How To Build A Magazine Website With Wordpress in 10 Minutes

Hello!

I'm glad you're here...if you are ready to build own magazine site and need a quick start guide you are in the right place. Hopefully the information that I share here can get your started off in the right direction.

This post is going to be very helpful if you just need a help getting your website online and post your first few magazine articles. This post is an extension of a video I created on YouTube that walks you through the process using the Free WordPress TwentyFourteen Theme.

There is more information I share here to answer additional questions and help you get beyond the first post.

[scroll near bottom for video]

So lets get started...

Think about this before you get started creating your website. What type of content will you have, will it be more editorial, more images or blog style. This is important later on when it's time to choose a website theme for your online magazine.

With this in mind, no matter what type of magazine you are going to create the first thing you need is your domain (you .com) and somewhere to host your website.

One of my favorite and most reliable hosting companies is

• Site5 Website Hosting - For like $12 you can get started (at the time of writing this , the first month is FREE and the domain is just $12 so to get your magazine online and running it's very affordable.) use code: FREETRIAL

The cool thing about using Site5 is that it's a one stop shop. You can purchase your website domain name, get your hosting, and install WordPress fast in just a few steps.

Always do your research, it's ok to shop around for different deals especially if you are trying to save. Just be sure to Site5 and their current promotions.

Content. Content. Content that's what it's all about. When choosing a theme you have to know what kind of content you want to share and how much of it.

Just think about this...in the beginning...are you going to wait until you have so many articles already written before you launch? Or are you going to just launch and slowly build?

Keep this in mind when you choose a website theme design and layout because you don't want to choose a design that needs a ton of content to make up the homepage, otherwise your website will look empty.

So depending on how you plan to start (pre-write as many as you can before you launch or just build it slowly) that's the type of template you may want to choose and then graduate from there.

Here are a few other things to consider: (decide what things are important for your magazine)

• Does the Theme/Layout include space for advertisements
• Is there a page to outline your authors and contributors
• Are social media icons noticeable
• Is content easily share-able
• Do you like the shape of featured article images (are they squared off or rectangular, this is important because it may cause cropping)
• Does the Theme include multiple, or unlimited color scheme options

There are many free themes that will give you the magazine feel for your website. There is one that comes installed with WordPress called "TwentyFourteen" If you like the way it looks check out my video for a full tutorial from start to finish on how to set it up.

The video covers the following

1. Purchasing your domain and hosting account
2. Installing WordPress
3. Basic formatting for this theme
4. Creating your first blog post and featured post

All in 10 minutes. So it's a great place to start if you ready to get going soon.

Of course you can always google Free Magazine These for other choices.

Premium themes cost money. Get ready to spend $45-$65 for a premium WordPress theme. These themes comes with tons features and extensions to make your magazine blog very fancy.

I've shared a few premium themes below that I think are great for a magazine site. Before purchasing a premium themes it's a good idea to check to see the type of support is offered and if the company or person that created the theme is responsive to emails for help if you have any issues.

The themes I have previewed below are just options, once you click to view you can browse the Theme site or search for "magazine themes" to see other options.

What is your magazine about and how will you find content? These are usually some of the first questions your'll ask yourself as you start to plan your online magazine. Although starting online can be done fairly quickly, there is still some planning that needs to take place to make the process a little easier for you.

So you must at least have some idea what your magazine will be about and you also have to think about who's writing all the content. Starting off that might be you, but I wanted to share a few resources real quick that might help you find some good writers to lend a hand.

1. Barefoot Student (website to hire college students)
2. Craigslist (just post an add in classifieds or gigs section)
3. Odesk (scout and interview tons of writers here)
4. Recruit your friends, colleagues and other folks you know
5. Social Media (post ads on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, everywhere!)
6. Your Website (Once you build your website create a page to accept contributors)

That's it for now on this topic. I'll be writing more about how I find writers using the above listed methods a bit later.

Creating an online magazine is motivated usually by two things, having information you want to share and to make money.

I will briefly discuss a few options on how to monetize your online magazine and start generating an income.

In my opinion I always prefer to build the audience first and then start to advertise. Usually if you can get to 1000 visitors a month you can start seeing some benefits from the following monetization options.

1. Affiliate Links - This is done by partner with companies that offer a % to you whenever someone clicks from your website to make a purchase. Checkout sites like cj.com and shareasale.com
2. Selling Banner Ads - This option can generate income but keep in mind you have to be able to show that your site is getting traffic
3. Memberships and Subscriptions - Does your magazine offer any exlusive content or product. If you can figure out a way to created this component you can generate monthly income from subscribers.

(side note: be sure to connect your magazine blog to Google Analytics to show your website traffic and keep an eye of how your site grows)

These are just a few tips to get you started with monetizing. Please ask questions in the comments section!

Thanks.