What Is The Best Blogging Platform?

Look At The Statistics

With almost 75,000,000 users around the world WordPress certainly has a lot of users. And because of the way that it works these sites aren't all just basic blogs. Many full websites also use WordPress as a Content Management System.

Whilst that is a lot, other sites are also prolific. You could try Tumblr or even Twitter, but these are micro blogging rather than full blogging. Google's Blogger does have a lot of users, however they don't reveal any statistics for us to review.

Hosted or Self Hosted?

Here are two words that you will come across when setting up a blog and they are important to understand. Both are quite different.

Hosted - this is the simplest form of blogging, where the blog provider "hosts" the site for you. Usually they provide a subdomain name for you to use, although there is also the ability to use your own domain name along with all of the storage space that you will require. Software updates to the core of the blog are also usually handled by them.

Self Hosted - this is where you are responsible for providing the hosting. You will buy space and a domain name and install the blog. A lot of providers make this a lot easier than it once was with "one click" installs, thus avoiding the need for you to get into the realms of databases and FTP.

Which Is The Best Hosting Type?

So, out of these 2 options, which is the best? In my view Self Hosted is best. I like to be in control and to have a domain name of my own.

However, if you are new to blogging the maybe the Hosted version is easier for you to start off with.

How Does WordPress Fit Into This?

To me, and about 75 million blogs, WordPress is undoubtedly the best blogging platform. You can use it either as Hosted or Self Hosted, with a roughly even split between the 2 for WordPress sites.

Both versions are totally free and there are thousands of add ons that you can employ, which is what adds loads of value to the system. Excellent free designs, which are also mobile friendly, can be installed with just a few clicks whilst extras (called Plugins) are available for almost every extra feature you might need.

The Exception That Makes The Rule

Any good rule has its exceptions and this is true here. In a few circumstances there are specialist platforms that are even better. For example, if you are a runner training for an event then networks such as Real Buzz have the huge advantage of sharing your blog with other runners. Instant built in readers!

And for many other specialist niches there are also relevant tools to use there. But at the end of the day I think that the self hosted version of WordPress wins the day for me.

The Best 15 WordPress Plugins The Newbie Blogger Needs

WordPress is an awesome website building platform that is relatively easy to learn, within days even the most timid internet user can have a professional looking blog and website up and running. With WordPress there is no need for HTML or JavaScript coding skills. Everything is created with an easy to use 'plug n play' style system. I guess that is why they call the add-ons 'plugins'.

Once you have WordPress installed onto your server a default theme will be visible, this is usually the 'Twenty Eleven' theme, if you do not like this theme all you need to do is change it. We will talk about how to change themes in another post. For now, the default theme is good enough to start your newbie blog.

WordPress functionality may seem a bit basic at first and it is, but even the basic theme can look great if you use it well, once you start to add the plugins then the magic can really start. Plugins can turn your blog from just a one or two video posts to a complete video style website or it can become a photo gallery. You can add podcasts, sales pages, and ecommerce stores. The possibilities are endless. Anyway, I better not get you either too excited or frazzle your brain with 'too much to learn syndrome'.

I will take it easy and start small. I am going to give you a list of plugins that I think every new blog owner should know about and install before you go into the seriously good plugins. Some are essential and some are, well you guessed it, not. These are in no particular order

1. Akismet- Great plugin that stops spamming comments and deletes automatically saving you the time and annoyance of having to go through the comments left by people pushing porn or Viagra! Akismet is usually pre-loaded into WordPress and should be found in the plugin section. This will need a key for it to be enabled and you will need to register with Akismet to get a key. It used to be available from WordPress.org but unfortunately they have stopped doing that. [Essential]

2. Contact Form 7 - Great plugin this, adds a contact form (if you hadn't already guessed) to your site. You simply add in your email address that you want emails sent to, and any other info you require then copy and paste the simple code it gives you into a page. Give the page a name like hmmm 'Contact Me' hit publish and you are done. [Essential]

3. EzineArticles - This is a cool plugin, when you write a blog post, before you put links or pictures into it you can hit a couple of buttons and send your fresh article straight to EzineArticles for distribution. Now article marketing used to be big but since Google have taken a bit of a dislike to article sites I am not sure how powerful article marketing is; however, it can still be good for you if other websites and newsletters to take your article with a link to your site and use it.

4. Google Privacy Policy - This is a must if you want to monetize your site with Google AdSense. They will not add any adverts to a site that doesn't comply with their terms and a site must have a Privacy Policy. This sorts it all out, similar to Contact Form 7, you copy a bit of code and post it into a page and hit publish. Job done. [Essential]

5. Google XML Sitemaps - The best way to describe this is by using the plugin description itself 'This plugin will generate a special XML sitemap which will help search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask.com to better index your blog' I couldn't have put it better myself.

6. CKEditor for WordPress- This is great for copying and pasting from Word etc, keeping the text and font formatting. Better than the standard default text editor in WordPress. It gives you more choice and control when writing your blog posts or importing pictures. This is not an essential plugin really, more a preference.

7. cbnet Ping Optimizer - This stops the over excessive 'pinging' of your website to search engines. WordPress by default will 'ping' your blog posts to help them get index by the search engines. If you are like me, you will create blog posts by adding bits, publishing it, taking a look, editing it, updating it etc. etc. This can go on time after time after time. Every time you hit 'Update' WordPress will send a new 'ping'. You may think this is good, it is not. Too much 'pinging' can in fact go against you. Google may think you are spamming and trying to get index really fast for naughty reasons. So you could in fact be punished for excessive pinging. Installing this plugin is a must. [Essential]

8. Share and Follow - This is a social share plugging that adds all those lovely Social Media and bookmarking buttons at the top/bottom of posts allowing people who like your posts to share and bookmark them (obviously) There is also a 'Follow Us' bar where you can add your Twitter and Facebook links so your site visitors can easily join up and follow you on the popular Social Media networks.

9. Yoast SEO - Search Engine optimization is a must for websites to help them get higher rankings in the search engines, this great plugin checks your posts before you publish them to see if they are written as best as they can be with your chosen keyword for them to have a better ranking in places like Google. Alternately you can use All in One SEO Pack plugin. I prefer the Yoast personally. [Essential]

10. Digg Digg - Another Social Media plugin that allows your site visitors to ReTweet or Share your posts. Digg Digg has a great funky floating bar that runs up the side of your posts. I run this alongside share and follow.

11. Statpress Reloaded - This is great little plugin for showing you how many visitors you have had to your site, where they came from, what page they looked at, what search terms they used etc. Once you have activated it, it is up and running unlike Google Analyticator plugin which requires you to set up a Google Analytics account and get an ID password before you can use the plugin. Statpress Reloaded is straightforward and fast working. [Essential]

12. WPtouch - Awesome plugin that automatically turns your site into a smart phone friendly version. Most smart phones these days can view normal websites well and the new version of WordPress seems to adapt automatically when viewed in phones, however saying that. WP Touch makes your site look a lot better and arranges your posts into an easier to read list. Install, give it a try, if you do not like it deactivate it and delete. Not a problem

13. Related Posts Thumbnails - This cool plugin allows related posts to be seen on the side bar and at the bottom of your posts with the featured image, giving your reader something else to see, possibly capture their attention and have them clicking through to your other posts keeping them where you want them, on your site!

14. WP Photo Album - Another excellent plugin that gives a greater visual dimension to your blog. This plugin allows you to upload loads of photos, create albums and galleries. You copy some code into a page, give it a title and hit publish to create picture galleries within your site. It has several widgets that can be placed into the sidebar creating a picture of the day/hour, a slide show of pictures and a top ten pictures section giving your site an incredible visual experience.

15. FeedWordPress - This is for the lazy people who don't like creating their own content. Plugin this baby and it will pull content via RSS from the websites that you choose and place them onto your blog as posts. As long as they have an RSS feed of course. Great for news type of blogs. Use this alongside your own content then you have a winning combination. Regular posting of content is good in the eyes of search engines, they don't normally like duplicate content but if you use it wisely it can do you good. The only drawback is that you must choose the websites that you pull your feed from wisely otherwise your site could get populated with rubbish.

So there you have it 15 essential and non-essential WordPress plugins for the newbie blogger. Plugins can be deactivated at any time so try them out and if you don't like them then stop using them. It will not affect your site. I advise you to keep the essential ones in as they are important.

 

WordPress Magazine Themes: When Are They A Good Option For Your Business?

Magazine themes are a profitable option to develop your own magazine or news site with revenue from advertising and affiliate marketing. They are some of the most wanted WordPress themes because they allow you to handle a great amount of posts on a page in a good organized and pleasant way for visitors.

WordPress magazine themes are an excellent solution for small and medium-sized businesses who want to publish their content every day. WordPress is a reliable platform for many different kinds of activities, such as blogs, companies, portfolios, galleries, and so on. It offers many advantages to business owners: you can enhance a closer dialogue with your potential prospects and customers, and you can promote new products and events.

There are thousands of WordPress themes, but some of the most popular are Magazine themes. They are very powerful because you can offer a lot of information in an easy-to-digest way. There are many different designs available. When choosing the most suitable one for you, you should take into account that the ones with many thumbnails and sliders on a page can push up your page views easily.

Apart from that, you should always think in your audience. If your visitors want to see many different views of your products, look for a theme that has a gallery instead of one more text-based. Magazine themes can be free or paid. Of course the price matters, but in business, free things do not always offer the highest revenues. It is sometimes necessary to spend some money to get better profits, and get more sales.

Besides, some free themes have been created to build backlinks to the authors' sites and after some time, they put the theme off line or they turn it into a premium one. Besides, they don't usually offer customer support, and believe me, you can undergo great pain if problems arise, which happens quite often. In addition, they often leave a footer link on your site, and this doesn't benefit your SEO rank.

Anyway, here is a list of 5 top WordPress Magazine Themes:

1. WP-Prosper It is a premium WordPress theme. It is very flexible and can be used either as a magazine site, business website or personal blog. It has several homepage layouts, theme settings page and two different featured content glider options. It supports WordPress 3.0 navigation menu system.

2. Delicate News It is an advanced premium theme. The most important features include a very exhaustive control panel to tweak the theme, two or three column layouts and featured article glider on the homepage.

3. Tribune It is very professional and stylish. It can work very well for news or magazine style sites. It has customizable navigation menus, news slider for content, several layout options, like magazine or traditional blog, customizable templates, theme options panel, and much more.

4. WP-Genius It is a complex premium theme. It includes a featured content glider section on the homepage, an advanced backend options panel that customize many of the available options, eight color scheme options, and much more. 5. Hello It is a stylish premium WordPress theme. It has a customizable homepage layout, six color scheme options, breadcrumb navigation, auto sizing thumbnails and a control panel that tweaks the template without using the code.

Magazine themes may boost your business with more profits and revenue. They are visual, customizable and flexible. Your prospects and clients may want to spend more time at your site watching and reading it, because your contents are well organized and comfortable to check.

Now you can learn much more about Magazine Themes and how WordPress can take your business to a new level with this FREE video course -> WordPress Genius Lessons [http://wordpress.prosperitymanual.com]

Small Business Expert and Entrepreneur, Ann Blanch, has helped hundreds of businesses, authors and experts just like you to be anything but blah. For unbeatable, sure-fire ways to market your business fast, so you can build traffic, targeted leads and profits, visit ProsperityManual.com [http://prosperitymanual.com/club]

WordPress Business Theme - Top Rank Business Theme for Entrepreneurs

This article will show you where to find top WordPress business theme. First of all, why do we use WordPress for businesses? WordPress is the simplest way to organize content on your website and monetize your traffic in various of ways. Many business owner enjoy using WordPress because it is very flexible for any type of business and are able to select the theme that suits their business offer. There are so many free WordPress themes over the internet, but let me explain to you why premium WordPress theme would be your priority as a business owner.

Premium WordPress theme will give you the ability to brand your website and create a nice environment for your readers. Having an attractive theme will also result in returning visitors to your website, which means more traffic and in many cases, more leads and more money for your business.

Why should you use premium WordPress themes for businesses?

There are so many free WordPress templates that you can find anywhere online, but using a free template is not good enough for a business website. A lot of free website theme have an un-removable link at the bottom of the site to some irrelevant offers. You would not want these kind of links on your site if it has nothing to do with the website that it is linked to.

Using a free template would mean that you are putting your credibility at risk as an entrepreneur. Any business owner should consider purchasing a WordPress business theme for their website to create a successful online business.

The Advantages of purchasing WordPress business theme.

There are several advantage other than branding itself, purchasing a premium template gives you the ability to make your site unique. This is very important when creating a first impression to your potential customers. If you fail to grab your prospects attention the very first time, it would be hard to do so later on.

This is why you should never neglect this point. Some people might say, why should we pay for templates when we can get them for free? But as a business owner, you want to stand out of the crowd and create a "WOW" factor to your visitor.

Good WordPress business theme converts visitors into sales.

The ultimate goal for any businesses is to be able to make money and earn profit from it, or else why should we do business in the first place right? Sloppy themes would bring a huge disadvantage to your business and the visitors would think that you are an amateur.

Premium WordPress business theme gives you the edge to create a cutting edge attractive environment for your readers and ultimately convert them into buying customers. Some businesses hire developers and pay thousands of dollars to build a high converting site for them. Imagine if you too can create a highly optimized business website using premium themes in a matter of minutes.

Choosing the Best WordPress Theme That Helps Your Business Grow

One of the amazing things regarding utilizing a WordPress blog is that you can easily change the blog appearance just at the push of a small button. There are several alternatives in appearance of the blogs that are hosted free by Blogger and WordPress. Choosing the right WordPress theme could definitely allow you to grow your business in the long run. The entire theme selection procedure can be quite overwhelming because there are several free themes that you could select from the WordPress gallery and you do have various premium themes too that could help you in improving the style and look of the website.

One of the most convenient things about WordPress is that it's quite simple to alter your settings, comprising in the themes. So, whether you're looking for a free theme for your brand new site, the tips given below could surely offer you some great help.

Making a note of the desired features which you're looking for

Unless you wish to make a strong bunch of web design customizations to your WordPress theme just after you've installed it, it's quite important for you to choose a theme that has all the features you're looking for. For instance, do you wish 2 columns? 4 columns? Personalized theme colors? You need to prepare a list of the major features that are essential for your website. WordPress is quite simple to setup in case you utilize the theme as it is, but making web design customizations depends on how personalized your WP theme is. For an average user, I would surely suggest locating a theme that certainly looks just like the one you're looking for.

Selecting the right theme according to your niche

When choosing a theme, you need to carefully consider the site's purpose. You should start your own personal blog that does have an appealing theme. The theme must be quite simple to navigate so that you're able to make your business products popular in the long run. There are plenty of WordPress themes that are precisely created for some specific kinds of business houses, such as restaurants, attorneys or real estate.

The site navigation

The website navigation is one of the most significant parts of a blog. You might require a very easy navigation with a few simple options or you might require a few more for improving the website's navigation panel. Adding a strong navigation can be a bit tricky in case you don't wish to learn PHP, so you got to make certain that your entire theme has everything you require just before you install it. The entire Genesis Lifestyle theme has about 2 menus and you could easily turn them on/off just by checking out the menu area. Not all the major themes are flexible and so you need to work accordingly. A drop down menu will also make your work simple as far as adding the site navigation is concerned.

Finding a responsive theme

A web responsive theme is one that functions equally well no matter what kind of equipment the visitor is utilizing. This is quite essential now that tablets and Smart phones are getting so famous. There a number of WordPress themes that are quite responsive and so you must ensure that you look out for the top quality products that could help you in making your website popular.

Read comments, ratings and reviews

When selecting a WordPress theme, you can usually find out what other clients think of it. In case you're utilizing a free theme from the themes directory, you can locate ratings for several of these themes. In case you're looking at some of the premium themes, you could easily get your ratings. You could easily go through some of the customer reviews and ratings before you acquire a WordPress theme for your business. This would definitely help you in choosing the right theme that helps you improve your sale.

Layout, side width and spacing

Some of the themes permit you to alter the theme's width on several sections of the website in the control panel; however a majority of them do not unless you are looking to tweak the entire code. So, you should carefully think about several elements like layout, width and spacing if you want to post good quality content and attract several users. You should think about the different features that could help you in making your products and services popular.

Consider updates and support

When you're shopping for several WordPress themes, you need to consider what kind of support and update features you're looking for. You should see whether you're going to get some regular updates or not. This is an important factor which could drive your decision to opt for a particular theme whether paid or free. In case you're considering free WordPress themes, you should just use the ones which come from expert and reputed designers. Several premium themes usually offer you with complete support in addition to some free updates. You should ensure that you buy a proper license that allows you to opt for an updated theme and also helps you promote your products.

Final thoughts

There are several problems that should be taken into consideration while you are planning to select a reliable WP theme. If you truly want to make your WordPress blog look great then you should easily manage it to make it more accessible to the visitors. There are various themes that do offer distinct benefits and you must choose the one that suits you the best.

The Power Of WordPress

Do you get out the trusty old HTML editor, roll up your sleeves, and begin writing the HTML code from scratch? Well, if you have the skill to do it, and you have the time to do it, and you have the patience to do it, then that is one way to get it done.

Or maybe you just get out the trusty old checkbook and write someone a hefty check to do it for you. Well, if you have the money, then that is definitely the easiest way to do it. And then, when you need something added or changed, you can get out the old checkbook again.

What if you need it yesterday, not a few days or weeks or months from now?

What if you want a website that is easy to add pages and content to, and you want to be able to do it yourself, quickly and easily and without having to get out that trusty old HTML editor, or the old checkbook for that matter?

What if you want a website that search engines love, and you want to start getting some traffic without spending a fortune on SEO and then waiting and waiting to see the traffic?

What if you want a website that you can change the look and feel of with just a few clicks of a mouse, and if you don't like the new look, you can change it back with just a few more clicks?

Well partner, it sounds to me like you are in need of WordPress! More specifically, you need to learn just how powerful WordPress really is!

What kind of WordPress am I talking about when I say "powerful WordPress"?

I'm referring to WordPress "jazzed up" with all of the 100's and 100's of themes and plugins that are available to turn plain old WordPress into a thing of beauty as far as websites go.

And before you roll your eyes and say that WordPress is just for blogs, you better take a closer look. In fact, WordPress, along with all of the readily available plugins and custom themes, can do just about anything you want, and it can do it either at no cost or very low cost, and it can do it very quickly.

You can have a WordPress site installed, configured with basic settings, and some popular plugins and themes installed, in just a few hours, and for zero cost. How's that for fast and cheap?

- You can create a WordPress site that is a traditional WordPress blog.

- You can create a WordPress site that is suitable for the smallest business right on up to the largest corporation.

- You can create a WordPress site that is a membership site where members pay for your content.

- You can create a WordPress site that is an internet storefront to sell your products.

- You can create a WordPress site that is a content management system.

- You can create a WordPress site that is a combination of any or all of the above.

You can install plugins that do SEO for you, backup your database for you, create Google compliant sitemaps for you, handle product sales and delivery for you, handle membership signups for you, and on and on and on.

Do you begin to get the idea that I like WordPress and think WordPress is a great way to create a web site?

So, exactly what is WordPress, and how can you get it for free?

You can find out all about WordPress, and download it for free, at WordPress.org/. WordPress is an open source blog software package that anyone can download and install for free.

If your hosting provider has cPanel with Fantastico, and most do, then you can install it in a matter of minutes from there. If not, you can install the files manually.

WordPress makes it easy for anyone to set up, manage and maintain a website, and you can do it without being a total geek.

What if you get stuck and need help? Simply go to WordPress.org/support/ and you will find active forums full of people ready to help you solve your problem. How easy is that?

Since WordPress is open source, it's free. That's always a nice little benefit.

Since it's open source it also has a thriving community of developers (geeks) constantly improving the software and creating those plugins I mentioned.

WordPress lets you quickly and easily create pages, which are basically content that is static, and not open for comments, and not organized by time.

WordPress lets you quickly and easily create posts, which are basically the blog part of WordPress, and they are usually organized by time-of-post, are usually open for comments, and they are the content to build out the meat of your site.

With WordPress, there are hundreds and hundreds of free themes available so you can easily manage your site's look and feel. Check them out and download them for free at WordPress.org/extend/themes/.

There are also some really great looking professionally designed themes available for purchase, most at very reasonable prices. These are well worth the money if you want a really professional looking web site.

There are hundreds and hundreds of free plugins available for WordPress, and you can take a look at them by going to WordPress.org/extend/plugins/. There are also many great plugins available that you will pay a reasonable fee for, but if you need a specialized plugin, they are well worth the money.

WordPress is highly customizable, so you can use it for just about anything, and make it do just about anything.

A Few Benefits of Using WordPress:

* Free Or Very Inexpensive! Using WordPress for your web site means it's either cheap or free. WordPress itself is free, a custom theme is usually in the $50 to $100 range, many themes are even free. End result, you save loads of money compared to the cost of paying someone to design a web site for you.

* It's So Easy! If you've got basic computer skills, WordPress is easy to use. If you can use a word processor like Microsoft Word or even lowly little Notepad, then you can use WordPress. It's web site creation at it's easiest.

* You Can Do It Yourself! Get ready Mr. Do-It-Yourselfer! No more need to find and pay a programmer to fix a tiny error, saving you time and money. Need to add some more content or a new page? No problem, you can do it yourself.

* Multiple Users And Accessible On The Internet. WordPress is accessed through an online administrative interface and can allow access to multiple administrators if desired, which means more than one person can log in and fix problems that might develop, and you can access it from anywhere that has internet access. So, you lucky dog, if you're on some beach in the Bahamas, you can access your site. Since your site is on a secure server through your web host, and you have a backup of your site and database on your own computer (you did create that backup, didn't you?), you are well protected against data loss.

* Content Pleasing To The Great Google. WordPress makes it easy to have a website that is search engine friendly. That means your web site is more likely to land on the first page of Google results, which means people are more likely to find you, which means people are more likely to spend time, and money, on your web site.

Build Your Own Website Easily With WordPress

If you work from home or are trying to get that elusive first project, creating a professional website is an important step. As a home for your business, your website can showcase your skills, provide details of your experience, and give potential clients and customers a convenient way to get in touch.

What's more, being able to create or work with a website is a useful skill in itself. For many people that work at home, the ability to get a website up and running is an additional service that can be sold to your existing clients.

You don't need to spend a fortune getting a website developed for you. You can do it yourself, even if you have never had any experience. Thankfully, there is a secret - WordPress. WordPress is a free system that streamlines and simplifies the process of web development and, as you will find out, can still be flexible enough for just about any website imaginable.

What Does WordPress Do Besides Blogging?

Many people have heard of WordPress, but do not understand the full capabilities of the system. Most people think that WordPress is a platform for blogging when, in fact, it is far more than that.

Today, WordPress has grown into what would be called a content management system, or CMS. A CMS is a tool to store all of the information required for your website and present it to your visitors in a professional, organized way. Other content management systems include Joomla and Drupal, but the reality is that WordPress is the easiest to understand, the easiest to work with, and the most easily adaptable.

Let's look at - in simple terms - how exactly WordPress works once it is installed:

You access a convenient WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface to securely work with all of the content on your website

You can create new web pages in a variety of formats

The content that you create is stored in a database

You can use the same interface to edit your content in the database

When visitors access your website, the information in the database is presented to them in a website layout. You can change this layout at any time and your content will automatically adopt the right look

In technical terms, WordPress is fairly advanced. In the nine years since the platform first launched, this advanced functionality has been used in all kinds of exciting ways.

Why Should You Use WordPress?

You may be wondering why people choose WordPress as their CMS. The answer is because WordPress can make just about anything that you want to do easier, quicker and more convenient!

Press agency Reuters uses WordPress to keep journalists up to date with the latest news as it happens. Music streaming service Spotify powers its entire website with WordPress.

WordPress makes creating, editing and organising your content simple and, as a result, less time-consuming. That gives you more time to focus on other areas of your business. WordPress also gives you the chance to get a professional design to make your website look great - often free of charge.

The best way to see how WordPress streamlines setting up your website is to try it for yourself. WordPress is easy to install on your web hosting or, if you sign up on the WordPress website, you can explore its features with no set-up required.

Installing WordPress Made Easy

There are a few different ways to get started with WordPress, depending on your budget, your expertise and whether you use a web hosting service.

If you are just trying out WordPress and do not have your own web hosting, visit signup.wordpress.com and sign up for a free account. You will be guided through the entire process of creating your WordPress site, which will be stored on the WordPress servers for you. It is also possible to pay for a custom domain name (the address of your website) during the sign-up process.

Alternatively, if you already have a web hosting plan that supports PHP and MySQL, you can install your own WordPress on your server. This can be done by visiting WordPress.org and downloading the necessary files. The website also offers a convenient guide to installing WordPress in 5 minutes.

Finally, see if your web hosting provider offers an automatic script installer such as Softaculous. If so, you will be able to log in from your web hosting control panel and install WordPress in just a few clicks.

Finding A Great Theme

Once WordPress is up and running, you will need to log in with the details that you chose during set-up - usually at yourdomain.com/wp-admin. You will see the WordPress dashboard, a control panel that lets you work with your website, and a range of different menu items on the left-hand side. A good place to start is by selecting a theme, under the Appearance menu.

Using the 'Install Themes' tab at the top of your screen, you can explore an extensive database of layouts and designs for your website. From conventional business layouts to distinctive and unusual looks, there are currently 1,607 themes available. After finding one that you like, installing is as easy as clicking the 'Install Now' button.

As well as these free WordPress themes that are available from within your control panel, many websites offer a great selection of themes - some of which are free, and some of which are 'premium' themes that incur a charge. If you are just getting started with WordPress, a free theme is a good choice. Of course, paying for a premium theme guarantees high quality, good performance, and continued support from the theme developers.

For professional WordPress themes, check out these websites:

ThemeForest

WooThemes

GetYourThemes

999webtemplates

Once you have installed your theme, you will be able to conveniently customize it to suit your specific requirements. You can do this using Widgets.

Using Widgets

Many people choose WordPress because there are so many professional-looking themes available for it. However, it can be useful to tweak your chosen theme to make it more individual.

When a developer creates a theme, he will name specific areas of the layout that you can customize. For example, you may be able to change the menu at the top of your layout, a sidebar that runs down the side of every page, or the footer.

Under the Appearance menu on your WordPress control panel, select the Widgets option. On the right, you will see a list of the different areas of your theme that you can customize. On the left, there is a range of included widgets that you can simply drag and drop into the relevant section.

Standard WordPress widgets include Links to other websites, an automatic list of your Pages, and a calendar of when Posts have been published. You can also install other Widgets free of charge, in the form of Plugins.

Use Widgets to personalize your theme. Once you are happy, it is time to start thinking about the most important thing of all - your content.

Pages And Posts

A common obstacle for people that are new to WordPress is the distinction between two similar types of content - Pages and Posts. Whenever you want to publish something on your website, you will need to decide whether it is a Page or a Post and select the appropriate option.

Originally, WordPress only offered the ability to create Posts - a term that is short for Blog Posts. Posts are content items that are time-specific and, when they are created, they have the current time and date attached to them. Creating a new Post causes two things to happen:

An individual web page is created with the content of your post

Your post is added to a single page that collects together each individual post

This is perhaps clearer as an example - let's imagine you have a blog section on your website, at yourdomain.com/blog. When you publish a new blog post, a single page will be created - for example, this could be yourdomain.com/blog/my-post-name. But, at the same time, your blog post will be added to the central page at yourdomain.com/blog, giving your visitors the chance to see all of your most recent posts in one convenient place.

Posts are also added to your website's RSS feed - more on that in our next article on advanced WordPress tips. Pages, on the other hand, are static items that do not have a date attached to them. They are the pages of your website that stand alone, offering general information about your business.

If you're still unsure, ask yourself this question before you create your content - is this something that will stand alone (a Page), or something that is part of a section of the website that I will update regularly (a Post)?

Explore And Learn On The Fly

You now understand the concepts of WordPress, including what it can do, common terminology, and why you should be using WordPress to build your site. So start exploring!

The great thing about WordPress is that it is intuitive and easy to use. Anything that you create can be deleted or edited with ease, so the best advice is to check the menu options included in your control panel and start working on your content right now.