Creating your own website for the first time can be nerve-wracking. It can be hard for beginners or individuals who have no prior experience or technical knowledge. Moreover, hiring someone to do the work can be expensive. This makes using WordPress website builder a cost-effective, quick, and efficient solution for budding website owners.
Although a lot of website builders have similar features, WordPress is completely free of cost! Additionally, it also lets you have complete control over your website without requiring you to have coding knowledge. The WordPress builder also gives the benefit of being responsive and works on both smartphones and tablets alike.
In this article, we will focus on the process of creating a website on WordPress. But, before we dive into that, it is important to answer one of the most confusing questions of all time:
WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org
If you are planning on building a website for yourself on WordPress, then you must remember that there are 2 versions available. These are WordPress.org and WordPress.com. Most people confuse these as one single platform. However, there are significant differences.
WordPress.org is the free version that allows you to make and manage a website on your own. This version can be used to make blogs, business sites, etc. Therefore, if you are an aspiring blogger and do not wish to focus on monetizing through the website, then this is the best option for you.
The second version is WordPress.com. This version provides you with a platform to host your website. If offers different packages on annual subscription fees that can be employed, unless you wish to follow the limited free pack. The downside to this is that it is very limited, and there is no complete control.
How to use WordPress?
As mentioned, WordPress website builder is extremely efficient and fairly simple to use. Below is a WordPress tutorial run-through of the steps you will need to follow to make the best website possible:
- Choose a Domain
- Find a Domain Name and its Host
- Install WordPress
- Install Page Theme and Page Builder
- Find a Template that Matches your Aesthetic and Personalize it
- Create a Menu
- Add More Features using WordPress Plugins
To explain these better, below we have provided a brief description to each of these ‘7 steps to having a successful WordPress website’:
Step 1- Choose a Domain
When you have made up your mind to create a website, the first step you must take is to buy a domain. There are free versions available as well, but it is best to have a more personalized name. The domain that you select will serve as the URL that the visitors see while accessing your site.
While building the domain, make sure that it is relevant to the name of the blog/ business/ theme of your site. Choosing a domain name is not a tough task. Simply keep in mind that the name must be brandable, catchy, and memorable. This way, it will be impossible to forget your website name. It is best to have a short and simple name that is simple to remember and type.
Go for domain names with words that are commonly used and are easy to pronounce as well. A quick tip- Try not to use Numbers. Numbers are especially tough to remember, leaving the person trying to access the site wondering what number comes after what. Use a “.com” whenever possible. Selecting a “.org” and “.net” domain is okay, but a “.com” gives a sense of unmatched legitimacy.
Step 2- Find a Domain Name & its Host
A web host is a site that literally hosts your website. To make this easier to understand, you can see the hosting site as a landowner that ‘rents’ out a small space in the massive establishment called “Internet”.
You can choose from a myriad of web hosting solution providers; there are so many available in the market. Start by choosing a plan that fits your requirements and demands. Your website host does most of the work; all you need to do is focus on building your website by employing the WordPress best website builder.
Step 3- Install WordPress
Now it is time to start with the actual work. You should start by logging in to WordPress. Most hosts allow you to get the entire installation process done with just one click. All you have to do is link your WordPress site to the host site, and you are good to go!
You can find a WordPress tutorial for beginners on youtube that shows the different ways to link your WordPress site to your host site of choice. It might take a little time to get used to the platform. However, once you have completed the website, navigating through the changes will be a piece of cake.
Step 4- Find Page Theme & Page Builder
Although it is tempting to start rummaging through the multiple settings and pages in the WordPress menu, hold yourself back. The very first thing you must do here is to find a theme that is suitable for your site. On WordPress, there is a huge variety of themes and templates available that are precoded and predesigned.
There are more than 8000 themes available and are easily accessible. However, even if there are so many options available, one must remember that some of these are free while others are available for some charge. The user needs a premium account to access the paid versions of the themes.
You don’t have to worry about not being able to pick one that suits your needs as you can easily apply and customize these themes. It is highly beneficial and helps in saving time and money that could have been unnecessarily spent if you chose to work with a professional developer.
Follow these sub-steps to complete the theme selection process quickly:
- To access the themes, simply click the themes option under appearance, and click the large “+” sign that reads Add New Theme.
- After that, use the search bar to look for a theme that best fits your site. You can choose any theme in the dropdown to see a demo of it and understand more about it on its Details & Preview
- After selecting a theme you like, you can install it by clicking the Install option in the Details & Preview
- Once the install process is done, click on the Activate button that shows up where the Install button used to be.
Step 5- Find a Template that Matches your Aesthetic and Personalize it
Get your creative shoes on and make a masterpiece that fits your aesthetic. Go through as many template options as possible and select only the best. Once that’s done, start and configure the theme of your site. This can be done by selecting the Appearance tab. Click ‘Customize’ in the dropdown list that appears.
With this option, you can now add or remove elements on your template according to your taste. You can change the background, add texts, contents, pictures, etc. Multiple fonts and colors allow changing the style of the provided textual content. Play around with pictures and use the different clipart options available.
WordPress provides two fixed default content types called Pages and Posts. Posts are part of the blogging function and have the newer content appearing first. On the other hand, Pages are supposed to be containing static type content such as your about page, privacy policy, contact page, etc.
Undoubtedly, WordPress publishes blog posts on the front page of your website. That can be changed according to the setting of your choice. You can make a different page for your blog to show recent posts. If you do not wish to include any blog pages, you can create a website with no blog section at all.
You can start off by adding a few editable pages to your site. The content on these pages is easily editable, so even if there is no content to be put up at the moment, a section can still be made to fill later. This leads us to the next step of WordPress website creation!
Step 6- Create a Menu
In the Admin section on WordPress, go to ‘Add New’ under pages. Doing so will take you to a page that aligns with the theme that was chosen by you.
Firstly, you will need to give a title to your page. After providing a suitable title, you can add content. The users are allowed to add text, links, images, videos, audio, etc. You can click on publish after entering all the content that you need to be on that particular page.
Similarly, you can add more pages and create a menu where each page can carry different information one might want to acquire from your web page. To this, we can also add blog posts.
In order to get this done, go to your WordPress admin area and select the ‘Add New’ under posts. This is where you will again see a page coinciding with the theme that you had selected. Add a suitable title to your post and then subsequently add content in the post editor section.
You can also make use of extra options like fonts, colors, and more available on the side of the page and alter it according to your preference. Once you are done, make sure to save your progress. You can either save the draft to edit it later or post the content you spent time writing.
Step 7- Add More Features using WordPress Plugins
It goes without saying that it is impossible to not mention WordPress plugins when talking about the platform. New website makers can use these additional pieces of software to add to their sites. You can view the image below to see where to find this option and how to access it:
It goes without saying that if you want to run a WordPress website, plugins are very important. Fortunately, managing plugins is actually very easy and requires no coding at all. Of course, advanced users can even keep learning how to develop their own WordPress plugins.
In fact, installing a WordPress plugin is no different from installing a theme. All of this can be done directly and easily from your WordPress dashboard. First, go to the plugin in the sidebar. Clicking on it will transfer you to a page where you can view the list of installed plugins. Now click on the ‘Add New’ reading button at the top.
Here, you can install the plugin directly from the WordPress repository to your website. All that you have to do now is enter the name of the plugin in the searching bar and click on the ‘Install Now’ option when you find it. Once the installation is complete, click the ‘Activate’ button that appears.
Of course, sometimes, you may need to install plugins from outside the repository. In this case, you have to load the plugin manually. On the ‘Add Plugin’ page, click the ‘Load Plugin’ button at the top. Now you must click Browse and navigate to the “.zip” file. After that, just click on “Install Now” and wait for the installation to complete. Finally, click Activate. You are all set to go!
Conclusion
If you follow the above-mentioned steps properly, then you will have a personalized and well-functioning website ready in no time! WordPress is surely one of the best website-building platforms around the world.
For more visual learners, several YouTubers have made a WordPress tutorial that can help in understanding the working of the site. Making a website on your own requires barely any steps that you need to follow.
Through our guide, you can not only save tons of money but also make the process quick and easy. Although there are a few expenses you might have to make, it is still very affordable than having to hire a freelancer or a website builder.
Since you are the creative mind behind the website creation, it will be developed or styled just as you like. You will have complete control over everything. However, if you feel you need a hand in building this website, then you can opt for professional website builders and hosting providers.
If you are looking for the perfect host and don’t have one in mind, worry not! We also provide WordPress hosting and domain registration best suited for your website. We make sure your website is fast, secure, and always up! To know more, click here.
