So you want to build a WordPress site? Lucky for you, it’s easy to install. However, the question is, what do you do next? Where do you start?
If you’re not sure what to do after you’ve installed WordPress, then this article is for you. Read on to learn the seven things you need to do when starting a WordPress site.
Modify the Site Title, Tagline, and Timezone
Before you work on your website’s design, there are some things you should do on the backend first. To start with, you need to change the site title, tagline, and timezone settings. You can do this by navigating to Settings and selecting General. This will then bring you to a page where you can change these settings.
Disable XML-RPC
For the longest time, the XML-RPC service was disabled by default mainly for security reasons. However, as of WordPress 3.5, XML-RPC will be enabled by default, and the ability to disable it from your WordPress dashboard will go away.
XML-RPC is a remote procedure that lets you post on your WordPress blog using popular weblog clients such as Windows Live Writer. It’s also necessary to use the WordPress mobile app and if you want to make connections to services like IFTT. However, XML-RPC has been known to introduce vulnerabilities to WordPress sites. Therefore, if you don’t need it, you should know how to disable XML-RPC.
Fortunately, it’s straightforward to disable XML-RPC. All you have to do is install the plugin called ‘Disable XML-RPC.’ Once you activate it, you’re good to go.
Arrange Backups
Every year people lose millions of dollars because of damages from data loss. The only way to prevent this is to create backups. This way, if there’s a disaster, you can easily recover your website.
In some cases, your WordPress web host will offer you backup services with their hosting plans. However, these backups are not always guaranteed, and ultimately the responsibility lies with you to backup your site.
Fortunately, there are various WordPress backup plugins that you can use to create backups for your site automatically. Simply search “backup” in the WordPress dashboard’s plugins section, and you will get a number of options to choose from.
Enable Caching
Even a one-second delay in page load time can result in a loss of conversions, fewer page views, and customer satisfaction. Therefore, you must ensure that your website is fast and performs well even under high traffic.
This is where caching comes in. Caching lets your website quickly serve cached copies of your pages to users instead of producing them on the fly. As a result, your server load is reduced, and this causes your page load speed to improve.
There are a number of caching plugins available for WordPress. Just search “caching” in the plugins section of the WordPress dashboard.
Setup Security
In general, WordPress is relatively secure. However, you should still follow security best practices to ensure your website is as secure as possible. For instance, you should always use strong passwords, secure your WordPress admin area, and always install updates.
However, to enhance your site’s security, we recommend installing security plugins. The industry leader in website security, malware protection, and vulnerability scanning is the Sucuri plugin.
Remove Default Content
WordPress comes with some default content that is used as a placeholder. For example, there’s a blog post called “Hello World,” a sample comment, and a sample page. You will want to delete this content. Otherwise, it will show up on your page.
To remove the sample blog post, you will need to navigate to Posts and then select All Posts. Take your mouse and place it over the “Hello World” post and then click the “Trash” link.
To delete the sample comment, you will need to visit the Comments page, place your mouse over the default comment, and then click the “Trash” link.
Lastly, to delete the sample page, you will need to go to Pages and select All Pages. Move your mouse so it’s over the “Sample Page” and click the “Trash” link.
Setup Front Page and Blog Pages
The default setting in WordPress is to have your blog posts displayed on the homepage. However, if you’re creating a business website, then you will want to use a static page as your homepage.
To set this up, go to Settings and then select Reading. You will then be presented with ‘Front Page Displays’ options. You can then choose what page you want to act as your front page and which you want to act like your blog page.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the things you need to do when starting a WordPress site. The next steps involve designing your web pages and adding widgets and plugins to enhance your site’s functionality.
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