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October 22nd, 2009 
Tracy Wheeler As promised today we are going to discuss the setup and layout of your blog.
Again, this is a mistake I made when I first started this blog. Even though I have been an internet marketer for over 10 years, I did not have a clue about blogging when I started therefor I made many mistakes. I ended up making several changes to the theme and layout and still do occasionally. Unfortunately, sometimes when there are Wordpress updates you may find that your chosen theme no longer works and you are forced to find a new one. Keep this in mind.
The major thing when starting a blog is to scour the internet and find a nice, clean theme. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of Wordpress themes available for free or you could purchase a theme if you choose. Just do a search for free Wordpress themes and you will see what I mean.
Obviously, this does not count if you are using Wordpress.com or Blogger or any of the other free blogging platforms available. Unfortunately, you are only allowed to do so much with those platforms which is why I always recommend getting your own domain when blogging for business.
The main thing is not to use the default themes as this will make your blog look like every other amateur blog on the web. You want to define your style and your personality in your blog.
The second thing you want to think about is which plugins you want to use. This was another concept I did not understand when I started my blog but I will admit I had fun playing with the different plugins.
Admittedly this is something you want to do before your blog goes live. Why? As I found out while trying out new plugins there is always a chance of plugins not playing nice with each other and breaking your blog.
This is not something you want to have happen if you can avoid it. I spent an entire weekend trying to fix my blog just to end up having to delete it and reinstall it because I could not figure out what was causing the breakage. This meant not only could I not update my blog, but any traffic coming to my blog while it was down was wasted.
This is also one of the many reasons why you always want to make sure you have a backup of your database, so you can reinstall easily and not lose any of your previous posts after your blog is live.
Just like themes there are many different plugins available for self-hosted WordPress blogs. If you are not sure where to start read my articles “A Detailed Look at Some of the Most Popular WordPress Plugins“, “The Best Blogging Tools” and “The Best Blogging Tools Update“. These should get you well on your way.
Another very important step in setting up you blog is security. If you are not sure how to secure your Wordpress blog you can read my article “Securing Your Wordpress Blog“. Leaving your blog unsecured can make you vulnerable to attacks and hacking so I highly recommend you take the time needed to protect yourself and your blog.
Last but not least, don’t clutter your blog with widgets and ads. I have also learned this the hard way. You want to keep your blog simple and clean so not to offer to much distraction for your visitors. If you overwhelm your visitors chances are they will just leave.
Don’t get me wrong you do want to monetize your blog, just keep it simple. You will notice I have Adsense and Clickbank ads as well as a few choice affiliate banners on my blog. To be honest I still am not sure what is considered to many ads but I prefer to give my visitors diverse choices. You never know what might appeal to your visitors as far as ads go. The important thing is not to overdo it.
If you have several affiliate programs or products that you wish to promote on your blog do like I did then set up a separate Products page. That way you do not overwhelm your visitors but you are still giving them the option to check out the products you recommend.
We will talk more about monetization in a later article but for now you have enough to get you started in your preparations.
Until next time,
http://www.tracywheeleronline.com
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Tracy’s Internet Marketing hereby discloses that it Is Not affiliated with the above endorsement and that it Does Not receive compensation in connection with the above endorsement. However, Tracy’s Internet Marketing does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of the above endorsement, neither would it be responsible for any consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from the use of this product or service. Reader is asked to do their own due diligence before using any products or service mentioned on this site!
Tracy’s Internet Marketing hereby discloses that it Is affiliated with all other ads shown on this site (or is compensated for showing other peoples ads) and that it Can receive compensation in connection with the above mentioned ads. However, Tracy’s Internet Marketing does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of the above mentioned ads, neither would it be responsible for any consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from the use of any product or service advertised. Reader is asked to do their own due diligence before using/purchasing any product or service advertised on this site!
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