Creating a blog is a fast way to publish content online. It is much like a website except a blog is run by a series of scripts that generally publish and organize the content by date and categories.
Blogs are typically easier to setup than websites because most blog platforms come with ready-to-use templates and there’s no software or FTP needed to publish your content to the Web.
I use WordPress for this blog, and the theme (design) I use is called Thesis.
The easiest way to setup a blog is to choose a web host that has a WordPress install script. So all you have to do is sign up with hosting and install WordPress from the hosting control panel.
Instantly, you’re ready to begin blogging.
Blog or Static Website?
A static website is a series of pages that are manually put together using HTML and CSS. 2CreateAWebSite.com is a static site.
This is my main tutorial site and you may notice the content organization is more controlled and logical. It’s not ordered by date or category like my content here. It’s organized by steps so it’s easier to reference. The content is also not updated as frequently.
If you use WordPress, you can create static content, but it’s important to learn how to edit your navigation/theme to make use of those static pages and create a more logical navigation.
This blog is more like a journal/magazine where I just publish random articles related to Internet marketing. Since the articles are organized by category, it would be harder for people to follow if they wanted to learn how to build and promote a website. That’s why I reserve my blog for “latest news” and use my static site for teaching.
Most people choose blogs today because they are easy, dynamic and universal. I personally like having a static site as well because it’s easier for people to follow my tutorials.
You don’t need a static site and a blog, just make sure you organize your content in the most useful/logical way for delivering your content. Not every kind of site is best for a traditional blog format.
Many people tell me that blogs are difficult to navigate and find information. That’s because most bloggers don’t make good use of static pages. So their site just becomes a list of random posts in different categories, and the older content eventually gets buried. While that may be fine for some sites, others may benefit from a more static organization.
If you are creating a tutorial/reference site, visitors may get lost and have trouble finding the information they are looking for. That can be rectified by making use of more static pages. That’s really the key whether you accomplish this with a blog or static site.
How you customize your blog design with static content will depend on which blog theme you use. For example, Thesis easily lets you add static pages to your main navigation without editing the code. You can even create a drop-down navigation with ease. Free themes are often more difficult to customize unless you understand PHP and CSS.
Consider a Premium Theme
There are tons of wonderful free blog theme designs, but I am so glad I use a premium theme. The code is usually cleaner (loads faster), the design is easier to customize, they are more search engine optimized and you typically receive free upgrades for life.
Many new bloggers gravitate toward the free themes at first, but often struggle with customization and later discover the benefits of having a paid theme.
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nkolika,
perhaps, u installed manually, then u need to install from the install.php page, if i am not mistaken.
the best thing, u use hostgator, go to admin control panel, usually, when u signed up with hostgator, you will receive the account info and
http://www.urdomain.com/cpanel
and then choose the fantastico icon, and choose the blog, and choose to install wordpress, give a folder (directory name) or you can install directly on your root domain.
by using fantastico installer, it is much much easier and actually it is quite convinient to upgrade as well.
hope that helps
Hi Lisa,
I’m using Hostgator and I installed WP on my domain. I signed into the wp-admin part and I’m seeing nothing but a blank page
Hi, i am on hostgator also, good hosting company. In answer to your question about installing WP. Go into C-Panel, scroll down to Fantastico and load WordPress, it does it automatically for yu. It will work fine. Then go to wordpress and upload a theme, lots are free on line, just download it to your comp, then get it in Wp. And thats it, pretty easy, you should have no problem.
Signed into what? Your blog? Your hosting account? WordPress? Does your web host allow you to install WordPress thru your control panel or are you trying to manually upload the WordPress files?
Thanks Lisa,
Just did that and I am totally blank as to what to do next. I’ve signed in using my username and all I’m seeing is a blank page. Pls help!!!!
Hi nkolika,
Thanks for the compliment! It’s really up to you. I just like blog.domain.com so I created a subdirectory on my host called “blog” and installed WordPress there.
Hey Lisa,
Permit me to join the bandwagon of all those singing praises to you on the the great work you’re doing here. Because of you I had the guts to create my own site and thanks to your charm and encouragement I am a webmaster.
I now want to start working on a blog but can’t seem to figure out how to do it. I want to host it on my site…..i:e blog/art-devine-slasher.com but don’t know in which directory to install wordpress in.
Should I install it in the root directory (i:e lave the directory option blank) or should I fill in “blog” in the directory option. How did you do your own?
Thanks
routbisu, The WordPress plugins are worth the switch alone as far as I’m concerned.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
Hey Lisa,
Blogspot supports adsense ads and also allows you to host your blog on your own domain. You can get a domain name like yourblog.yourdomain.com and you still wont need to setup hostgator on your server. You can post your articles from the blogspot dashboard as usual after signing in into your Google account ,while the blog would now be sittimg at your own domain!
So, do tell me what forced you to withdraw from using blogspot, if it isn’t that much personal.
routbisu
http://www.websitebabble.com/members/routbisu.html
This information is very usefull for me,
Thanks a Lot
Hi Lisa,
I love the info that you’re providing to everyone. You’re such a help to me. I wanted to know if you could go in a little more detail of how you took your WordPress blog and hosted it on HostGator. Im interested in creating my own blog, but I want to be able to add Adsense ads to my blog. Thanks Lisa for any help you can provide.
Hi Neville,
Ask your web host if they support the WordPress install. If so, then you should be able to install it. Some website builder hosting companies can be limiting and do not allow scripts, so they should be able to tell you if they support WordPress.
Hello Lisa,
I use Website Builder as my hoste. Do you know if I will stil be able to blog from my website using a Word press acount? I am a musician trying to promote myself online. My web hoste does have a blog feature, but it is not accessible to my screen reader. A screen reader is software that a blind person uses to get around the internet. This blog is easy for me to use . I am new to internet marketing and I heard that website content can be greatly enhanced with blogging. Is this true? Can you please check out my website at http://www.nevillepeter.com and give me some ideas on how to make it better? Thank you and God bless.
Thank you Krystal. Funny that you asked. I just joined the YouTube Partner program today (invitation by YouTube only) and I will begin earning money from ads on YouTube too. Internet TV stations are way above my head in terms of setting up. You may want to try emailing other webmasters who have internet tv sites and they can provide some guidance.
Also just want to say it’s very inspiring to see a young black woman like myself being successful in something she loves. Forget trying to be like Mike, I want to be like Lisa :> I pray God continues to bless you girl
Do you make money off of the Youtube Channel that you have too? I really want to do something like an internet tv station. I’m not sure which avenue to take though as far as starting it up. Any suggestions?
its very nice
Hi Jarret,
As far as merging goes, it shouldn’t be terribly difficult because WordPress has a feature that allows you to import your posts from blogger. So once your wordpress blog is setup on your own domain then you use the Import feature to get the other posts from Blogger.
As far as setting the blog up on your own domain, I would use Hostgator.com or any host that uses cPanel. cPanel allows you to setup your blog with a few clicks and you don’t have to FTP or do much manual work. All the setup is done through your host control panel.
Wow, you’re getting pretty serious Alexa traffic! I have two blogs, one one wordpress(dot com) and the other on blogger. I am interested in merging the two onto a private wordpress blog with my own domain.
1. How difficult is it to host your own private wordpress blog? I am not particularly computer savvy.
2. Can I merge a blogger blog and a wordpress dot com blog into a single blog on private domain?
thanks,
Jarret
I read similar article also named a Free Blog With WordPress, and it was completely different. Personally, I agree with you more, because this article makes a little bit more sense for me
Hi
I dont see any mention of wordpress.org. There we can add google adsense. We should have our own domain name.
Thanks.
Eric@ As Lisa said it is because you are already logged in.
Others can see the comment form and when they post a comment, you will be notified via email that a comment has been posted.
You don’t need additional plugins for comments, except akismet which detects spam comments.
Eric, that’s because you’re probably logged in. Log out and you’ll see the name and email forms.
Lisa, the default wordpress comment form only allows for the comments but does not have the fields for Name, Email, and Website. Where can I find plugs to add these additional fields? Thanks! – Eric
Hi Adri
It is possible but it’s a lot of work. It’s not something you can work on for 3 weeks or a month and expect the money to come in right away. Most blogs making good money are at least 2-3 years old and they have content that is unique and they spend time learning how to market it.
I see your topic is Adsense/businesss. My first thought is “too saturated”. It’s better to create a blog on a less saturated niche – like a hobby or passion. Stay away from anything related to business, marketing, Adsense, etc. This is particularly true if you’re not making any money yet and can’t prove to people you really are walking the walk.
Good luck!
Hi lisa,
I want to learn from you how to make money online,please your advice what I have to do I have tried to make some of blog but there is no traffic,is it possible to make money from free blog ? because I don’t want to spend money for something that I am not sure it’s will make profit for me
Hi Danard,
Thank you. What host do you use? I recommend Hostgator because installing WordPress is easier and you don’t even have to download it. You just login to your control panel and tell Hostgator to set it up for you.
As far as software, I’d recommend Dreamweaver. You can setup an FTP user/pass and then publish your site right from the software.
Hi Lisa,
You do a Excellent Job on youtube! I’m new to creating websites, and all the software etcc… It’s very confusing, I don’t understand how or what to do with it all???
For some reason My Webhosting will not allow me to download wordpress! Any Advice?
Thank you, Please check out my blog and let me know if I’m headed in the right direction…Comment if you wish
Hi! Lisa, Thanks for all the information, I am also a newbie looking for some ideas wherever I can. You have a lot of links that is very useful. Thanks again and have a nice day!.
I don’t recommend free web hosts generally because of the drawbacks but you can start with a free blog like http://www.blogger.com or http://www.wordpress.com
im trying to create an website for free of cost. can you give me an idea or information.
Arun, you can always start with a blog and that’s free at http://www.blogger.com.
Hi lisa,
thanks 4al d tips wic u gav.. Tats was really gr8 4ppl lik me.It was very useful 4me n now i got a idea 2start a site. Can u tel me a gud n better hostprovider n sud b in budget as i am runnin out of money.. N wats d minimum investment sud b 2create n run a website..
Lisa,
may I know how could i subscribe anothers blog into the website am working for?and also how to host a self blog in that website.
Scott, Ummm… I think so? 😉
is this blog working
Hi Lisa, today av just spend time on your websites, av also sent you several mails such as this, its all about Adsense stuff. this came just at the time I needed to make money using my site. Check on it and give me some comments on how to improve it.
Some use the old blogger blog to drive traffic to the new blog. One method is to use short description posts as a prelude and link to the wordpress post.
Toya,
Read my post about switching. I redirected my blogger blog to my wordpress one in case someone had it bookmarked.
https://blog.2createawebsite.com/2007/12/26/i-ditched-blogger-hello-wordpress/
Oh my, I have blogger and I struggle with daily traffic. I guess I need to make the switch. But, what do I do with my blogger account. Should I leave it as is and start over with a new blog all together. I’m new to this so bare with me.
Thanks!
I got it from http://cssace.com/free-wp-premium-theme-is-here/ but I used PhotoShop to change the header colors, etc.
Hello Lisa,
Your WordPress blog is gorgeous. What’s the name of the WordPress template you used for building your site? Did you have to use Dreamweaver to edit it? Thanks!
You’re cute, smart, beautiful smile, where were u when I was single? Thanks 4 the info.
Lisa, Lisa, Lisa
You have set me on-fire. I have learned so much just by following all your links, thank you so much! You have answered a lot of questions for me. I am in the same boat as Ryan up there…no budget to work with and am trying to find a way to create an income stream. First, I don’t yet have a topic to write about. So, when I figure this out…you’ll hear from me again! Wishing you much “more” success!!!
ok I broke down and got a free account on word press…I am going to see how it goes…I really do trust you…I know money makes money, but that is something that I don’t have right now…LOL
Same here! I started getting traffic immediately with WordPress – the next day just like you. With Blogger the traffic trickled in but never really picked up.
I went for a free blogger blog for a long time and tried to get indexed by google.
Absolutley no luck there.
So I swithced over to free wordpress since I don’t plan on making money with my blog (if I didi I would host it at hostgator).
Anyways when I made the switch – guess how long it took me to get indexed by google?
1 day without any effort- all I did was place tags at the bottom of each post and voila I got traffic and indexed.
Oh and with wordpress you don’t have to set up a google analytics account since the stats are already built in.
Ryan,
No proof Google plays favorites with Blogger users. In fact my WordPress blog traffic has nearly tripled in the 3 months since I switched from Blogger. More proof that Google ranks sites well that have quality backlinks, frequent updates and useful content. But I also think having a sitemap and other content-driven plugins helps too.
well, it doesn’t.. not from their end of the deal anyway.. which i doubt they would jeopardize their entire algorytim on which 40billion rests upon…
are you serious if your blog isn’t self hosted, you can use google adsense at all…really that sucks…and I have being going back and forth with switching from blogger to word press…I have a blog http://www.gioperation.com that google hosts for free and I like that…I might be giving up some of the nice plug ins but until my traffic builds it doesn’t make sense to spend money I don’t have until I make some…and I have always thought that google would rank their sites ahead of another because for Gods sake it is one of theirs…or am I dead wrong?
Ryan
There’s a bunch of hosts for $5-$15 per month. I consider that a minimal investment that is totally worth being able to have more flexibility.
then don’t invest any money, if you know ftp, or at least the basics, you can get a free host.
Jamina,
If you use WordPress (hosted on their servers) then you can’t host your blog on your own domain. You also aren’t allowed to use AdSense ads. If you use a host like HostGator then you can host the blog on your own site (yoursite.com) and have a much more professional-looking address than http://yourblog.wordpress.com
Hello Lisa, can you tell me why you use Hostgator? Can’t you just use the services of WordPress to get the blog up and running?