Be it for your business, or your blog, creating a website is the first step to get started. If you do the same on your own then you can save a lot of money while taking your business or venture to new heights. But first of all, you should know how to make a WordPress website.
WordPress has changed the way people deal with websites. It’s not a job that requires only experienced web designers and developers, but if you follow a simple guide, like this one, you can create a website on your own.
How to Make A WordPress Website On Your Own?
The next 2 to 3 minutes of your life needs to be solely focused on this article as it will save you the cost – and hassle – of getting a website made by a web developer. After the end of this step-by-step guide, you will have a website of your own, created by yourself. So, keep reading.
Go to WordPress.org
Since you are here, you have already chosen WordPress as your website platform. This decision is appreciable as almost one-third of all the websites are created on this platform. Why? Because it is inexpensive, versatile, fast, reliable, safe, SEO-friendly, and, above all, easy to use.
Get a Domain Name
This is the most intellectual part of the website development process. Deciding a name seems like an easy step, but it is not. Your domain name must be unique so that it doesn’t get lost among the crowd of websites.
A Good Domain name Must Possess the Following Characteristics:
- It should be short and sweet. For too long a name is difficult for people to remember.
- It should be memorable. You can use certain specific words related to your industry that gives you an edge over others.
- People must know your brand with the sound in the name. To create a different identity, your domain name must be unique, which should not match anyone else in the market.
- People must be able to understand it easily.
- It should be a name that’s unforgettable for people in your industry.
There are several tools available that will help you find an appropriate name for your website.
Get a Hosting Package
To make things simple and save your time, there are different hosting platforms available in the market. If you are not a tech-savvy person and want to make a website within a budget then hosting providers like Bluehost and Hostgator are what you need.
Apart from these, certain hosting providers offer the domain name for free. Here are the steps to get yourself a hosting service:
Step 1: First of all, decide on a hosting provider and choose a plan. Initially, the best one is the basic plan.
Step 2: Next, move ahead and enter your domain name in the specified field.
Step 3: Then, enter your website details, check the plan and confirm the parameters and click “Submit”.
Congratulations! You have bought the hosting, but where is the website?
Step 4: As the next step, you need to ask your hosting partner to install WordPress for you, or you can do it for yourself. As you receive the mail from your hosting provider regarding confirmation of your package, you will get the link to log in. Use the same and log in.
Step 5: With the help of your hosting provider, you just need to provide it with your website name, username, and password you want to use to access your WordPress website, and boom! You are all set!
Explore to Know More
Once you are done, you can log in via the link- www.<yourdomain>.com/wp-admin. You need to enter your credentials, and you will see a welcome message.
Here you will see whatever is going on with your website. You can see different tabs like posts, media, pages, plugins, and settings. Once you have explored the various options, it’s time to make some changes.
Step 1: First, set the permalinks. These permalinks define how your page’s name will be displayed in your URL. The page name must be reflected in your URL. It is the general practice. So, go to Settings, then click on Permalink and choose the option “Posts”. Done!
Step 2: Google must know that you are on Google. To help Google index your website, go to Settings, then click on Reading and uncheck the box saying, “Discourage Search Engines.”
Step 3: Generally, businesses have their unique taglines or statements, which are reflected in their website as well. To set your website title and taglines in conformity with your business, you need to go to Settings, then click on General, and set your Site Title and Taglines. You can leave the tagline blank as well.
Step 4: It is optional if you want to engage with the public or not. It allows you to change the settings and enable/disable comments. You can change it from Discussions settings in the Settings tool. You can change the pingback and trackbacks from this window as well.
Step 5: You can go to Settings, click General and change your time zone as per your location or your audience’s location. It is important as it is a basic need of every website.
These are some general settings, which are simple but very essential. It is advised to not move forward without making these changes.
Pick a Theme for Your Website
So, you have bought a house and now is the time to decorate it. The website is yours; now you have to think about how you want it to look and what will attract users. The simplicity of changing the look of your website allows you to change the way things look with just a few clicks.
WordPress offers you numerous themes you can choose from. The free themes are very much popular among beginners. But if you have a theme in mind from a third-party website, you can buy it and choose it as your desired theme. Of course, it must be available for sale.
If you don’t want to spend your precious time deciding the looks of your website, just go to the Appearance section and then click on themes. Choose one that you think is perfect for your website and install it. Then click on the Activate button to let the theme take into effect.
If you wish, you can also customize the presentation on the website. There are various options under the Appearance tab. Just click on Customize to change the way your homepage, frontpage, contacts, features, etc., appears.
Feed the data and complete your website. You can make changes to the colors and fonts and make your website a beautiful one.
Get Plugins
Plugins are a very important part of building a WordPress website as they allow a non-technical person to create a website comparable to a professional by offering several features that complete a website. There are several free plugins for a WordPress website. Some of them are:
- Wordfence Security – To safeguard your website.
- Yoast SEO – For search engine optimization.
- Optimole – An image CDN that also performs image processing.
- General Analytics for WordPress – To analyze your website traffic.
- There are several others like UpdraftPlus and WPForms that add more functionalities to your WP website.
Create Basic Pages
There are certain pages on every website that are essential. You must create these pages as well. To do so, go to the dashboard, click Pages, and then Add New.
The format is a simple one. The tools are the same as used in MS Word, almost. With the help of these tools, create your website pages, such as About Us, Contact, Portfolio, Blog, Privacy Policy, and Support.
Final Words
In this way, you can create a WordPress website for your business, blog, or any other use. With time and practice, you can learn new things and implement the same on your website.
You can also start a blog and open it to the readers. These are basic but inclusive steps that will save you money. Don’t wait anymore. Go and create your own WordPress Website now.
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