WordPress

A Step-by-Step Guide to WordPress Customization

At the end of this tutorial of 10 steps you’ll have a basic but fully-customized WordPress website that is ready to start.

P.S. If you’re still not able to set up an WordPress website, you can go over to this step-by-step tutorial here.

Step 1: Configure WordPress Settings

There are several locations where you can locate WordPress settings.

The first set will assist you to customize the appearance for WordPress itself. The second set will assist you to create a unique look for your site.

Step 1: Customize Screen Options

The first time you step into of WordPress here’s what you’ll find:

It’s this is the WordPress dashboard. It’s a bit difficult to navigate with all those widgets that are clogging the screen, don’t you think?

The initial set of options that you can alter is Screen Options, which you’ll see here.

Hit “Screen Options” to access the options:

The boxes marked with a check mark are the ones that are displayed like widgets in your dashboard.

Activity gives you an instant overview of the latest web content you can publish on your site.

At A At a Glance will show you the number of pages and posts you’ve published , as well as the number of feedback you’ve received.

Quick Draft can be used to record thoughts or notes for a forthcoming blog, however it it won’t let you go much more than the initial.

“Welcome!” is just a simple list of things to do for new users.

WordPress Events along with News aren’t very beneficial unless you’re a WordPress developer working within the WordPress area.

Should you wish to keep one of these widgets, just mark them as checked. You can remove the other boxes to erase them out of view.

Once you’ve picked the boxes you’d like to keep, you are free to drag and move the boxes around. They can be stacked in a vertical fashion (like in the image above) or use both columns:

You can customize the dashboard display. personalize.

NOTE: As you start adding plugins to your site You might see the new box appear in your dashboard. If you are able to use them you should keep them in place. If you’d like to get rid of them to avoid distraction then hide them like you would hide those default box.

Step 2: Customize WordPress Settings

To alter your WordPress website’s settings, go to the Settings menu in the sidebar

Although you may not have to modify settings in every category, it’s recommended to look through each category to ensure that you’ve crossed your I’s and crossed your t’s.

Begin with the General Setting:

Pay  attention to these points:

If there is no logo, ensure you have the Site Title. This will appear at top of your site when it is not present. It’s also the name that appears in the top-left part of your WordPress administrator.

Be sure that you have the WordPress address and the site addresses are compatible with one another, as does that you have the correct the domain you bought. If one or the other is wrong, it can lead to mistakes.

Before you begin the process of writing your blog and categorizing it into entries and categorizing them, you can choose to skip writing Settings.

Moving on to Reading Settings next:

After you’ve written your blog’s content Go back to these settings, and then update “Your home page display” (there are directions for that). In other cases the default setting is to make your blog feed your homepage.

At this point, you should focus on the two settings that you have chosen.

“For every post on feed, include” must be changed to “Summary”. This is helpful not only for users who want to quickly browse through the blog posts within your feed, but it is also useful to aid in improving the loading time of your page.

Before saving your changes and then move on be sure your “Search Search Engine Visibility” is unchecked. You’ll definitely want Google along with other search engines discover your site as well as index your site.

If you are planning to blog the next step is discussion Settings:

You are able to alter the layout of the pages as you like. If you would like readers on your blog to post comments on your content make the settings as you would like.

There is one thing you need to make sure to change for security reasons.

Then, under “Default setting for posts” Check the box “Allow links from other blogs to receive notification of link notifications (pingbacks or trackbacks) for new posts”.

In short In a nutshell, trackbacks and pingbacks are alerts that appear in your feed for comment moderation every time someone shares a link to your blog.

There’s no reason for pingbacks or trackbacks. They’re also a well-known security risk, which is why it’s recommended to switch them off to stop spammers and hackers from accessing your website in this way.

If you decide in the future that you’d like to alter the default size of images in WordPress it is possible to do so by going to Media Settings. It’s probably not something you should do at the moment, however.

Then, you can move on to Permalink Settings.

The URL is the format of your website’s address. WordPress offers a variety of choices:

As a default option, “Post Name” is the method your links are constructed -It’s a wise option. It makes your URLs simple well-organized and easy for visitors to remember.

It’s your choice. If it’s logical to organize your blog posts according to date of publication, then you might want to allow one of these choices. But, it’s most likely to confuse things.

Privacy Settings were only recently added to the WordPress Settings:

In the wake of GDPR and the wide-ranging impact it has had on WordPress websites across the globe Privacy has now become an integral part of the development process for websites.

There are other things you could and should be doing to enforce strict privacy requirements on your website. For a start, you can create an appropriate Privacy Page for Policies (which WordPress will auto-create for you) that users can refer to when they have questions or have concerns.

Step 2: Add New Users

With the WordPress settings gone Now, focus on The Users menu.

Here’s where you can create new users and modify existing users’ profile, their access rights and login details -including your personal profile.

Add a User

To add a new user to the system, select “Add A New User” and then fill in the following fields:

The only fields obligatory are the Username (make sure it’s not “admin”) as well as their email Address.

Be sure to tailor the user role prior to include them in the system:

This will determine the extent part of what of the WordPress admin backend they are able to be able to see, as well as what editing control (if they have any) they can access.

Edit a User Profile

Even if you’re not the sole user on the website it’s an excellent idea to check your profile on the site and ensure it’s current.

What you’ll find when you edit your personal profile:

There is only one thing you could need to alter within this area is the colour scheme of your WordPress administrator area. Otherwise, scroll down , and begin filling the details of your profile.

It might not be something that’s important in the moment, but should you decide to write a blog and publish your blog, this is where your biographical information will be gathered from (and it’s the same for the other blog users).

One last thing to take aware of Account Administration section.

If you’d like to alter the password you use to log in (which is an ideal thing to do at minimum once a year) Do it here.

The nice thing about this is that WordPress assists you in creating stronger passwords (and can encourage fellow users to do the same too):

You must create your password in a secure way -whether or not you use the tool. It should include upper and lowercase letters, numbers, as well as symbols.

Step 3: Customize Your Theme

Before you can modify the look of your website, you’ll have to choose the best one for your site.

There are many thousands of WordPress themes to choose from and this list of the top 25 WordPress themes assist you in narrowing your choices.

After selecting The theme, click your Appearance and Themes menu.

As a default feature, WordPress will have auto-installed its own themes on your system. To install a new theme first, you must install the theme first.

Install a Free Theme

If you’re using a no-cost theme that is part of the WordPress repository, such as OceanWP Click on the “Add New” button and then look for your theme’s title:

Click on the theme card , then select “Install”. Clicking the blue “Install” button will transform into the blue “Activate” button. Click it when you notice it.

It will substitute the standard WordPress theme by your personal theme.

Install a Premium Theme

If you own an premium theme, first you’ll have for the download of theme’s content. If they’re downloaded through a third-party service or from a marketplace for themes like Theme Forest they’ll be available within your account:

Download the files, and then go back to WordPress.

Select “Add New” to add your theme. After that, click “Upload Theme” at the top of the screen:

An up loader for files will show up and you are able to drop your WordPress files in it:

The up loader will download and install the theme on your behalf.

Customize Your Theme

After you’ve installed your theme now, you can customize it. In the Appearance menu, select Customize. This will launch an initial phase of the WordPress Customizer:

While the tool’s appearance may be different depending on the theme, the layout will remain identical. Your WordPress choices for customization will be listed on the left side and the preview is on the right.

Let’s look at the most basic options for customization you’ll be able to utilize in this article:

Site Identity

If you’ve already changed Your Site Title (or tagline) within General Settings there’s no reason to make it a second time. Keep in mind that these only be displayed on the website if there’s no addition of the logo.

If you uncheck this box it will allow enough space for the brand (which will be added in the near future).

However, the Site Icon isn’t your logo. It’s the symbol that is recognized by everyone -usually a smaller portion of a logo that is displayed in the tab of your web browser.

For instance, you can look here for the icons to websitesetup.org, WordPress.org, and Google:

Take note of how each of the icons make it simple to locate the page you’d like to go back to? When your logo is created and approved, ensure you have a distinct Site Icon to match it. After that, upload it to.

Logo

You’ll find it in “Header” “Header” Section:

To upload your logo, click “Select logo” and then “Select Logo” and upload it onto your device.

It is important to ensure that the logo has transparent backgrounds (which implies that it has to be a WebP or PNG). This way, it doesn’t matter which background color it is placed over.

If the logo is high for your space You can use the slider to change the width to suit. It’s not ideal for it to be so large that you have a lot of white space around the navigation menu to the right.

Colors

The majority of your choices about color will be influenced by the themes and templates you choose to use. But, you are able to alter certain colors that are universal here.

The color used for the header is an example. It can be modified if you’d like to change the color of your header from the white that is default. It could also be beneficial to change the primary Color that is used for buttons and links to a brand-specific color.

Global

There are some other global settings you’d like to modify:

If you’ve already decided on your branding, including logo colors, color palettes, fonts and so on. You can alter these settings here. In the event that you don’t, then you might prefer to leave them as they are and let the default settings remain unchanged.

If your theme allows the ability to change these options, be aware that these settings aren’t the sole selection of fonts or colors that you’ll be making. You can change the sizes of fonts and layouts for pages as well as the colors of your theme’s elements, and so on.

If you’re not sure whether you’re required to alter anything try these settings a go to ensure that you’ve covered everything.

For other settings you’ll find in the Customizer, you’ll be able to deal with the majority of them later in the steps. So, don’t fret even if we’ve not touched every single one of them. We’ll offer suggestions on how you can customize the templates in the future.

step 4: Customize Your Premium Theme

For all themes, either paid or free — you’ll have to use to use the WordPress Customizer to get started. If you’re using a premium or freemium theme, there are additional settings to set up.

Take a look at your WordPress sidebar to determine whether there’s a brand new menu item that matches your theme. If it’s there an option, you’ll be able to see your settings there.

This is, for instance, the main panel of the Uncode theme.:

There isn’t any settings that can be customized. However, the theme will require users to download a range of plugins for the theme to function according to the plan.

The theme is free. Astra Free theme A new menu tab is added under Appearance:

The default settings for free will bring you back in the WordPress Customizer. If you upgrade to the pro version it will give you even more customization options, which you’ll discover from this list.

The bottom line: WordPress provides you with certain themes customizer settings as default. Based on the theme you pick you might have additional options to choose from.

However, don’t sweat it. When you begin creating the pages for your site, you’ll be able to get an idea of whether adjustments to your theme are required and you’ll be able to return the menu.

Step 4: Set Up Essential Plugins

While you’re able to include any number of WordPress plugins as you want to your site You’ll need to use control in this.

Find Your Essentials

Plugins can greatly enhance the capabilities of websites without the need to write any code but they could put too much stress on the hosting server.

Therefore, for the first time make sure you set only the most essential features. You can also add other WordPress plugins later on if required.

Security to protect Your WordPress login screen against brute force attacks as well as the site it self from turning into a haven for malware and spammers You’ll require the assistance of a security software like Wordfence.

Caching
WordPress websites are prone to slow down and become slow if you don’t include caching to websites. The caching process an operation that helps your server is able to better delivers your website to the browsers of your visitors. What’s great about many WordPress caching plugins, such as W3 Total Cache However, it is that they have other settings to optimize performance such as Gzip compression and minification of files.

All of these are designed to help your website run quicker.

Image Optimization
Another essential feature for every website includes an image-compression tool such as the Smush. In this way, you can utilize a large number of high-resolution photos to design your website or display your items without worrying about massive file sizes slowing everything down (which could occur with this plug-in).

Backups
Your web hosting package should come with websites that are free. It’s still an excellent idea to have a second backup set stored elsewhere in case something goes wrong with the backups you originally created. With an application for backups such as Up draft Plus it is possible to automate backups and schedule them to take place on a regular basis.

Page Builder
While this is not a requirement however, it is likely that you’re able to work more efficiently with a drag-and drop page builder plugin rather than Block Editor, which WordPress provides. There are many of these available to choose from, so be sure to select a page builders plugin which is best suited to your needs.

Install Your Free WordPress Plugins

Once you’ve got your list of essential plugins that you require, install and enable the plugins.

To do this, head to the Plugins section > > Add New

It’s the no-cost WordPress plugin repository. To find the plugin that you’re seeking, just search for the name into the search bar.

Hit to click the “Install Now” button for the plugin you’d like to install. The button will transform into an orange “Activate” icon. Click it to install it and the features to your site.

Follow these instructions until you’ve successfully installed all the necessary plugins.

Install Your Premium Plugins

If you’ve bought premium software from a third-party supplier (or marketplace), it’s the exact procedure as installing the premium theme.

Go to Plugins > Add New. Click “Upload Plugin”.

After that, you can upload the files you downloaded. The installer will install and activate the plugin.

Step 5: Customize Your WordPress Plugins

After you’ve installed the WordPress plugin, you’ll generally be prompted to decide whether you’re ready to begin, such as this intro by Elementsor:

While the majority of WordPress plugins are preconfigured you must still take the time to go through every one of the newly installed plugins and ensure there aren’t any additional options you’d like to alter.

To find your plugin’s settings, just check your sidebar. You’ll see a newly added menu option for every.

The menu names may not always be the same as the plugins (like “Performance” can be the name of the menu of “Performance” in the Total Cache plugin). Also, some menus may not be on the top-level as in the ones below.

For example, the menu of Up draft Plus is hidden under Settings:

If you’ve ever had difficulty finding the settings menu for your plugin you can go to the primary Plugins page and then click the Settings tabs:

The settings will vary from plugin to plugin, and so there’s nothing to go through. Remember, take your time and go through the steps you’re given , like that from Smush

Be sure to be aware of any suggestions the developer of your plugin has made on the settings page. These suggestions are helpful for making sure you’ve modified the plugin and made it more efficient.

Step 6: Integrate SEO

SEO or Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an complicated subject. So I’m not going explore the intricacies of optimizing websites in depth this moment.

But, what I intend to demonstrate is a quick and simple way to incorporate the SEO feature to WordPress which will allow you to begin using it.

Install the SEO Plugin

The plugin you require is known as Yoast SEO..

The plugin is the most popular and downloaded SEO plugin for WordPress. If you’re looking to see your SEO made simpler for you it is the ideal plugin to use.

Set-Up and Customize Yoast SEO

After the plugin has been installed, you will see the brand new SEO menu in the sidebar

Then, you’ll be able to access the Yoast dashboard. It’s going to take around five to 10 minutes to go through adjustments to your settings however the wizard for configuration can make things easier.

Click on the link to begin the procedure.

Environment

Choose Option A.

It takes Google approximately an entire week to rank a site which means you don’t have be concerned about having your site being listed in search results after it’s been completed. There’s nothing else than that at all.

Site Type

Decide on the kind of site you’ll build. Yoast lets search engines know that so they can present your website’s posts and pages to users searching for the same content.

 

Organization or Person

Be sure to complete the form on this page. When you begin to build (brand) brand awareness You want individuals to be able to see your information when they search for you using search.

Here’s an example of how your data could appear on the knowledge graph when this occurs:

Search Engine Visibility

If you don’t have content that you do not want others on the internet to see set all of these settings in “Yes”.

Multiple Authors

If your blog has more than one contributor It’s a good idea to set this option to ensure that searchers looking for them will be able to find their archives through search results and, in turn your site. If it’s only you who write blogs, you can set this setting to “No”.

Title Settings

When an internet page is found in a search engine, it displays it’s title (or post) and the web address or business name that follows it. For instance:

However, rather than having your titles appear under the brand’s name You can let Yoast automatically create an equilateral space between the two essential elements of data. A dash (–) as well as the pipe (|) are the most frequently employed, but you may pick one of several options offered.

Other Yoast Settings

The wizard for configuration is designed to handle the bulk of the configuration you require to set up this plugin.

However, you might like to explore in the Search Appearance and Social sub-menus. This is where you can further alter the way your links and pages appear on other websites. website.

This can also help you reduce time spent customizing these settings each time you create a brand new page on WordPress.

Use the SEO Plugin

What is the reason we had you install the SEO plugin prior to having any content you need to improve? In order to save time.

While you’re going through your next steps, you must utilize Yoast whenever you make new content.

Under each website page or blog post that you make, you will see an SEO Yoast widget

This is where you’ll enter your search details (all that information people be able to see when they come across you on the internet).

Always make a custom

  • Focus keywords -Focus keyword – the primary subject and key word for the post
  • Slug -the URL that contains the exact link to the page
  • Meta description is the description in a brief form that appears below the page’s title in the search results.

Once you’re done, Yoast will “score” the degree to which you’ve optimized the site for SEO.

You’ll find suggestions on how you can improve the ranking of your site on “SEO”: SEO tab:

There are tips about how you can make your website easier to read on the Readability tab. Readability tab.

If something is identified by a red or an orange dot, then make the suggested changes as well you can. These suggestions will definitely improve your site’s ranking in Google searches (and increase the likelihood of visitors to stay on your site and read your blog posts).

Step 7: Create Your Content

The majority of websites have the identical page layout:

  • Home The page that welcomes your guests.
  • About The page which tells the story of your company.
  • Products/Services The page that welcomes people to your products or services (you might need multiple pages based on the products you offer and how much content is).
  • Contact Contact: The page that tells visitors how to reach them.
  • Privacy Policies This page describes the kind of information your site collects and what your website does with that data.

There are additional pages that you could make, too. Examples:

  • Portfolio The page that showcases your work.
  • Blog The feed that shows all of your blog posts and articles are published.
  • Pricing The page where you will provide the prices of your services and perhaps “Buy Now” options.

No matter what pages you require, you’ll need to follow the same steps to design and modify the pages:

Create a New Page

Click on Pages in your menu

In default, WordPress will create a Sample Page and Privacy Page for you. You can erase your Sample Page. Keep the Privacy Page because you can alter the content, and publish it after you’ve finished all other things.

To make the first web page (it’s typically recommended to start by creating the homepage) then click “Add new page” and then click “Add”.

In addition it is also possible to set your website in Maintenance Mode that blocks other users from viewing your website that is not finished.

The block editor is part of an example of the WordPress block editor, and the settings that go with it:

This can be used to create websites or make use of a page builder plugin. The process of adding content on the site is similar for each of the options.

Give the page a name. First, you must give your page an alias.

“Save Draft” and click “Save Draft” to ensure that your URL for your page will automatically be generated. (I’ll guide you on how to change the homepage page to ensure it doesn’t have an slug associated with it in a few minutes.)

Create the Design and Layout
There are two options here to design your page’s layout and layout from scratch , or make use of an existing template.

For a completely new website start by adding each component one-by-one using blocks. This isn’t the fastest method of building a website however it is advisable to look into templates before making the decision to go this method.

Take a look at the theme of your WordPress theme to see if it could assist. Many themes have pre-designed templates for pages that which you can upload to the website.

If your theme isn’t of any help, try using an application called a page builder to create blocks or full-page templates for filling in gap.

For instance, let’s say that you’re using Elementor This is exactly what you will see when you first open the new tab:

To change the page by replacing it with templates, simply click the folder and access your templates:

Select the template you would like to use, and then hit “Insert” to insert it into the page:

Here’s how this specific example looks like once you add it to your page:

Customize the Layout
Let’s say that you like the design you’ve imported but you’re not thrilled with the layout it’s placed in the layout.

In the case above in the example above, for instance, you’d like to rid yourself of both the “Home” page banner and the sidebar. It’s not possible to accomplish this on the actual page because they’re not components that you can move and drop in place.

Instead, you can use instead the Settings widget (the gear icon) within the editor on the left of:

If you select “Hide Title”, it will remove that title bar on top. However, if you are planning to hide this feature on all pages of the site, you should try to make this setting configurable within the theme’s Customizer. This way you’ll only have to change the setting only once.

To make the most of the space available on your page Elementor specifically gives you options such as “Fullwidth” as well as “Canvas” to expand the design. Explore these settings until you can determine the layout and design which best meets your requirements.

There’s always the option to go back on the Customizer to alter any default settings that you’re not content with.

Customize the Content
If you’re pleased with the layout of your website it is possible to modify the content. This is applicable to all text and images.

To accomplish this, you can use any editor — including WordPress’s block editor, or even a page builder plugin simply select the block you’d like to modify and then update it.

If you alter your content through the editor the editor, it will show your changes on the display of your site in real-time.

Same goes with changing media.

When you’re swapping an image or video in exchange for your own or creating something entirely new you’ll be able to upload your media from your device, or select from the existing library.

Add New Content
If you’re feeling like something’s lacking from the template don’t worry. It is easy to create your own blocks for the pre-designed designs.

In a plugin for page builders Look for a plus-sign on the page that you would like to create a new block:

Find the type of block you wish to apply it to and drag it into the space you want to create:

The WordPress Editor functions similarly to:

Select the plus sign to create a new block, or choose any of the blocks located in the upper left. Select the block you wish to add and begin creating your own.

Update the Page Settings
You’ve noticed the Yoast widget on the lower right on the webpage. Check to see if you are using the plugin, you have set the appropriate settings before the time you upload your site.

Be sure to alter your page’s “Document” options here:

You can modify:

  • The URL (the specific link to the page)
  • The image that is featured (every page should include one therefore your blog feed summary and social media posts include both an image and description)
  • Tags and Categories (for Blog posts, only)

Once you’ve filled in all the relevant information then hit”Preview.” Once you’ve completed all of the necessary information, click “Preview” option to view your site’s content in a fresh browser window.

This gives you the chance to check your site in real-time prior to publishing it (or any modifications that you’ve added to your already-published page).

If you’re satisfied with the page then press”Publish “Publish” option and then your website will be live.

Note that the page will not add to the menu now. It will be added prior to the process being completed.

Rinse and Repeat
Repeat this process until all your websites are finished. After they’ve been published it’s time to continue.

Set the Home Page
Last but not least:

You want your home page to be located at https://yourdomainname.com. Not at something like https://yourdomainname.com/home.

To correct this issue To fix this, visit Settings and then Reading.

Under “Your homepage displays”, select “A static page”:

Now, you can select the homepage (and blog page, should you’ve created one) from your pages that have been published list.

Save Your Changes. This will make your home page as the homepage of your site and begin filling the blog with the latest posts you post.

 

Step 8: Build a Contact Form

Once you have your primary pages set Next step is to include an email form so that interested visitors are able to contact you.

This tutorial will teach you how to design an contact form from beginning to end by using Contact Form 7. contact form 7 plug-in. If you’re looking for a different contact form that you’ve got you eye on look at the bottom of the page for suggestions.

For the best practices for adding an online contact form that is custom-designed for WordPress Here are a few points to be aware of:

Do not conceal the HTML0 code. Place the form in a place that is easy to locate. The Contact Page, definitely is in need of one. It is also possible to include one in the sidebar on your blog or at the bottom of your homepage.

Only include fields that you require.
With everyone being so attentive to privacy issues online nowadays, you shouldn’t need to ask for information that’s not relevant to your needs.

Don’t forget the following messages.
When your contact form is completed, two individuals will receive reminder messages.

The person who completed the form will receive an acknowledgement message. It usually appears on top of the form once it has been submitted.

Your form will be sending pre-written messages to users:

Feel free to add a personal touch by customizing your messages.

Do not forget to check the email you get as the follow-up. It will be sent to you via email.

A subject line such as “Your Domain Name’s Name’s Subject Line”” isn’t very effective and could forward your contact form email straight to spammers. If you’d like to receive these form submissions on a consistent basis modify the information that appear in your subject line and your body email.

Once you’ve integrated an contact form on your website, go to your site and fill it out by yourself. Verify that everything works exactly as you intended, particularly in the event that you’ve set required fields. Check your follow-up emails on the site as well as within your email inbox to confirm that everything is in order.

Step 9: Add Widgets

If you had a look at your Customizer settings in the past you might have noticed an option that was titled “Footer” and “Widgets”.

We advised you to let them be. It isn’t logical to add these tiny pieces of content until you’ve had the rest of the components of your site put together.

In terms of the types of widgets, consider them as blocks for different sections on your website. They are typically located within the footer or sidebar as well as on occasion, the home page.

While you can go back to Customize to alter your footer, the best option is to perform everything under Appearance > Widgets

This will allow you to manage all of your widgets in one go. Additionally, you will get a clearer idea of the types of widget space is available on your site to be filled (this will vary between themes, to be sure).

On the left-hand side of the screen, you will find your selection of widgets:

On the right-hand edge of the display are the options for widget positions:

The theme you are using may already have pre-populated these widgets with contents (usually it is the case with the footer).

Examine any widgets that are currently available. If you’re pleased, keep them as they are.

If you’d like to change the order that they appear in for example, shifting a list of Recent Posts to the top of the Search bar, drag-and-drop the widget block onto the place you’d like it to be.

If you wish to modify the widget’s contents then click the block:

In this instance you could modify or add a title displayed over in the Recent Posts list. It is also possible to change the way the number of posts are displayed at a given time. If you’d like to include the date of publication, too.

You don’t have to fill in any or these widgets, if do not want to. If you do want to benefit from this additional space WordPress provides, you should ensure that you fill your widgets prior to moving on.

Step 10: Set Up the Menu

After all your content is there You’re now able to build an online navigational menu that shows your content.

It’s in Appearance > Menus

This page lets you’ll be able to build as numerous menus as your site requires. Most likely there is only one menu.

Name the Menu

There’s no need to get too involved with this, since you’re the sole person who can be able to see the name of the menu. Simply make it something similar to “Main Menu”.

Then, click “Create Menu”.

Choose the Menu Placement

Then, you should indicate where you would like the menu to appear.

If you make a footer menu (which isn’t often) or an alternative one for mobile devices (which you could decide to add later on in the future) You’ll set that up here. In the meantime, select “Main”.

Be sure to keep that option “Automatically add new top-level pages into this menu” not checked. Even if you automatize this part of it you’ll need go back on this page to correct the order. It’s best to put a page into the menu until you’re able to select the best place for it.

Add Pages to the Menu

If you want to add pages in the menus, just click the checkboxes next to them. After that select “Add the menu” Menu”.

It is possible to add more than just pages as well. If your blog has entries or categories, products or any other links you wish to include, you can do it here.

Your pages will end up here:

To alter the order in the order the characters appear, pull them and drop them in the order you want them to appear:

If you wish your pages to to be visible in the top-level in your menu, be sure that they’re left aligned. To create sub-pages to top-level pages, place them below using an indentation such as this:

Customize Menu and Pages

When your pages are all set, you can go through each and ensure that the settings are set according to your preference.

You can:

  • Change the name of the page.
  • Turn off the link if do not want the top-level of the page to be clicked.
  • You can enable a megamenu if like to have a massive menu with several layers underneath the same page’s named.

In the majority of cases it’s unlikely that you’ll have to alter these settings. But it’s helpful to know that they’re there in the event that you need to. It’s also where you can delete the pages of your navigation.

Step 10: Connect to Google

After your site has been constructed and customized to suit your needs The last thing to be done make sure it is connected to Google.

Set Up Google Analytics

Without or with a connection with Google Analytics, Google and other search engines will be capable of crawling and indexing your site. What you will gain, however is the ability to determine what information Google has gathered from your site in relation to the performance of your website and its traffic.

This guide will take you through how to establish the Google Analytics account and then connect it to your site. It is possible to do this by using an WordPress plugin, or make it manually using code.

When Google Analytics is ready to begin, you’ll be in a position to track your website’s traffic patterns and make data-driven choices about how to improve your site’s layout, content, and purpose and so on.

This isn’t the sole Google tool that your site should be connected to, however.

 

Set Up Google Search Console

Google Analytics provides you with information about how your users interact with your site. Google Search Console however offers you data on how people come across your site across the internet.

If you already have an existing Google Analytics account already, creating a Google Analytics account and setting Search Console up is easy. The next step is connect to the Google Search Console.

Visit the Search Console website and click “Start Now”. The website will guide you through the easy set-up process and will request you to verify the identity of the account by using a variety of methods. Google Analytics is one of the most straightforward methods to accomplish this, so go with this option if you’d like.

It’s equally important that you establish the connection on Google Analytics’ side. This setting is located under the Admin > Property tab. Property Settings:

You’ll find you’re Search Console account listed as an option. Choose it and then join it with Google Analytics so you can start importing some of the data from your search in your Acquisition report.

It’s also possible to login to Google Search Console for more information about what’s happening with your website’s search engine results:

You can study things such as:

  • How many views and clicks your website and each page receives from Google — when it comes to images, web, or video-related searches.
  • How many views and clicks originate from tablet, desktop and mobile devices.
  • What is the average rank for your website.
  • What are the most popular search terms are for your website.
  • What are the most common mobile-friendly usability security, speed, or usability issues does your site face (if there are any).
  • Which websites have the highest number of links to your website.
  • How are you handling internal linking within your website.

If you spend some time to familiarize yourself with Google Search Console, you’ll be able refine your search engine optimization strategies using WordPress (and above) to get a better position in the results of your search.

Send Your Sitemaps to Google

The final step to take using Google Search Console is to upload your sitemaps. This is how you establish a direct connection to WordPress and Google by telling Google which page to search for information on your site.

One of the best benefits of using Yoast SEO plug-in is that the XML sitemaps are automatically created. There’s an option to access them under Features > General:

Click on the question mark to receive the sitemaps link. Then, you can return on to Google Search Console.

Go to Sitemaps tab: Sitemaps tab:

For each sitemap link you have gotten through the WordPress website, type this link into the “Add an additional sitemap” bar. Google Search Console will then examine the sitemap as well as all page links contained within it. The next time Google’s robots begin to crawl the internet, your website’s pages will be indexed by Google.

Since your sitemap updates automatically when you update your website, you don’t need to worry about Google not receiving important updates, since it currently has your sitemap on Search Console.

Wrap-Up

One of the best things when building a site using WordPress is that it lets you can have full control over how you create it as well as how much customization you can put into it. As you can observe, there’s a lot to alter within WordPress including your theme, to the layout of your navigation. You can also alter the way in which your Google traffic information is displayed to you.

The bottom line: If you’re planning to choose to go with WordPress make sure you take advantage of all it has to provide. There’s plenty you can accomplish with this system for managing content to make a distinctive and efficient website that you’ve desired.

Related posts
Ecommerce Website BuildersWordPress

The7 WordPress Theme Review (Nov 2021): Ecommerce Website Building at its Finest

Take a look at our review to find out whether The7 WordPress The7 theme would be the right one for…
Read more
WordPress

The Best Print-on-Demand Jewelry Dropshipping Companies

Here’s how to market POD jewelry. Are you searching for the top print-on demand jewelry…
Read more
WordPress

The Best WordPress Ecommerce plugins (Nov 2021)

With the fact that the market is huge that we had to figure out what free WordPress eCommerce…
Read more
Newsletter
Become a Trendsetter
Sign up for Davenport’s Daily Digest and get the best of Davenport, tailored for you. [mc4wp_form id="729"]