how to go *.com without wordpress in the domain name
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Okay, talk to me like I’m an idiot but please still be nice ;)
My hubby primarily uses his wordpress blog as an online portfolio, he displays photos of his work using the page tabs we have been able to add. He rarely uses the main screen on his blog for adding new blog entries.
I’m not sure what the difference is between wordpress.com and wordpress.org and I read a little bit about bluehost. Confused, mainly because I’m new to this and don’t know where to begin.
Basically, my husband would like a professional looking website, a unique domain name without wordpress in it, and some kind of way to do “search engine optimization” so his site will come up when locals do searches on google or other search engines. Please help me understand what we need to do to upgrade. (He will not be doing any selling on his site).
Any advice would be much much appreciated!!!
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Also, when in doubt, always try a search of the Support documents http://support.wordpress.com/
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okay, well let’s just assume i want to be bookwormbethie.com and not bookwormbethie.wordpress.com
can someone please explain all this complicated stuff to me that i referenced above in my first post?
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Total cost: $18 a year, unless you want No Ads, which we recommend for a professional site. That’s $30 a year.
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thanks for the tips.
follow-up:
(1) will having a unique domain name make me more likely come up in key word searches on search engines?
(2) will i have other themes to choose from so the blog looks less bloggy and more professional?or is that something else entirely where i pay the minimum $50 to have access to a premium themes?
—- or should i pay the $99 for the wordpress value bundle that includes domain name, no ads, and custom design?i don’t think i need the $299 business bundle…….
sorry, this is all new to me and a bit overwhelming.
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p.s. i assume buying the domain name through wordpress is easy peasy and i don’t have to worry about downloading software, upgrading things, and finding a host/server, other things i don’t understand? ;)
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p.s. i assume buying the domain name through wordpress is easy peasy and i don’t have to worry about downloading software, upgrading things, and finding a host/server, other things i don’t understand? ;)
No software to download, update / upgrading things (other than your browser once in a while and you do that anyway) – you are hosted here so no need to look at another host –
Yes – about as easy as it gets here
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(2) will i have other themes to choose from
No you have the standard 230++ themes here you can find in your Dashboard >> Appearance >> Themes
Look at the Themes – many to choose from – some are “blogy” I guess – I use a standard theme with no changes to it – people visit sites for the content not the fancy theme – put some content in your blog then preview a few themes –
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2) Just about any theme can be used to make a traditional page-based website. Make a static front page. Turn comments off. Don’t make any posts. You will probably want a custom menu to navigate through your pages as you design the structure.
There are lots of free themes available, so you don’t really have to buy a premium theme. If you fall in love with a premium theme, then you can buy it, but I’d advise you to start with a free blog / site so you can learn the basics about wordpress.com.
You can make a free blog here to experiment with doing the page structure, and look at different themes. Make it private or not open to search engines so others won’t see it. Work through the tutorial:
http://learn.wordpress.com/
http://en.support.wordpress.com/settings/privacy-settings/Do your experimenting and learning before you buy any upgrades.
And remember as you experiment, the forums are here so we volunteers can help with technical questions. The Support documents are also a great resource for information.
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thanks for the tips y’all. i have a lot of reading to do!
question #1: the blog has one name but the domain name will be different.
will people be automatically redirected to the new *.com site or is that something extra i have to pay for? how will this affect me now in google (or other) search results?question #2: does word press do anything regarding search engine optimization? or am i able to do things on my end to add title and meta tags, etc… to help me get bumped up in relevant search results?
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The domain mapping will automatically redirect to your *.com site. If someone puts in YOUR_SITE.wordpress.com, they will see your *.com link. They could also put in *.com into the url bar and reach your site.
You will still be hosted here on wordpress.com and this is what you do:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/webmaster-tools/ -
thank y’all so much for your help. I was able to take the time and read up on the links y’all provided and I have been able to make some awesome changes to my hubby’s blog. The static home page with “about” type info looks awesome. And disabling the comments on all pages made the blog look more professional. Almost ready to go *.com! Thank y’all so much for your help and support!
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