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Starting a Wordpress website today...tips?

P Stiller

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Ok, I blew US$2500++ on setting up a Wordpress website and plugins and webhosting previously, it was a huge mistake considering I didn't even have a product ready. But I learnt lots of things from the process.....could have spent all that $ on inventory and ads instead....o_O........so here's my thoughts:



All themes have their own issues, regardless of how good they are or how many positive reviews they got. I've tried a total of 6 paid themes including Themeforest ones, and even those that had thousands of positive reviews had some drawbacks in one way or another. There's no such thing as a perfect theme.

With pre-made themes, you've to FORCE your content to fit the layout of theme (e.g: you need to place 4 images on the top section but the pre-made theme has no layout for that, so you need to find a way around that or pay someone to customize it).

With a custom-developed theme from scratch, you can have full control over the look and content.
That's the biggest difference.
I found one or 2 on themeforest but didn't seem to be any different than the one for free.....unless those are easier to customize and I'm just not understanding that.......
What you should do now, is to get a piece of paper and pen, list down the important pages you need to have in your website (Home, Contact, Services, About, etc....)

Then, in each of these main pages, list and sketch out what content you want on it.
Just the basics I need which this has
THEN you go find the theme that can best fit your content.

If you've no time or just want to be lazy, then find a theme first and force your content around it, which is a bad choice.




Don't worry, this is normal. With setting up Wordpress sites, it's often a process of : download this theme/plugin, have questions, contact support, wait for days/figure out yourself, proceed, have questions, contact support......It's normal.

Find those theme companies that have a good track record.
On ThemeForest, for example, search for the ones with the highest reviews and downloads, and see how long they've been in business, and how frequent they respond to customers' questions. On ThemeForest, you can see all these on the theme page itself and the Comments section. Some companies reply in 1 day, some in 3 days, some in 7.....

With theme companies, if one day they go out of business, there's nothing you can do. But the good ones have been in business for many years.
What I'm worried about....haven't found ones with a lot of reviews at all.....figured onetone is from Wordpress and ranked as a top free one so.....try it
A lot of times, FREE is not always good. Personally, I believe PAID is better than FREE in most cases when it comes to web design.
Makes sense but so many people say theirs worked fine free so hoping.....


Without having any idea of what type of website you're creating, we can't give specific advice.
I'm a trainer that offers different service for self maintenance of the body.....all of which the whole world needs because nobody cares until it's to late
Do you sell products? If you're selling products, look for eCommerce Wordpress themes that have WooCommerce integrated into it. The WooCommerce part, especially if you want to customize that area, you would probably have to end up paying for custom development on it since it can get quite messy.
No selling products
If you just need a website that gives a summary of the services you provide, like those law firm websites, then it's simpler. Just get a good theme and go from there.
You can also list the themes that you're considering here, and we can provide some advice.

Trying to make onetone work since spent 2 days on it
Also noticed screenr in a video I'm keeping in mind as a backup that's free from Wordpress.....imlike the one page simple layoout

Themeforest has a basic one for $17
YourFitness — Sport Blog, Fitness Club, Gym Theme

Below is most expensive.....just seems like if I can get around a few glitches on onetone I can make it similar to it
http://sktthemesdemo.net/skt-fitness/


Note that the OneTone theme you're using is a one-page theme so all content will be on the home page only. If you're selling multiple products, this is not a good one to use.
No selling
Also, with regards to customization, there's a low limit to how customizable most themes (even paid ones) are. The most you can do is just drag a few blocks around here and there, remove or add blocks etc, but for the most part, everything is fixed. You can change the text color and very basic stuff like this but that's all.

Even with Divi Theme + Visual Composer, there's still a limit on the customization.

So far, the best combo for really customizable Wordpress sites would be GeneratePress + Elementor (YES, ELEMENTOR IS A KILLER and IT'S INSANELY POWERFUL!!!!). But you need some knowledge of web design to use that.



Plugins are same as themes. CodeCanyon has good plugins and most are very actively developed, but check the reviews and company background first. Try to reduce the no. of plugins you use cos i) they can slow down the site and ii) they will DRAG you to PLUG-IN MAINTENANCE HELL.

PLUG-IN MAINTENANCE HELL is basically, you update a plugin, and your website breaks and ceases to function.
You dunno what's wrong, so you go in and de-activate all your 23 other plugins and re-activate them and test them all one by one.

Finally you found the bug. So you remove that plugin, now you've to find someone to reproduce that functionality, either with another plugin or just forget about it.
And each time a plugin gets installed.....it may break some parts of the site again....and......

This happens even with very high quality plugins, mind you. When you've too many separate components operating in the same system, things tend to go wrong often.....



What are you using Jetpack for? Backup? If Backup only, I would suggest WPManage. It's cheaper and you can pick and choose what services you want. The backup service is only ~US$2 per month which is lovely.
I don't know it came with it....don't know if should deactivate it or what the hell I need.....skipped it for now
Or......have you consider just setting up shop on Shopify instead?
No idea
I move my website there after I got fed-up with Wordpress sites (plugin hell + slow sites even on Siteground's Geek package + optimization). Shopify seems to load a lot faster than any of the Wordpress sites I had. I had to give up a bit of customization but it's more than worth it.

With Wordpress, I find myself spending too much time keeping track and maintaining plugins and all the nitty-gritty webby stuff, and while some folks might say hosting on your own web host is cheaper, I don't agree though. With Wordpress and WooCommerce, you basically need a plugin for every single function.
Now I'm worried more
For your case, I would say:

1) go with the theme that best suits your content
2) make a list of the areas which you need to customize or change
3) find a good developer like WpKraken (they offer 100% money back guarantee) to customize those parts. Small changes like CSS and changing the look don't cost much. It's the backend eCommerce functionality that costs more.

That's what I did, and it's the most efficient way by far.

Feel free to post any more questions here, will be happy to help since I'm very free now doing action-faking while saving up $$$ for my hustle LOL
Going back to clicking.....more I click the more I been moving slightly...after reading some of your stuff I'm a little more nervous that once this is all set up is going to become a huge headache.

Thank you for the time put into this response.....very helpful!
 
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P Stiller

Contributor
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Lisle, Illinois
Ok, I blew US$2500++ on setting up a Wordpress website and plugins and webhosting previously, it was a huge mistake considering I didn't even have a product ready. But I learnt lots of things from the process.....could have spent all that $ on inventory and ads instead....o_O........so here's my thoughts:



All themes have their own issues, regardless of how good they are or how many positive reviews they got. I've tried a total of 6 paid themes including Themeforest ones, and even those that had thousands of positive reviews had some drawbacks in one way or another. There's no such thing as a perfect theme.

With pre-made themes, you've to FORCE your content to fit the layout of theme (e.g: you need to place 4 images on the top section but the pre-made theme has no layout for that, so you need to find a way around that or pay someone to customize it).

With a custom-developed theme from scratch, you can have full control over the look and content.
That's the biggest difference.

What you should do now, is to get a piece of paper and pen, list down the important pages you need to have in your website (Home, Contact, Services, About, etc....)

Then, in each of these main pages, list and sketch out what content you want on it.

THEN you go find the theme that can best fit your content.

If you've no time or just want to be lazy, then find a theme first and force your content around it, which is a bad choice.




Don't worry, this is normal. With setting up Wordpress sites, it's often a process of : download this theme/plugin, have questions, contact support, wait for days/figure out yourself, proceed, have questions, contact support......It's normal.

Find those theme companies that have a good track record.
On ThemeForest, for example, search for the ones with the highest reviews and downloads, and see how long they've been in business, and how frequent they respond to customers' questions. On ThemeForest, you can see all these on the theme page itself and the Comments section. Some companies reply in 1 day, some in 3 days, some in 7.....

With theme companies, if one day they go out of business, there's nothing you can do. But the good ones have been in business for many years.

A lot of times, FREE is not always good. Personally, I believe PAID is better than FREE in most cases when it comes to web design.



Without having any idea of what type of website you're creating, we can't give specific advice.

Do you sell products? If you're selling products, look for eCommerce Wordpress themes that have WooCommerce integrated into it. The WooCommerce part, especially if you want to customize that area, you would probably have to end up paying for custom development on it since it can get quite messy.

If you just need a website that gives a summary of the services you provide, like those law firm websites, then it's simpler. Just get a good theme and go from there.
You can also list the themes that you're considering here, and we can provide some advice.



Note that the OneTone theme you're using is a one-page theme so all content will be on the home page only. If you're selling multiple products, this is not a good one to use.

Also, with regards to customization, there's a low limit to how customizable most themes (even paid ones) are. The most you can do is just drag a few blocks around here and there, remove or add blocks etc, but for the most part, everything is fixed. You can change the text color and very basic stuff like this but that's all.

Even with Divi Theme + Visual Composer, there's still a limit on the customization.

So far, the best combo for really customizable Wordpress sites would be GeneratePress + Elementor (YES, ELEMENTOR IS A KILLER and IT'S INSANELY POWERFUL!!!!). But you need some knowledge of web design to use that.



Plugins are same as themes. CodeCanyon has good plugins and most are very actively developed, but check the reviews and company background first. Try to reduce the no. of plugins you use cos i) they can slow down the site and ii) they will DRAG you to PLUG-IN MAINTENANCE HELL.

PLUG-IN MAINTENANCE HELL is basically, you update a plugin, and your website breaks and ceases to function.
You dunno what's wrong, so you go in and de-activate all your 23 other plugins and re-activate them and test them all one by one.

Finally you found the bug. So you remove that plugin, now you've to find someone to reproduce that functionality, either with another plugin or just forget about it.
And each time a plugin gets installed.....it may break some parts of the site again....and......

This happens even with very high quality plugins, mind you. When you've too many separate components operating in the same system, things tend to go wrong often.....



What are you using Jetpack for? Backup? If Backup only, I would suggest WPManage. It's cheaper and you can pick and choose what services you want. The backup service is only ~US$2 per month which is lovely.

Or......have you consider just setting up shop on Shopify instead?

I move my website there after I got fed-up with Wordpress sites (plugin hell + slow sites even on Siteground's Geek package + optimization). Shopify seems to load a lot faster than any of the Wordpress sites I had. I had to give up a bit of customization but it's more than worth it.

With Wordpress, I find myself spending too much time keeping track and maintaining plugins and all the nitty-gritty webby stuff, and while some folks might say hosting on your own web host is cheaper, I don't agree though. With Wordpress and WooCommerce, you basically need a plugin for every single function.

For your case, I would say:

1) go with the theme that best suits your content
2) make a list of the areas which you need to customize or change
3) find a good developer like WpKraken (they offer 100% money back guarantee) to customize those parts. Small changes like CSS and changing the look don't cost much. It's the backend eCommerce functionality that costs more.

That's what I did, and it's the most efficient way by far.

Feel free to post any more questions here, will be happy to help since I'm very free now doing action-faking while saving up $$$ for my hustle LOL
I messed up that last reply.....I responded under each paragraph and it blended into yours except on the bottom.......sorry.....it's late and I'm not all there
 

andrewhook

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Scuur

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Use Namecheap & either SSD A2 hosting or my favorite DigitalOcean its 5 dollars a month. I have lots of experience with Wordpress. I use to make custom themes for fun. Also, use a CDN I like CloudFlare its free. Make sure your website is secure with HTTPS, lightweight and loads fast.
 
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P Stiller

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Use Namecheap & either SSD A2 hosting or my favorite DigitalOcean its 5 dollars a month. I have lots of experience with Wordpress. I use to make custom themes for fun. Also, use a CDN I like CloudFlare its free. Make sure your website is secure with HTTPS, lightweight and loads fast.
I'm on my 3rd theme.....this is ridiculous....2.5 says straight at this
I'm currently trying Astrid theme but it's not working as video shows.....seems like anything free is just set up to hurt me later....
I'm looking at maybe spending the money on avada theme....stressed out
Thanks for tips
 

StompingAcorns

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What you should do now, is to get a piece of paper and pen, list down the important pages you need to have in your website (Home, Contact, Services, About, etc....)

Then, in each of these main pages, list and sketch out what content you want on it.

THEN you go find the theme that can best fit your content.
Based on my personal experience with WordPress, @Xeon is giving you awesome advice. This excerpt above is exactly how I start when I build a website.
 

P Stiller

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Based on my personal experience with WordPress, @Xeon is giving you awesome advice. This excerpt above is exactly how I start when I build a website.
I am so drained......I'm on my 3rd free theme currently....the other two I couldn't get to work as videos showed and support ignored me so I figured if they're ignoring me now then why the hell what I want my site with them so I deleted them.

Onetone, avada and now Astrid which is a basic simple one but after I downloaded the widget that I needed my site did not look how it was supposed to in the video.

I then got a message from xeon telling me to be careful because after I delete nothing it changes the layout. Now I'm really struggling because I have no idea all the way out way before or what has changed, if anything ........so I'm now hesitant to continue my not so successful attempt to build this.......just worn down..... I don't know how the hell people I've read on google made it sound like it's a simple as getting your domain and host , and then a theme .....in a couple hours you're fine.....well not me...........
Thanks for responses though
 
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Laurex

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I am so drained......I'm on my 3rd free theme currently....the other two I couldn't get to work as videos showed and support ignored me so I figured if they're ignoring me now then why the hell what I want my site with them so I deleted them.

Onetone, avada and now Astrid which is a basic simple one but after I downloaded the widget that I needed my site did not look how it was supposed to in the video.

I then got a message from xeon telling me to be careful because after I delete nothing it changes the layout. Now I'm really struggling because I have no idea all the way out way before or what has changed, if anything ........so I'm now hesitant to continue my not so successful attempt to build this.......just worn down..... I don't know how the hell people I've read on google made it sound like it's a simple as getting your domain and host , and then a theme .....in a couple hours you're fine.....well not me...........
Thanks for responses though
Try Customizr before switching to a paid theme.
 

P Stiller

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Don't try to make it perfect the first time, you need to understand that you are in the game for the long run and therefore don't stress yourself out and keep on learning.
I hear someone telling me I'm getting in my own way again.....but at the same time I'm just trying to do this right because if I don't...I'm setting myself up for headaches and most importantly...wasted time and money down the road.
Appreciate the words, thanks
 

Laurex

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Do you think it will hurt my layout even more if I try that one now? Would be my 4th theme trying

Layout can be restored, most likely the other themes have added some menus which you can safely delete. Also, it's possible that some pages contain shortcodes that don't work anymore if you disabled the plug-in/theme that generates them and now you remained with some text like [/shortcodes] or other gibberish which can be safely deleted as well. Also, you will have demo pages that came with previous themes,which are also safe to delete.

About layouts.. keep in mind that in WordPress pages and articles are not the same, although they are very similar. Think about articles as pages of a diary, once you have the diary, all pages look pretty much the same, just the content is updated with every page.

Pages instead, can have different layouts and can serve different purposes.The About page is different from Portfolio page and both have other layout than home page. On home page I may want an image as background and a call to action, but the About us page may contain just a block of text.Anyway, pages can share same header and footer and maybe some other elements like sidebars. This can be changed by changing the template, if your theme has more templates or you know how to make a custom one.
Landing pages are a bit different from normal pages. They shouldn't contain any logo, menu or elements that could distract the visitor.The main focus in a landing page is on the call to action. Good themes have the ability to create landing pages (remove logo, menus etc leaving you with a blank page) and also have a visual editor that allows you to add whatever element you need like buttons, images, sliders, blocks of text and so on.

So, layout can be modified on any page if you have a good theme.
 
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arcola

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I am behind on doing my introduction but I have been on here now for about a week. I will keep this short ...... i'm on my way to the library to build a website from scratch using WordPress.org.....I just thought anybody who has one or two sentences that they wish they knew when did this.... that might help me.....please post so I can use the advice as I go.
Thank you for your time
Dont?
 
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Anuj Raman

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I have made 2 websites in the past for my businesses. Both of them failed in their own ways, so I guess I am qualified to answer this.

Look, first determine why you want to create a website. What is the outcome you want?
How do you plan on monetizing it. Keep a monetizing strategy in mind before you even begin to build your website.

Because I can tell you, the number 1 reason why both of my websites failed was because I didn't have a good monetization strategy and the websites I built were not able to reach break even point.

Secondly, if you are building a website for blogging purposes, don't. Unless you have a huge fanbase that craves for the content you post. It is very very very hard to build a blog from scratch when you have no existing readers for it. Trust me I know.

Instead of jumping into building a website, start contributing to Facebook Groups & forums. Go where your market already is. Don't create demand, supply where the demand is.

So yeah, these were the things I wish I knew when I spent my money buying domains and hosting (with no ROI) because it felt cool to me at that time.
 

Greks

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Is wordpress best tool to use for youre website? I started with wordpress to and i quickly saw that for my website magneto was the best solution. And when more time went by I realised that I could pay someone 5$/h to do all that work for me. Wordpress is known as user friendly and simple. If you want to suprise your client and do a little bit more than they expect, I recommend you to spend a little bit of your money and get professional help. It will pay off in the future and you are gonna have more clients and happily satisfied clients.
 
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Xavier X

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Secondly, if you are building a website for blogging purposes, don't. Unless you have a huge fanbase that craves for the content you post. It is very very very hard to build a blog from scratch when you have no existing readers for it. Trust me I know.

Are you suggesting the fact you failed at something means he'll fail at the same thing?

Never gauge your potential success on the failures of others.

Sure, it is incredibly hard to build a blog following from nothing. However, people do it over and over every day. It takes time, dedication, patience and a conviction you're offering something useful.
 

23NotANumber

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Hey,

did not read all the answers so far but what I learned so far is:

1. Get a good hoster with good support (for example: one.com)
2. Don´t use too much plugins (and forget about Jetpacks, it slows the side down and causes some more problems). Only important ones like Yoast, Contactform 7 etc.
3. Go with a popular theme (for example x-theme), where you have a lot of videos, css codes and tutorials online
4. Be really clear about your keyword(s) you are going to focus on, as it is hard to rank for other ones, once you send the xml sitemap and idex your site
5. Use google search console and google analytics
6. Write for the user not for the enginge
7. Take care of the size of youre page and especially of the pictures

That is all so far.
If you have any more questions, or want a site link to my page just ask.

Cheers and have a good day!
 
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P Stiller

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Ok, I blew US$2500++ on setting up a Wordpress website and plugins and webhosting previously, it was a huge mistake considering I didn't even have a product ready. But I learnt lots of things from the process.....could have spent all that $ on inventory and ads instead....o_O........so here's my thoughts:



All themes have their own issues, regardless of how good they are or how many positive reviews they got. I've tried a total of 6 paid themes including Themeforest ones, and even those that had thousands of positive reviews had some drawbacks in one way or another. There's no such thing as a perfect theme.

With pre-made themes, you've to FORCE your content to fit the layout of theme (e.g: you need to place 4 images on the top section but the pre-made theme has no layout for that, so you need to find a way around that or pay someone to customize it).

With a custom-developed theme from scratch, you can have full control over the look and content.
That's the biggest difference.

What you should do now, is to get a piece of paper and pen, list down the important pages you need to have in your website (Home, Contact, Services, About, etc....)

Then, in each of these main pages, list and sketch out what content you want on it.

THEN you go find the theme that can best fit your content.

If you've no time or just want to be lazy, then find a theme first and force your content around it, which is a bad choice.




Don't worry, this is normal. With setting up Wordpress sites, it's often a process of : download this theme/plugin, have questions, contact support, wait for days/figure out yourself, proceed, have questions, contact support......It's normal.

Find those theme companies that have a good track record.
On ThemeForest, for example, search for the ones with the highest reviews and downloads, and see how long they've been in business, and how frequent they respond to customers' questions. On ThemeForest, you can see all these on the theme page itself and the Comments section. Some companies reply in 1 day, some in 3 days, some in 7.....

With theme companies, if one day they go out of business, there's nothing you can do. But the good ones have been in business for many years.

A lot of times, FREE is not always good. Personally, I believe PAID is better than FREE in most cases when it comes to web design.



Without having any idea of what type of website you're creating, we can't give specific advice.

Do you sell products? If you're selling products, look for eCommerce Wordpress themes that have WooCommerce integrated into it. The WooCommerce part, especially if you want to customize that area, you would probably have to end up paying for custom development on it since it can get quite messy.

If you just need a website that gives a summary of the services you provide, like those law firm websites, then it's simpler. Just get a good theme and go from there.
You can also list the themes that you're considering here, and we can provide some advice.



Note that the OneTone theme you're using is a one-page theme so all content will be on the home page only. If you're selling multiple products, this is not a good one to use.

Also, with regards to customization, there's a low limit to how customizable most themes (even paid ones) are. The most you can do is just drag a few blocks around here and there, remove or add blocks etc, but for the most part, everything is fixed. You can change the text color and very basic stuff like this but that's all.

Even with Divi Theme + Visual Composer, there's still a limit on the customization.

So far, the best combo for really customizable Wordpress sites would be GeneratePress + Elementor (YES, ELEMENTOR IS A KILLER and IT'S INSANELY POWERFUL!!!!). But you need some knowledge of web design to use that.



Plugins are same as themes. CodeCanyon has good plugins and most are very actively developed, but check the reviews and company background first. Try to reduce the no. of plugins you use cos i) they can slow down the site and ii) they will DRAG you to PLUG-IN MAINTENANCE HELL.

PLUG-IN MAINTENANCE HELL is basically, you update a plugin, and your website breaks and ceases to function.
You dunno what's wrong, so you go in and de-activate all your 23 other plugins and re-activate them and test them all one by one.

Finally you found the bug. So you remove that plugin, now you've to find someone to reproduce that functionality, either with another plugin or just forget about it.
And each time a plugin gets installed.....it may break some parts of the site again....and......

This happens even with very high quality plugins, mind you. When you've too many separate components operating in the same system, things tend to go wrong often.....



What are you using Jetpack for? Backup? If Backup only, I would suggest WPManage. It's cheaper and you can pick and choose what services you want. The backup service is only ~US$2 per month which is lovely.

Or......have you consider just setting up shop on Shopify instead?

I move my website there after I got fed-up with Wordpress sites (plugin hell + slow sites even on Siteground's Geek package + optimization). Shopify seems to load a lot faster than any of the Wordpress sites I had. I had to give up a bit of customization but it's more than worth it.

With Wordpress, I find myself spending too much time keeping track and maintaining plugins and all the nitty-gritty webby stuff, and while some folks might say hosting on your own web host is cheaper, I don't agree though. With Wordpress and WooCommerce, you basically need a plugin for every single function.

For your case, I would say:

1) go with the theme that best suits your content
2) make a list of the areas which you need to customize or change
3) find a good developer like WpKraken (they offer 100% money back guarantee) to customize those parts. Small changes like CSS and changing the look don't cost much. It's the backend eCommerce functionality that costs more.

That's what I did, and it's the most efficient way by far.

Feel free to post any more questions here, will be happy to help since I'm very free now doing action-faking while saving up $$$ for my hustle LOL

My site is live after paying someone on fiver to set up...but he did the minimum and I'm ow trying to do the seo part myself.....
I do have the jet pack that comes with it but I'm very hesitant to activate it. Everybody is so mixed on their opinion of using it or not and I just don't trust anybody so I leave it deactivated.
I was going to use Google analytics and I only got to the part where I copied the code and then went to paste it in my word press but where to paste it was not there and I think I need a plug-in. For whatever reason I am deathly afraid of putting any plug-ins to my website.... I just feel like it sets me up for problems that I currently don't have without them.
So.... does anybody have a recommendation for where I can learn to do all of the SCO stuff that is 100% correct in the way it should be done? I have no problem putting in the work and the hours but I just don't want to do this wrong
 

ApparentHorizon

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My site is live after paying someone on fiver to set up...but he did the minimum and I'm ow trying to do the seo part myself.....
I do have the jet pack that comes with it but I'm very hesitant to activate it. Everybody is so mixed on their opinion of using it or not and I just don't trust anybody so I leave it deactivated.
I was going to use Google analytics and I only got to the part where I copied the code and then went to paste it in my word press but where to paste it was not there and I think I need a plug-in. For whatever reason I am deathly afraid of putting any plug-ins to my website.... I just feel like it sets me up for problems that I currently don't have without them.
So.... does anybody have a recommendation for where I can learn to do all of the SCO stuff that is 100% correct in the way it should be done? I have no problem putting in the work and the hours but I just don't want to do this wrong

Jetpack is fine. Just go into debug mode and only enable what you need. Photon is excellent for image delivery, and their lazy loading is decent too.

Plugins are what makes wp so powerful. Just check reviews and number of installs before you add it to your site. 99% of the time you can activate/deactivate it without worry.

Just don't use a separate plugin for every little thing you need.

Check out Moz and start from their 2014 blogs and up. It's a long read, which some course could do in a 1-2 hours, but it gives you great info on the evolution of search and allows you to more easily predict future changes.

As long as you don't try to keyword stuff, or get spam links you'll be fine with trial and error. Google isn't severe as most people think.

1. Get a good hoster with good support (for example: one.com)

Learn about CDNs (check cloudfare).

Most hosts have this, but check for http/2 for SSL.

6. Write for the user not for the enginge

Write for both. Use keywords and synonyms of keywords naturally throughout your pieces. (IE don't force it)

Also, the On-Site SEO you're learning here is only 20% of the battle. The other is off-site distribution. (Backlinks)

Like any marketing, a below average on-site optimization, with great distribution, is better than the reverse.
 

P Stiller

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Jetpack is fine. Just go into debug mode and only enable what you need. Photon is excellent for image delivery, and their lazy loading is decent too.

Plugins are what makes wp so powerful. Just check reviews and number of installs before you add it to your site. 99% of the time you can activate/deactivate it without worry.

Just don't use a separate plugin for every little thing you need.

Check out Moz and start from their 2014 blogs and up. It's a long read, which some course could do in a 1-2 hours, but it gives you great info on the evolution of search and allows you to more easily predict future changes.

As long as you don't try to keyword stuff, or get spam links you'll be fine with trial and error. Google isn't severe as most people think.



Learn about CDNs (check cloudfare).

Most hosts have this, but check for http/2 for SSL.



Write for both. Use keywords and synonyms of keywords naturally throughout your pieces. (IE don't force it)

Also, the On-Site SEO you're learning here is only 20% of the battle. The other is off-site distribution. (Backlinks)

Like any marketing, a below average on-site optimization, with great distribution, is better than the reverse.
I appreciate you taking the time to type all that out. I have spent 10 hours basically trying to figure out where to paste a simple code and it is driving me nuts. I have read so much and watch so many videos and I swear to you what I see on my accounts and screen does not match what they show. For example in my Google analytics account if I go to admin the page is blank and it is supposed to have a menu .....
I would be happy to spend hours reading all the tutorials like the one you mentioned but so far I have done that and it leads me to a dead-end....I will keep trying but after hours and hours you start to look around getting really frustrated saying that you have gone absolutely nowhere within two days..again though thanks for all this information.
 
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ApparentHorizon

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I appreciate you taking the time to type all that out. I have spent 10 hours basically trying to figure out where to paste a simple code and it is driving me nuts. I have read so much and watch so many videos and I swear to you what I see on my accounts and screen does not match what they show. For example in my Google analytics account if I go to admin the page is blank and it is supposed to have a menu .....
I would be happy to spend hours reading all the tutorials like the one you mentioned but so far I have done that and it leads me to a dead-end....I will keep trying but after hours and hours you start to look around getting really frustrated saying that you have gone absolutely nowhere within two days..again though thanks for all this information.

Google's UI for webmasters and admins is horrendous, and their documentation updates also lag. It used to be a lot worse believe it or not...

To check if you installed it correctly, press ctrl+U, if you're on chrome to view the source code. Then ctrl+f and search for your code to see if you installed it correctly. IE it should show up exactly how you pasted it, and it should be before the closing head tag </head>

It then takes 24 hours for your Analytics to populate. You have to click into the property to view the stats.

For other options, use the search in the left bar. That used to be the menu you're probably looking for.

I use Head & Footer Code

To edit the header/footer code. It has some extra features you most likely won't need, but it's lightweight and doesn't post-format anything.

If you need help installing the code, feel free to PM me if you don't want to post your site publicly.
 

Real Deal Denver

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I appreciate you taking the time to type all that out. I have spent 10 hours basically trying to figure out where to paste a simple code and it is driving me nuts. I have read so much and watch so many videos and I swear to you what I see on my accounts and screen does not match what they show. For example in my Google analytics account if I go to admin the page is blank and it is supposed to have a menu .....
I would be happy to spend hours reading all the tutorials like the one you mentioned but so far I have done that and it leads me to a dead-end....I will keep trying but after hours and hours you start to look around getting really frustrated saying that you have gone absolutely nowhere within two days..again though thanks for all this information.

Based on the excellent information in this thread, I am buying a lifetime subscription to Divi. It's $224 which includes an introductory 10% off special price. Done.

I'm in business. I'm not a teenager trying to figure out coding, or creating apps. (Although I have built sites using the dreadful HTML in days of old.)

Choose your battles. Time is irreplaceable. This ONE decision alone will make me a 6 digit income this year. Ask me again how much time I want to spend looking for a plugin? Nada. Diva gets it - they put out the full package for someone like me walking by that has absolutely no interest in learning a bank of new skills. That is, exactly, what I am offering MY customers as well. Fast - easy - efficient - and everything their itty bitty hearts could ever want. Damn - why doesn't everyone think this way?

And you've already spent two days on ONE issue? I want my site UP, SEO enabled, in living color - in two days. With 6 videos.

BAM! That's for starters. We'll expand from there next month. Hopefully I'll be too busy making money and will *have to* hire someone to do that for me. Oh, the problems, problems, problems...

I'm TRYING to help you here man! Focus. Are you going to run a business, or create a job for yourself screwing around getting a business to run? That's a pretty serious question. Think that over for a minute and ignore your knee jerk reaction to justify what you're doing! This is sooooo easy today. Youtube is your best friend as you start up. Books galore too, on Amazon. Tech support. Everything you need is right there. Just. Do. It.
 
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P Stiller

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Based on the excellent information in this thread, I am buying a lifetime subscription to Divi. It's $224 which includes an introductory 10% off special price. Done.

I'm in business. I'm not a teenager trying to figure out coding, or creating apps. (Although I have built sites using the dreadful HTML in days of old.)

Choose your battles. Time is irreplaceable. This ONE decision alone will make me a 6 digit income this year. Ask me again how much time I want to spend looking for a plugin? Nada. Diva gets it - they put out the full package for someone like me walking by that has absolutely no interest in learning a bank of new skills. That is, exactly, what I am offering MY customers as well. Fast - easy - efficient - and everything their itty bitty hearts could ever want. Damn - why doesn't everyone think this way?

And you've already spent two days on ONE issue? I want my site UP, SEO enabled, in living color - in two days. With 6 videos.

BAM! That's for starters. We'll expand from there next month. Hopefully I'll be too busy making money and will *have to* hire someone to do that for me. Oh, the problems, problems, problems...

I'm TRYING to help you here man! Focus. Are you going to run a business, or create a job for yourself screwing around getting a business to run? That's a pretty serious question. Think that over for a minute and ignore your knee jerk reaction to justify what you're doing! This is sooooo easy today. Youtube is your best friend as you start up. Books galore too, on Amazon. Tech support. Everything you need is right there. Just. Do. It.
I'd like to thank you for your post....
I thought about that question from the second I read it and all day after that.....I mean really think while talking with myself.
You're right also at first I was ready to turn negative while reading....until the end where I felt the smack in the face and sensed the sincereness.
My response is long....but what it comes down to is yes I do do attempt to try a lot and it leads to nothing.....but I can't explain to you how hard it is for me to apply myself to something and not........just have to do it "right"
Yes you need to make mistakes in order to succeed and I understand that but........This will get to long to explain.
I'll just say that as I've gotten older I've started to understand things that I never did before. I no longer will look at someone and say they're messed up or they're crazy because I can't understand why they do or don't do something......
So when I tell you that I'm someone who uses the lowest point of his life every day, that emotion to attempt to become great in life.......I read....I talk....to MYSELF....
Because I have nobody.....and look at what I have done and question why and come up with answers to those questions.......
And although I know this is not life I'll get and I have to do it now or never......
I STILL FEEL LOST as smart as I am......and I complicate things instead of keeping simple and yes I waste time....and I'm telling you......You know you do it but........you still do it.....
Wish I could explain......anyway.....between you and apparent horizon here on forum.....you both helped me a lot and your time did turn into me accomplishing my issue....so Thank you both
 
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WJK

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I've spent the last 3 months building my website on WordPress. I finally hired a service that screen shares with me and walked me through it. I have a learned a lot and I can do my blog posts now without help. The videos about the program on YouTube didn't make any sense to me when I started. Now they do. This week I added an "essential grid" to post my art and photos. Keep going.
 

Real Deal Denver

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So when I tell you that I'm someone who uses the lowest point of his life every day, that emotion to attempt to become great in life.......I read....I talk....to MYSELF....
Because I have nobody.....and look at what I have done and question why and come up with answers to those questions.......
And although I know this is not life I'll get and I have to do it now or never......

Rookie.

I talk to myself and everyone close to me knows it. The next step is arguing with myself, which I also do.

The final step is losing the argument, which I do about 50% of the time.

It helps me "flesh out" an idea and see how it "sounds" in real life. Sounds crazy, but it works. If I can win the argument with myself, I go on to other people's opinions that I value. They have always agreed with me. That's not because I'm smart - it's because I'm a damn good arguer. If it gets past me punching holes in it, it's usually a good idea.

Don't be so hard on yourself. You are too close to this thing - you have dug yourself into it too far. Walk away from it. Spend a day planning. That's what I did today, for about four hours. I like my plans. Now, the things in my way are MUCH smaller, because I see the whole plan - not the details of the things in my way. I'm not going to solve them myself. I'm going to call 1-800-CRUSH-THIS-SHIT-IN-MY-WAY. And it will be crushed. And I will move on to engage the "process" - not the problem in the way - the process of what I am wanting to do. The problem was too big for me - hey, that happens a lot. I don't worry about it. I remove it, or go over it, or around it. But I get past it one way or another. That's losing the battle - big damn deal - but winning the war!

Right now I am so excited about Divi - which I found here - that I almost can't stand it! This is a lifetime package that I'm buying. I'm also buying their support staff of - wait for it - are you ready - here it comes - experts! That's because I don't want to spend the time or energy figuring things out when I have experts as close as my phone that can help me.

So I'm not the biggest baddest guy that can do everything that's in front of me. Don't tell my wife - she thinks I'm a genius. Know why? Cause I get results! I might not do everything myself - but when I say that plane is taking off, you better pack your bag and be on it - cause it IS taking off! When we're in the air, we can break open the champagne and toast - wait for it - here it comes - you're gonna love this - one of my favorite words - here it is - success!

So cut your losses. Call in the pros. I don't know much about who is the best, but I know the people at Divi are plenty good enough for what I need. And that's for years to come!

The difference between a great manager and a great worker is this - the manager gets projects done. The worker gets a job done. No comparison. Look at the whole project and put it on a timeline, and then get it done. Or, kill brain cells and time wading through the mud that is up to your hips. Do you wanna be a CEO, or the best damn widget fixer that Dept B has ever seen? In my past jobs/careers, I received awards and recognition. I don't want that anymore. Don't need em. Waste of time. I want a big fat paycheck, and to be in charge of a powerful business that pays me ridiculously well. I paid those dues along the way so I can now do that!

Your choice. Who's in charge? Who's gonna make the call? Whose baby is this project anyways?

Yours.

Step aside. Hire the experts. Get moving!

After all of this, you just KNOW I talk to myself... HA!

It's not a bad thing, really. As long as I make progress!
 

Real Deal Denver

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One more thing.

You're tired and frustrated by taking this project head on and floundering.

Yeah. I've only done that myself a hundred times or more.

Your self esteem, and therefore your energy level, have taken a beating.

Step back and look at where you came from to get to where you are. You have come a long ways.

You have to do that to recharge yourself. You have to quit feeling defeated and you need to feel empowered. When you are empowered, you will find a solution, and you will move beyond where you are stuck right now.

You are all you got. You have to believe in yourself. You have to KNOW you can do this. It might take a different approach than you planned - but you have to KNOW you will get there.

Write your plan down - ON a timeline! Number the steps.

Reward yourself when you move past this "step" you are on now. Instead of looking at this "step" that you are stalled on, look at all the steps you have taken to get to this one. Now, it's not a problem - it's step number 8, out of 16! Damn - you're half way there! And you're ahead of schedule AND under budget. You get the idea.

It's mental. Conceive it - believe it - then achieve it. And don't sweat the small stuff along the way. It's ALL small stuff!

Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times (so he said) to invent the light bulb. And he didn't have any tech support back then to call for help! Things aren't quite so bad as they look now, are they?

Get your attitude right, and everything else will fall into place.

As billionaire Bob Parsons said, in point number four of his 16 rules to live by... "My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, "Well, Robert, if it doesn't work, they can't eat you."
 
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