There are a plethora (I love that word) of totally free and beautiful WordPress themes on the Internet. One client told me he was close to having a nervous breakdown over choosing just the right one from such a huge number of themes available! To help you out I have a list of wonderful WordPress themes – you’re bound to find the one.

Once you’ve chosen the theme that speaks to who you are, or what you want your blog to be, you need to get a domain name if you don’t already have one.

Then comes the issue of a hosting company. There are a lot of them out there, some quite good. My personal favorite is Hostgator, and this is why:

1. You can have as many domains as you want on one account, which costs about $10/month
2. Once you get used to the cpanel it’s a dream to use
3. The most AWESOME customer support I have encountered

In fact, I’d like to elaborate on Hostgator’s terrific customer service. Talk about having a nervous breakdown – I had been working on a site for weeks that just would not cooperate. I had enlisted the help of developer friends, but it still wasn’t working right.

A light bulb finally clicked on in my brain and I contacted Hostgator through their Live Chat. The tech that helped me was so great – she checked everything out, verified some things with her supervisor, and they ended up making the correction for me that made the site work right.

That kind of help is major, and I’ve been a dedicated fan of theirs from then on.

The most popular plan is the “Baby Croc” which runs $7.95 – $9.95, depending upon how long you sign up for – it should be all you’ll ever need. They also offer a “free site builder” and 4500 free templates. Order Page.

Sometimes the hardest part of starting your real estate blog is deciding on the theme. Here’s a starter list of free WordPress themes.

There’s a longer list on SEO Diva if you don’t find the perfect theme from among the sites listed below.

WordPress Themes — TopTut.com – Top Tutorials

Free WordPress Themes » WPDesigner

83 Beautiful Wordpress Themes

40 Resources for WordPress Theme Designers

11 Free Magazine Style WordPress Themes | Epic …

My Top 15 Wordpress Themes | Susan Suarez

Free WordPress Themes Download WordPress Templates

WP Themes | milo

3oneseven Wordpress Themes

That’s a big question! These days you almost have to put a hyphen or two in your domain name unless you come up with something totally off the wall.

The real estate market is glutted with web sites, many of them old, but they managed to grab the best names in the real estate market, so hyphens often are the only way to go.

I have my own personal theories about hyphenated domain names:

1. 2 hyphens at the most, 1 is preferable
2. Don’t make the domain name just a hyphenated list of keywords (been there, done that, not good)
3. Check the un-hyphenated version of the name to see if you’d be in direct competition with a site that has an already great search engine standing (not a good thing)

You can also buy an existing domain name to fit your real estate market, but that’s another article entirely!

If you’ve decided to start a real estate blog, where do you begin?

You’ll need to get a domain name if you don’t already have one. And unless you are a well known real estate brand like Keller Williams or Realty Executives, you need to have at least one of your keywords in your domain name.

This is not necessarily as easy as it sounds, since it seems like all the good ones are taken (I complain about that in my dating adventures too).

Real estate agents are usually S.O.L. when it comes to using the keywords real estate, homes for sale, realtor, real estate agency, and so on in domain names.

There are a couple of sites that will help you formulate a name. I like using Bust a Name because they make it easy for you to combine different words and then find out if they’re actually available. If you find one you like, you’ll get a discount by going through their service, too.

The other site I like for domain names is nameboy. You type in 2 words you want to use, and they will show you a large selection of available names.

I avoid going to the registrar sites to check to see if a domain name is available. Rumor has it they sometimes grab the name if you don’t register it right away.