Build A WordPress Website in 60 Minutes

by Staff / Monday, 19 February 2018 / Published in Websites

What if we said you could build a WordPress Website in 60 minutes without having to hire a professional web designer? It seems impossible, but it’s actually not. We want to share with you how we build a professional small business website in 60 minutes (without coding skills or prior knowledge!)

Step 1: Choosing a Platform To Build Your Website On

We prefer working with WordPress as a platform for any kind of site for the following reasons:

WordPress is free! The WordPress platform has been developed as an open source system (same as Android), therefore, it’s free and accessible to anyone who wishes to use it.
It doesn’t matter whether your website is extremely big or incredibly compact, WordPress can definitely handle it. For your reference, these websites: BBC America, NASA, CNN, The Walt Disney Company, WNBA, The New York Times, and more are powered by WordPress.
WordPress is versatile. WordPress provides over 4000 free themes and over 45,711 free plugins.
It’s mobile and tablet friendly. 99% of the themes in WordPress are programmed in a way that enables your website to adjust to any device. This is called responsive design.
WordPress is the fastest growing content management system. Presently, WordPress powers 26% of the internet (76 million sites as of now) and increasing. Each day, there are about 50,000 websites built using WordPress.
WordPress has a huge supportive community. Since so many folks use it all over the world, help guides and advice blogs are very easy to discover. Additionally, there are different forums and Facebook groups where people help each other out and share their own experiences. It’s a very friendly community and it’s not unusual to find other small business owners that are willing to help you at no cost.
It’s user friendly. WordPress can be compared to Microsoft (Word.) The system simplifies the way you add and edit content and visual elements. There is no requirement in editing code or using designing skills.

Step 2: Picking Your Domain Name and Hosting Company

Domain Name

A domain name is the website’s address. A domain name prices on average $1-$30 a year. There’s also a way of getting a domain name. A domain name is your gateway to our website- therefore, it’s important to choose it wisely.

Why You Need A Hosting Company

A hosting company basically connects your website (with your domain name) to the World Wide Web. Using a good hosting company will affect the user experience, the load time, and your search ranking on search engines, like Google and Bing, which in turn can increase dramatically your odds of sales and conversions.

We do offer a hosting services that are partnered with GoDaddy. We also recommend our clients to use WP Engine since it is optimized for WordPress sites.

WP Engine also includes:

Reliable 24/7 help
Daily website backups
Powerful firewalls to protect your website and data
SSL ready
Speed reports

Get 20% Off Your First Payment For Hosting With WP Engine

Step 3: Installing WordPress, Picking a Theme, and Adding Plugins

How To Install WordPress

Just like you install an application on your phone, you install WordPress on your own server (your hosting space.) It’s a procedure that is really simple and easy. Use follow the guide that comes with your hosting plan.

Picking a Theme For Your WordPress Website

Each theme has different layouts, color schemes, widgets, etc. WordPress, itself, offers over 4,000 free themes for you to choose from. Additionally, there are many more has more functions and paid themes, which are more elaborate.

Adding Plugins to Your WordPress Website

Plugins are extensions that can be designed to enlarge WordPress abilities, including attributes and functions to your site that don’t come builtin. Plugins are important since they can be used for anything from creating an online store (like Woocommerce!) and building and maintaining call to action forms to optimizing your small business website.

Step By Step Installation Guide

1. Login to your WordPress dashboard, hover over ‘Plugins’ and press ‘Add New’.
2. Browse the plugin repository and decide on a plugin.
3. Press ‘Install Now’. You will be redirected to another page.

Step 4: Adding Page, Posts, and Content

How To Add Pages To Your Website (Homepage, About, Services, etc.)

Hover over ‘Pages’ on the left hand side of the WP Admin and press ‘New Page’.
You will be redirected to the Page Editor. You’ll find that the page editor is similar to editing a Microsoft Word document. Add a title, text and visuals (for adding pictures press ‘add media’).
Press publish located on the right side at the top of the page.

How To Add a Post To Your Website

(Posts should not get confused with pages. The process is similar, but a post is what you would put up on a blog.)

Hover over ‘Posts’ on the left hand side of the WP Admin and select ‘Add New’.
You will be redirected to the Post Editor (similar to the process for adding a page.)
On the right side, you will find a box (second) titled ‘categories’. Categorize your post to an existing category or create a new category.
Add a featured image to your post. At the right side, you will find a box titled ‘Featured Image’. Click ‘Set Featured Image’, add your desired image, and click ‘Set Featured Image’.

Step 5: Personalizing and Customizing Your WordPress Website

In any WordPress theme, you have an option to customize your site. Hover over ‘Appearance’ and click ‘Customize’. You will be redirected to a page with customization options. You may customize your static front page (home page), your color schemes, background color or image, your fonts, and a number of other different settings.

(Note: Typically paid themes will include an explanation on how to customize your theme once you’ve installed it.)

Adding Pages to The Menu Bar

When you’ve created class or a page, hover over ‘Appearance’ and select ‘Menus’. Check the page you want on your website’s navigation bar and click ‘Add to Menu’. The webpage will be added to the menu list and you can now drag and drop it within your navigation bar and click on ‘Save Menu’.

How To Add and Remove Widgets From the Sidebar and Footer

Hover over ‘Appearance’ and click ‘Widgets’. Now drag and drop the different panels and boxes in your desired location. If you would like to remove a widget, simply click on the arrow beside it, and then click ‘Delete’.

Your WordPress Website is now completed. If you have any questions, submit your question to us! We hold a Q&A Webcast every Wednesday.