Wordpress for Beginners:
Create Your Own Website
in Just 5 Steps
Why Wordpress?
Wordpress powers an astonishing 25% of all websites. It is a free website
management tool that makes it very easy to create and update your own
website.
Wordpress is not just for blogs. It has a massive plugin and theme
ecosystem that enables you to make any type of website (ecommerce, social
network etc.) without needing to know how to code.
Plugin Ecosystem: Plugins allow you to easily add custom functions and
features to your WordPress site.
Theme Ecosystem: A WordPress theme provides all of the front end styling
of your WordPress site, like page layouts, fonts and colors. This makes it very
easy to make a great looking site quickly even if you don't know how to write
code.
1. Choose a Domain Name
Follow these simple guidelines when choosing your domain name:
.Com: Go for ".com" extension as it's easy to remember and trustworthy.
Brandable: Make it distinct, easy to remember so that it rolls off the
tongue.
Length: Keep it less than 20 characters.
Keywords: You don't need to include keywords in your domain name but it is
a good idea to have a name that suggests what your business is about e.g.
Facebook, Dropbox etc.
Check availability: Use NameVine to check the availability of your domain
name on all domains extensions and social networks.
Crowdsource domain ideas: If you are struggling to come up with a domain
name, check out Namestation. I ran a contest and got 168 suggestions from
14 different people - pretty good for $35.
2. Domain Registration & Hosting Account
Domain Registration & Hosting Account. Use Ecowebhosting.co.uk or
Bluehost.com to register your domain name and set up a hosting account for
your website. Both are easy to use, reliable and inexpensive. Note if you are a
student of the CompleteWebDevelopCourse you get 12 months free web
hosting worth $100.
Add Ons:I did not sign up for any of the extra web hosting services but
review them and add where appropriate.
ICANN verification: Required within 15 days of purchasing the domain or
your domain may be suspended. Simply, verify your registered email
address by clicking the link in the ICANN verification email you
automatically receive from your registrar.
Support: Contact your domain registrar or hosting company to resolve any
issues experienced during this set up process.
3. Install Wordpress
Login into your hosting account (Ecowebhosting, bluehost) and take these steps
to install Wordpress:
Click on your domain name to open up the cpanel (control panel)
Scroll down the page to the “CGI Scripts” section. Click on the Install
WordPress logo and wait for the new page to load.
Create a Wordpress account and click “Install Wordpress”.
Log into WordPress using the username and password created in the previous
step.
You will now have access the the Wordpress Dashboard. This is the backend
of your website where you can edit your site and add content.
To see what you site looks like click on your domain name at the top of the
dashboard and then “visit site”.
4. Add Pages / Posts
Add Pages: Click Pages > Add New in the sidebar of your Wordpress
Dashboard. Click “change permalinks” and select “post name” to set the
url by default to the post titlel. Set up these 2 pages to get started:
/about + /thank-you
Add Menus: Click Appearance > Menus > create a new menu. Select created
pages and click “add to menu”. Select new menu as your “primary menu”.
Add Posts: Click Posts > Add New (the same process as creating new pages).
5. Install Google Analytics for Wordpress
Install Plugin: “Monster Insights for Google Analytics”. Easy to use & free.
Login into Google Analytics. Go to Admin> Create a New Property to
generate a tracking id for your new website.
Add tracking id to website. click “authenticate with Google” inside the
plugin to start collecting data from your website.
Filter Internal Traffic so you don't skew your data: Click admin> filters>add
filter>predefined filter> exclude traffic from IP address.
Enable Demographics Reports: Collect age, demographics and interest data
so you can understand you audience better. Click admin>property setttings>
enable demographics and interest reports.
Goal Tracking: We will set up a goal to track email sign ups in the email
marketing section of the course.
Bonus: Consider a Premium Theme
What are Wordpress Themes? A WordPress theme provides all of the front
end styling of your WordPress site, like page layouts, fonts and colors. This
makes it very easy to make a great looking site quickly even if you don't know
how to write code.
Benefits: There are both free and premium themes but Premium themes
often come with the design, functionality, support and consistent updates
required to run a professional site.
Where to Buy: This site uses the Schema theme from MyThemeShop. The
professional look helps to increase visitor trust and keep people on the site
longer (which is great for SEO!). I was able to install and customise the theme
in just a few clicks. Their support forums are also very helpful to resolve any
questions I have.
How to Install your Theme: Once you finish the checkout go to
appearance>themes to upload and activate your theme.
I hope you found this Wordpress for beginners tutorial guide helpful! Scroll to
the next page to share your ideas.
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