Getting your WordPress Settings set up can be nerve racking, but don’t fret my darling I’ve got you.
Now, the fun begins. Setting up your WordPress. I am just going to go over some basics to setting up WordPress and some of the plugins I recommend that you start with. With this blog I am going to try and give you everything that I didn’t have when starting my first blog. I want to get you started on the right foot. So each post will be as detailed as I can get without doing a video on it.
Hosting for WordPress
So when you start up WordPress after buying your domain name and purchasing your hosting is really quiet simple if you did it through Bluehost. I have used some of the other hosting platforms, such as, iPage and GoDaddy. But I really recommend Bluehost, Flywheel (my hosting) or SiteGround. Bluehost is extremely easy to getting your WordPress set up for you. It is is one click and it is installed.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Other Blogging Platform – Free
Now before we go any further, let’s discuss why I don’t recommend going with WordPress.com or blogger or any of the other blogging platforms.
Why you should invest in your site and own your own domain name and platform instead of using the free wordpress.com, blogger.com, or even things such as Wix.
Well, for the simple reason — YOU OWN IT.
Pro’s of WordPress
That there is one of the biggest reasons I suggest and highly recommend using WordPress.org.
Why is that an important reason? Well, think of it this way…
So like I said above you own it, that means you can customize it the way you want to. Whether it is adding plugins, custom themes and monetizing it.
With WordPress you can not add all those unless you pay monthly fees. And even then you can’t have a store or a membership site on your blog. So if you are planning to monetize it you will want to use WordPress.org.
Why I Choose WordPress over SquareSpace
Now you may be asking well can I use Squarespace. Yes, you can but you are also limited on things. If you have just a personal site you can add up to 20 pages. That may seem like a lot in the beginning but if you plan on doing an online store with your products and merchandise that goes quickly.
Another thing is that they still have ownership of the site in a roundabout way. If they find things that go against their terms of service there goes your website. That also can be said with Shopify. Which I loved until I realized how much I was being charged per year for my site.
So there are all my reasons for getting a hosted site where you own your site and domain name and all you are paying for is your yearly hosting. Which will be around $100 a year. Where as with WordPress.com to have a business plan is $299, Squarespace is around $360 and to have Shopify with everything you need is close to $600. And on those you could always lose your site.
Cons of WordPress.org
The only true cons of WordPress.org I find is that you have to maintain your own site unless you pay someone to do it. And that is always an option. One of the services that we offer here at JennieSchroder.com.
But, maintaining your site is not that difficult with a little YouTube surfing and such you can learn the basics.
Backups – WordPress.org has a lot of plugins that you can use for backups. I use UpDraft which I absolutely love. The free version works great. But it is not expensive to upgrade. I am not even an affiliate of this company. But I love the ease of use and it really is a simple set up.
So there are my cons for using WordPress.org. It is easy enough for a beginner but many web designers like me use it for their business. It is actually the only platform I use.
Now, to get your WordPress.org platform set up.
1. The First thing you will do when you log in to your WP (WordPress) Dashboard, (which you can do right from your Bluehost Dashboard another great thing I love about Bluehost) You will go into your settings and we are going to do this from top to bottom on Settings in this article.
This is where you put in the name of your site. It can be your domain name but you will with space and I usually capitalize all the first letters. Unless, of course, it is something like Blogging from the Beginning. Then, it is only the primary words. But this what will show up on the top in the website tab. Look at the picture below and you will see how my site Guns, Buns & Abs – Low Carb Life shows up on Google. You cans see the in the tabs how each site shows up.
2. Your tagline is a catchphrase or slogan. This is something like Nike’s “Just Do It”, or the advertisement from the Dairy Farms of America “Got Milk” or even the old one from Burger King “Where’s the Beef”. This is what people will remember. Make it short and catchy
The WordPress address and the site address you can just leave alone. It is a more advanced setting. Email address is the one you would like to have all your emails go to regarding your site from WordPress. I use an address that I can easily put on my phone or already have. As far as membership it is best to keep that un-clicked. It is not an actual membership site but gives access to your site.
Other Settings in General on WordPress Settings Setup
3. New user – Leave as is.
4. Site Language – This is the language you will be writing in. So it is up to you on what you choose.
5. Date Format – This is also a personal preference
6. Time Format – Your choice.
7. Week Starts On – I always set up the Week starts on Monday. It is the beginning of my work week.
8. Endurance Cache – Set this to Normal. This is a BlueHost Tool. Another reason I completely recommend Bluehost. This speeds up loading time on your site when people visit it. I set mine to normal.
9. The Auto Update Manager – check all to on this will auto update each.
- Coming Soon Page – This you will keep on the on “setting” until you want your site to be live. You can link Pinterest Posts and Facebook posts to links. But they will not be live yet. Build momentum to when your site is up. When it goes live change it to off.
There we go to general settings go. Next, we will cover writing and reading settings. If you have questions on setting up choosing your Niche, Picking a Domain name and hosting click the links to the blog posts.