Setting up a WordPress Website From Scratch for Decorating Companies

Hi well yes, this post has aimed a setting up a word press web site from scratch for decorating companies but would also relate to any business as it will only cover the technical aspects to the setup. I will cover the design and SEO aspect in another post.

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Firstly why should I use WordPress?

There are much easier off the self website solutions on the market these days such as Wix and to be honest, I don’t know enough to make a properly educated comment however my theory is when something is made so that anyone can use it, you will be no different to all these websites, if you want to be better than the vast majority then use the better equipment. Equipment that may too long and be more complex to master, but when you do the results, you can achieve far out the way what you can achieve with other equipment.

WordPress is also the most commonly used website framework on the internet. Years ago, when everyone developed websites from the scratch web, coders would have to build each website individually. Basically creating the architecture of the site, which is something only those experienced could do. However, nowadays in 2016 the are many packages such as WordPress that provide the architecture for you to effectively only have to paint by numbers design on the top.

That is why I say use WordPress

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Web Host

The first thing is to get yourself a website hosting package. Now I use www.tsohost.com which so far seem very good. I haven’t had any real problems from them at all; it only costs £50 odd a year and is an English based host. I would recommend against using services that offer cheap hosting such as godly or 123 hosts. Again I am not knowledgeable enough to explain the ins and outs of web hosts. But my theory is if it is that cheap then there’s probably a reason for it.

I would also recommend using a cloud-based hosting option. If you want to read up more on the difference, check out this post. But cloud hosting is the future apparently so for a few quid more I think it’s worth it.

You can then also buy your domain name for your site through your host. You can buy domain names from anywhere, and it may cost a few more quid through your host. I prefer it as it keeps everything in one place (keep this as simple for me as possible). I used to have my domain name through go daddy and hosting through other various and to get it to work I would have to go into my go daddy account to set up re-roots of the name to the host. Pain in the backside (especially if like me and just doing your own site not designing loads) If you have everything in one place then moving forward it keeps everything as easy to remember as possible.

Ok once we’ve

1. Got domain name
2. Got web hosting package

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Now fly over to www.themeforest.com to choose your design.

This is the bit that has completely changed in the world of web design. No longer do you need actually to be a web designer; instead, you go and buy a predesign template to load onto your site and customise.

I have used this theme called Enfold

http://themeforest.net/item/enfold-responsive-multipurpose-theme/4519990

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Cost me 59 dollars to make me look a professional designer. All themes from theme forest have in general been designed by professionals, downloaded and used on thousands of different sites. Meaning they are tried and tested and work. (As long as you make you purchase one that good reviews that is). But any good modern theme should

1. Pass all google requirements for good SEO
2. Be mobile responsive
3. Have fast load speeds
4. Have modern picture/ slider/ text capabilities

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So really, the choice on the theme is your personal preference.

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Installing Your Theme onto your website

This is really easy; basically, all web hosts have a one-click WordPress installation button. So basically go into your web host and click install word press then your done.

Now you should have a fully working WordPress site which you can log into.

Once you’re logged in click on themes

Click upload theme, then upload the theme you have just purchased from theme forest to your site a hey presto you have a website.