HOW TO WORK WITH WORDPRESS FOR BEGINNERS

You can build dozens of websites using WordPress.org which would be very amazing.

There are nine simple steps you can follow if you are a beginner in WordPress. Let’s start with….

STEP 1: GET A DOMAIN NAME AND HOSTING Every website built on WordPress.org needs a domain name (www.thisisyourdomainname.com) and a hosting service that stores and displays your website on the internet. You can buy a domain name for a small fee from a domain name registrar like Name Cheap or GoDaddy. However, if you buy your domain name and your hosting from separate companies, you will need to change your website Domain Name Servers (DNS) to point your domain name from your registrar to your hosting company. They look like this: It’s a little cheaper to do it this way but not worth the hassle in my opinion. Instead, most hosting providers (such as SiteGround or Bluehost) can also sell you a domain name and connect it with your website automatically, allowing you to skip messing with DNS settings. You can check out this guide to choosing a domain name if you’re not sure what to pick.

STEP 2: INSTALL WORD PRESS Once you purchase hosting, most hosting providers have a one-click install to set up WordPress on your website. Here are some links to guides on how to do this with common hosting services:

• Installing word press on site ground.

• Installing word press on blue host.

• Installing word press on Godaddy

You can also opt for a faster (but more expensive) dedicated hosting provider like Kinsta or WP Engine. These companies will set up WordPress for you when you buy their hosting.

STEP 3: FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE UI Now that you have a website with WordPress installed, let’s get into how to use WordPress. You can log in to your WordPress dashboard by going to www.domainname.com/wp-admin. Once you log in, your dashboard will look like this (with fewer plugins since you’re on a fresh install): Let me explain the options here:

1. • Posts: This is where you’ll create blog posts.

2. • Media: You can go here to see all the media on your site, such as images and videos. I typically upload media directly to my posts and pages and don’t visit media often.

3. • Pages: This is where you’ll create static pages on your site, such as your homepage, about page, and contact page.

4. • Comments: Here is where you’ll moderate any blog comments.

5. • Appearance: This is where you’ll customize the appearance of your website, such as your website’s theme, font type, colors, and more.

6. • Plugins: A plugin is an add-on to your website that adds functionality, such as custom contact forms or pop-ups on your website. I’ll discuss these in more detail later.

7. • Users: Here is where you can add users to your website, such as writers, editors, and administrators.

8. • Settings: Pretty straightforward; here is where your general website settings are located. Now that you know what each option does, let’s get your website settings dialed in.

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STEP 4: OPTIMIZE YOUR SETTINGS Your WordPress website comes with some generic settings that need to be changed, as well as some things I recommend changing to optimize your website for search engines. Specifically, you should:

1. • Change your title, tagline, time zone, and favicon.

2. • Change your permalink structure.

3. • Configure your reading settings.

4. • Delete any unused themes.

5. • Change your domain from HTTP to HTTPS.

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STEP 5: SELECT AND CUSTOMIZE YOUR THEME Once you’ve optimized your settings, it’s time to start actually building your website using a WordPress theme. A theme is a customizable template that determines what your website looks like. You can browse for themes by going to Appearance > Themes, then clicking the Add new button at the top of the page. The generic Twenty Twenty-Three theme is actually pretty good.

Most WordPress themes these days are optimized to show up in search engines and for the requirements of the modern user, such as being mobile-friendly. However, some themes have a lot of added bloat that can slow a website down, so choose a theme that only has the features you need without extras you won’t use. Alternatively, if you don’t like any themes or want something that’s more drag-and-drop, you can use a website builder like Elementor or Thrive Architect. These tools make building a website extremely easy, but they do add bloat that can slow a website down. I

f you decide to go with a regular theme rather than a theme builder, you can edit the theme by going to Appearance > Customize. You’ll be taken to the following editor: Depending on the theme you installed, you may have more or fewer options than the screenshot above. Rather than trying to cover every option you may encounter, I’ll just recommend that you go through each option to see what it does.

STEP 6: BUILD YOUR BASIC PAGES After you’ve selected a theme, you can start building your website’s pages. Every website typically needs at least the following pages:

1. • A homepage

2. • A contact page

3. • An about page

4. • A privacy policy page

5. • A terms of service page

Keep in mind that your privacy policy and terms of service (ToS) pages will vary depending on the country you live in. That said, there are some general tips you should follow when building any page on your website. In general, make sure that your font is easy to read and has a good visible size (18–20px is typical), your colors match, and you avoid too much clutter. Here’s a good example of a webpage that is clean, legible, and thought out: Here’s an example of a webpage that has too much clutter and displays an ad over half the page, causing confusion: In general, less is more and legibility is better than fancy fonts.

STEP 7: INSTALL THESE ESSENTIAL PLUGINS One of the best parts of using WordPress is access to its massive library of plugins. A plugin is a custom piece of code written by a developer that anyone can install on their WordPress website in order to add specific functionality to the site, such as a contact form, extra customization options, or SEO features.

You can install a new plugin one of two ways. Head over to Plugins > Add New. From here, you can either:

1. 1. Browse the plugins directly on this page, then install and activate them directly.

2. 2. Download a plugin .zip file from the plugin’s website, then click the Upload plugin button at the top of the screen and upload the .zip file.

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STEP 8: START CREATING CONTENT Now you know all the basics of how to use WordPress. But another important thing I want to talk about, which is probably why you wanted to start a WordPress website in the first place—how to create content for your blog. Writing blog posts is an essential part of showing up on all search engines like Google, having something to share on social media, and attracting more visitors to your website. What you write about depends on your goals. You can always start with some basic keyword research to figure out what people are searching for on Google that relates to your website. A quick and easy way to do this is by looking up on the internet to get some keyword ideas. For example, if I’m starting a website about farming, I may type “how to be famous” into the tool. I can see keyword ideas like “how to be famous on Twitter” and “how to be famous on Instagram” which are two potential blog topics I can write about. Once you have an idea of what to do you can go ahead with writing an article and publishing it.

STEP 9: MONITOR YOUR WEBSITE FOR TECHNICAL ISSUES A regular part of maintaining your WordPress website is keeping plugins and themes up to date, as well as monitoring your website’s technical health. WordPress automatically notifies you of updates to your plugins or themes with a red circle next to Dashboard > Updates. Log in to your dashboard at least once a week to update everything.

CONCLUSION

Congratulations, you now know the basics of using WordPress. It may have a large learning curve, but learning how to use this CMS is one of the most valuable skills you can have in today’s digital age. You can use your WordPress website to make money blogging, promote your services as a freelancer, or even sell products online. Knowing how to build a website is almost mandatory these days for anyone who wants to start a business.

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