Why should I use WordPress? Isn’t my old site good enough? Why do I need to switch to WordPress? If you’re asking these questions, then you’re at the right place. In this article, we have compiled a few reasons why you should use WordPress, in what ways you can use WordPress, and who is using WordPress.
Why should I use WordPress? Isn’t my old site good enough? Why do I need to switch to WordPress? If you’re asking these questions, then you’re at the right place. In this article, we have compiled a few reasons why you should use WordPress, in what ways you can use WordPress, and who is using WordPress.
People often make the mistake of classifying WordPress as just a blogging platform. Although that used to be true in the past, WordPress has evolved through out the years into a versatile content management system (CMS). While you can still use WordPress to create a simple blog, now it also allows you to create fully functional websites and mobile applications.
The best part about WordPress is that it’s easy to use and flexible enough for just about anything. That’s the main reason why WordPress has grown so much in popularity. According to a recent survey, WordPress powers 22.5% of all websites on the internet.
Due to it’s robust features, many of the top brands use WordPress to power their websites including but not limited to: Time Magazine, Google, Facebook, Sony, Disney, LinkedIn, The New York Times, CNN, eBay, and more.
There are 7 important factors you should choose Wordpress for your website:
One-Click-installation for Websites
Almost Almost every reliable and well-established hosting company has integrated 1-click-installation for WordPress, which makes getting going a snap.
If you signed up with Bluehost or any other similar hosting company, you should find your “1-click-installation” in your account control panel.
Here are the steps you should follow (should be similar/same on all the major web hosting companies):
1. Log in to your hosting account.
2. Go to your control panel.
3. Look for the “WordPress” icon.
4. Choose the domain where you want to install your website.
5. Click the “Install Now” button and you should get access to your NEW WordPress website.
Manual install
If for some odd reason (some hosting companies don’t provide one-click-install for WordPress) you don’t have the possibility to install WordPress automatically, look this guide below:
Once you have successfully installed WordPress to your domain, you’ll see a very basic yet clean site.
But you don’t want to look like everyone else, do you? That’s why you need a theme – a design template that tells WordPress how your website should look. See a sample version below:
How to find a theme you like:
Log into your WordPress dashboard, If you’re not sure how, type in: http://yoursite.com/wp-admin (replace “yoursite” with your domain).
Everything is easily labelled. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, don’t sweat it – I’m going to show you where to go next. Once you’re in the dashboard, you’ve got access to over 1500 free themes! Just look along the side bar for “Appearance”, then click “Themes”.
If you want something more professional or elegant than what you find here, you can head over to ThemeForest.net where there’s a HUGE library of themes to pick from at varying costs.
But before you do that, I really suggest you at least try spending some time browsing the free themes. Many of them are actually really professional and well made; so don’t write them off.
This is what the WordPress dashboard looks like:
As you can see above, installing a new theme for your website is very easy. You can search for specific keywords and/or use filters to find themes that suit your style. Finding the perfect theme can take a while, but it’s worth it. You should also look for themes that are “responsive”, as this means they will look good on any mobile device. Just punch it in as one of your keywords, and you’ll be all set!
How To Install New Theme
Once you have found a theme you like, installing it is as simple as clicking “Install” followed by “Activate”.
Want a "Services" page, or an "About Me" page (like I have on my menu at the top of the site?).
If you want your new page to be linked to in your navigation bar
If you have a blog on your website, “Posts” will be where you turn to next. You can use different categories to group similar posts. If you want to add a blog to your website, you can use different categories and posts. Let’s say you want to create a category named “Blog”. To do so, simply add it to your menu and start making posts. Here’s what you need to do:
Changing Your Title and Tagline
Page titles explain to searchers what your website is about, and they’re also a big part of how search engines determine your rankings, so you want to be sure they’ve got the keywords you want to target in them (but in a natural way, written for real people).
You should use a unique title on every page of your site. For example, my site’s title is “How to Make a Website”.(Can’t find it? Just hold your mouse over the tab at the top of your web browser).Taglines are added at the end of titles across every page. My site’s tagline is “Step by Step Guide” In order to change the title and tagline on your website, go to “Settings -> General” and fill in the form below:
Disabling Comments for Posts & Pages
Some websites (business/organisation sites mostly) don’t want their visitors to be able to comment on their pages. Here’s how to shut comments off on WordPress pages:
Go to “Settings -> Discussion” and untick “Allow people to post comments on new articles”
Setting Up a Static Front Page
Some people contact me saying they’re frustrated that their home page looks like a blog post. You can fix that by making your home page “static”. A static page is a page that doesn’t change. Unlike a blog, where the first new article will show up at the top every time, a “static” page will show the same content every time someone comes to the site – like a home page you’ve designed. To set up a static front page:
Editing sidebar
Most WordPress themes have a sidebar on the right side (in some cases it’s on the left).
If you want to get rid of the sidebar or edit out items you do not need like “Categories”, “Meta” and “Archives”, which are usually pointless, here’s how:
“Plugins” are extensions that are built to expand WordPress’ capabilities, adding features and functions to your site that don’t come built-in. They’re shortcuts to getting your site to do what you want to, without having to build the feature from scratch. You can use plugins to do everything from adding photo galleries and submission forms to optimizing your website and creating an online store.
How do I Install a new Plugin?
To start installing plugins, go to “Plugins -> Add New” and simply start searching.
Keep in mind that there are over 25,000 different FREE plugins{https://wordpress.org/plugins/}, so you’ve got a LOT to choose from!
Installation is easy – once you find a plugin you like, just click “Install”.
BUT – before you go and install every single one, I suggest you to read this article: Things you need to know about using WP plugins.
If you’ve followed the steps in this guide, you should now have a fully-functional WordPress website! That wasn’t so bad, was it?
I hope you found this guide really useful –but if you have any more questions or need help with one of the steps I highlighted, I’m happy to share some guidance
People often make the mistake of classifying WordPress as just a blogging platform. Although that used to be true in the past, WordPress has evolved through out the years into a versatile content management system (CMS). While you can still use WordPress to create a simple blog, now it also allows you to create fully functional websites and mobile applications.
The best part about WordPress is that it’s easy to use and flexible enough for just about anything. That’s the main reason why WordPress has grown so much in popularity. According to a recent survey, WordPress powers 22.5% of all websites on the internet.
Due to it’s robust features, many of the top brands use WordPress to power their websites including but not limited to: Time Magazine, Google, Facebook, Sony, Disney, LinkedIn, The New York Times, CNN, eBay, and more.
There are 7 important factors you should choose Wordpress for your website:
- WordPress is Free as in Freedom
- WordPress is Easy to Use and Learn
- WordPress is Extendable by Using Themes and Plugins
- WordPress is Search Engine Friendly
- WordPress is Easy To Manage
- WordPress is Safe and Secure
- WordPress Can Handle Different Media Types
One-Click-installation for Websites
Almost Almost every reliable and well-established hosting company has integrated 1-click-installation for WordPress, which makes getting going a snap.
If you signed up with Bluehost or any other similar hosting company, you should find your “1-click-installation” in your account control panel.
Here are the steps you should follow (should be similar/same on all the major web hosting companies):
1. Log in to your hosting account.
2. Go to your control panel.
3. Look for the “WordPress” icon.
4. Choose the domain where you want to install your website.
5. Click the “Install Now” button and you should get access to your NEW WordPress website.
Manual install
If for some odd reason (some hosting companies don’t provide one-click-install for WordPress) you don’t have the possibility to install WordPress automatically, look this guide below:
- Download WordPress from here: http://wordpress.org/download
- Create a new folder on your desktop and unzip WordPress in it
- Look for a file named wp-config-sample.php and rename it to: wp-config.php
define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘database_name_here’); – Database name (if you don’t know it, ask this from your hosting support) define(‘DB_USER’, ‘username_here’); – Your hosting username define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘password_here’); – Your hosting password
After you have filled the gaps, save the file.
- Now log into your hosting ftp (download FileZilla for that). The FTP address is usually ftp.yourdomain.com, username and password are the same that you used to register to your host.
- If there is any file named “index” – delete it. After that upload all the files from your WordPress folder to your FTP server. I believe you can use “drag n drop” function in FileZilla.
- Once you have completed the previous steps, go the URL: yourdomain.com/wp-admin/install.php
Just fill in the forms and you are ready!
Once you have successfully installed WordPress to your domain, you’ll see a very basic yet clean site.
Log into your WordPress dashboard, If you’re not sure how, type in: http://yoursite.com/wp-admin (replace “yoursite” with your domain).
Everything is easily labelled. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, don’t sweat it – I’m going to show you where to go next. Once you’re in the dashboard, you’ve got access to over 1500 free themes! Just look along the side bar for “Appearance”, then click “Themes”.
If you want something more professional or elegant than what you find here, you can head over to ThemeForest.net where there’s a HUGE library of themes to pick from at varying costs.
But before you do that, I really suggest you at least try spending some time browsing the free themes. Many of them are actually really professional and well made; so don’t write them off.
This is what the WordPress dashboard looks like:
How To Install New Theme
Once you have found a theme you like, installing it is as simple as clicking “Install” followed by “Activate”.
IMPORTANT: Changing themes won’t delete your previous posts, pages and content. You can change themes as often as you want without having to worry about lose what you’ve created.
Adding And Editing Pages
Want a "Services" page, or an "About Me" page (like I have on my menu at the top of the site?).
- Look along the sidebar in the WordPress Dashboard for “Pages” -> “Add New”.
- Once you’ve clicked, you’ll find a screen that looks a lot like what you’ve maybe seen in Microsoft Word. Add text, images and more to build the page you want, then save it when you’re done.
If you want your new page to be linked to in your navigation bar
- Save any changes you’ve made to the page by clicking “Update”
- Click “Appearance” -> “Menus” in the sidebar of the WordPress Dashboard
- Find the page you created and add it to the list by clicking the checkbox next to it and then “Add to Menu”.
If you have a blog on your website, “Posts” will be where you turn to next. You can use different categories to group similar posts. If you want to add a blog to your website, you can use different categories and posts. Let’s say you want to create a category named “Blog”. To do so, simply add it to your menu and start making posts. Here’s what you need to do:
- Create a new category by going to “Posts -> Categories”
- Create a blog post by going to “Posts -> Add New”. Once you’ve finished writing your blog post blog post is ready, you need to add the right category for it.Once you’ve created your category, simply add it to the menu, and you’re in business!
Changing Your Title and Tagline
Page titles explain to searchers what your website is about, and they’re also a big part of how search engines determine your rankings, so you want to be sure they’ve got the keywords you want to target in them (but in a natural way, written for real people).
You should use a unique title on every page of your site. For example, my site’s title is “How to Make a Website”.(Can’t find it? Just hold your mouse over the tab at the top of your web browser).Taglines are added at the end of titles across every page. My site’s tagline is “Step by Step Guide” In order to change the title and tagline on your website, go to “Settings -> General” and fill in the form below:
Some websites (business/organisation sites mostly) don’t want their visitors to be able to comment on their pages. Here’s how to shut comments off on WordPress pages:
- While you are writing a new page, click “Screen Options” in the top right corner.
- Click the “Discussion” box. The “Allow Comments” box will appear at the bottom.
- Untick “Allow Comments”.
Go to “Settings -> Discussion” and untick “Allow people to post comments on new articles”
Some people contact me saying they’re frustrated that their home page looks like a blog post. You can fix that by making your home page “static”. A static page is a page that doesn’t change. Unlike a blog, where the first new article will show up at the top every time, a “static” page will show the same content every time someone comes to the site – like a home page you’ve designed. To set up a static front page:
- Go to “Settings -> Reading”
- Choose a static page that you have created. “Front Page” denotes your home page, “Posts page” is the front page of your blog (if your entire site isn’t a blog).
Most WordPress themes have a sidebar on the right side (in some cases it’s on the left).
If you want to get rid of the sidebar or edit out items you do not need like “Categories”, “Meta” and “Archives”, which are usually pointless, here’s how:
- Go to “Appearance -> Widgets” in the WordPress Dashboard.
- From here, you can use drag n’ drop to add different “boxes” to your sidebar, or remove the items you don’t want.
“Plugins” are extensions that are built to expand WordPress’ capabilities, adding features and functions to your site that don’t come built-in. They’re shortcuts to getting your site to do what you want to, without having to build the feature from scratch. You can use plugins to do everything from adding photo galleries and submission forms to optimizing your website and creating an online store.
How do I Install a new Plugin?
To start installing plugins, go to “Plugins -> Add New” and simply start searching.
Keep in mind that there are over 25,000 different FREE plugins{https://wordpress.org/plugins/}, so you’ve got a LOT to choose from!
Installation is easy – once you find a plugin you like, just click “Install”.
BUT – before you go and install every single one, I suggest you to read this article: Things you need to know about using WP plugins.
If you’ve followed the steps in this guide, you should now have a fully-functional WordPress website! That wasn’t so bad, was it?
I hope you found this guide really useful –but if you have any more questions or need help with one of the steps I highlighted, I’m happy to share some guidance
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