How to Make a WordPress Community Website
WordPress is the most popular blogging platform, and it’s what many of us are currently using to publish content online. With its ease of use and massive community, it’s no wonder that so many people are discovering the joys of blogging with WordPress. If you’re looking to create your own WordPress community website to engage with your audience and grow your blog, then this article is for you.
The Basics
The first thing you’ll need to do to create a WordPress community website is pick a theme for the platform. While you can find many free themes to choose from, premium themes will give you a better experience with lots of features and options. If your blog will have more than three posts a week, then you can consider investing in a premium theme.
The next step is to register a domain name for the site and set up a WordPress account with that domain. It’s also a good idea to purchase a hosting plan from a reputable provider in order to keep your blog up and running and free of errors. Once you’ve registered the domain and set up the WordPress account, you can start creating content for the site.
Choosing A Blogging Platform
If you’re looking for a free blogging platform, then you can try out microblogging platform Blogger. It’s owned by Google, so you can be sure that you’re always going to get good support from the company. While the experience with Blogger isn’t spectacular, it’s very easy to set up and use, and it gives you the opportunity to try out blogging without spending any money.
If you’re looking for a more robust blogging platform, then WordPress is the clear choice. The community is massive, with over 20 million downloads alone from their official website. It’s also an open-source platform, which means that it’s completely free to use and is maintained by thousands of developers around the world. You won’t find a more popular or stable blogging platform.
Designing The Website
Once you’ve picked your blogging platform, the next step is to design the website. The look and feel of your blog will depend on your theme, but you can always adjust and control many of the design elements through your WordPress dashboard. You don’t have to be a designer to make this process easier — if you’re comfortable with basic design principles, then you can use website building tools like Wix or SquareSpace to build your website quickly and easily without needing to be an expert.
Content + Marketing
The content that you’ll publish on your website is key to engaging with your audience and gaining traction. When people visit your site, they’ll want to read and digest your content as quickly as possible. Create content that is both informative and entertaining, and try to publish at least one or two articles a week. When you become more established, you can consider expanding into different topics or creating paid articles to monetize your content.
Blogs that are both interesting and well-written are valued over time and often lead to increased traffic and potentially increased revenue. When you write and publish content regularly, you’ll become more established in your industry, and potential customers will know who you are and what you’ve got to offer.
Curate + Distribute Content
Another important function of your website is to act as a distribution platform for your curated content. If you’ve got a large collection of articles, videos, or other content that you think other people will value, then you can use tools like Medium, LinkedIn, and Twitter to put it in front of the right audience.
These tools can help you find and connect with people who have common interests and values. If you want to find subjects, organizations, or people that you might be interested in, then you can use specialized search tools to help you find content that suits your interests — whether it’s a new product or service, or a particular trend or subject matter that you’re an expert in.
For example, you might be interested in product reviews and curating content from influential people in your industry. If you’ve got a blog that covers the tourism industry in Spain, then you can search for content related to travel and lifestyle in order to find content that matches your interests. You can also curate content from influential people on Twitter and LinkedIn to gain more visibility in your industry.
Social Proof
Last but not least, we have social proof. Social proof is all the credibility that your audience feels you have due to your online presence. One of the best ways to provide social proof is to create and curate content that is both interesting and well-written. The better the content, the more credibility you’ll have.
If you can prove to your audience that you are an expert in your industry, and that you have valuable knowledge that can help them, then they’ll be much more likely to believe you when you suggest an alternative solution or approach. The more you can do to establish your expertise, the more valuable you’ll be to potential customers.
Publishing regularly is also important for providing social proof. If you want to succeed as an online marketer, then you must be dedicated to publishing at least one new piece of content every week.
You can use these six steps to help you create a successful WordPress community website. Don’t worry, if you’ve got a creative mind, then you don’t need to be an expert to make this process easier — you just need to be willing to put in the work to see it through.