My First Website - Part 2

Create

So you have done proper research, and know your niche and the keywords you are going to target. This next portion is pretty simple so the post shouldn’t be too long.

First you need a Webhosting company. I prefer to use 1&1 Web Hosting. They are really fast at setting up the account. It says 24 hours, but mine was set up in about 3. I am using their $5 a month package, and it is the best around! Later when you get more traffic, you can move up to the next package.

So you now are signed up with 1&1 Web hosting. While you are waiting for the account to process, you can go ahead and find your FTP software. This is the easiest and best way to transfer files to your site, and you are going to need it. Here are a few free ones I found: Free FTP, Smart FTP, CoffeeCup Free FTP,  and CoreFTP. One of those has to please you. I think I have used Smart FTP and CoreFTP before, I now use CuteFTP but it costs money.

If you are going to go the Wordpress route, then you will want to download the latest version of Wordpress. If you choose Wordpress, then I highly recomend OIOPublisher. You see those square button ads to the right? Those rotate, and people can buy them. It is a great way to make money off of your blog. You can customize it and add different ad spots anywhere on your site. You can also sell posts, everything. Basically, if you are creating a blog, then get OIOPublisher Direct.

Maybe you want to use the Ebay Partner Network and make comission from referring people to buy things off ebay. You get $25 for any new member, and you get 50% of Ebay’s comission. I think everyone that wants to make money online needs to have at least one phpBay website. You don’t know what your missin!

Once you get your hosting and domain created, found an FTP program, got OIOPublisher Direct, phpBay, and signed up for the Ebay Partner Network, you are ready to upload everything and get started.

When signed in to the 1&1 control panel, click FTP. There you will see the username and password for the ftp account. If you want, you can create additional FTP accounts with names that are easy to remember. Enter these settings into the FTP software you chose. I have it save the password so it is easy to login every time.

Once connected via FTP to your server, you then need to upload the files. I am not going to walk you through how to extract files, or how to configure wordpress, ect. They come with complete readme files that tell you what to do. I will say that you MUST edit the wordpress config file to include your server information and rename it from wp-config-sample.php to just wp-config.php. Upload all of the files to the servers root directory. Like I said, read the install/readme file included if you don’t know how to install it.

Once Wordpress is setup, you need a theme. There are tons of free themes at Wordpress’ site. Or just google up some and find one you like. You may also want to find some plugins to make things easier on yourself. I will post later on a list of plugins I find useful, but this guide is to get you started, not walk you through life. Upload OIOPublisher, again read its readme for reference on where it gets uploaded to and how to set it up. All of these are really easy. Once you have done it correctly once, it is a snap after that.

If you chose a phpbay site, you still need to upload Wordpress. phpBay goes in the plugins folder, and I beleive there is a php file that goes in the root directory. I recomend using a static page for wordpress when using phpBay. You can set this in the settings section, I beleive under reading.

So if you just chose the Wordpress blog route, write your first post. Maybe create an additional page, and just get to know how it works. Try out a few themes. Find some affiliate programs, and fill in the ads for OIOPublisher Direct. With some tweaking and Googling, you should settle in to your new site nicely. If you chose to add phpBay, start adding some of the auctions. It comes with a great pdf readme/tutorial on how to setup and use phpBay.

Work on designing your site, and get it to look just the way you want it. The next post will be on SEO and how to setup your site to get the most out of search engine traffic.