7 page quickstart guide to help you with your self-hosted Wordpress site!

1. Quickstart Guide to Starting a New
Self-Hosted Blog on the Internet
An Action Plan With A 7-Step Breakdown of Everything
You Need To Get Started Within 7 Pages!
By: Thu Nguyen
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2. Before We Start, Attribution and A Disclaimer
This document was created as a simple means to help the beginning blogger start their
first website online. So you are FREE to share this ebook in parts or in full with anyone as
long as the content hereon are attributed to the author Thu Nguyen of Blogging For Info.
With that said, the information presented is not to replace common sense nor is it meant to
serve as the ultimate guide through which all blogging is set upon.The content is meant to
put into use and help the user practice through doing.
There are also a few affiliated links below. If you do decide to give these services a try, I
will be compensated. Moreover, this quickstart guide is best used with the online e-course,
Unleash the Blogger, where you'll learn the blogging process in depth.
There, you'll go behind the scenes from mindset, community, content creation, online
marketing, time management and finally developing a long-term strategy for growth. Each
lesson in turn comes with a workbook so you can apply what you'll learn right away!
Now here's a breakdown of what you'll be doing in this quickstart guide:
• Step 1 – Getting the Basics in Place
• Step 2 – Applying Security and Envisioning the Future
• Step 3 – MakingYour Site Search-Engine Friendly
• Step 4 – Contact Information and Backup
• Step 5 – Allowing Outside Connections In
• Step 6 – Targeting Content on Site and Making It Look Pretty
• Step 7 – Bringing In Additional Traffic
Alright, let's get started!
To your blogging quickstart,
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3. Step 1 – Getting the Basics in Place
1. Purchase domain name / hosting (Bluehost gives you both for one price!)
date of purchase: _________________________________________
domain name: _________________________________________
login/password: _________________________________________
2. Install Wordpress within your host.
login/password: _________________________________________
3. Set a tagline you want to brand your blog with (Settings/General).
4. Set permalinks to custom with /%postname%/ (Settings/Permalinks).
5. Set your blog categories (Posts/Categories).
6. Write your About page (specify your purpose for readers coming to site).
Step 2 – Applying Security and Envisioning the Future
1. Apply for an Akismet key and activate the plugin (it's FREE!).
Record it here: _________________________________________
2. Search and install additional plugins through Plugins/Add New/Search:
• All-In-One SEO
• Robots Meta
• Growmap's Anti-Spambot Plugin
3. Think about a logo design (research online for ideas, try LogoMaker).
4. Think about your site's layout (for ideas see Wordpress's theme directory).
Step 3 – MakingYour Site Search-Engine Friendly
1. Search and install additional plugins within your Wordpress dashboard:
• Dagon sitemap generator
• Google XML sitemaps generator
2. Generate a sitemap within Google XML, paste URL of sitemap inside Dagon settings
3. Create a page called Sitemap and insert Dagon's code <!-- ddsitemapgen -->
4. Create a Google Analytics account (e-mail/login:_______________________________)
5. Create an Alexa account (e-mail/login: ________________________________________)
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4. Step 4 – Contact Information and Backup
1. Search and install additional plugins within your Wordpress dashboard:
• Lester Chan's WP-DBmanager
• No Self Pings
• Contact Form 7 or cForms
2. Set settings for your database backup frequency (Database/DB Options)
3. Create a Contact Page (Contact)
4. Set ping services (Settings/Writing and scroll down to Update Services).
Copy and paste the links below into your Update Services box area:
1. http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2
2. http://1470.net/api/ping
3. http://api.moreover.com/RPC2
4. http://api.moreover.com/ping
5. http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2
6. http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping
7. http://bblog.com/ping.php
8. http://bitacoras.net/ping
9. http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC
10. http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc
11. http://blogmatcher.com/u.php
12. http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc
13. http://coreblog.org/ping/
14. http://mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatt
15. http://www.lasermemory.com/lsrpc/
16. ttp://ping.amagle.com/
17. http://ping.bitacoras.com
18. http://ping.blo.gs/
19. http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/
20. http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc
21. http://ping.blogmura.jp/rpc/
22. http://ping.exblog.jp/xmlrpc
23. http://ping.feedburner.com
24. http://ping.myblog.jp
25. http://ping.rootblog.com/rpc.php
26. http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php
27. http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php
28. http://ping.weblogs.se/
29. http://pingoat.com/goat/RPC2
30. http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2/
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5. 31. http://rpc.blogbuzzmachine.com/RPC2
32. http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/
33. http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/
34. http://rpc.newsgator.com/
35. http://rpc.pingomatic.com
36. http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
37. http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2
38. http://topicexchange.com/RPC2
39. http://trackback.bakeinu.jp/bakeping.php
40. http://www.a2b.cc/setloc/bp.a2b
41. http://www.bitacoles.net/ping.php
42. http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2
43. http://www.blogoole.com/ping/
44. http://www.blogoon.net/ping/
45. http://www.blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates
46. http://www.blogroots.com/tb_populi.blog?id=1
47. http://www.blogshares.com/rpc.php
48. http://www.blogsnow.com/ping
49. http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi
50. http://www.mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatter/ping.php
51. http://www.newsisfree.com/RPCCloud
52. http://www.newsisfree.com/xmlrpctest.php
53. http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php
54. http://www.snipsnap.org/RPC2
55. http://www.weblogues.com/RPC/
56. http://xmlrpc.blogg.de
57. http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/
Step 5 – Allowing Outside Connections In
1. Join social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Stumbleupon
Twitter username/password: _________________________________________
Facebook username/password: _________________________________________
Digg username/password: _________________________________________
Stumble username/password: _________________________________________
2. Create a Gravatar account and upload a profile picture.
username/password: _________________________________________
3. Search and install additional plugins within your Wordpress dashboard:
• CommentLuv or Disqus
• Dofollow
• Share and Follow or Getsocial
4. Burn a feed at Feedburner, set reader to Full text for syndication (Settings/Reading).
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6. Step 6 – Targeting Content on Site and Making It Look Pretty
1. Search and install additional plugins within your Wordpress dashboard:
• Subscribe to Comments
• Thank Me Later
• Top Commentators Widget or Top Commentators Gravatar
• Yet Another Related Posts Plugin
• Wordpress Popular Posts
• Hello Bar
2. Play around and position how you want the add-ons displayed on sidebar/posts.
3. Decide on a professional or fun logo and layout (the one you researched on Step 2!).
Step 7 – Bringing in Additional Traffic
1. Submit your blog to networks as Technorati, BlogEngage, BloKube and Dofollow.
2. Start building your social proof by activating your e-mail subscription in
Feedburner under Publicize/Email Subscriptions/Activate.Then copy the script they
have there and put it as a text widget on your blog's sidebar.
3. Start building a list of places to guest post at by looking through MyBlogGuest,
SeededBuzz and Bloggers.
4. BONUS - Energize your blog with more ideas by joining BlogEnergizer FREE and
learn what the movers and shakers are doing by listening to BlogcastFM podcasts!
Final Note
I hope you have enjoyed this short quickstart guide which has
walked you through a few tips and tricks I personally use to make my
self-hosted blogs shine.
The best way to learn is to just get into the process.This allows you to
take action right away and the point is to keep it simple but do it.
So thanks a lot for downloading these short steps. I hope the information within have gave
you ample, if not the basic starting points for optimizing your self-hosted blog online.
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7. Now you may have noticed that the only missing ingredient is content.
That's kind of a complex subject to walk you through in this short guide, because every
blogger has their own method towards implementing it. As I mentioned, you can get an in
depth course on blogging by subscribing to Unleash the Blogger's E-course.
There you will understand clearly what you're up against when it comes to crafting content
for readers as well as for the search engines. And since this is an e-course that I have
worked on for more than a year, I know that it's going to provide you with much more value
than the 7 pages you've found here.
Consequently, each step will be an accompanied by a video, workbook as well as some
additional templates/resources which will allow you to apply what you learn instantly.
And why is it FREE?
I love freebies however, I'm also a big believer in making use of those freebies.
So if you're not getting the most from me in terms of understanding, I'm not doing a good
job as a blogger.With that said, I hope you carry on with this action plan by learning more
about how you can Unleash the Blogger in YOU.
Additionally, you can check out the Start Here page of my official blog over at Blogging For
Info to see what's available.
Keep in touch to learn more about the blogging process through marketing, branding, self-
development and tracking your online performance by following me through the social
networks below:
• Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/thublogger
• Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/bloggingfor
Sincerely,
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