This is one of the most frequent questions I get these days.
Sounds like a simple question, but it can get really confusing and complicated. If you’re willing to fork in some money and time, you should be able to do it in no time.
But first, you have to decide what type of blog you are looking for. Study the breakdown before you plunge in.
Ok, now that you decided, if you still want to go with www.WordPress.org, then follow these steps:
- Buy the domain name (ex. from www.1and1.com). (~$8)
- Buy web hosting** from someone like www.bluehost.com. (~$100/year or less)
- Choose a wordpress theme. Just google it and you will find tons. (free or up to $50)
- Install your wordpress theme onto your website and customize it. (Technical knowledge required*** – free or up to $80-$300 depending on the complexity of your website and customization)
- Customize your website.
- Install all the plugins you want, especially Askimet and SEO all-in-one.
Example of a wordpress.com blog: www.greekmuslim.wordpress.com.
Example of a wordpress.org blog: www.greeksrethink.com
Footnotes:
*Search engine optimization – ex. how high your page appears in google searches.
**You can get a free domain name from your web hosting company but you have more control if you buy it separately from another company, in case you don’t like your web hosting company, it’s easy to switch and they don’t lock you in.
*** If you don’t know what you are doing, here’s some golden advice that will save you loads of money and tme. Instead of spending 50 hours trying to figure it out (and in the end, your site looks crappy), just hire a web designer to do it and use those hours to make money for your project. I know you might be cringing right now because most likely you are on a very low budget, but I go through this process all the time with so many people and in the end, they are exasperated by the experience and go to a web designer for help anyway, so why not just skip that frustration?
Filed under: Optimize Your Design | Tagged: blog, customize website, install theme, seo, spam, wordpress, wordpress.com, wordpress.org
