WordPress is having a loyal user base and scores of dedicated developers who are bringing better features to the system in a year. Majority of the developers are using this platform to develop their websites to create an identity for their business within the market.

Wondering how to create a WordPress website? Following is a detailed guide that will help you to build a better website. 

Let’s get started:

Info About Domain Names

 

Domain name should not be confused with URL. It is a separate part of URLs that identifies your website to users. It has different components. We’ll explain this to you with the URL having 5 distinctive parts.

http://www.blog.myownwebsite.com:80/post/awesomeness.php?edit=false&view=true#comment-5

The above URL is having five distinct parts:

http:// is the protocol that tell the browser how to get the data. Some of the well-known protocols are http, https, and ftp.

Blog. It is a subdomain that allows you to segment your website into bits and pieces. You can also use mywebsite.com/blog as well. This totally depends on your needs.

Myownwebsite.com It is the domain name. The www comes before the sub domain if any. It is a matter of reference but this can have an impact on large websites. The domain that ends with .com is a top-level domain (TLD). Some others like .net.org, country specific will be like co.uk.hu.me and brand will be like .xyz, .news, and media. Keep one thing clear in your mind that choosing a business name is a very important part when creating your website.

80 It is the port number that is used to gain access to the resources on the server. For HTTP is 80 and for HTPPS it is 443 by default. For your information, the ports are seen in local development environment.

/post/awesomeness.php It is the path to resource on server. There will be a folder named articles and file name such as awesomesness.php but the path will not necessarily point on actual file on the server.

?edit=false view=true These are the parameters. The first key value parameter is preceded by a question mark and all subsequent pairs are preceded by ampersands. Furthermore, the server-side code pick up these values and these values can be used to modify views or save data for instance.

#comment-5 It is an anchor that will be used to take the user to a specific place on a page instantly. If you will click on the above link, then you will move down on a page to a specific comment.

Selecting the Right Name

 

Domain length should be short to make it easy for the users to remember and come back again.

If you have a lengthy domain name, then most of the traffic will be lost due to it as people are not able to memorize it. Note down, not to infringe on any copyrights with your domain name.

Purchasing a Domain Name

 

In majority of the cases, when you buy a domain you will also get hosting facility. But for security, it is better to keep your domain and hosting separate. Otherwise, if someone gets in to your hosting account, he can steal your files.

What is the best place to buy a domain name? You should buy a domain name with hosting provider. This will make the process easy and you can transfer the domain to another company if needed. 

Furthermore, if you are serious about branding and you have the funds, then you should buy a number of TLDs with the same name. For example, if you registering mydomain.com, then you should buy .net, .org, .info, and local versions as well such as .co.uk.

You will also have the option to choose the length of registration, the default being one year. However, there has been a debate and uncertainty how domain age and registration affect the search engine optimization.

Difference between Hosting and Domain Registration: Let’s differentiate domain registration from hosting. These are totally two separate things and many companies offer both as a single service.

Hosting is a place where you put your website’s file. Whereas, registering a domain mean that you have gained a legal ownership to keep your files on the Internet.

WordPress.Com and WordPress.Org

 

If you are new to this, then you might be confused about the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

WordPress is an open source software package and it is free to everyone around the world. It is the central location for WordPress software project. You can download it, view the documents, ask answer questions in the forum.

In WordPress.com you can sign up for a free account and get fully functioning website. You will be able to use the WordPress.com and sub domain like mywebsite.wordpress.com but for the first time use, the restriction are very less.

Selecting a Hosting Package

 

Choosing hosting package can be difficult even for the professional ones. Following are the three ways to follow if you are looking for a good web hosting package:

1- VPS Hosting

2- Shared Hosting

3- Managed WordPress Hosting

Thinking, how to choose a hosting provider? Your selection will depend on your budget and your website requirements. Now, let’s have a little discussion about the shared hosting, VPS hosting, and managed WordPress hosting.

Shared Hosting: It is one of the attractive options because of its affordability. A single server will house hundreds of websites, which translates to hundreds of users. A single server is not that expensive to run so the cost can split between all users of the server.

You will see a shared plans for around $5 per month. This is a great price to get started but there are numerous downsides – bad-neighbor effect being one of the largest. 

VPS Hosting: A Virtual Private Server is similar to a shared environment without the negative side effects. The hardware is still shared among few users but hardware is partitioned equally.

Another account on the same server will not use up to 80% of the resources. If you are having four accounts on the server, then each one may use 25% of the assets. This effectively will take care of unpredictability issues. Some VPS accounts will cost $5 and you will generally pay around $15 to $20 per month. And if you are having the money, then you should choose either managed WordPress hosting or a VPS over a shared environment.

Managed WordPress Hosting: It is a bit different because it is not a different way of using server technology. A managed WordPress package is very similar to get a website from WordPress.com that can be considered as a managed WordPress host.

This will make your website faster and more secure as well. Remember that the automatic updates, truly professional WordPress specific support, and server-level caching are some of the benefits of managed WordPress hosting.

Some of the popular WordPress host are Kinsta, Flywheel, Pantheon, WPEngine, and Media Temple.

Setting up a Domain

 

Now, you are having hosting package and domain name. If you are going to buy a domain through hosting provider, then you don’t have to do this step as this will be taken care automatically.

The domain should be pointed to hosting provider so that when someone accesses it through the browser, then they can be directed to the appropriate server. This is often done by setting up nameservers and sometimes referred as account DNS.

Moreover, when you change your nameservers, you will have to wait up to 72 hours for them to take effect.

Websites and Domains

 

Nowadays, especially with managed WordPress Hosting, you will be confused about how to add a website to your host?

It can be done in many ways. Let’s have a look at a specific way to understand the difference between domains and websites. 

Suppose you are having fresh managed WordPress account. You can add multiple websites and you will be asked about the WordPress installation and user details. Once you have created the website, you can already be reached through a subdomain like wnub234.wpengine.com. This will allow you to fully set up the website without even owning a domain.

Installing WordPress

 

If you have managed WordPress host, you will be able to do this by filling out the form. According to your account type, you will be able to add any number of WordPress installation to your account.

If you are having a shared or a VPS account, then you are having two choices. One click installation or manual installation. Many hosts provide WordPress installation tools for minimizing the work in this step.

If you are planning for manually installing WordPress, then it’s easy too. You only need to download WordPress, upload all the files to your domain’s folders, create database, point your browser to the domain and follow the on-screen instructions. The WordPress Codex is having a complete installation guide. If you need help for creating a database, then you should take a look at and you will complete the task in no time.

Selecting Theme and Plugins

 

Choosing a WordPress theme is one of the most difficult tasks of all. Plugins are more specific. You will have to install one for performing a single task. The theme will add visuals to the front page but testing them can be more complex.

A theme has parts you might not think of testing such as 404 page, the search page, the archive, and the list goes on. Furthermore, some basic themes give a boast to lot of features like support for WooCommerce, bbPress, and more.

According to the type of website, you will need some plugins. You can also get free WordPress themes for website according to your own preference. These plugins work collectively with your theme and WordPress’ back end for providing specific functionality. Let’s have a look at a few common setups:

E-Commerce: WooCommerce is one of the standard plugins used for ecommerce. It has everything that you need to start online business. In addition to this, you can also get premium WordPress themes for business.

Forums: bbPress is a powerful but old-fashioned plugins for forums. Once it is installed, you and your users can create categories, threads, and post replies.

Social Network: WordPress allows you to create your own social network with BuddyPress. You will get many features that you get on Facebook like activity streams, notifications, friends connections, private messages, and more.

Selecting Theme: Once you are having base plugins, it is better to add some content in the back end. This will help you to make it easier to gauge your theme. Confused regarding the selection of theme? Following are some of the guidelines to select a good theme:

• Solid, secure, and speedy code
• Good design, readability, and easy navigation
• Active development
• Compatibility with popular plugins
• Compatibility with latest version of WordPress
• Support and documentation

Essential Plugins

 

In this section, we will be telling you about some of the essential WordPress plugins that most of the WordPress users install without thinking. Some of them are great for displaying content, some add social features, some of them secure website, and some are just offering help. The list includes:

• All In One SEO Pack
• Dropbox Backup and Restore
• VaultPress
• AKISMET
• W3 Total Care
• Jet Pack
• Ninja Forms
• IThemes Security and the list goes on.

Keeping WordPress Protected

 

It is a fact that hackers are looking for the path that is having the least resistance. You need to follow the below two steps to keep your WordPress protected:

• Use strong passwords and change passwords after few months.
• Update all your WordPress plugins and themes.

Essential Pages

 

Now everything has set up. You can start adding the content and some of the essential pages:

• Homepage
• Contact page
• About page
• E-commerce pages that include terms of service, privacy policy, refund policy, and contact details,
• Cookie handling
• Website analytics.

Summary

 

Hope now you are aware of the fact how to create WordPress website from scratch. Still looking for experts? You should get in touch with web designers Boston to make your website functional and complete in every aspect. The experts will craft an extensive plan so that nothing is missed during the development and designing phase.