For many it seems easy to setup you own WordPress site. Find a host, buy a theme and it’s done. But the reality is that it can often take longer than most anticipate. That theme you purchased and loaded doesn’t turn out a bit like you expected. Here’s the process we go through to build site professionally and the areas we can assist:
1. Domain Name
Decide on a domain name for your new website. The 3 we recommend are
- 1stdomains.co.nz
- discountdomains.co.nz
- freeparking.co.nz
We can do this on your behalf as part of a complete setup package. Yes, there are cheaper registrars and hosts. One to avoid is crazydomains. There are support, security and performance risks with these guys and others like them, with lots of complaints on industry forums! (N.B. These are offshore companies, meaning there’s no consumer protection if you get into strife and end up losing your domain name, website content, traffic or business reputation by using their products or services…)
2. Select a Host
In order to have your website visible on the internet, you need to purchase some hosting. If you run a home business on a small budget then locally there’s the likes of openhost, freeparking, hostgator, net24 etc, all having shared Unix plans starting at around $10-30/month. These all sound enticing with the ‘unlimited’ everything, but for business users, there is a risk staying on shared hosting plans.
Beyond cheap shared hosting are VPS, Managed VPS, Cloud and Dedicated servers. A good analogy to selecting a host provider or configuration is selecting a means of transport. Public transport [shared hosting], charter bus, taxis [VPS] or private vehicle [dedicated]. Large or small, new or old…. It can get very confusing with most people ending up selecting upon price alone, being the public transport option, although it’s not sold as such… Click here to read more.
3: Install WordPress
A good host will have an auto install option, meaning you’ll have your site running in under 10 minutes, ready to upload your theme and content. There are some security tradeoffs with this easy method, and for business sites we recommend and perform a manual setup instead using scripts directly taken from WordPress.org plus secure the install in ways auto systems cannot.
4. Install plugins
There’s over 25,000 plugins available, adding additional features and functionality to the site. But you’ll seldom need for than a dozen, depending upon the features required or market. Where we install your site, we can load ones we think best, which may include those to handle webforms, galleries, videos, performance acceleration and security.
5: Install theme
The fun part of setting up your site is choosing your new theme! You can have your own designed and coded by us, generally coming to around $2,000 or more. Or, select a pre-designed, pre-coded theme off the shelf, starting at around $50. Here’s our recommended shortlist.
When new themes are loaded they never look like the demos provided. There content and widgets, menus and forms to configure. Most need some help with this we can set aside a few hours to help. If using the recommended Genesis framework themes we can install this and Gravity forms at the same time, these two items valued at over NZ$250.
6. An SEO and content strategy, traffic etc
Now the real work begins. You need good, relevant content that people actually search for online to ensure the site will rank well. Optimising the site structure, titles and meta descriptions is also important. We do this with all sites, along with integrating Google analytics, AdWords, webmaster and social media toolsets, often overlooked by newcomers.
A system to track and respond to online leads is critical too. Here’s a good article and video.
Setting up a new website using WordPress is way easier than most other systems, but some planning and expertise is still required to do it right. We have several startup packages for various needs to get you on the right track and can often do in a few hours that may take you a week of messing around, reading countless tutorials and then usually miss stuff.
Fill in your details below and we’ll talk, then work out a time and budget.
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