In case you are wondering, Hashnode did not sponsor me to write this article. They are unaware I am writing it. Hashnode released a tool for creating a developer blog on your domain within minutes. I am just very impressed with their tools, and I thought I would share them with you. As well, this blog of mine is hosted on Hashnode.
Initially, you may ask: why not simply use Medium or another open publishing platform? Here are some major reasons why developers should use Hashnode.
#1: Your Hashnode blog can be hosted on your domain.
In order to improve your blog's search engine optimization over time, you must be patient. You will also avoid becoming dependent on blogging platforms that tend to display ads and pop-ups on your articles (or even impose paywalls/sign-in walls).
There is always the option of migrating your articles later when these platforms become too spammy. However, migrating can be a lengthy and time-consuming process. (I speak from experience.) A prominent Silicon Valley intellectual property lawyer I spoke to once stated, "Possession is nine-tenths of the law."
#2: Hashnode was designed with the developer in mind.
Markdown allows you to type, and syntax highlighting is also available for your code snippets. You do not have to hotlink or rely on CDNs that may be blocked in some countries (such as Google's or Facebook's). Any images you upload are cached in Hashnode's CDN for speed.
#3: Hashnode will distribute your article throughout its network to increase the number of readers
Several Hashnode authors blog on their domains, but their articles still appear on Hashnode's website in its algorithmic newsfeed. As a result, your blog will begin with a base audience from which you can grow.
Additionally, Hashnode blogs offer the following advantages:
- Your data is your property.
- Unlike most other blogging websites, Hashnode allows you to customize your blog in a wide variety of ways.
- When you use the Hashnode blog, you don't pay for server or serverless function calls.
- An SSL certificate is automatically created for you by Hashnode and is kept up-to-date for you.
Step 1: Create an account
Start your blog for free by visiting Hashnode and clicking on the button.
Please enter your preferred email address or sign in using your favourite social network:
Alternatively, you can enter your email address and you will receive a secure link in your inbox. Please click on the link to sign up.
Step 2: Setup your profile on Hashnode
Make sure to enter your profile details here, select a unique username and upload your best profile picture.
Step 3: Create a blog
By entering the name of your website, you have taken the first step toward building your brand.
Next, you will be asked to choose between Hashnode's free subdomain or your domain. Here, we will focus on the personal domain option.
My blog will open at shayaikehassan.com. I purchased this domain from namecheap.com. In the next step, I will map shayaikehassan.com to Hashnode's blogging platform.
Click on the next button after entering your domain name without the HTTP protocol. In my case, I entered shayaikehassan.com.
Step 3.1: Map your domain to your blog.
As soon as you enter your domain name in the previous step, Hashnode will provide you with a CNAME record. This record is required to enter into the DNS management section of your domain provider.
To add a record, I will go to namecheap.com, select the domain, click on DNS management, enter @ under host and hashnode.network as the value, and then click on "Add record".
The Hash node recommends adding a CNAME record rather than an A record. If you wish to proceed with an A record, enter the host as @ root whose value is 192.241.200.144.
There you have it. Hashnodfar will soon be pointing to your blog. It usually takes a few seconds for the DNS to propagate, but it can take up to 30 minutes in the worst-case scenario.
What about SSL certificates? When you visit your blog for the first time, we will automatically provision an SSL certificate for you. If you are using something like Cloudflare, please bypass it for this domain.
Setting up the Blog Site
- Visit Hashnode and click on Start your blog for free.
- Sign up using your email address and fill in the required information such as your name, username, and tagline
- Give your blog a name on the next page.
- Alternatively, you may choose to map your existing domain name to a Hashnode subdomain. Your blog site is now set up. You can access it using the URL username.hashnode.dev.
Add a Blog to the Site
Adding a blog is as easy as creating one from scratch or importing one from another platform.
- You can write a new blog by clicking Write in the upper left corner of the page or by visiting hn.new
- It will open up an online editor where you can begin blogging.
- Click your profile image in the bottom left corner and choose Blog Dashboard to import an existing blog from another platform, such as Medium or Dev.to.
- You will be able to import blogs from Medium, Dev.to, or any RSS URL on the next page by clicking Import on the left pane.
- For more information about importing Medium articles to Hashnode, please refer to this article
Hashnode Blog's key features
- Free CNAME mapping for blogs on personal domains.
- Whenever you publish an article on your domain, Hashnode shares it with its developer community on its homepage. This increases your visibility and readership from day one.
- Optimized for developers: Write in Markdown and save drafts.
- AMP Support: You have the option to enable AMP support on your blog from the dashboard.
- You will not have to purchase a third-party newsletter service to grow your readership by showing a subscription box on your blog's homepage and post pages.
- SSL certificates are provided for free after your domain is mapped to Hashnode's blog.
- Change the logo, header colour, and more from the dashboard to give your blog a personal touch.
- Your posts can be automatically backed up to your private GitHub repository so that they can be republished on other platforms.
- We will not display annoying pop-ups or sign-in prompts on your articles. We hate them too!
- Edge caching: Hashnode caches your blog's pages on Cloudflare to serve your articles as quickly as possible.
All set!
Your domain powered by Hashnode's blogging platform is now ready for you to start blogging. You will publish your stories on your domain every time you write them. Unlike other blogging networks such as Devto and Hackernoon, Google and other search engines will index your personal domain on search instead of Hashnode.
If you want you can use my referral URL: hashnode.com/@shayaike/joinme By the way, it's not a paid referral. if you create an account on Hashnode you will get you and if anyone uses your referral URL for signup then you will get some benefits but not financial.