10 Tips for Building a WordPress Website in 5 Minutes

I don’t know about you, but I get really excited when I find a tutorial that takes me less than 5 minutes to complete. When I first discovered how simple it was to build a WordPress website, I decided to make it my goal to complete as many of these quick and easy tutorials as possible.

After all, who has time to waste when you’re trying to build a business? While it’s always nice to have a fancy website with a ton of features and designs to choose from, sometimes you just want a simple website with the basics. With that in mind, here are 10 tips for you to follow to quickly and easily build a WordPress website.

Install WordPress

As I mentioned above, I get super excited when I find a quick and easy tutorial for building a WordPress website. And let’s be honest, one of the best things about WordPress is that it’s so incredibly easy to install and set up. You literally just have to follow the simple instructions and you’re good to go.

WordPress is available as a free download from WordPress.org, and whether you choose to host the platform yourself or use one of the many reputable web hosting companies out there, the process of installation is usually very straightforward.

Create a Username and Password

Before you start building your WordPress site, you’ll need to create a username and password. You can use any name you want for your user account, but keep in mind that this is the account that visitors will see and interact with on your website. So, make sure you choose a username that is easy to remember and unique.

Additionally, you’ll want to choose a strong password that contains at least six characters, and preferably a mixture of numbers, symbols, and uppercase and lowercase letters. And don’t worry, you don’t have to memorize these passwords as you can choose to have WordPress generate them for you.

Once you have a username and password, you can head over to wordpress.com and set up your account. You’ll see a big green button that looks like this:

Pick A Theme

Now, you don’t necessarily have to build a website using the WordPress platform; you can use any content management system (CMS) that you like. However, if you’re looking for a robust, full-featured platform that is completely free, then I would highly recommend you try out WordPress. The fact that WordPress is free and open-source means that you can modify the code to suit your needs. Or, if you’re looking for a completely custom solution, you can download the source code for free and build your own site from scratch.

When choosing a WordPress theme for your site, make sure to opt for a reputable theme provider that has a good reputation. Additionally, make sure to look for a theme that is equipped with rich features, is easy to use, and is completely free.

Create A Homepage Link To Your About Page

One of the simplest but also one of the most useful things you can do for your website is to create a link from your homepage to your about page. This is essential for SEO purposes as well as providing a clear guide to your website’s content.

To create this link, go to yourwebsite.com and then click on Tools at the top of the screen. Next, click on HTML and then copy and paste the code from below the image.

Then, simply paste the code on your site’s homepage. If you followed the instructions above, you should see a link labeled About that takes you to your website’s about page.

Customize Your Website’s Header

One of the first things that will catch a potential visitor’s eye is your website’s header. As the name suggests, your header is the area of the page that is at the top, and it serves three primary purposes:

• It contains your website’s logo and branding information.
• It provides visitors with the information they need to navigate your website.
• It sets the tone and mood of your website.

If you are using a free theme for your site, you’ll see that the header is already pre-defined with basic information like the name of your website and maybe a description. If you’d like to completely customize your header to suit your needs, you have a few options:

• You can download a free custom header from WordPress.org;
• Or, you can use a service like Hawkish, which builds custom headers for you based on the type of content you have on your site. 
• If you’d like to save money on your website’s hosting, you can choose a service that offers shared hosting, which means that your website will be hosted by a third party and you won’t have to worry about running a server to provide your website with content.
• You can use a tool like Jetpack, which is part of the WordPress.com service, to completely rebuild the header for your site from scratch. 
• Or, if you’re feeling extra creative, you can use a tool like BrickyWeb to build the header/site navigation for your site from images you’ve uploaded to your Google Drive or Dropbox account. 

Use The Right Fonts

When it comes to the typography (or the overall look and feel of your site) you have a ton of options. You can, of course, use any type of font you like, but if you are going for a contemporary or futuristic feel, then I would recommend you opt for sans-serif fonts. These fonts are easier to read and less distracting than serif fonts; they’re basically the functional equivalent of a modernist or modern feel.

Just make sure to download the right version of the font you choose. If you’re on a mobile device, try out a responsive (mobile-friendly) version of the same font. This way, when a visitor opens your site on their phone, the text will appear correctly sized and formatted.

Don’t Forget Page Content

Last but not least, we have the actual content that you want to offer on your website. As the name suggests, this is the meat of your website: the text, videos, and other content you want to showcase.

To help you along the way, make sure to include multiple headers and footers on each page as this will also help with SEO. Additionally, don’t forget about the little meta tags that you include in each piece of content to ensure that search engines know exactly what your blog post or webpage is about.

Last but not least, make sure to follow the general guidelines for your website’s content. This means using proper spelling, sentence structure, and engaging with the reader in a way that is not overly promotional (i.e. no overuse of buzzwords or exclamation points). 

Once you follow these guidelines, it will be much easier to have a successful WordPress website. So, before you start building, take the time to think of what you want to say, and then simply follow the steps above to build a professional website that will serve your needs.