Website building used to be difficult and technical, but now is as easy as 1 2 3 through WordPress. Without having any knowledge in code, you can still make a website and have all the creative freedom. In this article we will discuss what WordPress is, its advantageous features and themes, and why it’s the best platform for website building.
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What is WordPress?
WordPress is a website builder that runs 35% of everything on the Internet today. It’s one of the easiest and most powerful content management systems (CMS) ever. You need no prior knowledge of code to use it which is the cool aspect. It is an open source software meaning that it’s not owned by a company. Thousands of people come together and contribute to the software to make it better.
WordPress has many layouts for you to follow where all you have to do is put in a photo and edit the text. The hard coding is done for you and all you have to do is design it to your liking. Want to know the coolest thing about WordPress? Well it’s free! All you have to do is sign up and you can start creating a website in seconds.
However, if you want to add your own domain name and add in plugins, you need to pay monthly to use their software. The free version is only for recreational use and you can’t run ads or do e-commerce on it. However, purchasing it gives you complete freedom to do whatever you want.
WordPress.com is where you can make a website free online while WordPress.org is where you can download the software and pay the monthly fee. Sites like Spotify, NBC, and Disney all use WordPress.
WordPress Website Builder Features
So what WordPress can provide for your business? Let’s look at the tools and the overall application of their website builder.
Any Type, Any Budget
Whether you are using WordPress for a small business, e-commerce, or individually you can do whatever you want. Anything from blogs to portfolios to business. They also offer options based on a budget, so money won’t be a problem.
Media
Anything from pictures and videos to embedding links, you can put whatever type of media you want by just dragging and dropping straight from your desktop.
Find Your Fans
With built-in social sharing, you can automatically send posts to Twitter and Facebook, also allowing users to share straight from your site. In depth statistics are provided who when your site is visited, where they are from, and overall demographics. Also, WordPress has built-in SEO where you can make it easier for fans to find you.
Plugins
What makes WordPress unique amongst its competitors is its plugins. Plugins are extra tools not provided on the website but made by people for your site. These are prewritten code that improve the functionality of your website in various ways. For example, people can make custom Contact pages. Plugins are meant to make the website better and give people more freedom. Other examples are SEO and live chat plugins.
And More!
With WordPress, you can edit your website from any platform, whether it’s your computer or even your mobile device. Speaking of mobile, you can customize how your website looks on mobile devices as well. If you need help, you can get fast and friendly support from experts who are available 24/7. Lastly, one of the most important design factors is themes. This is the overall layout and aesthetic of the website. We will talk about themes in the next segment.
WordPress Themes
Unlike creating a website from scratch, finding a layout and theme for your website is extremely easy through WordPress. They offer hundreds of different themes that you can use. Themes in WordPress are a collection of templates that defines what the website looks like. For example, where everything will be located, the top directory bar’s location, etc. You can have your homepage be text over a huge photo or a photo on the left side with text to the right. Themes can be modified with plugins or by adding code yourself. There are lots of various themes available to you.
Theme Functionalities
- Themes can have different layouts (like how many columns there are)
- Content, photos, videos, and other design elements can be displayed anywhere in a theme
- Typography in themes can be customized by using CSS
A theme is more than just color and layout, it defines your whole website and its engagement. Good themes not only look stunning but will bring in more traffic.
Blogs on WordPress
So far, we have talked about all the cool features that WordPress has to offer. Blogs are sites run by one person or a small group who post anything on a consistent basis shown in chronological order. Usually, it’s informational articles talking about whatever they desire in a conversational manner. The most popular type of website on the internet is blogs, which is 35% of the entire web. That’s 600 million out of 1.7 billion being blogs. Therefore, there’s a high demand and popularity for blogs. WordPress is infamous for hosting some of the most popular blogs. WordPress’s software and interface are perfect for blogs and even can guide you to make a blog. Each big corporation has some type of blog to connect with its community. Having one built-in website is very practical and common for companies in recent years.
Getting Started with WordPress
The options for website design on WordPress are limitless, but how do you get started? Here’s a step-by-step guide to building your very own website.
1. Registering a Domain and Finding a Hosting Site
The first step is finding a domain name. A domain name is the identity of the site and the URL. Usually, they are pretty cheap averaging out to $12 a year. Next, you need a site to actually host your website on their server. Both the domain name and hosting would average out to $70 a year.
2. Signing up and Installing WordPress
After the technical part is done, you next need to set up a WordPress account and pick whichever use you have for the website. These categories include e-commerce, small business, independent, etc. After that, all you need to do is install WordPress and the technical/hard part is done and now it’s time for designing.
3. Picking a Theme
Themes are the first thing you will need to pick, as discussed earlier this consists of the overall layout and look of the website. There are many themes to choose from depending on whether your website is a blog or a small business.
4. Putting Together the Site
Next, it’s time to pick what type of content you want on your site. What the homepage be and the order of everything. This part is probably the most time consuming because it’s the bulk of what the site will look like. You can make as many pages as you want and the possibilities are endless. This also involves picking where the photos and videos go, what color is everything, and the overall design. Have fun in this step and really make the site personal.
5. Adding Plugins/Other Customizations
After picking a theme, you can look through the thousands of plugins to see other features you can add to your website. Remember plugins help the functionality of the site and can add a lot. This is a chance for more freedom and makes the site more personal. You can also add a contact page or a forum straight through WordPress. Whatever type of website you desire, you can add the provided unique pages. You can optimize your WordPress with their built-in SEO to add tags and keywords to your website. The SEO utility is extremely useful and can bring more traffic to your site.
6. Finalizing and Publishing
After all the designing and content is done, it’s time to finalize everything and publish. Go through the site and make sure everything is to your liking. Then just click the publish button and the site will be live!
Are you still confused about the development of websites through WordPress? Consider hiring a web design agency like SEO Design Chicago to help you!
Contact SEO Design Chicago Today
WordPress’s popularity on the entirety of the internet justifies how its efficiency and prevalence as a website builder is dominant among competitors. Its various features such as Plugins and allowing total freedom in the creator’s hands make it extremely appetizing to the public. It’s very easy to use and is simple to get started with. The diversification of themes that WordPress provides gives the users options and guided freedom to make their website as beautiful as possible. Whether you want to start a blog, own a small business, or make a portfolio, WordPress is the best website builder for your desires.
At SEO Design Chicago, we specialize in web development and design. Out experts can help you get started with WordPress and give you more tips involving growing. For a free consultation, reach out to us at SEO Design Chicago.
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