There are many different things you’ll need to have to setup your little corner of the Internet.
Domain names: The actual url (lisaboyd.com) needs to be registered. There’s a yearly fee associated with this and should not be more than $9.95/year.
Web hosting: To have full control over your site, you’ll need a web hosting account. This is a place where your files will live 24/7 so everyone can view your site. There’s typically a monthly fee with a discount for paying yearly. Fees can range from entry level $4.95 a month to $150 a month for sites with high traffic. I provide entry level web hosting or can help you setup hosting elsewhere. If you’re not happy with your current web host, I can also help you transfer everything to a new host.
WordPress.org: WordPress.org is open source software. Without going into the details of what open source software means, let me just share the benefits with you. WordPress.org is free for you to use so once you pay for the domain name and web hosting, there’s not an additional fee for the WordPress.org software. Open source also means that really geeky-techie people can view the source code of WordPress.org and make it better. Many of those geeky-techie people make plugins that are also free. WordPress.org is much more than just blogging software — it’s site content management software. We can do a lot with that!
Content: Where is your content going to come from? If you are switching from Blogger, there can be some issues with keeping all of your comments, redirecting all your incoming links, and cleaning up the content in general. I specialize in Blogger to WordPress transfers. The fee for just transferring your content over to WordPress can range from $45 – $135 depending on the size of your blog.
Design: I do not do graphics or color recommendations. I work with designers, taking their files and making custom WordPress themes. If you do not have current graphics that you love, I can recommend some dynamite designers for you to work with. Their fees are separate — paid to them.
Custom Themes: Do you already have graphics you love on a Blogger blog? Are you a designer wanting to have your graphics turned into a custom theme? Themes are WordPress’ way of knowing how to display your content. I use StudioPress’ Genesis Framework as a basis for all my custom themes. Just know that by using Genesis, you’ll be given options for some really cool features for your site. Depending on the complexity of the graphics and how much customization you would like (ie. different header graphics on different pages), the fees will range between $90 – $500 — but can occasionally be higher based on the specifications you provide.
Training: After everything is setup in WordPress, you may want some training. I’m going to be offering a mixture of one-on-one training, as well as classes on how to use WordPress. I want to make sure you are able to control as much of your site as you want.
Maintenance: I have a range of maintenance packages available that will cover updating WordPress, plugins and theme updates as needed; back-end support (questions about databases, servers, hosting, etc.); back-ups of your content and your uploaded images; and troubleshooting performance issues. If you would like for me to make changes to your website as needed, that can be added in as well.
