If you’re not sure exactly what to do with your new blog site, or if you want a quick and easy guide to start with, Vanizya will hopefully guide you with business management tools. We’ll go through maybe the basics of what’s involved in setting up a wordpress-based website and show you some of the most beginner-friendly steps. Whether it’s your first time blogging or not, we hope that this post inspires you to create something great!
WordPress
WordPress is a web service where you’ll create your blog or website. The wordpress website provides you with a hosting environment, allowing you to upload and publish your content. WordPress is a very popular online content management system (CMS) that’s been around for a long time.
Bloggers have been using WordPress for over a decade now. WordPress itself isn’t very old, though – it was first released in 2003! And the first version wasn’t even called “WordPress.”
So why would you want to start a wordpress site? Because with wordpress, creating a website or blog has never been easier! You can get up and running quickly and easily, start adding content right away, and maintain it as time goes on. You don’t need any special skills to set up your site – just basic computer know-how.
And with wordpress, there are thousands of free plugins – you can modify your website and add new features as you want. If you want to add a customized contact form, an advanced slideshow to your site, or even add ecommerce to it – there are so many options!
Here’s the way to build a WordPress website in nine steps:
- Pick a domain name: what’s in a name? A lot!
- Sign up for hosting: where will your site live?
- Install WordPress: start building your site!
- Get a theme: the face of your site
- Choose a theme framework: the skeleton of your site
- Set up permalinks: how users will navigate around your site
- Find and install plugins: add functionality and features to your site with plugins that are compatible with your theme
- Add content: write posts, upload images, and more
- Promote your site: tell the world!
1. Choose a Domain Name: what’s in a name? A lot!
First things first – you need to pick a domain name. If you’re starting and don’t have a site yet, you may want to consider a name for your site or blog. You’ll probably also want to think about if you’ll be using it as a personal blog or a business blog.
If your new site is going to be personal, then what’s in the domain name shouldn’t matter too much. You should be able to think of a name and move on. But if you’re thinking of starting a blog or website as a business, then you may want to register your business name as well.
If you are using the name of your business in your domain name, you don’t have to worry about naming your site after yourself (though this can still be a good idea!) If anything, the domain name should probably be the same as your business’s brand.
Domain names can be pretty long, though, so maybe it’s not ideal for all purposes – Google tends to prefer shorter domain names. In addition, domain names can sometimes be updated, so it’s a good idea to check the “status” of your chosen name and make sure you can change it if needed.
2. Sign up for hosting: where will your site live?
The best way to go about setting up a site is to choose a web host – they’ll provide you with everything you need – and then step through the setup process together with them.
In addition, they’ll usually provide several different plan options for you to choose from, probably starting at about $5-$10 per month and going up. Generally, these plans are more suited to individuals who do everything themselves or who have access to a control panel with helpful tools and scripts that can make things easier.
However, if you can’t set up the site yourself or aren’t great with computers, then it’s possible to get by without your web host. After that, you’ll have to find other options!
3. Install WordPress: start building your site!
Before installing WordPress, you’ll probably want to download it or have a backup of it. You should always check the WordPress website for your version and see which features you can use in creating your new site.
You can find a WordPress installation package directly on the site – which means that this is one of the easiest ways to get started. It’s also one of the best options because it’s really simple, and a basic version like this comes with most hosting plans, but if you’re interested in more advanced features, you can always upgrade from there!
WordPress will install itself as a default install on most web hosts. Once you click on the web host’s link to install WordPress, it’ll be added to your list of choices in the control panel. It’s easy, fast and will give you exactly what you need to start building your site.
4. Get a Theme: the face of your site
Once you’ve got your site up and running with WordPress, you’ll want to add a theme. You can find a good selection of themes on the WordPress website as well.
You’ll want to pick one that looks good – it’s going to be the face of your site, after all! And you can also choose a theme that suits your business and caters well to the services or products you have.
Additionally, you can get free themes from WordPress.
Here’s the way to install a premium WordPress theme:
– Choose a theme.
– Important note: Make sure that you check the compatibility of your chosen theme with the version of WordPress that you’re using!
– Download it. Many premium themes come with one download file, which has everything you need to get started.
– Install it. Find the ‘Appearance’ tab in your dashboard and click on ‘Themes’ with WordPress open. Next, click on ‘Install Themes’. Next, drag and drop your downloaded theme into the pane on the left-hand side. Click on it, then select ‘Activate’ under ‘Appearance’.
– Customize it. Changing themes can be a little tricky depending on which version of WordPress you’re using. Don’t worry, though – there are loads of tutorials online that will help new users change themes and customize the look and feel of their site.
5. Choose a Theme Framework: the skeleton of your site
All themes have certain similarities in terms of how they work – for example, you’ll find that all themes have some way to customize your header, footer and sidebars (or “widget areas”). You’ll also find that every theme will allow you to modify the colour scheme easily. But what variations you’ll find in the themes will depend on the theme frameworks.
There are two of these: child themes and parent themes.
A child theme is exactly what it sounds like – a child theme is an additional theme that can be added to the parent theme, which allows you to customize and customize them both endlessly. This means that even if you mess up a change – it’s all under your control!
A parent theme is a traditional WordPress theme built on top of other types of “themes”. It’s usually fully featured, but it’s made in such a way that it can’t be modified as much as your original choice of theme.
Most people choose to have parent themes because they’re easy to understand and incredibly useful. While child themes can be used sometimes if you’re particularly familiar with WordPress, it’s best to always start with a parent theme, as they are built in the most user-friendly way.
There are plenty of excellent parent themes that you can choose from on the theme framework website – definitely let us know which one you choose!
6. Set up permalinks: how users will navigate around your site : (mixed) link
Once your site is up and running, you’ll probably want to start adding a few pages – for example, about us or services. By linking the corresponding pages to your WordPress content in a “permalinks” setting, you can do that. This means that when you create a new page on your site, you can choose to make links like /about-us/ or /services/ go to that page only.
There are templates where you have many options for permalinks, but these usually show up in your dashboard when you sign up or create a new page. The effective way to choose is by looking at the custom-urls area. You can also use a plugin.
Permalinks are set up in your WordPress dashboard with a couple of clicks, so you don’t even have to contact your web host!
7. Find and install plugins: add to your site
Once you’ve got your site up and running, you’ll want to add some plugins. These aspects of your website extend beyond what WordPress provides by default. For example, you might need a shopping cart plugin or a host-specific integration plugin (which can help resolve problems).
For example, we recommend the subsequent plugins for each business website:
Yoast SEO: This plugin helps you optimize your posts for search engines.
Google Analytics: Track your website traffic and activity.
Jetpack: This plugin provides security, maintenance and performance enhancements for your website.
Akismet: Protect your site from spam comments on your blog posts.
Elementor: Use a page builder plugin, like Elementor, to rework your page editor into a more beginner-friendly drag-and-drop editor.
Here’s how to install WordPress plugins:
– Access your WordPress dashboard.
– Click on Plugins then click on Add New.
– Search for the plugin you want to install – this can be a quick way to find the right plugin.
– Install it. When you’ve chosen the correct plugin, click ‘Install Now.
You’ll find it installed in your plugins list, and you can read more about using it once that’s done!
8. Add content: write posts, upload images, and more
Once you’ve got a WordPress blog up and running, it’s time to add some content to your site. All blogs on WordPress come with a publishing platform for you, which allows you to post text, images and videos.
This is useful because it means you can provide well-written information on your business that is perfectly optimized for search engines like Google. This will help your site rank higher in search results and bring you more traffic!
Here’s how to add content:
– Access your WordPress dashboard.
– Write a blog post as normal: use the menu button (top left) to choose “New Post”, and then fill out the details on this page.
– Embed images: You can add photos from your computer or the web. Open up your post editor and upload pictures by clicking on the big blue ‘Add Media’ button in the top right.
– Add videos: You can add videos from your computer or the web. Open up your post editor and upload videos by clicking on the big green ‘Add Media’ button in the top right.
– Publish your post: Click on the big green ‘Publish’ button where it says ‘Publish’. You’ll see a box that says, “Are you sure you want to publish this post?”
– And then, there you are! Your blog post will be accessible on a permalink. This is the permanent and searchable route for all your site’s pages.
If you don’t have a website yet, check out our 30-minute guide to create one here.
9 . Want a quick-and-easy way to get a website up and to run?
Try our set it up for you! If you’re looking for help getting your business online, why not check out our easy-to-use website building service. We help businesses like yours get the perfect website quickly and without the hassle.
Here are a few of the most effective ways to market your site: – Advertise your site in the local newspaper.
– Use social media to market your site.
– Promote it on your website with a simple Google Adsense.
– Put up some adverts with Google Adwords.
– Run a Facebook ad campaign.
– Share the link to your site on LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media sites.
– Send a text message with a link to your business to all your contacts.
However, the most effective way is to use online marketing methods such as email marketing or pay per click advertising, which will help you get more leads and make more sales. There are plenty of free tools that you can use to start getting leads and making sales online.
WordPress Benefits:
WordPress is also a great option for small businesses looking to get their website quickly and easily.
Many popular business websites are built on WordPress, and as a result, it has thousands of apps and templates for you to choose from.
Check out this list of benefits:
1 . Its FREE! WordPress is an open-source platform, which means that it is free for everyone to use; even those with very small budgets can afford to build their dream website.
2 . It allows you to add pages without any coding knowledge.
3 . You can embed videos, images, and text on your pages.
4 . WordPress has a built-in SEO plugin that makes it easy for your website to rank well in search engines.
5 . You have many options when it involves designing your website. There are thousands of free templates available inside WordPress and many other paid ones – these can be used when you’re ready to move from the free version of WordPress to something a little more professional.
6 . It is easy to add posts, images, or videos quickly with the WordPress platform.
7 . The WordPress community is large, so if you have some technical difficulties with your site, there are thousands of people out there who can help.
8 . You also have the option of paying a web designer to help you build your site.
9 . A lot of popular business websites are built on WordPress. WordPress is probably the best platform to use if you’re building a website that isn’t in the e-commerce field (i.e. something like a blog).
10 . It is compatible with Google AdSense and other popular advertising networks.
