1. How to Build a Self Hosted WordPress Website ~ Introduction
What is WordPress?
WordPress is an open source platform and it is free. This means that developers and coders are able to customize plugins and apps to sell or give away for free. However, just like with Facebook, or Gmail, you will likely not find a reliable tech support contact number should you run into issues. Most of your troubleshooting will be browsing forums and discussing with community members. The upside to WordPress is that it is a rather large community, in the millions. The reason I love WordPress is because of it’s flexibility and ability to use specific plugins for whatever task that you need.
I have built hundreds of websites in my career and felt it was time to share my knowledge. In this project, I will teach you step by step on how to build you own WordPress website.
Building a WordPress website for beginners
This project teaches you how to build a self-hosted WordPress website step by step. If you don’t want to hire a web designer or programmer, and want to build a basic WordPress website on your own, I will teach you how to purchase your own domain, web hosting, pointing DNS, installing WordPress etc.
Do you need to be tech savvy?
Kinda. You should have basic knowledge on how to navigate the internet, some technical terminology, time commitment and a willingness to learn.
Do you need to have an eye for design to build a website?
Yes and no. If you are on a budget and need to get a WordPress website up and running, my tutorials will help you accomplish that. You can achieve a nice looking website with some really good photos, a good logo and relevant content. If you want to take it to the next level and make it look really smashing, then Photoshop needs to be your best friend (I will also do tutorials on that), you should also know what colours go together, have an overall eye for design and a solid marketing plan.
Do you need to have programming skills?
No. I went to school for design and art. When I graduated, the internet had just started, so I was building sites with animated gifs, 3D photoshop titles and basic HTML in Macromedia Dreamweaver. Like this. Technology has changed so much in the past 15 years and the one thing I stuck with was my eye for design and that is what I always fall back to. Most of my web skills learned were through trial and error, on the job learning, working and collaborating with other partners, and sometimes winging it with clients and praying.
WordPress back then was considered just a blogging tool like Blogger. Eventually, WordPress evolved into something far greater, allowing everyday people to build really beautiful websites. WordPress is excellent for information websites with relatively low maintenance. Even for basic e-commerce websites as well. However, most beginners feel overwhelmed and do not know where to start with building a WordPress website from scratch. I am here to show you how.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
WordPress.org ~ You will need to self host your website. This is the focus of my course.
WordPress.com ~ you don’t have to worry about your files being stored on a remote server through a 3rd party hosting company like HostGator. The downside is, that your domain will be www.marinaduque.wordpress.com. And this looks unprofessional and cheap if you are a company, but perfect for a personal blog on cats (I have a couple of personal blogs like this so I am not judging!)
Note that you will be stuck with their really basic WordPress templates that looks very cookie cutter. You can upgrade and get your own domain name through WordPress for a fee which is comparable to other leading domain name services, however there are limitations when going this route, such as the inability to add Google Adsense to make some extra cash. Premium templates are also offered a price, but I find that these themes are rather limited in functionality compared to other self-hosted themes. Go to wordpress.com and click “Get Started” and be set up in a matter of minutes for free.
For a comparison between the two platforms, please read my blog post about it here.
If you would like a more handwritten feel to your logo.
Your Domain Name. Watch my tutorial and read tips on how to purchase and select a good name.
Where your website is stored. Select the “Baby Plan”. Watch my tutorial on how to purchase.
Use Shopify only if you are an Ecommerce store selling products.
You will need this theme for a WordPress informational website.
If you would like to send out email campaigns and collect leads, use Mailmunch.
