In February 2013, I switched my blog to be self-hosted. I bumbled through the process, relying on 527 different Google searches as well as my computer-savvy friends and family to save me from some sticky situations. Because of their help, I was really happy and proud of the results, and I want to share the tips and advice I learned along the way with you.
*Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links, and I’ll earn a commission if you sign up for the service after clicking on the link. I included these because I love the companies and have used them myself, and I would highly recommend them regardless of the commission I may earn.
By the end of this tutorial, you will have made a flawless and seamless transition!
(Note: If you’re interested in starting a self-hosted blog, this post will walk you through that too! Simply skip Step 5 since you won’t have any previous content to export.)
Steps in This Series…
Step 3: Pick a Website Builder
Step 5: Save, Export, and Upload Your Content
Step 7: Add Email and RSS Subscription Options
Step 8: Reach Out to Old Readers
Bonus: 4 Features of a Successful Blog
Oh my gosh, this is a godsend. I’ve been toying with the idea of switching to self-hosted for awhile but honestly, I didn’t really know where to start. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your experience!
You’re welcome Nora! It can seem overwhelming, but I’m sure you have the courage and determination to make the switch. If there’s anything else you have questions about, please feel free to let me know, and I can add it to this post! 🙂 I can’t wait to see your new self-hosted site!!
AH as you know, I LOVE THIS! I still haven’t bitten the bullet yet…but the time is coming!! If only you were here with me to do it together!! Just kidding, I wouldn’t want you to have to go through this again haha. THANK YOU for posting this!
You’re welcome Brittany! Truth be told, I actually wrote down your list of questions from your blog post and answered them, as well as throwing in a few tidbits of my own. So thank YOU for organizing it for me! 😉
Hi, Amy,
thank you so much for your blogging advice! I’ve been following your blog for a while and recommend it to all my friends. You’re wonderful! I’m trying to start blogging myself, and I started a blog with WordPress.com, but now I keep hearing that it’s better to self-host. I am a newbie in this and it’s been difficult enough to figure out setting up a WordPress blog, but now that I’m thinking about switching to self-host, I’m afraid it’ll be really hard for someone as uneducated in geek as I am. Do you find self hosting difficult with all the upgrades, plug-ins, etc that you have to install yourself now?
Thanks!
Thank you so much for your kind words Liza! I’m truly touched. 🙂 It was a tiny bit difficult to switch from WordPress.com to self-hosted (WordPress.org), which is why I wrote this incredibly detailed guide (I wanted it to be straightforward for anyone else doing what I did), but it was 200% totally and completely worth it!! The plug-ins are actually lifesavers and make (blogging) life SO much easier. I highly recommend it!
Thank you for the info it will be very helpful.
You’re welcome Lury! 🙂
Omigosh, Amy! Thank you for this post! My New Year’s resolution is to get http://www.Fancy-Fork.com hosted. I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about Blue Host, so I’m glad you confirmed it’s the best! I’ll definitely follow your tips. I remember when you transferred everything over — how are you liking it?
Your site looks amazing!
Ashley
You’re welcome Ashley! That sounds like the perfect New Year’s resolution, and it’ll be something you enjoy for all of 2014. Good for you! And thank you for your sweet compliments. 🙂 I’m loving my “new” self-hosted blog! Absolutely no regrets. It was probably the best thing I ever could have done in my entire life — it enabled me to make a career out of it!
Making it a full time job would be amazing! Thank you for the tips, I will definitely use them!
You’re welcome Ashley; I hope you have a smooth transition in the New Year! 🙂
This is GREAT. I’m toying with the idea of switching – better earlier than later – to self hosted. This answered a lot of questions, but if you have a second: does it make the most sense to buy the domain name separately or with a package? It seems to cost the same either way except you get the year of hosting if you buy it with the package. I don’t see much difference getting the domain from one site or another. Hosting, I understand, but what is the benefit of buying your name from one place or another??
Thanks!
As far as I can tell, it doesn’t matter who you buy your domain name from. Everyone basically charges the same price, and you get that URL regardless of which host you go with. Also, many hosts offer your first year free-of-charge if you “buy” your domain name as part of the package. WordPress.com does offer that you can “upgrade” to drop the “.wordpress” from your domain name for a certain price, but I’d advise waiting to do that until you buy a hosting package and get the domain name free as part of that.
You’re definitely right — the sooner you can switch to self-hosted, the easier it’ll be. (Fewer files to transfer!) Good luck!! 🙂
This is exactly the information I was looking for. THANK YOU!
You’re welcome Ashley; I’m glad I could help!
An amazing informative article. This article is really very clear and understandable. Actually, at this moment search engines only promote self hosted websites properly. These are really not healthy for SEO like .blogspot.com, .wordpress.com etc. I should suggest everybody to host all blogs on blue host because I’m also a customer and fan also of them. This article should help all newbies who wanna make some profit through a website or blog. Thank you in advance dear AMY for sharing this experience with us.
Thanks for your comment Rafiul! I hadn’t heard that about SEO, but it’s very interesting. I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying Bluehost as your host as well!
After I initially commented I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on whenever a comment is added I get 4 emails with the same
comment. Is there a means you are able to remove me from that service?
Appreciate it!
I’m sorry about that Carey! At the bottom of the email notifications you’re receiving, there should be a link that says something like “Manage your subscriptions.” If you click that, the ensuing page should have prompts to cancel those notifications. Hope that helps!
I have wanted to start a blog for a while so this is perfect!
My question is why do you want to switch to a self hosted blog? I have NO idea what self hosted even means haha… does that mean someone else hosted it before? I dont understand it, but I guess my question is what is the reason to have a self hosted blog?
I’m glad you think this article is perfect for you Kaela! I answer your question about the definition of “self-hosted” in Step 1. (It’s here, as well as included in the list of steps above.) Once you read through all of the steps, I’m happy to answer any lingering questions you may have!
Hi, Amy,
First of, I LOVE your blog, I’ve been following it for a while and I know that you must be super-busy. But if you have a minute, maybe you could help me out on this one: I am a complete novice; I’ve just moved to the self-hosted WordPress with Bluehost (your article on it REALLY helped me make the move!). And now I keep thinking that I should go with the Genesis framework, but I can’t figure out why so many bloggers are willing to PAY for something that may also be difficult to work with instead of going with a free theme (not to mention, you also have to pay for a child-theme). It can’t be because everyone’s just lazy or want to throw their money around… If you could just help me with your opinion on this, it would help so much!!! Thanks!
Thanks for your sweet words Liza — that means the world to me! I’m so glad my article helped you make the move! The Genesis theme has a LOT more added functionality (aka backend stuff and extra plugins!) than any of the free themes you can find on WordPress.org, and it’s completely worth the investment and extra money. I purchased the Genesis framework and developed my own child theme. You can also buy child themes, like you mentioned, and those generally make your blog feel much more unique, whereas the free WordPress.org themes make blogs look alike instead of standing out. 🙂
Amy, thank you so much! Finally, a comprehensive answer! Thanks for your time and your support!
It’s my pleasure Liza! I’m happy to help! 🙂
I’m attempting to get started in following your wordpress instructions. Right off I have something I don’t know how to handle
In taking a WordPress class at a local community college, we built a practice wordpress site which was on their system and we did not have it to work with personally when it was over.
I see in your Website URL ID above, my domain name came up as wordpress.com. As best I can figure out, this must be from having been in that class.
I have not set up a wordpress.com blog that I know of. So does this mean I need to be switching to a wordpress.org or am I setting one up from scratch?
I really appreciate your interest in my guide Roxy! Based off of your URL, you do have a wordpress.com blog since your URL includes wordpress.com at the end (the URL you included in filling out the comment form). I assume that the URL you included is your own personal blog; is that correct? If you mainly want to continue blogging for fun, it’s perfectly fine to do so on that wordpress.com blog — you don’t necessarily need to switch to self-hosted! The best reason to switch to a self-hosted blog is if you’d like to add advertisements and earn an income from your blog, which isn’t possible with a wordpress.com blog (at least, the last time I checked!).