Making WordPress Niche Sites | How To Make Niche WebSites | Free System

“I” Is For Invest and Install - Step Two

“I” is for Invest and Install. Welcome to Step 2 of the 6 Step Niche Site System! In case you’re new here, you might want to start at the beginning to see what we’re up to. We are in the process of learning PotPieGirl’s RICHER 6 Step Niche Site System - and we’re making WordPress niche sites!

Back in Step One of the RICHER 6 Step WordPress Niche Site System, we talked about picking a niche market, the keyword research, and finding monetization ideas. Once all these things are together, the last step of part one was to commit. Now that you are committed to your niche, it’s now time to invest and install.

Many folks get a bit hesitant at this point of creating niche websites. Why? Simply because it is time to break out the credit card and INVEST in their decision. Totally understandable! This is very new territory for many of us, and it is more than ok to feel a bit intimidated by taking your first step into owning virtual real estate. But folks, owning virtual real estate is where the money is!

Time to let go of that fear and take a chance on YOU! There is no better time than RIGHT NOW!

I am a big golfer. I love to hate the game… or maybe I hate to love the game…. haha! Anyway, I play regularly and love to hate every second of it (or I hate to love every second of it?).

Anyway! There is a great golf book that has been out for years. It is called Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect. I am here to tell you that in the ‘perfect’ department, golf and internet marketing have a lot in common! Internet Marketing is not a game of ‘perfect’, either! Don’t wait for everything to be ‘perfect’ before taking the leap…. just jump!

Time To Invest in Your WordPress Niche Sites

At this point in the 6 Step Niche Site System, it is time to invest in a domain name… a ‘home’ for your niche website. You have your list of keywords from Step One - let’s use those to pick a domain name for our niche site.

My example WordPress niche site is revolved around the aloe vera market. I have chosen the following keywords:

aloe vera

aloe vera plant

health benefits of aloe vera

benefits of aloe vera

aloe vera plants

aloe vera supplement

aloe vera sunburn

aloe vera skin benefits

I’m going to take my keyword list and head over to where I can get cheap domain names and try and find an available domain name that suits my needs.

.com, .net, .org, .info…. Does It Matter?

One thing you may notice thru this 6 Step System is that little Miss PotPieGirl is not a ‘trendy’ online marketer. Yes, I know how to use all the snazzy new sites to my benefit. Yes, I am perfectly aware of all 200 or so factors that Google takes into account when ranking your website. Yes, I know too much! haha! Thing is, if I let all these ‘things’ I know over-load my brain when making a simple WordPress niche site, my head would explode!

Successful niche sites come down to solid, online marketing basics. I am not one to jump on the current bandwagon and make ‘one hit wonder’ niche sites…and I don’t want that for your niche sites, either.

When it comes to domain names, ANY domain name can be successful. I can go buy yada-yada-yada.net and have it become a huge success in the iPod market or car parts market or pet food market. However, I know that unless I am willing to REALLY build the yada-yada-yada brand name (as I had to do with PotPieGirl), that everyday consumers may not trust information from my yada-yada-yada website as much as they might trust, and click thru to, ipodsinformation.com, or carpartstoday.net, or purrfect-pet-food.info. Therefor, I highly recommend that the domain name you purchase has something to do with the keywords you are targeting.

What about the whole .com, .net, .info thing? I’m going to answer that very simply. If you think you might possibly someday MAYBE think about trying to sell that domain name - get a .com. However, if you are not concerned with the after-market of that domain name - then get whatever you want.

If you plan to market that domain name OFF line - get a .com. Consumers associate all websites as .com’s - and getting anything other than a .com will mess things up for your off line marketing.

Yes, in the long run, and without over-complicating things, it is that simple.

Dashes or Underscores In My Domain Name?

Again, I’ll make this simple.

1st choice is neither hyphens nor underscores.

2nd choice is hyphens. Google recognizes hypens (dashes) as a space, however Google indexes underscores.

3rd choice is underscores. Personally, I do not use them under any circumstances, but that is my preference.

I’m sure there are many opinions on all this. My theory is this… EzineArticles.com ranks VERY highly for many, many keywords, right? So tell me, what does the domain name ezinearticles.com have to do with 99% of the topics that they rank so highly for? Nothing - but the web page url DOES have to do with the keywords they are ranked for. Does EzineArticles.com use hypens or underscores? I think you know the answer.

Domain Name, Hosting, and Wordpress Installation for Niche Sites

For your very first WordPress niche site, you will want to take these steps in this order:

1) Get your domain name

2) Get your hosting

3) Install WordPress on your domain

4) Install desired WordPress theme and niche site plug ins.

Now, that is a VERY simplified way of explaining what may feel like a BIG deal the first time you try it. Don’t be afraid or intimidated by what you don’t know. All you need to do is learn it - and you own it. Buying a domain name, adding it to your own hosting account, installing WordPress, and then adding a theme and plugins will end up taking you about 30 minutes TOPS once you know what you’re doing. The first time I did it I was petrified. I just KNEW it would be hard or too ‘techy’ for a total NON-techy person like me.

It is NOT hard. I was actually amazed that is was that easy. It was so simple that I was sure I screwed it up! haha!

The fast steps are:

1) Buy your domain and make sure to point your domain name to your hosting account name servers.

2) Go to your hosting account cpanel

3) Add your new domain name in the ‘add on domain’ option

4) Use Fantastico in my cpanel to choose which domain to install WordPress on (fill out a few fields, click a button, and presto - you now have WordPress on your site.)

5) Use my FTP program to install my chosen theme and the niche site WordPress plug ins I like. I have all these things in a file on my computer called “WordPress Stuff” (I know, such a high-tech name, huh? haha!)

6 ) Go to my domain name, log in to the wp-admin backend and dress it up for me.

However, if you have never done this before, even my simple six steps there look too intimidating. That’s ok. I have two GREAT resources that will walk you through the entire process (with pictures). Both of these are fantastic. The WordPress Guide will actually take you further into niche site creation and promotion…and it is flat-out excellent. The other guide is free, and is a good over-view of installation, but not near as in depth. Both guides give a little different angle on creating WordPress niche sites - well worth reading for a complete picture of the entire WordPress Niche Site product. Both ebooks are completely suitable for those learning from the beginning.

Recommended WordPress Niche Site Guides:

How to Install WordPress Niche Sites (this is a direct pdf - will open in a new window)

WordPress GoldMine - I will recommend this ebook as the #1 WordPress Niche Site Guide for as long as WordPress is a viable and successful option for niche sites. Yes, I feel THAT strongly about it! If I could get everyone that wants to create profitable WordPress niche sites to read this book, I know I will have helped many, many folks get to making some real money online. To me, this is one of the few ebooks that really tell you HOW to do the complete niche site process. Heck, the guy who wrote it made $15,000 from ONE blog post (yes, he tells you how he did it). He also has some very simple TWO-PAGE niche sites that are consistently making $100 a DAY. And yes, he tells you, and SHOWS you, how those two-page niche sites work. I can’t recommend this product strongly enough. Get it - Read it - USE IT.

What About WordPress Niche Site Themes?

If you do a Google search for free wordpress themes you will find a goldmine of wonderful free themes available online. I tend to be partial to the theme I am using right here on 6StepNicheSites.com. It is called the Dateless Sniper and is from CourtneyTuttle.com. Court has already cleaned the code and made it highly optimized for the purpose of niche sites. This is my personal preference - not a requirement. Just about ANY WordPress theme will work for a profitable niche site.

Dateless Sniper WordPress Theme
Video Instructions for Using DateLess Sniper

Step Two Review:

1. Choose and Buy a Domain Name for your Niche Site.

2. Get a Hosting Account if you don’t already have one. (READ THIS TO GET HOSTGATOR FOR ONE CENT)

3. Install WordPress (read a great WordPress Niche Site Guide for help)

4. Install a new theme and niche site plug ins

5. Activate plug ins and dress up the look of your niche site the way YOU want it.

Step Two Thoughts:

I feel pretty certain that this will be the step that will decide who succeeds with WordPress niche sites, and who does not. Why do I say this? I make that statement simply because I have one definition of ‘failure’. To me, the only way you ‘fail’ is if you don’t try. Making the leap to actually owning your own virtual real estate is scary…. installing WordPress and messing with FTP is intimidating (heck, I didn’t even know what FTP meant when I first started!)… and many folks will refuse to make a small investment in THEMSELVES and wont buy a domain name, or a hosting account….and they won’t make a one-time investment in a proven and solid WordPress niche site guide that literally takes you by the hand and walks you completely through the entire process. Because of those reasons, many folks will stop right here.

Some folks will stop because they simply don’t have the money to invest into their online business right now. I get that - been there, done that! But the main reason many folks will stop right here is this -

It all just seems like too much work.

This IS work, this DOES take effort. There is nothing about making WordPress niche sites that you can’t learn, or that you are incapable of doing.

Most importantly -

There are NO short-cuts to success.

I’ll see ya in Step 3 when you are ready.

The Best Place To Learn Affiliate Marketing

Comments

4 Responses to ““I” Is For Invest and Install - Step Two”

Ed on July 20th, 2008 8:27 am

Hi,

Another thanks for putting this all together. Biggest problem? It is a bit of a struggle finding all the plug-ins as they are not all on WP (and their search box is not too accurate) so it takes a bit of time. OK, no worries, I found you have to pick them up from various sites on Google.
Also being new to FTP is a bit daunting but again a little perserverance gets you there.

Between you, PotPieGirl and Mark this system you have put together is simply brilliant

All the best,
Irish Ed.

PS It’s certainly one I can and will recommend to my list too!
Daren on August 21st, 2008 12:40 am

O.K.
I finally have WordPress installed, changed my theme, and even figured out the FTP program. Not without alot of head-scratching, but now I know.
Anyway my question is do you recommend installing only the plug-ins you mention, or install those on top of the ones the Mark Thompson recommends in WordPress goldmine? I dont see alot of overlap in the plug-ins you two recommend.
Thanks,
Daren
Jeffery Wood on May 5th, 2009 2:27 am

You’re not the only one to use high-tech terms for directories. You use “Wordpress Stuff” I use “blog setup” in that I have two more directories “themes” and “plugins”. Real original.

- Jeffery