Image via Wikipedia
Did you know that businesses with blogs get 55% more website visitors?
Clearly, having a blog is important to building your business. But, if you’re not terribly technical, trying to figure out how to connect the circle-swirly thing to the blue square can be confusing.
Since I get asked a lot of questions about basic blog setup, here’s a step-by-step guide to doing it yourself.
(These instructions are for using Hostgator (affiliate link) with cpanel, each web host will differ slightly, but as long as you have cpanel, you should be able to follow along). By the way, they’re my favorite host and just won 2011 Host of the Year award from WordPress Hosting Reviews.
preparation: Do you need a domain name or a new web host?
(If you already have a domain name, and hosting, you can skip this section and go straight to “Create your new blog in cpanel”).
If you’re starting a new site, you’ll need a domain name. You can get them from just about any web host (like Hostgator, Media Temple, etc).
When you buy a new domain from Hostgator and have them host it, they will put it on their system automatically (you’ll just need to wait a day or two for it to go live).
If you have a site hosted elsewhere and you want to transfer hosting to Hostgator, then fill out this form: http://www.hostgator.com/transfer.php. Sort of like filling out a change of address card for the internet. Except instead of going to the post office, you tell your domain registrar (the place where you bought the domain name) that you moved.
The new address information, something like: ns2100.hostgator.com and ns2101.hostagator.com should be in your welcome email. If you’re not sure, Hostgator has domain moving instructions by company, (such as godaddy, and register.com).
Create your new blog in cpanel
Cpanel is a tool that Hostgator (and other web hosting sites) use to make it easier to manage your site.
1. Go to http://yourdomainname.com/cpanel to login to your account.
2. You’ll see a window with the cpanel folders and files (it looks a lot like a Windows file directory on your computer). There are headings labeled “special offers”, Links, Preferences, etc. Scroll down nearly to the bottom and you’ll see a heading called “software/services.”
3. Click the link that says “quick install”. On the left, you’ll see a heading labeled “WordPress.” Click that and then click the continue button on the next screen.
4. Then tell cpanel where you want wordpress to go. If you want the blog to be the same as your domain name, leave it blank.
Be careful! If there’s something already there, and you leave the box blank, it will overwrite your site with the blog.
If you want it to be in a separate folder on your site (mydomainname.com/blog), then type the word blog in the box. 
5. Click the install now button and all the files you need will be installed. At the end, you’ll see a congratulations message with a link to your new blog page.
6. Check your email for a message with the password for your new blog. You can login with your user name (the one you picked in the previous step), and that new password.
7. Go to http://www.yourdomainname.com/blog (or whatever name you chose), and add “wp-admin to the end. Now login.
Taa daa!!
There are lots of other things you can do, from changing the way the site looks (with themes), to changing the structure of how posts display, to plugins that add more functions). More on that next week.
Get more business now. Click here for your free ebook.
Related posts: