While building a site on WordPress sounds simple enough, many hidden factors impact its success. This content management system offers many useful features that you can apply to improve your website layout, speed, and rating, but establishing priorities before you begin is critical.
This introductory WordPress guide will explore some aspects you need to pay attention to before you begin working on your website.
Basic Setup Considerations
You have to buy a WordPress hosting account and a new domain if you don’t want to use the generic one. You must also download and install the basic setup for WordPress.
Select a Theme
You can choose from thousands of free and paid WordPress themes. Before you select one, though, you must consider a few things.
Don’t go for the most visually appealing theme right from the bat; it might be less than optimal in terms of SEO. Your first consideration should be how responsive it is to mobile.
Your website performance will be impacted by the design of the site. While there is no shortage of ways to increase speed, selecting a simple theme without too many images and features should be your priority.
Plugins
Most features on this platform come from plugins you can install directly on your site. They can have a considerable impact on your website functionality and performance. Make sure you get the plugins you need in order to create the website you want.
Consider social media plugins. They make it easier for your audience to share your website and blog.
SEO Functionality
You should keep an eye on SEO when building your WordPress site. Your site must be on par with the most current search engine standards to improve results and gain organic traffic.
In light of Google’s regular algorithm updates, you need to install an SEO plugin that will track how your website’s performance.
Security
Although cybercrime keeps increasing, some people still neglect their website’s security. Keeping your WordPress site secure is paramount.
Start by getting an SSL certificate. Choose a password that’s hard to guess. The most common way of perpetrating a hack is via brute force attacks, which involve entering different passwords until the hacker gets the right one.
While WordPress is constantly updating its security protocols, it’s a good idea to introduce an additional security layer to ensure your website is safe for visitors and deter attackers.
Hackers don’t target state agencies or major retailers exclusively. Even a small store, a blog, or a hobby site should take care to prevent data loss.
Security is crucial to WordPress community members, who talk about products that can prevent or block hacking attempts regularly. You’ll find Bulletproof, Wordfence, iThemes, and Simple Firewall to be handy tools.
Analytics
A reliable analytics tool is the best way to track your site’s performance and progress. These tools track user demographics, behavior, and other important information that can help optimize your site for your visitors.
The most popular tool is Google Analytics, and it is also free. It can help show any changes on your site, allowing content optimization in the process.
Cache
Your website cache is critical in ensuring uninterrupted access to visitors to the site. Of course, you can use plugins to improve cache performance. Neglecting this aspect can harm your site’s speed because the cache saves your site’s data on the user’s browser, making it load faster.
E-commerce
It’s a good idea to combine plugins and themes to create an e-commerce store, particularly WooCommerce and Woo E-commerce. This will make displaying items and receiving payment possible. Finally, set up a payment processing service.
