So you’ve decided to explore the wonderful world of WordPress to help grow your business.
Great choice!
WordPress is one of the most complete, easy to use website building and content management tools. It’s by far the most popular content management system available online, and according to the company, the platform helps to power an astounding 26% of the internet – wow!
If used effectively, WordPress can help you significantly transform your company’s online presence, helping you to gain exposure to even more customers and clients.
Before you begin to use this powerful platform to enhance your business, you may have a few queries and concerns that need addressing.
In this article, we’re going to go through 15 of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to using WordPress for your business.
WordPress is a platform that allows you to build any type of website, such as a blog, forum, or even an online store. It’s formally referred to as a content management system (CMS) and is used by millions of people and businesses to help construct their online presence.
In short, no. You don’t need any previous experience designing or building websites to be able to fully utilise the powerful tools and features WordPress has to offer. Thanks to its inherently intuitive structure, the WordPress platform will enable almost anyone to construct a fully functioning website in no time at all.
WordPress has a whole host of upgrade options available, which give you access to premium features in exchange for a monthly fee.
The upgrade options will vary depending on the purpose of your website. Basic packages start at a price of £2.25/month, and for more advanced packages you’ll be looking at pay up to £36/month. If you’re a casual blogger, then the cheaper packages will suffice. If you’re running an eCommerce store, then you’ll be looking at a higher-end package.
Creating a WordPress blog is reasonably easy. First, you navigate to the ‘Site’ tab on the menu, then click on ‘Posts’. From here you’ll be prompted to click ‘Add New Post’. Once you’ve clicked here, you’ll be taken to the blog posts editor, where you can upload or type your latest blog.
The blog post feature is very intuitive and simple to use. If you’re familiar with using Microsoft Word, then you’ll be able to navigate around the WordPress blog post editor with ease.
Start with your title, type your introduction, and add subheadings, images, and quotes all by using the practical ‘block’ function. Blocks enable you to effortlessly construct beautiful looking blog posts in no time at all.
Before you publish your blog, you can check to see how it will appear to readers visiting your site by clicking the ‘Preview’ button. Once you happy, simply click ‘Publish’ to make your post available online.
There are two main ways you can add images to your site. First, you can navigate to the menu and click on ‘Media’. From here you’ll be able to click the ‘Add New’ button, which will then prompt you to upload a file from your hard drive.
The second way is much easier. When you’re editing your page, simply just drag and drop your chosen image onto the page, and it will automatically upload, allowing you to then place and adjust your image to your requirements.
You can change the theme of your website by navigating to the ‘Design’ tab on the menu. From here you will be able to choose from a huge variety of pre-designed themes, and you’ll also have the option to customise your current theme.
As well as the huge range of in-house designs made available directly through WordPress, there is an enormous variety of WordPress themes made available through third-party websites such as Themeforest, which offers over 45,000 customised themes that can be easily downloaded and installed to your WordPress site.
Once you’ve downloaded your new WordPress theme, simply click the ‘Upload Theme’ button and follow the instructions on how to complete the installation process.
Connecting your social media pages to your WordPress website is simple. Just click on the ‘Marketing’ button underneath the ‘Tools’ tab on the menu. From here, click on the ‘Connections’ button on the menu bar, and you’ll then be shown your options on what social networks you integrate to your website. Simply click ‘Connect’ next to the social networks you wish to use, and follow the steps.
Yes, absolutely! To change your WordPress website logo you’ll have to click on the ‘Customise’ button under the ‘Design’ tab on the menu. From here you’ll be taken to the page editor. To edit your website’s logo, click on ‘Site Identity’, and you’ll then be given the option of changing your logo and site icon.
No need to worry! As with most websites that require you to create an account, there’s a ‘Lost Your Password?’ button, which will take you to a page that guides you through the process of regaining access to your WordPress account.
All you have to do is enter your WordPress username or the email address that you used to sign up, and you’ll be sent further instructions allowing you to recover your account.
To add a new page to your WordPress website, click on the ‘Pages’ button underneath the ‘Site’ tab. From here you’ll be able to create additional pages, such as “Contact” or “About Us”, by pressing the ‘Add New Page’ button.
One of the main differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org is its functionality. In the majority of cases, WordPress.com is free, easy to use, and is primarily designed for casual users. However, this means users may be limited to the amount of customisation that can be made to their site. WordPress.com also comes equipped with free hosting and a free subdomain.
WordPress.org is designed for more serious users. With this option, you’ll have full control over the customisation and use for your website. As you’ll entirely own your website, you have the freedom to choose and design your own themes. WordPress.org doesn’t come with a free hosting feature like WordPress.com, so you’ll have to connect to a third-party hosting provider, lucky KIJO can handle that for you.
Plugins are basically handy tools that allow you to add more features to your website. There’s a huge variety of WordPress plugins that you can use to improve the functionality of your website, including ones to help improve your website’s security, and plugins to boost your SEO ranking.
As the name states, all you have to do is ‘Plug-In’ these tools to your website to gain access to all the handy features they have to offer – nothing complicated here. However, you will need to upgrade to a business plan on WordPress.com to install plugins, as opposed to WordPress.org which allows you the freedom to install any plugin you desire.
To install a plugin, just click on the ‘Plugins’ button underneath the ‘Tools’ tab. From here you’ll be taken to the WordPress plugin marketplace, where you can choose from a huge list of plugins to install. Alternatively, you can upload your own plugins by clicking the ‘Upload Plugin’ button.
There’s a wide range of techniques and tools you can employ to help you boost your WordPress website’s search engine ranking. One of the best and most convenient ways to improve your SEO score is to install plugins such as Yoast SEO.
Plugins such as Yoast SEO will help you to keep your website on track to becoming the best it can be in terms of search engine rankings, ensuring you that you’re following all the right protocols, helping your website to be seen.
To make sure you’re getting the most out of your SEO practices, it’s best to do your research using websites such as SemRush, Spyfu, Yoast, and Moz, all of which will provide you with a comprehensive list of ways you can further optimise your search engine ranking.
Yes, you can! There’s a variety of things you can do which will help you to significantly improve your WordPress website’s performance.
You can start by choosing a more efficient theme, optimising your images, and reducing the number of plugins you’re using – especially poorer quality plugins. All of these steps will help to dramatically improve your website’s loading time. In conjunction with these steps, you may want to go one step further and upgrade your web hosting service.
There are more advanced ways of improving your website’s speed, such as upgrading your PHP, cleaning up your website’s database, or using a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
We hope that this list of 15 different WordPress FAQs has harnessed you with the information you’ll need in order to help you construct and manage your own fully functioning WordPress-based website for your business.
If you would like to know more about WordPress and how you can utilise it to its full potential for your business, then contact us today to discuss how we can help you build and enhance your company’s online presence.
Do you have any further questions about WordPress websites that you would like us to answer? Then simply contact us today.
