How to Build a WordPress Website the Right Way
WordPress is the world’s #1 content management system (CMS) and it’s been around for a long time. The software is used by millions of people across the world and it’s constantly evolving to fit new requirements and new platforms.
Recently, the WordPress development community has been rocked by a new design and development platform called Gutenberg. Designed to bring a more visual and immersive experience to WordPress websites, Gutenberg is finally offering website builders what they’ve been asking for with the previous iteration, called “Candy” by WordPress itself. While it doesn’t come with as many features as competitors like SquareSpace and Wix, it does provide a better experience for users, especially those just getting started with web development. Let’s take a look at how you can easily build a WordPress website the right way using the Gutenberg platform.
Pick The Right Theme
There are dozens of free and premium WordPress themes out there. Take your pick from the most popular themes and you’ll be able to create your very own professional-looking website without much trouble. It’s always important to go for a free theme first and then decide whether or not to purchase the premium version. Some themes require you to purchase a license in order to use their templates. However, this isn’t the case with most of the popular themes. When you sign up for a professional-looking WordPress website with GoDaddy, you’ll be pitched a free version of Gutenberg.
If you decide that this is the right path for your website, you’ll need to pick a theme that supports Gutenberg. This ensures that all the blocks and components of the new design platform can be used effectively and in synergy with one another. Once you’ve chosen a theme that suits you, it’s time to move on to the next step.
Set Up Your WordPress Website With GoDaddy
One of the most popular and trusted companies in the world of web hosting, domain registration, and online businesses in general is GoDaddy. With over a million customers worldwide, GoDaddy is the place to be for any type of website or business. If you’ve never registered a domain name before, this is the perfect place to do it. As a new customer, you’ll be able to get a free domain for up to a year. During this time, you can build your personal website or use one of their many pre-designed templates to get up and running quickly.
To set up your WordPress website with GoDaddy, simply visit their website and click on the Get Started button. You’ll be brought to a landing page where you can choose the domain you want to use. Once you’ve chosen a domain, click on the pink button that says “Next”.
On the next page, you’ll see three different hosting plans from GoDaddy. The pricing is quite reasonable, considering the quality of service and support. For example, the cheapest plan only costs $2.95/mo and it includes free backups, free domain privacy, and free weekly website reviews. The next tier, the Plus plan, costs $5.45/mo and it adds one more feature, free mobile site hosting, along with all the features mentioned above. Finally, the highest-priced plan, the Visionary plan, costs $13.95/mo and it includes everything that the Plus plan offers, as well as free backups, weekly blog post previews, and free advanced campaigns.
Choose the Visionary plan if you’re looking for a free WordPress website with all the bells and whistles. You’ll also need to enter your payment information on the next page and then confirm the transaction.
Once you’ve finished setting up your WordPress website with GoDaddy, you can log in to your account and click on the “Web Hosting” tab. This will display all your sites along with their current status. You’ll notice that your site is already active and that there are several templates available for you to choose from.
Select A Hosting Provider
Now that you have a WordPress website set up with GoDaddy, it’s time to choose a host to provide server space for you to download and install WordPress itself. There are many options to choose from when it comes to web hosting and it can be a bit overwhelming to know where to start.
For this step, you’ll need to use a tool, preferably one that’s free. At the time of writing, Bluehost is offering some really good deals if you’re planning on using WordPress. Their shared hosting plans cost just $2.95/mo (plus you get a free domain) and their personal hosting plans are just $5.45/mo (plus you get a free domain). Both plans include free backups, free domain privacy, and free tutorials.
If you’re looking for a dedicated IP, which gives you the ability to run multiple sites from one address, then you can get a free trial from Bluehost. To get started, click on the button that says “Get a free domain” and you’ll be brought to a new page where you can choose your hosting plan. Once you’ve made your selection, click on the button that says “Get Started”.
You’ll then be brought to a dashboard where you can create your login credentials. Make sure to use a unique username and password for each site you create because you’ll be able to set up different permissions for each account. Once you’ve logged in, you can click on the “Account” menu and choose “Hosting Settings” to get to your account’s control panel. From here, you can manage all the different sites you’ve created along with their settings. Should you decide that you no longer want to run your site from Bluehost, you can easily remove it and cancel the service at any time. In the meantime, you can continue to enjoy your free domain and hosting service.
Install And Configure WordPress To Suit Your Needs
With your host’s installer tool, it’s very easy to install and configure WordPress to suit your needs. Simply click on the “Install WordPress” button and follow the instructions. Once the tool has finished installing WordPress, click on the button that says “Activate” to make it active. You can then log in to your WordPress dashboard to complete the process.
From the WordPress dashboard, you can click on the gear icon in the upper right corner to access the Settings panel. This is where you can change all the basic website parameters, such as the site’s design, colors, and fonts. To find out more, click on the Help link in the Settings panel. This will bring you to the WordPress documentation, which is a wealth of information.
If you’re looking to create a free WordPress website for your personal or business use, you can start with the default Twenty Twelve theme. This is one of the most popular themes in WordPress and it’s designed to look like a magazine. It comes with a variety of features, such as built-in portfolio templates, post thumbnails that span the entire width of the post, and animated background videos.
Curate And Post Content For Your Website
Now that you have a WordPress website with a default theme, it’s time to populate it with content. For this step, you’ll need to use one of the many free blogging tools available online. The advantage of using a blogging tool is that you don’t need to be a blogger to use them. All you need is a simple, usable interface and you can get started quickly and easily.
For this example, we’ll be using the Sixteen Twenty One theme, which is one of the first themes developed for the new design and development platform, Gutenberg. It’s designed to look like a traditional magazine and it’s a perfect choice if you don’t want your website to look too similar to the default Twenty Twelve theme. You can download this theme for free from WordPress itself. Simply visit their website and click on the green “Get Themes” button on the top menu. A new page will load with several themes available for you to choose from. Click on the green “Download” button on the left side of the page to begin downloading the theme to your computer.
Once the theme is downloaded and installed, it’s time to start editing. First, click on the gear icon in the upper right corner to access the Settings panel. This is where you can change all the theme’s settings and configure it to your liking. One of the most useful features of this theme is the live previewer. This feature allows you to see how your website will look like before actually publishing it. To activate it, click on the gear icon and then click on the “Live Preview” option.
Once you’ve completed the live preview, click on the “Publish” button to publish the content to your blog. You can also use this button to update the front page with new content should you choose to do so.