WEEK 7
SITE CREATION: HOW TO BUILD A SITE WITH ZERO …………………………………PROGRAMMING KNOWLEDGE
Don’t
know
how
to
program
or
even
how
to
choose
a
good
programmer?
No
worries.
The
best
internet
marketers
aren’t
programmers‐
they
know
what
tools
to
use
and
how
to
hire
people
to
get
work
done
for
them.
There
are
so
many
open
source
platforms
out
there
that
it
makes
no
sense
for
you
to
build
your
own.
Just
use
WordPress.
Some
examples:
A
social
media
community
that
ranks
#3
on
“social
media”
on
Google
organic
search.
A
lead
gen
site
for
a
plastic
surgeon.
Driving
toolbar
downloads.
A
personal
internet
marketing
blog.
You
can
use
WordPress
to
build
any
kind
of
site—doesn’t
have
to
be
a
blog.
You
can
insert
videos,
a
forum,
email
list
management,
a
job
board,
a
social
network,
photo
gallery,
or
any
type
of
function
you
can
think
of
via
the
plug‐in
directory
(insert
link).
Here
is
how
you
can
do
it
in
10
Steps:
1. G et yo u r d o m a in n am e 2. G e t Y o u r H o stin g 3. In stall A n d S etu p 4 . G et & In s tall Y o u r W o r d pr e s s th e m e 5 . M ak e th e S ite Y o u rs 6 . S et u p y o u r c o n ten t c ateg o r ie s a n d pa g es 7. In te g r a te S o c ia l N etw o r kin g F e a tu r e s to Y o u r S ite 8 . In stallin g P lu g in s 9 . M o n etiza tio n 10 . L o o kin g F o r w a r d
1. Get your domain name
Some
simple
tips:
•
•
•
•
Have
it
contain
the
keywords
you
want
to
rank
on.
For
example,
we
bought
FranchiseReviewSite.com
to
rank
#1
on
"franchise
review
site".
That
site
has
nothing
special
about
it‐‐
no
inbound
links,
no
fancy
design,
and
no
tricky
SEO.
It
ranks
only
because
the
domain
name
matches
the
search
term.
We
put
it
up
with
the
default
wordpress
theme
and
it
was
ranking
#1
a
couple
days
later.
This
technique
alone
won't
boost
you
to
a
#1
ranking
on
a
more
competitive
term,
but
will
help.
This
was
covered
in
last
year's
Elite
Retreat
in
San
Francisco.
Make
it
a
dot.com.
Don't
do
a
weird
top
level
domain.
I'll
take
a
2
or
3
word
dot.com
domain
over
a
shorter
.net
or
.biz
domain.
Don't
waste
a
ton
of
money
buying
a
domain:
Unless
it's
under
a
couple
hundred
bucks
or
you
have
cash
to
burn.
Make
it
easy
to
say
and
spell:
You
kill
all
word
of
mouth
traffic
if
people
can't
remember
the
name.
Forget
clever
2. GET YOUR HOSTING
Many
services
let
you
buy
the
domain
name
and
do
a
one‐click
wordpress
install.
If
this
is
the
case
In
buying
a
service
you
need
to
think
about
your
needs.
Are
you
looking
for
a
server
that
will
be
up
24/7
or
a
server
that'll
be
up
23.9/7?
The
price
difference
and
customer
service
difference
can
be
phenomenal.
Think
about
how
much
this
site
is
going
to
be
making
you,
think
about
whether
you
have
any
shared
hosting
that
you
could
use
for
this
site
as
well.
If
you
don't
look
for
more
reliable
shared
hosting
(if
you
are
running
a
blog,
unless
you're
a
movie
star
‐‐
get
shared
hosting).
One
of
the
best
places
to
look
is
NetCraft's
Annual
"Most
Reliable
Hosting
Companies"
report.
I've
found
it
to
be
incredibly
accurate
and
honest.
Don't
expect
the
top
to
be
the
cheapest
but
do
expect
them
to
be
the
most
reliable
and
usually
most
user
friendly.
3. INSTALL AND SETUP
As
noted
in
Step
2,
all
web
hosts
noted
on
WordPress.org
support
one
click
install.
This
usually
sufficient
for
most
users.
However
if
your
service
does
not
have
one‐click
WordPress
Install
or
you
have
some
other
customization,
such
as
putting
it
in
a
subfolder
or
a
subdomain.:
• 1st
Step:
Get
your
FTP
(File
Transfer
Protocol)
information
from
your
web
hosting
company.
Depending
on
your
hosting
company
this
could
be
in
different
places,
however
most
hosting
companies
will
email
these
details
or
have
it
located
in
the
FAQ
or
search.
Look
for
FTP
Login
Information
or
FTP
Credentials.
• 2nd
Step:
Choose
your
FTP
Software.
If
you
don't
have
one,
regardless
of
your
operating
system
you
can
use
FileZilla.
• 3rd
Step:
Download
the
most
recent
WordPress
Installation
File
from
WordPress.org
and
Unzip
to
your
Desktop
or
wherever
you
feel
best.
• 4th
Step:
Open
up
your
FTP
Software
and
type
in
your
credentials,
locating
your
'public_html'
or
'www'
folder,
this
may
be
the
base
folder
when
you
log
into
FTP.
• 5th
Step:
Copy
your
WordPress
Files
up
to
the
server.
Make
sure
to
copy
the
files
inside
of
the
"wordpress"
folder
and
not
the
"wordpress"
folder
itself,
these
will
be
files
such
as
wp‐cron.php.
• 6th
Step:
Navigate
to
your
domain
name,
it
may
say
something
to
the
effect
of,
"There
doesn't
seem
to
be
a
wp‐config.php
file."
This
is
okay,
simply
click
"Create
a
Configuration
File"
• 6th
Step
Issue:
You
got
the
message,
"Sorry,
I
can't
write
to
the
directory.
You'll
have
to
either
change
the
permissions
on
your
WordPress
directory
or
create
your
wp‐config.php
manually."
This
isn't
a
problem.
Simply
go
back
to
Filezilla
(or
your
FTP
client),
select
the
main
folder
containing
your
WordPress
Files,
right
click
and
select
"File
Permissions"
or
something
similar.
Change
these
to
777
which
allows
the
frontend
webservice
to
write
to
your
config
file.
• 7th
Step:
*phew*
You
really
just
need
to
follow
the
steps
at
this
point.
If
you
read
the
instructions
this
should
be
easy.
Just
be
sure
to
have
your
database
name,
username,
password,
host
and
"table
prefix"
(which
is
provided
automatically).
• 8th
Step:
Alright.
We're
done
with
that.
Now
login
with
the
username
and
neat
new
password
that
WordPress
generated
for
you.
It'll
ask
you
to
change
your
password,
I
recommend
you
do.
Change
it
to
something
you
remember.
Also
make
sure
that
you
put
any
important
info
in
your
"Personal
Options."
Also
under
"Display
name
publicly
as"
choose
your
first
and
last
name
or
username,
whichever
is
more
important
to
your
keywords.
• 9th
Step:
Take
a
break.
You
deserve
it,
that
was
a
pain
but
you
officially
have
a
WordPress
blog.
4. GET AND INSTALL YOUR THEME
• What
is
it?
A
WordPress
theme
is
a
collection
of
files
that
change
the
way
your
blog
looks
and
feels.
It
can
make
it
look
more
like
a
blog
or
even
make
it
look
like
a
full
site.
The
WordPress
themes
are
very
customizable
and
many
of
the
more
recent
WordPress
themes
have
their
own
options
under
the
"Appearance"
tab.
• Free
or
not
free:
Do
a
search
for
"free
wordpress
themes"
and
you'll
find
tons
of
results,
paid
and
orgnanic.
The
official
free
wordpress
theme
directory
is
at
http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/,
so
start
from
there
before
you
decide
to
buy
anything.
You
can
buy
the
affiliate
theme
from
this
page‐‐
type
in
your
email
to
get
the
15%
discount.
• Paid
Custom
Blog:
There
are
many
sites
out
there
which
offer
a
custom
(or
mostly
custom)
WordPress
theme.
For
example
Unique
Blogs.
In
selecting
your
theme
here
are
a
few
things
to
think
about:
• Age
Group:
If
you
have
a
site
where
your
users
might
be
a
bit
older,
make
sure
that
you
have
a
theme
with
a
larger
font
size
or
that
there
is
a
button
to
change
the
font
size
that
is
easily
visible.
On
the
same
note,
if
you
are
going
to
have
a
younger
age
group
it
would
make
sense
to
have
a
more
sleek,
Web
2.0
typed
theme
that
will
make
savvy
users
feel
right
at
home.
• Psychology
Of
Colors:
Do
not
choose
harsh
rigid
color
sites
with
a
lot
of
colors
that
might
push
away
users.
Even
if
the
theme
looks
good,
you
still
are
going
to
end
up
losing
end
users
due
to
the
subconscious
effect.
• Test
The
Theme
First:
Some
themes
are
pretty
well
built,
however
sometimes
you'll
encounter
a
theme
where
your
blog
title
will
be
a
bit
too
long
for
the
theme
header
or
the
individual
postings
will
be
too
long
and
it
will
look
silly.
Try
some
loger
post
names
to
make
sure
this
isn't
the
case
with
your
selected
theme.
• Don't
Just
Try
One:
Download
a
couple
themes
and
perhaps
try
them
out
to
see
which
gives
your
users
better
navigation
or
readability.
You've
got
a
flexible
blog,
why
limit
it?
• Don't
Be
Too
Cutting
Edge:
If
there
is
a
really
cool
theme
that
you
think
looks
just
great,
make
sure
that
it
is
also
usable.
There's
nothing
worse
than
having
a
good
blog
but
have
it
unusable
due
to
something
as
simple
as
the
theme.
Navigation
is
the
most
important
part
of
the
site,
if
you're
just
playing
use
all
the
crazy
themes
you
like
but
if
you're
trying
to
get
a
good
user
base,
just
stick
to
the
basics.
• Use
traditional
navigation
menus
‐
Find
a
theme
that
uses
conventional
menus,
horizontal
across
the
top
and/or
vertical
down
the
left
hand
side,
to
navigate
important
pages.
Each
time
a
web
page
loads,
the
surfer's
eyes
naturally
start
in
the
upper
left
corner
of
the
screen
and
move
down
and
to
the
right
from
there.
This
is
called
the
"Golden
Triangle."
You
want
to
have
your
most
important
information
and
navigation
located
in
this
area.
Menus
on
the
right
of
the
screen,
or
the
bottom
of
a
page
do
not
take
advantage
of
this
natural
behavior.
• Avoid
big
headers
‐
Designers
have
a
tendency
to
push
the
artistic
side
of
their
abilities
whenever
they
can.
On
a
theme
this
can
mean
an
oversize
header
area
with
big
text,
lots
of
images
and
design,
but
no
purpose.
The
space
on
your
site
that
appears
above
the
fold
(whatever
you
can
see
when
the
page
loads
without
scrolling)
is
your
most
important
real
estate.
You
can
make
the
best
use
of
this
by
choosing
a
professional
design,
that
incorporates
a
small,
efficient
header,
and
places
your
content
high
up
on
the
page.
If
you
are
going
to
have
large
images,
a
big
logo,
or
an
oversize
header,
be
sure
they
have
a
direct
purpose
in
presenting
your
product,
and
do
not
repeat
the
header
on
every
page.
• Plan
the
layout
in
advance
‐
Make
sure
to
choose
a
layout
that
fits
your
needs.
Picture
the
key
information
you
intend
to
present
and
identify
where
it
will
be
located
on
the
page.
Logos,
tag
lines,
content
text,
lead
forms,
login
fields,
bullet
points,
pictures,
contact
info,
banners,
or
any
other
content
must
have
a
place
on
each
page.
WordPress
themes
normally
support
1,
2,
or
3
columns,
so
choose
a
layout
that
will
contain
everything
you
intend
to
incorporate
on
your
site.
• Start
simple
‐
Do
not
spend
too
much
time
choosing
your
first
theme.
You
can
always
come
back
and
swap
out,
upgrade,
or
customize
the
look
of
the
site.
It's
not
locked
in
stone.
Find
something
universal
that
fits
your
overall
layout,
install
it,
and
get
started.
If
you
are
going
to
have
a
designer
customize
your
layout,
it's
best
to
start
out
from
something
very
basic.
If
you
are
going
to
use
the
theme
out
of
the
box,
it
might
be
beneficial
to
you
if
you
select
a
very
customizable
theme.
• Make
sure
it
loads
fast
‐
It's
easy
to
get
carried
away
on
the
looks
of
a
theme,
but
functionality
is
often
more
important.
Test
your
site
once
the
theme
is
uploaded.
How
fast
does
it
load?
Does
it
load
faster
with
a
simpler,
less
complicated
theme?
Your
site
needs
to
be
on
par
with
the
the
largest
money
making
sites
online,
and
this
means
that
you
need
a
theme
that
loads
as
fast
as
possible.
A
few
useful
links
for
finding
your
perfect
theme:
• WordPress'
Main
Theme
Repository
‐
Free
• Theme
Forest
‐
Premium
&
Paid
$30+
• WooThemes
‐
Premium
&
Paid
$70‐$150
Installing & Activating Your Theme
Wordpress
2.8
allows
you
to
change
the
theme
of
your
site
without
having
to
use
FTP.
You
can
do
it
right
from
the
admin
interface
with
a
single
click.
Likewise,
change
it
back
to
the
old
theme
with
a
single
click,
if
you
don't
like
it.
Start
by
getting
into
your
Wordpress
admin,
and
click
on
"Appearance"
which
is
in
your
menu
bar
on
the
left.
This
will
take
you
straight
into
the
manage
themes
sections.
You
will
notice
that
there
are
already
two
themes
in
here.
One
of
which
you
are
using,
and
the
other
is
a
secondary
option.
But
as
I've
said,
that
is
not
all
there
is
to
this.
Scroll
down
to
the
bottom
of
the
page
and
you
will
see
the
option
to
“Get
More
Themes”.
So
click
on
the
link
for
the
Wordpress
theme
directory.
Lets
look
at
the
first
one
as
an
example.
A
quick
note,
by
downloading
and
installing
themes,
you
are
not
actually
placing
them
as
your
site's
theme.
That
change
won't
happen
until
you
“Activate”
it
through
Wordpress.
Go
ahead
and
click
on
the
picture
of
it.
The
next
page
takes
you
into
the
themes
main
page.
From
here
you
can
read
a
description,
look
at
the
stats
for
downloads,
read
the
faq
and
download
it
here
as
well.
If
you
liked
this
theme,
go
ahead
and
choose
download.
Keep
it
as
a
zipped
file.
You
will
need
to
upload
it
via
your
web
server's
FTP.
You
will
be
able
to
unzip
it
right
there
in
the
folder
of
your
domain.
Once
you
have
uploaded
it
and
unzipped
it,
you
can
go
back
to
your
Wordpress
admin,
click
on
Appearance,
and
you
will
see
your
new
theme
ready
and
waiting
to
be
activated.
To
activate
your
new
theme,
all
you
need
to
do
now
is
click
on
your
theme's
picture,
and
in
the
upper
right
hand
corner
click
“Activate
Theme”.
5. MAKE THE SITE YOURS
Once
you're
all
setup
with
the
theme,
look
&
feel,
you
should
go
about
making
the
blog
yours.
This
is
very
easy.
Go
to
the
"Settings"
tab
on
the
left
on
your
WordPress
Admin.
This
is
where
you
can
enter
your
personal
information
such
as
blog
name
and
tagline,
email
address
and
date
/
time
format.
Make
sure
your
tagline
and
blog
name
match
your
keywords
and
they
are
SEO
friendly.
Next
you
can
proceed
to
other
configuration
options,
most
of
which
are
self‐ explanatory,
however
a
few
which
should
be
brought
up.
First
of
all
navigate
to
the
"Permalinks"
tab
of
Settings.
The
default
structure
is
http://yourdomain.com/?p=123
this
structure
isn't
at
all
SEO
friendly.
Generally
it
is
a
good
idea
to
use
the
second
default
of
"Day
And
Name",
this
not
only
good
for
allowing
engines
to
somewhat
sort
out
the
post
time
but
also
the
post
title
is
in
the
url
which
helps
with
seo
the
same
way
that
owning
a
domain
with
the
exact
text
of
your
most
important
search
phrase
helps.
Also
you
can
start
off
by
clicking
on
"Links"
and
deleting
all
of
the
default
links
provided
by
WordPress
and
perhaps
adding
a
few
of
your
own.
Linking
is
a
great
way
to
establish
trust
with
other
sites
and
you
might
find
yourself
using
the
links
tab
quite
a
bit
if
you
do
link
exchanges
with
other
sites.
Finally
to
make
your
blog
look
a
little
more
yours
you
should
go
to
"Posts"
and
delete
the
first
"Hello
World"
posting
and
write
your
first,
short
blog.
Finally
click
on
"Pages"
and
edit
the
initial
"About"
page
to
make
it
more
about
you.
Perhaps
just
a
short
sum
up
of
the
site
using
some
of
your
keywords
in
boldface.
Hiring
a
good
designer
is
like
a
fat
man
trying
to
get
a
shoeshine‐‐
how
are
you
to
really
know
if
they're
good?
And
how
much
should
something
really
cost
when
you
ask
for
a
new
logo,
some
small
changes
to
your
site,
or
whatever
else?
We
cover
this
topic
in
more
depth
in
Week
12,
though
it's
important
enough
to
mention
the
highlights
here,
since
having
the
right
people
on
your
project
is
critical.
• Hit
the
job
boards
to
see
what
things
cost:
Even
if
you
choose
a
free
theme,
you
may
still
want
a
few
hours
of
graphics
design
to
do
a
logo
or
custom
header.
The
designer
doesn't
need
to
know
WordPress,
but
it
helps.
We
find
that
most
designers
can't
code,
so
you
get
the
most
value
out
of
them
by
asking
them
to
give
you
a
PSD
(Photoshop
format),
which
a
slicer
can
then
code
into
your
template.
The
main
job
boards
are
rentacoder.com,
elance.com,
and
99designs.com.
Rentacoder
is
best
for
engineering,
while
elance
and
99designs
is
more
for
graphics.
A
great
logo
should
cost
you
between
$100
and
$200.
Engineering
and
design
effort
should
back
out
to
under
$20
an
hour‐‐
more
if
it's
a
small
project
or
requiring
in‐demand
skills
(flash,
for
example).
• The
trick
to
writing
clear
requirements:
Before
you
post
a
project,
look
at
the
requirements
posted
by
other
guys.
If
you
aren't
a
skilled
requirements
writer,
no
problem‐‐
just
mimic
what
the
other
folks
are
posting.
Make
sure
to
define
what
aspects
of
other
sites
to
imitate,
what
you
want
to
pay,
how
long
you
want
it
to
take,
how
much
you're
willing
to
pay
up‐front
(choose
50%
if
it's
under
$200),
what
format
the
final
version
will
be
in
(jpg,
eps,
html),
what
countries
you're
willing
to
accept
designers
from,
and
so
forth.
• Save
yourself
some
headache
by
choosing
English
speaking
countries‐‐
this
is
less
a
matter
of
skill
and
more
about
great
communication.
You
want
to
know
your
developer
clearly
understands
what
you're
trying
to
do
and
they
should
be
native
English
speakers
if
English
is
your
primary
language.
Since
these
folks
are
thousands
of
miles
away,
to
not
understand
the
goals
can
easily
lead
to
them
going
off
in
the
wrong
direction
and
burning
a
lot
of
cash
and
time.
Related
to
communication
is
their
availability
via
skype,
chat,
and
email.
• College
kids
are
a
mixed
bag:
You
may
get
lucky
and
find
some
student
that
is
a
genius‐‐
willing
to
work
for
$20/hour,
since
it's
better
than
the
alternative
of
delivering
pizza.
But
kids,
as
well
as
most
freelancers
in
general,
tend
to
be
VERY
flaky,
so
choose
folks
who
have
at
least
10
positive
ratings
on
projects
that
are
similar
to
what
you'd
like
to
do.
Look
over
the
portfolios
of
the
folks
who
have
responded
to
earlier
projects.
• Work
directly
with
the
individual:
Do
not
work
with
a
firm,
since
these
guys
are
just
middlemen
that
add
their
cost
on
top
of
the
underlying
worker
(often
at
a
huge
markup)
and
also
slow
things
down
as
extra
overhead.
Sometimes
bidders
will
tell
you
that
it's
their
people
directly,
but
you
will
have
to
confirm
•
•
•
•
whether
they
are
just
farming
it
out.
Firms
also
play
the
bait‐and‐switch
approach,
which
is
to
give
you
great
work
at
first
at
a
great
price‐‐
then
throw
inexperienced
programmers
at
you
later,
as
their
senior
guy
moves
on
to
another
new
client.
Do
not
pay
by
the
hour:
Unless
you
have
an
established
working
relationship,
you
want
to
pay
by
completion.
Break
up
the
work
into
chunks
and
pay
based
on
progress.
Project‐based
bidding
requires
that
you
are
precise
with
your
requirements,
since
if
you
don't
specify
it,
they
won't
build
it.
To
avoid
leaving
stuff
out,
read
what
other
wrote
in
their
requirements
and
see
if
there
are
other
clone
sites
posted
(make
my
site
a
copy
of
the
features
of
XYZ.com,
plus
or
minus
these
features).
Even
though
you're
not
paying
by
the
hour,
you
still
want
their
estimate
of
how
many
hours
it
will
take‐‐
so
that
you
can
get
a
sense
of
their
level
of
effort
and
whether
they
are
accurately
breaking
down
the
project
into
realistic
pieces.
Ask
for
code
examples:
Not
just
a
portfolio
of
sites,
but
actual
code
if
they're
an
engineer.
Have
your
trusted
engineering
friend
look
it
over.
Often
a
great
looking
site
is
an
unmanageable
piece
of
crap
that
will
haunt
you
later‐‐
like
a
unreliable
car
that
happens
to
have
a
new
paint
job.
Look
for
thoughtful,
rapid
response:
When
you
submit
your
project,
you'll
likely
get
a
couple
dozen
bids.
Immediately
discard
the
responses
that
are
canned.
That
will
probably
eliminate
2/3rds
of
the
bids.
If
they're
lazy
before
the
project
begins,
that's
a
good
sign
on
the
level
of
attention
they'll
give
you
once
you're
underway.
Likewise,
if
they
don't
respond
to
questions
immediately,
then
you're
also
likely
to
be
left
hanging
at
the
very
moments
you
need
them
the
most.
Require
weekly
status
reports
(more
often
if
you
like,
especially
if
the
project
is
short).
Outsource
as
much
or
as
little
as
you'd
like:
Use
outsourcing
as
a
glue
to
fill
in
the
parts
that
you
don't
want
to
do.
You
can
even
outsource
the
entire
website
development‐‐
set
up
WordPress,
implement
a
canned
or
custom
theme,
and
host
the
site.
Or
choose
your
own
host
and
have
one
guy
do
some
design
and
another
to
do
minor
engineering.
We
choose
separate
firms
for
engineering
and
design,
since
that
gives
us
leverage
with
the
vendor.
If
that
vendor
knows
you're
relying
upon
them,
then
they
have
you
by
the
balls.
If
they
know
there
are
a
couple
other
folks
you're
using,
too,
then
they
have
to
stay
competitive.
The
trade‐off
here
is
that
you're
having
to
manage
more
people‐‐
and
this
approach
makes
sense
once
you
have
a
dozen
or
more
projects.
• Be
cheap
about
what
you
can
afford
to
pay:
You'll
find
guys
who
will
do
a
WordPress
installation
and
mini
theme
customization
project
for
$20
in
TOTAL.
Maybe
you're
banging
your
head
trying
to
ftp
some
files
or
modify
a
template
file‐‐
you
can
pay
someone
a
few
dollars
to
do
it
for
you.
Just
make
sure
you
are
careful
with
your
data.
• All
development
to
occur
on
your
box:
And
they
must
check
in
code
regularly.
You
don't
want
to
be
left
hanging
midway
through
the
project
if
they
suddenly
disappear.
If
you
have
multiple
developers,
learn
what
Subversion
is,
so
you
can
keep
versions
of
your
code
and
keep
guys
from
overwriting
each
other.
Sometimes
you'll
have
a
dispute
with
them
and
you
don't
want
them
holding
you
hostage.
Do
enough
projects
and
this
will
definitely
happen.
Rentacoder
has
a
dispute
resolution
process
which
favors
you,
since
you'll
have
already
written
clear
requirements
that
form
the
basis
of
a
contract.
6. Setup Your Content Categories & Pages
You
want
to
create
pages
for
the
top
five
keywords
that
you
want
to
rank
on.
See
Week
6
for
how
to
do
keyword
research,
if
you
want
a
refresher.
Else,
just
choose
your
top
5
ad
groups
from
your
PPC
campaigns,
use
the
Google
Wonder
Wheel,
or
just
come
up
with
the
top
5.
Pages
are
static
pages
that
link
from
the
home
page,
while
Categories
are
tags
that
you
can
associate
any
blog
with.
S ettin g U p P a g es:
You
can
use
pages
for
things
besides
blogs,
perhaps
articles,
case
studies,
etc.
You
can
create
a
parent
Page
and
then
create
other
pages
and
define
them
as
being
children
of
the
parent
page.
This
will
make
them
show
up
under
these
in
the
menu
listing
for
your
template.
S ettin g U p C a teg o r ies:
Categories
are
more
on
the
fly
and
are
really
similar
to
tags
now.
When
you're
writing
a
blog
on
the
right
side
under
"Categories"
you'll
see
all
your
current
categories
listed
and
underneath
it
you'll
see
an
"Add
New
Category"
link.
Anytime
that
you
are
posting
about
something
that
falls
under
a
new
category
you
can
simply
click
that
link,
fill
in
the
category
name
and
save
it.
Having
these
on
the
fly
categories
is
useful
but
make
sure
that
you
don't
make
too
many
categories,
it
there
is
something
you
only
see
yourself
using
once
perhaps
put
it
inside
of
the
"Tags"
field.
Setup Google Webmaster Tool:
Go
to
Google
Webmaster
Tools
and
signup
an
account
to
add
your
site.
It
will
ask
for
authorization
of
some
sort
whether
it
is
by
adding
a
meta
tag
or
creating
an
html
file
on
your
server.
This
might
not
be
a
huge
tool
at
first
but
once
your
site
starts
getting
crawled
it's
a
great
utility
to
see
some
information
on
organic
search
results,
crawl
rates
and
other
information.
7. Integrate Social Networking Features to Your Site
Make
sure
to
integrate
your
Facebook
and
twitter
profiles,
so
you
can
automatically
share
updates
between
them.
There
are
many
ways
to
integrate
your
blog
into
many
of
your
social
networking
tools.
The
first
step
you
should
take
is
see
if
your
social
networking
tool
allows
you
to
put
RSS
feeds
into
your
news
feed.
If
so
copy
and
paste
your
site's
feed
url
(probably
http://your‐domain.com/feed)
and
the
site
should
read
it
just
like
that.
For
example
if
you
go
to
your
own
profile
on
Facebook,
click
on
"Settings",
then
click
"Blog
/
RSS",
type
in
your
blog's
feed
and
all
your
most
recent
posts
will
automatically
show
up!
Additionally
look
to
the
next
step
in
order
to
install
Facebook
Connect
which
will
really
enable
your
blog
to
be
used
with
Facebook.
Also
be
sure
to
edit
all
applicable
social
profiles
adding
your
new
website
domain
in
the
website
field.
This
can
be
useful
to
drive
occasional
visits
as
well
as
some
sites
which
do
not
put
a
"No
Follow"
tag
on
links
to
the
site
so
you
can
get
some
credit
for
having
links
from
other
sites.
8. INSTALLING PLUGINS
Installing WordPress Plugins
In
WordPress
2.8
the
ease
of
plugin
installation
has
grown
exponentally.
You
are
able
to
click
on
"Plugins"
and
then
click
on
"Add
New"
and
search
for
the
plugin
you
are
looking
for.
Click
on
the
"Install"
link
to
the
right
of
the
listing,
which
will
bring
up
all
the
information
about
the
plugin
itself
and
will
show
one
more
install
link.
Click
on
"Install"
one
more
time.
You
will
be
prompted
for
your
ftp
information
which
was
provided
by
your
hosting
provider.
The
first
time
you'll
need
to
fill
it
all
out
and
the
subsequent
times
you
will
just
need
to
put
in
the
password.
A Few Important Plugins
F ac e b o o k C o n n ec t:
Facebook
Connect
is
crucial
for
any
WordPress
blog.
This
allows
any
user
from
Facebook
to
sign
into
your
blog
using
their
Facebook
credentials
and
post
comments,
like
items
and
share
items
on
Facebook
with
one
click.
This
creates
conversions
which
you
would
never
see
and
gives
you
some
personal
information
about
the
sort
of
people
coming
to
the
blog.
Facebook
Connect
is
easy
to
install
and
implement,
the
plugin
can
be
found
here
or
search
for
WP
Facebook
Connect.
G o o g le A n aly tic s:
Google
Analytics
is
very
important
for
your
blog
as
well
but
rather
than
having
to
go
in
and
edit
your
theme
manually
and
add
the
script,
you
can
simply
install
the
Google
Analytics
Plugin
or
search
for
Google
Analytics.
You'll
need
to
be
sure
to
create
your
Google
Analytics
account.
A kis m et:
Akismet
is
crucial
for
your
sanity,
it
is
an
anti‐spam
tool
provided
by
WordPress
which
is
excellent
at
filtering
out
spam
comments
which
you'll
as
soon
as
your
blog
starts
getting
indexed
by
Google.
You
need
to
install
it
via
the
download
or
search,
but
be
sure
that
you
also
sign
up
for
a
WordPress.org
account
so
you
can
get
your
"API
Key"
for
Akismet.
Navigate
here
and
follow
the
instructions.
G o o g le X M L S ite m ap s:
Google
XML
Sitemaps
is
very
important
for
your
SEO.
It
will
generate
an
HTML
&
XML
Sitemap
for
your
site
which
are
readable
by
Google,
other
Search
Engines
and
visitors
of
your
site.
There
are
a
lot
of
settings
for
this,
however
the
default
setting
will
work
for
most
users.
Tweak
it
later
if
you
need
more
detail
or
find
that
the
sitemap
isn't
getting
generated
how
you
like
it.
Download
it
here
or
search
for
Google
XML
Sitemap
M ailpr e ss :
MailPress
is
one
of
the
most
important
plugins
for
a
blog
which
you
are
trying
to
drive
traffic
to.
By
following
up
with
users
and
commenters
you
are
able
to
get
more
return
visits.
Using
it
is
quite
simple
but
there
are
a
lot
of
customization
options
you
can
download
and
install
the
package
from
here
or
search
for
MailPress.
P latin u m S E O :
Platinum
SEO
is
a
great
tool
for
making
sure
that
your
blog
posts,
pages
and
overall
site
have
the
correct
description
and
keyword
information
for
Google.
It
adds
meta
tags,
improves
page
titles
and
several
other
things
that
make
your
site
overall
more
Search
Engine
Friendly.
The
plugin
can
be
downloaded
from
here
or
search
for
Platinum
SEO.
Tw itte r F o r W o r d P r ess:
Twitter
For
WordPress
displays
your
twitter
information
in
the
sidebar
on
your
blog
as
well
as
allowing
you
to
update
your
Twitter
with
each
blog
post.
It's
great
for
making
sure
that
your
blog
and
Twitter
stay
in
sync
and
it
can
both
get
you
new
blog
followers
as
well
as
Twitter
followers.
You
can
download
it
from
here
or
search
for
Twitter
For
WordPress.
Photo Gallery:
If
you
have
any
images
that
will
be
associated
with
your
blog
you
should
grab
some
sort
of
WordPress
plugin
for
this.
There
are
plugins
for
Flickr,
Photobucket
and
many
others
so
you
should
be
able
to
find
whatever
site
you
use
for
photo
management.
Just
search
for
the
name
of
the
photo
sharing
website
you
use
and
there
should
be
a
plugin
for
it.
9. MONETIZATION
If
making
money
through
your
blog
is
an
ultimate
goal
there
are
several
steps
you
can
take
to
get
the
ball
rolling.
With
time
you'll
learn
to
optimize
conversions
and
get
better
ad
content
and
affiliates,
however
before
you
do
getting
started
doesn't
take
a
lot
of
effort
and
while
right
off
the
bat
you
won't
see
much
incoming
money
via
the
blog,
it's
good
to
have
this
stuff
setup
so
in
case
you
end
up
getting
very
popular
very
quickly.
AdSense:
Google
AdSense
is
a
great
tool
for
making
some
good
simple
money
for
your
site.
By
reading
the
content
on
your
site
and
then
adding
advertizer
links
having
to
due
with
keywords
found
on
your
entire
site
or
individual
pages
Google
sells
ad
space
to
advertizers
on
your
site
and
then
gives
you
a
cut.
And
with
AdSense
Manager
Plugin
you're
able
to
easily
integrate
ads
into
your
blog
via
widgets
or
sidebar
so
they
show
up
on
every
page.
It's
good
to
put
them
in
a
promenent
location
so
that
it's
more
likely
to
catch
people's
eye.
Affiliate
Links:
If
you
are
using
some
sort
of
affiliate
system
(Affiliate.com,
Amazon,
etc)
you
are
able
to
come
up
with
links
which
are
less
tired
to
the
content
dynamically
but
could
be
very
tempting
to
users.
For
example
if
you
have
a
blog
with
product
reviews,
you
could
post
a
link
to
that
item
and
similar
items
on
Amazon
and
when
people
click
the
link,
if
they
make
a
purchase
you
would
make
up
to
a
10%
profit
on
that
item.
Some
of
the
returns
on
other
items
through
Affiliate
Networks
such
as
Affiliate.com
can
have
an
even
higher
return
than
that.
Generally
the
higher
the
payout,
however
the
lower
the
conversion
rate.
Selling
Your
Own
Inventory:
Google
offers
a
smarter
alternative
to
openads
(now
called
openx).
If
you
are
selling
ads
to
advertisers
directly,
then
consider
Google
Ad
Manager.
We
have
been
using
their
tool
for
2
years.
It's
free,
easy,
sophisticated
and
is
like
most
of
Google's
other
products‐
impressive.
Be
warned
that
you
are
sharing
your
data
with
Google
and
that
they
have
AdSense
as
a
default.
10. LOOKING FORWARD
The
site
is
now
up
and
running,
and
you
can
embark
on
your
adventure
with
your
new
site!
Do
set
aside
schedules
to
beef
up
your
site
with
good
and
useful
content,
and
some
humor
will
do
wonders.
Engage
and
nurture
your
visitors
and
you
will
be
on
your
way
to
a
very
enriching
web
experience.
Remember
to
use
make
full
use
of
the
google
analytics
to
monitor
the
performance
of
your
websites,
so
that
you
know
what
works
and
what
not,
and
it
kind
of
act
as
a
feedback
loop
for
you.
You
can
now
continue
to
experiment
and
tweak
to
your
heart
content,
and
the
visitors
will
feedback
to
you
on
what
they
think
with
their
clicks!
CAVEATS & WARNINGS
What NOT to do
Create
an
MFA
Site:
MFA
means
Made
For
Adsense.
These
are
sites
with
fake
content
that
is
usually
auto‐generated
via
recombining
RSS
feeds.
They
will
likely
generate
moderate
income
for
a
little
while.
Some
spammers
will
create
hundreds
of
sites
and
can
generate
income
until
they
get
slapped
by
Google,
reported
by
other
affiliates
here
or
are
hit
by
the
advertiser
(usually
with
a
Cease
and
Desist).
If
you
go
this
route,
expect
that
your
cost
per
domain
will
be
about
$30
each‐
$8
to
buy
the
domain,
$10
for
a
skin,
and
$12
to
get
5
or
6
articles
written
by
a
service.
The
costs
usually
do
not
add
up
and
you
end
up
either
coming
about
even
or
losing
money,
even
with
shared
hosting
your
margins
are
razor
thin.
When NOT to use wordpress:
eCommerce:
If
you
are
making
an
eCommerce
site
you
should
avoid
using
a
WordPress
blog.
These
sites,
while
they
can
be
in
WordPress
are
usually
much
deeper
and
require
much
more
options
and
management.
For
eCommerce
sites
look
into
a
more
full
fledged
open
source
platforms
such
as
Magento.
Dating
Site:
With
dating
sites
you
have
the
same
problem
as
eCommerce
sites.
There
aren't
enough
options,
site
depth
or
flexibility.
While
WordPress
has
a
built
in
Social
Networking
utility,
it's
not
emough.
If
you're
looking
to
do
this
you
should
take
a
look
at
Online
Personals
Watch's
"Building
Your
Own
Dating
Site"
Personal Checklist
Research
your
keywords
select
an
appropriate
domain
Look
around
for
hosting,
selecting
one
which
is
best
for
you.
Purchase
your
hosting
plan,
your
host
might
have
a
deal
where
they'll
buy
the
domain
for
you,
if
so,
do
this
Get
your
FTP
information
and
keep
it
in
one
place.
Download
WordPress
from
wordpress.org
Get
an
FTP
Application
Unzip
the
downloaded
file
and
upload
to
your
ftp
server
Get
your
database
information
Visit
your
new
domain
and
proceed
with
the
installation
steps
Select
a
theme
and
try
a
couple
of
them
out
Customize
your
blog
by
making
sure
the
name
is
right,
tagline,
etc
Setup
any
page
structure
you
plan
to
be
using
and
maybe
even
add
some
initial
categories
Setup
Google
Webmaster
Tools
&
Google
Analytics
&
Google
AdSense
Accounts
Integrate
your
blog
with
your
social
sites
Look
at
the
plugin
directory
and
come
up
with
some
plugins
you
like
Install
Google
Analytics,
Sitemap
&
Facebook
Connect
Plugins
Install
any
other
optional
plugins
Install
AdSense
Plugin
and
set
it
up
with
your
account
Look
into
affiliates
and
other
places
to
make
money
Continue
to
fine
tune
and
enjoy
your
new
site!