Here’s the question:

“I bought my domain name but now I have to pay for hosting? I thought WordPress was free.”

And my answer was this:

“Great question about hosting and WordPress being free.

The software to create a website is often a big expense. For example, many ‘old school’ designers use Dreamweaver, which is about $600 I believe (haven’t checked in a while). Then, when Dreamweaver updates their software you need to pay a couple hundred or so for the updates. By comparison, you can use WordPress totally free, with free updates.

No matter what you use to build a website, however, you need hosting if you want to OWN your site.

Yes, you can get free web hosting online but I really don’t recommend it for a business. If you go with free hosting you are subject to all their terms and you are subject to removal from their hosting at any time without warning or any say in the matter – that’s obviously not a good way to run a business website.

So – yes – WordPress IS free but you do have to pay for hosting.

The good news is that hosting is very affordable. My favorite company for hosting is Bluehost. I have been using them for many years and I recommend them to my students because they are affordable and have great customer service. If you want to sign up for them, this is my affiliate link (ie. I get a kickback if you sign up):
http://www.marketersmojo.com/recommends/bluehost

Today at my mechanic’s office I picked up a couple of cards while I waited for my oil change and Emissions Test (we passed, btw!). One card was for the local paintball company I’ve been meaning to call and set up laser tag for my son’s birthday party. The second was a local website design business (I’m sure you know why that one caught my attention

So I pulled out my iPhone and whipped over to the website design businesses site and this is what I saw:

That’s it. That’s everything there was. No words, no links, no nothing. Not to mention the fact that towering, green buildings in a big city don’t make me feel empowered about a website design.

Obviously there is a problem here. His website is not showing up on my mobile device, probably because it’s in flash.

And then I surfed over to my own local website design business site to see it looks like this (not bad, but I’m working on a more impressive re-design :

Imagine I were a potential client, sitting right next to the website designer in question and I looked up his website to see the ‘nothing-ness’ above. How embarrassing would that be? I mean you can’t tell me that having a mobile-friendly website is not important.

According to a survey by Flurry consumers now spend more time on mobile devices surfing the internet than they do on a computer! You WANT your website to look GOOD on a mobile, yes?

Chalk another one up for WordPress!

Just about every WordPress theme is now mobile-friendly and shows up just the same as your website. Plus, you can create mobile versions of your site using easy WordPress plug-ins (personally I prefer the ‘real’ version on the mobile, too).

I’m assuming that the website designer I mentioned above was schooled in flash design, and he probably hasn’t updated his skills. However, flash isn’t the only issue with mobile (and on some mobile phones it’s not an issue) – many sites can show up funky on a cell phone, ipad, tablet, etc.

So have you checked your site on a mobile devices to see how it will display? Or maybe you haven’t created a website yet and are still deciding on what to use. I hope this information helps you make an informed decision about another very important feature of WordPress, the free (but FAR from worthless), software for websites

Join My Class – Starting Monday

If you want to learn how to get a fabulous website both on the internet and on a mobile device and you want a jump-start then my class might be just what you’re looking for.

Starting Monday I am going to become highly involved in YOUR business by answering all the questions you have personally through email coaching, showing you what you need to do online via pre-recorded webinars and pulling out ALL the stops you might be facing by showing you live during our weekly Q&A sessions.

I think you’ll love what I offer in this course, and I think you’ll have a very hard time finding anything else out there like it. I welcome you, however, to try it out and see if it fits for you for a full seven days. If you don’t like it, then I’ll give you a complete refund.

Ready? 2012 is your year to make some big leaps forward. Here’s where to sign up:

http://www.WebsiteDesignMojo.com/sign-up
SPECIAL Subscriber Discount: $100 Off (sign up for email updates here to get coupon code)

Current Customers Order Here (login required):
http://www.marketersmojo.com/member/member.php?tab=add_renew

Talk to you soon,
Angela Wills, Marketers Mojo

NOTICE – Contest is closed, thank you to all who participated! Winner: Charline Kelly

• Control your website from anywhere, with just about any device. That includes laptops, smart phones, tablets and desktops, too.
• WordPress is Intuitive. Some software programs are VERY difficult to learn. They don’t make sense intuitively so you can pick them up and run. WordPress is not one of those, it’s intuitive and fun to use, even.
• Be free of expensive software updates. WordPress is free and so are the updates!
• Never have to wait for (or pay) for the simplest of site changes. You don’t want to be waiting for a website designer while business is passing you by.
• WordPress is EASY to outsource or share. Have a partner to share work with, or maybe you want to hire an assistant to do your updates and learn your business. It’s easy with WordPress.

The next session of Website Design Mojo starts January 16th. You’ll learn how to use THE most popular website software on the internet and use it to have the freedom to build a business you love. Enter below to be gifted free WordPress training through this course.

The Giveaway

One winner will be gifted a full lifetime tuition into the course Website Design Mojo (real value $397).

The Timeline

Submit your comment below to be considered on or before January 9th at 8pm ET.

The Prize Details

Website Design Mojo is a WordPress Creation Course that has had over 150 students through it’s doors, is in it’s tenth run and has been running consistently for well over a year (since June 2010).

This course has been very well received by Virtual Assistants and Small Business Owners. They take the skills they learn from this course to create their own websites, provide services to others and build their businesses.

If you’re not familiar with this guided coaching program, here’s what you get with Website Design Mojo:

• 6 video modules with lifetime* access
• 6 weekly LIVE Q&A webinars
• 6 weeks of personal email coaching
• Lifetime retakes of the webinar and video portions of the course.
• Graphics Mojo ($27 Value)
• WP Safety Mojo ($47 Value)
• Bonus: WordPress Installation with new hosting account (Value $75)
• Bonus: Premium WordPress Website Theme Installation (Value $97)

*lifetime access means the videos don’t go away when the course ends, access them anytime

Terms and Conditions

• No cash value and cannot be refunded for cash.
• For new students to the program only.
• Winner will be determined by random draw.
• Winner will be picked LIVE on the next Preview Webinar: WordPress Startup Workshop.
• If you sign up for the January course and win the tuition, I’ll refund your payment.
• Extra entry for posting a facebook like! –>> Tell me you liked it in the comments!
• Extra entry for a tweet! –>> Tell me you tweeted it in the comments!

For all the details, student examples, sneak peak videos and more see the salespage here:
www.WebsiteDesignMojo.com/sign-up

That’s it – To enter just post a comment below tell us why you want to win and how Website Design Mojo will help you!

This is important because with every update you keep your WordPress website secure and up to date. Also, with each update you get to take advantage of any bug fixes and new features released.

Here’s what’s new with WordPress 3.3:

WordPress Update How-To

If you’ve never updated before, here’s a quick step-by-step of what you need to do:

1. Backup Your Website – It’s really important that you do a backup because it’s possible something may go wrong in your update. WordPress includes files and databases so if you’re not familiar with how to update a database you can get plugins to help you do this.

A free plugin is wp-db Backup but the problem with this is it only backs up your database, you’ll need to make sure you backup all the other files and if you actually have to use it you’ll need to figure out how to setup your database (or hire someone to do it for you).

Another option is to buy a premium plugin that will do the backup for you. I like Backup Buddy for this. It’s a great tool because you can have it do automated backups of everything and send it to places like Amazon s3, Dropbox or your email account. You also can get a developer’s license and do the same for your clients.

Also with most hosting accounts you can go into the cpanel and create a backup of everything in your account.

2. Update Your Website – Once you’ve got your site backed up it’s time to do the update. There is more than one way to update your WordPress installation:

• Update From Your Dashboard – You can click on the link without your WordPress dashboard and follow the instructions for automatic update. This feature has been around for long enough now that it works almost flawlessly. I’ve done it many times with my own and with client sites without problem.
• Update From Your Cpanel – If you have used a script to install your WordPress software then you can log back into your hosting control panel and go back to that script for an update. If you use hosting like Bluehost, when you log in you’ll be immediately notified that you need to update and given a link to click. Click the link and follow the instructions.
• Update Manually – If you’ve installed your WordPress software manually (ie. by downloading the files to your computer, uploading to you hosting and activating them) then you can also do the updates manually. WordPress.org has the update for you and the instructions on how to do it manually.

3. Check Out Your Update – Once you’ve completed your update check it out to make sure it worked properly.

Words of Caution About Updating WordPress

I want to be very clear that if you follow the directions I’ve put above you do so at your own risk. I can’t possibly predict or be aware of any and every situation that could cause a problem with your update so be aware that everything here is meant as a guide and not a guarantee.

Here are some things to be cautious of when updating your WordPress installation:

• Old Installations – If you haven’t updated your WordPress installation in YEARS, then you should consider hiring someone and not try to do it yourself.
• Old Themes – If you have a very old WordPress theme be careful to find out if it will work with your new installation of WordPress.
• Old Plugins – As a precautionary measure you may want to deactivate your plugins when you do an update. That way, if your plugins end up being incompatible with the newest version they won’t break anything on the site. Then, reactivate one by one to make sure they all work ok.

Good luck and Have Fun with the newest version of WordPress!

p.s. If you are a Website Design Mojo student, don’t forget that you also get WP Safety Mojo for free as part of the course. This program teaches you how to do everything mentioned in the post and more…

The Giveaway

One winner will be gifted a full lifetime tuition into the course Website Design Mojo (real value $397).

To enter just post a comment below tell us why you want to win and how Website Design Mojo will help you!

The Timeline

Submit your comment below to be considered on or before November 2nd at 8pm ET.

The Prize Details

Website Design Mojo is a WordPress Creation Course that has had over 120 students through it’s doors, is in it’s ninth run and has been running consistently for over a year (since June 2010).

This course has been very well received by Virtual Assistants and Small Business Owners. They take the skills they learn from this course to create their own websites, provide services to others and build their businesses.

If you’re not familiar with this guided coaching program, here’s what you get with Website Design Mojo:

• 6 video modules with lifetime* access
• 6 weekly live question and answer webinars (with free repeat access multiple times a year)
• 6 weeks of personal email coaching
• Graphics Mojo ($27 Value)
• WP Safety Mojo ($47 Value)
• Bonus: WordPress Installation with new hosting account (Value $75)
• Bonus: Premium WordPress Website Theme Installation (Value $97)

*lifetime access means the videos don’t go away when the course ends, access them anytime

Terms and Conditions

• No cash value and cannot be refunded for cash.
• For new students to the program only.
• Winner will be determined by random draw.
• Winner will be picked on the next WordPress Webinar.
• If you sign up for the November course and win the tuition, I’ll refund your payment.
• Extra entry for posting a facebook like! –>> Tell me you liked it in the comments!
• Extra entry for a tweet! Tell me you tweeted it in the comments!

For all the details, student examples, sneak peak videos and more see the salespage here:
www.WebsiteDesignMojo.com

That’s it – To enter just post a comment below tell us why you want to win and how Website Design Mojo will help you!

At WordCamp Toronto 2010

Of course there’s business involved, but the emphasis is on learning and meeting people in your industry.

Now what kind of a WordPress teacher and designer would I be if I didn’t buy a ticket to WordCamp?!

I have been checking back on the WordCamp Toronto 2011 website periodically and yesterday I noticed that the tickets were available as of September 30th (early-bird tickets at that!). So I snapped up a ticket for myself and sent out a retweet:

Are you in the Toronto area or a bit north like me? Consider attending and make sure you let me know if you do, I’d love to say hi!

Here’s the website: http://2011.toronto.wordcamp.org/

p.s. If you want to see when the next WordCamp in your area is you can keep an eye on this site:
WordCamp Central

Check it out and I bet you’ll find a few things you can do to tweak and improve your own website, today.

Enjoy!

Talk to you soon,
Angela

p.s. If you’ve been eyeing my WordPress course now is a great time to jump on board and learn how to create and customize a WordPress website that will impress AND make sales. Check it out by clicking on the ‘Course Details’ link up above.

It’s a pretty simple process but if you don’t know how to do it frustration and confusion can cause your whole site development to come to a halt. We want to prevent that at all costs so I’ve done up a quick video (less than five minutes) to show you how to take your GoDaddy domain name and point it to a nameserver on whatever hosting company you’d like to use.

A few key points to understand:

• Domains are registered at a domain registrar.
• Websites are built at a hosting company.
• Domains must be ‘pointed’ to a hosting company via ‘nameservers’.
• Some hosting companies are also domain registrars (ie. Bluehost is both)

My hosting company of choice is Bluehost (you can see a review here).

On the webinar I’m going to be covering some of the great things you can do with your WordPress website or blog to get traffic coming to you. Natural traffic takes time to build but by doing your WordPress setup to attract traffic you will jump yourself ahead and get targeted, buying traffic sooner.

Sign up for the upcoming webinar and you’ll learn more about:

1. Updating Your Website – Anybody can do this if they use WordPress. We’ll talk about how your dead site may be driving visitors away rather than attracting them to your business.
2. Keeping It Interesting – If you don’t provide interesting content then your visitors will leave. I’ll show you how to see what people are looking for in your WordPress stats and use that for good, not evil.
3. Providing Good Links – Linking is a very simple way to add value to your website. We’ll talk about how to make these useful links like honey for the visitor bees who’ll come back again and again.
4. Blogging – A blog is a great place to get feedback from your market and to test their interest in new products or services. We’ll talk about how easy it is to combine a blog and a website all into one with WordPress.
5. Blog Broadcast – There’s a great little feature a program called Aweber that allows you to broadcast your blog posts out via email. This is automation that will expand your reach and get you more results. We’ll talk about how this works and why you’ll like it.

This webinar is provided as a completely free preview to the upcoming course Website Design Mojo.

Don’t let that stop you from signing up, though. I provide more than enough content for you to take away and use, guaranteed. I also provide you with a fantastic offer that’s not available anywhere else for those who want further learning via my group coaching.

The webinar happens on Tuesday, August 30th at 8pm ET – Join us by following the link below and filling out your name and email: http://www.websitedesignmojo.com/webinar

What not everyone realizes, however, is that you must maintain your website to keep it safe from many common issues, including the dreaded ‘hacking’.

In this post I’ll share with you three common website problems that you may face and why it’s so important to keep your site backed up and updated.

Problem #1: Hacked Website

Yes this is definitely the most feared of the website problems. You don’t want someone inside your site messing around and breaking things.

A hacker can do any number of things to your website, including:

• Add unwanted links that you can’t see.
• Add unwanted links that you can see.
• Add viruses that attack your visitors computers.
• Delete your site completely (and even replace it with a nice ‘you’ve been hacked by XXX’ message complete with the skull and cross bones image).
• Delete website files.
• Take control of your site and lock you out.
• Redirect your website where ever they want to.

Problem #2: Hosting Company Issues

Every website is hosted on a computer. It’s a piece of man-made technology that sometimes goes bad. Please don’t’ make the mistake of totally relying on your hosting company to protect you and expect that they’ll never have any technical issues.

The main problem you could have with a hosting company is the server where they host your website. It could crash, get hacked or even be required to shut down. The last instance happened to my hosting company. They were required by the city to shut off their servers for about eight hours. As you can imagine that was an inconvenience, not to mention loss of revenue, to many website owners.

If a company has an unexpected server problem, however, that’s when you should be concerned. You could end up loosing data or even your whole website if you don’t have a recent backup.

It’s not uncommon for a server to catch fire, either. Various reasons cause this but it again comes down to an unexpected issue that can be a total disaster if you’re unprepared or just a big inconvenience if you’re prepared. You make that choice, starting right now.

Other potential hosting issues include poor customer service, your needs outgrow their capabilities or they are just not providing the kind of quality you expect. It’s a good idea to have your backups ready and handy so that you can make a quick switch of hosts should the need arise.

Problem #3: Someone Messes Up Your Website

It could be you, or maybe your webmaster but it’s quite possible that your website could get inadvertently messed up while adding a plugin, upgrading a theme or updating to the latest version of WordPress. It happens!

If you’re not prepared you could lose your whole website.

Important Note: You should always, always, always backup your site before doing any kind of updates on it!

HINT: If you want to learn how to backup and update your site, check out this resource on how to do WordPress updates (free for Website Design Mojo students!)