Ultimate Guide to a Successful WordPress Website Launch

Launching a WordPress website is an exciting milestone for any business owner, eCommerce venture, or entrepreneur. However, ensuring your site’s success goes beyond simply pressing the “launch” button. In this comprehensive guide on WordPress Website Launch, we will delve into essential aspects that you need to consider in order to create an exceptional user experience and maximize your online presence. So let’s dive in!

Develop Your Site’s Concept

 The foundation of any exceptional website is a well-defined idea with a clear objective. Your concept could be centered around various topics such as video games, movie reviews or technology tutorials, but it must have an ultimate goal in mind. For instance, if you’re creating a site dedicated to tech tutorials, your endgame might be to encourage people to enroll in an online course or purchase a product. Without a solid concept and objective, you’ll struggle aimlessly and squander precious time while building your website.

 At this stage, we recommend you do the following:

 The first two steps of starting a blog are fairly straightforward as you likely have an idea of the content you want to create. However, identifying your potential audience can be challenging. The key is to consider who would benefit from the type of content you plan to publish, as they will make up the majority of your traffic. Having a target audience in mind is crucial because it will help keep your blog focused on its purpose. Finally, selecting a name for your website is a personal decision. Nevertheless, we suggest choosing something that’s easy to remember and type since you’ll need to purchase a corresponding domain. 

Buy a Domain for Your Website

 Moving beyond the conceptual phase, it’s time to delve into the technical aspect of launching a website. The first step is to register a domain for your site. There are several places where you can purchase a domain, but we suggest using a dedicated domain registrar as they offer an extensive range of Top-Level Domains (TLDs) at reasonable prices. We recommend sticking with .com TLDs since they’re well-known and trusted by most people. Registering a regular .com domain should cost approximately $10 per year, making it an affordable investment for your website’s future. Once you’ve selected a suitable domain name, registering it will only take a few minutes.

Find Adequate WordPress Hosting

 Choosing the right web host for your website largely depends on the platform you have selected to build it. We highly recommend using WordPress due to its extensive range of features, themes, and plugins that make building professional websites a breeze. To ensure seamless integration with WordPress, it’s important to select a web host that is compatible with this platform. Our team has conducted thorough reviews of various web hosts, so we suggest checking out our recommendations before making your final decision. Most reputable web hosts offer automatic installation of WordPress for your website. However, if this isn’t available, don’t worry – installing the platform yourself is straightforward and easy to do.

Managed hosting is a premium service where your web host takes care of all technical aspects related to running your WordPress site. This includes server management, updates, backups, security measures, and more. With managed hosting providers like WP Engine, you can focus on creating content while they handle the backend tasks.

In contrast, with shared hosting, multiple websites are hosted on a single server sharing resources like bandwidth and storage space. While it’s often cheaper than managed hosting services like those offered by companies such as Bluehost, it may not provide optimal performance or dedicated customer support specific to WordPress users.

Create Your Site’s Essential Content

 Launching a new website can be challenging as it takes time to attract traffic. However, creating essential content early on is crucial for the success of your site. To increase traffic, long-form blog posts targeting specific keywords are effective. This requires researching potential topics and conducting SEO research to ensure high rankings in search results. The ‘Skyscraper Technique’ involves writing an article that surpasses competitors’ content on the same subject. While one post won’t make your website relevant overnight, consistently producing quality content will help establish your online presence from day one.

Choose the Perfect Theme for Your Website

 After setting up WordPress on your website and creating essential content, it’s time to give shape to your site. The first step is to install a theme that aligns with the style you want for your website. There are two main types of themes available – niche themes designed for specific types of sites, and multipurpose themes that offer flexibility and adaptability to suit various websites. Divi, our flagship theme, falls into the latter category and comes equipped with a dedicated page builder that allows you to design unique layouts without any coding knowledge. You can add modules such as galleries, contact forms, sliders, etc., making each page stand out in its own way.

Features to Look Out for in a Premium Theme

Install the Plugins You’ll Need

The WordPress.org Plugin Directory offers a vast selection of more than 50,000 free plugins. To find the best ones for your needs, it’s advisable to browse through them and explore their features. It’s generally safe to test out any plugin that catches your attention. Nevertheless, it’s wise to avoid plugins with ratings lower than four stars or those that haven’t received updates in at least six months. Such plugins may contain bugs and security issues that remain unaddressed, so it’s essential to keep this guideline in mind when selecting a plugin.

Customize Your Site’s Design to Fit Your Content & Objectives

 Thanks to the vast array of pre-designed themes and page builders available in WordPress, designing your website’s layout can be a breeze. You can start with the default design of your parent theme and customize it as per your requirements. Additionally, builders like Divi offer numerous ready-made layouts to choose from. However, creating an impressive design may take some time, especially if you are new to this process. But investing ample time here is crucial for ensuring a smooth launch for your site. Always keep in mind the purpose of each page or post while designing them so that they serve their intended function effectively.

 What to Do After Your Site Goes Live

 To establish a regular audience for your new website, it’s recommended to publish blog posts at least once a week. However, it’s advisable to write all the essential content of your site before launching so that you can focus on marketing and building backlinks after launch. In addition to backlinks, creating social media accounts is crucial for engaging with your audience and growing an email list. An email list allows you to send campaigns and autoresponders, which will ultimately drive traffic to your website over time.

Utilizing Content Delivery Networks (CDN)

Implementing a CDN can significantly speed up page loading times for users located far from the origin server by caching static assets such as images or scripts at multiple locations around the world, ensuring faster delivery regardless of geographical distance between the end user and the requested resource. This section will cover the advantages of utilizing a CDN for your WordPress website, as well as how they operate.

How CDNs Work

A Content Delivery Network, or CDN, is a network of servers distributed across various geographic locations that work together to deliver content to users more quickly and efficiently. When a user requests content from your website, they receive it from the closest CDN server to reduce latency and enhance page loading speed. This reduces latency and ensures faster load times for your site visitors.

Selecting A Suitable CDN Provider For Your WordPress Website

To choose an appropriate CDN provider for your WordPress website, consider factors such as pricing, ease of integration with your existing infrastructure, and the provider’s global server coverage. Some popular CDN providers include:

Integrating A CDN With Your WordPress Website

Once you have chosen a suitable CDN provider for your needs, follow these steps to integrate it with your WordPress site:

FAQs about WordPress Website Launch

Conclusion

In conclusion, launching a WordPress website requires careful planning and attention to detail.  If you’re looking to launch your own WordPress site, contact Amadeus Consulting today to learn how we can help you create a professional online presence that stands out in the crowded digital landscape.