Learn how you can easily build a WordPress website in 30-days. This video is supported by our FREE GUIDE which breaks down the 4 stages to easily build your website for those who aren’t sure where to even start. Download the FREE GUIDE here.

So you’d like to save some money and build your own website. 

Is it easy to do? Yes. Can an absolute beginner do it with very little technical ability? Absolutely anyone can build a WordPress website from scratch.

To gain the most from this blog, head over to https://digipiv.com/free-wordpress-website-guide/ to download the WordPress Website free guide. It breaks down everything in this video, in a little more detail and also has links to all the resources I’m going to mention in this video to help you throughout the process.  

After building my very first website back in 2008, I made several mistakes along the way and it took me way longer than it should launch. After building hundreds of websites since then, I’d like to break down the process I use so you can get online way sooner. 

The Steps to Build a WordPress Website

1. Nail down your idea and save your space 

• First, define your idea and what the purpose of having a website is. You need to understand who your target customers are, what problems they are facing and how you plan on helping them. Now think about how your website is going to support that. Are you going to provide blogs or articles, sell physical or digital products, have a booking form to offer consultations, have a directory or forum? The options are endless, decide what makes the most sense for you, remember it’s all about the best way to serve the needs of your potential customers.
   
• Once you download the FREE Guide from our website, I also give you access to a free tool to help you determine who your customers are, what your unique offering is, and how you can communicate that to them on your website to increase conversions. So remember to download that guide to get access to that. 
  
• Once this is done, if you haven’t already, then you need to purchase your domain and hosting. There are hundreds of choices but we recommend SiteGround for hosting your website. They have the best support, super reliable servers and great value for money. Once you have your domain, go ahead and create accounts on all the social media platforms you plan on using in the future with your business or domain name. You don’t have to start posting on the platform just yet, but create the account so you own it and don’t lose the name to someone else. 
  
• Now log into your website admin tools and set up your new custom email and install the WordPress application onto your new domain. It’s easy to do in just a few simple clicks. You’ve just started the process to build a WordPress website.

2. Prepare your content for your new WordPress Website

• Now it’s time to plan the content of your website pages. If you’ve downloaded our Free Guide, then the tool I mentioned earlier will help you get this step done really quickly. But otherwise, open up a Word document and start typing out the content you will be putting on your website pages and sections. Things like about, bios, service descriptions, contact details, etc.  
  
• Now that you have your content ready, it time to think about branding and design. If you’re not a professional designer, then I recommend signing up for a free Canva account. You’ll be using this to develop your new colour scheme for your brand, easily create a custom logo and design all the images you will be placed on your website.  

3. Design your main webpage(s) 

• Now you’re finally ready to take everything you’ve prepared and build a WordPress website by starting with your very first webpage. WordPress website designs are based on themes. This is what controls the look and feel of your website. After installing WordPress for the first time, you will be given a free theme to start. It looks great but is limited when it comes to what you are able to do on the pages themselves. So if you want that extra level of flexibility in the page design to create something that looks super professional with a really easy drag-and-drop page designer, then I recommend purchasing the premium Divi theme. It’s what we use on virtually all of our client websites and wouldn’t use anything else.  
  
• If you plan on having a contact form on your website, then install a form plugin from the WordPress plugins menu. Right now I recommend Forminator as you can create pretty much any type of form and even collect payments through a form, which is really awesome. 
  
• Next, open up the pages menu and add a new page. If you’re just starting out, I suggest creating a simple one-page website. So create one page, and place all your content on a single page split into about, products, services, testimonials and contact sections. You can always add more pages later to spread out your content. Less is more in the website world. So don’t include anything that isn’t going to be valuable to your future website visitors.  
  
• To improve the user experience on your website, create a simple menu and place it in the primary navigation bar in the header.  

And you’re done. Just one last step to get ready to launch your new WordPress Website 

Get ready for the big launch 

• Go through your WordPress settings to make sure everything is as you want so visitors have a good experience on your website and it’s easy for you to manage in the future. 
   
• Next, install a free SEO plugin, and add a few title, descriptions and keywords so your website can be found through search engines.  
  
• If you’re like me, you’ll be interested to know who is using your website, where they are coming from and how to improve your website over time. To connect your website to Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These are free tools that will provide you with loads of traffic and usage information on your website.  
  
• Now you’re ready to launch. Share your domain URL on social media and in emails to your network and start seeing the traffic rolling in.  

Once a week, just go into your WordPress website backend and do whatever updates it recommends you do and of course, keep your content fresh and up to date. So do you need to hire the services of a professional web designer? No, not really. Download our guide and give it a go. But if you the type of person that would prefer someone else to build your idea, I’d be happy to help. You can find more information on our website packages page or even book a call to chat about your project.  

Are you looking forward to getting started with WordPress? Let me know in the comments.