We all begin with an idea. An idea which is good enough to tell the rest of the world. If it’s about writing, you need a website. If it’s about photography, you need a website. Be it anything, you need a website to reach out to the world, because gone are those days when having a physical presence is enough for your business. Nothing better than WordPress could have fulfilled the increasing demand of online business.
Since its humble beginnings, WordPress has developed into a huge platform for both professional or amateur bloggers. Today, almost every major brand uses its services. There are many reasons for that. For starters, it is absolutely free. It’s also incredibly easy to use, once you know how. It’s even easy to get setup.
However, if you don’t know where to start when setting up a WordPress site, this is the article for you.
Pick a Web Host
Getting on-board with a web host is the first step in setting up your website. All of the below hosts have been in the market for over a decade and have maintained their dignity because of their large number of servers and their consistent performance. They are the best when starting out according to their usability, support, reliability and value.
If you need a low-cost, entry-level jump into the shared hosting space, these hosts are right for you. Moreover, they all offer you a money back guarantee which is always a good option to have.
Select a Domain Name
Thinking of a domain name is as important as thinking of your company name. It represents your business. Not only should it fit your business but should also be easy to find and remembered by your users. Make a note of the following:
- A name without slang or multiple spellings is easy to type. Also, keep it short to avoid the chances of spelling errors.
- Use keywords related to the product or services of your business. It optimises your website within the search engines.
- Do not use numbers, hyphens or any special characters within your domain name. Using it will only make your website hard to find.
- Do not copy a name that’s been used by another service provider. You can get sued and this is something you don’t want to be involved with.
- Use a common extension like .com, .org, or .net.
Set Up Your WordPress Website
Once you’ve selected the right host and a proper domain name, you’re good to go with the installation process of your WordPress website.
Log in with the information provided by your host and access your control panel. Once there, you’ll see a WordPress option or icon. Click on it and follow the installation process. It’ll also ask you to choose a domain name but be advised that you should select the one that you registered earlier. This process is as easy as installing an app on your mobile phone.
After completing the installation process, you’ll receive your username and password!
Selecting Themes and Widgets
For Themes:
Log into your WordPress website (yourdomain/wp-admin) and go to Appearance in the left hand navigation menu. Once hovered over or clicked on you’ll see the the Themes option. Once here click the Add New button and you’ll be able to choose from a variety of themes, but you should be aware of the following:
- Do not go for what looks like a complicated theme as they can be confusing. Instead choose a simple theme with a minimalistic/clean look and feel.
- Mobile-friendliness is something that all users are looking for in a website. Don’t compromise on that.
- Ratings and reviews on themes will give you an idea on how good they are.
- Plugins play an important role in empowering your website. Add a theme that supports all of the popular ones.
Click on Live Preview to see how your blog will look and then click on Activate once happy.
For Widgets:
Widgets allow a user to add dynamic and static content to widget-areas such as your header, sidebar, and footer. To install them, go to the left hand navigation menu within your WordPress dashboard and click or hover on Appearance to reveal the Widgets option. Within this section you can choose from a range of widgets by dragging and dropping them into their respective positions.
Adding Plugins to extend the functionality of your website.
Plugins play an important role for extra functionality of your website. If you’re a developer, you can code your way to customising your WordPress use such as creating dropdown menus and others. In most cases, however, a plugin ought to do the trick. Some of the things plugins can do include:
- Securing your website
- Backing up your website
- Report on missing pages and broken links
- Optimise your website for search engines
- Monitor your website traffic
- Grow your email list
The Plugins section is directly below the Appearance section. By clicking Add New you can install plugins for the extra functionality you require for your website.
Go Online With Your New Post
Once everything is set up, create your first post by clicking on the Posts option towards the top of the left hand navigation menu within your WordPress dashboard. Once you have completed your blog post, click the publish button and your website with your newly written article will be published online.
I hope that you haven’t found this process difficult!
Learning the basics might be easy, but if you want to outfox your competitors, you will need to invest more time and effort to master WordPress. So, keep searching and applying new information on a daily basis because at the end of the day, you’re the bearer of your business.