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Rachel Pedersen

Rachel Pedersen

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How I Set Up My Entire Website for Less Than $500

By Rachel Pedersen

Yes, you read that right. I set up my ENTIRE website for about $500. I bled, sweat, and cried (a ton) as I learned the ropes of WordPress customization.

**Before reading this post, I must issue a warning. The process was extremely difficult (since I figured it out without a step-by-step guide) and there were several times where the process didn’t seem worth it. But less than 1 month later, my website is finished, and the results are GORGEOUS.

I am going to teach you HOW I did it so you can save your blood, sweat, and tears for another project.

Step 1: Domain & hosting
Find a website, also called a domain, you would like to set up your business on. As I was searching for the perfect domain, seeing that my name was available (www.rachelpedersen.com) was actually a huge motivation. I used HostGator to purchase the domain, and then also to host my website. It’s incredibly affordable and very easy to use. Use the code RachelPedersen25 for 25% off!

Step 2: Theme
Choose WordPress as your host within HostGator, and then you get to find a WordPress theme. Go to your WordPress admin login, and search for a theme within “Appearance” on the left side.

I personally used the WordPress theme Enigma, which is super easy to use. There are hundreds of options, and usually cost between $29-$65. As a general rule, the less expensive a theme, the less customization will be able to be achieved. Once you choose a WordPress theme, you are ready to begin the customization!

Step 3: Customization
This is where the real fun begins. Try to use high quality photos for main photos. The homepage is a great place to feature a photo of your store, restaurant, products, food, etc. If your business is not brick-and-mortar based, you can use photos from a website like StockSnap.io or Gratisography.com to evoke a feeling of your business. One of my favorite ways to customize these photos is on the free/cheap PicMonkey website. This website has STUNNING fonts, objects, banners, etc. for customizing images. This is where I create about half of the graphics on my website, and the Royal (paid) features are absolutely irresistible.

Depending on your theme, you will be able to tweak the fonts, colors, background, and more on your site. You can also determine whether you want blog posts on your homepage or on a separate page by choosing “static homepage” or “latest posts”.

Step 4: Widgets & Plugins
You might be wondering what the importance of these are… Well, imagine your website is a black dress. By itself it may be a nice piece of clothing, but it is not yet a head-turning outfit. The widgets and plugins are the earrings, necklace, lipstick, and heels, that make your website a stylish work of art.

Here are a few of my “can’t live without” plugins:

Sumome: An amazing plugin allowing you to capture the email addresses of your customers!
Yoast SEO: This analyzes each of the pages on your website, and makes sure that Google is easily able to crawl/rank your website. I love the easy success indicators of Yoast (green means good, red means double check the section), since SEO can be very difficult to wrap your mind around.
Naked Social Share: Naked gives you easy to use sharing options to increase your fanbase’s engagement on social media. This plugin and I are on a break, but we will be getting back together soon;]
MailChimp: Technically MailChimp isn’t a plugin, but it is an email service that has amazing plugins and integrations with WordPress websites. The newsletter and email templates are some of the easiest to use, with drag and drop sections for true customization. MailChimp even has a free option as you build your fanbase!

Step 5: Traffic
Now that your website is built, it’s time to build your following on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Periscope, LinkedIn, etc! Create great content on your blog, on social media with a program like Canva.com, and SHARE. This is the surest way to drive quality traffic to your website.

Related posts:

How to Get Comfortable on Camera

Your Top 5 Email Marketing Questions Answered!

What to do When a Client Ghosts You

Filed Under: General Social Media

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Rachel Pedersen. Founder of RBP Productions, The Viral Touch, & Sontero

Rachel Pedersen has scaled her businesses to 8-figure revenue, grown a fanbase of 3+ million followers, and reached over 100 million people annually (and ORGANICALLY) during a lazy year… She is currently co-writing a fantasy book with her husband, and she’s already spent way too much time perfecting the linguistic rules of her invented language and map!


themrspedersen

Helping freelancers & business owners to grow their business with social media
8figures in 8 years | Hay House Author
Free social media resources 👇

I’m about to let you in on a secret most “expe I’m about to let you in on a secret most “experts” would never admit…

I gained 249,000 followers on Instagram -
👉 without spending a dime
👉 without using professional cameras or tools
👉 and definitely without posting thirst traps

(Although, for a second, you thought I did... didn’t you? 😏)

Truth is - I used to believe the same bad advice floating around the internet:
"Only post business content." 
“Post 30x a day.”
“Use 30 hashtags.”
“Pick a tight niche.”

That advice killed my growth.

So I stopped listening.
I created a brand-new strategy that’s so simple, it feels like cheating.

And the results? 93k to 343k… just like that.

Here’s what I stopped doing 👇
❌ Posting random business content and hoping it lands
❌ Wasting time on outdated hashtag hacks
❌ Ignoring the key engagement triggers the algorithm craves

Here’s what I started doing 👇
✅ Optimizing for Instagram’s built-in SEO (yes, that’s a thing)
✅ Using content layering to trigger saves, shares, and serious reach
✅ Posting strategically — not constantly

This strategy is what changed everything for me... and I’m giving it away for FREE.

Want my full IG Growth Blueprint?
Comment “100k” and I’ll DM it to you (yep, totally free - no catch, no bikini required 😉)

#instagramgrowth #organicreach #socialmediatips #contentmarketingstrategy #femaleentrepreneur #growyourgram #instagrowthtips
I followed all the “tricks” in the book. Follo I followed all the “tricks” in the book.
Follow-for-follow. Shoutout swaps. Hashtag spam.
I was frustrated for myself... and for the creators still stuck on outdated advice.

So I wrote my own growth guide.
It’s free. It works. And it’s everything I wish I’d known sooner.

Comment SECRETS and I’ll send you the whole thing.

Here’s what’s inside: 

✅ The content types that actually trigger growth in 2025
✅ Hashtag systems that haven’t aged like milk
✅ The no-BS breakdown of what to stop doing

I don’t gatekeep - but I do expose broken systems and build better ones.
Want in?!

👇 Comment SECRETS and I’ll send it to your DMs.
Stitch this if you have a famous relative!!! #sti Stitch this if you have a famous relative!!!

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87 million+ impressions from content made in Googl 87 million+ impressions
from content made in Google Docs + Canva.

Want the exact strategy?
Comment “MAP” and I’ll send it.
Comment “67” below and I’ll DM you the full Comment “67” below and I’ll DM you the full list of 67 ways to work from home for FREE.
Did this go the way you thought it would? 🤣💙 Did this go the way you thought it would? 🤣💙
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