WordPress has been the primary content management system worldwide for the last decade, and it continues to be unrivalled due to its flexibility, ease of use, and wide support. If you want to design a website, WordPress is one of the best tools you can use to do so. So, whether you are an entrepreneur who wants to start an online business or a seasoned business owner who wants to go online, you can’t go wrong with WordPress.

But how can you get started with the platform? There are a lot of articles online, which can be a bit overwhelming at times, and there are no short and concise articles that can take you from start to finish. This article aims to fill that gap: you’ll learn the steps it takes to build a WordPress website from conceptualization and assessment to publishing.

#1 Read Up on the Strengths and Weaknesses of WordPress

Before you decide on WordPress, it is important to learn its strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths

• Easy to learn: WordPress is really easy to learn, and website management can be done through an easy-to-understand dashboard. It is why it is a favourite of non-technical people.
• Fast development: it is really easy to go online with WordPress – in a matter of days, you’ll be able to choose a theme, customize it for your needs, and upload to a hosting service. It is one of the fastest ways to go online.
• Flexible: with a wide selection of plugins and themes, WordPress is virtually limitlessly customizable. This flexibility makes WordPress an excellent platform for a vast array of projects.

Weaknesses

• Slow for unorthodox uses: although WordPress gives you all the building blocks you need to build traditional websites, it can’t be used for web apps and other unorthodox uses.
• Restricted technical freedom: not unrelated to its slowness in handling unorthodox uses, WordPress restricts users within its PHP-based content management system. It takes considerable technical expertise if you want to venture beyond officially supported functionality.

#2 Decide on a Theme that’s Suitable for Your Projects

After you’ve decided if WordPress is right for your project or not, it is time to make the most consequential decision in the development stage: what kind of WordPress theme should you use for your project? The theme will determine the looks-and-feels of the project, its performance, and some of its functionality. You need to choose a high-quality, well-coded, and appropriate theme for your project.

If you have your PhotoShop design, it is unlikely you have the expertise required to successfully convert it to a theme on your own. That’s why you should use an agency like this one https://acclaim.agency/psd-to-wordpress-conversion-services to help you with the conversion process.

#3 Create a Prototype

When attempting new projects, there is a lot of uncertainty, and this is especially true if you’re experimenting with a new platform you’ve never used before. This is why it is vital to create an early prototype of your project using WordPress to see if everything is in order.

This prototype will help you test out the waters with the platform, see how development feels like using the CMS, how it performs, and much more.

#4 Choose a Host

After you ensure WordPress is fully capable of handling your project and the prototype is satisfactory, it is time to choose a place to host your project.

• Self-hosting is unreliable and expensive, and there are much better options for small and medium-sized projects, so we advise against it.
• Cheap hosts: if you have a really tiny personal project that you don’t expect to grow much, using a cheap host is the best option. It is simple, it is inexpensive, and you can get up and running in a matter of minutes.
• The cloud: Cloud services are more expensive than cheap hosts, but they are more powerful, more flexible, and give you more control. Businesses usually get their money back when choosing to host their site on a cloud service.