{"id":4042,"date":"2019-03-11T11:30:50","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T11:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icdsoft.com\/blog\/?p=4042"},"modified":"2023-01-26T14:46:06","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T14:46:06","slug":"how-to-build-a-wordpress-website-in-10-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icdsoft.com\/blog\/how-to-build-a-wordpress-website-in-10-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Build a WordPress Website in 10 Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this article, we will show you how to build a complete website in 10 steps. With the latest CMS (content management system) tools available this is so easy that even non-tech professionals can do it in a few spare hours of their time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many CMS applications nowadays, but there is one that is undeniably the easiest and most popular one - WordPress<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WordPress <\/strong>is a free and open-source content management system based on PHP & MySQL. Features include a plugin architecture and a template system. It is most associated with blogging but supports other types of web content including more traditional mailing lists and forums, media galleries, and online stores.<\/p>\nFrom Wikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What started out as a platform for personal blogging back in 2003, has grown into a solution serving millions of unique websites online. WordPress now powers over 28% of the Internet<\/em><\/u>, and it just keeps growing. There is no limit to the types of websites that can be created with it. Regardless of the website you are looking to have, you can build it with WordPress. From company pages to online stores, and even systems for online reservations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Based on market share statistics, the most popular content management system is WordPress, used by over 28% of all websites on the internet, and by 59% of all websites using a known content management system, followed by Joomla and Drupal.<\/p>\nFrom Wikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

1. Install WordPress (With Our Automated WordPress Installer)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like most CMS applications, WordPress is composed of files and a database. The usual way to install WordPress is to download the latest WordPress archive, upload it to your hosting account (via FTP or some other way), extract the files, set up a MySQL database and a MySQL user. Finally, you have to run the installation wizard and complete the steps there. In fact, you can check the instructions we have<\/a> if you are wondering how to install WordPress manually. On all ICDSoft <\/a><\/strong>accounts you don't need to go through that - you can just use the one-click WordPress installer in the online Control Panel for your account. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just go to your Control Panel<\/strong>, access the WordPress Manager<\/strong>, click on the Install<\/strong> tab, and fill out the form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"wordpress<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Press the Install <\/strong>button and you will see a message with a link to your new WordPress website and the dashboard, where you can log in to manage it. Now that you have WordPress installed, we can continue with the actual making of your website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Meet the WordPress Dashboard<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"WordPress<\/a>
The Welcome screen of the WordPress dashboard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

All CMS applications have one thing in common - an administrative panel that allows you to configure and manage the software - the dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where you log in to add or modify the content on your website, change the way it looks, and basically do everything that's related to building and maintaining your website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a new installation, you can access the dashboard by appending \"\/wp-admin<\/strong>\" (without the quotes) to the URL where you have installed it - e.g. http:\/\/example.com\/wp-admin<\/strong>. The login credentials are the ones you entered during the installation process. In case you've forgotten them, you can use the \"Lost your password\" link on the dashboard page to reset them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see the WordPress menus on the left side. The ones you will use often are Posts<\/strong>, Pages<\/strong>, Appearance<\/strong>, Plugins<\/strong>, and Settings<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are asking yourself what's the difference between Posts<\/strong> and Pages, <\/strong>you are not alone. Perhaps the easiest way to differentiate between the two is that posts have a published\/updated date<\/em><\/u>, while pages are static entities designed to contain sort of \"timeless\" type of content<\/em><\/u>. In other words, Pages <\/em><\/strong>are useful for creating the \"About Us\", \"Contact\" and even the \"Home\" page, while <\/em>Posts <\/em><\/strong>are useful for blog or magazine style content.<\/em><\/u> Pages <\/strong>do not have categories, but Posts <\/strong>do. This allows you to set up WordPress to show all posts that are part of a certain category sorted by the date of publishing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"wordpress<\/a>
Define the Site Title and Tagline using strong keywords that introduce visitors to your website's content<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You can navigate to the Posts <\/strong>menu to see the default \"Hello World!\" post. If you click it, the dashboard will load it in Edit mode allowing to edit the contents of the post. Actually, we don't really need this post, so you can press the \"Move to trash\" button. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, you can go to the Settings <\/strong>menu (on the left side), and select General<\/strong>. Pay special attention to that, because this is where you define the URL of your website, its Title <\/strong>and Tagline<\/strong>. The Site Title <\/strong>and Tagline <\/strong>introduce your website to your audience and most WordPress themes are set to show them on every post. They are also two of the first things bots will find, so it's essential to use strong keywords from a purely SEO standpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Install a WordPress Theme<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WordPress themes allow you to change the look of your website in just a few clicks. A great number of free WordPress Themes are available at wordpress.org\/themes<\/a>. For commercial themes, we would suggest checking some of the popular theme marketplaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The great thing about WordPress themes, both free and paid, is that they can save you loads of time. A lot of themes also come with demo content that you can import, so you can get a replica of the demo website you were looking at and just change the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"WordPress<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In order to install a new theme, navigate to the Appearance<\/strong> menu and select Themes<\/strong>. Press the Add New <\/strong>button, and you will be able to browse through all the WordPress themes that are available for free. Switch to the \"Popular<\/strong>\" tab, and you should see the OceanWP theme among the first results. Or, you could just type in \"oceanwp\" (without the quotes) in the search field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This tutorial is based on the OceanWP theme, so we recommend that you go with it, in order to easily follow all the steps listed here. Hover over the OceanWP theme and click on the Install<\/strong> button and then once installed, click Activate<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"WordPress<\/a>
Installing the free OceanWP theme from the WordPress dashboard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Install Elementor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Upon activating OceanWP, WordPress will show you a message that the theme recommends adding three plugins - Elementor, Ocean Extra, and WPForms. Plugins add extra features to your website, so press the \"Begin installing plugins<\/strong>\" link. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"wordpress<\/a>
The OceanWP theme recommends installing three additional plugins.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the next screen, select the Elementor and Ocean Extra plugins, from the Bulk Actions<\/em><\/strong> drop-down menu select Install<\/em><\/strong>, and press the Apply<\/em><\/strong> button. You can also install plugins manually from the Plugins menu on the left side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"WordPress<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

5. Add Your Website Pages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let's start by deleting the default \"Sample Page\". Navigate to the Pages<\/strong> menu, in order to delete the \"Sample Page\". <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since we will be creating a basic company website, the pages that we are going to create are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n