Creating a website is a must for any entrepreneur, so you have a place to update fresh content for your readers and showcase your products and services. I like to think of a website as a place to serve your audience with free content around tour niche.
Creating a Website Doesn’t Mean You Have To Be “Techie”
Creating a website doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Gone are the days of needing to know computer code to create a beautiful and functional website. I am going to show you how to set up your WordPress site in under an hour!
Web Hosting & Domain Name
The first step in creating a website is choosing web hosting and a domain name. Bluehost does both and is very user friendly. It’s also budget friendly. By using my link, you will get Bluehost for the discounted price of $3.95 per month. Bluehost has excellent customer service available 24/7. They even call me every so often to see if they can help with anything my site may need and answer all of my questions.
Click this link and select “Get Started.”
- Select your Bluehost plan. I personally recommend the $2.95 plan when starting out. You will be offered a variety of upgrades, but I don’t feel they are necessary in the beginning, and you can always add to your plan down the road.
After you select your plan, it’s time to pick a website name. You can search available names or use a domain you already have.
Next, fill out your account information. That’s it! You now have a domain name and website hosting!
Install WordPress
Now it’s time to install WordPress and create your beautiful site. WordPress.org is the best option because it is self-hosted. To monetize your site, you need to be self-hosted. Bluehost has a WordPress installer that will install it for you. It’s a quick and seamless process.
Pick a Theme
Now you get to design your site with a beautiful theme. While there are many free WordPress themes available, I highly recommend Restored 316 themes for a beautiful yet professional looking site. Their themes run anywhere from $50-$75. Restored 316 provides step by step instructions and videos for setting up your WordPress theme. You will have a professional looking website up in minutes where all you have to do is swap out the default posts and pictures with your own. I have used Restored 316 for years and never had issues. Their customer service is great as well.
Note: you can change your theme at any time with the click of a button. If you want to start out with a free theme and upgrade later, you can do so.
Install Important Plugins
Now that your website theme is installed, it’s important to install some plugins to make your site function efficiently. If you purchased a Restored 316 theme, most of the plugins will be downloaded for you.
Here are the top plugins I recommend:
- Askimet Anti-Spam – this plugin filters comments and checks for spam.
- Wordfence – this plugin is a firewall and malware security scanner that protects your site from malicious IP addresses. They alert you when something seems suspicious on your site.
- Smush It – beautiful pictures are a must for any website, but all of those images can really slow down a site. Smush it optimizes and compresses photos making your site load quickly and efficiently.
- Pinterest Pin It Button – this plugin creates a pin it button that hovers over images, so you can pin your blog posts directly to Pinterest.
- Yoast SEO – make SEO a breeze with Yoast. This tool optimizes your site for the top of search engine results. Every post gives you a green smiley face when it’s optimized for SEO or a red face with tips on how you can make your post more SEO friendly.
- Email form plugin – everyone should have a way to capture email addresses on their site. The plugin you choose will vary based on which email platform you use. Check with your email provider to see what plugin they recommend.
Those are the basic plugins you will want to get your site up and running efficiently. But keep in mind that while there are many plugins that do cool things, too many plugins can cause your site to load slowly and even cause issues with the site. Start with a few and only add what you truly need. Delete old plugins that are no longer being used. In addition, update your plugins on a regular basis, so they are working correctly.
Congrats On Your New Site!
Your site is now up an running! It is time to start posting. Don’t forget to use the pin it button to pin your posts to Pinterest which will drive traffic.
Interested in learning how to monetize your site and create multiple streams of passive income? Check out my free passive income guide here.
Thank you for reading. Comment below and let me know if this helped you in creating your website!
Happy Manifesting,
Stephanie
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