Tips for Creating a Decent WordPress Website

No less than 27% of the Internet is built on WordPress sites. To be more specific, there are more than 172 million active sites on the Internet and more than 75 million of them are created using the WordPress platform.

Even more, out of the top 100 websites in the whole world, nearly 15% are built on WordPress.

This says quite a lot about the power of this Content Management System and the way it is perceived by the world.
How to creating a decent WordPress website and how to make the most out of it?

We have some tips for you – so read on if you want to find out more.

First and Foremost, Why WordPress?

There are many reasons that make WordPress one of the very best options for a wide range of people who want to create a website, from very large companies to small businesses.

Of course, there are many other Content Management Systems you can use – but WordPress tends to be the first people reach out to not only because it’s the most popular one, but also because it actually shows benefits many other CMS options don’t.

Some of them include:

1. It’s actually easy to use

WordPress is extremely intuitive – basically, anyone can actually edit the site and add/ remove content without any kind of issues, regardless of whether or not they have coding knowledge. Once you get your basics with WordPress, everything else will come smoothly.

2. It’s actually good for SEO

Google and the other search engines tend to “like” WordPress sites more for their structure and for the ease with which they can read their meta-data to understand what they are all about.

3. You don’t need a designer

Well, OK, you might need one at first if you want your site’s design to really stand out. But when it comes to small changes you want to make to your website (e.g. change the tagline), you will not have to wait for the designer to implement these changes, as they are very easy to make in WordPress.

4. You can scale

Want to start with just a homepage and a couple of other pages? That’s fine. Dreaming of adding more products to your business (and pages to your site)? That’s fine as well.

5. You can blog

Writing consistent, constant content is very important when you want to make sure you establish a connection with both the existing customers and the potential ones. All WordPress websites come with a pre-built blog.

6. It’s quite inexpensive

Creating a decent website on WordPress is virtually free – you will only have to pay for the domain, hosting, and theme.

The sum of money required for this depends a lot on what you actually need and want. However, it should generally be very affordable for a small business too.

7. You can add plugins

When you want to save time and money, WordPress plugins can be a real miracle, especially when it comes to Search Engine Optimization.

How to Create a Good WordPress Website?

Even people with minimum technical knowledge can create a good, decent WordPress website with a little help from Google and a touch of determination to make this happen in the best way there is.

Once you get past the basics of setting up the website and moving it to a personalized domain, you will have to make sure you build the site in a way that will really attract visitors (and keep them on site as well).

Some of the tips you should keep in mind when creating a decent WordPress website include the following:

1. Make this yours

Even if you build your website on a very basic, inexpensive (or free) theme, try to make this your space on the Internet.

It doesn’t even matter if you are doing this for blogging or if you own a business and want to make sure it’s present online – your site should provide a unique branding experience, it should use your colors, your style, and everything else that represents it.

2. Use a good logo

We cannot emphasize just how important a good logo can be, especially when it comes to brand experience. Put simply, a logo can make or break your entire site (and business).

If you don’t want to invest a lot of money into your logo, consider a good logo maker online – they are very easy to use, you need no design skills, and you can pull off a very nice logo in a matter of minutes.

3. Make the most out of SEO

You want people to be able to find your website when searching for terms that are connected to your business – so it is very important to invest a little in SEO as well.

Yoast is one of the most well-known (and free) on-page SEO plugins you can install on WordPress (it’s easy to use and it will help you optimize your site according to the best practices in the Search Engine Industry.

4. Do get your own domain

As we were mentioning earlier, a domain name is one of the costs you will have to face when you want to build a WordPress site.

Although you can create a free site on WordPress, it will have the “.wordpress.com” extension to it because it will be hosted there, as opposed to externally.

For a personal blog, this might be just fine. For a business, however, you might want to make sure you ditch the “WordPress” extension from your site’s address.

5. Good images go a long way

People are very likely to perceive the images on your website before they perceive the actual content – so do invest in some good images as well.

Even if you do have to pay for them, this will be all worth it because it will add personality, liveliness, and uniqueness to your site.

6. Keep it well-organized

This is great not just for the Search Engines (because they will find your site’s subject matter way easier), but also for humans (your actual target audience).

Try to keep everything clean and tidy – from the homepage tagline and its position on site to the menu and sub-menus.

7. Go for a mobile-friendly theme

This is hugely important, especially in a world where more than 60% of the searches happen on mobile sites. You want your website to be responsive and you want for it to be very well-adjusted to being read on a website.

Otherwise, many users might just drop the idea of visiting your site if they experience issues when loading it on their smartphones or tablets.

8. User-experience should be your main priority

You want a website that provides visitors with a genuinely good experience. Organization lies at the very basis of this, but there are other elements to consider as well – such as how information is distributed on your site (headlines and subheadlines that are visible and allow users to skim through the text, for example).

When in doubt, try to see your site through the eyes of someone who has just landed on it – would you find your way around it, would it provide you with the info or entertainment you needed?

If not, you should probably work on your copy and design a little more to make them more user-friendly.

Creating a decent WordPress website doesn’t happen overnight – and it most certainly won’t boost your profits overnight either.

However, a good, sturdy website will make your business case more than any old-school business card. Make the most out of this and, most importantly, have fun in the process!