Choosing a domain name (website name, URL) is one of the first steps in building a website.  You will want to choose a name carefully, as it will be the way people find you on the internet.  Some website names are long and confusing, and if they are hard to remember then people will forget how to get to the site and may give up their search from difficulty and frustration.  You want your name to be short and recognizeable.  Try to avoid using dashes or other word separating characters in the name also.

We all now the extension .com very well.  You may find that the name you are looking for is not available with a .com extension.  Thats alright, because there are many other extensions to choose from, such as;  .net, .org, .tv, .ws.  Check these extensions to see if your name is available.  These extensions are not as well known as .com, but as time passes they will become more and more prominent all over the world.

Right now .com is where business sites need to be at.  With all the new top level domains coming there is a lot of speculation but for now everyone knows and remembers .com. Always start there although if you have the extra money it is a good idea to tie up the .net and .org extension of your name before a competitor does.

If you plan on making money with your site don’t have it hosted on a free site. www.freesites.com/~yoursite.htm just doesn’t inspire confidence. Bring it into the brick and mortar world. If you had to buy from somewhere would you buy from the retail store with a sign saying “Swords.com” or “www.freewebsite/ispname/~myswordsite.htm?”.

Take your time, ask other people their opinion, get feedback from people who spend time on the web. Choosing the right name can make all the difference in marketing your site.

 DRIVING TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE

I am going to talk a little about website optimization, there is so much information on this subject we will start with some basic information and progress in more advanced techniques in future posts.  Let’s assume that you are an average Joe just trying to get an online presence through what we call the basic concepts of website optimization.  Let’s start with a basic check list to see how close you are to having your website optimized and how much work you still might have ahead of you.  Remember this is pretty basic and only touches the surface of what needs to be done.  You have plenty of time to work on this, since a website presence usually peaks after the first year of online exposure. 

Optimization Checklist

Choose the right domain name. 
Pick a reliable host.
Develop a site theme.
Define & focus on your target audience.
Choose specific keyword phrases.
Consider your page size & design layout.
Keyword placement, density and keyword proximity.  
Format your meta tags properly.
Validate your HTML & check for broken links or missing images.
Develop your link popularity.
Monitor your website activity.

If you have made it through that check list and feel comfortable that you have achieved all those goals then let’s proceed on.  You will need to submit your website to the major search engines, I am only going to link you to google submission form but there are many others out there that you can use. To submit your website to google click HERE.

Now lets move on to Link Exchange or Reciprocal Linking

Reciprocal Linking

Reciprocal Linking = Site A links to Site B, Site B links back to Site A

This is a link from your site to another and they link back to you. A bit of advice here is to only link to sites that are relevant to yours. What’s important here is not number of the links you have, but the quality and relevancy of the site your are linking back to.

Natural Linking

Natural Linking or One-Way Linking = Site B links to Site A

Natural links are given a far better ranking than a reciprocal link. The easiest way to do this is to write articles and then submit them to article directories with a link back to your website. 

ADDING YOUR OWN CONTENT AND PICTURES

In this tutorial we will be talking about adding text and pictures to your WordPress site.  To begin adding content to your site you will need to login to your administration panel by going to the main page of your website…

or by typing in the following address in your web browsers address bar.  Using your websites name of course.

http://www.yoursitesname.com/wp-admin

Once you get logged in you need to decide if you are going to create a new page or a new post.  Since this is blogging software you can create either to begin inserting content.

Once logged in you will be taken to the Dashboard and in the navigation bar at the top of the page you will see many options for adjusting configuration settings or adding content.  Click on the option at the top nav bar labeled “Write” then you will be given the option to write a page or a post.

Whether you decide to make a page or a post, you will begin to add text and pictures to the open window like the one you see above.  Once you have added your content you will want to click on the “Save and Continue Editing” button to save the work you have done.  If you DO NOT publish the work then it will remain a draft until you do publish it.  Once it is published it will be available for anyone and everyone to see.

You will also want to consider Categorizing your page or post by adding or creating a new category then selecting which category you want your post to be in.  This is all on the same page in your editor.  Make sure to click the “Save and Continue Editing” when you are done.

Adding Pictures to WordPress

To add pictures to your WordPress site you will have to be aware that if the picture is not the right size (too big) it might distort your template.  So a safe size for pictures is a width of 500. 

While you are on the editing page…scroll towards the bottom of the page and look for the following:

By clicking the “Browse” button you can browse the files on your computer.  Once you have selected a picture from your files click on the “Upload” button and wait for the picture to upload. 

Next you will have to decide whether you want the Thumbnail image or the Full Size image.  You will also want to set the “Link To” option to NONE.  Then make sure your cursor is where you want it to be in your editor and then click the Send To Editor button to send the picture to your editor window.

Make sure that you save your work when you are done!

ADDING TEMPLATES AND COLOR

Now that you finished setting up your WordPress site…it’s time to bring out your creative side and really breathe life into your site.  I am going to show you how to find and install different templates of your choosing.

If you would like to change the template on your website then click on the link below.

http://themes.wordpress.net/

Here you will find many templates to choose from.  Once you have chosen a template, click on download and save the file somewhere on your computer.  I like to save them to my desktop.  The file will be compressed in a Winzip zip file so you will have to open the zip file and copy the file inside onto your desktop.  You will upload this file to your FTP account into the folder labeled wp-content/themes directory as I will show you in the following tutorial.

To do this you will need to access your FTP account.  Open your internet browser and type in the address of you site as follows:

ftp://yoursitename.com

After you have started the browser looking for your FTP files you might see the following pop-up.

Just click the “ok” button to make this window close.  Then goto the toolbar at the top of the browser window and click on “File”.  A drop down list will appear and at the top you should see “Login As”…click this option.  A login window will appear and you will have to enter your username and password that you use to login to your BlueHost account with.  It looks like this…

After you have successfully logged in to your FTP account you will see a window with several folders.  Before we go any further I am going to give you the complete succession of files you will need to open to get to the right place.  Then I will walk you through the succession step-by-step.  The file address is:

public_html/wp-content/themes

Now I will show you how to get there!  You will start by opening the “public_html” file folder (double-click)

The next step will depend on how many add-on sites you have added to your account.  If you only have the one site then you will double-click on the folder labeled “wp-content”  and when that folder is opened look for the file labeled “themes”.  This is the folder that we will put your newly downloaded template file into.

Open the “themes” folder and then you can drag-and-drop the downloaded template file into the FTP window or you can copy-and-paste it in there from your computer.  I usually save the file that I am going to put into the FTP folder on my desktop.  Then I reduce the size of the FTP browser window and drag-and-drop the file into it from my desktop.

Next you will want to goto your site and login.

 

Once you have logged in, you will be taken to the Dashboard.  There you will see a navigation bar as well as some options for configuring your site.  You will have two options for changing the template on your site.  See the image below.  If you choose either one of the options (links) you will be redirected to the same page for access to change your template.  The two options or links are the following:

“Presentation” - Located in the navigation bar at the top of the window

“Change Your Site’s Look or Theme” - Located in the options under “Use These Links To Get Started”

Once you have been directed to the “Themes” page you should see the template that you downloaded on the screen.  Select it by clicking on it with your mouse.

 YOUR DONE!!!  Now goto your site and hit the refresh button to view your new template.

SETTING UP YOUR SITE

Now that you have purchased your Domain Name and Domain Hosting package, its time to set up the framework of your Word Press site so you can start to give your website a personality with website templates, and content.  This tutorial will be the longest of the series, so buckle up and lets go for a ride.

You are going to set up software on your hosting server that will help automate the development of your site.  There are several different versions of software, but my money is on WordPress because it is so versatile and user friendly.  WordPress is Blogging software, so you will actually be creating a Blog/Website, which gives you more options and better visibility on the internet.  Wordpress is a community of people from different levels of web development.  Some people are experienced at writing and reading HTML code, and others have internet experience, but have never even seen HTML code, or had their own website.  They all like WordPress for its ease of use, and versatility. WordPress is open source software which means it is free and can be modified for each person’s own purpose without infringing on any copyrights.

To get started setting up your website we will have to goto the login page for Blue Host at the following link:

 BLUEHOST.COM

When you get to the login page you will have to login using the login name and password that was sent to you via your e-mail address when you purchased your package.

Once you get logged in you will be taken to the Control Panel page where we will actually begin to set up the foundation of your new website.  We are going to use an automated installer called Fantastico to help us get all of the proper files and code onto your server for your WordPress site.  Click on Fantastico which is indicated by the green arrow in the image below.

On the next page (Fantastico Page) look for the WordPress link in the left hand sidebar and click on it.

Now we are going to install WordPress by clicking on the New Installation link as shown below.

You will need to fill out the form after the new page has loaded.  You only need to fill out the boxes that I have indicated below with the green arrows. The information will need to be as follows:

1.  Pick you domain name from the drop down box at first arrow.

2.  Enter your username and password at the next two arrows.

3.  Enter your username again at the fourth arrow.

4.  Enter your current e-mail address at the fifth arrow.

5.  Pick a name for your site and enter it at the sixth arrow.  This could be your domain name or anything you would like.

Once you have completed filling in the boxes, go ahead and click on the INSTALL WORDPRESS button at the bottom to install WordPress onto your domain hosting account.  If you get an error message you will need to go back and check your information to make sure you entered it correctly.

Congratulations!  You have made it through the toughest part of this process. Make sure you visit your site online to see the results of your work.

Please proceed to Episode 3 to find out how to give your site a visual personality.

GETTING STARTED

You say you want to have your very own website, but you have no idea where to begin. We can help you with that!  Just step through our easy to follow tutorials and before you know it….you will be on your way to leaving your mark on the World Wide Web!

First you will need to decide on what you want to call your website.  This name will be your Domain Name or URL. It is very important that you choose a name you like, that will be short and finally, easily recognizeable.  Maybe it relates to your business or you as a person, you want it to stick in peoples minds when they see it.  The following steps will show you how to purchase and set-up a domain name and domain hosting for your new website.

The link below can be used to check the availability of your name or to buy a name, but I suggest you read further down the page before you purchase your name.  There are some better offers as we go along.  Use this link to check for the availability of the names you have picked out.  You do not need to register or login to check availability.

There are several domain name resellers out there, and we have done all the leg work to find the cheapest and best one out there for you.  Typically you would have to pay for your domain name, but Blue Host offers a FREE domain name with the purchase of a hosting package…which you will need anyway. I suggest the 12 month package, but you can pick from many that they offer. These fees will need to be renewed annually, and you will receive an e-mail to remind you of this when the time comes.

1.  Click on the link above. When the page is done downloading, click on the SIGN UP NOW button.

2.  There will be two boxes on the page, one for NEW CLIENTS and the other for TRANSFER CLIENTS.  Go to the NEW CLIENTS box and type in your domain name to see if its available.  If it is not, then continue to modify and enter new names until you find one that is available.

3.  Next you’ll be directed to the billing page.  Follow the instructions to sign up for your new account.  You will need the following:

• Current Address Information

• Current E-Mail Address

• Credit Card or PayPal Account

• An Idea For A Password

Once you have finished paying for your hosting package, it will be time to log in and set-up your domain name and start building your site!  You should receive an e-mail containing your login name and password for access to your Blue Host account.  Keep this e-mail and DO NOT delete it.

You did it!  Congratulations, and welcome to the World Wide Web! Please continue to the next segment in this series to learn how to configure your new website.