Create a WordPress Website For Your Home Business

Building a new website for your business can be both exciting and a bit daunting. That’s why I recommend taking a moment to familiarize yourself with a few important aspects before you jump in. By doing so, the process of building your site will not only be easier, but more efficient. So whether you’re selling handmade crafts, starting a marketing consulting business, or creating a moneymaking blog — here are 7 steps to creating a WordPress website for your home business.

1. Choose Your Platform

Before you can begin building your home business website, you first need to decide which content management system (CMS) to build and manage your website with. The most popular platforms include WordPress and drag-and-drop site builders such as Squarespace, Weebly, Wix, and GoDaddy. Deciding which is right for you and your business will depend on your web design experience, site needs, budget, and time available. For this home business website, I used WordPress. It’s easy to use, has a ton of functionality, and it’s totally free — all you need to do is purchase your domain name and hosting.

WordPress vs Website Builders

Businesses have a number of options when it comes to how their website can be built, from WordPress to drag-and-drop website builders such as Squarespace or Weebly. Generally, businesses with some technical experience (or willingness to learn) that require a highly custom site with unique capabilities should choose WordPress for the home business website. Businesses looking for an easy way to build a website will likely find site builders to be a good solution.

What is a WordPress?

At its core, WordPress is the simplest, most powerful way to create your own home business website or blog. In fact, WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS) that anyone can use or modify for the WordPress software for free. Today there are many CMS platforms to choose between. Which platform you choose is going to come down to these four factors:

• Price
• Ease of use
• Functionality
• Personal design and appeal

For example, not only does WordPress power a huge number of business sites and blogs, it’s also the most popular way to create an eCommerce store as well! With WordPress, you can create:

• Business websites
• eCommerce stores
• Blogs
• Portfolios
• Resumes
• Forums
• Social networks
• Membership sites
• …virtually anything else you can dream up.

What’s The Difference Between WordPress.org and WordPress.com?

• .org often called self-hosted WordPress, is the free, open-source WordPress software that you can install on your own web host to create a website that’s 100% your own.
• .com is a for-profit, paid service that is powered by the WordPress.org software. It’s simple to use, but you lose much of the flexibility of the self-hosted WordPress.

Most of the time, when people say “WordPress”, they mean the self-hosted WordPress available at WordPress.org. If you want to truly own your website, self-hosted WordPress.org is almost always the best option.

All you need to do to get started with self-hosted WordPress is purchase web hosting and a domain name.

2. Pick a Web Hosting Provider and Domain Name

Every website needs a website host. A website host is what gives your home business website a place to live and makes it accessible to visitors.

There are many different options for website hosting, with a wide variety of price points and functionality. Knowing what you need, what types of website hosting are available, and what to ask a prospective web host will help you find a web hosting provider that is a good fit for your company.

I have multiple websites hosted with Bluehost, which I highly recommend.  I am extremely happy with their hosting and customer service, and if needed, I can upgrade to a more robust plan with just a few clicks.

Once you’ve chosen a host — you’ll need to purchase a domain name. This is the web address that people will type into the search bar to find your website. Often this can be bought from the same place you purchased your hosting package. In fact, BlueHost gives you a FREE DOMAIN name when you purchase your hosting through them.

When you choose a domain name you’ll want to follow these simple rules:

• Keep it simple. Refrain from words that are difficult to spell or hard to remember.
• Use a dot.com – .com is what most people remember when typing in a web address.
• Beware of words with multiple spellings and meanings: to, two, too, or 2.

3. Create Your WordPress Website for Your Home Business

Once you have all of the above components you can put them together to create your home business website. It’s Easy To Find WordPress Help

Because WordPress is so popular, it’s easy to find help if you ever run into any issues. There are heaps of…

• Blogs
• Tutorials
• Forums
• Facebook Groups

…that you can turn to for free and paid help if needed.

A great resource for paid Web tutorials is Fiverr Learn.  The have affordable courses tailored to your needs, led by handpicked, industry experts.  Pay only for the courses you want to take, no monthly fees, and know the exact cost upfront.

4. Make Your Website Visually Appealing

Website design is becoming easier and more intuitive, people are able to customize their websites to make them look unique and fit their brand. I use Bluehost for my website and a template from elementor.

To help make your site stand out, I suggest getting a custom logo designed. If you’re launching your website on a shoestring budget, try Fiverr — where freelancers only charge $5 for their services. I only used Fiverr for logo design on one project and I’ve been happy with the results. Or you can try to design it yourself with Canva. No design experience needed. Canva’s logo maker and editor is made for non-designers: Simply drag and drop.

When you’re finished, you can download your new logo—or print it on business cards, letterheads and more. The options are endless.

Be sure to check out my Recommended Resources!

WordPress Is Extensible

Even if you aren’t a developer, you can easily modify your website thanks to WordPress’ huge ecosystem of themes and plugins:

• Themes– these primarily change how your website looks.
• Plugins– these primarily change how your website functions. Plugins can be something small, like a contact form, or huge, like creating an eCommerce store.

Currently, there are over 50,000 free WordPress plugins and 5,000 free WordPress themes, as well as tons of premium options. That said – you have plenty of choices!

5. The 5 Most Important Pages on Your Website

Every website is different, but generally speaking here are the five most important (and most visited) pages on a website:

A. Home Page

This is the first-page customer views, so make sure that it’s easy to navigate, it has a clear statement of who you are and what you offer; for bloggers, this will be your tagline. You’ll also want to include a call to action (CTA) — what do you want the reader to do next?

B. Contact Us Page

How can the reader or customer get in touch with you? At the very least you should have your email address or contact form listed on this page. You may also want to include a physical address or P.O. Box, map, phone number, and social media profiles.

C. About Page

Potential customers want to know you’re legit — so be sure to include who you are and how you got started, as well as a professional head shot. Deliver the most important and relevant information above the fold. The user is on the About page for a reason

D. Service Offering Page

This is where you’ll list your services, products, or solutions. Include a summary of your services, benefits, and pricing if applicable.

E. Blog

On this page, you’ll want to organize information clearly on the blog, and make sure the information is relevant to your industry.  Most readers want to read the most recent articles, so you might consider organizing categories such as “most recent” or “most popular”.

F. Privacy Policy 

If you collect email addresses for your email newsletter, it is required by law to have a privacy policy on your website. Also, with new GDPR rules, you are required to let users know how you use their personal information. If you need help drafting your policy, you can check out Businessese for DIY legal forms.

6. Get Traffic to Your Website

Now that you have everything in place it’s time to let the world know that you’re there. Here are a few ways to get eyeballs on your home business website or blog.

Let the search engines know you’re live by submitting your website to their directories:

• Google
• Yahoo

Use social media to let readers know about a sale, promotion, or new blog post:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Keep in touch by sending out a newsletter or promotional emails:

• Constant Contact
• ConvertKit
• Mail Chimp
• SendInBlue

7. Maintain Your WordPress Website

Once your first home business website created with WordPress is live, the process is far from over. You’ve made a great first step. But a company’s website is never really complete. Add or change elements as your business grows and changes. Adapt to things like SEO and mobile designs. And always remember to keep your customers’ needs and wants in mind when it comes to your first business website.

Be sure to check out my Recommended Resources!