Well we did it…
We created a blog/site with WordPress. In fact you’re visiting it now. Welcome!
Yesterday we…
1. Discussed just what a WordPress Blog site was
2. How to install WP on a host
3. Brainstormed the site topic and decided on a domain name
4. Registered the domain name
5. Did a “one-click” install on my BlueHost hosting account
That was it. Steps 4 and 5 took about 10 minutes. It was really easy.
During the Brainstorming session we used Brainstormer to explore our niche which we decided would be related to our joint interest… website building. We realized it would be very competitive for the major terms but also found some good terms we felt we could do well with. Most of those related to tips, tutorials, and training.
At first my suggestion was to choose a domain name with “site build it” in the name but Larry Both suggested we might want to open it up to other areas of “site building” and not limit it to “site build it.”
BTW “site build it” had a demand of 6647, supply of 5480, and a profitability of 1213. Not bad but nothing to get too excited about.
Other terms with good demand and profitability included…
“how to build a website” P-3919
“web design tutorial” P-3716
“create my own website” P-3468
“web design tips” P-2531
“diy websites” P-2232
So there clearly is demand for information about building websites. And remember, Brainstorming is something we will do continually as we learn more about our niche and as we decide what to write about on our site.
Next Came The Decision On a Domain Name.
It’s good to have a strong keyword in your domain name and we also agreed that it’s good to have the name offer a strong brand. That way visitors can get a feel for your Valuable PREselling Proposition just from your domain name… the benefit would be clear.
We checked availability on InstantDomainSearch.com and found some good names around “website building tip/tutorials/training”. But none really described what our group was about.
Finally someone suggested (I forget who) that our group was like a “workshop” so we tested “website building workshop”. That name was available so we registered it and our site was off.
Next we went to BlueHost, registered the domain name for $10 and then did a one-click install of WordPress via the CPanel on my account. Sorry that those who weren’t there couldn’t see how easy that process was.
BTW for those who are unfamiliar with regular hosting…
A hosting account with someone like BlueHost lets you host unlimited domain names for the same monthly charge.
Anyway, our site is live and ready for content.
It’s setup so anyone can go and signup and start posting. All you’ll need to do is login and go. Everyone will have a status of Editor which means you’ll be able to write, publish, and edit your own posts but also be able to moderate comments, manage categories, manage links, edit pages, and edit other author’s posts. So you’ll have full control.
Next we’ll need to choose our Theme.
Theme’s are “look and feels” for the website. This is comparable to SBI!’s templates. WordPress comes with 2 default themes which are pretty lame and don’t brand our niche so we can find another. There are thousands of free themes to choose from. If anyone finds a good one let me know and we can add it and see how it looks. We can then vote for the one we want to use right on the site.
After that we can choose the categories for the rest of the site. Possibilities include…
• Minutes of our meetings
• A section where everyone can talk about their own site and promote it.
• Categories for subjects like SEO, Link Building, Affiliate Programs, website building resources, etc.
• Whatever else we can think of…
Again we will monetize the site however we choose. We can promote Site Build It! and any other online sitebuilding, hosting, and marketing product we want. We can review and test along the way and learn ways to grown our sites and our online marketing skills… and maybe make a little money.
So again the site is…
www.website-building-workshop.com
Just go there and start posting and commenting. I’ll be adding this email as a post so if you want to comment or ask questions, let’s do it there. I’ll be sending emails over the next few weeks updating you on developments but now we have a central location where we can all “meet.”
If you’d like to get a good book on WordPress I recommend “WordPress for Dummies” but I’m sure you can find plenty of information online.
OK were off on a grand adventure…
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for all this great info, Rick, and for starting us off on this new adventure!
I feel dumb, but cannot figure out how we would start a new post on a new subject. I am logged in but seem to only be able to comment on existing posts, rather than start a new one. Can you help? I am sure I am missing something obvious.
I did register myself under the “Meta” section.
Lori
Lori,
On the left hand side I see a box that says Posts and under there it says Add New. I assume that’s were to write a new post. I haven’t tried it yet, because i don’t have a new topic!
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