WordPress is the best content management system (CMS) available on the internet for any website. It is popular all around the world and powers familiar brands such as Disney and MTV. For its security, reliability and general ease of use, it is by far the go-to choice if you are starting your own website.
It powers over 50 million websites and there is a comprehensive library of plugins which can be used to further your site’s core functionality, too. Creating a WordPress site is a rather straightforward process, however, there are a few things to keep in mind when you are setting up your WordPress site.
Choosing a Hosting Package
Choosing the right host for your new website is very important. If you get it wrong, your website may be hindered by slow loading speeds and unreliable uptime. Your host should empower your new site to succeed, not hinder it with restrictions such as only being able to use a single domain.
When choosing a host, ensure they support WordPress, let you use multiple domains and that you have a high amount of storage and bandwidth. It is also worth researching how reliable they are in terms of uptime.
You can also find someone to implement your CMS for you, if you are unsure how to procede.
It’s a Bit Technical
When setting up WordPress, things can get a little technical. Although there are plenty of comprehensive guides available – including one made by WordPress – some people struggle here.
Before going ahead and attempting to set WordPress up, it is worth doing some research and getting somewhat familiar with the task at hand. Some of the more technical aspects of WordPress installation include the creation of a database, modifying configuration files and installing themes.
There Are Security Concerns
Although WordPress is pretty secure right out of the box, there are some weaknesses which, with effort, can be resolved. No website can ever be 100% secure however; there is a constant number of new cybersecurity threats surfacing every single day.
To keep your website secure, you should keep WordPress up-to-date. WordPress updates almost always come with security upgrades and using an outdated version of WordPress keeps your site vulnerable.
You should also avoid using “wp_” – the default WordPress database prefix – as this allows hackers to search for this using their exploits and attacks. Changing the prefix to something unique makes your database less vulnerable – you can use literally anything.
You Need to Optimize It
If you want your website to reach the people who matter and rank highly in search engine results, you will need to optimise your website for search engines. This is known as SEO and it is a huge part of running a website.
There are plenty of different factors which form part of a good SEO strategy and it is a good idea to do some research before you launch your website. Outsourcing your SEO strategy to an external company may be your best bet if you have the funds to do so. Regardless, you will need to optimise your site for best results.
WordPress Experts Exist
WordPress is a business in itself. As it is open-source, there is a huge community of WordPress experts and agencies out there whose full-time job it is to develop and maintain WordPress websites and the WordPress platform itself.
If you are ever stuck with a WordPress problem and are not sure how to proceed, you can always call in the experts from WPConsult, who will be able to get you back up and running again.
As the world’s biggest and most popular CMS, WordPress is behind millions of websites worldwide and powers some of the web’s biggest names. It is very easy to get started with it and its open-source nature means that the possibilities are endless.
