How to get started with Wordpress?

To get started with WordPress, you only need to follow a few simple steps like choosing a domain and hosting, installing the system, configuring the first settings, installing a theme, adding plugins, creating content and optimizing your site for SEO. This will take you step-by-step through how to get started using the WordPress platform.

Step 1: Choose a domain and hosting

Domain

A domain is the address of your website that users type into a browser (e.g. www.mojastrona.pl). To choose a domain well, remember a few rules:

• Choose a name that is short, easy to remember and in line with the theme of your site.
• Avoid special characters, such as hyphens or numbers, if they are not necessary.
• Check domain availability at popular registries such as OVH or LH.co.uk.

Hosting

Hosting is the space on a server where your site’s files are stored. It is important that the hosting is efficient, reliable and adapted to WordPress. When choosing, pay attention to:

• Server speed and stability.
• Availability of an SSL certificate to secure the site.
• Ease of WordPress installation (e.g., auto-installer).

Tip: choose a company that offers both domain and hosting. This will make it easier to set up and manage your site.

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Step 2: Install WordPress

Autoinstaller

Most hosting companies offer an automatic WordPress installation tool. It takes just a few clicks to get your site up and running. The process is as follows:

1. Log in to your hosting management panel.
2. Select your domain.
3. Use the “Install WordPress” option and follow the instructions.

Manual installation

If you want to install WordPress manually:

1. Download the installation files from the official WordPress.org website.
2. Upload the files to your server using an FTP client (such as FileZilla).
3. Create a MySQL database on your hosting.
4. Connect the database to WordPress by editing the wp-config.php file .
5. Run the installer in your browser by typing in your domain address.

The whole process, even for beginners, will take 30 minutes at most. For detailed instructions, see our post titled “Installing wordpress”.

Step 3: Logging in and setting up your site for the first time

To log in to the WordPress admin panel, just type in: www.twojadomena.pl/wp-admin. After logging in, you will get access to the cockpit, which allows you to manage your site.

Basic settings:

• URL format: Go to “Settings” → “Direct Links” and select a friendly link format, such as “Entry Name”.
• Homepage: Determine whether the homepage should be static or display the latest entries.
• Language and timezone: Adjust the settings to suit your location.

Step 4: Install the theme and personalize the design

What is a theme?

A theme is a ready-made design template that gives your site a look and feel. You can find thousands of free and paid themes on WordPress.

How to install a theme?

1. In the cockpit, go to “Appearance” → “Themes.”
2. Click “Add New” and select the template you are interested in.
3. Install and activate the theme.

Personalize

Once activated, you can customize the look of the site in the “Personalization” section. Edit colors, fonts, element layout and logos to make the site match your vision.

Step 5: Install plugins

What are plugins?

Plugins are extensions that add new features to WordPress. With them, for example, you can create an online store, optimize your site for SEO or add a contact form.

Recommended plugins:

• Yoast SEO: Helps optimize content for search engines.
• Elementor: A drag-and-drop page builder.
• WooCommerce: Creates online stores.
• Contact Form 7: Contact forms.

To install the plugin:

1. Go to “Plugins” → “Add New.”
2. Search for the plugin in the database or upload the file from your computer.
3. Install and activate it.

Step 6: Add content and manage your site

Create pages and entries

• Pages: Used for static content, such as “About Us” or “Contact Us.”
• Entries: Ideal for a blog or regularly published content.

Media

In the “Media” section, you can upload and organize images and videos to use on your site. Remember to optimize your images by reducing their size to speed up your site loading.

Step 7: SEO basics

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the key to gaining traffic from search engines. In WordPress, you can easily optimize your site with plugins such as Yoast SEO and RankMath.

SEO elements to pay attention to:

• Meta titles and descriptions: Add them to every page and post.
• Image optimization: Use appropriate file names and ALT descriptions.
• Link structure: Take care of logical internal linking.

Step 8: Learn HTML and CSS (optional).

Although not necessary, a basic knowledge of HTML and CSS will greatly enhance your capabilities in WordPress. With this, you can:

• Fine-tune the look of your site.
• Add custom elements.
• Influence the loading speed of your site.

Recommended resources for learning: W3Schools, Codecademy.

Step 9. Promote your site

Prepare a promotional strategy for your site. Implementing it will increase its audience and improve visibility, revenue and user engagement. Focus on creating quality content, search engine optimization (SEO) and social media presence to expand your site’s reach and achieve its goals. Regularly publishing valuable articles and using analytics tools will help you understand your audience’s needs and preferences.

The most common beginner mistakes and how to avoid them?

Anyone starting out with WordPress can make mistakes that can later lead to frustration, data loss or a drop in site performance. To avoid this, it’s helpful to know the most common pitfalls and effective ways to deal with them.

1. Not considered choice of theme

A common mistake for beginners is to choose a theme without first checking its performance, compatibility and features. This can lead to problems such as long page loading, lack of support for mobile devices or SEO issues.

To avoid this problem:

• Choose responsive (mobile-friendly) and SEO-optimized themes. You will find many such themes with positive reviews in the WordPress repository.
• Check if the theme is regularly updated by the developers.
• Avoid themes from unknown sources, which may contain malicious code.

2. Installing too many plugins

WordPress offers thousands of plugins, which often leads to the temptation to install anything that seems useful. However, an excess of plugins can slow down your site and increase the risk of conflicts between them.

How to avoid this?

• Install only those plugins that are necessary for your site to function.
• Regularly review the list of plugins and remove those you no longer use.
• Choose plugins with good reviews and from trusted developers.
• Pay attention to the compatibility of plugins with the current version of WordPress.

3. Lack of backups

Beginners often skip creating regular backups of the site, which can have disastrous consequences in case of a crash, hacking attack or an error during an update.

The problem of missing backups can be solved by:

• Install a backup plugin, such as UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy.Set up automatic backups at regular intervals (e.g. daily or weekly).Store backups in a secure location, such as on the cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox) or locally on your computer.

4. Ignoring SEO optimization from the very beginning.

Lack of SEO optimization makes a website less visible in search engines, which reduces traffic and makes it harder to reach users.

How to take care of organic SEO from the beginning?

• Install an SEO plugin, such as Yoast SEO or Rank Math, and configure it according to best practices.
• Take care of correct meta titles, descriptions and URL structures (friendly links).
• Optimize images by reducing their size and adding appropriate alternative text (ALT).
• Use internal linking to make site navigation more transparent.

5. Lack of site security

Beginners often don’t realize the risks of lacking basic security, making their sites vulnerable to hacking attacks.

Here’s a tip on how to avoid this problem:

• Install a security plugin, such as Wordfence or iThemes Security.Update WordPress, themes and plugins regularly to avoid security vulnerabilities.Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication (2FA).Change the default “admin” login to a unique username.

6. Improper optimization of site speed.

A slow website can discourage users and negatively affect SEO results. Beginners often ignore the importance of loading speed.

How to avoid this?

• Enable caching on your site, using plugins such as WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache.
• Optimize images with tools such as Smush or ShortPixel.Consider using a CDN (Content Delivery Network), such as Cloudflare, to speed up page loading globally.Avoid installing large, heavy themes and plugins that can slow down your site.

7. No check on how the site looks on mobile devices

Today, most users browse websites on smartphones and tablets. Skipping mobile version testing can make a website display poorly on smaller screens, leading to a poorer user experience and lower rankings in Google search results.

How to avoid it?

• Test the site on different devices and browsers. You can do this manually or use tools such as DevTools, which will show you how the site looks on screens of different sizes.
• Choose a responsive theme. Make sure that the selected theme automatically adapts to screens with different resolutions.
• Avoid elements that can cause problems on phones, such as large images without optimization, pop-ups or buttons that are too small.
• Use the mobile preview option in the WordPress editor. The built-in tool allows you to check how your site looks on smartphones and tablets before publishing it.