Are you looking forward to making a good first impression with a visually appealing blog or website. Perhaps you were motivated to start an online journal, construct a digital resume for future employers, develop a personal brand, or earn money through advertising.
From start to finish, I’ll walk you through the full process of establishing a beautiful and functioning website in this guide. You’ll eventually have an internet platform you can be proud of if you follow the procedures mentioned below.
So set up an hour of your time and we’ll get you up and running with a professional website in just a few simple steps.
It has never been easier to create a professional and dynamic website or blog, regardless of the purpose. With recent developments in WordPress, you can now create a professional-looking website quickly and affordably, regardless of your skill level.
PURCHASE A DOMAIN NAME AS THE FIRST STEP
The domain name is the online address that people will use to visit your website. tnpuniqueholdings.co.za, online-site.co.za, for example, is a domain name, as is soft-touch.co.za.
There is no way for visitors to find your website without a domain name. As a result, it’s an essential aspect of the website or blog development process.
Tools like Bluehost, Namecheap, and Domain Wheel can help you brainstorm possible domain names if you’re stuck for ideas.
A domain name isn’t something you’ll want to change frequently. As a result, it’s a good idea to give your selection some thought. A fantastic guide to choosing a decent domain name may be found on Moz.
When you’re thinking, it’s also a good idea to shortlist more than one domain name suggestion. This is due to the possibility that your desired domain name will not be accessible at the time of purchase.
An average domain name will cost you roughly R99- R249 per year unless you choose a really expensive domain.
Once you have a few ideas, the easiest approach to get a domain is through a reputable registrar such as Online Site or Soft Touch. Simply do a domain name search and, if it is available, add it to your basket and go to checkout. That’s all there is to it.
FIND A HIGH-QUALITY HOST AS THE SECOND STEP
When you wish to start an offline shop or office, what is one of the first actions you should take? You are able to rent a commercial space.
The same can be said for your internet website or blog. You’ll need to rent storage space on a server that’s available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is referred to as web hosting.
Your hosting will keep all of your website’s material, including text and images, in one safe location and serve it to everyone who attempts to access your domain name.
High-quality WordPress hosting from a reputable firm can cost as little as R50 per month (Online Site), R60 per month (Soft Touch). Here’s a quick comparison to help you decide which choice is best for you.
INSTALL WORDPRESS AS THE THIRD STEP
WordPress is the most popular website creation and administration system, with over 30% of all websites in the world using it.
WordPress’s growing popularity is well-deserved. It is not only free, but it also makes building and maintaining a website very simple, and it can be expanded with any functionality you require by installing improvements known as “plugins.”
Furthermore, WordPress is used by a large group of people all over the world. So, whenever you run across a problem, there’s a good probability that someone else has already dealt with it and solved it. So all it takes is a Google search to find the answer.
It’s really simple to set up WordPress on your hosting account. For example, on Online Site or Soft Touch, go to your cPanel login page and enter your credentials. Then click login button.
When you’re in the cPanel, scroll down and look for the WordPress icon.
The WordPress installation form will appear after you click the Install button on the next screen.
Select a protocol. https:// should be the default. This is because Online Site or Soft Touch gives you a one-year free SSL certificate, which you should certainly install. Here’s how to go about it.
An SSL certificate is essentially a security badge that demonstrates a website’s trustworthiness, especially if it will be used to take payments. Also, because SSL is one of the new search engine ranking elements, a free SSL certificate for a year is fantastic.
As a result, a website domain name that begins with https:// will likely rank higher in search engines than one that does not. Furthermore, if your website is not https://, the Chrome address bar will display “not secure,” which may deter some visitors.
Select the domain name you purchased to install WordPress after you’ve picked a protocol. The directory field can be left empty.
You’ll also notice several fields where you may write up your blog title, username, and email address, among other things. For the time being, don’t bother about the title; you can easily modify it afterward.
However, keep in mind that the username, password, and email address you enter here will be used to log in and manage your WordPress website.
When you purchased hosting, you used a different username and password for your hosting account, which is not the same as your WordPress admin account.
After that, click the Install button and leave the other fields alone. Wait for it to finish for a few seconds, and your WordPress installation will be complete.
In fact, you may now test browsing your website by typing your domain name into your web browser’s address bar. And you’ll see that it’s effective. Your website has now gone live on the web!
NOW LOGIN TO THE WORDPRESS DASHBOARD AS THE FIFTH STEP
Your website may now be up and running, but it may not look anything like you want it to.
This is due to the fact that it is based on a default theme that comes pre-installed with WordPress. And you haven’t tailored it to your requirements. So that’s what we’ll be doing in the future.
To get started, go to your WordPress admin dashboard and log in. If you’ve followed the instructions to the letter, you can get to the dashboard by putting this into your web browser’s URL bar.
https://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/
When you get there, you’ll be asked to log in with the username and password you set up when you first installed WordPress.
After you log in, you’ll see the whole interface you’ll use to modify, maintain, and add material to your website on a regular basis.
Your WordPress admin dashboard is what it’s called. Don’t be alarmed if it appears daunting at first. It’s very simple and enjoyable once you get the hang of it.
You may also see certain plugins that have already been installed and some additional notifications as a result of them, but don’t worry about it for the time being. In the following sections, we’ll go over both themes and plugins.
INSTALL A WORDPRESS THEME AS THE SIXTH STEP
The overall look and feel of your WordPress website are defined by a theme. The good news is that because WordPress is so widely used, there are thousands of free and paid themes accessible.
However, most of the themes (including several blockbusters) are poorly coded, bloated with needless features, and difficult to customize. So, if you’re not careful, you’re more likely to choose a terrible theme just based on how great and fancy it appears.
As a result, for this tutorial, we’ll start with the greatest – the OceanWP theme.
It follows WordPress coding standards, is designed for performance and SEO, is simple to edit, looks great, and has a lot more.
And here’s the best part: it’s completely free. It’s a theme that offers far more value than many paid themes combined.
To install the OceanWP theme, go to Appearance > Themes on your WordPress dashboard’s left menu, and then click Add New.
When you arrive, type OceanWP into the search field and hit enter. The option to install the OceanWP theme will be visible.
Hover your mouse pointer over the theme and click Install. Then, to make the theme active on your website, click Activate.
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