Blogging can be a very effective way to connect with your customers. It gives your customers a chance to really get to know you. After all you are running the company so why not incorporate your own personal style into your Blog. If you haven’t already done so, read the article titled, “5 Reasons Why You Need a Blog for Your E-Commerce Store.” Your Blog should not be about you, but rather your company and your products. It gives you a medium to write about things like: product reviews, gift buying guides, specials and promotions, and company related information. It is a great place to talk to your customers and ask for feedback.

One of the best parts of Blogs is that they are simple to setup and very user friendly. There are many blogging platforms out there, but most people use Wordpress because of its flexibility, the wide array of free pre-made themes available and the entire software is free. You can’t beat that.

I am going to show you how to setup and integrate Wordpress into Miva Merchant. These instructions will work with any website however since this site focuses on Miva Merchant, I am going to target it towards that.

Download Wordpress – go to www.wordpress.org – This is the website were you can download the Wordpress software. The latest release at the time I am writing this it 2.3.1. You will see a link in the top right of the page to download the newest version. Click on the “Download .ZIP” and save the folder to your computer.

Extract Contents and Upload – Once you have the zip folder downloaded, right-click the folder and unzip the contents. For the remainder of the setup instructions, Wordpress has its famous 5 minute installations. If you are not very familiar with computers you can read detailed instructions here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress

You need to create a MySQL database in your hosting control panel admin in order to install Wordpress. If you do not know how to do this, please contact your webmaster and have them create it for you.

Because we are installing this on the same server as our Miva Store we need to create a new directory on the server for it. I would create a directory in the root folder (httpdocs or www) called “blog” or “updates.” This is where you are going to upload the Wordpress files you just unzipped.  
Here's the quick version of the instructions, for those that are already comfortable with performing such installations. More detailed instructions follow.

1. Download and unzip the WordPress package, if you haven't already.
2. Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as a MySQL user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.
3. Rename the wp-config-sample.php file to wp-config.php.
4. Open wp-config.php in your favorite text editor and fill in your database details.
5. Place the WordPress files in the desired location on your web server:
• If you want to integrate WordPress into the root of your domain (e.g. http://example.com/), move or upload all contents of the unzipped WordPress directory (but excluding the directory itself) into the root directory of your web server.
• If you want to have your WordPress installation in its own subdirectory on your web site (e.g. http://example.com/blog/), rename the directory wordpress to the name you'd like the subdirectory to have and move or upload it to your web server. For example if you want the WordPress installation in a subdirectory called "blog", you should rename the directory called "wordpress" to "blog" and upload it to the root directory of your web server.

  Hint: If your FTP transfer is too slow read how to avoid FTPing at : Step 1: Download and Extract.

6. Run the WordPress installation script by accessing wp-admin/install.php in your favorite web browser.
• If you installed WordPress in the root directory, you should visit: http://example.com/wp-admin/install.php
• If you installed WordPress in its own subdirectory called blog, for example, you should visit: http://example.com/blog/wp-admin/install.php

That's it! WordPress should now be installed.

Once you have setup and installed Wordpress you can access the admin and start creating new posts. The whole look and feel any Wordpress Blog is determined by its theme. The great part about this is you are able to upload a new theme and with one click change the entire look of your site without losing any of your content. You can view all of the free Wordpress themes here: http://themes.wordpress.net/

Just pick the one you want, download the contents and upload it to your themes folder in your Wordpress installation. Then in your Wordpress admin, select the theme you wish to use.

That’s it! Just add a link in your main navigation to your new blog (http://www.yoursite.com/blog/) and you are ready to go. You now have a professional looking and easy to use Blog integrated with you Miva Merchant Store.

If you are struggling installing your new Blog or would just rather have a professional set it up for you, I offer Wordpress installations here.

Happy Blogging!

About the Author: Brennan Heyde is an e-commerce consultant working in San Diego, Ca. He specializes in online marketing and SEO for e-commerce.  Have a struggling e-commerce website? – Contact Brennan today for a site analysis.