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Getting Started with WordPress

To Do List for This Lesson:

• Sign up for Hosting

• Register Your Domain Name

• Obtain a Security Certificate (eCommerce)

• Start Thinking About Your Theme

In this guide, we will walk you through getting started with WordPress, the

absolute best blogging platform for anyone who wants to build a thriving

home business.

We’re using a self-hosted WordPress.org blog (versus WordPress.com)

because the self-hosted platform gives bloggers the most flexibility and

ease of use needed to increase their earning potential.

There is so much functionality already built into the platform, and if you

need something that doesn’t exist in your initial installation, you can find

plug-ins that handle most any function under the sun.

Gone are the days when you “had” to have a web designer to build a blog or

website. WordPress makes it easy to create a targeted, branded presence

online.

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There is a little prep work that needs to occur before you can install your

blog. In this lesson, we are going to use the terms ‘blog’, ‘website’ and ‘site’

interchangeably.

Two Items Are Needed to Install Your Blog

The two things you’ll need are your domain name and web hosting. If you

want to sell items on your site, you’ll also need a security certificate. We

will focus on setting up these three areas in this lesson. You’ll also receive

items to consider after your site is installed, so make sure to read

everything and follow the instructions for the best experience!

Save on Hosting and Domain Bundles

Click the image below to watch a quick video that walks you through

setting up and saving money on your domain, hosting and security

certificate! You’ll also be able to save on options like protection from

hacking, domain privacy protection and more.

Questions? Join our Facebook Group or Send an Email

Think about what you want to do with your blog and

which hosting plan will work best. For example, if you

want to sell products, you will need a security certificate,

also referred to as an SSL certificate.

As a rule of thumb, we have found that it’s easier to have

our hosting provider, domain name registrar, and our

security certificate with the same company.

The reason is that if you have any problems with your blog down the line,

technical support may be a challenge if you have your hosting, domain and

SSL certificate with different companies. Using one company simplifies

things tremendously for you and technical support.

Keep in mind that all of your services will expire, and will need to be

renewed. Once those services are near the expiry date, you will receive

reminders from your provider. If you have a different provider for each, it

may be easy to overlook one or more of your due dates.

Web Hosting - The first thing we’ll cover is setting up your hosting

provider. We use HostGator, (we’re affiliates for HostGator) and we like the

service we receive with them. For example, to save the most money

hosting should be paid on an annual (yearly) basis. You have the option to

pay your hosting on a monthly basis, but the cost is usually higher than if

you pay 6 – 12 months in advance.

Domain Name – You will also need to register your domain name before

you can install your WordPress site. The domain you sign up for during

this process will become the URL (uniform resource locator) of your site.

An easy way to remember it is that your domain name is the

‘www.yourdomainname.com’ part of your website.

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Your domain name is usually paid on an annual basis.

Select a domain name that's going to be easy for customers and the public

to remember (and type) to get to your website. If you’re thinking of

making your domain name something clever and catchy, make sure it’s

also something people can easily spell. You will receive traffic from people

who remember your business and attempt to “type out” the name of your

domain, so make sure it’s easy.

Make sure to write down at least three domain names you're interested in.

The domain you want may not be available. You’ll receive the pricing for

the various domain extensions.

Domain extensions vary in price based on popularity and availability.

Extensions like ‘*.host’ have one price and an extension like ‘*.biz’ will have

another price. Prices also change from year to year. So you may start out

with a low introductory price, and then the second year, the price

increases. Look at various domains and prices and see what appeals to you

most, based on your needs.

Consider too, that most web users (customers) are very familiar with the

‘*.com’ extension. When ‘.com’ is not available, you might consider ‘*.biz’

or ‘*.net’.

Domain Privacy Protection. This service protects your identity as a site

owner from individuals and companies who troll the web, looking for site

owners that they can spam with all kinds of offers.

You might consider domain privacy protection, but it's not mandatory. If

you want domain privacy protection, you can add that annual cost to your

total bill.

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Your domain name can help you rank for certain keywords. Consider how

your domain name relates to the actual content on your blog. There should

be a logical relationship between your domain name and the content the

person sees when they land on your site.

Here is a cheat sheet from Moz that breaks down the anatomy of a URL.

Use this sheet to learn URLs and how they can help/hurt search engine

rankings and optimization. Click on the image to see the full article and

cheat sheet.

Once you have your domain name registered and you've got your web

hosting set up, HostGator will send email confirmation to the address

provided when you signed up.

Elements You’ll Need to Sell Products

Security Certificates – SSL certificates are required if you

are planning to sell items your blog. Savvy shoppers and

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web browsers look for the lock on the address bar and if that lock does not

appear, they will not buy from your blog. This could be the difference

between having customers and not so don’t overlook this if you are selling

products. Your security certificate is paid on an annual basis.

Your security certificate will give potential customers an added layer of

security when they complete a form or enter their credit card information,

and it will also give them confidence that you've done what you need to do

to keep their credit card information safe.

If you will want to sell products or request feedback, create landing pages

and opt in forms, you’ll need a security certificate. If you’re not ready to

sell products and services, or create opt-in forms, or surveys, you can wait

to install your security certificate. Once you have set up your products and

e-commerce functionality, or you can purchase and have it installed by

your hosting provider. A good thing to do might be to contact your

provider and ask how much lead time they need to install a security

certificate.

If you’re not ready to sell products and services, or create opt-in forms, or

surveys, you can wait to install your security certificate. Once you have set

up your products and e-commerce functionality, or you can purchase and

have your security certificate installed by your hosting provider. A good

thing to do might be to contact your provider and ask how much lead time

they need to install a security certificate. Then plan for adding it later if

you would like.

Please hold on to your confirmation emails! Once your domain and web

hosting have been set up, you will receive confirmation emails that contain

your log in information. Next, it’s time to install your site!

The emails you’ll receive will be your log in information that will be used

during installation to access your customer portal. The customer portal is

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where you will install your blog. We will perform the installation in the

next lesson.

To install your WordPress site, download our free guide, Installing Your

WordPress Blog. You will receive step by step instructions and access to a

video that walks you through the installation process. Read the following

for things to consider after you’ve installed your blog.

The Look, Feel and Function of Your Site

Once your self-hosted WordPress blog has been

installed, the next steps will include choosing a theme,

choosing plug-ins, creating pages, widgets, menus and

writing your first blog post.

Free or Paid Theme - Your theme controls the look

and feel for your blog. Selecting a theme, whether paid or free, is a

personal decision. Many free themes offer a free and premium (paid)

version, so it’s a matter of upgrading as your blog grows. Take a look at a

few free WordPress themes.

Are You an Expert? Show That You Know Your Stuff!

If you're selling products or providing services that you want to be paid

for, a paid theme might be a better fit. The reason is that paid themes will

usually have more features, and security functions built in that will make

your site handle transactions better and look more professional.

Here is an article on WP Beginner that talks about the pros and cons of free

and paid themes.

The paid theme pictured below, the Authority Pro Theme created by

Copyblogger. This theme is built on the Genesis framework and has a lot of

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functionality for anyone who wants to showcase their products and

expertise. This theme has great features for anyone who promotes

products and services. Take a look at Authority Pro for yourself.

We use Thrive Architect on our site, which is a paid theme. We are not

affiliates for Thrive Themes, but we are very happy with everything you

get for the price as well as the versatility and templates that come with this

theme.

Email Addresses - When you sign up with HostGator, you’ll have the

option to set up email addresses that will match your domain name. The

number of email addresses you’ll receive will vary by hosting provider. It’s

a common practice for blog owners to set up email addresses matching the

domain of the respective blog.

Think of the prefixes you want to use for company email addresses. Some

examples include one for sales inquiries, one for sales staff, and customer

service at a minimum. If you have staff, you’ll want to assign an email

address to staff members. So for example, for the sales department you

would use ‘sales@yourdomainname.com’.

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Once you publicize your email addresses, you should assign someone to

monitor those addresses for inquiries each day. You can also set up

autoresponders for each one so that customers and prospects receive a

quick response telling them about next steps.

Maps - If you have a brick-and-mortar location, it’s a great idea to include a

map so that people will know how to find you.

Your Logo - If you have a logo, you will be able to upload it to your site. If

you don't have a logo, you can visit a site like Fiverr.com to have someone

create one for you. Your logo can be added later.

Color Scheme - Think about any company specific colors you want

associated with your blog. When selecting a theme, make sure that it will

support the use of those specific colors. Paid themes usually provide more

variety and selection when it comes to specific colors.

Pictures - You’ll need some pictures for the posts and pages that make up

your blog. A typical company website consists of a page designated for

home (main page), blog, contact, the page that describes your products and

services, and an ‘about’ page. We will walk you through setting up themes,

plug-ins and sidebar widgets and more in another lesson.

There are several image editing sites like Canva, BeFunky, and PicMonkey

that will allow you to use royalty free images, shapes, and text to create

images for your site.

How to Use Your Blog to Make Money Online

If you haven't done so yet, sign up for our free

Energized Blogging Mini Course. You’ll receive free step

by step guides, planning worksheets and videos, in one

information packed email lesson per day for 10 days.

Questions? Join our Facebook Group or Send an Email

In This Course You'll Learn To:

• Install your blog (a 10-minute process)

• Select and install themes and plug ins

• Set up pages, posts, widgets and menus

• Generate targeted traffic and qualified leads

• Improve the most commonly overlooked ways to build your business

• Start earning passive income

• Add additional sources of income

• and so much more!

Your Blog Can Generate Leads

for You on Auto-Pilot Every Day!

Don’t let your blog traffic slip through

your fingers. Learn the secret to

building a massive list today with this

affordable training course.

Get your free lead magnet guide on us,

and learn how this self-paced course

can help you get your business off to a

great start.

The training is self-paced, which means

you can go through it as quickly or as

slowly as you need to.

It’s taught by experts and professionals who have built thriving six and

seven figure online businesses.