How to start building your website?
1- You need a domain name: a domain name is the name of your website, the one people are going to type on their computers when looking for you.
2- A WordPress hosting: Self-hosted WordPress is the most popular and trusted platform you can use! It is also free and has thousands of website designs and extensions.
IMPORTANT: Remember that domain names are paid, that’s why we suggest using WordPress, as it is free.
How to start using WordPress?
1) Setup:
The number one mistake that beginners make is selecting the incorrect website platform.
For most users, a self-hosted WordPress.org site is the perfect solution.
WordPress is free for anyone to download and use to create any website with no restrictions.
Next, you’ll need website hosting. All websites on the web need hosting. this may be your website’s home on the web.
A domain name typically costs $14.99/year and hosting costs start from $7.99/month.
You can choose the hosting that works best for you. There are many on the internet and you’ll be able to find the one that works the best for you. Bluehost is one of them.
2) Install WordPress:
Depending on which hosting you chose, the steps to install WordPress may be a bit different. Mainly, you’ll have to install WordPress by choosing the WordPress button. You’ll also need to select the domain name where you want your website.
Now you will have to enter your website name, admin username, and password. Then click the button “Install” to start the process on your website.
After installing, you will have completed the very first step on using WordPress. Now head over to the WordPress login page to continue the process.
3) Select your theme:
The visual appearance of your site is controlled by a WordPress theme.
A theme is a pre-designed template that you simply can install on your website to vary its appearance.
But don’t worry, there are thousands of free and paid WordPress themes that you simply can install on your site.
You can change your theme from the WordPress admin dashboard.
Visit Appearance » Themes page then click on the ‘Add New’ button. There are thousands of free and paid themes you can choose from.
You can browse for themes on the search bar. If you see or know a team you may like, you can type the name in.
WordPress will show you the theme in search results. You’ll just need to click the Install button.
Once you install your theme, you can customize it by clicking on the Customize link under the looks menu.
This will launch the theme customizer where you’ll be ready to change your theme settings with a live preview of your website.
4) Add Content to Your Site
WordPress comes with two default content types called posts and pages.
You can create a separate page for your blog or news section. In fact, you can create an internet site with no blog section in the least.
Having said that, let’s add some content to your website.
Head over to Pages » Add New page in the WordPress admin area. this may bring you to the page editor screen.
First, you would like to supply a title for your page, let’s call this page ‘Home’.
After that, you’ll add content within the text editor below. you’ll add text, links, images, embed videos, audio, etc.
After adding content to your page, you’ll click on the publish button to update your site.
The process for blog posts is almost the same.
Head over to Posts » Add New in your WordPress admin area.
You can add a post title then add content within the visual post editor. You’ll also notice some extra options within the sidebar like post formats, categories, and tags.
5) Customizing and Tweaking Your Website
Now that you have created some content on your website, you’ll be ready to customize it the way you want.
Let’s start by fixing a static front Page.
You need to go to the Settings » Reading page in your WordPress admin area. Under the ‘Front page displays’ option click on the static front page then select ‘Pages’ you created earlier for your home and blog pages.
Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom of the page to store your changes.
WordPress will now use the page titled ‘Home’ as your site’s front page and ‘Blog’ page to display your blog posts.
Change Site Title and Tagline
During the installation, you get to settle on your site’s title. WordPress automatically adds a punch line to your site title that says ‘Just another WordPress site’.
You can change both your site’s title and tagline at any time by visiting Settings » General page.
Your site title is the name of your website like WPBeginner. The punch line is typically one line that describes your website.
Remember to always save your changes!
Set up Comments Settings
You can also add a comments section to your website. This will boost your engagement with the people who visit your site. If you want to control which comments appear on your site, check this:
Visit Settings » Discussions page and scroll right down to the ‘Before a comment appears’ section. Check the box next to ‘Comment must be manually approved’ option.
Don’t forget to click on the save changes button to store your settings.
Create Navigation Menus
Navigation menus allow your users to browse different pages or sections on your website. WordPress comes with a strong navigation menu system, and your WordPress theme utilizes this technique to display menus.
Let’s add a navigation menu to your website.
First, you would like to go to the Appearance » Menus page. Enter a reputation for your navigation menu and click on the create menu button.
WordPress will now create your navigation menu. But it’ll be empty at the instant .
Next, you would like to pick the pages you would like to display in your menu then click on increase menu button.
You will notice your selected pages filling the empty area of your navigation menu. you’ll move them up and right down to rearrange their position within the menu.
Now you would like to pick a display location. These locations are defined by your WordPress theme. Usually, most WordPress themes have a primary menu that appears on top.
Finally, click on the save menu button to store your navigation menu.
You can now visit your website to ascertain the menu in action.
6) Installing Plugins
WordPress Plugins are like apps for your WordPress site. they let you add features to your WordPress site. Think contact form, photo galleries, etc.
There are currently quite 49,000 free plugins available for WordPress.
With such a vast number of plugins, you may feel a bit lost regarding which one you can use. Here’s a small list of the most commonly used plugins. All of them are free!
Features
WPForms Lite — This allows you to feature a contact form on your WordPress site.
Envira Gallery Lite — Add beautiful image galleries to your WordPress site
MonsterInsights — Connect your website with Google Analytics and see how visitors find and use your website, so you’ll keep them returning .
SeedProd — Create custom designs & layouts with drag & drop page landing builder by SeedProd.
Website Optimization
All in One SEO — Improve your WordPress SEO and obtain more traffic from Google
WP Super Cache — Improves your website speed by serving cached pages
PushEngage — Helps increase website traffic by letting you connect with visitors after they leave your website. Push notifications are the top 5 traffic sources for WPBeginner.
Security
Updraft Plus — Create automatic scheduled backups of your website
Sucuri — Website security audit and malware scanner
Conclusion
WordPress may seem a bit complicated at first, but if you dedicate time to understand it and play with the features, you can build amazing looking websites in no time. We really hope this quick tutorial helps you start using WordPress so you can see for yourself how powerful it is and how easy it is to build your own website.
If you need to use WordPress in a professional way we recommend you to write us at hello@remote.club or visit remote.club so we can help you with everything related to WordPress.