Baby Steps to an Online Business : How to Set Up WordPress

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If you have decided to use WordPress, the next step is getting it all set up on your website!

I am a hands-on learner and have taught myself how to use WordPress. If I didn’t know how to do something, I just Googled it and found the instructions online. Below I will provide some resources (some free, some paid) that will help you in setting up your WordPress blog.

Setting Up WordPress:

Here is a very well done video by Michael Hyatt on setting up your WordPress blog in 20 minutes or less:

httpv://vimeo.com/60305192

Here is another 1-hour video that goes through the whole process of creating a WordPress website:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jv47_VIBOQ&feature=share&list=PL2E877A9B7C8B6DCF

Here is a free online book with detailed instructions on setting up WordPress: https://www.conutant.com/home/

WP101.com – https://sherigraham.com/wp101
This is a membership site that has a ton of videos on how to set up and use WordPress. They are excellent! You can sign up for a monthly membership, yearly membership, or lifetime membership. If you are a “beginner” or even “advanced” user of WordPress, this video membership site will be a huge help to you in using WordPress. If you can’t afford this membership site, then you can just use the Youtube videos I have posted here.

Want someone else to do all this for you?
Check out Move Your Blog Now by MomWebs! – If all of this is making your head spin and you want someone else to do it for you, check out Move Your Blog Now! They have several different packages you can choose from and they will either set up a new WordPress blog or move an existing blog and set it up at MomWebs for you. (Make sure to let them know I sent you!)

WordPress Themes:
There are a ton of free themes that you can use if you wish, but the premium themes are usually coded much better and are more SEO friendly. I will list below a few different companies that sell premium WordPress themes.

Diva Themes – https://sherigraham.com/divathemes (WordPress themes)

StudioPress – https://sherigraham.com/studiopress (These are the themes that I mostly use on my sites.)

WooThemes – https://www.woothemes.com/product-category/themes/

WordPress Plugins & Widgets:
As with the themes, there are a ton of plugins that you can install on your WordPress site. There are plugins for everything! Some of the ones I will list below, such as the plugins I use for my shopping cart, will be talked about in a future post when I cover setting up a shopping cart. I just thought I would list below some of my favorite plugins for you to check out!

Akismet – Spam filter

And the Winner Is… – I use this plugin for any giveaways I do.

nrelate Related Content – Adds related content boxes at the end of each post.

Pinterest RSS Widget – Lets me put a widget on my site showing my latest Pinterest posts

Pretty Link Lite – This nice little plugin allows you to create redirected links, making nicer looking links that you can use.

TinyMCE Advanced – I LOVE this plugin! It adds all kinds of features to your editing toolbar when you are typing up your blog posts.

Black Studio TinyMCE Widget – This adds a WYSIWYG widget that you can use to enter any kind of text into a widget area…no HTML code needed!

WordPress Backup to Dropbox – I am using this plugin to back up my WordPress site to my Dropbox account.

WordPress Editorial Calendar – This makes it very easy for me to schedule posts ahead of time. I can drag and drop posts onto a calendar, making it easy to rearrange and schedule posts.

WP eStore & WP Affiliate -This is what I use for my shopping cart and affiliate program

WPtouch – This plugin formats your site with a mobile theme for those that may visit your website on their Apple or other “touch” device.

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I hope this has been helpful for you as you get your WordPress site all set up and looking the way you want it. The next post in this series will be covering different options for backing up your blog.

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