that service.
   • ✔ Then sign-up for HostGator hosting here. You’ll have 3 options for hosting plans:
     1. Hatchling – 1 domain name, unlimited space and bandwidth
     2. Baby plan – unlimited domains, space and bandwidth. This is the plan I use.
     3. Business plan – unlimited domains, space, and bandwidth plus a dedicated IP address and SSL and toll-free number.
2. Pick out the free theme you’d like installed on your blog. Smashing Magazine has compiled some great lists of free themes that I highly recommend.
3. Fill out the form below to submit your request to me.
4. Within 72 hours (usually less), your blog will be setup and I will send you an email letting you know the link to log in to begin posting to your brand new blog.

FAQ

Q: What’s included with the blog setup?
A: I will log in to your HostGator account and install WordPress, install your theme and setup some plug-ins that should be standard on all WordPress blogs. The plug-ins include Akismet (for blocking spam comments), All in One SEO Pack (for optimizing your blog for search engines), Google XML Sitemaps (to make it easier for Google to index your site) and Broken Link Checker (to notify you if links on your blog are no longer working).

Q: What if I already have hosting setup?
A: If you already have a domain name, that’s fine but if you already have purchased hosting, I can’t offer to do this for free. Please see my Blog Services page for info on this service.

Q: What if I have another blog and need it transferred to a WordPress blog?
A: I can still setup your blog but the exporting and importing to transfer your blog entries will either have to be done by you or you can purchase this service from my Blog Services page.

Q: What about help with premium themes like Thesis?
A: I love me some Thesis. I can set it up for free, too, if you purchase via my Thesis affiliate link. All other premium themes will be a setup fee (a service available to purchase here). Please include this request in the theme area of the request form.

Q: After my blog is up, can you help me with that?
A: Sure, I’d be happy to be your Blog Coach. Please check out my Blog Services page for more information on that.

Other questions? Email me at or leave a comment in the comments section below.

Submit your request