How to Set Up a WordPress Blog

There’s no doubt that WordPress is an easy way to get your website or blog up and running. WordPress is perhaps the easiest platform to use, with many user-friendly features that make customizing your site a snap. WordPress works for anyone, whether you are looking to create a hobby website or are trying to launch a new internet business. Here are some easy tips to help you get started.

Get a Domain Name and Web Hosting

It is possible to get a free WordPress blog on the WordPress site. However, this will cut you out of many customization options. It will also mean having the .wordpress extension somewhere in your domain name. This is fine if you’re running the site as a hobby, but it looks unprofessional if you’re trying to run an internet business. Fortunately, it is not hard to get your own site, nor is it expensive to do so. Web hosts like Tiger Technologies or Host Gator have plans for under $10 per month and they allow you to register your domain name while you sign up for hosting.

Once you’ve purchased your site you can then install WordPress with a single click from your account dashboard. Once the program is installed you need never touch your hosting company’s dashboard again for any purpose other than to pay your bill. You can instead manage your entire site from the WordPress dashboard.

Housekeeping

When you get into your WordPress dashboard for the first time you will need to make some adjustments. Start with the “Users” tab and click on “Your Profile.” Add your first name and last name, then use the drop down menu to determine how your name will be displayed across your WordPress site. If you don’t do this, WordPress will display your username on all posts, which represents a big security risk as you’ve already given a hacker 50% of the information he needs to break into your website.

You’ll also want to change your theme under the appearance tab of the menu bar. In “Posts” and “Pages” you will want to delete the default posts and pages so you can begin to create your own: these will usually have the title “Hello, World!” You should also go into the “General” option under the “Settings” tab to change your blog’s title and tagline. Otherwise, the tagline will read “Just another WordPress blog,” which is not the message you’ll want to send to your future site visitors.

What You See is What You Get

The WordPress editor is simple and straightforward: you’ll find creating and editing pages and posts to be similar to using a standard word processing program. You can change the content of your side bars by using the “widgets” menu on the appearance tab. “Plug-ins” lets you add all kinds of nifty features, from web stores to contact forms.

There’s very little you can do to “break” your WordPress site, so feel free to experiment a little bit. You can always preview your site, which will tell you if you are achieving the look and feel you want your site to offer. Now you can begin the process of promoting and updating your site on a regular basis, joining the ranks of successful website owners everywhere!