Ever wonder if you could integrate your BANS niche store into WordPress? Yes you CAN! Watch me add a new BANS site into a WordPress blog and show you how to do it too!

BANS and WordPress Collide!

This is installment #10 in the Watch me build a BANS niche site from Scratch series!

I have many WordPress blogs, and I have a few BANS sites. In my honest opinion, I think that the best possible scenario for Build a Niche Store is to install it into a subfolder of a domain and promote it from there, and then develop the root of the domain up as a blog. Why? Well, there are several reasons I believe this is better…

  • It’s more profitable: On the blog you can use adsense or other forms of monetization
  • It’s safer for indexing: If google goes ape-sh*t on BANS sites, you’ve still got your blog to promote
  • It’s more flexible: You can do 1,000 more things in WordPress than in BANS, like have guest authors, add a forum, syndicate content via RSS, and much, much, more
  • It divests your income: If eBay commissions dry up – just close the BANS store and keep the blog. As far as that goes, as new “affiliate fads” come out – install them in subdirectories too (but keep the blog)

So, I’ve had the thought of integrating and adding a BANS niche store into WordPress for a while – but no way to do it. Then, I came accross Mark Hansen – who has already authored some killer WordPress themes for BANS! He has something called the “BANS-Flex” theme for just $29, and it’s worth every penny if you want to integrate BANS into your WordPress blog. I decided to try by setting up a new site so you can see how it works step by step.

initial BANS store pages The first thing I did was setup a brand new WordPress blog in the root of a domain, and then I setup a BANS installation in a sub-directory. This site is going to be about weight loss and diets – so after adding my primary category my store now has a half-dozen pages that were auto-created. I added some content to the home page for good measure.

Next, after I setup the WordPress blog – I modified and uploaded the BANS-flex files per detailed instructions I received with the download. You don’t have to be technical – just follow the directions. After doing that and created my first “Welcome” post, I see that my BANS site is indeed integrated into my WordPress blog by using the new BANS-flex theme. The two red circles indicate where, the BANS store pages are listed at right, and if you click on “products” listed at left that page link takes you directly to the BANS store. In addition, the search box is a drop down allowing visitors to search either “articles” or “store”, and of course a “store” search inputs the keyword directly into my BANS niche store bringing up search results.

Visit Fastest Weight Loss Diet to view the new blog / BANS niche store.

initial BANS WordPress theme integration

The BANS-Flex Theme for WordPress has placeholders for affiliate adverts built in – you can see the banner at top, and then the 3 – 125×125 placeholders above the right sidebar. I want to replace the top banner placeholder first, so in my WordPress dashboard I click on “Design->Theme Editor” and open “header.php”. All you have to do is replace the image code within the “this section controls the 468×60 banner code” comments and your new affiliate banner ad will display. Then open “sidebar.php” and do the same under the “code for 3 125×125 ad images” to replace those 3 placeholders.

So – this is only the beginning. Now I have a brand new WordPress blog and a brand new BANS store to promote, isn’t that double the work? I have two sitemaps to register, 2 sites (on one domain) to promote and build links for, and 2 sites to write original content for. Yes I do – but I think one will complement the other. The WordPress blog should get indexed faster than the BANS site, but then it will pull it in the index as well. Visitors will read the blog and keep coming back, and get used to the fact that we have a “store” where we sell things. I think it will “pre-sell” the BANS site a bit, and the traffic on the blog will earn adsense revenue in addition to affiliate monetizations for ads, etc.

This new site will become part of the series – be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed or by email (top of the page) so you don’t miss a bit! I’ll be posting more as I work on this new BANS/Wordpress creation!

Do you want to try to integrate your BANS Build a Niche Store in your WordPress blog? Click Here to learn more about the BANS-Flex WordPress Theme! There are also new themes now available through that link for BANS and WordPress in addition to the one that I used for this post.

simplecss bans wordpress theme The Simple CSS WordPress BANS theme is now available as well! It looks sharp, and will go well with just about any niche. But let’s say that you want to add your BANS site into your WordPress blog, but you don’t want to change your theme at all. I mean – it’s rather inconvenient to just switch your theme from one you like (and have been using) to just one or two choices – isn’t it? You’re in luck – this is your lucky day! Mark at “The Niche Store Builder” has arranged to convert ANY WordPress Theme to BANS for only $49. That’s right – ANY WordPress theme.

bans wordpress theme conversion

Don’t have “Build a Niche Store” yet? Click here:

build a niche store logo

If you’re reading this page to try and figure out is Build a Niche Site for you or not – please consider buying BANS through my affiliate link. I make a small commission, which would help defray some of my time and expense for putting together this BANS tutorial (and future BANS success articles) for you! I purchased my copy through an affiliate link in gratitude to the blogger who talked of his success with this niche building site script.

Also – if BANS isn’t for you, consider using PHPBay Pro. With BANS you build content basically around eBay auctions, but with PHPBayPRo you place eBay auctions in your posts and pages. Check it out, I use (and make money) with both BANS and PHPBayPro!