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A website. As much as you may try to avoid building one, you’ll still need it, if you plan to be successful with your online venture. Well, you may go ahead and create a youtube channel. Hhhhm… not a bad idea.
But I guess you’ll be missing out on the 1.17 billion people using Google search. I don’t mean to scare you with those numbers, but you get my point.
I didn’t realize just how much people dreaded the idea of building a website, until I started doing my research on this article.
According to Google Ads keyword search tool, “How to make money online without a website” keywords have 10-100 average monthly searches. I bet those are newbie marketers looking for a shortcut.
Anyway, I’ve got some good news for you.
How about a drag and drop website builder to get you started with an online presence. Or even your first blog post!. I’m not talking about a basic website builder like Google sites. Let’s not even go there.
Bluehost website builder happens to be one of the simplest platforms to build a website. Add that to the fact that you get a library of ready-to-use templates for your website. And you never have to learn how to code. I guarantee you that’s this is the easiest way to get started with a quality blog or website.
So, how do you get started with Bluehost Website Builder?
Let’s dive in.
Getting started with Bluehost Website Builder
In order to access, the Bluehost Website Builder, all you’ll need is a domain and a shared hosting account. Visit Bluehost.com and click on the button “Host your site”. Then click on “get started”.
Once you click on “Get started” you should be redirected to a page with various Bluehost hosting packages. Since we’re only working on a single website, you can choose the $4.95/month package.
Once you’re on the domain page, input your desired domain name, and check its availability. Additionally, if you already have a domain name, input the name on the “use a domain you own” option, and then click “next”.
On the next page, will be the checkout page, where you’ll be required to fill in all your personal details, and choose your desired package information.
On Account plan, you’re free to pick any plan, but I would highly recommend the 24-month plan to save on hosting charges.
Note: Under Package Information, on “Package Extras” make sure to uncheck the option “sitelock security” to avoid incurring additional charges.
Fill your payment information and click on the button “submit”.
With an active shared hosting account, you should now have access to the Bluehost main dashboard, as an administrator.
On the left navigation bar, click on “My sites”. On this section, click on the option that has an “add site” button.
Upon clicking on “add site”, you should be redirected to a page with WordPress and Bluehost website builder. Click on the “Use Bluehost Builder ” button under Bluehost website builder.
On the next page, choose the domain that you earlier created. If you prefer to build the website on a subfolder you can input the name of the subfolder on the “directory” option.
Just what is the relationship between WordPress and Bluehost website builder?
I like to think of wordpress as the backend of the Bluehost website builder. You see, the builder, is there to act as a simpler interface for users. Therefore, all the core functionalities originate from wp-admin. The two systems complement each other in building a highly effective eco-system.
Building the site
This is actually the easy part. Bluehost website builder, has such a friendly user interface, that a toddler could have their website running in no time. With ready-made, templates in various categories, all you have to do is to choose your niche.
Once you’ve chosen your niche, the process only gets easier. You’ll be required to “name your site. On the left side, you’ll have an editing setup, and on the right, is the design of the website. This is quite awesome as you get the look and feel of your website, right from the beginning.
With simple steps such as adding a cover image, uploading a logo, picking a font, choosing site colours, picking a navigation style and adding contact info, the site will be automatically created by the builder. WordPress being the backbone of the Bluehost website builder, all the settings chosen will be automatically added to your installation.
Let’s get editing…
With the site now running, we’re now able to edit the contents of our site in detail. The Bluehost website builder comes with a free tour, ready to show you the in-s and out-s of the builder.
This step involves working on your customized content by placing the cursor on whatever you want to edit, and updating it to your liking. The builder comes with built-In pages such as home, gallery and contact us.
However, you’re still able to add new pages. On the left bar, you’ll see the “menus and pages” option where you can add a new page, and it will be automatically added to your navigation.
Looking for more customization options? You can effortlessly add a section to your page with options such as an address, call-to-action, carousel, contact form, cover image, and embed URL. These are ready-made, customized sections to ease the process.
To navigate through the pages, simply click on the dropdown at the top-left of the editing page, and choose the page that you specifically want to edit.
In order to access the preview, click on the preview button before the publish button, on the top-right side of the page.
On the preview, you can check how the site appears on mobile and desktop devices. The Bluehost website builder comes with responsive pages, therefore no adjustments are needed. After making changes, to your pages, all you have to do is click the “publish” button.
Now your site will be rendered live.
Build a Blog with Bluehost website builder
Getting started with your blog on the Bluehost website builder is clean and easy. All you’ll need is to create a new page and choose the “blog” option under the WordPress app page.
Then click on the “Add page” button on the bottom right of the popup. This will create a page, that’s going to populate all your blog posts created on the wp-admin of WordPress.
To navigate to wp-admin, click on the “wp-admin” option on the left navigation bar.
This option will lead you to the WordPress setup. Do not worry, if you’re not familiar with WordPress. All we’ll need to do is add new posts on WordPress. On the WordPress setup, navigate to “posts”, then click on “Add new”.
You’ll now add your blog post on the blank page that appears. Put your desired Blog title and input the contents of your blog posts on the editor.
After you’re done with the editing, click on the “publish” button on the top-right side of the page.
Navigate back to the Bluehost builder.
On your blog page, you should be able to see the post you created on WordPress.
Just how easy was that? Ha!
Let’s add a store to our website
If you’d love to add an e-commerce store to your Bluehost website builder, all you have to do is upgrade your account.
In order to access the upgrade, click on “+” on top of a particular section.
Under “sections”, on the left, scroll down until you find the “products” option with a “pro” text beside it. Click on it and an upgrade option will appear. Click on the “upgrade now” button.
For only $14, you’ll be able to access e-commerce features
After successful payment, a store feature will be added to your Bluehost website builder.
Now you’ll be able to access woo-commerce features, which is a plugin that’s responsible for running an e-com store from WordPress.
To proceed, click on the “sections” option on the top left of the dashboard.
Under sections, all the store features will no longer have the “pro” text beside them. Now you can start adding e-com features to your website.
The first step is to activate woo-commerce.
Click on the “store” option now on the bottom left of the dashboard, and you should see a popup to “install woocommerce”.
You will then be re-directed to the plugins page on WordPress. Click on “install”.
After successful installation, click on activate then add your details to your store and save changes. Navigate back to the Bluehost website builder.
Click on the “store” option once again, and a popup will appear. Click on the button, “add store to your site”. Now your site will now have a store feature.
Now a store menu will automatically be added to the navigation. On the popup that appears, click on the “design my store page ” button.
On the next popup that appears, click on the button “continue to the store”.
On the store page, woocommerce will automatically add some products as sample products.
Under menus and pages, woocommerce functions will appear at the bottom, indicating that the plugin has successfully been installed to your builder.
To add products, to your store, you’ll have to navigate back to WordPress, by clicking on wp-admin on the left dashboard.
Go to woocommerce, and add new products.
All the products added, will automatically reflect on the store page in your Bluehost website builder.
Pricing
Basic plan | Pro Plan |
$9.95 (1st month) and increases to $19.99 rest of the months | $14.95 (1st month) and increases to $24.99 per month |
$72 (1st year ) and increases to $132 rest of the years | $168 (1st year) and increases to $180 per year on the rest of the years |
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Great support to guide you through
- Ready to use templates -making the building process easier
- Friendly user-interface for beginners
Cons
- Quite pricey
Conclusion
With the Bluehost website builder, building a website couldn’t get any simpler. Bluehost being a hosting company, it ensures that you have all your web tools under one platform. This feature ensures a seamless system.
In a time when having an online presence is crucial to your business, the builder indeed comes in handy. This is quite beneficial to beginners who have zero technical expertise.
Looking to build a website for your business? Sign up with Bluehost today!