How to Build a Local WordPress Website
WordPress is the world’s #1 content management system and is very popular amongst bloggers and businesses. It can be accessed via a web browser and allows for quick and easy setup of a blog featuring multiple pages with content.
If you’re looking for a free WordPress web hosting service then you’ve come to the right place! In this guide, we’ll show you how to set up a fully-fledged WordPress website and how to build it up to be the best local business blog there is.
Step 1: Choose A Domain Name
Your website’s domain name is responsible for what visitors see when they type in the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of your site. A great domain name is essential for attracting potential customers to your site. To get the best from your site’s domain name, you will need to ensure that it is both memorable and relevant. For instance, if you run a blog on fashion, you might choose “fashionblog.com” as your website’s domain name.
If you are looking for a memorable website name then try these tips:
- Choose a domain name that starts with a letter or number
- Avoid using any symbols or accents
- Use hyphens and underscores better than slashes or spaces
- Pick a name that can be easily remembered
- Don’t use plurals for your nouns
- Play around with different URLs (websites) to see which one works best for your business
- Avoid generic words
Step 2: Install WordPress
Installing WordPress is very straightforward. After you’ve chosen a domain name, you will need to head over to the WordPress website and click on the ‘install button’ on the site’s landing page. You will see a message confirming that WordPress has been successfully installed on your site. Now, you can begin creating your website’s interior design. You can use the WordPress dashboard to do this. The dashboard is where you can view the site’s settings, update information, and review site analytics. It also contains links to WordPress’ various communities, which provide helpful tips and tricks for blogging.
Step 3: Customize Your Site’s Look With WordPress Themes
Once WordPress has been installed on your site, you can begin exploring the various themes available for download. These are pre-designed templates that you can use to set up your site’s interior design. When choosing a WordPress theme, you should consider the following things:
- Cost
- Functionality
- Design
- SEO (search engine optimization)
- Repetition
- Maintainability
- Usability
- Mobile friendliness
There are several great free themes available for WordPress, which you can download and install on your site. These themes are completely free and can be updated by the WordPress team to incorporate new features and fixes. One of the best things about the WordPress community is that they continually update and improve the themeing functionality of WordPress to make it easier for bloggers and website owners to create and run their own blogs.
Step 4: Set Up Your Own Personal Brand
You’ve launched your blog! Now, it’s time to establish yourself as an authoritative voice in your industry. This involves becoming an expert on your chosen topic and sharing your knowledge with the world. To do this, you will need to create a brand for yourself. Your brand voice and unique way of communicating with your audience will determine the tone of your blog’s content. The better you get at this, the more you will achieve.
Your personal brand will form the basis of your identity online. Establishing yourself as an expert in your industry will also mean that you can speak with authority when it comes to your chosen topic. This will inspire others to follow you and subscribe to your views.
To create a brand for yourself, head over to the WordPress site and create a new blog post. In this post, you will need to write something that will become part of your brand. This is your chance to establish yourself as an expert in your chosen field and build up a reputation for yourself. Your brand voice should match that of a well-known and authoritative figure in your industry. For example, if you’re a fashion blog, your brand voice might be a snarky, sarcastic tone. If you’re an SEO (search engine optimization) blog, your brand voice might be very digital.
Once you’ve established your personal brand, you can move on to the next step.
Step 5: Build Your Audience
Now that you know what your blog is going to look like and how you plan on presenting yourself as an expert in your industry, it’s time to grow your audience. To do this you need to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. To achieve this, you will need to create and curate content regularly. This content should be of value to your audience and should form the basis of your blog’s content.
Establishing and growing your blog’s audience is very similar to establishing and growing your personal brand. You will need to put the time in to develop your expertise in your industry and create high-quality content regularly. Doing this will give you the opportunity to inspire and educate your audience and establish yourself as a go-to source for information on your topic.
Keep creating valuable content that people are willing to share and reference. This will establish you as an expert in your industry and allow you to grow your personal brand and blog.
Step 6: Generate Leads
With a full-fledged WordPress blog set up and your audience increased, it’s time to start generating leads. This can be done in a variety of ways, but the most effective way is through content marketing. You have several options when it comes to content marketing:
- Email marketing
- Content syndication
- Social media
- Display advertising
Depending on your specific situation, you will need to decide which content marketing strategy to utilize. Once you’ve decided, it’s time to simply follow the guide for the best results.
Step 7: Measure The Success Of Your Blog
Now that you’ve delivered the goods, it’s time to measure the success of your blog. This is done by tracking several metrics, including the following:
- Page views
- Article shares
- Lead generation
- Clicks
- Conversions (i.e. sales)
- Search engine rankings
With each of these metrics, you can determine the success of your blog. By tracking these metrics over time, you will be able to see how your blog is performing and determine whether or not you should continue with the project.
What’s Next?
Having a well-designed, authoritative, and informative local business blog is a great start. However, beyond that, you can really use your blog for whatever you want!
The key to running a successful blog is to simply keep creating content that people are willing to read and share. Doing this will establish you as an expert in your industry and allow you to build a following and a reputation for yourself. From there, you can truly see your blog take off and thrive.