Itzfizz Digital
Digital Marketing Consultant
Now that we’ve established what is digital marketing, you’re probably wondering how to get started?
The short answer is WordPress.
Not the answering you’re looking for?
But it’s true, the easiest way to learn digital marketing is creating your own website.
Table of Contents
- What is WordPress? How Does It Work
- How do I install WordPress on my Hosting Platform?
- How To Get Started with WordPress?
- What are plugins in WordPress?
- Difference between WordPress.org vs WordPress.com.
- Benefits of using WordPress
- What kind of websites can I create with WordPress?
- Some of the most Popular WordPress Sites
Fun Fact
Did You Know?
38% of the web is created on WordPress. (source: WordPress.com)
Now I know what you’re wondering.
Why do I need a website?
A website acts as a training ground for you to experiment and develop content which connects with your audience. It also allows you to practice SEO strategies, market your content on social media and analyze and assess the results of your efforts.
What kind of website do I build?
Typically as a newbie, you could start by building a website which acts as your digital CV/Portfolio.
If you are a business owner and want to experiment by building a business site you can do that as well but ideally, it’s not recommended as it might have a great reputation offline so taking it online would need a professional’s assistance.
Fill this form out and I can help you develop your website.
Do I need content writing experience?
If you’re creating a digital CV or Portfolio, you can easily start off by writing about things which you have a fair share of knowledge.
Let’s say you love cars or shoes or makeup, you can use a site to showcase all possible topics that you can cover on that website in the form of a blog or infographic or record youtube videos and embed them on your site.
Do I need any coding experience to get started?
The answer is no If you have got an understanding of how to use basic applications like Canva, MS office, you can probably master WordPress as Well.
How much money will I be investing?
Surprisingly you could be spending 1 dollar a month for a hosting plan starting from hostinger. If you’re from India hostinger.in offers plans from ₹60 per month with a free SSL(Plans subject to hostinger offers).
Some of hostinger’s plans cover a free domain, if not you can head over to Namecheap, GoDaddy, Namesilo (Free WhoIs)
As your blog or site traffic increases you could upgrade your plan or try other hosts like site ground, WPengine, Bluehost and so on.
The best part is this cost way less than a paid ‘digital marketing course’.
Disclaimer – The statement in “ below is my perspective.
“As great as paid marketing courses are, most of them don’t focus on realistic or industrial knowledge and are subject to a various number of parameters.”
FYI, if you do prefer guidance and need coaching or training on building a site, managing your SEO and marketing it on social media, you’re in luck! Why?
As I am coming up with a simple realistic online course which can help you get started. So drop me a message in the contact section and I’ll notify you the details once it’s live.
But if you don’t want to take the trouble of doing this all by yourself you can contact me and I can take care of all this for you at pocket-friendly prices.
Now that we’ve got the most asked questions sorted out let’s get into understanding what is WordPress and how you can get started.
What is WordPress? How Does It Work?
WordPress is a powerful and easy to use content management system(CMS). The best part about this, it is completely free, giving users the flexibility to build almost any kind of website.
It is built in PHP and uses MySQL or MariaDB as a database. (Source: Wikipedia.org)
Typically like any CMS, you can create a layout for yourself and add functionality to it by assigning a user logic.
Example: You can assign a link to a button on a page to redirect to another page or to scroll down by following simple steps provided on the editor dashboard.
For a detailed tutorial on WordPress, you can consider referring to WPBeginner, a platform which pretty much aims to answer any question around WordPress.
Now here’s the next question which you probably have on your mind.
How do I install WordPress on my Hosting Platform?
Well it’s fairly straightforward you can head over to Hostinger or Equivalent Host (any host which support auto-installing in its plans), create an account or log in to your account. Once you’re in the panel you would have set up a domain first.
Once that’s done, you can head over to your C-Panel or an Equivalent dashboard.
a) Click on the auto-installer option
b) Select the domain you want to install the WordPress CMS
c) Add a username, email and password
d) Click Install.
That’s it. Your WordPress CMS will now be installed on your domain and you can access it by typing in:
yourdomain.com/wp-admin.
This will open up a login portal where you can enter your credentials and get started.
Here’s an example of the WordPress Dashboard.
Once you’ve logged into your WordPress Dashboard, you can head down to the Appearance and click on themes.
Now the great thing about WordPress is that you have so many options to choose from, you can even filter out a perfect theme based on your expectation for the layout of the website.
Some of the most popular WordPress themes to check out are Astra, Vantage, Twenty (official theme) and many more.
Also, some of these themes come with demo content and a ready-made layout which makes it very easy for the user to visualize the layout.
Once you’ve got the layout ready, the next thing you want on your website are relevant features like forms, push notifications. etc.
And you’ve probably figured it out. Yes it’s using a feature on the dashboard called Plugins. So,
What are plugins on WordPress and How Does it Work?
Plugins are basically scripts that add functionality to your WordPress site.
Example: You want to add a form to your website on your contact page, you can head down to plugins, search for forms. You would be presented with a variety of options, in this case, I would choose Ninja Forms or Form Maker, then follow the steps:
1) Create a form with fields of choice
2) Stylize in with options available
3) Add the form using the editor or shortcode on the page.
And that’s pretty much it, you have successfully added a form to your website.
Validations of the fields are coded on to these forms so you can sit back, relax and add relevant plugins with ease.
Note: The functionality, the vulnerability and other issues of a plugin are subject to many factors, hence you’re advised to check the reviews and research before adding it to your website.
Additionally, adding a lot of plugins isn’t always the best choice as it may slow down your website as confirmed by many articles from users on Google.
Also here is a free guide on SEO, On Page SEO Strategy & SEO tools to get started
And that’s pretty much it, I hope this article gave you a couple of insights to take away.
If you think I missed something, feel free to mention it in the comment section
Mention your takeaways and drop your questions in the comment section, I will be sure to answer it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) :
Difference between WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
WordPress.org is an open-source and free to use CMS. To get started you will need a domain and a web hosting. It is also known as the self-hosted WordPress
whereas
WordPress.com is a paid hosting service created by the co-founder of WordPress. The free plan of WordPress offers 3GB of space and is ideal for passionate writers who want to start a blog.
There are certain limitations in both of these. You can read this blog from WPBeginner for a detailed understanding.
Benefits of using WordPress
There are quite a few reasons that make WordPress a great CMS:
a) It is a free CMS
b) It has many themes to choose from
c) You can customize it as per your needs
d) It is SEO friendly
e) You can add almost any functionally to your website using a plugin.
And much more
What kind of websites can I create with WordPress?
WordPress lets you create almost any kind of website:
a) A blog
b) A portfolio
c) A business website
d) An e-commerce store
f) An e-learning site
To almost anything
Some of the most popular WordPress sites
Some of the most popular sites. (source: WPBeginner)
a. The Star Wars Blog. (Official)
b. Tech Crunch
c. BBC America.
d. Sony Music.
e. MTV News.
About Author
Digital Marketing Consultant with over 5+ years of experience in building, maintaining, and running successful digital marketing campaigns. Proficient at creating and executing client-centred, successful campaigns on social media, aimed at improving brand recognition and online visibility on Google with proven SEO strategies. I’ve helped brands rank for competitive keywords on Google and build an online presence on Social Media.
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