Steps to an Awesome WordPress Website
You’ve had a chance to look around Tweak My Theme and have decided that you want to have us customize a pre-built WordPress theme. Okay, so how do we start? Follow the steps below, and if you’ve completed these steps already just click here to submit your customization info.
Oh yeah, even if you never work with Tweak My Theme and want to do all the work yourself (but why?!), these steps are a quick and easy guide to getting a WordPress site up and running.
Step #1: Register Your Domain Name
Pricing on a domain name will run you anywhere from $5-35/year depending on where you get it and if it’s a public or private registration. Here are a few popular domain registrars:
TIP: Most of the time you can get your domain name and your hosting account (Step #2) from the same company, and you’ll often save money this way.
Step #2: Set Up A PHP/MySQL Hosting Account
Next you’ll need to point the domain name to a server location out on the web. To run WordPress, you’ll need a host that can run PHP and MySQL. Here are a few favorites:
Once you’ve got your account, you’ll need to take note of the FTP credentials for uploading files to your site. You’ll also need to set up an empty MySQL database which will house the data for your WordPress installation.
Step #3: Download & Install WordPress
You can download the latest version of WordPress from this location. Once downloaded, you’ll want to unzip the files to a local folder. Next, follow the instructions in the readme.html file of the root WordPress folder and upload to your site using the FTP credentials provided by your webhost and an FTP client (we recommend Filezilla).
Better yet, if you’ve already got your domain and a hosting account, we’ll set up your MySQL database, install and activate WordPress, and get your WP profile set up for a flat fee of $99. Let us know if you’d like this done…and we’ll do it!
Step #4: Download & Install a Theme
Okay, you’re almost there. The next step (and the one that is probably the most fun) is to go out and find yourself a good-looking theme. For this, I’m going to refer you to our Themes section here on TMT. We’re continually adding to our list of both free and premium theme resources that will allow you to find something that’ll work perfectly for your brand…after some tweaking in the next step, of course.
TIP: One cool thing about WordPress is that you can install your theme directly in WordPress. Go to Appearance > Add New Themes > And then click on the “Upload” link towards the top of the page. You’ll be able to upload the ZIP file containing the theme directly…awesome!
Step #5: Customize That Baby
Here’s where Tweak My Theme from Lift Development comes in: We take your theme and tweak it to look the way that you want it to. You’ve got your layout, now you work with us to match it up to your brand. We can import your logo, change fonts, change colors, add graphics, add sections, add plugins, and customize just about whatever you want.
So get out there and find your theme, figure out the specific tweaks you want to make, and tell us what they are so we can get started. We’ll make it fast, fun, and much much cheaper than building an entire website from scratch.
Click here when you’re ready and you can submit specific tweak details and we’ll get the ball rolling.
