Yesterday someone asked me what’s the best way to get started with WordPress. Good question.
With its free code and famous 5 minute installation, WordPress is a great platform for the do-it-yourself website and folks looking to have a top notch website on a very tight budget. Since WordPress installation is so straight forward should you go ahead, dive in and start using WordPress on your own?
In my opinion it depends.
That’s the way I started years ago. But one thing you should consider is how much time you want to spend figuring things out and searching through the WordPress forums for answers. I’ve spent many hours in that maze finding answers to all sorts of problems.
It really depends on how much time you have available, what your budget is and most importantly what your goals are. The good news is you have options.
Doing It Yourself
The least expensive, most time consuming way is to do everything yourself. It can be a great way to go if you have a very tight budget and lots of time. I see this as the right answer for the hobbyist and people who really want to learn how the back end of WordPress works.
That was me when I installed my first WordPress blog. I had outgrown Blogger so I moved over to WordPress 1.5 and loved the freedom. That was back when WordPress was considered to be just a blogging platform.
I spent hours and days figuring out the best ways to set things up and get things done with WordPress. While WordPress does a pretty good job “out of the box” with things like SEO, it turns out there are a whole bunch of things – settings and plugins, etc. – that can be adjusted behind the scenes which make a big difference in how effective your site is at attracting traffic.
It was my hobby and I loved it. Unfortunately most people don’t have that kind of time available to get their website up and running as effectively as possible.
Middle Ground
The next step up I recommend is to hire a reputable service to do the basic installation and setup for you so you know it’s done right. They take care of the stuff that’s left out of the “5 minute install” and make sure those important back end settings are optimized.
Then you are free to focus on creating content for your site because that should be one of your top priorities. The content on your website is the biggest attractor to bring people into your site. Too many website owners starting out get caught up in the aesthetics of their sites and don’t leave themselves enough time to create quality content. And then they wonder why they have so little traffic!
Hint: Pretty does not attract the audience. It’s nice sure. But mostly it’s, um, pretty.
If you are looking for a good cost effective way to get your WordPress site up and running quickly one service I recommend without reservation is The Website Habitat by Dawud Miracle. I’ve know Dawud and his work for years and he really knows his way around WordPress. I know he sets his client’s sites up the right way.
The only down side to a middle ground solution like this is that in order to keep the cost down you typically have a limited selection of choices on how your site design. It’s not a big deal for many, especially if you are looking to get your site up, running, and optimized as quickly as possible.
The Full Monte
The other alternative is to hire a firm like SuccessCREEations to create a custom solution for you. Our New Media Hub is a the answer for people who need a completely custom website that showcases their business and draws in traffic from all their social media outposts.
Of course the most valuable part of that package is access to my years of knowledge and experience with the things it takes to make your website a success. It may not mean much coming from me, but the truth is I’m really good at this WordPress stuff & I can equip you to make your site much more effective so it brings in more business and you make more money.
What’s the best way to get started with WordPress? Depends on how important earning money from your site is to you.
Thanks for the info, this was a very great read, knowledge will be my starting point to a great WordPress Blog.Thanks again.
As a technical person myself, I’ve never given any thought to people actually paying for work regarding Wordpress blogs. Taking a step back, the installation is incredibly simple, but when it comes down to using an ftp program and editing php files, the average person would indeed be lost in a maze searching forums for solutions to every minor issue. Nice post on the various approaches someone new can take, thanks for the mind opener.
I have used three different blogging platforms and to me the best by far is WP. I am self taught and while I made tons of mistakes, I believe if you take your time and read, lots of reading, you can become fairly successful at it.
Now Mysql and databases are a different story. You need to at first, keep it very simple and make sure to learn how to make a successful back up and how to reinstall.
One last thing is to learn has much as you can from boards , articles and a mentor if you can, especially in regards to plug ins and not adding to many of them, unless you have some tried and true methods.
Good luck
Great post.. i work a lot for people who are doin it the middle ground way
which is very good for me to.. keeps me from spending ages on websites.. just doin some quick routines in leftover time sippin on some coffee
The approaches provided are very essential to newbies who would want to start putting up blogs and eventually maintain them. “Doing yourself” process helps save much money. A little exploration and getting-used to the software will eventually keep you moving forward with blogging…
Maybe I can design a website by myself by using WP?
well, I can’t call myself a writer, but I do enjoy writing stories about my travels and my friends do love them! One of them even recommended me to open an own page on a WP, and recently I’m mulling over this suggestion. Therefore this post is very useful for me and I added this blog to Favoirites in my IE. Hope it will give me a good start
@Porter,
You will be amazed what non-technical people will pay for. Seriously.
I think everybody has their own fortes and are incredibly reluctant to do something out of that, even things as simple as updating a blog post!
I do some installation work on the side and get an easy $50 a time to install wordpress for n00bs using fantastico – (10 secs) and some customisation (about 20 mins) – yes you would be amazed at what some people pay for!
Great post your plugins list is very appreciate…thanks !
thanks for the info but unfortunately and shamefully wordpress has been banned in my country by the state
Good article. Being in e-commerce SEO is huge and everywhere I look WordPress looks to be a great tool for optimization. Definitely going to have to get started with it and thanks for the plugins!
Great blog. I firmly believe that if people want to get online and create a presence then a wordpress blog is a great way to go. But they have to be prepared for a learning curve to master the basics of how it works. If not, you are forever throwing money at coders and designers with never really having any idea of what they are doing for you.
Over my time online, I’ve managed to answer every technical question I’ve had by using the old faithful Google and searching for solutions. The answers are out there, it’s just being prepared to step up and learn something out of your comfort zone.
Chris
I think wordpress is the best platform specially for beginners. I mean with all the plug-ins, its just so easy to work with it. One of the great thing about it is that almost all of the plugins are free and come with some sort of support. Thanks
Wordpress is a great platform for any blog or website. Very useful post for those looking to start out. thanks.
Great post. I am using wordpress for my blog, and have found it to be very easy to modify and edit. I would highly recommend it as a platform for a new website.
Love the comments regarding plugins, keep ‘em coming.
This is good information in this article. I just started a work at home wordpress blog. My biggest advice is to decide early on if you want to blog for fun or seriously as a career. If you want to do it seriously, start off with a hosted blog, through wordpress.org, not a free one through wordpress.com. It can get somewhat complicated to switch from one format to another. Luckily I decided to switch over to a hosted blog before I had too many posts and backlinks on the free one.
Thanks for the info, its good. I am using WP and it seems to be working fine. I tweaked some of the settings and php files to my satisfaction, but what I really would like to learn is how to increase the readership through RSS and article syndication, any good sources?
I personally LOVE wordpress. I knew absolutely nothing about how to build a webiste, but wordpress has such a large, and helpfull community that anything is possible. When you get stuck, just google it, and someone else has had the same problem and shows you how to fix it. Now, wordpress blogs are indistinqushable from other websites.