There is a reason why WordPress is the choice of most people when it comes to blogging or creating a website. In fact, there are several. Let’s take a look and see if we can break this down into a WordPress design guide for you.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is an easy to use website creation tool. It has a lot of users. In fact, 24% of all web pages are built on WordPress. Over 500 new sites appear daily… all courtesy of WordPress. If you’re thinking of starting a website and you don’t have a lot of experience, WordPress is probably your best option.

professional themes

Themes determine the appearance of your website. WordPress seems to have something for everyone. They have a ton of free themes that you can choose from as you start designing your site. If you don’t find anything you like, explore the paid themes (Premium themes). You want to choose a theme that represents your business. If you can’t decide between a pair, you can change it later. Once you’ve developed a certain look that matches your brand, you’ll want to keep it the same. Your best bet is to play with it in the design phase before you release it.

accessories

Ask anyone about designing a site through WordPress, and they’ll likely tell you that it’s all about the plugins. These are software and programs that can be used in conjunction with WordPress sites. Because they are designed to be “plugged in”, they are all ready to interact with WordPress. These are designed to give you tools to monetize your site, expand your marketing, and engage with your audience.

the board

In WordPress, the Dashboard is where everything happens. It’s the place that holds it all together for you. You can access posts, pages, stats and analytics… run the program from the Dashboard.

Your domain name

One of the first things you’ll do is decide on a domain name. You have three main options to consider:

• yourname.com
• yourcompanyname.com
• descriptionofyourbusiness.com

Work towards a domain name that uniquely identifies you. If you choose your personal name, that’s great name recognition, but what if you sell your business or even the domain name itself? Will a buyer want your name as their domain name? Spend some time thinking about this.

web hosting

After designing your site, you will need to decide which hosting company to use. They will give your site a place to live.

Here are some options for finding a web host:

Shared Web Hosting –

The server is shared by other websites. This is the least expensive option and makes sense for most small sites.

Reseller Web Hosting –

This is basically shared hosting with additional tools such as billing software and management tools.

Cloud based web hosting –

The advantage here is that the server will be able to handle a large influx of traffic instead of crashing.

Virtual Private Server –

Virtual Private Server represents a compromise between shared hosting and having your own server.

Dedicated Web Server –

In this scenario, you are renting a physical server from a hosting company

Managed WordPress Hosting –

Here, the hosting provider helps keep things up to date to deter hackers and security threats.

WordPress Designers

Some people enjoy the creative process. Others… not so much! You probably know which camp you’re in. If designing and building your website sounds daunting, there is help for you!

Most website designers use WordPress to design professional websites, so you won’t have a problem buying one that does.

They will take your ideas and vision and put them into action for you!

WordPress Legal Pages

Legal pages for your website are an absolute must. Fortunately, WordPress has them available as one of the many plugins they offer. You may be able to include a privacy policy and other legal notices on your site, depending on your business model.

WordPress support

Another good thing about using WordPress for your web design is the support they have. If you have any questions or need help keeping up, reach out to these folks and they’ll make it right!

Things to keep in mind when designing your website

1) Try to keep your website focused on your customer and what you can do for them! Talking about yourself or your company: “I did this. I do that.” It is not attractive and will not attract customers. What problem of theirs are you going to solve?

2) Save it:

• professional
• focused prospect
• persuasive

3) Make sure the overall look is clean and modern.

4) Make sure any media on the site relates to your business

5) Include a clear call to action: what do you want your customers to do from there? Click? Call? Register?

6) Avoid too much text, especially on the home page.

Let your website be your ambassador

Your site must be designed to attract customers and prospects. Keep it attractive. Create different types of content for it. Keep a blog to keep people up to date on your company, any promotions, etc.

Make sure to promote your site on social media to drive traffic to it. It doesn’t matter how awesome your site is if nobody sees it.

Use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tools, available in WordPress and through plugins to increase your page ranking. When people search for your business, you want to be on the first page. Very few searches reach the second page.

Offer visitors something in exchange for their email address and subscribing to your mailing list. It will be a digital report, an electronic book or a white paper. Make it something you are interested in achieving.

Happy design! You are on your way!