Design a Website Using WordPress, CPanel and WooCommerce
Many businesses, both large and small, have turned to WordPress content management systems (CMS) to streamline their online presence and grow their audience.
This popular blogging platform has been around for more than a decade and is one of the most used and trusted systems in the world. With hundreds of thousands of plugins and themes available, there is a very high chance that you can find exactly what you’re looking for. In this article, we will teach you everything you need to know about WordPress and its associated products to help you design and build a professional website.
Choosing The Right Hosting Plan
When building a website, the first thing you need to consider is hosting. Just like your own personal computer, your website needs a place to live — a server. When choosing your web host, you need to make sure that they offer the best possible price while offering the features you need. Many web hosts offer different levels of service and packages that range from free to highly advanced. While having a free account is convenient, it’s not the best choice if you’re looking for a highly reliable service.
If you’re just getting started and don’t have a huge audience or site, you can opt for a simple shared hosting plan. These hosting plans are very popular because they’re highly affordable and easy to use. In a shared hosting plan, all of the websites that are hosted on the same server will share the same amount of storage space and bandwidth. Because all of the sites share the same resources, you’ll need to make sure that you select a host that is very reputable and offers a superior level of service.
While it’s always great to save money, you should only opt for a shared hosting plan if this is how you really want to go. If you have a bit more money to spend and you need a very reliable system that can handle a high amount of traffic, you can opt for a VPS (virtual private server).
The most popular and reliable VPS hosting plans can get quite expensive. Not only do you need to have a significant amount of disposable income to be able to afford one, but you also need to ensure that the hosting company you choose has the necessary expertise to build and maintain a stable and functional server.
Saving Money Through Automation
WordPress is a great platform to build a website on because it is very open-source and allows for automated tasks and processes. This means you don’t need to hire a developer to build your site for you. You can use services like WooCommerce to generate marketing material, forms and documents for you. With these services, all you need to do is log in and get a quote for what you need.
WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that allows for merchants to create an online store complete with products, shipping options and an administration area that can be accessed from any device. When creating an online store with WooCommerce, you will first need to choose a theme for the store. To save you time and ensure you’re getting the most out of the plugin, you can use the free WooCommerce Store DIY (Do it Yourself) plugin to create an administration panel for your store. This allows for you to login and manage all of the products and details from any device.
For smaller businesses that just need a simple website, you can use Squarespace to create a professionally designed website for free. With Squarespace, you can opt for a premium plan or go the extra mile and pay for additional features including:
- Domain name registration
- Free hosting for one year
- Complete site automation
- 24/7 customer support via email or live chat
- free plans start at only $5 per month
If you have a limited budget and are looking for a free solution, Squarespace is the perfect platform for you. Not only does it provide you with everything you need to launch your site quickly and easily, but it also allows you to upgrade to a premium plan at any time.
What Is WordPress?
WordPress is a free, open-source content management system (CMS). When choosing the platform for your website, you need to keep in mind that WordPress is a platform and not a product like Shopify, which is also a popular CMS.
While WordPress powers more than 750 million websites around the world, it is by no means an enterprise-level product. This means it is highly suited for use by individuals and small businesses alike.
WordPress was originally designed to be a simple blogging platform. However, with its robust plugin directory and active development community, there is no limit to the functional uses and features that WordPress can be put to use for.
Why Should I Use WordPress?
Here are just a few reasons why you should use WordPress to build your website:
- Simple to use
- Secure
- Extensible
- Fully Customizable
- Robust
- Popular
- Affordable
If you’re looking for a free solution and don’t want to go the extra mile, WordPress is the perfect choice. Not only is it completely free to use but it also has all of the necessary tools and functionality you need to launch a professional website. Even better, you can find a wide range of themes and plugins for WordPress that allow you to customize and integrate the platform into any endeavor you can think of.
WordPress Themes & Plugins
Once you have your WordPress platform set up and working, you need to begin the process of designing your site. To do this, you can either use WordPress’ built-in theme options or download and install a range of premium themes from WP theme providers.
As mentioned above, WordPress is a fully functioning content management system that can be used to build a website quite easily. This being said, using the platform to develop your site means you will have access to a vibrant community of developers who can help you with any issues you might come across. To give you an idea of the kinds of support you can get, WordPress offers a special community of helpers who are available via the platform’s support forums. If you’re stuck for ideas or need some suggestions on what to write about, you can use the forums to find advice from other users or submit a request for help from the WordPress staff.
When developing a website using WordPress, you should ensure that the design of the site is carried out in a cohesive and functional manner. To achieve this, you can use a WordPress theme that has been designed to work in conjunction with the rest of your site’s content and design. While there is no exact science to picking a WordPress theme, following a general rule of thumb can help you find a suitable option: If you’re looking for a clean and minimalistic design, go for a darker theme and avoid choosing a light colored variant. On the other hand, if you’re looking to go the extra mile and want to add a bit more flair and character to your site, go for a lighter theme and don’t be afraid to add colors and textures to the design.
Building A Blog Around WordPress
One of the best things about WordPress is that it is very easy to use and can be accessed via any device. This being said, one of the simplest and most popular uses of the platform is to create a blog. A blog is a type of website that is based on content publishing. This means that the content, such as text and images, can be updated regularly and new pieces of content can be added to the site as soon as they’re ready. The most popular and simplest way to create a blog is to use a free blog hosting service.
Blogs are very easy to use and require very little maintenance. This being said, if you’re just getting started and don’t have the time or expertise to keep up with the platform’s occasional updates, you can opt for a hosted blog. With these types of plans, WordPress will update itself and any customizations you make to the platform will be saved automatically.
Creating A Blog With WordPress
To begin creating your blog with WordPress, all you need to do is go to the dashboard of your site and click on the “Add New” button located at the top of the page. This will take you to the WordPress “welcome” screen where you can choose a template for the blog. To give you an idea of the various templates available, the WordPress team has categorized their products based on the size of your audience: