WordPress Help and Support: How to Create a WordPress Website for Beginners

Believe it or not, understanding how to build a website from the ground up is one of the most important talents a small company owner may have in today's world.

Please be patient with me. This is why:

• You will save a lot of money on web developers and designers if you know how to build your own website.

• You'll also be able to keep up with market trends and add new features to your website without having to hire a coder.

Why You'll be able to keep ahead of the competition since, although they'll be bogged down by the requirement to contact developers, you'll be able to construct most things yourself (within reason, of course).

With that in mind, the most significant aspect of this puzzle is that you can learn how to design a WordPress website and then use it to create something amazing for your company or project on your own.

Last but not least, the DIY solution we're offering here is extremely cost-effective (no coding skills necessary). In fact, you can create and maintain a website for as little as $35 per year.

If you wish to create a WordPress website, here's a step-by-step guide:

1. Get a web hosting account (we recommend Bluehost).

2. Decide on a name for your website's domain.

3. Download and install the WordPress software for free.

4. Select a theme for your WordPress help and support for site.

5. Begin by making your first page.

6. Install a few necessary plugins.

7. Don't forget to advertise yourself.

Use one of the Bluehost links on this page to sign up for a web hosting account when you're ready. After going over them, you'll notice two things: (1) They are affiliate links, which means that if you buy through them, we will earn a small compensation, and (2) it will unlock a $2.75 vs $3.95 discounted pricing for you, along with a free domain. If you visit the Bluehost website in any other method, you will not be eligible for this offer.

A bird's eye perspective of how to construct a WordPress website

Okay, here's how we're going to go in the following few phases.

The main thing to remember is that everything is DIY-able (if that's a phrase) and we're cutting prices everywhere we can:

• What are the advantages of using WordPress as your website stage?

• How to choose a website name, purchase a domain, and set up hosting

• Become acquainted with the WordPress user interface.

• Select a website theme or design.

• Get plugins to expand the capabilities of your website.

• Make simple pages

• Think about creating a blog.

• Make changes to your site's navigation.

In summary, by the conclusion of this book, you'll have a working, gorgeous website that won't leave you in debt.

In terms of money, we won't spend much time in this course discussing how to make money from your website. We do, however, have alternative options. Take a look at them:

• 17 of the Best Ways to Make Money Blogging

• Three Easy Steps to Integrate AdSense With WordPress

Step 1: Select WordPress as the platform for your website.

To be honest, there are a lot of website systems you may utilize when creating a new site — they're known as Content Management Systems (CMS).

The purpose of a content management system (CMS) is to provide you with simple tools that allow you to change your site's content without knowing how to code. For the most part, such CMS resemble the familiar interfaces of Facebook or Google Docs from the user's perspective. You just develop new pages or documents and then post them to the internet.

But that's enough with the jargon! As I previously stated, there are several CMSs available — more than 100, according to Wikipedia.

Fortunately, selecting the finest one is straightforward. On top of the mountain, there is only one king: WordPress.

More than 43.1 percent of all sites utilize WordPress (data says). That's all there is to it!

To put it another way, WordPress powers nearly one out of every three websites you visit.

Here are some of the most important WordPress facts:

• It's free and open source.

• It's costless

• It's the ultimate do-it-yourself website builder

• It's extremely adaptable, allowing it to operate any style of website.

• It's quick, efficient, and safe.

• It's SEO-friendly, which makes it easy to promote.

Now, one essential distinction: we're talking about "WordPress, the program" here, not "WordPress, the platform." If you go to WordPress.org, you can locate it.

There's also "WordPress, the commercial service," which you can find by visiting WordPress.com. The distinctions between the two are described below. For the time being, keep in mind that what we desire is available at WordPress.org, which is a more adaptable and cost-effective version of the stage. All of this will become evident in the following phases.

Note to self: At this time, you don't have any actionable tasks to do. Step 1 is all about familiarizing yourself with the tool you'll use to develop your site in the following phases.

Step 2: Choose a name for your website, purchase a domain, and set up hosting.

Picking a name for your website is arguably the most enjoyable part of the entire process while learning how to construct one.

After all, you're free to do whatever you want here. For your website, you may basically choose whatever name you like.

However! There are still a few things you need to know in order to set yourself up for future success.

To begin with, there are over 2 billion (!) websites on the internet (at the time of writing). Staying original, in other words, may be difficult.

It's a good idea to base your website's name (and hence your domain name) on either your organization's name (the most apparent method) or a phrase connected with the niche you're in, but with a few more words for greater brandability.

In a nutshell, a good domain name is:

• Brandable - distinctive sounds, unlike anything else on the market

• simple to remember

• succinct – these are also easy to remember.

• simple to write and difficult to mix up - you don't want users to be stumped as to how to spell your website's name.

• adding niche-related keywords — for example, if you sell pizza, it's a good idea to include "pizza" anywhere in the site's name; this strategy also works in non-pizza sectors.

Here's a short tool you may use to see if the domain name you want is still available:

If you're not sure which domain you want, use our no. 1 generator - Domain Wheel – to discover how it may assist you.

Begin by entering a seed term that accurately describes your website.

Domain Wheel will respond with some recommendations. From there, you may narrow it down to select your ideal domain name.

Once you've decided on a domain name, the following step is to register it and purchase a hosting package all at once. Next, let's deal with that:

a) Purchasing a domain name and web hosting

Note that, while purchasing a hosting plan may appear scary at first, there is nothing to be concerned about. The procedure we're going to show you is simple and doesn't require any technological expertise.

Note to newcomers: What exactly is hosting?

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of firms that can help you register a new domain name. There are also a plethora of businesses that can sell you a hosting bundle...

But instead of making things more difficult for ourselves, let's acquire everything from a single source — and all at once.

We'll be using Bluehost. This is why:

• Bluehost is a renowned web host that is WordPress-optimized and will ensure that your website runs smoothly.

• It's one of the few businesses listed on the WordPress.org website.

• It's inexpensive (starting at $2.75 per month)

• It's simple to use and suitable for beginners.

• You get a free domain name

What's going to happen now is as follows:

1. We'll go to Bluehost and select a hosting package for our website.

2. We're also going to register a domain with Bluehost (the domain is free).

3. We'll instruct Bluehost to install and configure a fresh copy of WordPress on our new server.

4. We'll walk away with a fully functional WordPress website!

Let's get this party started — here's how to establish a website:

To begin, go to Bluehost by clicking here. Click the "Choose Plan" button after you've arrived at the page.

If you're starting a new website, the cheapest package, called Basic, will usually suffice. It just costs $2.75 per month:

In the following step, type in the domain name you've chosen for your website:

After that, enter your personal information:

It's a good idea to double-check and validate the settings of the hosting arrangement you've chosen before moving forward. This may be found in the package information section:

Note that if you buy your hosting package for at least 12 months, you'll get the best deal.

At this point, you can click "SUBMIT" to complete your order.

b) Instructing Bluehost to set up WordPress on your behalf

The only thing that's lacking now that you've signed up for Bluehost and have your hosting set up is WordPress.

While you can theoretically install WordPress yourself, why would you when you can have it done for you for free? Here's how to do it:

You should have gotten an email from Bluehost shortly after completing the sign-up process with instructions on how to log into your customer profile and start working on your site.

Once you've logged in, Bluehost will walk you through the process of installing WordPress on your hosting configuration using an easy-to-follow wizard.

You may also install WordPress by heading to the My Sites area and selecting the Create Site option:

Bluehost only requires the name of your new site and the username/password you wish to use to manage WordPress in order to install WordPress for you. Your site will be setup and ready to use once you've completed the process.

Step 3: Become acquainted with the WordPress help and user interface.

If you go to www.YOURDOMAIN.com/wp-admin/, you can access your WordPress user panel.

What you'll see is as follows: WP Support

Use the Bluehost access credentials you created in the previous stage (the "WordPress install screenshot" above).

You'll see the main WordPress interface in all its beauty after successfully login in:

• (1) Greetings message – Some of the most significant portions of the admin panel are presented as quick shortcuts links - they are often your shortcuts for building a website.

• (2) Your site's present status and what's going on with it.

• (3) Entries - this is where you will write your blog posts.

• (4) Media - this is where you may upload and manage photographs and other media files.

• (5) Pages — this is where you'll make sub-pages.

• (6) Comments - this is where you will be able to regulate the comments.

• (7) Appearance – this is where you may modify the look of your site and/or adjust how particular elements are displayed on the current design.

• (8) Plugins - this is where you'll install new plugins.

• (9) Users - control user accounts that have access to the website's admin panel.

• ten (10) parameters - the most important ones.

At this point, it's a good idea to take care of certain fundamental WordPress settings that will help you have a better experience later on.

a) Create a set of permalinks

Permalinks govern how your site's individual web page addresses (also known as URLs) are organized.

The best format is to include the title of the page in the URL. For example, your "about" page (which will be discussed further below) should be accessible via YOURSITE.com/about. You'll be able to do so if you correctly set the permalinks.

Go to Settings Permalinks in your WP dashboard's main sidebar to set your permalinks.

Select the following option once you've arrived: WP support

b) Making your website accessible to the general public

I assume you want Google to be able to locate and index your site. To be sure this is the case, click to Settings > Reading and uncheck the item labeled "Discourage search engines..."

c) Choose a title and slogan for your website.

Set the Site Title and Tagline boxes to what you want under Settings General.

Your site's title and tagline may appear in several locations on the page. Some WordPress support and themes include them on the homepage as well as in the SEO description, which Google utilizes to rank your website on search results pages.

The slogan is optional; if you don't have one for your site, you may leave it blank.

d) Whether or not to allow or disable comments

It is entirely up to you whether or not you want to accept comments on your website.

On the one hand, allowing people to post comments and queries beneath your articles/pages may be a terrific way to foster a sense of community around your website. On the other side, you'll be keeping your hands busy dealing with spam and ensuring that no trolling occurs.

It's up to you whether you want to enable or disable comments in Settings > Discussion.

e) Pingbacks and trackbacks are disabled.

I'm not sure why this option is still available in WordPress. It's largely a holdover from the days when pingbacks and trackbacks were commonplace.

If you want to learn how to construct a website in today's world, you can simply disable them by deselecting the following setting under Settings Discussion.

g) Decide on your time zone.

Setting your time zone accurately will improve the predictability of publishing new pages and articles.

In general, you should adjust the time zone to either your current location or the location of your target audience. Whichever option makes the most sense.

In Settings, General, you may change the time zone.

Now that we've got the fundamentals out of the way, we can move on to the fun stuff:

Step 4: Select a website theme or design.

The beauty of WordPress is that it uses themes, which are replaceable designs.

With only one click, you can change the appearance of your WordPress website.

For instance, here's how a WordPress website seems by default after installation:

We can make it to appear like this with only a few clicks using a popular free theme named Hestia, for example:

Here's how to do it: WP support

a) Select a theme that appeals to you.

WordPress themes, as previously said, are pre-made design packages that define the appearance of your website. You can rapidly install them and then alter them if necessary in the future.

The important point to remember is that themes do not modify the content of your site; they just change how it looks.

There are a plethora of WordPress themes available. There are hundreds of themes available in the official directory at WordPress.org.

That, however, is only the top of the iceberg. There are a lot more free themes available on third-party websites, and there's also a whole universe of commercial themes available from independent theme stores (like ThemeIsle or aThemes) and even theme markets (like ThemeForest).

Even while there are a plethora of premium themes available, most users will find that free themes are a fantastic place to start. One of the most unexpected aspects of some of the finest free themes is how many outstanding features they offer without asking for anything in return.

So, how do you choose the correct theme for you? If you want to take a closer look at this, here are some pointers. However, you shouldn't spend too much time on this and should instead choose the easy option.

We'll be able to do so since the theme you chose today does not have to be your final choice. You can always go back and alter it later in a matter of minutes.

To show how WordPress support for themes operate, we'll take a safe bet and utilize one of the most popular free themes on the market today. That theme is Hestia, as previously stated.

Note that, while Hestia will be used as an example in the next section, it is not the only free theme available. This is a collection of theme roundups for a variety of uses, including commercial websites, blogs, travel, cuisine, personal websites, and more. You are free to use any of the themes. The steps are the same.

b) Put your theme in place.

If the theme you want is listed in the WordPress.org official directory, all you need to do is type in the name of the theme to install it. Yep. That is all there is to it.

The following is how you install a theme:

From your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance Themes and then "Add New."

Then type in the name of the theme you wish to install, for example:

It will appear in the list under the search form. Simply click the Install button next to the theme you want to use:

The theme will be installed in a fraction of a second. Click the "Activate" button that will appear in lieu of the "Install" button to completely activate it on your site.

Hestia is one of those themes that has a large onboarding experience for new users. Click the button from the welcome prompt to see what the theme has in store for you.

You'll be sent to your main Hestia panel, where you may learn more about the theme and customize its default features with some extras. Let's get started right now.

To view what's available, first click the "Recommended Actions" option.

For the time being, we'll stick with "Orbit Fox Companion" as the sole option from the list. Simply select "Install and activate" from the drop-down menu.

Orbit Fox Companion is a plugin, so keep that in mind. Later in this lesson on how to construct a website, we'll go through WordPress plugins in greater detail.

Orbit Fox is a great addition to Hestia since it adds some amazing features to improve the design of your site. For example, you'll gain some new homepage modules, a template directory that'll come in handy when creating sub-pages (such "about" or "contact"), and custom menu icons.

At this point, your site's new theme is operational. By visiting YOURDOMAIN.com, you can witness it in action.

However, what you're seeing there isn't even close to the theme's full potential. We'll take care of adjusting the design, menus, and other components for the time being so that the site looks precisely how you want it to. Here's how to do it:

d) Make changes to the theme

While your theme's out-of-the-box appearance may be fairly great, you should still do some simple adjustments to make it match your needs perfectly.

Go to Appearance Customize to get started. The main WordPress Customizer interface will appear.

You can fine-tune a lot of stuff from there. We'll start with the most representative page, which is the homepage.

Creating your own homepage.

Perform the following actions: wordpress support or help

1. Select "Homepage Settings" from the sidebar.

2. Under your homepage display settings, choose "A static page."

3. Click "Add New" to make a new page that will serve as your homepage.

4. Give the page a name — "HOME" seems like a decent choice – and then click "Add."

This will create a fully personalized homepage in lieu of the default listing of your site's most current content. On your new homepage, you'll notice several nice components by default.

Let's start by changing the page's primary title. It's a good idea to include the name of your company or something else that will function as the site's title.

Click the pencil icon next to the headline to make the changes.

A customization window will display on the left when you do so.

You can use it to:

• Change the backdrop image to something relevant to your company.

• alter the title

• alter the wording behind the title — you can even remove it entirely if you like.

• Change the text of the buttons - they typically go to your items or the most important sites (more on that in a minute)

You can edit any of the other available homepage blocks underneath that. All of them are included by default (see the list in the Customizer sidebar under "Frontpage Sections"):

• The Features section is a fantastic area to describe what your firm offers or what the website's aim is - this is probably the most important item to remember as you learn how to construct a website.

• The About section is an excellent area to discuss your backstory.

• If your company employs a larger number of individuals and you'd want to promote them, you may utilize the Team section.

• You may also specify your major call to action on the Ribbon.

• The Testimonials area is fantastic for showcasing what prior customers have said about your company.

• The Contact area is where you may put your contact information and tell others how to get in touch with you.

There are a few additional portions accessible as well. It's advisable to look over them and choose the ones that make the most sense for your company and scenario.

Don't forget to hit the main "Publish" button at the top after you're finished customizing the homepage.

Typography is being tweaked.

The next step is to look after your site's typography, or the typefaces that appear across the site.

You may do this in the WordPress Customizer sidebar by navigating to Appearance Settings Typography. You'll be able to choose a typeface and see it appear on your site right away.

Colors.

Your new theme will employ a few of primary colors as its default color scheme right out of the box. In the WordPress Customizer, you can edit this setting. Simply select Colors from the main sidebar.

The Accent Color is typically used for buttons, links, and other elements of the site's design that are supposed to stand out.

After you've completed the steps above, your website will begin to feel like it's genuinely yours. You'll have completed all of the essential tweaks and changes to ensure that it matches your brand.

There are a lot more options to play around with in the WordPress Customizer. You can, for example:

• Choose your website's default layout, whether you want the sidebar to be on the left, right, or nowhere.

• the format in which you wish the blog listing to appear,

• if you prefer a single primary background picture for the entire website,

• the form of the buttons, among other things.

Step 5: Get plugins to expand the capabilities of your website.

Plugins are like applications for your iPhone when it comes to your WordPress site.

To put it another way, they enhance your site's normal functioning by providing certain much-needed features. Plugins are essentially how you may obtain some excellent features without understanding any coding while learning how to construct a website on your own.

Here are the plugins you should look into - and the greatest part is that they're all free:

Support wordpress or help: Fix speed issue for one time

• Yoast SEO - assists you in making search engine optimization modifications and making your site more search engine friendly in general.

• Google Analytics for WordPress - this plugin connects your website to the most prominent online traffic analysis tool.

• Wordfence Security - makes your WordPress site more secure.

• UpdraftPlus - backs up your website automatically.

• Optimole – improves the quality of your photographs.

• WPForms - allows you to add interactive contact forms to your website, allowing your visitors to contact you directly rather than having your email displayed in plain text.

• Also, have a look at this list of the most popular WordPress plugins ever. There's a good chance you'll discover something intriguing there as well.

Plugins are easy to install. If we're working with a free plugin, all you need is the name of the plugin.

Go to Plugins > Add New on your WordPress dashboard. Then, in the search window, type the name of the plugin you want, and then click "Install" and "Activate."

• Here's a guide on how to install WordPress plugins step by step.

Step 6: Make the foundational pages

Regardless of their purpose or objective, all websites should include certain sections.

But first, let's look at how to make a page in the first place:

To do so, go to your WordPress dashboard and select Pages Add New from the drop-down menu. This is the screen you'll see:

• (1) A location for the page's headline.

• (2) The primary material of the page is contained in the body section. The user interface is remarkably similar to that of Microsoft Word. You have access to all of the standard text formatting options (bold, italics, aligning text to the left/right/center, generating lists, and so on).

• (3) This button allows you to upload photos.

• (4) Use the Text and Visual editors to switch between them. Only use the former if you have a basic understanding of HTML coding.

• (5) The section titled "Publish" The primary Publish button is located here.

• (6) Deliberation. Make a decision on whether or not to enable comments. You can uncheck the "trackbacks and pingbacks" option.

• Featured picture (7) The featured picture is usually shown alongside your page in a prominent position in most WordPress themes.

Click "Publish" after you're finished modifying the page's content.

Now that you've gotten the how-to out of the way, here are the pages you should think about making:

• About - I've discussed this a few times because it's such an essential topic. Your About page is where you may explain what your website is all about and why visitors should care. This single page is essentially a must-have for anyone interested in learning how to create a website.

• Contact – this is where you can put your contact information as well as a great contact form so people may contact you directly (you can get such a form via the aforementioned WPForms plugin).

• Privacy Policy — on today's web, this page has become quite significant. Learn more about WordPress's privacy policy pages here.

• A portfolio is a location where you may show off your previous work.

• A store is essential if you want to sell anything on your website. You'll also need the famous WooCommerce plugin, which is the greatest e-commerce option for WordPress.

After you've finished with those, have a look at this list of 12 essential pages for your website.