How to build a website from scratch with WordPress.

I share all of the steps and tools I use to get my clients WordPress websites up and running.  Check out the video and all the links to the tools I use are below.

Before you start the whole process of building your own website or getting your website built, you need to figure out your Business Model

• Who is your customer,
• What problem are you solving for them and
• How are you going to make money

What is WordPress

WordPress is a Content Management System which basically means a website creation tool where you can add content and images to your website and blog without needing to know how to program or know how to code.  It powers over 30% of all websites, so 1 in four websites ever created have been created using WordPress.

It is open source meaning (free to use at it core) and has the most active developer community meaning that as technology changes so does WordPress to meet those growing needs.  What type of website can you build using WordPress? Business websites, ecommerce/online shops, blogs, porfolios, membership sites, online learning portals, directories the list goes on.

Step 1 – Purchase Domain name

Choose a Business Name. See if that name is available using a free tool https://namechk.com. Once you have a name sorted, purchase a Domain Name. Some domain name registrants are https://au.godaddy.com/, https://www.crazydomains.com.au/and there are heaps more.

You want to find a company that has 24 hr support. You shouldn’t have to pay more than $30 a year for a domain name. If you want to be a global business get the .com extension, if you are an Australian business and want to attract Australian customers get the .com.au extension. You will need an Australian Business Number (ABN) or an Australian Company Number (ACN) if you want an Australian .au extension. Australian extensions are a little more expensive.

Step 2 – Purchase Hosting

Register for Hosting so that you have somewhere to store your website. Look for hosts that have WordPress already installed and who know WordPress really well.  24hr support is also handy and most good hosting companies now offer a free SSL certificate (we will talk about this later). Bluehost and Siteground are great WordPress Hosts

Step 3 – Point your Domain name to your Host (Server).

Point your domain name at your host so that when people type your domain name into the browser they land on your website. Simply add your Host’s Nameserver into the DNS field in your Domain Name manager 

To find your Host Nameserver you can contact your Host or you can find it under Domains. To find where to add the Nameservers into your Domain Manager, login to your Domain registrant and navigate to DNS area and add them as custom Nameservers.

Step 4 – Design your layout

Get inspired by other websites, search online to find website designs that you like and that could work for your business. You can find inspiration on Pinterest . Create a Wireframe of your website. A Wireframe is a simple sketch up of each page of your website. By drawing out each page you can work out how you want your customer to navigate around your site and what elements you need on your site.

Step 5 – Create your Brand

You need to decide on your brand. So create a logo, choose colours, decide on images and fonts to use and what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. Canva is a great free design platform that has tutorials to make this process easy. Or hire a graphic designer to do it for you.

The most important thing is to keep it simple and consistent. When you have your brand sorted it makes designing your website a whole lot easier.

Step 6 – Purchase a great Theme

Find a really great Theme that makes building your site easy and future proof. It needs to be mobile friendly/responsive because everyone looks at websites on mobile now. Make sure there is a good support network and that it gets updated regularly.

The Divi Theme with the Divi Builder makes building out your website super easy, it is mobile responsive, has great support, has a huge community with thousands of how to do video’s on Youtube. (if you click on Divi and then purchase the Divi theme I will earn a commission)

Step 7 – Build it out

Login into WordPress (you can login directly to your WordPress site from your host or you can go to yourdomain.wp-admin). Install your theme and builder (this will differ depending on what theme you are using). Then you can start to build out your webpages, your home page, about page, contact page (remembering to refer back to your wireframe and inspiration).

Next you need to set up your menu which links all of the pages together. Remember a website is just made up of lots of different pages that need to be linked together.

 Step 8 – Security

Make your site secure by adding an SSL certificate (most hosts will install this for you for free). What is SSL certificate? Basically, when you install an SSL certificate onto your site it creates a secure connection so when visitors enter their details on your site from emails to credit cards, their details are kept safe.

You will notice http becomes https and you will have a padlock on your url address. You may need to add a plugin (Really Simple SSL) to move http to https. Add a Firewall plugin such as Wordfence to act as a firewall. What is a firewall? A firewall monitors traffic to your website and blocks traffic that is not wanted. Update your plugins every week. Backup your site every week or more often if needed, a great plugin for backing up is Updraft Plus

Step 9 – SEO (get ranked higher in Google)

Add a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) plugin such as Yoast SEO to your WordPress site. What is a plugin? Basically a plugin is pieces of code that developers have written that you can literally plugin and start using, so that you don’t have to write any code. Yoast SEO plugin makes it easy to add keywords and meta description to every page and post on your website.
Add your website to Google Search Console so that Google is aware of your site and can start crawling it and understanding what your site is all about. Add your business to Google My Business, this is another great free tool from google where customers can leave reviews you can add opening hours and your address and its’a great way to get your business found on google. Make sure you link your Socials (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube) as well so that people can link through and like your socials. One of the best ways to rank in google is to create regular relevant content. The best way to do this is to add a blog to your website and to give your customers great content. It needs to be relevant and valuable to your customer. 7 free tricks to increase rank in Google

See you next time lovely humans

Leisa