How to Start a Blog or Website for your Homestead

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One of the best ways to reach potential customers or share information with fellow homesteaders is via your very own website. It is easier than you may think to start a blog or website for your homestead or farm. It gives you a platform to be the rich resource of knowledge that you know you are. I am so new to farming and homesteading life. Each day I learn something new). There is always a question I need to be answered. Luckily for me, I have a wealth of knowledge and wisdom surrounding me.

I have people here on the farm that can tell me why the bees protect the queen, why we grow turnip greens in spring, but wait until fall to grow turnips, why all of the calfs always seem to be with one cow in a pasture while all the other cattle are in another pasture. These mysteries don’t go unanswered because others have already learned these things and can now share that information with me. I sincerely wish I was better at sharing that information with others.

That is precisely why if you are trying to share your agrarian lifestyle with others, so they too may enjoy the bliss of being a farmer (don’t laugh, I’m serious), you need to have a website or blog for your farm or homestead. You need a website or blog for people like me, who maybe never dreamed of living on a farm or being part of an amazing ecosystem that can self-sustain. People who don’t know what they’re doing rely on experts, or those more experienced than them to guide them and show them the ropes. Even those who have been on this farm since the early 90’s learn new things every day and they look to others that have been there for guidance. Each time we add a new project we have to start somewhere. What better place to start than with those who are doing it.  Farm blogs,  and homestead blogs are a perfect place to start and find other people who share your interests.

We have shelves and shelves of books on subjects. We reference those too, but it is worth every minute spent online if we can ask the author or community questions and interact, maybe vent about a failure or gloat about a success. It connects us with other like-minded individuals and reminds us that living this lifestyle makes us part of something bigger than us.

If the thought of starting a website or blog scares you. That is totally normal and frankly to be expected. A 2017 study conducted by the USDA found that while 73% of farms have computer access nationally, only 47% of them use their computers for farm business. Also, crop producers are more likely (52% of them use it for farm business) to use their computer for farm business than livestock producers (42%). Farm Computer Usage and Ownership 

While the internet has been thriving, growing,  and changing, rural parts of the U.S. are just now getting the chance to use it in their homes. Out here, even now, the ONLY way we have internet is because we have businesses. They ran commercial cable and internet lines out to our farm, but we had to have a minimum number of businesses operating out here. It doesn’t make running a website or blog for your business impossible, but it does hinder your abilities somewhat. Phone carriers provide excellent service in some cases and if your plan includes unlimited data you could use your smartphone as a personal hotspot if needed. There are options, but if you have specific questions on how to work around no rural-internet, please message me and I will be more than happy to help you find a solution for your farm.

Assuming you are part of the 73% of farms using computers and internet, then read on.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase through a link. I only recommend products I have used and like.

It is really simple to start a website or blog for your farm or homestead. There are several options.

First, if you think you will only be blogging periodically and want more of an online journal format there are great free options that require little to no effort beyond a basic registration with login and username. There are so many free options, but a few familiar names are WordPress.com, Blogger, Tumblr. You can make an account and start blogging right away. Your domain might look something like this: thefarmatspringcreek.blogspot.com.

But,  and this is a pretty big BUT.

If you think you may EVER want to expand and take your blog or website more seriously, then from the get-go you are going to want to pay for and secure a few things. Trying to switch from a free site to a hosted domain, while not impossible will present some pretty big hurdles if you’re not tech-savvy. Trust me, it will be a much bigger headache than you’d like.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase through a link. I only recommend products I have used and like.

Domain Name – This is your url or website name. Mine is thefarmatspringcreek.net. While that is a little long and wordy it is the exact name of our business and we took a vote. It won. Your domain name should follow the same rules as your business name. Catchy, easy to remember, not too long, relevant. You want people to recognize what the website/blog might be about without visiting the actual site. I paid around $12 for our domain name, but you can find them starting around $10/year or even better if you register your domain with a hosting service like Bluehost you can register your domain for free.

Hosting – Web hosting is what makes it possible for others to see your site on the internet. Basically a hosting service leases/sells/rents out space from their server to people like you and I. Your website will be stored in their server and you will have some (or many) administrative options for maintaining your website. You can use options like WordPress.com which is a web-hosting platform and will cost you little to nothing to get started.  You will have some limited administrative options and themes, the biggest limitation will be customization and monetizing your blog/website. Another choice is to self-host with something like WordPress.org or Drupal. Your site would then be fully customizable. You would have a much larger range of functionality, monetization and themes to choose from.  Both options give you the content management options you need to make your blog your own. If you choose to self-host you will need to find a hosting service. I highly recommend Bluehost, because of the easy, one-click installation of wordress. It is what I use and I love their customer support. You will probably need them at some point unless you are a computer programmer. I also love that all the tasks I might are right there on my c-panel and I setup email through their webmail services.  I know this sounds way complicated now.

If I were you, I’d start at Bluehost and go from there. You can secure your domain name, hosting and WordPress installation all in one stop. If you feel overwhelmed, contact their customer support. They truly are very helpful and friendly.

Themes – from there you can choose the theme of your website. There are literally thousands to choose from. You can find them on Themeforest, or Mojo Marketplace. You can search by keyword for what your looking for (ex: farm theme, agriculture theme, winery theme). Once you find you one you like you just purchase and install through WordPress. Most themes come with an installation price as well, which means you can have someone professionally install it for you at pretty reasonable prices.

Once you have your website all set up you can customize it and make  the content yours. You’ll be able to share all your knowledge and wisdom.