How To Build Your Online Presence On The Cheap – Step 4: The Do-It-Yourself Website Install

In case you have not been following this series yet, in the previous three installments we covered what goes into the creation and design of your brand. Be sure to go back and read those articles (and the comments – some good points added) before diving into the website building process. It is important to understand that each element of your online identity is integral to your success – you cannot only have a website or only have a logo or only have a social media account. You need every part and you should plan on investing a significant amount of time in all of them. Contrary to popular belief, the internet most definitely does NOT operate with a “build it and they’ll come” mentality. I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve worked for who thought if they had a good looking and professionally functioning website they would have immediate traffic.

So if you have followed the previous steps and have a good set of goals, a solid idea of where you’re heading and a visual identity that supports it, then it’s time to begin creating what will become your primary vehicle for steering the road toward your online dreams. Your website will be your headquarters – the place you can best communicate your message. With your website you will be able to track visitors and traffic and get a tangible readout of who is interested in your product, your message, and/or your online presence. All of the other elements will contribute, but they should be viewed as rivers that flow into the ocean that is your website.

In this part of the series we will go through the steps it takes to secure a domain name and a web hosting account, install WordPress, find a free theme to install and activate, and start posting content. This is obviously only one of the ways you can inexpensively get a quality website up and running, but it is one of the most popular and manageable methods and usually proves successful. WordPress websites are everywhere on the internet (you’re looking at one right now) and this blogging and content management system is infinitely expandable and configurable to be used for almost any type of purpose. Most importantly, it is easy to learn and relatively simple for even the most challenged technophobe to begin posting content, which is essential for internet success.

Keep in mind that this is not the ONLY way to do it. But I have walked people through the various processes enough to know this is one of the best and easiest ways. There are even cheaper and free alternatives, but the method we will go through is, in my opinion, the best for search engine optimization (SEO), expandability and professional representation. For instance, you could get a free WordPress website hosted on WordPress.com or Blogger and point your domain there, but there are limitations regarding plugins and editing, and the SEO is not optimal. Instead, I am encouraging you to spend a small amount of money on one of the most significant pieces of online real estate you will invest in. I assure you it will be worth it.

The first thing you need to do is secure your domain name. In Step 2: Choose Your Name Wisely you should have been looking up the availability of the domain name you wanted and you may have already purchased it. The place you purchase and register your domain name is not significant, but I would suggest that you shop around before buying. GoDaddy is usually a popular choice because of their massive advertising campaigns, their domain services are reasonably priced and their customer service is pretty remarkable. However, I have some serious issues with their proprietary and counterintuitive administration system, so they are not high on my list. I am not going to advocate any one domain registrant or webhost because almost all of them offer similar services for similar prices. I use JustHost and HostMonster for most of my clients and haven’t had any issues to speak of, but I know there are countless others that are most likely just as good. If you Google “web host” you will find a number of sites that rate and compare services and then you can make your own choices. But here are some key features I would look for:

» Your hosting package should not cost more than $10 per month. Most are cheaper when you pay annually – some as low as $3 or $4!

» If you haven’t registered your domain already, many webhosting services will give you a free domain registration with your hosting account

» Unlimited storage space

» Unlimited bandwidth/data transfer

» Unlimited email addresses

» Unlimited databases

» Free setup

» No hidden fees

Most quality hosts offer these features as standard. Many also offer free WordPress installation, cPanel (the most popular control panel around) money-back guarantees, uptime guarantees and more. But insuring that those I listed above are a part of your package should provide all you’ll need for any future expansion or other ideas you may have. And don’t waste your money on any of the “special add-ons” they offer at “discount prices” while you’re signing up. You don’t need them, no matter HOW much the service recommends them.

Once you have signed up for your hosting account, you should receive an email with all of the information you need to get you started. Be sure to save this email somewhere you will be able to easily find it whenever you need it. Locate the information for your control panel and log in. (For our purposes I am going to use cPanel as the example, but your web host may use something different. cPanel seems to be the most widely use d though, so hopefully this is your situation and these steps will be helpful.) There are usually tutorials to help you find everything you need within cPanel, so I will not repeat them here. Instead I will just focus on the steps for installing WordPress.

There are a few options for installing WordPress. You may have all or just one of them. In this article we’ll look at the built-in easy install that many web hosts offer. Look through your control panel’s features in the right column and see if you can locate either of the two icons pictured above: Fantastico or WordPress. Fantastico is a tool that will help you install a number of scripts and software programs on your hosting server with just a few simple steps. If you have it you will want to use this option by clicking on either the Fantastico or WordPress icon. (If you don’t see the icon, you may want to check with your web host to see if they have an alternative offering for easy WordPress install before moving on to the more elaborate self-install.)

Once you click on the icon it should open a page that looks something like this:

You will see a list of available programs on the left column and some descriptions and/or instructions  in the right main column. If you clicked on the Fantastico icon you will see that it is selected (denoted by the blue button) in the left column and that it says “Fantastico” at the top of the right column. If this is the case you need to click on “WordPress” in the left column to select it, which will then open a page that looks like this:

Click on the link that says “New Installation”, which will open a page that looks like this (without the red arrows):

Now you need to fill in some information as follows:

1. Make sure your desired domain is selected. (If you have only one domain it will default to it.)
2. For our purposes you will leave this blank. If you were going to have WordPress in a subdirectory, this is where you would designate it. For instance, on my website I have installed WordPress in the “blog” subdirectory, which gives my blog the address http://www.bkmacdaddy.com/blog. Installing WordPress in your root (main) directory is usually the best route to take, even if you don’t want the blog to be on the front page. But in most cases you will.
3. Decide on your administrator username and type it in here. This is going to be the name you personally log in to the administration side with.
4. Pick a password you will use along with the admin name and type it in here. Make sure to use a good mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and characters. It is crucial to the security of your site.
5. Your admin nickname will be the name visitors will see when you author a blog post. You can always change it later, but you could just put your name or “administrator” for now.
6. Type in your email address. This is important for any communication with the WordPress install. You will receive all notifications for comments, updates or if you lose your password at this address. Make sure it is a real email address that you have access to.
7. Type in your website’s name (not the address). Again, you can change this later. Mine would actually say “bkmacdaddy designs” in this box.
8. Type in a slogan or tag line if you have one. This will show up in places on the site. Or you can leave it blank if you don’t have a catch phrase yet.

Finally, BEFORE CLICKING THE INSTALL BUTTON, WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN! Save a copy of all of this information somewhere on your computer and write it down to have access to again later. You are almost guaranteed to someday forget your password or login and will need this info. Don’t lose it! Still, if you do, WordPress does have some pretty helpful recovery features.

Now click the button labeled “Install WordPress”. Yes, it’s okay. You won’t break anything. I promise.

The next page will show you the database information, which would be worth writing down as well. You most likely won’t need this but you never know. It will also show you the install directory and the URL (web address) of your WordPress install. Go ahead and write this down too.

Now click the button labeled “Finish Installation”.

It shouldn’t take more than a minute or so and you’re next page will show you the results of a successful install. Be sure and write this info down also, because it includes the login address for your administration area of WordPress.

Once you have it all written down, go ahead and click on the link to the admin area (http://www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin). You will come to a page that looks like this:

Now you can type in your admin username and password and log in!

If you do not have the easy process we just went through available on your new web host, you will need to install WordPress the “old-fashioned” way, which is a little more involved but can also be done by anyone (with some good instructions.) If the demand seems strong enough I will write about this process in the next installment, which should be published in the next day or two. If you can’t wait and are feeling a bit capable, you can follow the instructions from the WordPress Codex located HERE. Keep in mind that you will need to do some minimal work with a mySQL database and some FTP uploading, so if this thought scares you, you can hire me to do it for you or leave a comment below requesting that I write a guide for you in the next installment.

In the next few installments I will help you learn how to set up WordPress for a basic blog and business website as well as finding and installing the theme that will best fit your brand and help to enlarge your online footprint. Be sure to subscribe via RSS or email (by filling out the form at the top of the right sidebar) so you don’t miss a post! Also be sure to leave a comment or any questions below if there are things I have missed or you would like me to cover.

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