How to Build a Website with WordPress 2019
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) around. It’s a free and open-source CMS that can be used to build websites. What makes this CMS so special is that it allows for unlimited editing of articles and pages. This means that you can use a simple drag-and-drop editor or use a third-party tool like Adobe Dreamweaver to build a professional website. In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about building a website with WordPress.
Choosing A Hosting Service
Just like any other website you build, you’ll first need to pick a host for your new WordPress website. You’ll want to pick a service that is reliable, has a good support team, and offers the features you need. Remember, you’re going to be hosting content from various sources, so you want to make sure that everything is easy to find and accessible. For example, do you use a CDN (content delivery network) to load content fast? Do you need WordPress Multi-Site for managing multiple websites from a single admin area? These are all questions you need to ask yourself before making a decision.
Install WordPress
Like any other CMS, the first step in building a WordPress website is to install the WordPress software. To do this, visit the WordPress website and click on the Download button to start the download. Once the installer is finished, click on the Run button to start the installation process. During the installation, you’ll be asked to select a username and password for your WordPress site. You’ll also need to decide on a new name for your website. Once you’ve entered all the required information, click on the Finish button to complete the installation process.
Activate The Plugin
One of the first things you’ll want to do after installing WordPress is to activate the built-in WordPress plugin. This is an important step because without it, you’ll have a barebones WordPress installation that is useless for content publishing. To activate the plugin, click on the Settings icon (gear icon) in the WordPress admin area and select Plugin from the drop-down menu. Once the plugin is activated, you’ll see a screen with a list of currently active plugins. Click on the Activate button next to the WordPress SEO plugin to activate this plugin.
Get A Free SSL Certificate
While not required, you’ll want to get a free SSL certificate for your new website. An SSL certificate provides added security for your website and helps customers feel more comfortable committing personal information. In order to get a free SSL certificate, you’ll need to register for an account with an SSL provider like Let’s Encrypt or Cloudflare. After registering, you’ll be given a secure token that you can use to instantly generate a free SSL certificate for your site. You can also get email notifications whenever a new certificate is available for purchase.
Set Up Your Database
If you plan on using WordPress to build a new website, you’ll first need to set up a database for the platform. Databases are used to store website information and are accessed via a database management system (DBMS) like MySQL or MongoDB. The first step in setting up a database for WordPress is to visit the WordPress database setup section of the site and click on the Create a new database button. This will take you to a screen where you can give your new database a name and select the hosting service you’ll be using. After picking a database name and hosting service, you’ll need to click on the Create database button to continue.
Set Up Your WordPress Admin Area
Once you’ve created a database for WordPress, you can set up the WordPress admin area. This section is where you’ll find all the tools you need to manage your website. The first step is to visit the WordPress admin area and click on the My Sites icon (three horizontal lines). This will open up a menu where you can see all your currently active sites along with the option to create a new site. Clicking on the Create a new site option will bring you to the new site creation screen.
On this screen, you can give your new site a name and select a hosting service that you’ve already picked (usually the same as your database). Once you’ve entered all the required information, click on the Create new site button to continue.
You’ll now be taken to the Dashboard where you can click on the Get started button to log in to your new site using the username and password you set up during the WordPress installation process. Once you’re logged in, you’ll see the main dashboard for your site.
From here, you can click on the Settings icon (gear icon) to access the Settings panel.
Configure Your Site To Use A CMS
CMS stands for content management system and is used to describe websites that use a third-party tool like WordPress to edit content instead of static html files. Typically, CMS-based websites use a static front-end (HTML) and a backend (PHP) to build their web applications. As the name suggests, CMS allows for content to be easily managed via a user-friendly dashboard. To make sure that all your content is easily discoverable and accessible, you’ll want to log into your CMS and make some basic configuration changes.
Configure Your Site To Use A CDN
If you’re familiar with SEO (search engine optimization) and the work it takes to rank websites in search results, you’ll know that a website’s speed is one of the key indicators of its performance in the SERPs (search engine results pages). To improve performance, you can use a content delivery network (CDN) to cache static content like javascript, css, and images. A CDN acts as a sort of super-proxy that servers content from all over the world (instead of just your local area) so that it can be accessed quickly by anyone with a web browser.
Do you use a CDN to host and deliver all your content? If so, you’ll want to look into how to integrate it with WordPress. There are a few premium plugins that can do this for you, but you can also do it manually by following the instructions in the WordPress documentation.
Once you’ve enabled the CDN option (usually through the WordPress dashboard), you’ll notice that your site’s load time is greatly reduced. Not only that, but your download speed will increase due to the limited number of requests made to the CDN. As a result, your users will be happier, and you’ll be able to more easily increase your organic reach on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. With happier users and more clicks, you’ll be able to earn more money with ads on your site!
Curate Your Blog’s First Post
Your blog’s first post is an important document that sets the tone for your content and makes new readers or subscribers feel more engaged with your brand. This document (typically called the “About Me” section of your blog) should be short but sweet and include everything you want to convey about yourself and your blog. To start, write a short paragraph about yourself and then create 2-3 sentences to further elaborate on what you’ve written. You should try to keep the tone light and airy yet still maintain a sense of personality to make the reader curious about what you’ve written and want to read more.
Once you’ve written your “About Me” section, you can move on to the next step which is to write your first blog post.
Create More Than One Post
After you’ve written your “About Me” section, you can move on to the next step which is to create more than one post. This is where you start building your audience and establishing yourself as an authoritative voice in your niche. The more than one post you create, the more likely your readers are to come back for more. You can use a tool like Hemingway to easily create an outline for your next set of blog posts. Simply pick a topic you’re passionate about, and the software will help you quickly build a blog around it. You can use this tool to write and plan your content before you start typing in the WordPress dashboard.
To make your blog stand out, you’ll want to write posts that are unique. The more original content you have, the more likely someone is to come back for more. As a general rule, try to avoid replying on other people’s work and build your own original content as much as possible. While it’s good to be able to write cleverly on other people’s content, make sure to create original material that stands out.