Setting Up A Free WordPress Hosting Package

Transcript:

Hey everyone, I am the host of the Digital Revolution found on Spotify. Today we are bringing you what we call the Digital Revolution video extras. Please check the description below for a link to the podcast and to my website. I remind you that in order for you to stay on top of any new videos, please be sure to click the subscribe button. If you have any ideas for future videos or topics for the podcast, please reach out to me via the comments below. So, without any further agenda items, let’s jump right in.

So given that you have found your way to this video, I think it is safe to assume that you have done your research and have decided that perhaps a WordPress website is exactly what the web doctor ordered.  Now that you are here, you need to set up your hosting package through WordPress.com but to be honest, you just don’t know how to get there.

As you can see, we have landed on the hosting site for WordPress wordpress.com so that we can register for our free hosting package. At this point, I want to explain that there is a big difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org as the .org site is more of an informational site and download service for WordPress so that you can install an instance on a separately hosted site other than WordPress.com.

The goal of this video is to show you how to set up your free hosting service, so let’s explore the wordpress.com site more in depth. When you land on the site the first thing you will notice is that it is geared for one thing – hosting sales. As you can see there are many products offered such as blog sites, domains and ecommerce solutions. Each of these are important in another video.

One of the more important aspects of WordPress is the diversity in features.  Many of these are available through your actual site such as themes that are templates for your site, plugins that add additional functionality, and a website builder for the very basic site construction.

There are many resources available to you as a website developer such as expert tips, name builders and paid courses. Without taking business from WordPress.com, there are many courses available that are really great through LinkedIn learning that will help you get on your way.

So now we hit the dreaded pricing. Let’s explore this shall we?

As you can see, there are many options available to you to choose from and depending on your needs there is a hosting package for you. For example, if you opt for the free site, you will get limited services, a couple of themes in which to choose from, and you will be able to add a few plugins or added functionality to your site. Free is a good price and if you are needing a simple blog for school or for a hobby project, the service may be good for you. I say this because with a free service, you are given a sub domain address with is typically very, very long and difficult to remember and always ends with wordpress.com. These are great if you are looking to explore and develop something for free.

However, if you are looking for something more customizable, such as developing a resume website, WordPress offers a five dollar a month package that allows hosting, the removal of WordPress ads, unlimited email support, which if you are just starting out is really, really important. But here is what really sets all of the paid services such as the personal, premium, business, and ecommerce packages apart from the free service is that you get a customized domain name such as yourwebsite.com. As you can see, as your needs grow more involved, they have special packages for you. It is important to note that despite the size of the WordPress family, their hosting packages are considered somewhat pricey and there are other hosts that can offer more hosting services for less, such as bluehost, hostgator, thathostingplace and godaddy.

But you came here to learn exactly how to start your free service so let’s click the start with free button.

So the sign-up page is pretty straight forward. The site will look for an email address that hasn’t been used before, a user name, and a password. You will also notice that you are able to sign up through Google and Apple logins as another consideration.

Now that you are registered, you are able to attempt to select a domain name, but remember that this will not necessarily be your final URL as the site will try to sell you other hosting options. As you can see there are so many free sites hosted by wordpress, you may need to be a little creative with the options that the service gives you.

You will need to look closer for the free option as it is typically a small text-based hyperlink. So let’s give this a click.

It may have taken a while as the site was building the database and creating the structure, but here we are behind the scenes. Here is the dashboard for wordpress that give you all of the different options that future videos will explain that will help you design and create your masterpiece.

So that wraps up this video extra, I hope it has been informative. Please be sure to like and subscribe so that you are alerted of future videos. In the meantime, until we see you back, please be safe and be good to each other, I am Keith Connell for the Digital Revolution, thanks for watching!