Part 2 – Buying your Domain Name and Hosting Service, Step by Step
1. Visit the Bluehost site (click the link, you’ll be taken to the Bluehost U.S.A site). The following webpage is displayed.
2. Ensure that USD is visible on the top right of the page or select it from the drop-down menu.
3. Click on Get Started.
Note: If you missed the Black Friday sale, this is going to show up as $3.95 but the trick to still avail the $2.65 price is explained below.
The webpage refreshes to display the various hosting packages you can buy.
4. Scroll the page down till you see the Basic package and the prices.
Note: Start with the Basic plan and as you grow you can upgrade to bigger plans.
5. Click Select from the Basic plan. The webpage refreshes to display the following.
6. Enter the domain for your website in the Create a new domain field and choose a domain type (.com, .org, .in etc) from the drop-down box.
7. Click Next. Bluehost responds if the domain is available for you.
Note: If the domain has been taken try local .in (for India) .de (for Germany) etc., for your domain. If that has been taken too, try a new domain name. Also try and coin a nice name, preferably short for your website but the decision is entirely yours. Note that, you can also create your domain later using the link “I’ll create my domain later” but I suggest you create it right away.
If your domain is available Bluehost responds with a positive message and the page to buy the services is displayed. This is the page where you select your hosting package and input payment information such as your credit card information.
8. Click on Claim Savings to claim the offer. The buying details on the page change to reflect the following.
Note: At the point, if you have missed the Black Friday sale do not key in your credit card details or make the purchase yet. Just wait a while till you see a pop-up (as shown below) mentioning the Basic Plan is still available for $2.65. Click on the offer and your prices get reverted to reflect the offer. If it doesn’t appear then you will have to go with the regular rates. But do wait a while. It did for me.
Very Important – Ensure you provide your email in the Email Address field accurately. All communication regarding your account and billing are sent to this email address.
Three other fields you may want to consider but not mandatory are –
a) Domain Privacy and Protection – If you buy this service, people trying to find out your name (i.e who own’s the website or the address of your business) will only see Bluehost’s name and address. I recommend you take this privacy and protection.
b) Codeguard basic – A protection of your site with backup. Again not mandatory. There are free plugins that can backup and protect your site for free.
c) Site Lock Essential – This is more important if you run a business but again not mandatory. Free plugins can protect your site. This is not to be confused with the SSL certificate that Bluehost provides for free to secure your site.
If you do do opt for these services by checking the boxes for the same, you will be billed. The amount is displayed on the screen.
9. Fill in the fields that ask of you information about your credit card and when done, check the checkbox at the bottom asking if you have read the terms of service, cancellation policy and privacy policy and finally click Submit to make your payment.
If your payment goes through successfully you’ll be notified with this page below that contains your receipt. Your receipt is also mailed to your email addressed that you provided.
10. Click on Create your account to create your account on Bluehost.