Create A WordPress Website – Step by Step Guide

SUMMARY – This article is for anyone who wants to create a WordPress Website who hasn’t done before or more experienced users who just want a refresh.

Table of Contents

If you have googled ‘create a WordPress website’ before, you’ll know just how many tutorials there are, some good and some not so good. It was my mission to create an article that would tick every box when it comes to creating a WordPress website.

As there will be quite a lot of information to take in within this guide, I have created a table of contents so you can see exactly what topics this article will cover.

If you have already had some experience with creating websites using the WordPress platform, please feel free to click on the links below and skip to the one you wish to read.

If you are a complete beginner and have never created a WordPress website, please make sure you read every section thoroughly.

• An Introduction to WordPress
• Domain Name and Hosting Provider
• How To Install WordPress
• Choosing  a Theme
• An Introduction to Plugins
• Essential Plugins
• Essential Pages
• Customizing Your Site
• Keeping Your Site Secure

An Introduction To WordPress

WordPress is a platform that allows anyone to create their own website or blog. When it was released in 2003, it was initially used as a blogging platform, although since then it has grown into the most popular CMS in the world

Of course, there’s more to a CMS than just uploading blog posts.

WordPress has come a long way since 2003. It’s come so far in fact that it actually powers 28.6% of all websites.

And this is no surprise.

When you install WordPress, you will notice just how many cool features there are.

There are literally thousands of different plugins and themes that allow users to customize their website and also incorporate a range of different functions. This means WordPress isn’t just great for blogs, it’s great for businesses too.

Why I Recommend WordPress to Create a Website

It’s free and incredibly easy to learn.

That’s it really.

Once you know the basics and how to navigate your way around the dashboard, you’ll be surprised at just how easy WordPress is to use.  And another thing that’s so great about WordPress, is the continuous support groups available to users.

Because so many people use it, there’s always a helping hand just one click away. There’s even a dedicated support forum.

Step 1: Domain Name and Hosting Provider

If you are a complete beginner and don’t even know what a domain name is yet, no worries, it’s very simple!

The domain name is simply the name of your website. For example, mine is lifestylerevamp.com

Your domain name is the identity of your website and your business if you have one. Therefore, a lot of thought and consideration should be carried out before deciding on one. In an ideal world, you want your domain name to be short, memorable and easy to type.

You should also think about using relevant keywords in your domain name. For example, if you’re a photographer, you should include a word related to photography. For example, joebloggsphotographer.com

Using relevant keywords makes it clear to the user what your website is about and what sort of content you write about. It’s also a great way to rank higher in search engines like google.

For example, look what comes up if you type the word ‘ bodybuilding’ in google:

It’s no surprise that bodybuilding.com is ranked at the top of Google.

Yes they have thousands of quality articles and their marketing is on point, but having the word ‘bodybuilding’ as the domain name drives millions of users to their site, simply because there are so many people searching the term ‘ bodybuilding’ into google.

That’s why it’s important to think carefully what domain name you want. It cost Ryan Deluca (founder of Bodybuilding.com) $20,000 to have this domain name. After selling the company for an estimated $120 million, choosing the right domain name certainly paid off.

Unfortunately, the chances of finding an available one-word domain name that immediately tells the user what your website is about, such as photography, bodybuilding, cars, food etc, is damn right impossible these days.

However, on the upside it allows you to have fun with it and be creative, which in some cases, is better for building a unique brand.

Purchasing your domain name 

When it comes to purchasing your domain name, there are many sites in which you can do this.

Because it’s more convenient, I usually purchase my domain name with the same hosting provider. If you are a beginner, I strongly recommend you do the same. (See below for hosting info).

Using the same company for both domain registration and hosting is really simple and you always have the option of transferring your domain name to another hosting provider in the future.

For both domain registration and hosting, I really recommend SiteGround. 

I’ve been using them since early 2018 after switching from another hosting company. It’s so easy to get set up and their customer support is outstanding.

Not only that but price-wise, they are very reasonable, one of the cheapest around.

These are the current packages SiteGround Offer:

I recommend the GrowBig plan as it’s the best in terms of value.

However, it’s completely up to you.

Signing up to SiteGround

After you’ve selected which SiteGround Package suits you, the next step will be to register your domain name. You should see this page:

By default the first option will be checked, so you can leave this.

If you already have a domain name, simply choose this option as shown in the picture.

If you don’t have a domain name, you will be able to register it on this page. Type your chosen name into the box and SiteGround will automatically tell you if that name is available or not. This can be quite annoying because you could spend hours choosing the right name, only to find out that it’s not available.

It’s important to make sure you select the correct domain extension. (See below).

Next to where you have typed in your domain name, you should see a drop-down option.

Clicking this will present the above menu.

As SiteGround is a UK based hosting platform, by default you will see .CO.UK

If you have a UK based business, then this is your best option. For anyone else, I recommend you choose a.COM extension.

After deciding on your domain name the only thing left to do is enter your payment details.

Once you’ve paid, SiteGround will email you a receipt of some sort and also a link which confirms your account. Once confirmed, you will be able to move onto the next stage – installing WordPress.

Step 2: How to Install WordPress

In order to start creating a website, you’ll obviously have to first install WordPress.

Siteground makes this very easy for us.

Step 1: Log in

Head over to the Siteground homepage and log in.

Step 2: My Accounts

After you log in to your Siteground account, navigate to where it says ‘My Accounts’ (see picture below).

Step 3 – Go to your cPanel

You’ll see an orange button in the above picture. Clicking this will take you to your Control Panel.

This is what your Control Panel looks like:

There are tons of different services within your Control Panel and you should get to know these later down the line. However, I don’t want you to worry about anything else other than WordPress for the time being.

Step 4 – Select WordPress

You will see under the ‘Auto Installers’ section, an option for WordPress. I want you to select this now.

You can also type in what you’re looking using the search bar on the left. (see below).

Step 5 – Install WordPress

Once you’ve selected the WordPress icon, you will be taken to the following page.

Click on ‘Install Now’.

Step 6 – Customize Your Settings

This step is important, so make sure you don’t skip it.

From the drop-down, select the ‘HTTP://’ protocol.

The ‘In Directory’ option can be left blank.

You’ll next want to change the ‘Site Name’ and ‘Site Description’ sections. I recommend just having the name of your company and a short sentence describing what you do.

Scroll down and you will see options to change your ‘Admin Username’ and ‘Password‘.

You’ll definitely want to change these. 

Username can be something simple like your own name or company name. The password should be well thought of and hard to guess. And remember to write your password down and keep it safe. 

If you are worried about the security of your site, you should probably select to install ‘Limit Login Attempts (Loginizer)’. However, there are many other great plugins you can install later on, so this isn’t necessary.

Finally, click the ‘Install’ button at the bottom of the page.

That’s it! The boring bit is over.

You’re now ready to create your WordPress website.

Step 3: Choosing a Theme

As there are thousands upon thousands of different themes, choosing the right one to match your brand and business goals can be challenging.

With so much choice on offer, it’s very easy to spend countless hours scrolling through pages of preview themes. So with my recommendations, I hope I can make your life a little easier.

To select which theme you want, first, you need to login to your WordPress dashboard.

To do this, simply open up a new tab and type your websites URL in the search bar, followed by /wp-login.php. (Example below).

http://yourdomainname/wp.login.php

After you’ve entered your username and password (the ones you wrote down earlier) you’ll be taken to your WordPress dashboard. This is what mine currently looks like:

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed at this point, don’t worry! I’d be surprised if you weren’t.

In order to choose which theme you want, simply click on where it says ‘Appearance’ on the left sidebar, and you will be taken to the following page.

You will then be taken to the page which has the default theme installed. This page will also show any themes you have manually uploaded. (I’ll explain later).

The next step is to click ‘Add New’ which will allow you to browse through all the themes WordPress has to offer.

You can even search for particular keywords which will narrow down the search results and display themes that are suitable for your needs. For example, you can see from the picture below that I have typed in the word ‘yoga’.

Look at the cool themes it suggests for you:

Hover over a theme you like the look of and click ‘Preview’.

After deciding on a theme, simply click ‘Install’ then ‘Activate’. Your theme will be uploaded in literally seconds.

You’re now ready to customize your theme and start adding plugins. However, before I get on to that bit, let me explain a little bit about premium themes.

Free vs Premium

Choosing a nice looking theme that caters for your website goals can be challenging and time-consuming.

Luckily, WordPress is jammed packed full of beautifully designed free themes that I’m sure would suit most beginners.

In fact, the first time I tried to create a WordPress website I actually used a free theme. However, although the site looked aesthetically pleasing, the overall functionality of the theme was poor.

Choosing a free theme is the obvious choice for any beginner because guess what? It’s FREE.

This is perfectly fine if you just want a simple blog and you aren’t looking to build a brand or business.

However, if you do want to grow your brand or business, I strongly recommend you purchase a decent premium theme.

So why are premium themes so much better?

• Support and updates – Unlike free themes, premium themes come with support and updates. This is extremely useful if something goes wrong with your website. If you decide to get a free theme, you’re pretty much on your own in terms of support…so be careful.
• More features and customization – Being able to make your website stand out and catch the readers attention is one of the key aspects to a successful online business. Premium themes have so much more to offer in terms of customization and functionality when compared with free themes.
• More Unique – Due to the cost of some premium themes, they remain more unique. Free themes are used by so many websites and blogs that your own site is likely to have a similar design. Having a unique identity is important when it comes to building a brand; premium themes are definitely worth their weight in gold when it comes to this.
• Full documentation – With any premium theme you purchase, you should also get a detailed instruction manual, allowing you to set your new theme up with ease. Some free themes will fail to provide this service.

Where’s the best place to get a premium theme?

My favourite place to get premium themes is from a company called Studiopress.

Studiopress has a large collection of stunning themes that are purposely built to work with WordPress. I have been a customer since 2017 and so far I can’t think of any negatives.

If you would like to find out more about Studiopress head over to their website and you can check out all of their beautiful themes yourself.

Divi

If you don’t want to go down the Studiopress route and would prefer a very user-friendly theme, then I would recommend Divi.

If you are a complete beginner when it comes to web design then you might want to give Divi a try.

Divi has tons of cool features and you really do get a lot of bang for your buck. The best thing about it is the drag and drop interface that allows you to customize your website the way you want it, without the fuss that comes with other themes.

As you can see from the image above, Divi also has a whopping 800+ designs to choose from.

I would say the only downside of Divi is that it’s on the expensive side. But, it does come with some amazing features so I’m pretty certain that it would be money well spent should you decide to purchase it.

Final thoughts

If you really want to create a WordPress site that will help your brand or business stand out, I think Studiopress and Divi are both safe bets.

Although Divi is a lot easier to customize and is clearly marketed towards people with little or no previous design experience, I have to stick with Studiopress on this occasion.

The themes you get with Studiopress are built so unbelievably well that in my opinion, this trumps everything Divi has to offer.

If you like to purchase a theme from Studiopress, you can do so here.

Step 4: An Introduction to Plugins

If you’ve never had experience with WordPress before, It’s very likely you’ve never heard of the term ‘plugin’.

A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They are programmed to integrate with your WordPress website, with each one providing a new feature or function.

If you want a particular feature on your website, that didn’t already come with your WordPress theme, you can install a plugin instead.

How to install your first WordPress plugin

The first step is to make sure you are looking at your WordPress dashboard. If you aren’t, simply click ‘Dashboard’ which is located at the very top of the left sidebar.

The next thing is to navigate to where it says ‘Plugins’, and click ‘Add New’. (Pictured below).

From here you can select which plugin you need, find out more information about each individual plugin, read reviews from other users and install it directly into your site.

Note: Some plugins may not be compatible with your WordPress site, which could cause some interference. Make sure you only install the plugins that are compatible. Under each plugin logo, in the description box, it will say either ‘Compatible’ or ‘Untested’.

If you have done some research already and know which plugins you want, you can search for them using the keyword search bar, located on the top right. To help you out, WordPress also automatically displays which plugins are most recommended, located on the top left (see picture above).

To install the plugin, simply click ‘Install Now’ followed by ‘Activate’.

Before installing, please make sure you click ‘More Details’ and read up on each plugin to see if it’s right for your site. Reading some of the reviews can also be very helpful.

You’ll notice that at the top of the page next to ‘Add Plugins’, it says ‘Upload Plugin’.

Without confusing you too much, this is normally used for premium plugins you’ve purchased from somewhere else.

Now you know how to install and activate your plugins, the next step is to decide which plugins you want. So please read on!

Step 5: Essential WordPress Plugins

WordPress currently offers more than 49,000 plugins, not to mention the thousands of 3rd party plugins that are available.

As there are so many to choose from, deciding which plugins to install can be difficult.

Fortunately, I’ve written an article that breaks all this down for you.

You can read it here: Essential WordPress plugins that will supercharge your business.

To get you started though, I have included a list of free plugins I recommend for beginners, based on the essential features every WordPress website should have, such as security and performance optimization.

No matter what kind of site you are running, there are a few specific plugins I recommend you install. The list of plugins below is the same plugins I usually install on my own sites.

Yoast SEO

Benefits:  

• Optimizes your WordPress posts and pages using keywords and meta descriptions
• See how well your content is currently optimized, and make improvements easily
• Improve your content’s readability with simple tips
• Improves the SEO of your site so it shows up further in search engines

W3 Total Cache

Benefits:

• Improvements in search engine result page rankings, especially for mobile-friendly websites and sites that use SSL
• At least 10x improvement in overall site performance (Grade A in WebPagetest or significant Google Page Speed improvements) when fully configured
• Reduced page load time: increased visitor time on site; visitors view more pages
• Improved web server performance; sustain high traffic periods.
• Up to 80% bandwidth savings when you minify HTML, minify CSS and minify JS files

Contact Form 7

Benefits:

• Create a simple contact form that can be added to your WordPress pages, posts or widgets
• Supports CAPTCHA
• Supports Askimet spam filtering
• Link to your personalised email address

reSmush.it Image Optimizer

Benefits:

• Free image optimization
• Compatible with JPG, PNG and GIF files up to 5MB
• Bulk optimization – optimize all images with 2 clicks

Simple Social Icons

Benefits:

• Displays simple social media icons
• Very easy to customize
• Compatible with over 20 social media platforms

UpdraftPlus Backup

Benefits:

• Restores, as well as backing up
• Backs up to more cloud options than any others
• Allows you to set up automatic backup schedules, for the ultimate inconvenience
• Is faster, using up fewer server resources
• Has been tested on over 1 million sites

You can read my blog ‘Essential WordPress plugins that will supercharge your business‘ that will guide you in choosing the right plugins for your website needs.

Step 6: Essential WordPress Pages

As every website is different, the pages you wish to display within your site will probably also be different.

However, there are a few pages I feel should be included no matter what the purpose of that website is.

• Homepage
• About
• Products and Services
• Blog
• Contact

Homepage

We’ve all heard the saying, ‘first impressions count’. And this is especially true for your homepage.

Your homepage is essentially your front door and will be one of your most viewed pages, so you better make it good. In fact, some studies have shown that you have roughly 8 seconds to entice someone before they click off it.

So if your homepage sucks, you may be losing customers.

Note about the homepage

By default, WordPress displays your most recent posts on the homepage. This is fine if you have a simple blog, but if you have a business you are going to want to change this so you can use your homepage to describe what it is you do, what your services are etc.

To do this first create a page in WordPress then navigate to ‘Settings’ → ‘Reading’ → ‘Select static page’ and then select the page you just made as your homepage.

Please click here if you’re not sure how to add a new page.

About

There’s not really much to say on this, it’s quite obvious what this page is for. One thing I do think is important however is to try and be original and avoid generic statements.

Getting your personality across and showing that you are trustworthy helps build a relationship with the reader. Including pictures is also quite important.

As you can see from the image on my about page, I’ve tried to be different and stand out.

Products and Services 

Apart from procrastination and shopping, the main reason someone browses the internet is to look for a solution to a problem.

Remember what I said above? You have roughly 8 seconds to entice them. If the user feels you can’t help them, there’s no way they’re sticking around.

If you offer more than one product or service, make sure you give these a dedicated page. Never cram all your services into one page.

These pages should be filled with as much relevant information about what you’re offering as possible, whilst making sure you stay clear and concise.

Blog

Including a blog page within your site can be real game-changer. If you’ve already got a business and you haven’t started a blog, you’re leaving money on the table.

According to Ascend2, 72% of marketers say relevant content creation was the most effective SEO tactic. If you can produce helpful content on a consistent basis, you will almost definitely attract more potential customers.

In fact, according to this HubSpot survey, 60% of businesses who blog acquire more customers. This is HUGE.

Contact

What’s the point in offering your products or services if no one can get in contact with you?

It’s important to include a few different ways for the visitor to contact you. Everyone has a preference when it comes to this. Personally, I prefer email, as I can really put some thought into what I want to say.

Give the visitor a choice. As after all, they’re the ones who might buy something from you.

If you’re running a small, local business I recommend you include your business address within this page.

There are actually quite a few WordPress plugins that can integrate Google maps, making it easier for the user to find you. Plus this looks more professional.

Finally, the contact page is a great place to display your social media profiles.

How to create a new page or post

So you now have an idea on what pages to include into your WordPress website, but how do you create them?

Well, it’s actually very easy.

From the main dashboard, navigate to where it says ‘Pages‘ and click ‘Add New‘.

You will then be taken to the following page.

This is where you can really let your creative juices flow and begin to add content.

In 2018 WordPress introduced the Gutenberg page builder that enables users to create great-looking content with ease.

Before this was introduced, you would have to use the classic editor, which required a much higher level of skill to create professional content.

To create content using the Gutenberg page builder, you simply add blocks to the page. Within these blocks, you can choose to add an array of different features, such as headings, paragraphs, images, bullet points, widgets, buttons and loads more.

All of this content can be added with just a click of a button, it’s that easy.

I recommend familiarizing yourself with the Gutenberg page builder and have a play around with its features.

You can use the ‘Preview‘ button to see how your page looks before publishing.

Once you are happy, click ‘Publish‘.

To add a new post, just follow the same instructions.

Step 7: Customizing Your WordPress Website

Creating a menu

Your menu will contain all of the pages of your website and is often displayed in two main places, the header and the footer.

To add a menu, navigate to ‘Appearance‘ → ‘Menus‘.

To actually create your menu, follow the steps below.

1. Click on ‘Create a new menu‘.

2. Give your new menu a name. If it’s going to be displayed in the header you usually want your most important pages here, so I tend to just call mine ‘Main Menu‘.

3. Click ‘Create Menu‘.

The next step is selecting which pages you want to display in the menu and where you want the menu to be displayed.

4. Select the individual pages you want in the menu or click ‘Select All‘.

5. Once the pages are added, decide which order they should be in. You can drag and drop each page below or above one another. You can also drag and drop a page into another page.

This would then be classified as a ‘sub-item’. This is useful if for example you have a ‘services’ page and want to display a drop-down menu showing each individual service.

6. Choose where you want the menu to be displayed.

7. Click ‘Save Menu‘.

Now visit your homepage and see the result.

Widgets

If you navigate to the main dashboard menu and click on ‘Appearance‘ you should see an option called ‘Widgets‘.

Click this and you will be taken to a page that will show you all the available widgets you can use within your theme. You can select a feature on the left and drag and drop it into your preferred widget area.

So what actually is a widget? 

Widgets are essentially small blocks that contain specific functions. Widgets give us more control over the design and functionality of our websites and allow us to add content into certain areas.

You can, however, add content to other areas – if your WordPress theme allows this or if you know the code to do it.

Adding widgets using code though can be tricky.

This is actually one of the reasons I use the Genesis framework by Studiopress. Remember I talked about Studiopress earlier?

Using the Genesis framework, you can add a variety of different widgets to your homepage in no time at all, making it very easy to build a highly customized WordPress website.

In order to actually customize the style of your WordPress website, you will need to head over to ‘Appearance‘ and click on ‘Customize‘.

If you have installed a premium theme, there will usually be quite a few customization options here. A free theme may be limited in this regard.

Again, this is very much a matter of just playing around and seeing how everything works. Of course, you can hire a professional to customize your site for you, you will save hours if not days, but this can be expensive.

Taking it further

If your WordPress Theme lacks customization options or you just need something a bit more professional looking, there is a way around this without having to hire a professional. We can use the ‘Additional CSS‘ option to achieve this.

What is CSS? 

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets and is code that is used to style a websites design and layout.

Using the ‘Additional CSS‘ option as I mentioned, you can type the code into the CSS editor and your design changes will be made instantly. This is programmed as a visual editor, so any changes made will be seen in real-time.

You’ll also be able to see how your site looks on other devices such as tablets and mobile.

Now because I created this article for beginners, I will assume you don’t have the feinted idea what I’m talking about. And that’s fine!

But if you really want full control over how your WordPress website looks, I highly recommend you invest a bit of time learning about this.

Step 8: Keeping Your WordPress Website Secure

Keeping your WordPress website secure is actually very easy to do if you take the proper precautions. Follow my checklist below and you’ll be able to sleep soundly at night.

Step 9: Configuring The Settings

There shouldn’t actually be too much to change within the settings of your WordPress website, as the default settings are generally fine.

However, there are two important things I always make sure I do before anything else.

1) Change Permalink Structure

The very first thing I usually do is change the permalink structure. A permalink is essentially the URL of a particular page or post and when configured correctly, can improve SEO and increase the chances of a visitor actually clicking on that page or post.

To show you what I mean, this is the current URL of this blog post:

lifestylerevamp.com/create-wordpress-website

As you can see, it’s easy to read and very user-friendly.

If I used the default settings, it would look like this:

lifestylerevamp.com/2020/03/16/create-wordpress-website

For some reason, WordPress thinks it’s necessary to include the date within the permalink structure. It’s obvious to see which URL looks more professional. So let me show you how to change this, it’s very easy.

The first thing you need to do is navigate to the settings menu which is located on the left-hand side of the main WordPress dashboard. Click on ‘Settings‘ → ‘Permalinks‘.

To change the permalink structure from default to my recommendation,  simply check the box that says ‘Post name‘.

You’ll see the structure has now been changed from: /%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/

to: /%postname%/

That’s it! Easy peasy.

Summary

I hope this article has given you the help you need to start creating your website. I have tried my best to include all the important steps that are involved in the process of setting up a website using WordPress.

It has taken me a great deal of time and effort to write this article, so I would be extremely thankful if you could share it with anyone you feel might benefit from reading it.

Finally, I would like to remind you that there is no such thing as the perfect website. Therefore, please don’t be disheartened if your website doesn’t look quite right just yet.

Creating a truly amazing website takes time and a lot of experience and let’s not forget…Rome wasn’t built in a day.