And I’ve spent weeks if not months, thinking about how to sort through the tutorials available and make them digestible.  Instead of trying to teach all the stuff you might need to know, how about I just do it for you?

And you focus on what you do best: your business.

In order for you to fully appreciate the huge difference, here’s the before pic:

Before

TA DA:  THIS is the new control panel:

After

Here is a quick walk-through of the new steamlined features:

Features include:

• Easy access to the Control Panel – you don’t have to remember the login link!
• Only 2 panels to enter your content into with clear names: Blogs or Pages
• Site stats on Control Panel – no wading through Google Analytics!
• All Maintenance and Upgrades taken care of
• Regular Security Sweeps
• Support by a Friendly Geek to change any settings or features
• Direct Access to Tutorials
• Direct Access to your Email
• Direct Access to Support at Your Friendly Geeks Account

What do you think?  Do you love it?

Start a Website with the Right Web Host

1. Look for a host that supports WordPress hosting.
2. Ask if PHP and MySQL are the most recent stable versions.  You’re looking for a simple “yes” here.
3. Ask if you’ll have your own SSH access?  Again – look for a ‘yes’.  This is not a requirement, but is nice to have.
4. Do they look after backups and how often?
5. Do they provide round the clock support – by phone? or chat? or email?

The Old Way

For a simple website that is brand new and doesn’t expect a huge amount of visitors, you can expect to pay $4-$8/month for a ‘shared hosting’ account. As soon as your site gets too full of content, or you get too many visitors you’ll notice the site getting sluggish.  At that point, you’ll need to upgrade to a “Virtual Private Server” or VPS.  These usually start around $20/mo and go up.  When its time to get your own dedicated server, you’re looking at $175/mo and up.

New & Improved Web Hosting

The new way to host a website is to do so in the ‘cloud’.  That is to not be restricted by a physical server/machine.  These types of accounts can handle website growth easily without hassle of physically moving your website.  There is one company that I recommend unequivocally- www.websynthesis.com.  They are so specialized, so secure, and so good at what they do, you have to qualify to open an account.  Of course this isn’t for everyone, but for those who do qualify – it is the top of the line, worth every penny and has saved many of my busier clients 30% or more on hosting costs.

Start a Website with a Domain Name

Anyone can start selling domain names!  Anyone can open an account and purchase domain names wholesale and sell them retail.  In fact, that is exactly what we do!  However, behind the scenes there is a lot going on to make sure that there is only one owner to each domain and that all the computers all over the world know where to look for the accompanying website.  The regulating body of all of this is known as ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.  You need to know this for this very important legal tidbit:

There are three contacts on each registration:  Registrant, (Aux Billing) Administrative and Technical.  You have to have YOUR name in the Registrant contact or the domain is not legally yours.  It is a good idea to be sure that you have the ability to check and edit the contact information and “Name Servers”.

Last Item to Start a Website: Software

Lastly, you need some easily-edited software so you can add valuable content to your site and gain that ever-important audience!  Next time, we’ll review your options and give you a few thoughts on the best one for you.

Beth Whitman

1. I’d love to know how you moved from website to book and then travel guide and now world-travelling speaker!  Was it intentional?  Do you have advice for others who want to follow that path?

I initially wanted to write a book to establish myself as the expert in the women’s travel market. I knew I had to launch a blog at the same time as the marketing arm but the site kinda grew out of control and I had to keep adding elements to it! The site first launched in late 2006 and the first book in early 2007. From there I started speaking and then started leading tours in 2008 (I now have 9 tours in 2012!). I launched WanderTours in 2011 to reflect the growing tours AND the fact that I was adding co-ed trips and I thought I was loosing men when they saw Wanderlust and Lipstick as the company name!

2. Whats next for you?

Oh boy. I think there are great growth opportunities with the Wanderlust and Lipstick website. And there’s less risk with it as compared to tours. So I may let the tours level off with 9 or 10 a year and then spend more time on growing the website. I really want it to be a place where women can find lots of information and inspiration before and after their travels. And I really want to help women with their travel writing and photography skills. I have a yearly travel writing contest now, but my wish is to actually be able to offer classes in travel writing and photography for women.

3. What role do your website(s) play in your business development?

They’re everything. They do my marketing and sales and the ads and sponsorships that come directly because of the site help pay the bills!

4. Do you have any advice for freelance travel writers? (or entrepreneurs in general?)

Plan to work long hours if you really want to build a business from your travel writing (or whatever business it is). You can’t sit still and expect that everyone’s going to find your great site, or book, or tour, or whatever it is your trying to get noticed for.

For more than 25 years, she has been traveling the globe as a contemporary Wanderer: combining her love for travel with volunteer work, adventure trips, travel writing and business. You can find lots of travel inspiration, tips and stories by Beth and her team of writers at Wanderlust and Lipstick or you can view the co-ed tours at WanderTours.

 What would you like to ask Beth?  Do so in the comments!

I give you – the Start a Website series.

1. The Intro
2. How to Select a Web Host and Domain Name
3. Can you Do It Yourself or Hire a Designer? - plus how to hire the right contractors
4. Selecting Software the Big Bang Way
5. A Nerd Glossary- that you can use as a reference when the jargon starts to make you cross-eyed.
6. Top 10 tips for Attracting an Audience
7. Recommended Tools to Measure Your Website Success

Lets Start a Website!

A website is not like a program that is on your computer.  It is not like Microsoft Word or MacMail.  It is a program that lives on a different computer that you still access.  This computer is referred to as a server.  All the servers networked together form the internet.  Yes, I realize that’s basic.  But you have to understand the basics to get your very own piece of the action.

1.  You’ll need to rent a piece of that server for your website.  This is known as web hosting.

Have you noticed that my company name, although DSWP Website Services, is not in the address bar atop of your browser right now?  If you look above you’ll see the address is http://desperatelyseekingwp.com.  That is the Domain Name.

2.  You’ll need a domain name of your own so readers can find your new website.

Here is one thing that is like Microsoft Word or MacMail – the various programs that help you start a website.  Each web host usually provides some free programs for this purpose.  Big companies provide programs for this – like Microsoft Front Page and Adobe Dreamweaver.  And there is another class of software – called Open Source which I highly recommend.

This overview won’t go into the complexities of licensing or open source, but I do highly recommend an Open Source software: WordPress.  We love it so much its in our name, Desperately Seeking WordPress – more to come on that later on.

3.  You’ll need website software, such as WordPress.

DSWP Website Services was started because there was a lack of reputable and affordable services in our niche – at the time, mommy blogging.  Five years later, anyone and their teenager can sell domain names, web hosting and software.  But they also aren’t aware of, or don’t inform you how to start your website correctly, how to maintain it, and how to do well in search results.

So next up we’ll show you how to find reputable sources for these basics, how much they should cost and the next steps in Starting a Website.

What would you like to see covered in this Start a Website series?