Creating Profitable Blogs
The first step is to identify the theme or topic of your blog. You need to find a relevant domain name that will work well with your Niche. You should integrate your primary keywords into your domain name.
Once you have written down a few ideas, as well as a keyword list that relates to your topic, you can use the services of free domain suggestion tools to locate domain names that are available to register.
One such service is available at: http://www.NameTumbler.com and another at http://www.NameBoy.com
Another useful tool is available at http://www.InstantDomainSearch.com that will show you the availability of a domain name as you enter it in.
One thing to consider, regardless of the domain name you choose is that it is memorable, easy to spell and can be used to build a brand or future network.
Also, be careful not to choose a domain that is not a top level extension (.com), as it’s the first domain name that a visitor will type into their browser when trying to locate your website.
When it comes to choosing a hosting account, your hosting account should allow you to have multiple domains. This ends up being far more affordable than creating individual hosting accounts for every domain you create.
With HostGator, you can purchase a reseller account for $25 a month that allows you to add dozens of websites and domains to one account. So be sure to thoroughly evaluate your options and carefully consider your long term objectives before moving forward.
After you have your domain name and hosting account set up, it’s time for you to install the blog software that will power your website. This will allow you to set up a fully functional, feature laden community where your visitors can interact by posting comments. Yes, your visitors will give feedback and comments on the information you create.
If you are interested in locating a hosting company that features that fully supports WordPress, you can review the hosting directory located at: stablehost.com
http://www.Wordpress.org/hosting
StableHost.com offers instant WordPress installation, and offer affordable packages for new bloggers. Simply click on the WordPress installation link from within your cpanel and WordPress will be installed.
If your hosting provider doesn’t come equipped with WordPress you can manually install a copy of WordPress by downloading it from their main website, http://www.Wordpress.org and uploading the files to your server.
If you need help with this, WordPress provides a step by step installation guide on their website (view the “Docs” section for details).
http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress#Famous_5-Minute_Install
Installing a blog is exceptionally easy, regardless whether you use the automated install feature or manually create your blog. But it’s only the first step in an important process that you need to follow if you want to ensure that your blog is fully optimized. You may need to fine tune it so that it’s functioning at its best performance.
This includes taking advantage of pre-created plugins that will enhance your website and optimize it for search engine rankings, as well as help automate content creation and management.
Optimizing Your Blogs
Let’s take a look at a handful of other elements that you need to pay attention to in order to create the best website that you can. It will help if you can get some high quality backlinks to your content as well. This should help you rank a little higher in google over time. Even the best backlinks do get you on page one as soon as you get it…
Template Customization
With WordPress, there are literally hundreds of free templates and themes to choose from. This gives you the opportunity to use different themes relating to niche markets that you are focused on.
You can download these templates from various directories online and use them ‘as is’, or take it a step further and hire someone to customize the templates, or take a shot at it yourself if you are proficient with editing CSS and HTML.
Regardless what you choose, you need to make sure that the theme is fully functional and provides adequate space for advertisements, affiliate product offers, and allows for a clean interface with well managed categories and pages.
Take some time to explore the different themes that are available before making your selection. Don’t be afraid to download multiple themes and install them to see exactly how they look and function.
From within your WordPress administration panel, you can activate and deactivate themes on the fly. It is exceptionally easy to change the templates instantly should you wish to update your website’s scheme. It is also good to evaluate different themes until you find one that will work for you.
Here are a few theme providers and directories worth checking out:
Explore the archives for previous releases that are hidden away. Fewer bloggers will notice them, and the quality of Blog Oh Blogs themes is very impressive and easy to work with.
http://www.themes.wordpress.net
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
From within the “Design” area you can access different controls including Widgets. Go ahead and download a theme, and upload it into your WordPress wp-content directory.
I would suggest sticking with one theme so that you can begin to brand your website. So when visitors return to your site they instantly recognize that it’s your blog.
Any time you would like to log into your WordPress’ administration interface, you would visit:
http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin
If you install your blog into a different folder other than your root directory, you simply include the folder name: http://www.yoursite.com/blog/wp-admin
Using Plugins To Enhance Your Blog
In addition to customizing the look and feel of your blog, you can also choose to add plugins to your WordPress blog that will enhance your website. This can make your blog more interactive as well as SEO optimized.
In order to put these plugins to work for you, you simply download them from the developers website. the you go to plugins and click add new, then upload the zip file. And just like a theme, you need to activate each plugin from within your WordPress admin center. This needs to be done before you can use it.
One example of a useful plugin is found at http://www.CodeBanter.com. The site features a free WordPress plugin that will instantly add an autoresponder opt-in box to your blog. Since it’s important to start building a list, integrating this plugin makes capturing subscribers a breeze.
Plugins are exceptionally useful, especially when optimizing your website for the search engines. I have created a swipe file of the top plugins that I add to every blog that I create, and I suggest that you add these to a folder on your desktop so that you can use these on your websites as well.
Here they are, in no particular order:
All In One SEO Pack
http://wp.uberdose.com/2007/03/24/all-in-one-seo-pack/
This plugin ensures that your blog is well optimized for the title, meta description, and meta keywords. It should be a required plugin with every installation of WordPress.
Google XML SiteMap
With every blog you create you will want an auto-generated sitemap. This is important so that the search engines can get a clear guideline regarding the pages from your site that you would like indexed.
http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/google-sitemap-generator.3.1.2.zip
Related Posts Plugin
http://www.w-a-s-a-b-i.com/archives/2006/02/02/wordpress-related-entries-20/
No Ping Wait Plugin
http://onemansblog.com/2007/04/15/no-ping-wait-wordpress-plugin/
You can also explore other plugins at http://Wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
