diff --git a/backend/README.md b/backend/README.md
index e65205d67..c7508fda2 100644
--- a/backend/README.md
+++ b/backend/README.md
@@ -1,22 +1,154 @@
-# Setup backend watchers
+# Mempool Backend
 
-The backend is static. Typescript scripts are compiled into the `dist` folder and served through a node web server.
+These instructions are mostly intended for developers, but can be used as a basis for personal or small-scale production setups. 
 
-You can avoid the manual shutdown/recompile/restart command line cycle by using a watcher.
+If you choose to use these instructions for a production setup, be aware that you will still probably need to do additional configuration for your specific OS, environment, use-case, etc. We do our best here to provide a good starting point, but only proceed if you know what you're doing. Mempool does not provide support for custom setups.
 
-Make sure you are in the `backend` directory `cd backend`.
+See other ways to set up Mempool on [the main README](/../../#installation-methods).
 
-1. Install nodemon and ts-node
+Jump to a section in this doc:
+- [Set Up the Backend](#setup)
+- [Development Tips](#development-tips)
+
+## Setup
+
+### 1. Clone Mempool Repository
+
+Get the latest Mempool code:
 
 ```
-sudo npm install -g ts-node nodemon
+git clone https://github.com/mempool/mempool
+cd mempool
 ```
 
-2. Run the watcher
+Check out the latest release:
 
-> Note: You can find your npm global binary folder using `npm -g bin`, where nodemon will be installed.
+```
+latestrelease=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/mempool/mempool/releases/latest|grep tag_name|head -1|cut -d '"' -f4)
+git checkout $latestrelease
+```
+
+### 2. Configure Bitcoin Core
+
+Turn on `txindex`, enable RPC, and set RPC credentials in `bitcoin.conf`:
+
+```
+txindex=1
+server=1
+rpcuser=mempool
+rpcpassword=mempool
+```
+
+### 3. Configure Electrum Server
+
+[Pick an Electrum Server implementation](https://mempool.space/docs/faq#address-lookup-issues), configure it, and make sure it's synced.
+
+**This step is optional.** You can run Mempool without configuring an Electrum Server for it, but address lookups will be disabled.
+
+### 4. Configure MySQL
+
+Get MariaDB from your operating system's package manager:
+
+```
+# Debian, Ubuntu, etc.
+apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client
+
+# macOS
+brew install mariadb
+mysql.server start
+```
+
+Create a database and grant privileges:
+
+```
+MariaDB [(none)]> drop database mempool;
+Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
+
+MariaDB [(none)]> create database mempool;
+Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
+
+MariaDB [(none)]> grant all privileges on mempool.* to 'mempool'@'%' identified by 'mempool';
+Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
+```
+
+### 5. Prepare Mempool Backend
+
+#### Build
+
+Install dependencies with `npm` and build the backend:
+
+```
+cd backend
+npm install # add --prod for production
+npm run build
+```
+
+#### Configure
+
+In the backend folder, make a copy of the sample config file:
+
+```
+cp mempool-config.sample.json mempool-config.json
+```
+
+Edit `mempool-config.json` as needed. 
+
+In particular, make sure:
+- the correct Bitcoin Core RPC credentials are specified in `CORE_RPC`
+- the correct `BACKEND` is specified in `MEMPOOL`: it should be "electrum" if you're connecting to an Electrum Server and "none" if you're not
+
+### 6. Run Mempool Backend
+
+Run the Mempool backend:
+
+```
+npm run start
+```
+
+When it's running, you should see output like this:
+
+```
+Mempool updated in 0.189 seconds
+Updating mempool
+Mempool updated in 0.096 seconds
+Updating mempool
+Mempool updated in 0.099 seconds
+Updating mempool
+Calculated fee for transaction 1 / 10
+Calculated fee for transaction 2 / 10
+Calculated fee for transaction 3 / 10
+Calculated fee for transaction 4 / 10
+Calculated fee for transaction 5 / 10
+Calculated fee for transaction 6 / 10
+Calculated fee for transaction 7 / 10
+Calculated fee for transaction 8 / 10
+Calculated fee for transaction 9 / 10
+Calculated fee for transaction 10 / 10
+Mempool updated in 0.243 seconds
+Updating mempool
+```
+
+### 7. Set Up Mempool Frontend
+With the backend configured and running, proceed to set up the [Mempool frontend](../frontend#manual-setup).
+
+## Development Tips
+
+### Set Up Backend Watchers
+
+The Mempool backend is static. TypeScript scripts are compiled into the `dist` folder and served through a Node.js web server. 
+
+As a result, for development purposes, you may find it helpful to set up backend watchers to avoid the manual shutdown/recompile/restart command-line cycle.
+
+First, install `nodemon` and `ts-node`:
+
+```
+npm install -g ts-node nodemon
+```
+
+Then, run the watcher:
 
 ```
 nodemon src/index.ts --ignore cache/ --ignore pools.json
 ```
 
+`nodemon` should be in npm's global binary folder. If needed, you can determine where that is with `npm -g bin`.