Connor BrookeThere was a time when only the most tech-savvy could run their own websites, but those days are long gone. Today, it’s easy for anyone to set up a good looking, easy to update website thanks to affordable hosting and free software such as WordPress.
Getting Started With WordPress
If you have an idea for a blog or content-focused website, but you’re not sure where to start, don’t worry. There are a lot of good hosts out there that allow you to install WordPress with just a few mouse-clicks. Look for a web host that says it comes with cPanel and the Fantastico auto-installer. One popular (and affordable) example of a suitable web host is Hostgator.
Once you’ve been sent your login details for your web host, all you need to do is log in to the control panel, click on the Fantastic icon, and follow the on-screen instructions. You’ll have a simple WordPress site up and running in seconds!
Adding a Touch of Personality
The default install of WordPress is pretty boring looking, so the first thing you’ll want to do is tweak it so that it looks and feels how you want it to. There are lots of free plugins (which change the functionality of WordPress), and free themes (which change how WordPress looks) available, but if you really want to impress your visitors, you’ll probably want to have a unique look for your site.
WordPress makes it easy for you to add new plugins via the dashboard, and there are thousands of plugins to choose from. Useful plugins to install include:
- W3 Total Cache – this plugin will make your site load more quickly for your visitors
- WordPress SEO Made Simple – this plugin makes it easier for search engines to understand your site, and should help your site rank better in the long term
- WP-DBManager – you can use this to back up all of your posts with just a few mouse clicks
- Digg Digg Social Sharing – make it easy for users to bookmark and share your content
Having a unique theme is important if you want people to take notice of your site. You don’t need to be a talented coder to put together a good theme (although having an eye for colours and design does help). You can design your own theme using a standard web design package, or even a text editor such as notepad, however using a WordPress theme generator is a much easier way to do it. WordPress theme creator software applications such as Artisteer and Templatr make it easy for users to turn their ideas into working themes.
If you decide to pay a designer to put together an HTML and CSS layout for you, then you could use a WordPress theme generator such as Theme Press to turn that layout into a fully featured WordPress theme.
Content
The final step to building a great blog is content. Try to add posts regularly, and to a consistent schedule. It’s better to add one post a week, every week, on a Tuesday, than it is to post several times per day for a few days then not post again for several weeks. If people know when you will be adding new content, they’ll be likely to visit your site regularly. If you’re sporadic with updates they have no reason to bother coming back.
Building a WordPress site does take work, but it’s not difficult to learn what needs to be done. All you need is a good idea and the time and enthusiasm to make it work.
This post was written on behalf of Themeover who provide great solutions for WordPress users including a WordPress theme generator and WordPress theme creator software.
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Connor Brooke.
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You could also use Installatron, this is an auto installer for wordpress build in the admin system of your webhosting (directAdmin required). I’ve used this for many years and am very happy with it (it also gives auto update).
We used SimpleScripts to upload WordPress to our site. Jetpack is a really awesome plugin that is easy to use and makes social media integration and turnkey scenario.
http://www.blackmarketmedia.info/build-a-website-just-like-this-one/