Like Rome, online businesses aren't built in a day. It takes a lot of dedicated time and effort to get your business up and running. Fortunately, WordPress makes getting started easier.
WordPress is a great platform for your online business because of its user-friendly interface, templates, business-oriented plugins, and customization options. In this article, we'll look at how you can get your online business up and running using WordPress features.
Setting Up Your Website
Before you begin designing your website, you need to purchase a domain name and a hosting plan. Fortunately, many hosting plans include a domain name in their packages. However, when selecting a hosting plan, you must choose one that specializes in WordPress sites. For example, Green Geeks offers a WordPress specific hosting package that includes specialized WordPress support, 1-click WordPress installation, LS Cache for WordPress plugin, and automatic updates to your WordPress core and plugins to keep your WordPress website secure. Additionally, you need to research your host carefully. The web host you choose will affect how your site is viewed on the internet. Therefore, the cheapest plan is not always the best option. When choosing a web host, you should consider the host's uptime, page load speed, and customer support.
Whether your hosting plan comes with a domain name or whether you have to purchase it separately, choosing your domain name is crucial. Your domain name will identify your business to potential clients. Therefore it needs to represent what you do and be easy to remember. A good domain name will create awareness and attract customers, whereas a poor name could hurt your business's credibility. So think carefully before choosing a name.
Designing Your Site
Your website acts as your storefront for your online business. So designing it appropriately is crucial. Luckily, with WordPress, you don't need to be a web developer to create a professional-looking site.
Depending on your business, you will either use your site to sell products or advertise a service. Therefore your site needs to be user-friendly and make it easy for users to take the steps to conversion. To this end, you will need an appropriate template and suitable plugins.
WordPress offers a variety of free and premium themes. All themes are customizable, so you can ensure your website accurately reflects your brand with its colors, logos, and fonts. However, when choosing your theme, make sure to choose one that's mobile responsive. The majority of internet users access the web via their phones, so it's crucial that your site is easily viewable on mobile devices.
Likewise, WordPress offers plugins to do just about everything. First and foremost, you will want to install a security plugin and a backup plugin. You should also consider using an SEO plugin to help increase your visibility on search engines. If you're running an eCommerce store, you will want to install the WooCommerce plugin.
Promoting Your Business
Once your site is up and running, it's time to get people to your site. WordPress makes this easy by offering social networking plugins so you can build a social media presence. They also make it simple to connect your site to Facebook (News - Alert) Ads Manager with a pixel plugin. The Facebook pixel enables you to track how effective your Facebook Ads are at getting people to your site, as well as what actions users take once they land on your site.
In addition to a social media presence, you should also have a search engine presence. You can work on your SEO with plugins like Yoast SEO, and you might also consider buying search result ads. These ads appear at the top of the search engine results page and can greatly increase the traffic to your site.
Another great way to promote your site is with email marketing. WordPress integrates with several email marketing platforms, including MailChimp and Hubspot. Email is a great way to stay in contact with visitors to your site and remind them about your great products or services.
Summary
When starting an online business with WordPress, you need to take three crucial steps:
Fortunately, WordPress makes it easy to set up, design, and promote your business, thanks to their templates, plugins, and integrations.