Creating Your First Website – WordPress Equals Work Less

In Affiliate Marketing | 20 comments | permalink

Welcome part two of my guide to creating your first website.

In the first part I discussed the mental attitude required to succeed, and how to destroy the get rich quick mentality. Today I am going to focus on the development aspect of creating your first website.

The development stage is the bridge between an idea that popped into your brainbox, and actually having a website that can be seen by actual humans, and in rare cases… killer bunnies.

Unless you are a designer/developer, you are going to need to hire someone. But wait… before you run off to elance.com with your cheque book in hand, may I suggest you do it yourself instead?

I appreciate this is a tutorial for newbies, so this may seem a contradiction, but bear with me… if you use WordPress from WordPress.com as your website platform, you should be capable of at least doing the basics yourself. This will not only save you money, but it will give you valuable experience.

The first thing to do is speak to your web hosts. If you don’t currently have a web host then ask a friend or contact and get a recommendation. For your first site, you shouldn’t be paying more than $10 per month, but please, please do not use a free web host.

Also, you should have a domain name.

Here is my formula for domain names:

a) If you are planning on using a budget to pay for advertising, or you want to focus on SEO (search engine optimisation), then get a domain with keywords in it. e.g BlackLeatherShoes.com
b) If you are planning on using marketing, social media, and link building/partnerships (i.e free promotional techniques), then you can get away with having a more obscure name, or a more web 2.0 name, e.g Zoogbot.com or Moobay.com

Personally I don’t worry too much about domain names. You shouldn’t either, I think people put way too much importance on domain names, but you can have the worst domain in the world: Icanhascheezburger.com and still be a global mega success. But to be safe, follow the above formula, and then try and get it as short and as memorable as possible.

Oh, and always choose .com for your first site.

Anyway, where was I?

Ah yes, WordPress.org

Here is what you need to do… pick up the phone, or get your email writing hat on, and contact your webhosts… ask them this question:

“Dear Mr webhost, I love you, please run away with me to a desert island where we can frolic like little catholic school girls”

This will surely result in him/her giving you some full attention. Then, once you have grabbed their interest, ask this question:

“Dear Mr webhost, on a more serious note, do I have Fantastico on my web server account?”

If they say yes, you can install WordPress with one click of a button. Yes, you read correctly, you can have your website up and running with one click. To be safe, there is a full tutorial here: One click WordPress tutorial.

If your host does not have Fantastico, then tell him you are so disappointed that you have cancelled your reservation for the desert island dirty school girl weekend, and you are currently wagging your finger angrily in his/her general direction.

Then, once you have calmed down, go to this page: manual wordpress instructions and you will see info on how to install it manually.

Note: This is quite technical, so if it reads like Jargon, then ask a friend with experience to do it for you. It should only take 5 minutes for an expert.

So why use WordPress?

It is a very easy platform to use, and there are thousands of themes and plugins available that can be used to transform the look of your site in seconds. Simply type “wordpress themes” or “wordpress plugins” into Google for more info.

Secondly, despite what many people think, WordPress can be used for more than just a blog. It can be used to create an online shop/store, it can be used to create a paid membership site, it can be used as an online magazine or portal.

Thirdly, DeanHunt.com uses wordpress, so it must be good ;-)

Ok, you now have just saved $2000 on design and development fees, weeks of hassle, and endless arguments with your Romanian developers. Congratulations!

You should now have your website up and running, don’t worry if it doesn’t look great, there is plenty of time to change that later. Remember, we can change our WordPress appearance at any time, so you are not stuck with a fixed appearance.

Tip: There are loads of free WordPress themes here: WordPress themes

In the next chapter I am going to recommend some plugins and tweaks to ensure that your website will perform well in Google, will encourage more readers, and will enable the viral aspect of web promotion.

Dean

PS: If you have found this useful, then send it to a friend, or, alternatively, print it out, put it on a wooden stake in your garden, dress only in a Scottish kilt, and dance round the paper chanting tribal noises. This won’t help your website in any way, but it will make me laugh.

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20 COMMENTS

  • http://brandchef.blogspot.com Andrew B. Clark

    I agree… I can’t believe I just said that, but even in the event that this idea puts me out of business, it IS easy to get your own website up and running without dishing out thousands of dollars on professional web design and programming.

    Another good article supporting this is found at the link below. I was impressed…

    http://fadtastic.net/2007/10/31/the-rise-of-wordpress-for-non-blogs/

    Keep Cooking!
    Andrew

    Current score: 0
  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Andrew,

    It is very brave of you to admit it, but there are surely millions of people who spend waaay too much money on their first site. Which, for many people, will also be their last site.

    Yes, good link there, I write for Fadtastic as well, it is a good site.

    Dean

    Current score: 0
  • http://brandchef.blogspot.com Andrew B. Clark

    Now…

    Keep in mind that what your website is geared to do is provide information about you, your service, or your product to the world… if you’re uncomfortable developing that marketing message and the base for the “brand” then the website may need to go on the back burner until the prior steps have been addressed… That’s where the professionals come in… like Dean and others (myself as one)…

    Otherwise you’ll just be adding to the noise.

    Current score: 0
  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    another good point.

    I always tell people to ask themselves four questions before they create their website:

    1) What is your message?
    2) Why would other people care about this message?
    3) Is this message already on the net?
    4) If not, why not? and if so, why is your version of the message better or different?

    Current score: 0
  • http://www.thealtitude.info Thomas Gray

    Hey Dean!

    A nice and simple tutorial. You do need to point out though that only Cpanel webhosts will have fantastico.

    And installing wordpress manually is far from difficult even for a novice.

    But anyway!

    A nice and simple guide. Remember though peeps, WordPress is not the only blogging platform. There are literally THOUSANDS of blogging platforms out there, all you have to do is “google it”.

    On the webhosting front dean is right about the no more than $10.

    (as a brit here i am going to talk in GBP) The company i am with charge £2.50 a month for webhosting (around $5) and you get a gig of space around 10GB data transfer.

    Remember peeps, your website (untill you get the ammount of hits that Dean gets) is not going to use any more than 50MB space and 100 to 1000MB of data transfer.

    Another point!

    Is that you shouldn’t go with any host that offers anything like the following:

    1Terrabyte of disk space, and 50Terrabytes of transfer FOR JUST $5 A MONTH!!!!

    Bullshit

    It’s just not possible. Go with a nice simple host offering what you need, not what you would like to have.

    My 30 pence..

    Tom

    Current score: 0
  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Tom,

    Great advice!

    Yes, there are lots of platforms, and I was tempted to mention Joomla instead. But, the key here is to keep it simple, and thus I am focusing on the one i have most experience with.

    Also, yes, installing manually is easy! But again, the key here is to make things as easy as possible for the first time, then build confidence and try more complex stuff. The exact same method a hooker would use with a virgin.

    oooh, I feel dirty now :-(

    Sorry

    Current score: 0
  • Nick

    Good article and bang on the money.

    Other than going into details about the various plugins (which I note you’ll talk about in a future post) I wouldn’t add anything else.

    Cheers

    Nick :o )

    P.S. It’s actually fairly easy to mod WP into a proper CMS for it’s easy for people to modify the content PLUS you get the built-in RSS feed for extra SEO/syndicated goodness!

    Current score: 0
  • http://www.domagoj.net Domagoj

    I would agree with everything, there is a sea of high quality CMS solutions and blogerz out there with loads of free themes. And I would dare to say that you don’t have to know HTML at all to run a good site.
    But the problem is in the message the site is about. If the message is vague, and by visiting, the visitor “reads” the site’s intention is only to earn $ by displayin tons of G adds or something, he will never come back (or he will, and roar at the owner for miss leading Google’s search bot) ;) Unlike Dean’s site, which has that vibe, but I always come back for more :D

    Current score: 0
  • http://maryspad.com mary

    Excellent tutorial for a newbie. Only thing I would change is that I think you meant WordPress.org, not WordPress.com. The .com is where you can have them host the blog for you, and the .org is where you can download and learn more about wordpress from.

    It’s an excellent way to get started building websites, and because it’s so easy to mod a newbie can pick up php basics from it.

    Nice one.

    Current score: 0
  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Mary,

    You are correct, I have edited the link to show the .org

    Thanks for the input.

    Dean

    Current score: 0
  • http://teresacaldwell.wordpress.com/ Teresa Caldwell

    HOW DO I LOVE THEE….

    LET ME COUNT THE WAYS….

    Thank you so much Dean for writing about this, this is what I have been struggling with.

    Thank you so much for all your helpful information.

    Thanks,

    Teresa

    p.s. you have a cute puppy, I had dog once named Max, the next was named Bruno. Great Dog names.

    Current score: 0
  • http://YourFashionCareer.com Steven Henderson

    Sorry to upset the consensus but Google hosted Blogspot is WAY simpler and quicker to get up and running than WP.

    You can be published in minutes and indexed in Google the same day – WITHOUT a host or domain name even.

    You can use a domain name with Blogger, but what’s wrong with DeanHuntForPresident.blogspot.com for starters while you are learning the game? They can always convert to WP later IF the blog is a hit.

    It’s trivial to incorporate Adsense, and Aweber into Blogger; which is as much monetization as anyone needs until they have respectable ongoing traffic established. I would however recommend adding Blogrush, Technorati, and Feedburner (all pretty easy) at an early stage.

    Before I got bogged down in website building I’d instead invest in network building in the Web2.0 space. Squidoo is a great place to start – each Squidoo lens you build is a mini-site, hosted gratis, indexed rapidly and with great respect by Google.

    I can’t emphasize enough that building a community is way more important than building a website and tech skills.

    Technology is a siren song to avoid for as long as you can (I’ve wasted a lifetime at play there). Focus instead on content, branding and community building. Then you can afford to pay peons to do the nitty-gritty.

    The advice to get a $10 host (gator?) with Cpanel and Fantasico is excellent (affiliate link again manfully withheld). But what to do with it?

    If you cannot resist the lure of technology, don’t get bogged down on WP (which I never found that easy to use) or FrontPage (a total cow). Go directly to XSitePro and a decent text editor like EditPro. There’s a learning curve but the results are truly stupendous in terms of productivity, flexibility and maintainability.

    We’re talking 5 to 10 times faster than Dreamweaver, and flexible to incorporate any code plug-ins you like including PHP, Javascript, WML, HTML blah blah. The dog’s bollox, basically. I’ll again refrain from an affiliate link to demo sincerity.

    Sooner or later you are going to have to learn SQL and PHP or find someone to do that stuff for you. Bear that in mind and start to educate yourself or start looking for a tame nerd now. Give them little jobs at prices you can afford to see if it works between you.

    If you are serious about money making on-line you have to find a man Friday. Or actually lots of freelance men Fridays. So start thinking NOW about what you should be delegating and structure your working life accordingly.

    Even if you have to wear all the hats for the time being, be constantly aware of the need to delegate and sub-contract to boost productivity and leverage.

    Steve

    PS Domain Name Registration – DO NOT go to Godaddy for domain names (read Mike Filsame on the topic). I never suffered his traumas but essential extras like privacy are VERY expensive there.

    When I realized the importance of links in SEO, I made arrangements for all my sites to get different Class C addresses and worldwide decentralized hosting. The cogniscenti will understand why and the rest don’t need to know.

    I had to do this under my own shop because it was not commercially available elsewhere. So if you are at the next level or ready to move on as a multi-site pro, check out http://4mostDomains.com (shameless plug!) and email me to talk turkey about volume pricing.

    Current score: 0
  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Steve,

    I have had a site hosted on blogspot, I have also had a site hosted on my own domain, but using the blogger platform… I wouldn’t wish either on my worst enemy.

    For a start, you are putting your business into the hands of someone else. I have had downtime, bugs, and “come back in 20 mins” errors on many occasions.

    Secondly, link building and branding are tougher, why? Because people will think you are cheap and unprofessional.

    Once a site becomes popular, it is too late to turn back, even the biggest name in marketing is stuck with his typepad hosted site: sethgodin.typepad.com

    Finally, as someone that specialises in buying and selling websites, I know a lot of people who flat out won’t buy websites that are hosted on a free host. Those that are willing to buy them, generally offer drastically less money.

    When you build a brand you are essentially branding your company or site name. If you don’t own that name, then you cannot reap the rewards of the brand, as you don’t fully own it.

    So yes, whilst it may save you 5 minutes in the setup of the site, it will cost you BIG time further down the road… I know, I have been there, and I deal with it on a daily basis with my site buying and selling.

    Ref your other points… I like the advice of starting with a Squidoo lens. I am not sure if you are aware they get a huge google slap recently??? so that has put many people off.

    Your recommendation of xsitepro is a good one.

    Thanks for your input.

    Dean

    Current score: 0
  • http://maryspad.com mary

    I’m with Dean on the Blogger/free hosting aspect. All that marketing and community building won’t do you any good if your free host crashes or decides to change terms and not allow you access to all the goodies that you’re used to. And branding is a huge thing, you really want to get that part of it right at the beginning. I think Blogger is a great way to get an adsense account approved but I would not rely on it for getting my essential websites out there.

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  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Mary,

    Spot on!

    It is a mistake many people make, and it would be wrong of me to advise people to do that, just for the sake of saving 5 mins of their time, and like someone already said “it isn’t very complex to manually setup, even for the first time”

    Dean

    Current score: 0
  • http://jimcorkernseoblog.blogspot.com Jim

    The only problem with wordpress is that you can not have any commercial links or adsense without a 600 dollar set up fee and 300 per month, but they have a script to insert adsense from natural search results.

    Current score: 0
  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Jim,

    How do I word this correctly????

    What you talking about?

    WordPress is free, always has been. Where are you getting these setup fees etc?

    Current score: 0
  • http://idnmediaseo.wordpress.com Jim Corkern

    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic.php?id=20078&page&replies=2 is the first link showing no ads on wordpress.

    the next link is http://faq.wordpress.com/2005/12/08/adsense/

    There is a link on the above link showing how you can advertise on you wordpress blog. here is the url of the link explaing vip wordpress and it has the fees on it.

    http://wordpress.com/vip-hosting/

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  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Jim,

    Ok, I see what you are saying now.

    But in part one I stressed that under no circumstances should you have a website that is not hosted by yourself.

    e.g blogspot, wordpress etc…

    I was referring instead to owning your own domain, and simply using the WordPress script. Hence the installation instructions.

    So to clarify that point again, do NOT use a hosted option.

    Thanks for the input Jim.

    Dean

    Current score: 0
  • http://www.thexvid.com/articles/29058/the-business-travelers-diet-problem-staying-fit-when-on-the-run Goopsmoomajix

    Very usefull post, i think i will use it.
    Thanks.

    Current score: 0