How to Make a WordPress Website
Are you looking to make a website? Starting a website can be a terrifying thought specially when you’re not techy. Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Having helped over 400,000+ people make a website with WordPress, we have decided to create the most comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to create a WordPress website without learning how to code.
This guide is useful for users of all ages and skill levels. However, if you need help, then you can contact our expert team to help you set up your website for free.
If you want to do it by yourself, then please continue to follow our beginner-friendly guide on how to make a website.
Here is an overview from start to finish of all the steps we’ll walk you through in this guide.
- How to find and register a domain name for free
- How to choose the best web hosting
- How to install WordPress
- Installing a template and customizing your site’s design
- Creating pages in WordPress
- Customizing WordPress with addons and extensions
- Resources to learn WordPress and get support
- Taking it further, building websites with more features
When you’re ready to sign up for a web hosting account, make sure you use one of the Bluehost links on this page.
Going through them will result in two things:
(1) they are affiliate links, which means that we receive a small commission if you buy through them,
(2) it will unlock a $2.75 vs $3.95 discounted price with a free domain for you. You won’t get this discount if you visit the Bluehost site in any other way.
Which is the best website builder platform?
There are many website builders available that will help you set up a website. We recommend using self-hosted WordPress as your website platform.
WordPress is the most popular website platform in the world. It powers nearly 43% of all websites on the internet.
WordPress is free, open source, and comes with thousands of pre-built website designs and extensions. It is extremely flexible and works with almost every third-party tool and service available to website owners.
How much does a WordPress website cost?
The answer to this question really depends on what kind of website you are trying to build. We have written a comprehensive 2,000-word guide explaining how much it really costs to build a website.
A typical personal website can cost as low as $100. The cost of a business website can range from anywhere between $100 per year to as high as $30,000 per year.
We recommend all our users start small and then add more features to your website as your business grows. This way you will save money and minimize potential losses while avoiding overspending.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to build a website for less than $100.
How to Make a WordPress Website
This is a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a website. We have divided it into different steps, and we’ll walk you through everything from start to finish. Just follow the instructions, and you’ll have a professional-looking website in the end.
We will also point you in the right direction on how to take your website to the next level based on your needs.
1. Get Web Hosting and a Domain Name
The first step when building a WordPress website is to get web hosting. While WordPress is a free website builder, you must use a web hosting service for your site to be available on the web. Generally, it costs under $10 per month, and by getting web hosting first, you will save time and money as the best WordPress hosting services include a free domain name, as well as one-click WordPress installation to make the process of creating a WordPress site a lot easier.
Choose a Domain Name
If you chose a web hosting plan that includes a free domain name (e.g., businessname.com), such as DreamHost, then you will be prompted to choose a domain as part of your account registration process. If not, purchase a domain name directly from one of the best domain name registrars, such as GoDaddy or Google Domains, and then manually connect your domain name to your web hosting service.
2. Install WordPress
When you signup with Bluehost using our link, they will automatically install WordPress for you. They launched this one-click WordPress installer to make it easier for non-techy users to create their websites.
What this means is you simply need to log in to your Bluehost account and then click the Login to WordPress button to get started. This setup process has really reduced the learning curve needed to make a website.
3. WordPress Theme
In the world of WordPress, a theme is a website template. It controls how your site looks, as well as how it functions and what it comes out of the box capable of. There are thousands to choose from, with sites such as ThemeForest where you can browse and buy premium templates, so it’s worth investing the time upfront to find one that best matches the site you want to build. Once you find the best theme for you, purchase it, and then download the theme files. Additionally, you can get free themes from WordPress. However, they often require a lot more work, so in the long run it’s usually wise to invest in a well-designed premium theme.
Here’s how to install a premium WordPress theme:
- Navigate to your WordPress dashboard by signing in to your account (yourdomain.com/wp-admin).
- From the left panel, select “appearance” and then “themes” from the menu.
- Click “add new” at the top of the page.
- Select “upload theme.”
- Click “browse” and locate the zip file containing the theme files you downloaded upon purchase.
- Select “Install” and then click “activate”
4. Add Content to Your Website
WordPress comes with two default content types called posts and pages. Posts are part of the blogging functionality and appear in reverse-chronological order (newer items are displayed first).On the other hand, pages are meant to be static “one-off” type content such as your about page, contact page, privacy policy, custom landing page, etc.By default, WordPress shows your blog posts on the front page of your website. You can change that, and make WordPress show any static page as the homepage of your website (we’ll show you how to do that later in this guide).
After installing your theme, next, you need to install and activate all required plugins, which help expand the functionality of WordPress. In addition to the plugins that come with your theme, there are thousands to choose from, that can do anything from enhancing site security to adding live chat or turning your page editor into a drag-and-drop editor. However, try to limit the number of plugins you use as too many can slow down your website or cause other plugins to break.
