You don’t need to be rolling in dough to launch a WordPress site. In fact, you can launch a site on a small budget. Today I’m going to show you how to launch a WordPress blog for under $45.00.
Oh and by the way: Thispost contains affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
Costs
The costs for building a WordPress website can range from low to Woah! There are many factors to take into consideration when you decide to launch a WordPress site. Here are the main things you need to purchase to launch your site: *If you decide to DIY
Domain & Hosting
Theme
Plug-in(s)
WordPress Hosting
Purchase hosting with a company that offers you free domain registration. Some hosting providers offer domain registration free with the purchase of a hosting package. In fact, Bluehost, the company I use to host all of my sites, is offering web hosting for $2.95 per month for a year of hosting. This is a part of their Black Friday deals. That’s 35.40 for one year of hosting and a free domain)
WordPress Theme
Use a FREE WordPress Theme. There are many options when it comes to choosing a theme. I prefer a premium one, but you can start with a free theme until you’re ready to upgrade. Use this link to search for Free WordPress themes.
Plug-ins
Use FREE Plug-ins. The WordPress repository has a ton of plug-ins, some of which are free. Just remember to write out your list features, search, compare your options, and choose ones that have been updated recently. Some of my favorite free plug-ins are Yoast SEO, Contact Form 7, and Classic Editor, just to name a few.
So let’s do the math
Domain & Hosting Costs:$35.40
WordPress Install costs:$0.00
Plug-Ins:$0.00
Theme:$0.00
Grand Total: $35.40
So for less than the costs of a new pair of shoes, you can launch your WordPress site. Need some help with launching a WordPress site? Contact me to chat about your next steps.
Which is the number one reason why you should protect your WordPress site.
I’m not trying to startle you or discourage you in any way, but I love you enough to tell you the truth. I’ve seen businesses of all sizes get hacked.
Your WordPress website is no different. It’s not something to set and forget or ignore.
Here are 7 overlooked reasons why you should protect your WordPress site:
1. Maintain trust and a good reputation
When your clients and potential clients visit your website and find that it’s not working, they usually keep it moving. And many times they will go to your competitor who is taking care of their website. You could potentially lose business and customers if your website is not kept up to date.
2. Save yourself time
Your hands are already full with the daily running of your business, managing your home, and more, so you don’t have time to figure out how to de-hack your site if should ever get hacked for some reason. You don’t have time to Google the solution. Or maybe you do, but why not spend time doing something you actually enjoy doing.
3. Save money
A hacked site means it will be down until it’s restored. If you are selling products and services or blogging for profit….that means no money is being made.
4. You will feel more confident and secure in the daily running of your business
Instead of sitting in a pool of worry and anxiety about the safety of your site, you’ll feel secure knowing that your site is safe, protected, and in good hands.
5. It Costs More to Fix Than to Maintain
You’ve already invested money into the creation of your site, and it will cost you more money to get your site fixed and back online than to invest in protection and maintenance for your site.
6. Malware and viruses are creepy and annoying
Malware and virus are hideously ugly and make your site sick. If you’ve ever experienced a malware attack, you know ow annoying those attacks can be.
7. You need your website
Period. It is the hub for your business and super important to have in 2020 and beyond. It’s the foundation of your online business. Why wouldn’t you protect it?
There are many ways to build a website. You can use Wix, Weebly, GoDaddy Site Builder, Squarespace, etc. You can Google the phrase “How to build a website” and get tons of options. It ain’t for everyone, but those that use it, love it! I’ve been designing and producing websites since 2008, and even though there is so much more for me to learn, I consider myself a bit of an expert.
It’s a fully-featured content management system. You can not only use it for blogging but also to sell your products, host your videos, and other content.
There are many themes to choose from and many of them are free. I use a premium theme called Divi, which is a Drag and Drop editor.
You can enhance your site by installing plugins, without having to hire a coder or developer. Most plugins can be added with just the click of a button.
It’s search engine optimized (SEO friendly).
With the right theme, WordPress is responsive, which means it will look good on all devices
WordPress is mature, over 10 years old with a huge following and growing more and more daily. It is used by solo business owners as well as major corporations.
You always have full control. You can use the WordPress software any way you choose and host your website anywhere you choose. Most hosting providers have a one-click installation.
WordPress software is free. Certain plugins will cost you a fee but I have always managed to find free versions.
Conclusion
There are many other options to use other than WordPress, but so far WordPress is my go-to favorite. Do you use WordPress? Wanna chat about whether or not it’s right for you? Contact me 🙂
For the past year or more I’ve gone back and forth in my mind about offering online courses. Sounds like a simple thing to do, but in my mind, it was the most challenging thing ever. There’s a lot of information swirling around in this head, and trying to get it all out in a clear and concise manner seemed overwhelming. Well, I’m happy to report that I finally created a course. I just launched the WordPress 101 course using Thinkific.
Thinkific made it super easy to add my content. I started out with an outline, added any worksheets or pdfs that I wanted to include, and it was super easy to add videos for each section. Thinkific also provided templates and helpful guides for each section. If you are on the fence about creating a course, don’t overthink it. Grab a pen and paper, outline your content, create it, and upload it to Thinkific.
The WordPress 101courses teaches you how to not only get setup with WordPress but also teaches you how to easily navigate through the backend of WordPress.
Here’s a screenshot from the WordPress 101 Course:
There are many other platforms that you could use to launch a course. I love Thinkific because of its ease of use and simple design.
If you need some assistance with coming up with possible courses that you could teach, feel free to email me at oliviam@onemooresolutions.com
Wanna get signed up with Thinkific for free? Click on my affiliate link image below to get started!
Problem: You’ve decided to self-host your WordPress site, but you’re not sure of how to do your own maintenance for your new site.
The following is a list of things that you need to do to properly care your WordPress Site. Some of these things should be done daily, and others don’t need to be done as often.
Uptime. Visit your site to make sure everything is working.
Backup. Do a daily offsite backup of the WordPress files and database. This can be automated by using a plugin, but some hosting providers like FlyWheel perform daily backups of your site, so you don’t have to do it manually.
Comment moderation. Approve any comments in your queue, and check your spam list valid comments. If you get a lot of comments, you should do this daily.
Updates. Update WordPress along with your plugins and themes if new versions are available. FlyWheel performs updates automatically for all clients, to make sure they have the latest version.
Malware scan. Scan for any infected files or malware. Again, your host can be of extra help here if they perform automated daily malware scans like FlyWheel does.
Inspect your site Visually inspect your website and check for problems with layout or formatting. Check in different web browsers. Also, check your website from a mobile device to make sure it looks good and is responsive.
Analytics. Log into Google Analytics and review trends and referrals.
Change passwords. Change your password, and have other users change theirs too. Don’t make it easy for hackers—use a strong password.
Minimize admin users. Delete unnecessary admin users (and delete the default admin username). Hacked admin accounts can do the most damage to your site, so minimize the number.
Delete unused plugins and themes. Deactivate and delete all unnecessary plugins and themes, though never remove the latest default WordPress theme. Unnecessary plugins increase your website’s overhead and the risk of vulnerabilities.
Delete unnecessary files Website clutter can hide vulnerabilities. Check for unnecessary files in your wp-content folder and browse through your Media Library to remove any images, videos and audio files you no longer require.
Fix dead links. You don’t want your visitors receiving a “Page Not Found” error when clicking on a link. Find any dead links by using a link checking tools like Broken Link Checker or Link Checker.
Verify your contact form. Send yourself a message using your website’s contact form, and make sure you get it.
Optimize your database. Delete any draft posts you’ll never finish, and empty your comment spam. Then optimize your database by using ManageWP.
Speed audit. Run a performance test by using ManageWP to see how fast your site loads. If it takes more than five seconds, consider implementing caching and other measures to speed up your site. Slow sites lose visitors and search rankings.
Review your About page. Check your About page for anything that needs to be updated: your contact details, profile picture, mission statement, testimonials.
Review your theme and plugins. Check for new plugins that outperform those you’re currently using. Check for new themes that appeal to you and are suitable for your needs.
Solution: Create a WordPress Maintenance plan. Make it a point to use the above items to create a checklist. For amazing WordPress hosting, we recommend FlyWheel. Flywheel handles many WordPress maintenance tasks for you, including automated core and plugin updates, daily backups, and SSL certificates for free in every plan. Need someone to take care of your WordPress site? Check out our WordPress Care Services.
