Doing sports, a healthy diet, an English course, spending more time with your family and friends… Surely you have a thousand resolutions in mind for 2018, but have you considered getting serious about your business? We want to help you give your company a little boost and help you decide once and for all to launch your website. Seriously, it is not complicated at all and we want to prove it to you. In this post we give you a complete guide in which we explain how to create a website in WordPress.
But why do I need to have a website?
Having a website means having an online presence, that is, being on the Internet and this can be a key aspect when it comes to carving out a space for yourself among your competition. Because? These are some of the reasons, but there are many more!
More visibility
You are not limited only to the local area in which you have your business. People can find you on the Internet so your potential clients grow exponentially.
More clients
Imagine that a friend tells you about a shoe store that he loved in your city, but you had never heard of it. What is the first thing you do? Look for it on the Internet, or not? It is the easiest way to get to know it and, if you like what you see, visit it. Without a website, this is much more difficult.
Your business is always open
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your customers will be able to see your products, send you a question through a contact form or consult any information about your company whenever they want.
You show a more professional image
Having a website gives you credibility and trust with your suppliers and clients. The possibility that they can contact you by providing them with all your contact information such as, for example, your email account, address, telephone number or the hours of your business is a point in your favor and they value it.
The best showcase
You can display all your products, prices, promotions, all related information and even, if you want to go one step further, you can create a blog. You will be able to show others everything you know about your sector and publicize your products or services.
Convinced to launch your own website? If so, keep reading. Next, we explain how to create a website in WordPress. Take note!
How to create a website in WordPress step by step
We already told you at the beginning of everything and we want to prove it to you: creating a website is not difficult at all, quite the opposite. You don’t need technical knowledge, there are a lot of CMS or content managers with which you can publish your site without touching a drop of code; simply adding the text and images you choose.
Below, we explain it to you step by step so that you do not have any problems.
- Choose the name of your website and register your domain
The first thing you should do is choose the name you want for your website. It will be the name that is associated with your brand on the Internet, so it is one of the most important decisions when creating a website.
Our recommendation: Choose a domain name that identifies with the name of your business and, if it is not available (which is very likely), combine it with a keyword through which you think your customers can reach your business. Also, try to make it easy to pronounce and remember, don’t have strange characters, and don’t let the name limit you. Here are two very clear examples so you can see the difference:
Domain shirtsparamensalmeria.com
Ok, it may be an explicit domain and people will come to it because it is exactly what they are looking for, but it may prevent the growth or expansion of your business. Perhaps at a certain point, you decide to expand your business and sell women’s dresses, or you simply decide to open a new store in Granada. Your domain would no longer be identified with your activity.
Domain halconviajes.com
It is a short domain, easy to remember and manages to include your brand and a keyword related to the sector you are dedicated to in the name. Seems like a good choice, right?
It is not always possible, nor is it a universal rule that works in all cases. Choosing and registering your domain is a very important decision that you must dedicate time to.
- Hire a hosting plan
The second key piece of the puzzle to create your own website. Web hosting is the service that allows you to store information, images, videos, sounds or any other content so that it is accessible on the Internet. That is, a very powerful computer connected to the Internet, also known as a web server, which allows a web page to be accessible and available 24 hours a day.
For example, if it is your first website, you can start with a shared hosting plan. For example, SSD Hosting is a very good option. As they have more modern discs, they lack moving parts and are less sensitive to vibrations. So that you understand us, they offer much greater performance than traditional disks, reducing the loading times of your website considerably, a very important aspect if you want to position your website on Google!
First, try it!
We understand that purchasing a product without having ever tried it is always a bit difficult for us. That’s why we offer you a 15-day free trial period. No obligation, without entering any payment information. We simply want you to try it and, if it convinces you, stay with us.
Also, if you think it is not yet time to launch your website, but you want to see how a hosting plan works or you simply do not want more expenses at the moment, you can get a free Hosting plan. It is a free web hosting service, with fewer resources than normal hosting, but it is also a good way to get started.
- Install WordPress
If this is your first web project or you are just starting out, we recommend that you use a content management system like WordPress. Currently, more than 60% of web pages created with a CMS are done with WordPress. The possibilities it offers are endless; You have a lot of templates available and plugins that add new functionalities to your website and what’s more, it’s completely free!
All of our hosting plans include an application auto-installer that allows you to get up and running on WordPress with just a couple of clicks. So you can see how easy it is, below we summarize it in 3 simple steps:
1st. Access the control panel of your hosting and, in the “Softaculous Apps Installer” section, click on the WordPress logo.
2nd. If you click on “Instal Now” again, you will see that a new window opens in which you must fill in your website data.
- Domain you are going to use
- Directory. For example, if you are installing on the main domain, you should leave it empty. On the other hand, if you want to install it in a directory like yourdomain.com/blog, you must write “blog” there.
- Establish the name of your website and a short description of the site.
- Choose the administrator user, a password and also establish a valid email account.
- If you want, you can select the templates and plugins now, but it is not necessary to do so in this step.
3rd. Click on “Install”
If you click through the access URL (Admin URL), you will already be inside the WordPress panel. Easy, right?
- Choose a template
It’s time to shape your website. In the official WordPress repository you have a lot of templates available to install on your website. To make this search easier, in the “Feature Filter” section you can choose the type of template you want: a website for education, entertainment, vacation food… There are many possibilities!
To install it, go to the “Appearance”-“Themes” section. There you can select the ones that are predefined when installing WordPress or search for a different one by clicking on “Add themes.”
These templates are completely free, but if you are looking for something more customized or these designs simply do not convince you, you can opt for a premium template. For example, the pages of Elegant Themes, Themeforest or CPOThemes are very good options
- Personalize it
Now is the time to create the content you want for your website and customize the template to your liking: color palette, typography, position of the elements… From the WordPress menu you have a lot of options available that make it very, but how very easy.
By default, many templates already include the essential pages that a website needs: Home Page, Contact, About, Products, Blog… But you can add the ones you need or eliminate the ones you are not going to use.
- Add new features with plugins
The templates are standard designs that you can enrich by using plugins. These plugins allow you to add new functionalities or different behaviors to your website and provide it with extra value. Like the templates, there is an official repository with no more and no less than 53 thousand plugins available for WordPress.
Installing plugins is similar to installing templates. In the WordPress administration panel, locate the “Plugins”-“Add new” section in the left menu.
- Start working on the SEO of your website
We know that it is a lot of information, but SEO positioning is key so that search engines like Google show your website in the search results. The better your position in the ranking, the more likely you are to appear in the first results when a user performs a search related to the content of your website.
Choose your keywords
Use keywords in the titles, subtitles, meta descriptions and in the content of your website so that search engines know what your content is about. These keywords are the terms that users enter into search engines like Google when they need to search for certain information.
Quality content
Publish content frequently and try to link your content through internal links to your site. If users have arrived at your page and can easily access other content on your website through an internal link, they will spend time browsing your website.
This is important for Google since it interprets that your content is interesting to the public and positively influences your position. Otherwise, if a user comes to your website and doesn’t like what they see, they will leave. The time spent on your website is very low and Google will interpret that your content is not relevant and will not show it in the main search results.
In conclusion
We know that it is a very basic guide, but we want to help you start creating your website and not abandon it halfway along the way. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so you need to be patient and put in the time. Think that creating a website will allow you to open your business to the world and it will never be wasted time or work.