WordPress powers nearly 39.6% of the websites in 2021. Over 400 million people visit websites built on WordPress every month. Besides blogging, WordPress is also an excellent option for creating e-commerce websites. In fact, 28% of all e-commerce sites go through WooCommerce.
These facts and numbers prove how crucial WordPress is in the online business environment. Companies of all sizes use WordPress to build their sites because it helps businesses compete with global companies that enjoy huge marketing budgets.
Check out the ultimate guide to building robust business websites on WordPress.
Choose a WordPress plan
This step is applicable for WordPress.com only. Click here to know the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Anyway, the first step for building a WordPress website is to choose a suitable plan.
WordPress.org consists of only one free plan option. However, you need to buy a domain, hosting provider, themes, plugins and everything else required to build a site.
WordPress.com consists of five plans. Each plan has a unique monthly fee, different types of site customisation and provides access to specific marketing tools.
Settle on your domain name
The domain name is your business identity on the internet. Your target audience gets to find you and identify your brand through this domain.
Here’s how you can select a great domain for your website:
- Keep it unique.
- It should reflect what your brand does.
- Make sure it is memorable.
- Keep it easy to type and pronounce.
- The domain name should be short.
- Include words related to your niche.
Let’s say you want to provide essay help to students through the website. So, the domain name should be something like this:
- Get Essay Help
- OnlineEssayHelp
- EssayHelpOnline
Keep three to four names handy. Once you are done with that, check if the domain names are available. With over 1.8 billion websites out there, it is important for your domain name to be original.
Chances are, you may end up spending a lot of time trying to get hold of that perfect domain name. Been there, done that. I would suggest you follow the tips mentioned above and shortlist five to six domain names. Check their availability and proceed to the next steps.
Pick a hosting provider and register the domain name
You have the domain name. Now, it’s time to choose the right hosting provider. It is always advisable to choose the same company to buy web hosting and register the domain name. It is less hassle that way.
I, however, choose Bluehost for both services. The prices are quite budget-friendly, and the entire process of buying hosting and registering the domain is less time-consuming.
If you choose Bluehost, here are the steps to follow:
- Visit Bluehost’s website.
- There are four plans- Basic, Plus, Choice Plus and Pro. Choose the one that suits your needs the best.
- Once you choose the plan and hit on ‘Select‘ button, you need to register the domain name if you already have one.
- Confirm your account, purchase the domain and install the WordPress CMS easily.
You can choose other hosting service providers as well. Hostinger, for instance, provides both services under one roof. It is reliable, cheap and beginner-friendly. You can buy your hosting and register the domain name as well here. Hostinger also lets you pick a theme while you build the website.
Install WordPress
Let’s say you use a hosting provider other than WordPress. In that case, you need to install the CMS to connect the new domain to your website. Whether you use Bluehost or GoDaddy as a hosting service provider, the steps for installing WordPress is similar.
Here is how to install WordPress:
- Go to your hosting provider account, click on ‘Web Hosting‘ > ‘Manage.’
- You will be redirected to a screen that shows your account details.
- Scroll down and click on ‘Options & Settings’ > ‘Popular Apps’ > ‘WordPress’
These four steps are enough to install WordPress to your hosting account. Once you are done with the installation, the hosting service provider sends you an email confirmation. It takes 24 hours to install WordPress to your hosting account. Set up your primary domain within WordPress after it has been installed.
- If you are using WordPress.com, click on ‘My Site’ > ‘Domains’.
- Choose the custom domain you want to make your primary domain.
- Click ‘Make Primary’ > ‘Update Primary Domain’ to confirm the update.
The basic WordPress website is ready. Now let’s see how to make it look appealing.
Decide a theme
WordPress consists of several themes and templates. Each of them consists of a slew of layouts, colours, formatting styles, fonts and other visual options. By default, WordPress applies a plain theme to your website, which isn’t quite visually appealing. You can buy customised WordPress themes or use the free ones to make your website look appealing and professional. The steps involved are:
Choose a WordPress theme
You can take a look at the official directory at WordPress.com for themes. There are third-party sites that offer free and premium themes to change the website’s overall look without changing the content.
Install the theme
If you choose a theme from WordPress.org or WordPress.com, here’s how to install it:
- Go to ‘Appearance’ > ‘Themes’ > ‘Add New’
- Type the theme name you want to install in the search bar.
- Click on ‘Install’ to begin the installation.
- Click on ‘Activate’ to enable the theme on your website.
Add relevant posts and pages
Content on your WordPress website is usually displayed in the form of posts and pages. Posts are used in blogs and portfolios. These are dynamic pages that automatically place the newest website content at the top of the featured content. Pages are static and hence are more appealing to business owners.
Posts and pages are the two most important forms of content on WordPress. Decide whether you want to add a post or a page on the homepage of your website. Click on ‘Posts’ > ‘Add New’ on the admin dashboard to add a post to your website. Click on ‘Pages’ > ‘Add New’ to add pages to your website in the admin dashboard.
Whether you add posts or pages, make sure you include a relevant and interesting title. You can also insert photos and embed videos while writing the content.
Customise the website
Choosing an appropriate theme is one of the ways to customise the website. There are other ways too, such as:
Customising the site title
From your admin dashboard, go to Settings > General.
Add your website title and tagline here.
Toggle basic site related details such as the URL, time zone, email, etc.
Customising the reading sections
Go to ‘Settings’ > ‘Reading’ to change your home page to a static page.
Business websites are most likely to have static pages since these pages remain in one place on your website. You can also customise the navigation bar as well. This helps your website visitors find the required information on your website.
Install the right plugins
WordPress consists of over 55000 plugins that enhance the overall user experience. Each plugin caters to a specific type of website and user. The most popular plugins are:
All in One SEO-
Business websites should have this plugin to improve their rankings and make the most of new SEO growth opportunities.
Yoast SEO-
You have nothing to worry about the on-page SEO if you use this plugin. It makes sure you follow the best SEO practices.
The SEO framework-
This also helps you master SEO on your WordPress site.
The Plugins sections in the admin dashboard consist of all the plugins that you have currently installed on the site. Install the one that will make your work easier.
Wrapping Up
WordPress has everything you need to build an impressive business website. You can even customise the website using a wide slew of themes depending on the purpose of your website. Once you are done choosing the domain name and hosting service provider, the rest of the steps are as easy as a breeze.
