3 Steps to Firing Your Webmaster (and Creating a Kick-Ass Blog)

8 Aug

If you’ve been blogging for a while and you want to create a professional looking blog (without having the techno-geek Ninja Skills that most bloggers have), then this video is for you. It’s not often you get advice that drives straight to the heart of the issue. For non-techies only

There are three steps to get your blog up and going from scratch. Even if you’re clueless when it comes to technology, you’ll find this helpful.

Here are 3 steps to firing your webmaster and creating a kick ass blog:

Step 1: The Domain-Host Equation

The price for a new domain runs you about $10 per year. You can use a number of different companies that I talk about in the video. For now, just realize you need to purchase a domain (this is the web address or name where people can go to access your blog. i.e. www.problogger.net)

The second piece to creating a professional looking blog is the host. Hosts are the computers connected to the Internet that store your files (including WordPress pages, graphics, etc.) and costs you on average about $5 ~ $10 per month.

Here are a few things to consider when looking at a host:

Reliability: The last thing you want is for your host to be down when you’re driving traffic to your site. It’s important to consider the uptime. Here are some questions to ask yourself: Is the service reliable? Can I depend on it? What are others saying about it?
Customer Service: some hosts will have email support and others will provide phone support. Some have both. In my experience email support is the slower of the two and if you’re not technical it can be a difficult way to communicate your technical questions. But when you get on the phone with someone and they can view your screen (or even make the techie changes for you) it makes life much simpler.
Easy WordPress Installation: this is a service that many hosts advertise. Make sure to look for it as it will make your life easier. Some hosts even have a feature called “Fantastico” which allows for an easy WordPress installation.
Included Space: this isn’t a big concern because normally your videos will be either on YouTube or another video hosting sites like Amazon S3. I recommend you use these other video sites to host your videos so that your blog doesn’t slow down when you have a high volume of videos being watched.

Bottom line: Don’t go for the cheapest host! You get what you pay for. Consider the points above when considering your host.

Here are a few hosts I recommend:

DreamHost (what I use for all my blogs) -- www.dreamhost.com
HostGator -- www.hostgator.com
BlueHost -- www.bluehost.com

Watch the video as I show you how easy it is to purchase a domain and setup hosting with Dreamhost.

Step 2: Single Click WordPress Installation

I’m going to show you how to install WordPress with a single click on my Dreamhost account (see video).

If you don’t use Dreamhost, it’s no big deal. It’s just as easy to use the other hosting companies I suggested. Just look for a tool on your hosting control panel called “Fantastico”. Once you’re there, then you can follow the steps to quickly install WordPress yourself.

Step 3: Customize the Look and Feel

Now that you’re blog is setup, it’s time to make it look good. In WordPress the look and feel is driven by the “theme”. There are many free themes out there, but I highly recommend spending a little money and investing in a paid theme. They usually look more professional and are actually easier to customize without having to mess around with HTML or CSS … giving you a big headache.

A word of caution -- you can spend days, weeks, or even months searching for the best theme. There are literally hundreds of themes (maybe even thousands). Don’t waste your time trying to pick the best one. Go with your gut and choose the first one you like and just go with it. The nice thing is that you can preview the theme and see what it will look like before purchasing it.

The other really neat feature of WordPress is that you can easily click a button and switch themes without starting from scratch each time. WordPress is super-cool that way.

Here are my recommendations for WordPress themes:

WooThemes -- http://www.woothemes.com (Free and Paid)
Elegant Themes -- http://www.elegantthemes.com (Paid) -- only $39 for access to dozens of their themes.

Let me show you how to download and install a theme on your WordPress blog (see video).

I hope you enjoyed watching these three steps. It just goes to show you that non-techies can create professional blogs too!

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