How to Replace an Entire Website with a New WordPress Install
If you’re searching for a way to replace your entire website with a new WordPress install, you’ve come to the right place! In this tutorial, we’ll cover everything from prepping your new site to getting your website live again. Let’s get started.
Why Are You Replacing Your Site?
WordPress provides you with the tools to build a website that looks exactly the same as your previous site. However, the difference is that this new website will be optimized for search engines like Google.
Making the switch to WordPress is a great option for any business or brand that’s looking to increase their online presence. By taking the time to replace your entire site with a clean WordPress install, you’ll be able to save lots of time in the long run.
Steps To Replacing An Entire Website With New WordPress Install
To get started, follow these steps:
- Visit WordPress.com and download the latest version of WordPress.
- After downloading and installing WordPress, go to your dashboard.
- Click on the Add New button to start a new blank WordPress install.
- Fill out the requested information and click on the Create blog button.
- Once you’ve created your new blog with a fresh WordPress install, name it and set up a home page for it.
- You can now begin to build out your new site using the tools provided by WordPress. To see an example of a brand creating a new website using WordPress, check out WP Digital Marketing.
Step One: Prep Your New Site With A Great Homepage
When creating your new site, you’ll want to start by setting up a great home page for it. A great home page will grab the attention of any visitor and make them want to continue reading your content. To get started, follow these steps:
Visit the homepage of your new site (e.g., wpdigitalmarketing.com)
When you visit the homepage of your new site (e.g., wpdigitalmarketing.com), you’ll see a section on the right side of the page with the Latest From category and a Blog tab. These are the categories and tabs you’ll want to work with on your homepage to keep the reader’s attention and encourage them to continue reading your content.
Above the Blog tab is a section with featured images from your blog posts. These are the images that will grace your homepage when you have blog posts published.
In addition to the featured images above the blog tab, you’ll want to utilize the remaining space on your homepage to showcase other types of content that will engage and intrigue your audience. To do this, visit the Add Media tab in the right-hand column and click on the Insert button to begin adding media into your post.
You have several options when adding media to your blog post. You can either choose to add a photo, video, or both. For this tutorial, we’ll add a photo and a few well-written paragraphs describing the brand or business we’re working with.
Step Two: Build Out Your Blog With Useful Blog Posts
Once you’ve prepared your homepage with a great content strategy, it’s time to dive into the nitty-gritty of building out your blog. To do this, follow these steps:
To begin, create a folder in your WordPress media library named “blog.” Inside this folder, you’ll want to store all your blog posts. To ensure your posts look amazing, use a tool like Visual Composer to lay out your blog posts in a pleasing and easy-to-read manner.
When you add new posts to your blog, they’ll appear in this same section on the right side of your homepage as mentioned above. However, if you ever want to change the order of your blog posts or move them to a separate page, you can take advantage of the Blog Archive found at the bottom of your WordPress dashboard. To do this, go to your Settings menu at the top of the dashboard and select Reading from the left-hand menu.
From here, you can click on the Read More button to see all of your archived blog posts. When you’re ready to publish a new post, simply click on the Post button located at the top of the screen.
This will create a pop-up window where you can write your new post. Once you’ve completed this window, click on the Save button to save your post and send it to the Blog section on the right side of your dashboard.
Step Three: Use The SEO Tools To Optimize Your Blog Posts
As the name implies, the purpose of the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tools is to help you optimize your posts so they appear at the top of search results when someone performs a search on a major search engine (e.g., Google). To learn more, visit the WP Digital Marketing website and download the free SEO tools.
Once you’ve downloaded the free tools, you can begin using them to optimize your blog posts. To begin, simply navigate to the Search Engine Optimization section on your Tools menu.
From here, you can upload your.xml file in which you’ve copied and pasted all the SEO-related content from your previous site. Once this file has been uploaded, click on the Run SEO button to see all the content that can be optimized using the free tools.
From here, you can begin to make use of the free tools by deleting or tweaking the content that isn’t performing well and utilizing the rest of the content for the purposes of building out your blog. To learn more, visit the WP Digital Marketing website and download the free tools.
Step Four: Promote Your Blog Locally And Online With Guest Blog Posts
Now that you’ve prepared your blog with a great introductory post, it’s time to begin promoting it. To do this, you’ll want to reach out to other bloggers in your niche and see if they’ll partner with you on a blog post. A great way to gain trust and credibility with other bloggers is to guest blog on their site. To learn more about guest blogging, visit the WordPress Blogger Blogging website.
When pitching a guest post to a blogger, you’ll want to do this respectfully. Pitch a post that’s relevant to their audience, fit their blog’s style, and promote their platform. Additionally, be sure to link out to relevant and authoritative locations wherever appropriate (e.g., linking internally to a relevant blog post on your own blog).
Once you’ve pitched a post to a blogger, they’ll either accept or decline your offer. If they accept, great! If they decline, you can continue to pitch this idea to other bloggers in your niche. In either case, the key takeaway is that you’ve now got some fantastic content that you can promote online.
To learn more, visit the WP Digital Marketing website for more information on how to replace an entire website with a new WordPress install.