6 Steps to Build a Website with WordPress

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With over 64 million WordPress websites, if you build a website with WordPress you’re in good company.

A WordPress website is more than just a platform to attract the right people to your small business.

You can turn your small business into an empire, with a WordPress site, its plugins, and other capabilities,

6 Steps to Build a Website with WordPress

Building your own website may seem overwhelming.

An impossible feat for anybody not a pro or amateurish at web design or web developer.

After spending the last few years building websites, here are my 6 steps to get you started.

Choose A WordPress Host

In the first step of learning how to build a website, choose a WordPress host.

Choosing a WordPress host isn’t just as easy as going onto Google and picking one at random.

Consider

  • Budget
  • Matching your needs
  • SEO
  • Customer support

Check out these best WordPress hosting companies.

Alternatively you could consider Wix.

Here’s a quick comparison for you as to how Wix and WordPress compares with SEO, mobile-friendliness, and pricing.

Domain Name

Having a domain name that fits your brand is an obvious thing to do.

But as entrepreneurs and small businesses evolve, your website will do so also.

So you could choose the best domain name for your business today, but as time goes on and things evolve, that domain won’t necessarily be the perfect fit.

Another option is to just choose your name and create a personal brand.

If you choose to go with a personal brand, then using your own name as the domain is the obvious choice.

If your stuck though trying to choose the perfect domain name, there’s help out there.

Here are the 5 best domain name generators for ideas to create the best domain.

Pick a free WordPress theme

After you’ve signed up for a website host, you need to design it.

To start designing your WordPress site, you need to choose your WordPress theme to help you give it the look that you want.

How to choose a WordPress theme

There are many different WordPress themes to choose from.

Some are free (with paid upgrades) and some are paid only.

If this is your first website, I would suggest going with a free WordPress theme.

Going with a free WordPress theme first gives you the opportunity to see what’s out there first before making any commitments.

You don’t want to end up in a situation where you’ve paid a lot of money for a theme and you just absolutely hate it.

Take the time to research what’s out there.

Nobody is going to care if you change your theme a few months or years after launching your website.

Here’s a list of free WordPress plugins

WordPress plugins are like apps for your website.

They give you the functionality that you need to optimize it and to allow your website to do what you want it to do.

For example, if you want to create a membership site.

You need a WordPress plugin for this.

If you want to sell physical or digital products then you need a WordPress plugin for this.

Top free WordPress plugins you need are

  • Yoast SEO
  • Site Kit
  • Elementor
  • WooCommerce
  • Anti Spam Bee

Check out the full list here of the top 11 WordPress plugins when starting a website.

These WordPress plugins will help you to optimize your site, remove spammers, and get subscribers.

Supercharge traffic to your WordPress site with SEO

What good is it having a WordPress site if nobody sees it apart from your mom?

This is why you need to use SEO to get people from around the world seeing your site.

SEO comes down to 2 things

  1. OnPage
  2. OffPage

OnPage SEO is about creating content and using keywords to make your content searchable search engines.

OffPage SEO ia about marketing your website on social media, Pinterest, and building backlinks.

To build a website with WordPress from scratch, you need to concentrate on building it first.

Build your website with content.

Content in the form of pages and blog posts.

Keep reading to learn how to blog for SEO, you can use this section to learn how to create pages.

social media content planner

Blog for SEO

Are blogs even good for SEO?

This is a common question often asked.

Without a doubt creating any content for blogs or pages is good for SEO.

But to make sure you really do get the best results from your content, do your research.

More specifically, do your keyword research.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is what you need to know all about when creating content for your website.

Keywords are what people are typing into search bars to find the solution to their problems.

Or they type in keywords to find more information about topics and products.

Depending on the user as to the type of keyword they’ll type in.

Types of keywords can be put into 5 different categories

  1. Transactional
  2. How to’s/Tutorials
  3. Questions
  4. Comparisons
  5. Listicles

As a blogger, you’ll want to use each type of blog to get the best results and topical authority.

To find keywords you can use these keyword research tools to help you out.

Keep reading for alternative methods to find keywords that are at your fingertips.

Facebook and Quora

Another method I love for keyword research is using Facebook groups and Quora.

Go where your target market hangs out such as entrepreneurship Facebook groups and Quora Spaces.

When you join these groups and spaces you will start to understand the exact problems they have and the keywords they use.

Google For Content Ideas

There are many advantages to Google and provides you with a wealth of knowledge. Here are 4 tools inside of Google that you should be using to do your keyword research.

Google Suggest

Head over to Google and type your topic into the search field but don’t press Enter. Stop and take a look at the queue words that Google suggests for you.

Related to feature at the bottom of the Google search results. Google shows you other searches that are related to the keyword you just put in.

Google Keyword Planner

Google keyword planner is a tool hidden inside Google Ads. Type in your topic and it’ll show keywords plus data for the keyword.

Data on Google keyword planner is

  • Average monthly searches
  • Competition
  • Cost per click (CPC)

As a rule of thumb, target keywords with high search volume and high cost per click. Keywords with these criteria are of high value to businesses.

Google trends show the trend of any given keyword. You’ll be able to see if it is a rising trend or a keyword that is declining.

Example

You’ve found two keywords that have similar search volume and commercial intent. But, you don’t know which one to pick. 

Looking at Google Trends you notice that one keyword is growing in popularity and the other is dropping like a stone. Obviously, you’d want to go with the keyword that’s growing a couple of years ago.

In A Nutshell,

Before you start a website for your freelance business, you need to know what to look for in choosing a website builder, how to build a website and have a content strategy to market your website.

About Post Author

Alison Wolf

Helping you to build an online business so you have an extra stream of income or quit the day job. Don't forget to follow me on social media using the handle @heyalisonwolf