For those who have never created a professional website, and would like one that looks great and has all the necessary features, WordPress is a great choice. It is the largest CMS, or content management system, platform in the world. More than fifteen million sites run on WordPress on a given day. It is affordable, accessible, and it makes it so easy for someone to start up a site, even if they have no prior experience. But every beginner needs a guide to help them out – and that is why we have put together the top ten steps needed to get your WordPress cloud hosting setup into action.
- Buy a Domain Name
Before you can think about anything else, you need to choose and buy a domain name for your site. Ensure that you take your time with this process, because you need to pick the right domain name. Pick something that is similar to your company’s name, is easy to remember, and does not have any complicated spelling. If you cannot find your ideal name, you can try adding a city, state or country appreciations into the mix. For instance www.businessnameUSA.com is an option you could go with.
- Get a Web Host
It is so important to find the right cloud VPS host if you want to set up WordPress. With a high availability cloud VPS solution, you will never have to worry about your site slowing down with heavy traffic, or always crashing. You share a server, but you are allocated your own space, which means that you have a lot more power and freedom as compared to a regular VPS solution. In addition, you can always add more power when needed, and at reasonable prices.
- Connect Your Services
When your host signup is complete, you will be able to login and access the address of your nameservers. You will put that nameserver information into the appropriate field within your domain registrar. Now your two services are linked!
- Install WordPress
If you chose a host wisely, you should have a quick install option that will let you add the WordPress plugin with only a few clicks. There is no need to install the script and go through that long process anymore. You can do this in two ways. You can either have your whole site up on WordPress, which means you will leave the directory option blank. But if you only want your site’s blog on WordPress, just put in your directory (http://www.domainname.com/blog/).
- Use the Dashboard
The WordPress dashboard is your best friend if you are planning on using it to regularly update and check on your site. For instance, you can see your blog posts, media, pages, comments, appearance, plugins, users, tools and settings within the dashboard. If you have any questions or issues while using the dashboard, you can always contact WordPress customer service, or you can try to find an online guide on the issue. There are many useful YouTube guides that show how to browse and make the best use of the dashboard.
- Pick a Theme
You do not want your site looking like the default WordPress theme when it is operational. Potential customers and clients will be visiting that site, and you want to convey a professional and admirable image. There are so many great themes that you can choose within WordPress, so it is just a matter of finding the one that fits your company’s image. You can even add compatible themes to WordPress if you find them through other sources.
- Use the Widgets
The widgets within WordPress are the best way to gain quick access to some of the informational pages within the platform. For instance, widgets can help you get to Recent Posts, Archives, and more. You can even see Recent Comments and your Home Page. There are also text widgets that you can use to get people to sign up to email lists on your site.
- Figure Out Plugins
There are so many fantastic plugins that you can install, enable and use within WordPress. Some are already set up, such as anti-spam plugins and storefront plugins. Others will need installation, but you can get plugins for SEO, cache management, security, backups and more.
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- Add Content
Your site is ready, in terms of the bare bones. You have the structure in place, but now you need content. Create the basic pages, such as About Us, FAQ, Contact Us, and whatever else you would like your target market to know about your company. Ensure that you have plenty of good content on your site through a blog section, as that will drive traffic to your pages.
- Promote Your Site
Now that your site is up and running, it is time for you to figure out how to promote it. You will need to incorporate SEO onto your site, use social media to your advantage, and identify the best ways to reach your target market.