How to Start a Blog – Setting up Word Press

If you want to know how to start a blog Word Press is software that is freely available and often included in your hosting plan.

To read my previous article on the 7 benefits of starting a Word Press Blog visit: How to Start a Blog

7 steps for setting up your Word Press blog:

1. Register a domain name and set-up a hosting account.

Visit http://www.isitebuild.com/sitehosting.htmto get a domain name and sign up for a hosting plan. The reason I suggest going here is that you will receive personal attention and have everything “under one roof” so any technical problems can easily be solved.

2. Install WordPress

Within your hosting account manager you will find a link to Fantastico. This allows you a one click installation for your Word Press blog.

If you wish to install it manually please read Word Press Installation

3. Choose a template

The default installation of Word Press provides a basic template however you can view 1000s of free templates at: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/Here’s an article on How to Select a Word Press Theme.

4. Customize your blog.

The reason you may want to customize your blog is so that it clearly reflects your particular online business and makes I stand out from 1000s of other free templates. For example you may want to change the header graphic or set-up a blog that looks more like a web site. Here are the steps I took to customize a blog theme for a client:

5. Theme your content

Instead of haphazardly writing about anything, choose a theme that you’re passionate about so you’ll be able to write lots of content without getting bored. There are lots of blogs on the Net that have been abandoned. It takes a solid commitment to create a online business that is profitable. Create a list of topics that tie into your theme then segment those topics for writing your blog posts.

6. Set up categories, links and pages

After logging in to Word Press (version 2.7+) you’ll see a vertical dashboard where you can easily add categories, links, posts and pages based on your theme. You are almost ready to start blogging now however I suggest optimizing your blog for the search engines so you can attract lots of visitors to read your content.

7. Optimize your blog

Optimizing your blog consists of installing plugins, creating search engine friendly URLs, and writing lots of optimized content on a regular basis. I’ll go into more details about this in the next section.

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How to Start a Blog – Top 7 Benefits of Word Press

One of the easiest ways to get a web site online is to start a blog. You can sign up for a free one at WordPress.com however I highly recommend getting a real domain name and getting it hosted so you’ll have much more control over it.

Top 7 Benefits of a Word Press Blog

Word Press is the best platform for starting a blog as it includes a large community from which you can get help any time you need it.

1. No need to learn html

WordPress has an editor built into it that functions similar to Microsoft Word however it’s a little simpler.

2. Keep content separate from design

This allows you to change the design whenever you like without affecting the content.

3. Create unlimited pages

WordPress is database driven. This means you can easily add 1000s of pages to the database.

4. Choose from many templates

There are 100s of free and paid templates to choose from. These can be customized to suit your business web site. You can also get a custom built blog by hiring an experienced web designer.

5. Search engine friendly

Word Press blogs can be easily optimized for the search engines using plugins. Posts on your blog are automatically pinged and RSS feeds are automatically submitted to RSS directories.

6. Integrate social media marketing

Blog posts can automatically be sent to social marketing sites (ie twitter, facebook etc) by installing the appropriate plugins.

7. Active forum support

WordPress.org runs a very active community forum where you can ask questions related to the functioning of your Word Press Blog.

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Download this free guide How To Start A Blog
The beginner’s guide to successful blogging