WordPress Templates: How to Build a Website That Will Allow You to Register and Sell Music
As a musician, you understand the pain of trying to find the right instrument for your needs. Now you can have the best of both worlds with a personal website that also acts as a storefront. With a little bit of programming knowledge, you can build a fully functional and beautiful website that allows customers to purchase your music directly through your website.
WordPress offers a wealth of free templates that you can use to build a stunning website on a shoestring budget. In this guide, we will take you through the steps of building a WordPress store.
Step one: Choose a domain name and register the domain
The first thing you will want to do is choose a domain name for your website. Ideally, you want to pick a memorable, long domain name that accurately represents your brand. For example, if you are selling metal guitars online, you might want to choose metalguitarsstore.com. When customers visit your website, they will see a memorable brand and may be more inclined to purchase your product simply because they know what company they’re dealing with.
If you run a store, you will also want to register the domain name for your store.homedepot.com is a great option since it is easily misspelled and more unique than home-depot.com, which is often used as a generic catch-all for home and garden stores. Just remember to get both the personal and store domains so you can manage each separately.
Step two: Install WordPress on the server
Now that you have your domain name, you can install WordPress on a web server. To do this, visit wordpress.com/hosting and click on the Get Started button. From there, you will be taken to a page where you can choose your hosting package. Take your time choosing the right package for your needs. Once you have made your selection, click on the Install button to proceed to the next screen. Here you will be asked to log in with your email and password.
Once you are logged in, you will be taken to a screen with the WordPress login area. Now you can start to build your store’s website!
Step three: Customize your WordPress site
Once you are logged in to your WordPress dashboard, you can start to customize the appearance of your site. On the Design tab, you can choose from a variety of free templates. You can also visit the WordPress templates gallery to find premium-quality templates that you can download and install directly to your website. You should also take a few moments to read the documentation that comes with each template.
You can use this documentation to help you understand how to use the template effectively and to tweak it to fit your needs.
Step four: Activate WordPress
Once you have downloaded and installed the template you desire, you can click on the Activate WordPress button. This will take you to a completed page where you can publish your first blog post. Take a few moments to read the documentation that comes with WordPress to fully understand how posting new content will work.
You can also use the Help tab to find answers to frequently asked questions about using WordPress. Just remember to Click save at the bottom of the page to save your changes and continue to the next step.
Step five: Design your storefront
Now that you have a functioning blog, you can start to design your storefront or website as you would any other project. Start by creating a mood board, Pinterest board, or graphic organizer to collect images and inspiration for your site. You can also use Trello, a digital task list app, to keep track of all the items you need to complete.
As you work, you will notice that you are filling up with ideas and concepts for your site. Do not worry, this is a very normal and expected process. Just take your time and do numerous drafts until you arrive at something beautiful and functional.
Step six: Test your new site design
Once you have designed your site, it is time to test the layout and functionality of your new site. You can use the Back-end button to reveal the WordPress dashboard. Here you can access all of the functions of your site, including the shop.
You can also use the plugin Debugger to access all of the page errors on your site. Just click on the Debugger icon on the WordPress toolbar or visit http://example.com/wp-admin/ and enter your website’s URL to view all errors and warnings.
Finally, you can use the built-in SEO tools to track the keywords and phrases that people are using to find your site. Just enter your website’s URL into the Keywords box and click on the Search tab.
If you have followed this guide successfully, you should now have a fully functioning WordPress website that you can update to show off your musical skills and sell your music. If you are interested in taking your music business online, we highly recommend that you read this entire guide.