How to Make a Website When WordPress Is Downloaded

WordPress has officially reached 1.0, which means you can now download it and use it completely free. This is great news for businesses and individuals that want to create a website but don’t have the technical know-how or the money to hire someone to help them out. Luckily, with WordPress, all you need is a little bit of technical know-how and some dedication, and you can easily create a fully functional website without any costly mistakes.

If you’re looking to make a website but don’t know where to start, here are some basic guidelines to help you make a functional and professional-looking site when WordPress is utilized:

Pick a Genre

When you start a new WordPress project, the first thing you need to do is choose a genre for your site. This is similar to picking a style for your magazine or newspaper (i.e. Business, Entertainment, Sport, etc.). The main difference is that with a website, you have the opportunity to reach more people, so you want to make sure that your content is easily digestible by everyone who visits your site.

By picking a specific genre for your site, you’re narrowing your audience but also increasing the chances that they’ll be able to quickly and easily understand what you’re talking about. Some of the more popular genres for websites are:

• Business: Typically, when someone hears the word ‘business’ they think of an entrepreneur or small business owner. However, that’s not always the case, as you can use WordPress to build a business website that will cater to anyone interested in starting or running a business. The perfect choice if you’re looking to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your site.
• Arts & Entertainment: If you’re an entertainer, sports enthusiast, or just someone who loves to read, you can use WordPress to build a news site, a magazine website, or even an entertainment website. The sky is the limit with WordPress.
• Lifestyle: Individuals that visit your site will have a clear picture in mind of what your site is about, which will greatly affect their perception of you and your brand. If you’re creating a lifestyle site, such as a fashion or style blog, you can use WordPress to easily build an e-commerce store that will sell the products you feature on your site. Or, if you’re just starting out and don’t have the money to invest in expensive retail items, you can use your WordPress to sell and ship designer goods (e.g. Louis Vuitton, Dior, etc.) to your customers.
• News: If you’re someone that covers news, politics, or crime, you can use WordPress to build a site that will have lots of engaging content that will keep people coming back for more. You can use WordPress in a number of different ways to build a news site, from simply posting breaking news to providing in-depth analysis of current events. The choice is completely up to you.
• Shopping: If you’re someone that loves to shop, you can use WordPress to easily create a retail site that will allow you to showcase and sell your products. Whether you’re selling fashion accessories or clothing, widgets such as WooCommerce make it incredibly easy to set up an e-commerce store and start selling.
• Travel & Tourism: If you’re a travel agent or tour operator, you can use WordPress to build a site that will feature information about your clients and their trips, as well as showcase destinations and events that your clients may enjoy. Having a travel/tourism website is a great way to get more people to think about your services, whether they’re looking to plan a vacation or want to learn more about a destination.

Decide On A Name

After you’ve chosen a genre for your site and have decided to utilize WordPress, the next step is to choose a name for your site. While it’s not required, you should choose a unique and memorable name that isn’t already in use by another site or business. Once you’ve chosen a name, you can use the same technique as when picking a genre to help you narrow down a list of possible domain names to choose from. Some of the more popular pen names for businesses and individuals are:

• Wonderoof: This is the blog name of David O’Reilly, the founder of WordPress. It’s a play on the Dutch word ‘wonder’, which means ‘rarity’ or ‘one-of-a-kind’ and was chosen because he felt that the name was both unique and fitting for his blog.
• Mr. Worpals: This is the blog name of a 28-year-old entrepreneur whose goal is to help people make their dreams come true. He started his blog in December 2010 and named it after a character he created who helped him explore career options in web journalism.
• JPenn: This is the blog name of Jeremy Penn, who started his fashion blog in 2005. In 2012, he launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of a book on fashion blogging. The book is titled Fashion Blogging: The Art of Creating an Online Fashion Magazine and features practical advice on how to start a fashion blog from scratch.
• MarquiseBee: This is the blog name of MarquiseBee, which is a lifestyle blog that covers fashion, beauty, and travel. It was started in 2011 and is owned and operated by Rucha Shah.
• Mr. Mustache: This is the blog name of Eric Barchard, who also happens to be the founder of WordPress. Like Mr. Worpals, Mr. Mustache chose his blog name because it’s unique and it aptly describes the blog’s content: “Curiosity, intelligence, and a bit of a wild side characterize Mr. Mustache’s approach to life and blogging. He calls himself a ‘cyber anthropologist’ and uses his background in anthropology and archeology to look at modern culture through the lens of the past. He also creates detailed maps and archaeological studies of ancient sites, which he shares on his blog. Mr. Mustache has been blogging for more than a decade and is a popular figure in the WordPress community.

Choose A Hosting Provider

After you’ve chosen a name for your site and have narrowed down your domain search to a few possibilities, the next step is to find a hosting provider. This step is similar to finding a domain name in that it requires you to sign up with a hosting provider, which will give you a space on the web to create and maintain your site. There are a variety of hosting providers to choose from, each with their own perks and bonuses that make hosting with them more attractive. Before you make a decision, you should do your research and read reviews about different hosting providers to get an idea of what other users think about them.

Here are some of the more popular hosting providers and why you might want to consider them: