Before you begin

These pages are a path through the manual. They put the jobs of your first week in order. Each step is short, and each one links to the page that shows you how.

Start here, then work down the list.

Your website is already up

It is built, and it is on the internet now. Anyone with the address can read it today. Nothing waits for you to press a big red button.

So the work in front of you is not building a site. It is making the one you have say the right things.

Your domain name

Your domain name is the address people type to reach you. When it is time to point it at your new site, we email you the exact records to add.

Your domain name says what each record does, and which one you must never delete.

What we have already done

• Built your pages and put the links across the top.
• Set your colors and the style of your site.
• Put in your phone number, your email and your address.
• Uploaded the logo and the photos you sent us.
• Wired your inquiry form to your inbox.

You do not start from an empty screen. You start from a full one.

What is still an example

Some entries are examples. We put them there so you can see the shape of a real one. They are live, and a visitor can read them.

Your first job is to swap them for your own work.

Spotting an example

Most of them start with the word EXAMPLE. You will see it in the list, in the entry, and on your live website.

Look for it in these places:

• Services, two of them
• Testimonials, one
• Service Area, two towns in the list
• Service Area Pages, one town page
• Gallery, one empty album
• Credentials, two licenses and one badge, on the Business info tab of the SEO page
• Menus (Food) and Menu Sections (Food), if your site has them
• Projects and Posts, one each, if your site has them

Your pages carry some too: the big headline on your home page, the story on your home and About pages, and the Pricing page. Step 5 covers those.

What to have ready

Get these in front of you first. It saves stopping halfway.

• Your photos, on this computer, in a folder you can find.
• Your logo file, if we do not have it yet.
• Your license numbers, and who gave you each one.
• Your opening hours, day by day.
• Your phone number and email, spelled the way you want them read.
• The towns you work in.
• The web address of each social profile you use.
• Your prices, or a starting price for each job.

Sign in and look around

1. Sign in to your admin panel.
2. Bookmark the panel. Press Cmd+D on a Mac, or Ctrl+D on Windows.
3. Read the tour of the admin panel. It is ten minutes and it makes every later step quicker.
4. Read Saving and publishing. Saving is not the same as going live, and that catches everybody out once.

Done all four? Go on to Step 1: Your business details.