Did you know WordPress proudly holds a 40% market share among all websites? WordPress has popularity and trust among its users, which is beyond comparison. It makes it easy for you to handle and manage your website, offers you responsive themes, and builds dynamic websites.
You can make millions of choices to customise and manage the website with front and back-end components. Here’s the ultimate guide to building a WordPress website in 2023 to enhance your web presence all over the internet.
Before we begin, we want you to know that making a website with WordPress is uncomplicated. Good luck!
Step 1: Select a Domain Name
Your website gets identified through a domain name. Users find you through it, so you must go with any domain name depending on your choice reflecting your niche or values. At the same time, ensure that your domain name is easy to find and unique. Portals like Hostinger and GoDaddy are reliable domain service providers.
Moreover, you can try making it good to remember, straightforward to pronounce, and short. For example, if you are a digital marketing business, you can add “marketing” somewhere in your domain name as www.gomarketing.co.au. It captures a keyword called “marketing”, and that makes it accessible.
In case you find it challenging to select a relevant domain name, tools are always available in the market. Wordoid and Looka are already entrusted by millions. After selecting a domain name, for checking its availability, you’re good to go!
Step 2: Choose a Web Hosting Provider and Register a Domain Name
During the website building process, both tasks, choosing a web hosting provider and registering a domain name, go side by side. Once you’re done with selecting a domain name, make it registered to move ahead.
How about using a website host service that does both for you? Well! It’s a great deal and more convenient, we guess! For instance, we recommended a company that gives you a free domain name and is already a big name among users. Bluehost is one of the ideal options.
In case you don’t wish to go for the same company to provide you with web hosting service and domain name registration, you can go with different services and then link them all together. Either path is safe and reliable.
Step 3: Install WordPress
The next step after registering a domain name is to install WordPress. Depending on the host, the process varies. Companies like WP Engine does it for you. With other website hosts, you may be required to install the WordPress application.
How to know the WordPress installation procedure? Your search engine does it for you.
Here are a few steps to installing the CMS!
- Reach out to the hosting dashboard and search for the WordPress app.
- Start the process for installing.
- Based on the domain lookup you are using, you are required to answer some questions. After 24 hours, you will receive a confirmation mail.
- Visit WordPress>My Site>Domains
- Choose the custom domain as your primary domain and proceed.
Step 4: Choose Your Theme
There are thousands of themes in WordPress, so choose one that offers a unique experience to your visitors. At the same time, your theme should be creative, reflecting your brand’s niche and values. Go with the best one suited to your business in terms of features.
Regardless of your niche, WordPress has themes for everyone, ranging from different colours, formatting styles, elements, and layouts. Ensure to go for the responsive theme to make your website interactive.
Let’s check out the steps to install a WordPress theme;
- Go to the admin dashboard.
- Click on the “Appearance.”
- Rush for the “Themes.”
- Now here, you can look for any specific theme.
- Install your chosen theme.
- Start customisation.
Note: Before you begin updating your theme, it’s recommended to go through the documentation process for the WordPress themes.
Step 5: Add and Customise the Website Pages
Adding pages to the website is the very next and crucial step. From your home page and contact us page to your services and about us page, you must catch everything to stay reliable and authentic among your audience.
Choose the intuitive navigation for all your pages, and stay organised. That’s of utmost importance! After making your page structure, don’t forget to organise your pages. Follow the same format for all your product pages if you have an eCommerce website.
Fix the elements, use suitable colour schemes, font and image styles, and unite them well. Build a close-knit look!
Step 6: Install Plugins
Increase the functionality of your website by adding the appropriate plugins. It enables your website to work effectively and deliver a compelling user experience.
Plugins are used for multiple purposes. It helps you rank better in search engine results and secure your website. Furthermore, you require plugins to add two-factor authentication, integrate email capabilities, and add contact forms. Make sure to incorporate different plugins to ensure smooth functionality.
Step 7: Review The Load Time
You’re good to go after integrating plugins into your website. The next step is to check the load time! It is imperative because when you add so many elements, they may slow down the website’s loading speed and take more time to load. This ends up hurting the performance and is the last thing you would ever want.
Also, you must check the load time for web and mobile pages. Google PageSpeed Insights is an efficient way to analyse and optimise your website. Along with the load time, this tool also provides the appropriate solution for the issues.
You may need to optimise the file size of images, use a content distribution network or CDN, remove unwanted plugins, or allow browser caching.
Try to make your WordPress websites accessible from the initial stage only.
Step 8: Test and Assess
Congratulations on successfully building and launching your WordPress website, but the game is still ongoing. You need to verify if it works well on the web without any vulnerabilities and issues. Monitoring the performance of your website allows you to look for areas of improvement.
Conduct A/B testing to test and gradually improve your website’s staging, and deliver a better experience for users. We recommend trying single elements at a time for better results where you can focus more on checking how that particular element impacts the performance.
Additional Read: Why is WordPress the Best Choice for Your Business?
Wrap Up
And you’re done! Yes, you need only a simple and verified 8-step procedure to build an outstanding website.
Creating a WordPress website for your business may be one of the best professional decisions one can make. WordPress, one of the most trustworthy options, has truly evolved as a robust website builder and allows you to have flexible options while creating your brand’s site. It gets a plus point if you’re new to website development and is comparatively easy.
Having said that, you can get stuck in some areas and might need help from an expert WordPress development company like Enterprise Monkey to get through the situation and develop an excellent and intuitive site for your business.
