Starting a Website or a dedicate blog is simple, but creating one worth reading is a creature of it’s own. We can help you at least make a piece of crap successfully.

*Note: The following article is part of a series that will help assist beginners create a presentable Website and be able to update it regularly without having to deal with computer languages. Please feel free to ask questions in our comment section or e-mail us directly for more in depth info so that we may cover your needs.

The idea

Obviously you will want some sort of idea already in place before you create a site, other wise you will just be wasting your time and money. If you are simply creating a place to vent and don’t expect much readership, just stick with the free blogs. For this tutorial we will start with using WordPress, which essentially works like it’s free version, but is completely customizable. The following site lists are Web hosts that allow quick installation of WordPress. The prices are also clearly shown on the list as well, but the prices are a result of paying a certain amount of months in advance. The best offer is from Godaddy, who allows you to install WordPress quickly and easily and has a rather cheap deal of 3 months up front for under $20. After the 3 months are up it should only cost you $4.95 or so per month based on what package you choose. Assuming you chose GoDaddy the following information will help you get WordPress installed. Skipping one pitcher of Margarita’s won’t kill you.

Figure out what the name of your site should be. A good example of how we first started and grew can be seen in the names of our sites. We first started with evolutionfreelancemedia.com, which was clearly to long. We then evolved to playthismag.com that simply didn’t look right and now we have landed on Play-This.org. Try to get past the fact that all sites need to be .com, which is simply not right. The only sites that really require a certain end tag are government and educational pages (.gov and .edu). Find a name and brand your site with it. If you can get someone to create you a decent logo, try to watermark all of your photos as well. By providing a consistent brand and color scheme others will quickly notice your work if it’s being “borrowed” by others.

*Note: Once you create a WordPress Godaddy based site, it will take up to 24 hours for them to approve all of your information. Plan accordingly as you may not be able to just start building your site directly after purchase.

Installing WordPress

To Install WordPress on Your Hosting Account

1. Log in to your Account Manager.
2. In the My Products section, select Hosting.
3. Next to the hosting account you want to modify, click Manage Account.
4. On the Hosting Control Center home page, click Your Applications.
5. Click the Blogs category on the left, and then click WordPress.
6. Click Install Now.NOTE: The Install Now button displays only when the selected value application is compatible with one of more hosting plans in your account.
7. Read the End User License Agreement, and then click I Agree.
8. Choose the domain to install WordPress to. [This will be the domain you purchased for your site]
9. Enter a database description and password, and then click Next. [This description will help you differentiate between your various sites]
10. Choose an installation directory, and then click Next.NOTE: To install WordPress in your root directory, leave this field empty.
11. Enter the Admin Name, Admin Password, Email and Blog Title for your WordPress installation. Click Finish.

WordPress will be installed to your hosting account with the options you selected. When it is complete, you will receive a confirmation email. This information can also be found on the Godaddy site.

The Godaddy and WordPress sites are a bit outdated on the above help steps so I compiled some picture step by step installation instructions. If you still have trouble setting your site up let us know and we can figure the specific issue.

*Note: Clicking on the images will make them larger.

This completes part 1 of the tutorial on creating a cheap Website. The next article will provide you information on selecting your first theme and how to alter it. There is also a tutorial theme that comes with WordPress, which can be helpful but we know you love pictures. Omm Nom Nom pictures.

Follow us on Twitter!

You can still find us on Myspace and Facebook as well.