OnlineJamm

So you’ve come up with a new idea for a new web site. It happens almost everyday for some, doesn’t it?

Well get excited, because the following is a quick list of items you should consider or do when setting up a new web site with a WordPress blog.

Quick Overview

On average, I register and set up one new domain name per month. This is nothing compared to some people I know. It’s a hobby, a past-time that keeps up late at night, keeps Starbucks or Tim Hortons (I’m in Canada eh?) happy with my caffeine consumption and hopefully keeps all of us current on what’s new out there.

So this evening, something pop-ed in my head about a new domain and a new site concept. I checked to see if it was available and lo-and-behold it was.

So once again, we go through the steps, but always in the back of one’s mind is that lingering question "Did I forget something?", "Am I missing a step?" or "What was it that I did last month that’s different this time".

So why not document it here, share with others, have a reference when speaking with new clients, learn something new for responses and so on.

So here are some of the initial steps:

1. Register you domain name immediately with your favorite domain name registrar.
For the amount of money that you pay for a domain name, it’s worth having that dream of affiliate riches or a site that will keep them coming back for more.
If you’re scratching your head for a great domain name registrar, visit this one for great deals on domain names …
Time required: 2 minutes (not including thinking up a new domain name)

2. You now have your new domain name, quick don’t waste time, set up your hosting account right away!
This should be quite simple: set up a default generic email address (ak-a-dak@your-domain.com) to receive future spam and then set up a  private email address. The 1st one you will end up using for link exchange opportunities, directory submissions, online shopping bargains and more.
Est time required: 4 minutes

3. Visit WordPress and download the latest version of the blogging tool
Est time: 2 minutes depending on your connection or if you’re still in dial-up world.

4. Unzip and upload WordPress to your web hosting server. Try to avoid using the auto-installer from your hosting control panel, at times you blog may be installed in a directory you may not wish for it to be installed on. Installing the blog at the root is most desirable.
Est time: 4 minutes

5. While uploading files to your hosting server, log in to your control panel and set up a new MySQL database for the blog.
Your control panel is usually something like: www.your-domain.com/cpanel or something similar
est time: 1.5 mins

6. Edit the ‘wp-config-sample.php’ file with your database information. Save and rename file to ‘wp-config.php’.

7. Visit your new domain with your browser and follow the WordPress installation instructions.

8. Record your new admin password and log in to the blog dashboard.

9. In the WordPress control panel dashboard, make the following changes: (this will take some time, but worth it in the long run)

• Adjust your blog settings; i.e., Blog title, tagline …
• Change your permalinks to name, month or numeric based so that your default blog URL’s do not look something like this: ?p=123, ?=124, etc
  tip: This is great for search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine friendliness.
• Install some plugins to give your new blog additional functionality.
  Visit WordPress plugins or read my simple plugins for WordPress post here.
  ps: don’t forget to activate the new plugins.
• Create and change blog links and categories
• Change you new blog design with a new theme.
  Visit WordPress themes for some new ideas or visit these quality WordPress themes here … 
• Set up where you ping! Under ‘Settings>Writing’, add new places where you will notify others about your blog. Update Services will usually provide you with a good list of blog pinging services.
• That should be it for this part for now, you will be coming back to the dashboard in the future to make changes, modifications and such.

10. Create your 1st post right away. Define what your new blog/site is about, what you plan to do here, who you wish to communicate with and what in general will your blog be about.

Is that it?

Not really, there is absolutely more to making your blog more popular with search engine and social network web sites like Facebook, Twitter and such.

SEO-ing your blog, getting traffic to your blog, making money with your blog, what to avoid when blogging and more.

In the meantime, subscribe to this blog to keep posted on future tips on enhancing your blog or web site.

Now go out and design some nice logos or graphics for your new site!