In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for the success of any business. WordPress, with its user-friendly interface and powerful features, is an excellent choice for building professional websites. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of creating a business website using WordPress, hosted on SuperHosting, and built with the popular Elementor page builder and “Hello Elementor” theme.
Step 1: Buy a domain
Before building a website, you need to purchase a domain. You can do this from many hosting companies like Superhosting, Siteground, or GoDaddy.
Step 2: Choose a reliable hosting
Selecting a reliable hosting provider is the first step in building a successful website. A really good one is SuperHosting which offers a range of plans, and the “SuperPro” plan is particularly well-suited for a business website. It provides the resources and features needed to ensure your website performs optimally.
For those with little to no technical knowledge, SuperHosting provides a valuable service called “Professional WordPress maintenance.” This service can save you a significant amount of time when facing website issues, as their team of experts can handle technical aspects, updates, and troubleshooting on your behalf.
SuperHosting is known for its excellent customer support. The live chat feature allows for quick responses, typically in a matter of minutes. Even for more complicated problems, their support team is known to resolve issues promptly, often within a few hours. This responsiveness sets SuperHosting apart from other hosting providers and ensures a smooth experience for website owners.
Step 3: Install WordPress
SuperHosting simplifies the WordPress installation process with the “WordPress Manager by SuperHosting.” With just one click, you can install WordPress on your domain, making the setup process quick and efficient. If you prefer a hands-on approach, this tool provides an intuitive interface for managing your WordPress installation.
Alternatively, if you encounter any difficulties or prefer a more hands-off approach, you can simply reach out to SuperHosting’s support team. They are readily available to assist and can install WordPress for you, ensuring a hassle-free experience.
Step 4: Install the “Hello Elementor” theme
Once WordPress is installed, navigate to the “Themes” section in the WordPress dashboard. Install and activate the “Hello Elementor” theme. It’s perfectly compatible with the Elementor page builder.
Step 5: Install the Elementor builder
Head over to the plugins section in the admin dashboard in WordPress and install the Elementor plugin.
Keep in mind that you should consider investing in the Pro version of Elementor for enhanced functionality. The Elementor Pro plan is priced at $59. This investment can significantly expand your creative possibilities, allowing for a more unique and feature-rich business website.
It’s important to note that when you choose to invest in the Pro version, you must install both the free and Pro plugins for Elementor to function properly.
Step 6: Plan your website structure and design
Before diving into design, plan the structure of your business website. Identify essential pages such as Home, About Us, Services, Contact, and legal pages including Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy. This planning will streamline the development process.
Elementor offers free templates that can be a great starting point for your design. However, for a more customized and professional look, consider having a designer create the design in Figma first. This will provide a clear blueprint for your website, making the work smoother during the Elementor design phase.
Step 7: Create the Essential Pages with Elementor
Design the essential pages for your business website, including:
- Home Page: Showcase your business, products, or services.
- About Us Page: Provide information about your company’s history, mission, and values.
- Services Page: Highlight the products or services you offer.
- Contact Page: Include a contact form and essential contact information.
- Legal Pages:
- Terms and Conditions: Define the rules and guidelines for using your website.
- Privacy Policy: Detail how you handle user data and privacy.
- Cookie Policy: Explain the use of cookies on your site.
Do not forget to create a Header and a Footer. They will appear on every page of the website unless the page layout is set to “Canvas” in which case the Header and Footer will not appear.
Additionally, install a Cookie Notice plugin to comply with privacy regulations. A recommended choice is “GDPR Cookie Compliance” by Moove Agency.
Step 8: Optimize for SEO with Yoast SEO
Boost your website’s visibility on search engines with the help of Yoast SEO, a powerful SEO plugin. This plugin assists in optimizing your website for search engines, enhancing its chances of ranking higher on search result pages.
For a start, focus on writing compelling meta titles and descriptions for every page. These can be added in the Edit Page section of WordPress.
If you want comprehensive SEO optimization and personalized assistance, feel free to reach out to us. We are here to help you achieve the best results for your business website.
Step 9: Implement contact forms with confirmation emails
Make it easy for visitors to get in touch by adding contact forms to your website. Elementor provides a form widget, or you can use a dedicated form plugin like Contact Form 7. Ensure that users receive a confirmation email after filling out a form, and set up the email to be sent from your business email. You can create business emails from the C-Panel in SuperHosting. Consider installing the “WP Mail SMTP” plugin for improved email deliverability and consult your hosting provider for the correct setup.
Step 10: Make the website responsive
With Elementor, every section can be displayed or hidden for different devices. This is great because you can build specific designs for mobile without affecting the desktop version.
Step 11: Optimize website speed with plugins and image compression
Ensure fast loading times for your website by installing optimization plugins. Good free plugins include W3 Total Cache and Autoptimize, which are usually installed together. If you are a novice in building sites, it’s better to ask the hosting for their proper setup to avoid potential layout issues.
For a more advanced and paid solution, consider using WP-Rocket, priced at $59 per year. This plugin significantly speeds up your website and provides additional optimization features. Additionally, optimizing images is crucial for website performance. Use online tools like Image Resizer to resize images and Image to WebP to transform them into the WebP format. Aim for an image size between 20-50 kb for optimal performance.
Conclusion
By following these eleven simple steps, you can create a professional and functional business website with WordPress. Choosing the right hosting plan, leveraging professional maintenance services, and enjoying responsive customer support contribute to a seamless website-building experience. Establishing a strong online presence is a key factor in reaching your target audience and growing your business in the digital landscape.
If you have any questions or need professional help, feel free to reach out to us. We’re here to assist you on your journey to a successful online presence.
Sources
The information in this article comes from the real-life experiences of the author. A lot of the information is gained by hours of troubleshooting problems, speaking to the customer support of hostings and plugin authors, and pure internet research. All of the things written above are tested and implemented on live websites. AI has helped to create the structure of the article.
Useful resources
https://www.superhosting.bg/ – Superhosting official website
https://elementor.com/ – Elementor website builder
https://wp-rocket.me/ – WP Rocket optimisation plugin
https://wordpress.org/plugins/autoptimize/ – Autoptimize optimisation plugin
https://wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache/ – W3 Total Cache optimisation plugin
https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/ – Yoast SEO plugin