How to Build a WordPress Website from Scratch: A Beginner’s Guide

So, you’re dreaming of launching your own website? Maybe you’re an entrepreneur with a new idea, or a seasoned pro wanting a fresh online presence. If so, you’ve likely heard WordPress is the platform to use. This guide will walk you through how to build a WordPress website from scratch.

Building a WordPress website doesn’t require coding skills. We’ll break it down into simple steps, turning a blank page into a polished website.

Why WordPress?

WordPress powers over 43% of all websites. It offers immense flexibility and customization with thousands of themes and plugins. Whether it’s a blog or an e-commerce store, WordPress can handle it.

This makes WordPress an attractive option for almost any website project. Choosing the right platform is a key first step in your website journey.

Getting Started: Domain & Hosting

First, you’ll need a domain name (your website’s address) and web hosting (where your website’s files live). Bluehost is recommended for its affordable WordPress hosting, easy one-click WordPress installation, and free domain name.

SiteGround is another excellent alternative. Its hosting plans are optimized for WordPress and Divi. You can create multiple websites with a single account using either service.

Installing WordPress

Most hosts make installing WordPress easy with one-click installers in their hosting dashboards. Hostinger hosting offers easy WordPress installation and support. This can be especially helpful for beginners building a website for the first time.

Choosing a Theme: The Look and Feel

Themes control your website’s look. WordPress offers many free themes. Premium theme options like Thrive Themes provide a more custom look, better performance, and greater scalability.

How to Build a WordPress Website From Scratch: Content is King

Now for the most important part of your website: the content. In WordPress, you’ll primarily work with posts (like blog entries) and pages (static content like “About Us”).

Many beginners misunderstand the difference between posts and pages. Building from scratch often involves using page builders. These allow you to drag and drop elements like text and images without coding knowledge. Popular options include SeedProd for various WordPress websites and businesses.

Adding Functionality with Plugins

Plugins extend your website’s capabilities. They can handle everything from SEO to site backups using plugins like Duplicator, which helps migrate website files and create scheduled backups of important site data. From themes and site titles to other custom configurations when you’re building sites from scratch on a custom domain, Duplicator can save a lot of time when migrating site data from one location to another.

Several important plugins include:

• All in One SEO (AIOSEO): Improves your website’s visibility on search engines.
• WPForms Lite: Creates simple contact forms.
• MonsterInsights: Tracks website traffic using Google Analytics and lets you access analytics data and stats when using one-click wordpress installs, whether through your default WordPress host or another account. This makes getting setup and finding stats related to traffic and clicks faster for getting crucial information within a custom domain dashboard for a free WordPress install through proper shared hosting accounts.
• WP Super Cache: Makes your website load faster.
• Duplicator: Creates website backups and migrates files for safer, faster, and easier data migrations using one-click restore processes or setting up automated site backups after one-click wordpress install software to help restore any important files needed if you click save and suddenly your page breaks. Duplicator protects the whole website and static homepage through one click free wordpress installation within custom hosting dashboards.

Plugins offer one of the best ways to install and integrate essential WordPress functionality.

Going Live and Beyond

Once you add your essential pages, plugins, and content you’re almost ready. Test your website on different devices. Getting visitors to your site involves things like using social media and creating valuable content that other websites may link to.

How to Build a WordPress Website From Scratch: Making It Your Own

Don’t be afraid to try different plugins and themes. WordPress is highly customizable, with countless options to make your website unique.

WordPress’s open-source nature gives you a ton of flexibility. No matter your website goals, you can build the site of your dreams.

Clicking save draft often helps ensure any progress you’ve made gets saved. Adding posts frequently also gets you better acquainted with how the website interface works from top to bottom. With enough practice and experience you’ll feel like a pro using drag and drop WordPress website building features. You’ll eventually be building high quality custom sites for WordPress.

FAQs about How to build a WordPress website from scratch

Can I build a WordPress website myself?

Yes. WordPress is user-friendly, even for beginners. This guide, online tutorials, and support communities make it manageable. You can do this if you’re able to navigate the wordpress admin area.

How to make a website from scratch in WordPress?

This guide provides step-by-step instructions. It begins with selecting your host and domain name and installing plugins and WordPress software using one-click install options.

This lets you fine-tune how your website functions. Whether it’s designed for high traffic, requires one-click login, a static home page, and blog functionality. Building from scratch provides the ability to create pages from add posts sections, with various methods for creating and adding new custom content before clicking publish and posting online.

These instructions guide you from the basics of how to set up your WordPress software on a shared, dedicated, or WordPress WordPress hosting platform and add blocks of content from scratch after choosing which hosting provider works best when starting on custom domains. Feel free to seek external support if necessary to assist with these procedures using a walkthrough of all steps as provided earlier when going through steps involved with website setup and installation.

Can a beginner make a WordPress website?

Absolutely. WordPress’s interface is user-friendly. Beginners can use numerous online resources to support them and help fill in any gaps with one-click wordpress installs. Click Add for additional plugins when needed.

How do I copy a WordPress website and make it my own?

Directly copying is illegal and unethical. Use plugins like Duplicator to create backups and migrating website files. You can learn by looking at design aspects, such as how certain layouts were created and incorporate similar elements, such as navigation menu items, add navigation parameters, or other features when trying different layouts, but avoid directly mimicking premium websites or high-traffic WordPress sites that are popularly ranked.

Conclusion

Building a WordPress website from scratch may seem daunting, but by taking it one step at a time it gets easier. From selecting a web host, picking a domain, to adding plugins, and adding engaging written content. Soon, you’ll have your own website. These methods make starting from scratch doable through helpful, free online step-by-step guides.