WordPress

Beginner’s Guide to Converting a WordPress Blog to a Website

May 19, 2022

You run a fairly successful WordPress blog — but now it’s the time to step it up a notch and convert that into a sleek-looking and well-functioning website.  

Perks of doing this are plenty; enhanced brand visibility, better monetization opportunities, and a pre-existing audience that loves your content.

In this blog, we explore the end-to-end process of converting any WordPress blog into a website, and ways you can promote it.

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#1. Decide upon a domain name and web host

Deciding upon a domain name is the first step. Make sure you choose a good domain name. Elements of a good domain name are;

  • Short (within 63 characters)
  • Defines your brand
  • Easy to pronounce
  • Keyword-friendly
  • Memorable

The top-level domain or TLD is the part of your domain name appended at the end. For example, .com, .in, and .co amongst others. Typically it is suggested to opt for a .com TLD because it’s the oldest, and largest.

You can also make use of domain name generators, in case you wish to explore more options. Once your domain name is decided, you need to pick a web host. Largely, there are two options to explore here, lets’s take a look at them:

  • Upgrade: Since you already use WordPress, you can upgrade to the business plan offered by WordPress.com. However, it is billed yearly, so there is a heavy cost attached to this.
  • Go for self-hosting: Switch to a more affordable option i.e. WordPress.org. You also get full control over your website.

Wondering what’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?

WordPress.com is a full-fledged service that helps build websites with the help of WordPress software.

Whereas, WordPress.org is software, to build/maintain a website, blog, or app. However, you would need a reliable web host. Cloudways, Hostinger, GoDaddy, Bluehost, Dreamhost, Hostgator, GreenGeeks, and Sitegroud are popular web hosting providers.

Hosting services come in two forms, dedicated server and shared server. In a shared server multiple websites run on a single server. It is preferable when your website doesn’t need immense bandwidth and the traffic is minimal.

On the contrary, a dedicated server is exclusive to your website. As per Search Engine Journal “If your business contains databases, large inventory/supply chain infrastructure, and hundreds of eCommerce transactions hourly, you need a dedicated server.”

#2. Pick a theme that aligns with your niche

There are more than 31,000 WordPress themes available, out of which 9124 are free. Scouring through so many themes can feel daunting. Here are the best practices for finding the right theme.

  • Create a list of features you want beforehand: Thanks to the feature filter embedded in the themes repository, you can simply customize your search based on what you want, and what you don’t want. For example, do you want it to have a featured image header or a custom background?

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  • Avoid an overly cluttered theme: While feature-rich themes are good, they can have a detrimental effect on your website’s performance, and compromise security. Try to opt for minimal themes that have the exact features you need in a WordPress theme, nothing less, nothing more.
  • Responsive theme for the win: Today, the majority of people access websites via mobile. Therefore, a responsive design ensures that your website is compatible with all devices, and provides ease of access—for example, automatic translation. You can install plugins to enhance your website’s responsiveness.  
  • Decide on a color palette: A website that’s not good on the eyes is bound to have a high bounce rate, which is bad for your website’s performance. An impressive color scheme on the contrary enhances brand recognition. For example, people prefer light-colored themes over dark-colored themes. In WordPress, you can directly change color by entering custom CSS.  
  • Go premium: Free themes are good for starters but come with plenty of drawbacks like lack of support, and irregular updates. Opting for premium themes helps you stand out, and explore fresh features. The customer support is commendable too.  Genesis framework has access to stunning premium themes and exceptional features that you can choose from.
  • Choose a theme with legible fonts: In simple terms, legibility means the ease with which a reader can decode letters. For example, serif fonts are widely accepted fonts because they are highly legible. Almost every day we come across content with serif fonts and therefore are accustomed to it. Choose a font that is simple, sophisticated, and easy on the eyes.
  • And lastly, don’t forget to test your theme

#3. Homepage structure, and additional pages

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You’ve picked your theme, now the next step is to create a custom homepage. 

  • Certain themes have multiple starter sites that let you edit a pre-made template
  • If you wish to create a homepage from start, then go for the native blog editor by WordPress. Here you can go with the Gutenberg block editor or the older WordPress visual editor.
  • Thirdly, you can opt for drag and drop builder plugins like Divi, Elementor Pro, SeedProd, Themify Builder, Visual composer website builder, or Beaver builder. These plugins give you full control over what you create.

The next step is to add pages.

Depending on your product or services you can relevant add pages. However, make sure you create the about and contact page before you create other pages.

Examples of other pages can include portfolio, pricing page, advertising page, membership page, services page, and events page.

You can also create an online store if you plan to sell anything, digital or physical. WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, MemberPress, BigCommerce, and Shopify are some of the popular eCommerce WordPress plugins you can choose from. Among them, WooCommerce is the most popular one since it’s already optimized for WordPress, and there’re lots of users from other platforms who move their stores to WooCommerce just for its expandability. For digital products, you can go with the Gumroad plugin.

Choosing and deploying WordPress themes or creating a homepage can feel like a time-consuming and complicated process. You may choose to hire an expert web development company to convert your WordPress blog into a website so that you can focus on more important aspects of your business.

#4. Maintain blog’s functionality

Converting your blog into a website will be beneficial for your business. But at the same time, you cannot sideline your blog section. A good functioning website needs an updated blog section, and a separate page reserved for it. During this conversion, you can also redefine your content strategy to increase your blog traffic.

  • Understand your audience by creating an audience persona
  • Do thorough keyword research, and create a content strategy
  • Maintain a content calendar that defines when a blog post would go live
  • Create good content that people love to come back to

#5. Install Plugins for a better experience

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Plugins are like building blocks for your website. Installing the right plugins can take your WordPress website to another dimension. Here are 12 plugins you should check out;

  • Mailchimp: Lets your visitors sign up for your newsletter seamlessly.
  • PushEngage: Send push notifications in a jiffy. For example, notify a visitor about a new blog post or announce a new product.
  • WP Rocket: Say bye-bye to poor website speed. With WP Rocket you can optimize and increase your website speed.
  • Sucuri: For your website’s end-to-end security requirements.
  • Rafflepress: Run giveaways and contests to grow your website traffic, social media presence, and even email list.
  • LiveChat: Serve your visitors better by embedding a live chatbox on your website
  • Contact Form 7: Create customizable and stunning contact forms.
  • Yoast SEO: Make sure your SEO game is on the right track
  • Google Workspace: Manage your docs, and sheets, save up on software license and get a personalized email address.
  • Shared Counts: Embed stunning social sharing buttons, so that sharing your content is as seamless as possible
  • Smush: Image optimization tool
  • Jetpack: All-in-one plugin for your website’s security, backup, growth, and speed.

Apart from these plugins, there’s a fresh tool on the block that will save you more than 25 hours each week. Wordable is a foolproof way to publish google docs (in bulk) into your blog in a single click. Automate tedious upload processes, and focus on what matters. And while you’re converting your WordPress blog to a website, don’t forget to use WordPress time tracking to track your WordPress activities and fill your timesheets automatically.

#6. Promote your website

Simply converting your blog into a website doesn’t meet the cut. You need to promote it too.

  • Integration: Integrate your WordPress website with popular social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin.
  • Promote guest posting: When reputed people write for your blog, it automatically increases your blog’s credibility
  • Videos: Make short YouTube videos, and direct the visitors to your website.
  • Leverage email marketing: For every dollar spent, email marketing yields an ROI of $36.
  • Communities: Communities are all the rage at the moment, simply because they work. Build communities around your niche. For example, create a Facebook page or create an exclusive invite-only group.
  • Podcasts: As per Statista, it is estimated that there is an increase of 20 million podcast listeners each year. Creating podcasts can enhance brand visibility.
  • Repurpose: People love all forms of content. You can take snippets of your blog content and repurpose them into quotes, summaries, and more. That way you don’t have to create fresh content for social media.
  • Interviews: Collaborate with niche experts, and interview them. For example, if you run a recipe blog, then interview food experts.
Piyush Shah
Piyush Shah is a 6 figure affiliate marketer and has helped grow multiple businesses from nothing to making insane business figures. He is currently working as Head of SEO at Dukaan.
Piyush Shah
Piyush Shah is a 6 figure affiliate marketer and has helped grow multiple businesses from nothing to making insane business figures. He is currently working as Head of SEO at Dukaan.