How To Create A Niche Site On WordPress In Under 60 Minutes
Eric • SERP Insider
15 Jun
Getting started on a Niche Site shouldn't take weeks or even days, nor cost thousands or even hundreds of dollars.
If you find yourself having to hire someone to "install" your WordPress, or "design" your site, you're wasting time and money that could be going towards other things.
I made a post earlier about how little time and money it takes me to create a Niche Site in under 60 minutes - and it's quickly become my most viral tweet ever.
Found a niche site idea and a matching domain at 7 am..
7:05 Registered domain
7:12 Set up hosting, WP, SSL
7:22 Installed theme & core plugins
7:34 Created initial pages & menus
7:45 Made coffee
7:52 Started researching & writingYou can start a niche site in
— Eric • SERP Insider (@serpinsider)
Apr 9, 2023
Without further delay, here’s how to go about this, but first, subscribe to SERP Insider to access the content ahead.
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How To Create A Niche Site In Under 60 Minutes
In this 3 part series, I aim to show you exactly that process.
Deploy a content-ready WordPress site, FOR FREE, in 60 minutes or less
Research keywords + plan what to write, FOR FREE, in 60 minutes or less
Write content that ranks, FOR FREE, in 60 minutes or less
Now let's get the semantics out the way.
We all know there's no such thing as "free", but my goal here is to make this whole thing cost you no more than a cheap dinner, and take you no longer than a couple hours each phase, so you can actually get to writing content and finding out whether it's even worth investing time and effort in a specific niche.
I'm a noob just like you when it comes to technical stuff, so I like to keep things as simple as possible.
Nothing in this guide requires any technical knowledge, there's no complicated steps or any of that.
To do EVERYTHING I'm going to mention in this guide, you actually need a domain and hosting. It's important to note that this post assumes that you've already picked a niche and domain.
You'll also need hosting, I personally use CloudWays and will be using it in this guide.
Get a 3 day free trial at CloudWays and follow along with me!
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How To Deploy WordPress From Scratch 15 minutes.
Here's what you need to deploy WordPress in 2 steps.
Domain Name
CloudWays Account
CloudFlare Account
30 Minutes of Spare Time
Step 1. Create & Set Up CloudFlare Account
First step is to create a CloudFlare account so we can point your domain to your server.
Go to Add Site
Enter your domain
Select the Free plan
Follow any DNS changes they require
Next, go to your domain registrar (wherever you're currently holding the domain) - go to DNS settings and select "Custom DNS".
Then enter CloudFlare's DNS, point your site to
joyce.ns.cloudflare.com
rodrigo.ns.cloudflare.com
Now your site is pointed to CloudFlare, which we'll use to point to your hosting.
Step 2. Create & Set Up Your CloudWays Server
Sign up for an account at CloudWays, this will be your hosting.
On your CloudWays account - Add Server.
Select WordPress, enter a name for your site and server, select VULTR 1GB, choose a location near you, DEPLOY.
You can always go back and change the names and server settings.
That should take a few minutes to process, but once it's done, now Add Application.
Select WordPress, enter a name for your site.
Wait for it to be installed, it takes a few minutes.
Next, copy the IP address shown here, and go back to CLOUDFLARE.
In CloudFlare, go to DNS, Add New Record, in the Name, enter @, and paste your IP in the next box, then press Save.
If you have an existing A record pointed to another server, change it to the new one.
Next - go back to CloudWays, Domain Management, and enter your domain.
Next, go to SSL Certificate, add your email, domain name (www. yourdomain .com) and hit Install Certificate.
When it's added - let's log into WordPress and customize it.
To log into WordPress, go back to Access Details, copy your password, and log into the Admin Panel.
You should now be in WordPress.
Total time elapsed, under 15 minutes.
Next, we install a theme & plugins.
If you got this far and found this useful, bookmark this post (CTRL + D) so you can repeat this process.
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How To Install A Theme & Plugins
Now that you're on WordPress..
Go to Appearance > Themes > Add New > Scroll down until you find GeneratePress > Install Theme > Activate. Boom. Functional site. Total cost $0.
Total time so far about 17 minutes.
Then, go to Settings > General & add your business name & a catchy tag line.
Something I recommend you do before doing ANYTHING ELSE at this point, is temporarily blocking search engines from indexing your site, until you have some more content.
To do that, go to Settings > Reading, and tick "Discourage Search Engines From Indexing This Site"
This is temporary while we add some content to the site. Don't enable this until your website passes this SEO checklist for new websites.
I usually submit a site to index after it's got 3-5+ articles, sometimes more. At this stage, you have a lot to go before indexing.
Here's usually when I recommend you install Google Analytics & Google Search Console:
Basic Google Analytics 4 Setup For WordPress
Basic Google Search Console Setup For WordPress
Now let's install some plugins.
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Plugins
Now we start configuring some basic plugins.
Go to Plugins > Add New
Add the following plugins. These are non-negotiables, all free.
RankMath - All-in-one SEO tool
GenerateBlocks - Theme Customization
Joli Table Of Contents - Inserts Table of Content
Site Kit by Google - Connects Google Analytics & Search Console
WPForms - Forms
WP Fastest Cache (free) or.. WP Rocket (optional $49/yr)
Now we set them up in this order.
Site Kit by Google
Begin with Site Kit by Google, if you've already created a Google Analytics & Search Console, you just have to click Connect and it'll attach itself automatically.
Rank Math
When you open RankMath, you'll be greeted with the installation wizard.
Enable RankMath > Start Wizard > Easy:
Choose a business type that reflects what you do
Website Name: Your business name that will appear on Google
Alternative Name: If you use acronyms or alternative names, add them here
Person/Organization Name: Add more company details that will appear in Googles Knowledge Panel
Upload A Logo
Upload A Social Share Image
Go to RankMath Dashboard, Select Advanced Mode (top right) and enable:
404 Monitor
Sitemap
SEO Analyzer
Schema
Analytics
Instant Indexing
Image SEO
Link Counter
Redirections
Next. Go to General Settings
Links
Enable "Strip Category Base"
Save
Breadcrumbs
Enable Breadcrumbs function
Images
Enable Add missing ALT & TITLE attributes
Now, go to Titles & Meta
Global Meta
Enable Capitalize Titles
Social Meta
Add Your Social Media Profiles
Home Page
Add a Home Page Title & Meta Description (This is how your home page will appear on Google)
Authors
Disable Author Archives
Check Posts/Pages & make changes if you want
Most of this is good as-is, as a beginner, you don't need to worry about much else.
You now have a pretty basic, functional website.
This is when you can spend some time working on the design, and this is why I personally have GeneratePress Pro, their paid themes, because at this point, I can import one of their pre-set templates and begin editing it visually.
Personally, instead of spending thousands on themes and plugins for my dozens of sites, I use a service called FestingersVault to gain access to most WordPress themes/plugins for just $15/mo.
Disclaimer here, I get a small commission on your subscription, but this is a product I personally, specifically use, click the banner below and save yourself hundreds/year on GeneratePress, WPRocket, BetterLinks & more..
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If you got stuck or have questions, post them in the comments below so I can address them publicly and hopefully help others.
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