How to Design a WordPress Website – Tips from a Pro
WordPress is the world’s #1 content management system (CMS) and the perfect choice for any blog or website. Whether you’re a seasoned web designer or just starting out, you can create amazing websites using this powerful tool.
Designing a WordPress website isn’t as difficult as you might think. With a little bit of skill and these helpful tips from a pro, you’ll be able to design a WordPress website that is both beautiful and highly functional.
Choose A Theme That Is Suitable For Your Needs
One of the first things you’ll need to do before starting to design your WordPress website is to decide which theme to use. It’s a very common mistake to choose a theme based on the aesthetics first, and then find out that it doesn’t fit your needs. An important factor to consider is how flexible the theme is. You don’t want to pick a theme that will limit you in any way because it doesn’t support all the features you need for your site.
Flexibility is highly important when picking a theme for your WordPress website. The theme you choose should be able to provide you with as much freedom as possible so that you can create the kind of site you envision. When picking a theme, bear in mind that not all themes are created equal. Some themes are more flexible than others, so take the time to learn how to maximize the functionality of your chosen theme.
Learn How To Use WordPress To Its Full Potential
WordPress makes it very easy to publish content and set up a blog. But, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to design a fabulous blog or website using WordPress. Being a CMS, the functionality of WordPress is quite extensive, and it can be difficult to learn all the tricks and shortcuts. If you’re looking to get started designing your own blog or website, it’s a good idea to learn the ropes from someone who is already familiar with the platform.
Luckily for you, we’re a pro and know exactly how to use WordPress to its fullest potential. Below, you’ll discover all the tips and tricks you need to know to create a stunning blog or website.
Stick To The Basics
When first designing or building a WordPress website, it’s common to want to over-design everything. You’ll inevitably find yourself adding features that you don’t need and don’t use. Using a pre-made theme or a simple one-click-installation will save you a lot of time and ensure that your site looks professional and polished from the get-go.
What’s important is to keep things simple and clean. You want your visitors to be able to focus on your content and not be distracted by complex styling or tons of features they don’t need. When choosing a theme, think about what you want from your site and ensure the theme matches that vision. If you’re looking for a versatile theme that can be used for a variety of sites, go with Thematic. While it doesn’t come with all the features you might want, it does have a lot of them, and for the price, it’s hard to find a more versatile theme.
Use The Right Tools
If you’re using the web to design your website, you’ll need tools to bring your creation to life. For some, the perfect tool is wp browser, which is a WordPress browser extension. When you visit a WordPress site through this tool, you’ll notice that almost all the styling is done through the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Knowing how to use CSS will make you feel more capable of styling your WordPress website. If you want, you can even take this one step further and learn how to make your own web templates using WordPress.
Use The Right Language
When picking a theme for your blog or website, you’ll often see a variety of languages. While it might not seem like a crucial decision, using the right language will make a difference in the way your blog or website is perceived by the online community. When choosing a language for your site, keep in mind that not all words are created equal, and certain words have a specific meaning within the context of web design. If you’re stuck deciding which language to use, ask a friend or colleague for help to ensure you choose the right words. If possible, take the time to learn the language so that you can ensure your site is constructed correctly. Using the proper grammar and spelling will make a huge difference and ensure that your site is accessible to everyone.
Don’t Forget The Mobile Users
These users are very important to consider when designing a blog or website. Since more people are accessing the web from mobile devices than ever before, ensure that your content is responsive and looks the same on a mobile as it does on a desktop. Having a mobile-friendly blog or website will significantly increase your traffic, and you’ll be able to draw more people to your content because it is easy to access on the go.
Use Video To Its Full Potential
Since people are consuming content differently nowadays, adding video to your blog or website is a good idea. People love to learn through visual aids, and when used appropriately, video can provide an exceptional way to educate your audience. Video allows you to explain topics in a way that is both entertaining and engaging.
To use video effectively, you’ll need to create a strategy for how you intend to use video on your site. Do you want to include video stories? Or, do you want to create a how-to video to teach your audience how to cook a certain meal?
Once you have your strategy for video, you can determine which tools you’ll need to use to create your video content. There are tons of online software or tools that can be used to create a video, like Storyboard, which is a free tool from Google. You can also use Canva, a premium tool that nearly all the professional graphic designers use to create their videos.
In addition to the software, you’ll need a microphone to record your video, a laptop or desktop computer to edit your video, and a WiFi connection to upload your video.
If you don’t own any of these items, you can rent them from a reputable company. Many companies like Genius offer professional video editing services at an affordable price. And if you’re looking to create a video to explain a process, Industrial Light & Dark has an entire team of professionals that can help you bring your idea to life.
Once you have a video, you can take it anywhere you want. You can embed it on a blog post or website, or you can even use it as part of your social media strategy. Ensure that the content is valuable and worth the person’s time to watch. Since most people today are using the internet from their mobile phones, it’s essential that you make sure that your video content is mobile-friendly.
Make Sure That The Design Is To Its Full Potential
You’ll need to make sure that the design of your blog or website is flexible and easy to modify. Since you’ll be taking the time to build it yourself, it’s important that you ensure that you can expand the functionality of the design as your needs change. If you’re looking for a simple and easy way to create a professional-looking site with little to no experience, choose the Boudoir theme. This theme provides you with a fully equipped, one-click install option that will allow you to build a functional site without having to worry about anything other than content.
Think About SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Since SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a way to ensure your blog or website is prominently displayed on a variety of search engines when potential visitors search for whatever it is you’re offering online, it’s a crucial element to consider. When choosing a theme for your blog or website, make sure that the theme is SEO-friendly and includes all the necessary features to make your content easily discoverable.
There are a few things you can do to improve your SEO, including investing in SEO-friendly hosting, creating unique content that is rich in quality and value, and ensuring that your site is well-designed and easy to navigate.
In addition to SEO, you’ll need to make sure that the content of your blog or website is easily accessible to the search engine spiders. Create unique content that is valuable to your target audience, and make sure that your site is well-designed so that navigation is easy and the content is readily available to the user.