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SandraMeshack

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How to build a Website on Wordpress.com (Step-by Step Guide for Beginners)

#wordpress #webdev #beginners #tutorial

Introduction
Building a professional website doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With WordPress.com, you can launch a fully functional, mobile-friendly website without writing a single line of code. Whether you’re a small business owner, freelancer, or blogger, this guide will walk you through the entire process — from choosing a domain to optimizing your site for SEO.

By the end of this guide, you’ll have:
✔ A fully set up WordPress.com site
✔ A clean, responsive theme that reflects your brand
✔ Basic SEO and performance optimizations
✔ A launch checklist to make sure everything’s ready to go live

Let’s get started.

Step 1: Pick Your Domain Name

  1. Enter your desired domain name in the search bar.
  2. Choose "sitename.com" or another relevant extension or.
  3. Connect your custom domain(domain you already own) or use a free yourname.wordpress.com for now.

Pro Tip: Keep it short, easy to spell, and brand-aligned.

Image of wordpress.com choose domain name

Step 2:Sign up and Choose a Plan

  1. Go to Wordpress.com.
  2. Click "Get Started" and create your account using an email address or Google login.
  3. Choose a plan:

  • Free: Good for personal blogs. Limited features and ads.

  • Personal or Premium: Custom domain. no ads.

  • Business or eCommerce: For custom themes, plugins, advanced analytics.

Pro Tip: If you are serious about branding, start with Premium or Business and custom domains. I just finished building a website for a client with premium plan.

Image of plan's choice in wordpress

Step 3: Select a Theme

  1. Navigate to Appearance -> Themes in the Wordpress dashboard.
  2. Filter by Business, Portfolio, or Blog themes depending on your needs.
  3. Click Activate once you find the one that fits.

Theme Selection on Wordpress

Step 4: Set Your Site Title, Tagline and Site Icon

  1. Go to Settings -> General.
  2. Enter your Site Title (your brand name) and Tagline (a short description).
  3. Upload your Site Icon.

set title and Tag line

Step 5: Customise Branding (Colours, Fonts)

  1. Navigate to Appearance -> Customise.
  2. Upload your Logo, select brand colours, and adjust for readability.
  3. Use site editor as this makes it easier for you to have a live update of your edits

Pro Tip: Stick to two fonts and two primary colors for a professional look.

customisation of Branding

Step 6: Create Core Pages

  • Go to Pages → Add New and create:
  1. Home
  2. About
  3. Services / Products
  4. Contact
  5. Blog (optional but great for SEO) N.B. You can add as many pages as you require.

Add Pages

Step 7: Build the Homepage

  1. Use WordPress Block Editor (Gutenberg)or Theme site editor to add:
  • Hero Section: Headline + Call-to-Action
  • Services Section: What you offer
  • Testimonials / Social Proof
  • Contact Button

Pro Tip: Use Columns, Image Blocks, and Buttons for a clean layout.

Step 8: Set Navigation Menu

  1. Go to Appearance -> Menus.
  2. Add your core pages and arrange them in order.
  3. Enable Primary Menu and Footer Menu.

Step 9: Add Contact Form

  1. Install the built-in Contact Form Block.
  2. Link it to your email for inquiries.

Step 10: Configure Site Settings (SEO & URLs)

  1. Go to Settings → Reading.
  2. Set Homepage to your custom home page.
  3. Configure permalinks for clean URLs: yoursite.com/page-name.

Step 11: Basic SEO Setup

  1. Add SEO Titles & Meta Descriptions (in Settings → Site Info or using WordPress.com SEO tools(I used Yoast SEO).
  2. Use H1 for main titles and H2 for subheadings.
  3. Add alt text to all images.

Step 12: Optimise for Mobile

  1. Preview your site in mobile view.
  2. Adjust blocks and text for responsiveness.

Step 13: Add Analytics & Tracking

  1. For basic stats, enable WordPress.com Stats.
  2. For deeper insights, connect Google Analytics (Business plan required).

Step 14: Test Performance

  1. Use PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to check load time.
  2. Compress images and avoid heavy plugins.

Step 15: Launch Your Site

  1. Preview your site one last time.
  2. Make sure privacy settings are set to Public.

Hit Publish — your site is live!

✅ Final Launch Checklist

  • Domain connected
  • Theme customized
  • Pages created (Home, About, Contact, Services)
  • Menu set
  • Contact form working
  • SEO basics (titles, meta, alt text)
  • Mobile-friendly
  • Analytics installed
  • Speed tested
  • Privacy set to Public
  • Include Jetpack CRM if you want a CRM.

Please note that most of the images used for this tutorial were from a client's CRM website I developed using wordpress.com. View the Website here.

Next Steps

Want a professional, fully customised website without the stress?
👉 visit my website and contact me for WordPress design, backend scalability, and technical documentation services.

Comment if you have questions and I'd be more than happy to help.

Disclaimer:
This guide was created independently and is intended for educational purposes only. WordPress and WordPress.com are registered trademarks of Automattic Inc. I am not affiliated with, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected to Automattic or WordPress.com. All information provided here is based on personal experience and publicly available resources.

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