A WordPress Blog
Your own domain name at mydomain.com, not mydomain.blogspot.com
Just a few things I’d like to get out in the open about my design services, the main one being that the given price applies only if you DON’T yet have web hosting. I keep my services cheap by sending you through a special affiliate link when you buy your hosting, and the hosting company sends me a commission. If you don’t get hosting, it’s a lose/lose for everyone involved.
So if you don’t yet have hosting for your blog, don’t get it yet. I’ll walk you through the right way to get it after we start working together.
What I Create/ You Get:
1. Install and configure WordPress software (i.e. put up a blog for you).
2. Upload a theme of your choice and make it active. This (the theme) determines your blog’s “look”.
3. Install add-on software (“plug-ins”). “Plug-ins” are essentially little software programs that make your blog work better, i.e. give you more ranking with the search engines, allow people to subscribe to and follow comments left on your blog, get your content out to the world, and fight spammers. I’ll install these for you:
- Akismet – protects your blog/site from comment and trackback spam
- All in One SEO Pack – gets you started with search engines
- AntiVirus – protects your blog/site against exploits and spam injections
- Digg Digg – All in one social networking buttons
- Disqus Comment System – The standard comment management system can’t even compare
- Google XML Sitemaps – Generates a special XML sitemap which will help search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask.com to better index your blog/site
4. Tell you how to get into the administrative area, where you can write posts, add pages, spiff it up, etc.
5. Give you instructions that show you how to run your blog/site — e.g. the most common blog tasks like adding photos, writing posts, making links, and so on.
What’s Not Included (Unfortunately)
Personal blog tutoring
A blog is meant to be simple, but the art and technology of blogging is something that you continuously learn. It would be hard to teach you everything you needed to know in the time I have.
Tech support
Mistakes are usually caused by something the owner did on accident or a problem associated with the hosting company. With that in mind, your best option will always be to call the hosting company. WordPress is extremely user-friendly, so don’t be worried.
How this works
You follow an easy step-by-step process that will guide you through the process of buying your hosting (the site’s online “home”) and domain name (the .com or .net, etc.). Hosting plans can cost as little as $4/month, but are more commonly $7/month. The domain name will cost you around $10 per year.
You pick a theme, which is like a template that will determine your blog’s “look”.
You’ll email me the information I need, as described in that step-by-step process. This will be the hosting log-in info, theme choice, and a bit more. (Don’t worry, not your credit card info.)
Within just a few days, I set up your blog as described above.
I tell you how to get to the new blog and its administration panel, which is where you’ll write posts, pages, etc.
You’ll change your passwords so that I can’t log back into your account.
Pricing:
- Base Price – $59 (¥375)
- If you already bought hosting, because I can’t send you through my link, there’s a $50 charge to your overall payment – $50 (¥317)
- Aweber Email mailing list setup – $100 (¥630)
- Premium Theme: Headway (includes theme) – $100 (¥630)
Just remember that for this price, I can’t do additional services, customize sidebar widgets, or design logos, but am willing to work together on whatever you’d like for an additional fee. It will still be cheaper than any other website design service delivering this kind of quality.
What Will You Have To Do?
Hopefully not much. You’ll just need to spend a few minutes getting your hosting (which you’ll do after receiving my instructions) and deciding which theme you’d like me to use.
As an optional step, you could send me whatever text and images you’d like to use on the site, on which pages. Please note that if you don’t have content for your site yet, I’ll put in “filler” content, which you’ll be able to replace later. This allows you to get set up immediately, without having to wait until you have every single one of your ideas down on paper.
Additional Costs
If your blog or site is a “family”, the content you put in it would be the “people”, and the hosting would be the “house”. You’ll need hosting for your new site because it needs space online in which to “live”, which is true of every website.
I’ll direct you to a hosting plan that can cost as little as $4/month, but which is more commonly $7/month. Also domain name will cost you around $10 per year. (Again, you’ll do this after receiving my instructions.)
Time Frame
Assuming everything goes smoothly, you’ll be up and running in just a few days!
Time To Build
|
View Shopping Cart
Frequently-Asked Questions:
Q: Can you explain “hosting”? What do I get, and how much does it cost?
A: If you don’t have hosting, you’ll do it after receiving my instructions.
But after you buy the blog setup, I’ll direct you to a GoDaddy plan that can cost as little as $4/month, but which is more commonly $7/month. (Please note that in order to qualify for the base price, you will need to pay for the full year (not monthly) and cannot use promo codes other than the one I provide.)
Domain names are around $10 per year.
Q: Can you still set up my blog if I already have hosting?
A: Yes, but because I won’t get the hosting affiliate commission that subsidizes the normal price, it’ll cost you an additional charge.
Q: What is the “additional charge”?
A: If your hosting is on GoDaddy then it’s usually $50.
I'm a 23 year old college grad, and during my junior year abroad in Scotland, I came to the realization that it's hard to know what you want to do in this world if you've never seen it. With that in mind, I decided to study abroad again during the 2011-12 academic year, this time in Beijing, China. Read more 