Ready to build your professional WordPress website? This is a detailed guide on the things you need to create WordPress website in 2024 (exclusively for beginners and those interested in WordPress Development).
In our previous topic, we discussed the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
Before you can have a professional website on WordPress, there are some software (free or paid) that you need to know and have. The knowledge of these things is important if you’re a solo WordPress designer/developer or just want to build a website for your business.
Things you need to create a WordPress Website
The things/software you need are:
- Theme
- Plugins (you will need more than one unless you are a pro developer)
- Hosting account
- Custom Domain name
- WordPress Local Development Area on your laptop
- WordPress Developer (if you don’t have the time to spare)
Let’s discuss each in detail now that you know what they are.
A). WordPress Theme
See your WordPress theme as the skeleton of your website. It is the template of your website (how your website will look and feel). In a standard setting, a UI Designer will design a UI for a website before a developer turns it into a live website. But if there is no UI designer, that’s not a problem.
WordPress has tons of FREE and PREMIUM themes (that are developed by WordPress Developers) in its repository. You have full access to the free themes.
Should you just use any theme?
The simple answer is NO, you shouldn’t. Why?!
There is something we call bloating in web development. When you use a theme not custom-made for you, you’ll experience bloating. This means your theme will have some features that you don’t need and these features are handled by hundreds of lines of code which result in your website not performing as it should.
What to do?
Ensure whatever theme you want to use (free or paid) has the features you need on your website or just use a page builder like Elementor and build it from scratch without writing a line of code.
Where to buy premium WordPress theme
The only place I recommend is themeforest.org or just hire me to build a custom theme for you.
B). WordPress Plugins
What WordPress Plugins do is add extra functionalities/features to your website. Just like themes, there are also FREE and PREMIUM plugins in the WordPress repository.
As for plugins, you only need the plugins that are very important for your website. And don’t forget that a plugin not well-developed or that has been abandoned may cause harm to your website. So ensure whatever plugin you install is frequently updated.
List of plugins you need
The plugins you need depend on your website’s features. A simple blog is different from a complex membership website. Some of the common plugins you will need are:
- Yoast SEO or RANK Math (for SEO)
- Wordfence (for security)
- Litespeed Cache (for caching and website performance)
- WP Rocket (for website performance) – PREMIUM ONLY
- ShareThis (for article sharing)
- Elementor (a page builder) – You can use this to build your website from scratch like I did on Mercy Crown Academy
- Woocommerce (for adding online shop)
- Advanced Custom Fields
- Paid Membership PRO (for membership)
- And some other plugins
C). Web Hosting Account
This is a server your website needs to live on. It is where your website’s contents will be saved and made accessible to your audiences. Also where your custom domain (website address will stay so you can install WordPress.org on it).
The web hosting companies we recommend are Namecheap, Bluehost, WP Engine, and GoDaddy.
D). Domain Name
This is your website address. Something like www.alphawebtips.com. Yours can be www.your-business-name.com or .org or .ie, and so on.
Please note: The .com, .org, and the likes are what we refer to as domain extensions.
You can buy a domain name from the same web hosting company you use or buy it somewhere else.
E). WordPress Local Dev Environment
This is just an app or software you can install on your laptop so that you can create WordPress website locally without paying for anything until you’re done to make it go live (so everyone can access it).
Recommendation: Local By Flywheel. You can sign up and download it from localwp.com (it’s completely free). Ensure you do because that’s the software we will be using here. Others are WAMP, and XAMP.
N.B: If you’re a PHP developer and you use the likes of WAMP or XAMP, you can’t use any of them together with Local By Flywheel. You have to turn it off.
F). WordPress Developer
If you don’t have the time to go through the trouble of developing a WordPress website for yourself(maybe you are a busy business person or fully employed), you need a WordPress Developer.
You can hire me to develop your WordPress Website for you (affordable).
Wrapping up the things you need to create WordPress Website
These are exactly the things you need to create a website on WordPress (as a pro or a complete beginner). If you are just learning WordPress development, you only need the Local WordPress Dev tool for now (so you can practice and be better). If you’re ready to go live, you need the hosting, domain name, and theme.
What’s next?
The next thing now is showing you how to set up your WordPress Local Development Environment/Tool so that you can follow the tutorials practically.
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