The WordPress website is one of the most used content management systems worldwide. It can be used for e-commerce stores, business websites, blogs, and portfolios.
With its user-friendly interface, huge plugin options and customisable themes, this website builder can be easy to use for beginners and even those with years of web designer expertise. However, maintaining your WordPress website is most important, and can be time-consuming.
To help build and manage your website you can hire a dedicated WordPress developer to do this for you, while you focus on creating content and business development. Having a well-structured and optimised website build can save you time and money.
If you’re starting out and want to build your own site, here are 10 things you need to consider when building a WordPress website.
Table of Contents
Top 10 Essentials for Building Your WordPress Website
1. Define Your Website’s Purpose
To gain access to building a WordPress website, you need to install WordPress first. You can sign up using a professional email address which will be linked to the website. Next, you need to work on what the website will be about. Knowing the purpose of your website is the first step in the development process of creating websites. There are two key components that you need to consider when deciding on your website’s purpose.
Identify the primary goals
Decide what type of website this will be, as each type has its own functionality and design to meet the objective of the wordpress site.
- Blog Post: this wordpress site is best for people who want to share their own experiences, information and insight with readers. Using the blog format will help readers engage with the content created and interact via social sharing and comments.
- Portfolio: A portfolio type of wordpress site is ideal for creative professionals. This type of website can be used to showcase work from designers, artists and photographers.
- E-commerce: This website is best for people selling services or products.
- Business and Corporate Site: This website is ideal for a business website to show their contact details, background and services. For marketing purposes, a blog section can be included to help draw traffic.
- Community or Forum: A forum or community website can be used to generate interest around a specific topic to get the community’s interaction on it.
Understand Target Audience Needs
Once you have decided what the purpose of the wordpress website will be you need to find your target audience. Consider the following when putting together the audience for your website.
- Demographics: Include location, gender, age and interest of target audiences.
- User Behaviour: Do research to understand how audiences respond to similar content via other web pages.
- Engagement and Feedback: Conduct surveys or put together focus groups to help you understand how your audience will engage with the content and learn what their preferences and expectations are.
2. Choose the Right Domain Name
Another important step in website building is the domain name. Having a well-chosen domain name will enhance your brand’s memorability, credibility and visibility.
Here are some tips you can use when choosing a domain name:
- Use a short domain name- this will make it easy to remember and easy to spell.
- Avoid using numbers and symbols in the domain name. This can create confusion when searching for it online.
- Use relevant keywords in the name to reflect what the web page is about.
- Choose a unique name that will stand out in comparison to competitors.
- Use a generic domain name that is not too specific to a service or product should you offer a variety of products and services.
- Check if the domain name you have chosen is available before using it.
Choosing your domain extensions is just as important. Here are some things you need to consider when choosing a domain extension.
Different extensions have different meanings, for example, .edu refers to educational institutions or websites, while .org refers to non-profit organisations.
You also have to take into account Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you have a recognisable extension, this can help users click on your wordpress site and push your online store or blog up the search engine rankings.
Your domain extension also adds to the credibility and trust factor. A recognisable extension that is used by other services will encourage visitors to engage with the website.
3. Select a Reliable Hosting Provider
There are different types of web hosting providers that you can choose from. You need to find a web hosting provider that offers you the most pros and least cons to ensure that your web hosting service works efficiently.
Here are the different types of hosting:
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
This server hosts a virtualized service that allows multiple virtual servers from one physical server. However, each VPS operates on its own which allows for better control than with shared hosting.
Pros of using VPS Hosting:
- More control over server settings
- Better security functions than with shared hosting
- Offers reliability and greater performance
Cons of using VPS Hosting
- Is more expensive than shared hosting
- Users need to know more about the technical aspects to be able to manage it effectively
Shared Hosting
This type of web hosting refers to multiple websites using a single server and sharing its resources. Small businesses or personal websites usually choose this option as it is the most cost-effective.
Pros of using Shared Hosting:
- Easy to manage and use
- Cheaper option
Cons of using Shared Hosting:
- Security risks due to shared hosting
- Less control over server settings
- Slower performance and limited resources
Dedicated Hosting
This refers to having one website server dedicated to your website. This option is usually for large business websites or websites that get high-traffic.
Pros of using Dedicated Hosting
- Reliability and high performance
- Security features are enhanced
- Users have full control of server settings and resources
Cons of using Dedicated Hosting
- Technical expertise is required to manage the website effectively
- More expensive than VPS and Shared Hosting
Here are some aspects you need to consider when choosing a hosting service.
- Speed: If your website is slow-loading, it will result in lower search engines ranking and people will find alternative websites to use. Your website’s speed is important for retaining customers.
- Uptime: Refers to the time your website is operational and accessible.
- Scalability: Your web hosting needs may change and a web host offering scalable solutions will allow resources to be upgraded easily.
- Customer Support: Customers may run into technical issues when using the website and a reliable 24/7 customer support service will be beneficial when choosing your web service host.
4. Pick a Suitable WordPress Theme
WordPress website’s have customisable wordpress themes to choose from. It is important that you choose a design that looks good both on a mobile device, or a desktop.
Here are some aspects to consider when you choose a wordpress theme.
Aesthetics
The visuals of your wordpress website will attract and keep visitors to your site. You need to choose a typography, a layout and a colour palette that will align with the products and services you are selling.
Functionality
The theme you choose should be fully functionally with wordpress plugins such as e-commerce capabilities, multimedia support and social media integration. WordPress plugins can help enhance the overall performance of the website.
Customisability
A customisable theme will ensure that the design of your website meets the specific features that you want such as the layout, types of font and colours.
User experience
Your theme should allow for fast loading times, and allow for an interactive site with easy navigation and quick search results from the wordpress dashboard.
5. Plan Your Website Structure
Your website structure should be planned out before you start building your website. A well-planned structure will enhance search results and user experience making it easy to navigate through the web pages.
Ensure that the navigation menu is clear and easily accessible on the wordpress website. This will section different content and allow users to find what they need easily.
6. Optimize for SEO from the Start
Search engine optimisation is important when you build a wordpress website. The aim of using SEO is to get wordpress sites to rank high in the search engines. This will fall under the marketing strategies used to gain more traffic.
There are some basic SEO practices that wordpress users can implement:
Keyword research: This practice refers to using specific terms and phrases to identify what your target audience is looking for. There are wordpress plugin tools such as Ahrefs or SEMrush that can be installed into WordPress to help conduct keyword research.
You can also use google analytics to show which keywords ranks high via the google search console.
Meta Tags refer to title tags and meta descriptions. Title tags are descriptive tags that will be listed on each page and includes the primary keyword. These tags are around 50-60 characters and are used to encourage users to click on the title.
Meta descriptions are informative summaries of the content on the web page. These are usually 150-160 characters including keywords that are relevant.
Alt Text: This is image optimisation that will help you describe the images you have on your website.
To make your website’s SEO practices easier, you can also install wordpress plugins such as Yoast SEO to enhance the site.
7. Ensure Mobile Responsiveness
Although WordPress is a desktop platform, it is important that your pages are mobile friendly for WordPress users who will access the site from their smartphone.
Here are some important aspects of having a website that is mobile responsive.
- Website is easy to navigate on mobile screens.
- Google analytics prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in their SEO rankings.
- Conversation rates are increased.
- Wider audience reach as more people are using their smartphones to access websites.
- Gives website a competitive advantage.
8. Implement Security Measures
There are some common security threats that can affect WordPress sites therefore it is important that you protect your site by implementing security measures.
These common security threats include malware and viruses, SQL injection, brute force attacks, outdated software, insecure hosting and cross-site scripting.
The following WordPress plugins such as Sucuri security, Wordfence security, and iThemes security can be used to enhance the security of your site.
Website owners can also regularly update the website, use strong passwords, and implement two-factor authentication to minimise security risks.
9. Plan for Content Creation and Management
To be successful it is important that your plan your content and manage it. Here are some tips that you can use for content creation and management.
Always have clear objectives when creating content, this means each strategy should include building brand awareness, generates leads or increase website traffic.
Tailor content to your target audience preferences and expectations by reaching out to their pain points or interests. You also need to be consistent in your brand voice.
Incorporate SEO practices in your approach. Another way to stay consistent in your content creation is to have a content calendar to help you publish posts.
10. Monitor Performance and Analytics
Constantly monitoring the performance of your website is easy by keeping tabs on the analytics on your WordPress dashboard. This will indicate all you need to know about user engagement, loading speed and other metrics needed to help you improve your site for overall user experience.
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