How to Integrate WordPress into Your Website – Step by Step Guide
In case you’re looking for an easy way to add more content to your website, you’ve arrived at the right place. In this article, we will discuss the various ways you can integrate WordPress into your website and give you a step-by-step guide on how to do it. Whether you’re looking to add a blog to your existing site or want to launch a completely new website using WordPress, you’ll find the information you need here.
Why WordPress?
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) around. It’s got a lot of great features and is very easy to use. If you’re looking for a free, open-source CMS, you’ve probably already decided that WordPress is the right choice for you. This decision may be easy to make, but there are a few things you should know first.
The Popularity Of WordPress
Even before we started working on this article, we knew that we were going to write something about WordPress. As you might guess, we are huge fans of this platform and think it’s the best solution out there for websites today. The popularity of WordPress is unquestionable and it’s not difficult to see why. The platform is user-friendly, highly customizable and has a large community ready to help you out whenever you need it. If you’re looking for a free platform to build your website, you probably shouldn’t look further.
How Do You Host Your WordPress Site?
One of the first things you’ll need to do to get started with WordPress is to choose a host to operate your site on. As we mentioned above, WordPress is a free and open source platform, which means you have a large choice of hosts to choose from. Not all of them are created equal though, and some are just not suitable for a professional website. When choosing a host, you’ll want to make sure that they offer a feature-rich platform along with great performance and price-tag.
What Is WordPress Security?
We’re always worried about the safety and security of our personal data. The same goes for the data stored on our websites. Malicious hackers and cyber-criminals are constantly on the look-out for any vulnerabilities in websites and online platforms, and they’ll try their best to exploit any holes they can find. WordPress is no exception and this is why you need to take the time to secure your site before you launch it.
How To Integrate WordPress Into Your Website: The Basics
It’s now time to get down to business and discuss how you can integrate WordPress into your website. As the name suggests, WordPress is a content management system which means it functions as a platform for website content and allows the user to post new articles, delete existing ones, and modify the layout of the site through a web-based interface. When choosing this platform, you’ll need to consider several factors including performance, scalability, security, and customization.
First, let’s have a quick review of the basics of WordPress:
- the name of the platform: WordPress;
- the software package: WordPress can be downloaded as a standalone application or run as a web-based application using a web host;
- the language used: either HTML5 (formerly known as HTML 4.01) with CSS3 or XHTML;
- the markup used: either WordPress’ default styling or a custom-made design;
- the author of the website: you;
- the date the website was created: you;
- the software platform used to create the website (example: WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal): WordPress;
- the hosting provider: where you’ll find your website online after uploading it;
- the email address used to operate the website (example: your@email.com): your@email.com;
- the name of your website (example: yourwebsite.com): yourwebsite.com;
- the language of your website (example: English, Spanish, or Dutch): English;
- the layout of your website (example: a 12-column grid based architecture or an image-heavy blog with a narrative): a 12-column grid based architecture;
- the text used in your website (example: Headings, sub-headings, and content):
Headings:
This is the most basic element of a WordPress website: your H1, H2, H3, and so on.
Most content management systems, like WordPress, come with built-in functionality for page headers, otherwise known as H1, H2, and so on. Each header serves a different purpose and can have a different scope. Most importantly, they tell the visitor what the page is all about. Web designers often use headings to structure their content and give it a more professional look. If you ask us, we prefer using sub-headings instead of headings to build more sophisticated content.
Sub-Headings:
Sub-headings are the bread and butter of a WordPress website. This is where you’ll find your A1, A2, A3, etc. Essentially, these are the subtitles or descriptions that will help your readers navigate your content more easily. They can also be used to separate large blocks of content (like the article you’re reading now) and give it a more structured look. We like to think of sub-headings as the SEO-friendly version of the
Headings
:
Each
Sub-Heading
can have its own scope, its own focus, and it should be used to organize and structure your content in a way that helps your visitors and SEO-specialists.
Content
This is the meat of a WordPress website. It’s where you’ll find your B1, B2, B3, and so on. The content in your WordPress website can either be published as new content or modified from existing content. Once you’ve got your content, you can format it using a number of built-in features or download a WordPress template to do the job. We think the best approach is to use a combination of both: start with the free version of WordPress and then download a premium theme to give it a polished look.
As you might imagine, the more you put in it, the more you’ll get out of it. The more you put in it, the more you’ll get out of it. It’s all about knowing what you’re doing and having a good sense of humor.
Images
Images are very important on a website. Without them, the content might not seem complete to the viewer. Pictures allow the reader to more easily understand what the article is about. Sometimes, we love using images more than words to explain things. You can put images on your website in a number of ways ranging from using a free stock photo to using an incredible one you’ve taken yourself to give it that professional look.
Choosing the right images for your website is crucial. You don’t want to put a graphic of one of your employees with a bossy, “just do it” attitude on your website. When it comes to marketing and sales, images can make or break your website’s credibility. Make sure you vet the images you use for your website and that they fit the theme and scope of your content. If you’ve got a professional designer or developer on your team, they may be able to help you come up with a unique, custom-made design for your website.
Customization
Once you’ve got your content, images, and sub-headings in place, the last thing you need to do is to find a way to make it look unique and brand-specific. For example, maybe you’re a plumber who specializes in fixing leaky faucets, you can set up your site with a blog section that focuses on showing customers the variety of faucets you service. Within this blog post, you can show video tutorials of how to fix different types of faucets. The best part is that you can do all this without having to leave the comfort of your desk!
Another great way to customize your site is to create different layouts for different types of content. Let’s say, for example, that you’ve got a restaurant blog and a brewery blog on your site. For the restaurant blog, you can use the WordPress dashboard to create a two-column layout that looks perfect for the content you’ve got. For the beer blog, you can use a single column to get the job done.