One of the advantages of using WordPress in a self hosted format (this was discussed in a previous article in this Christian Blog series) is the availability of wide variety of themes for your site. A WordPress theme is the design of your blog. There are thousands of themes for WordPress, many of them are offered for free. A nice looking theme will have a significant impact on your site. A well designed theme will also make the blogging process a lot smoother. There are also themes available which you can purchase for $50 (fifty) to $250 (two hundred fifty) or more. We have found that the themes from Solostreamhave worked really well for us. The themes from Solostream.com are attractive, easily customized, and very easy to work with. This Christian Blog site is using a theme called WP-Vybe from Solostream. If you want to check out the themes that are offered just click here to view more details.

Once you have a theme in place you can really fine tune your WordPress web ministry blog by adding plugins. There are thousands of plugins which are available for WordPress and they are all offered for free. You can find a plugin to do almost anything you can imagine on your blog. We use plugins to provide a verse of the day, backup the site automatically, make it easy and safe for people to contact us, make it easy and safe for people to donate to us, and more. You can check out the plugin directory at WordPress.org to get an idea of the plugins that are available. Installing a good theme and some nice plugins will really make your Christian Blog stand out.

When it comes to web hosting there are a lot of options available. I use Good News Domains for my web hosting needs. They have several good web hosting plans to choose from, and their customer service has always been top notch. The process for getting a web host starts like this. Go to Good News Domains at www.goodnewsdomains.com and then click on the Web Hosting tab. You will see the following screen:

On the bottom of the page are the three options for web hosting at Good News Domains. They have an economy plan, a deluxe plan, and a premium plan.

For most of you the Economy plan will work great. If you think you might start more than 10 Christian blogs then go with the Deluxe plan. One of the advantages of a webhost is that you can have multiple sites hosted without having to spend more money. The Economy plan would allow you to have up to 10 different blogs hosted. The Deluxe plan would let you have uo to 25 blogs and the Premium plan would let you have up to 50. This might be a good option if you are part of a church and want to encourage people to start blogging. You could purchase one web hosting plan and then let people start their own Christian Blog for free, or you could split the cost by how many people start ablog and it would only be $3 or $4 dollars a year. Starting multiple blogs on a web host is done by utilizing sub-domains. Be sure to choose the linux version if you are going to be using WordPress for your blog. Speaking of WordPress, one of the reasons I use Good News Domains is that they include WordPress in their value applications and will even install it for you.

The process of getting WordPress installed is fairly simple and I have written a series of articles on how to create a blog at My Newbie Blog (www.mynewbieblog.com). You can check out the articles there if you need a little extra help. In our next article we will talk about picking a theme and installing some plug-ins.

A domain name is your Internet address or URL. It will cost you about $10 a year to purchase and register a domain name. You will need to choose a domain name that is specific to your topic or ministry. You need to stay away from abbreviations or nick names that no one knows. A well chosen domain name can have a big impact on the search engines and draw a lot of traffic to your site. For example, let’s say we were starting a Christian Blog for the First Christian Church of Fairbanks. Do not get a domain name like FCCF.com. You would be better off getting “FirstChristianChurchFairbanks” or “FairbanksChristianChurch”. Why? It seems that it would be easier for people to type in FCCF.com than FirstChristianChurchFairbanks.com. The issue is about how people who don’t know your domain name find your Christian blog or ministry site. With the right domain name, people could find you by searching for Fairbanks Churches or First Christian Church or Churches in Fairbanks. Since your domain name contains those words it has the potential of showing up on the search engines.

After you have decided on what domain name you would like, you have to check and see if its available. To do this, I recommend using Good News Domains (www.goodnewsdomains.com).

Once you get to the Good News Domain site look for the “Start a Domain Name search” box:

Now just type in the domain name you would like to have, like this:

If the domain name you want is available, you will see the following screen:

It is not unusual for the first few domain names you try to be unavailable. If that is the case, Good News Domains will provide you with some suggestions. Once you have a domain name, follow the instructions on the Good News Domain site to get it registered. Once you have your domain name, you will need to get a web host. We will talk about that in our next article in this series on How to Start a Christian Blog.

You can start a nice blog for free. There are a lot of ways to do this. Our two favorite ways are Blogger (www.blogger.com):

and Wordpress.com (www.wordpress.com)

Both of these options are free, easy to use, and will provide most Christian bloggers with everything they will need for their Christian Blog ministry. As you explore the ‘blogosphere’ you will find a lot of blogs that are done using one of these options. If you want to invest a little in your ministry, however, I suggest you use WordPress on a self hosted basis. This means you will need a domain name and that you use a web host. I use GoodNewsDomains for my domain names and web hosting. They have good customer service (actual live people) and are always helpful. A domain name costs about $10 a year. You can get your site hosted on the web for $50 - $80 a year. That is a lot less then it costs to start most ministries. We will discuss this option further in our next article.

Before you do anything, take some time to pray. Everything must start with prayer. Pray for guidance on how God might use you in a web ministry. Pray for wisdom on what direction to take. Give Him a chance to answer you. Once you feel that starting a Christian blog is the direction you are supposed to take, then jump in and get started. The articles on this site will help to give you practical information on how to start a Christian blog.

All of the pins represent someone who visited the site. The ability to reach people all over the world is what makes a blog such great Evangelism Software. You just write about something you enjoy and people come to your site. Some of them will keep coming back and as you develop “community” you can begin to share your faith as opportunities arise. If you need any help getting your own blog started you should be able to get some help on how to create a blog at MyNewbieBlog.com. Blessings!

There is an amazing harvest field that has opened up in the event of the blogosphere. Opportunities abound for Christians to forge relationships with people all over the world. It is my conviction that we can take the software available for creating and writing blogs and use it very effectively for evangelism and ministry. That is the goal of this Evangelism Software blog. This blog will help you to create your own blogs to share your faith and build relationships with people all over the world.

Evangelism Software

We will utilize several different available options to help you create a blog to reach out to and encourage other believers all over the world. We will demonstrate a couple of ways to start a blog absolutely free. We will also show you how to spend a few dollars to to get a domain name and have your blog hosted by a web host in case you would like to utilize the blog to perhaps help support your ministry.

We will also talk about how to use the same software to create blogs to reach out to unbelievers. We need to have blogs that aren’t preachy but instead build some real relationships over topics that we are interested in and then share our faith in simple ways as the opportunities arise.

By taking a short time two or three days a week you can develop a very effective Internet ministry and Evangelism outreach. I would invite you to visit a couple of my blogs as an example of what I am talking about. Check out God’sDaytimer.com to see an example of a Ministry oriented blog. Then check out MyNewbieBlog.com to see an example of an Evangelism oriented blog. I will be utilizing some of the articles I have written on MyNewbieBlog to help you start your own blogs.

I am very excited about our opportunity to work together to impact our world for the Kingdom of God. Please use the Contact page if you have any questions that we can help you with.

Go ahead and sign in (if you already have a gmail account) or sign up. Once you have done this you will see the Blogger dashboard. This is where you will start your new blog. You can start as many free blogs as you would like.

Go to Create a Blog

Enter a Blog Title (I used Blogging Newbie Advice). Now you need to get a blog web address. This process can take a few tries because a lot of addresses are already taken (I used bloggingnewbieadvice). Type in the word verification and press continue.

Choose a template and press Continue

You should see your new blog! Press Start Blogging. You can also use the URL address to get to your blog, for example: http://bloggingnewbieadvice.blogspot.com

Play around with your new free blog. Write some articles and you are on your way. Another option for a free blog is WordPress.Com.

WordPress.com

Go to WordPress.com

You will need to either sign in or sign up. At this screen you can get your blog started. Press register a blog.

Enter in a domain name, a blog title and press Create Blog. You will get a screen that says the blog you just started Is Yours. Press on the link for your new blog or you can type the URL into your web browser.

You should see your blog! Under Meta press Site Admin

At the WordPress dashboard go to Presentation and you can choose from the different theme options that are available. I chose Blix. If you press on the theme you will see a preview.

If you like the theme press on Activate in the top right corner of the preview. All you need to do now is write some articles (if you need some help with how the editor works read Using the WordPress Write Post and Write Page Editor), and enjoy your new blog! Both of these are excellent options for a free blog to get your Evangelism Blog Site started.

Domain Name

A domain name is the web or URL address of your blog. You should try to think of a domain name that will match your site. Then you need to do a search to see if the domain name is available. I use www.goodnewsdomains for this.

Type the domain name you would like to have in the search bar. Many domain names are already taken so will probably have to get creative to find a domain name that works for you. If the domain name is taken, the search results will include a list of ideas of name that are close and available. Once you choose a name go ahead and register it. When you are signing up for anything make sure you write down the information you use (user name, password, etc.) because you almost always need it later.

Once you enter you name and password click Continue and you will be at the Registration and Checkout Options screen. Follow all the directions and once your information is entered you will see a screen that says Thank You for your Order. Press Login to My Account.

Type in your Customer number and Password and hit Secure Login. The first time you do this you will get a screen asking for a Call in PIN number. Enter in a 4 digit pin (write it down) and press Save.

Web Host

There are a lot of web hosts choices available. I use GoodNewsDomains.com for this service as well. They have reasonable prices and I like their control panel for working with WordPress. At the welcome screen hover the mouse on the Web Hosting button and on the drop down menu press Hosting Plans.

I suggest using the Linux server deluxe plan. Click on Add and then follow the directions (don’t forget to write down your user name, password, account number, etc). You will get a screen asking you to customize your order. You can always come back and upgrade later. Read through and click Continue. If you are offered a service called Website tonight select NO. We are going to use WordPress. Give all the necessary payment information and you will get another Thank You for Your Order. Click on Login to My Account. Hover the mouse over Web Hosting and on the drop down menu press My Hosting Account. You will see this:

Click on Setup Account. Read the Hosting Service Agreement and click Next. Enter a user name and password (write it down) and click Next. Select a domain name from your list (you probably only have one) and click Next.

Go with the default setting on this screen and click Next. Review the information and click Finish. The account is now pending setup. This normally takes anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. Once your site is active you need to install WordPress.

Go back to the GoodNewsDomains.com site and hover your mouse over the Web Hosting button and a drop down menu will appear. Click on My Hosting Accounts.

Log in with your Customer Account number and Password. At the next screen your hosting account will be listed and there will be a link that says Open or Manage Account. Click on the link and you should see the Hosting Control Center screen.

You need to find the Value Applications link and click on it.

Find the Show all applications link and click on it. Scroll down the page until you find the WordPress application.

Click on the WordPress button. Click on the Install Now button. You will then be asked what domain you want to use. Click on the domain name and click Continue. You will then be asked for a Database description and database password. Type in a description for your database. I use the name of my blog but you can call it anything. Enter a Password. Make sure you write down this information. Click Next and you will be asked to choose an install directory.

The screen will have wordpress typed in it. You need to put your cursor in the box and delete wordpress. For this installation you want that folder to be blank.

Once its blank click Next. Now enter your admin name, password, a working email address, and your blog title. You can always change the title in the future if you need to. After your title is in click Finish. It will take up to an hour for your blog to be set up with WordPress. You can check to see if your blog is installed by typing in your domain name in your web browser. Once its installed you will see your blog. Congratulations!