Are you planning of creating a website for your business or personal use?
Website creation might be a daunting task if you are not a techie. You might even want to give up at some points. The WordPress dashboard can be confusing at times. However, you do not need to worry. Billions of people are like you – ready to create a website but with less experience.
With our guidance, you will know the step-by-step process of creating a professional website with WordPress. You will also be able to teach others. You should not worry if these processes look like beautiful nonsense to you at first because you will learn more if you can read to the end and do some other research.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is one of the world-class Contents Management Systems that is free and open-source. It is usually associated with blogging and is based on MySQL and PHP. It has features that include a plugin and a theme system. It also allows you to manage your web content including emails, media, and online store in some cases. Without it, there can be no website.
Five Steps for Developing a Website with WordPress
1. Get a Domain
A domain is the address of your website that sets it aside from other sites. Its functions are similar to that of an address in the real estate industry. It is essential to get your domain registered because it makes it look very professional and smart. With a minimum of $12/year, you could get a generic address with a TLD of .com, .net, .org or .info. You can purchase your domain from GoDaddy or Namecheap. You should be creative with your domain and have several names in mind in case your choice name is unavailable.
You must register a domain with your hosting company to make your work easier. However, you can also choose to have different companies for domain and hosting. If you want to change your host, all you need to do is to point the domain to the new host.
2. Choose a Hosting Company
While the domain is the address of the website, hosting is like the land upon which the site will be built. It is as important as a domain. There are many hosting companies out there for you to make a choice. However, it is advisable to go for the one that is fast and reliable, and that offers SSL. Hosting varies in terms of price, quality, and service provided. The amount you spend on hosting will determine how good your site would be. This is why Google hired thousands of employees to work on their hosting.
With a highly secure website, you would have few cases of viruses, malware, or downtime. Unfortunately, you cannot have a highly secure site with a bad hosting company or low-value package. In case you want a highly secure website, you need to be ready to pay more. It is also advisable to get an SSL certificate for your website to make it rank well. SSL certificate is essential for an e-commerce site or a site that accepts payment.
3. Install WordPress
A WordPress is a form of Content Management System that allows you to create and publish content on your website. It is the structure (wall) of the site that makes it fun and easy to use. An alternative to WordPress is Joomla, but the latter is not as effective as the former.
Install WordPress via the one-click installation that has been included by your hosting company or your local disk. Log in to the site as an admin when you are done with the setup. In addition to this, you can download themes using WordPress to beautify your site.
4. Make it Standout
When you paint your house, will it be more beautiful or not? You can decorate your website with the WordPress theme by controlling the appearance of your site. One thing that your visitor will see when they reach your site is the theme. As a result of that, you need to make it catchy and inviting. You can always choose your favorite theme from the many themes that are online.
You can also design and re-design your themes to fit your content and traffic needs. With WordPress, you can download free themes, and you would need to upload the zip file in case, it is a premium version.
5. Content is King
In the world of Intellectual Property, knowledge and content are kings. As a result, it is vital for you to take care of your content and make it more interesting and sound. The contents on your site should be interesting, Search Engine Optimized, free from grammatical errors, and informative. Overall, your writing and organization skills matter at this moment.
Now that you have created a website, it is left for you to keep it in good condition and safe from hackers or malware. You can always research what you could do to make your website stand. It would help if you also learned SEO so that you can rank your site.
