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With all the information floating around the web, it can be hard to find a starting point with something that is as dynamic as a blog website is. That is why I am going to show you how I build my own blog website from scratch. So without overloading you with too much information I want to give you the basics of what I do when setting up a blog website.
Be sure to take notes and make adjustments where suited for your personal or business blog website. Also share this information if you found it to be helpful, as many others could benefit in the same way as you:)
If you are looking for an online expert to lead you in the right direction, visit my blog website. I will help you come up with a game plan to get started making money online, no matter what your skillset currently is. Heck, I didn’t know anything when I first got started. We all have to start somewhere. Let today be your day!
Table of Contents
Create A Blog Folder
Choosing The Right Domain Name For Your Blog
Set Up Your Website (Blog) Hosting Account
Syncing Your Domain Name To Your Hosting Account
What A DNS Server Name Looks Like
Install A Content Management System Onto Your New Website
Cpanel Screen Shot
Get Familiar With Your New Blog
Design Blog – Give Your New Blog Some Personality
Make All Your Future Post Links SEO And User Friendly
Add Custom Functions To Your Blog… Otherwise Known As Plugins And Widgets
Plugins That I Currently Have Installed On My Personal Blog…
Set Up Real Simple Syndication (RSS) With Analytics
Measure And Analyze The Traffic To Your Blog
Choose Your Monetization Method For Making Money with Your Blog
Focus On A Traffic Getting Strategy And Build Upon It
Take Your Blogging To The Next Level
Always Keep Learning And Implementing New Strategies Into Your Business
Post From My Blog, PrestonSchumacher.com
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Create A Blog Folder
Create A Blog FolderBlog Checklist Step One First thing you want to do is stay organized from the beginning. The mistake I made as a newbie online, was not keeping all my files and important information in an easy to find a place. In other words, I would save all my stuff on my desktop and then lump everything into one folder when it was full ( does that sound familiar to you).
Simply, before you get going on anything, create a folder and name it, “whatever-your domain-name-is,” and go ahead and leave it on your desktop for now. This is the folder where every piece of information and anything related to your blog goes. When saving files, be sure to name that accurately. This will help you save much time that I myself wasted in the beginning. An example would be changing picture of a dog from img1.jpg, to dogplayingfetch.jpg. This may seem like common sense, but I lacked to give everything a descriptive label when I created my first few sites. Trust me when I say, “you will be pulling your hair out if you do.”
Now that you have a home (folder) for all your blog’s “nuts and bolts,” let us get our the mad scientist’s cap on and start creating a business asset that will stand the test of time in the ever so quickly changing online, and now, everyday world.
Choosing The Right Domain Name For Your Blog
Choosing The Right Domain Name For Your BlogBlog Checklist Step #2 Choosing the right domain name for your blog is as simple as choosing yourname.com in most cases. If you want your name but it is taken already, just go ahead and try .net, .org, .co or whoisyourname.com. While I encourage personal branding over business branding for the purpose of blogging, you may still prefer to brand your business. In this case, make sure you choose your businessname.com or a variation of it if it is not available. Word of caution though: if your business name is taken already, chances are you are going to have a tougher time standing out.
I like to use namecheap.com for purchasing my blog domain names. Besides having deals regularly, they also have awesome 24/7 live support. You will find this priceless when setting your blog up for the first time since you are bound to run into some questions if your new to this whole thing.
Remember to make note of your login details for your namecheap.com account and save them in your blog folder for future reference.
Set Up Your Website (Blog) Hosting Account
Set Up Your Website (Blog) Hosting AccountSetting up a hosting account is pretty self-explanatory so I will give you my top recommendations and what I currently use to host most of my sites.
If you are looking for the simplest way to do it, which is also what I do, just purchase hosting through the same place you bought the domain name. In my case, namecheap.com. People have suggested to me not to host my domains in the same place I bought them, but I have had no problems yet.
If you are looking for the cheapest solution for quality hosting I recommend hostnine.com. At the time of writing this, you can choose a plan starting at $3.95. Another great thing is you can pay monthly instead of quarterly to yearly.
Don’t forget to add all the details from the welcome email you get from your hosting account to your blog folder. Make sure you also save the email in a safe place. It is a pain in the** to find these details once you lose them.
Syncing Your Domain Name To Your Hosting Account
Syncing Your Domain Name To Your Hosting AccountIf you purchased your domain and hosting through the same site then you will not have to worry about this step. Just make sure your servers are set up like in the image below. Navigate to Domains => Manage Domains => Click on your domain name in the right column => Click on “domain name server set up” in the left column. Make sure your servers are set up like in the image.
If you are hosting in a separate place than where you purchased your domain name, then go ahead and locate your name servers from your hosting account. Once located, copy and paste them into the designated spots in namecheap.com. Just navigate to “domain name server set up” as stated above.
What A DNS Server Name Looks LikeDNS
Install A Content Management System Onto Your New Website
Install A Content Management System Onto Your New WebiteNow that you have a name for your site and place to host your website’s brain (information), we need to turn it into a blog! This is where it gets interesting. Hands down the fastest and easiest way to spin your website into gold are by installing WordPress on it. You can find out more about WordPress at wordpress.org, not to be mistaken with wordpress.com.
Okay, now that a little time has passed you want to try and access your Cpanel. Find this by navigating to http://www.yourdomain.com/cpanel and entering your unique login information. Your login info can be found in the welcome email from your hosting provider.
If using Namecheap or hostname you should now have access to a page that looks similar to the image below. Scroll down to Software/Services and click on the light blue smiley face that says “Fantastico De Luxe.” Now watch the video below to see step by step instructions on installing and accessing your new blog’s admin area…
Cpanel Screen Shot
Cpanel
Step by Step WordPress Installation Using Fantastico
Coming Soon!
Get Familiar With Your New Blog
Get Familiar With Your New BlogLet’s recap what we have accomplished so far. We have created a blog folder to keep all your important files in. Then we purchased a domain name and connected it to your hosting account. After that, we installed the #1 content management system, WordPress, onto your brand new, out of the box, website. Once that was taken care of, you should watch the video below, ” Navigating Your Blog’s Admin Area.”
Make sure to watch the video several times until you start to get familiar with your blog’s interface. Once you feel confident about finding your way around your back office, it is time to start adjusting settings and installing plugins to give your blog much more functionality.
Navigating Your Blog’s Admin Area
Coming Soon!
Design Blog – Give Your New Blog Some Personality
Design Blog – Give Your New Blog Some PersonalityBefore you too much further, you need to start thinking of your blog’s design. If you already have experience in website design, this step should be easy and possibly fun for you. If you are like the majority of people and don’t have the slightest clue about CSS, HTML, and PHP, then that is perfectly okay.
Fortunately, there is an abundance of website designers that you can hire online now in days. This method can be hit a miss if you are going through an individual designer. What I recommend you do if you do not plan on designing your own site, is having a blog design service with a great track record to create a highly brandable site for you.
If you are looking for one of the most awesome and affordable blog design services around, check this out. This is where some of the top movers and shakers are using personally as their blog design service. So like I always say, modeling equals mastery!
Sidenote: this design service gets a lot of traffic, so be patient as the page loads.
You may be able to get away with a free theme for WordPress for a little while, but you are not going to get that online presence you are after until you invest in your self and business.
Make All Your Future Post Links SEO And User Friendly
Make All Your Future Post Links SEO And User FriendlyThis step is simple. Just do it and don’t think too much about why right now. This little tweak will save you a lot of headaches in the future.
Navigate to the left column in the admin area of your blog website to the “permalinks” section, under the settings tab. Then go ahead and select the custom structure. In the empty box to the right, type: %postname% Then hit the save changes button. That’s it! All set for step eight.
Add Custom Functions To Your Blog… Otherwise Known As Plugins And Widgets
Add Custom Functions To Your Blog… Otherwise Known As Plugins And WidgetsYour's new blog website is going to be pretty bare and nonfunctional for our ninja blogging intentions. This is where plugins and widgets come into play. They solve the problem of you not knowing techy stuff. Well, you still need to learn the basics. If you need s certain something for your blog website, there is usually a plugin or widget that you can find to save the day.
To search for a plugin, click on “plugins” in the left column of your admin area. Here you can search for many free plugins. You can also upload plugins that you may find for free or purchase in the future. Trust me, there are some pretty cool paid plugins out there.
Once you upload or find the plugin you want, click “install.” After a successful installation, you will be prompted to activate it. Do so now. You can find the newly installed plugin somewhere in the left column of your admin area, or in the widget section.
Below are the plugins I have, as of today, installed on my blog. Some plugins change in quality over time, while new plugins are created that outperform previous versions. Don’t be afraid to try out a plugin that I have not listed and/or nix ones that I have. I will indicate the paid plugins that I have with a “P.”
Set Up Real Simple Syndication (RSS) With Analytics
Set Up Real Simple Syndication (RSS) With AnalyticsThis step is optional as I have noticed a decline in the use of RSS subscription buttons on blogs. With that being said, still do your own footwork to decide if it is going to be right for you.
The best place to set up an RSS feed for your blog is Google’s Feedburner. Just search “Feedburner” and it will pop up as the first result. If you have a Google account just go ahead and sign in and enter your RSS feed address. It typically is http://www.yourdomainname.com/feed/rss, but make sure and check by entering it in the address bar. A page with a whole bunch of computer jargon should pop up with your blog's data. Once you have that setup, go to the admin area of your blog and navigate to the Plugins section. Click “add new” and then search “FeedBurner FeedSmith Extend.” Find the plugin, install, and activate it. Look for the newly installed plugin in the right column and enter your Feedburner URL. It should look something similar to this, http://feeds.feedburner.com/your-blog-name/WDcD.
Feedburner has analytics built right in, so do some browsing around on your new Feedburner account and see what they have to offer.
As far as setting up an RSS button or link on your site, there are several options. Add the default RSS widget that comes with WordPress into the sidebar. Search for an RSS plugin/ widget and install it on your blog. Search for an RSS icon image, turn it into a clickable image that directs back to your Feedburner RSS feed URL, and then place that snippet of code where you want on your blog (requires a few technical skills).
While I focus on capturing my blog traffic through an opt inbox rather than an RSS subscription button, you may find that your blog is suited to have both. Make sure you have your RSS feed set up even if you are not actively capturing leads through this method.
Measure And Analyze The Traffic To Your Blog
Measure And Analyze The Traffic To Your BlogThis part can be a little techy for some, but just give it some time and you will start to understand the importance of measuring and analyzing your blog’s traffic. The standard in website analytics is Google. If you do not already have a Google account by now, sign up for one and then head over to google.com/analytics. Sign in and follow the instructions given by Google to add your site. Our SEO Expert in Nepal says it good to optimized for SEO.
Once you have added your blog’s domain name, look for the “web property id.” It looks something like this, UA-XXXXXXXX-Y. Go ahead and copy it and save it for later.
Now navigate back to your blog’s admin area and search, install, and activate the plugin called, “Ultimate Google Analytics.” Once that is done find the newly installed plugin and enter your “web property id.” All set. Just navigate back to your Google Analytics homepage and see if your status has a green checkmark. If you do, then everything is A-O.K. If not go over the steps again and see what you missed.
Choose Your Monetization Method For Making Money with Your Blog
Choose Your Monetization Method For Making Money with Your BlogThere are three main ways of making money from your blogging activity. The three monetization methods are as follows: selling your own products, selling other people's products, and advertising for big-name companies.
There is no way I have time to go over all three methods, but that is okay. For the purpose of professional blogging, I don’t even consider selling or trading space on my main, “self-branding blog.” What you want to master is the art of creating your own digital information products about what you are passionate about (being that there are people actively seeking information in that niche).
That leaves us with selling other people’s products, otherwise known as affiliate marketing. This can be lucrative, but bloggers beware! Make sure it is a product you have honestly reviewed. The worst thing that can happen is touting how great a sh*tty product is to your list. You can start looking for affiliate products to promote by checking out clickbank.com. Once there navigate to their “marketplace” and search for products related to your niche.
Cool tip: instead of blatantly promoting products in your sidebar or header, make a page called, “Recommended,” and place the products there. You can do this as well as recommending them through email broadcast to your list.
Focus On A Traffic Getting Strategy And Build Upon It
Focus On A Traffic Getting Strategy And Build Upon this isn’t a course on how to get traffic but I can definitely point you the right direction to get started.
There are three forms of getting traffic. You can attract visitors through free strategies, paying for them, and earning them.
Actions that you can be taking drive traffic: article writing, PPC, social interaction, SEO, videos, blogging, and many more than I can list here.
Top places to apply your efforts to EzineArticles, Squidoo, HubPages, Microsoft AdCenter, Google AdWords, Facebook, twitter, twitter, mashable, delicious, youtube, Howcast, etc. While these sites are not likely to lose their influence anytime soon, you always want to keep up to date with the latest sharing, social, and advertising platforms.
In case you are wondering how all this works to drive traffic to your blog, don’t overthink it too much. Every time you are creating content somewhere you are placing a link back to your blog or another piece of your related content that links back to your blog. Then from an aerial view, the search engines love you and people see you everywhere (instantly making you the expert in your niche). Yay!
Take Your Blogging To The Next Level
Take Your Blogging To The Next LevelOnce you have everything in place, you have been creating some content for your blog, and you have been spreading your efforts around the web, it is time to take your blogging to the next level.
Make sure your blog flows. In other words, you want others to find your blog easy to navigate through.
Make sure your graphics and design of your blog are flawless. Get professional photos taken of yourself and place on your site as part of the design of your site, i.e. jonathanbudd.com (Mr.Budd is one of the guys that helped me out a lot online).
Get involved in an online training community that teaches how to market yourself, market affiliate products, get traffic, and convert traffic. You also want to make sure the masterminding community has the tools you need to make everything come to life. Such as capture pages, templates, conversion tracking, and a masterminding forum.
Always Keep Learning And Implementing New Strategies Into Your Business
Always Keep Learning And Implementing New Strategies Into Your business if you haven’t learned already, there is no quick way to make money online. True success online comes from persistent and honest work. With that being said, always keep learning each and every day. I actually set a block of time to the side each day to devote to learning and evolving myself as a new age entrepreneur. If I don’t set this block of time aside, I actually suffer fro what is known as, “Recklessly Learning,” constantly learning without applying anything.
So make sure you learn something new every day, implement what you find to be of value, and teach others what you found to be effective and useful to your blog, business, or life in general.
To leave you on a down to earth level, I want to let you know that I don’t write anything I haven’t done or currently practice. This stuff works… and in my opinion, is the best way to build a business online. Don’t waste all your time building someone else’s brand when you can be building your own brand with the same effort. At the end of the day, you will feel truly full-filled if you are building an asset you can pass down through your family.
If this is the path that you want to learn to traverse or maybe just be pointed in the right direction, visit me at my home on the web!