Poker Affiliate Website Setup, Hosting & Design

One thing poker affiliates seem to get stuck on is setting up a website.  You can have the ideas, you can have the content written….and then you hit a brick wall.  Maybe it’s because you don’t know how to create a website, or just aren’t sure where you should be hosting your website.

I have made it nice and easy for you, with our website setup poker affiliate resources section for webmasters.

Setting up a website isn’t easy as there are a lot of factors to it for you to consider, so I have broken this up into sections to make it easier.  If you have any questions or suggestions on things I can add here, e-mail me.

Buying A Domain:

So you know what your website is going to be about, and now all you need to do is buy a domain.  Now there’s a lot of advice I can give about purchasing a domain, but that would fill up the whole article.  Just remember that incorporating the important keywords for your website in the URL is crucial.  For example I rank really high for “poker affiliate” in Google, however there is a very good chance if my domain was “DealerDansGuide” I wouldn’t rank as high.

To purchase a domain, I highly recommend GoDaddy.  This is who I have purchased all my domains from for the past many years.  I tried a few different domain registry services over the years, but have never had a problem with GoDaddy.  Their customer service is excellent, and their website interface is good.  They also have lots of special offers running.

GoDaddy offer the ability to purchase .com, .net, .org, .info, .mobi, .us, .me, .ca, .co.uk and about 25 other domain extensions.  Click here to visit GoDaddy.

Website Hosting:

This is a question I get often – where do I host my website?  First do NOT go through any free services – you won’t get as good search engine benefits if your site is yourname.blogspot.com, and you won’t be able to customize your website the way you really want it.

You generally want to get a hosting plan at a popular web hosting company.  To start with, you most likely don’t need a dedicated server – you can start with a basic web hosting plan and if you get the bandwidth, upgrade with ease.

My personal recommendation for web hosting is HostGator.  I’ve tried many web hosts in the last 12 years, and I’ve used Hostgator continually for the last 4 years.  Like any webhost there will be downtime – however the way they deal with everything is excellent.  Their customer support is amazing.  They also offer lots of extras like the Fantastico Application to make installing software on your website a breeze, a free template gallery, a site builder and many more features.

So without a doubt my biggest recommendation goes to HostGator, who have a large variety of different plans to accommodate you.  Click here to visit and read more about Hostgator.

The secondary option is Bluehost.  I have never used Bluehost, however I have heard them recommended enough by poker affiliates to know that they are a solid website hosting service.  Click here to visit Bluehost.

Also don’t worry about hosting poker affiliate websites on the above two – even though they are in the US, it is completely safe.  Only if you were running an actual poker room, would you want to seek hosting outside the USA.

Website Backend:

You’ve got your domain.  You’ve got your hosting.  Now how do you get it on the web?  One of the most popular solutions is to use an existing content management system.  In short, this system handles everything for you – all you have to do is log in, type up(or paste) your article and hit “post” and it appears on your website.

I have used a TON of content management systems over the years.  I’ve used Wordpress, Geeklog, Joomla, Drupal, Nucleus, PHPNuke, MediaWiki as well as custom coded options.

Without a doubt, my highest recommendation goes to Wordpress.  Wordpress is free, easy to install and very easy to use.  Even better, a large community who have created literally thousands of plugins and templates to make life so much easier for you supports it.  Wordpress is also great for search engine optimization, and is by far the most popular Content Management System – for a reason.

Click here to visit the Wordpress site.

Website Design:

One of the most important things is getting the website to look the way you want it to.  If you’re experienced in design then you will have no problem, but what if you have no clue how to design a website?  No problem.  There are thousands of templates out there – just google “free website templates” and you will see.  If you are using Wordpress, then you can google “free wordpress templates” and you should be able to find one that match your needs – there is some AMAZING designs out there for free.

If you are looking for a coder, I have an in-house coder who is skilled in everything and I can never keep him busy enough.  He knows HTML, CSS, Flash, SEO, PHP, Javascript, Graphic Design, curl – Frank knows pretty much everything and is a genius when it comes to design.  He’s also able to convert designs to Wordpress with ease, and is amazing to work with.  He has did design work for some of the top online poker rooms and casinos.  You can contact Frank at F@DealerDan.com.

Also for specific graphic design, I would also highly recommend Dean, from X Factor Creative.  Dean has did a lot of the Dealer Dan related graphics, and does some excellent work.  He’s also cheap compared to other artists, yet does amazing work, and is fantastic to work with.  Visit X Factor Creative and be sure to tell him Dealer Dan sent ya!

I’d say that pretty much covers it.  By now you should have your website hosted and up and running.  If you have any more questions please don’t hesitate to ask - just contact me.

Thanks.