This article will guide you step by step on how to quickly build WordPress . You can use WordPress to build a personal blog or even a corporate official website. As long as you follow the steps in this article, even a novice can easily build a WordPress website.
This article will introduce how to build a WordPress website from the following aspects:
- Buy a VPS Server
- Install WordPress
- Install Astra Theme
- Install Elementor plugin
- Install essential SEO plugins
- Install a website image optimization plugin
After completing the above steps, you will have a prototype of your website. Of course, you can also change the template you like, set the font and theme color, and adjust the layout of the website.
WordPress Tutorial
- Step 1: Purchase a VPS
- Step 2: Modify the domain name resolution
- Step 3: Connect to VPS
- Step 4: Install WordPress in one click
- Step 5: Visit your website
- Step 6: Install WordPress Theme Template
- Step 7: Install the Elementor plugin
- Step 8: Install essential SEO plugins
- Step 9: Install the WordPress Image Speed Optimization Plugin
- Final Thoughts
Step 1: Purchase a VPS
WordPress runs on a host. First, you need to buy a VPS. You can choose Vultr . The recommended VPS configuration is as follows:
- Type: Cloud Compute;
- CPU: Intel Regular Performance;
- Server location: Los Angeles is recommended.
- Server size: For smooth operation, we recommend USD 12/month, 2GB memory, and hourly billing.
- Server system: Select Ubuntu 22.04;
- Turn off automatic backup;
- IPV6: You can uncheck it.
I chose Vultr because it charges by the hour, supports Alipay payment, is relatively cheap, and has a simple and easy-to-use interface. If you are not familiar with purchasing a VPS, you can check out my detailed VPS purchasing tutorial ” Quick VPS Tutorial | Vultr “.
If you have an important website that brings in a steady income, you may not want to spend too much time and energy on routine maintenance. Especially if you have enough budget and are willing to spend money on services, managed WordPress hosting is a good choice. Kinsta and WP Engine are experts in this area, especially Kinsta, which provides very comprehensive services.
For example, Kinsta provides services such as automatic backup, automatic website migration, regular scanning for malicious attacks, repair after the website is hacked, monitoring suspicious access, optimizing WordPress performance, upgrading core components, and repair after unexpected website crashes. These services allow you to safely hand over the technical problems of the website to professionals, saving time to focus on other work.
In short, Kinsta is an ideal managed WordPress hosting choice if you want peace of mind and don’t care about the cost .
Step 2: Modify the domain name resolution
Next, you need to resolve your domain name to the VPS. For specific steps, please refer to the previous blog post Domain Name Resolution Tutorial ” 3 Steps to Get Namesilo Domain Name Resolution ” to complete it. Generally, you need to add two DNS resolution records:
- The first A record, the host record is @, and the record value is your VPS IP address (for example 45.77.87.4).
- The second A record, the host record is www, and the record value is also your VPS IP address.
Make sure your domain name resolution is set correctly; otherwise, SSL will not be automatically installed later, and https mode will not be enabled.
Taking Cloudflare domain name resolution ” Get Cloudflare domain name resolution in 5 minutes ” as an example, after the settings are completed, it should look like the picture below ( the Name and Content record values are your own domain name and the IP address of the VPS ).
Wait for the domain name settings to take effect, which usually takes a few hours. You can use the domain name query website . If the domain name query returns the cloudflare IP address, it means that the settings have been generated. For details, please refer to the blog post ” Get Namesilo domain name resolution in 3 steps ” .
Step 3: Connect to VPS
After purchasing a VPS, you usually need to wait for a few minutes. After the VPS initialization is completed, you can connect to the VPS via SSH .
For Windows users, you can use Cmder , Putty , Xshell , etc. For Mac users, you can directly use the Terminal application.
Run the tool and enter the following command in the tool window; make sure to replace VPS_IP with your actual VPS IP address . For example, I would enter “ssh [email protected]”.
ssh root@VPS_IPCopy
After pressing Enter, you may be asked to confirm your connection to the VPS for the first time. Type “yes” and press Enter.
Next, you will be asked to enter your password, which you can find in the backend of your VPS.
After entering the password, press Enter to confirm, and the connection will be successful, as shown in the figure below.
Once connected to your VPS, you can easily complete the installation by following the instructions in the rest of this article, or you can manually perform the installation steps according to your needs. If you prefer a more complex installation process, you can refer to the following article .
Latest VPS WordPress Tutorial
If you want to build WordPress with better performance, then you can choose to build WordPress on a VPS. This article will take you from scratch, step by step to build WordPress on a VPS. First, you need to register a VPS, log in to your VPS and build a LAMP environment; then you need to resolve your domain name to your VPS. After the domain name is resolved successfully, you need to create a MySQL database, then install the PHP plugin and configure Apache, then download and configure WordPress, and finally install an SSL certificate.
Step 4: Install WordPress in one click
Enter the following code on the VPS and press Enter to start the installation:
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/govgfw/install-wordpress/main/ubuntu.sh | bash -sCopy
If you don’t have access to Github for some well-known reason, you can use this magic tool .
At this point, you need to follow the interface prompts and enter the following configuration items:
Domain name: Please enter the domain name you registered in advance (for registration methods, please refer to “Namesilo Quick Domain Name Registration without Recording” ), and be careful not to include “www” . For example, I entered globeranker.com here.
Email: Used to let Let’s Encrypt generate an SSL certificate. This process requires binding an email address.
Whether to automatically install the SSL certificate: Enter “y” , provided that you have successfully resolved the domain name to your VPS.
After confirming that everything is correct, press Enter to start the installation. If you want to reset, press ctrl+c to cancel, and then re-execute the above command.
After you execute the command, the system will automatically complete the installation and configuration of WordPress, just wait patiently. After the installation is complete, the information shown in the figure below will be displayed. These are some key information of your website, please save them properly.
Step 5: Visit your website
Enter your domain name in the browser, like I entered https://globeranker.com, and enter the WordPress initialization wizard page.
The system prompts you to select a language. Please choose Chinese or English according to your personal preference.
Next, you will set the account and password for logging into the WordPress admin backend. Please save this account and password, as it will be used later when you log into the admin backend (https://yourdomain/wp-admin) .
Click “Install WordPress” to enter the WordPress management interface.
Step 6: Install WordPress Theme Template
At this point, your WordPress homepage should look like this, very simple.
To make the website more beautiful, we can choose to use a template. For example, you can choose Argon as the website template. For more theme options, please refer to the blog post ” Fast and SEO-friendly WordPress Theme Recommendations “ .
From the perspective of SEO, I recommend Astra Pro as a WordPress theme . The main advantage of the Astra theme is its excellent responsiveness, which can load pages quickly and provide an excellent user experience, which is very important for SEO. It is highly optimized and lightweight, making the website run more smoothly. In addition, Astra also has rich customization options and wide compatibility, suitable for various types of websites, ensuring the perfect combination of performance and functionality.
1. Purchase an Astra plan
First visit Astra official website and click DOWNLOAD.
Choose a package based on your needs. Astra charges an annual fee. I choose Astra Pro.
Next, enter the registration information and select the payment method, which supports Paypal or credit card payment. Note: Write down the registration email address and password, which will be used later.
After the payment is successful, select Skip the offer and there is no need to upgrade the package.
2. Download the Astra Pro theme
Then click login to our store account to log in.
Next, under Account – Downloads, download the Astra Pro theme.
3. Install Astra Pro Theme
In the WordPress backend, click Appearance-Themes to enter the theme installation page.
Select the Astra Pro theme compressed package astra.xxxzip you just downloaded, upload it, and then click INSTALL NOW to install it.
After the theme is successfully installed, you can view it under Appearance-Themes in the WordPress background.
4. Upgrade Astra Pro theme plugin
In the WordPress backend, click Plugins, enter the plugin installation page, and click Add New.
Select the Astra Pro theme plug-in compressed package astra-addon-plugin-.xxxzip you just downloaded, upload it, and then click INSTALL NOW to install.
Then click ACTIVATE PLUGIN to activate the plugin.
5. Activate the Astra Pro theme
In the WordPress backend, click Appearance-Themes to enter the theme page. Click Activate on the Astra theme to activate the theme.
6. Load theme template
In the WordPress backend, click Appearance-Themes to enter the theme page. Click Get Started on the Astra theme to start Astra Pro.
Next, click Appearance – Start Templates.
Then click Build Your Website Now.
Next, select the website editor Elementor.
To further analyze, you need to choose the corresponding theme template based on your website type. If you are building a blog, you can choose your favorite template under the Blog category.
7. Activate Astra Pro License
First log in to Astra , and under ACCOUNT-Licenses, you can see your Astra Pro License.
In the WordPress backend, click Astra-Dashboard to enter the Astra configuration page. Enter your license in the Your License box and click Activate to activate it.
Step 7: Install the Elementor plugin
After installing the theme template, the next step is to install the website editor. Elementor Pro is recommended . It provides a powerful visual page builder that allows users to easily drag and drop elements, preview and edit page content in real time. Custom pages can be created without writing code, which is very friendly for users who do not know programming. It is not only suitable for beginners, but also meets the needs of experienced developers, so it is very popular.
When you installed the Astra template earlier, the free version of Elementor was installed by default. Since the free version has very limited functions and cannot meet the needs of daily website editing, it is upgraded to the paid version of Elementor Pro here.
1. Purchase the Elementor Pro plan
First, visit the Elementor official website and select a package. I choose the most popular Advanced package (this package can be used for 3 websites) and click Buy Now to purchase.
After the payment is completed, enter the bill payment interface, enter your username, email, country, address, and then pay.
2. Download the Elementor Pro plugin
After the payment is successful, you will be redirected to the plugin download page. Click Download Elementor Pro to download.
3. Install Elementor Pro plugin
In the WordPress backend, click Plugins, enter the plugin installation page, and click Add New.
Select the plugin compressed package elementor-pro-xxxzip you just downloaded, upload it, and then click INSTALL NOW to install it.
Then click ACTIVATE PLUGIN to activate the plugin.
4. Activate Elementor Pro License
In the WordPress backend, click Plugins–Installed Plugins, find Elementor Pro, and click Connect & Activate.
After successful activation, in the WordPress backend, click Elementor-License, and you can see that Status is Active.
Step 8: Install essential SEO plugins
In order to better operate our website, we need to install some essential plug-ins.
In order to do a good job of subsequent website traffic, SEO optimization must be done. In terms of SEO plug-ins, I strongly recommend Rank Math . Of course, you can also choose to install SEOPress or WP-Optimize .
Go to the WordPress backend, find “Plugins”, and click “Add New Plugin”.
After the installation is complete, click ” Activate “.
On the WordPress SEO plugin initialization interface, click ” Skip “.
Then select ” Easy ” mode and click “Start Wizard”.
The default is a personal blog type, so select “Save and Continue”.
Next we are asked to bind our account, you can directly choose ” skip “.
Finally, click ” Return to Dashboard ” to enter the backend.
This completes the initialization of the WordPress SEO plugin. When writing an article, we will see the article rating on the article interface. You can optimize keywords based on the rating.
Step 9: Install the WordPress Image Speed Optimization Plugin
The response speed of the website directly affects the user experience and retention time, so it is crucial to improve the speed of the website, and the optimization of website images is an important part of it. We can automatically optimize the image format by installing the webp plug-in.
In the WordPress backend, click Plugins – Install Plugins, search for the “Converter for Media” plugin, install and enable it.
Then find “Converter for Media” in the media area. After entering the plugin, click the ” Start Batch Optimization ” option.
After a while, the completion rate will reach 100%, indicating that all old pictures have been converted to webp format.
When you upload pictures in the future, this plug-in will automatically convert them to webp format .
Final Thoughts
So far, we have completed the quick construction of a WordPress personal blog. You already have a blog site. The next step is to continuously enrich the content of your blog posts.
WordPress is a powerful and widely used open source content management system that can be used to build various types of websites, from personal blogs, news websites, corporate portals to cross-border e-commerce platforms. In short, the flexibility and scalability of WordPress make it suitable for a variety of different types of websites. Whether you are an individual or an organization, you can customize and use WordPress according to your needs and goals.