How To Develop & Customize A New WordPress Website [Step-by-Step]

Are you planning to design and develop your new WordPress website from scratch? Check this step-by-step guide to develop and customize your website with the best WordPress Themes and Plugins.

It is important to take your time to create a plan and develop a good website for your business. As a beginner, you can explore this article and find the complete process to set up and customize your website.

You will get many useful ideas & suggestions to develop a beautiful and simple website for your audience. The first step in the process is customizing the default settings and installing the right theme & plugins.

Elementor Plugin — Create your Website with Elementor

The use of the right WordPress Theme and WordPress Plugins is essential for you to develop a good website. It will help you to easily create and customize your WordPress website with simple and easy-to-follow options.

So, if you have just created your website and looking for a complete guide to customize a new WordPress website. Check the following details and steps to develop your website from scratch with our guide.

Disclosure: If you purchase after clicking links in this article, I may make a referral income, at no cost to you.

Create your WordPress Website:

It is a good idea to create your website to explore the new opportunities and possibilities in the online market. You can make your WordPress website with Bluehost and get useful features like Free Domain and Free SSL Certificate.

There are multiple benefits that you get with your website and it provides you with more opportunities with online marketing. A good website helps you to grow your business and to get more customers with your online presence.

WordPress is a beginner-friendly CMS platform that you can easily manage with little training and practice. However, it is useful to develop a good understanding of WordPress to effectively manage your website.

What you need to develop a new WordPress website:

Change Basic WordPress Settings
Install a WordPress Theme
Explore the WordPress Plugins
Set up Basic Website Pages

You get a new WordPress website with the default settings, pages, and posts that you need to change. The default settings and website layout can be customized with the right WordPress Theme and Plugins for your website.

It is simple to customize these settings, you just need the right information and details that you will get in the next section. You can start with basic settings and then move to install the WordPress Theme and Plugins.

Thereafter, you can explore the basic and important pages for your website that will help you to grow your website. These steps will make your website more professional and increase brand trust among your audience.

The Basic WordPress Setting for a New Website:

You get a new website with the default WordPress setting which you need to change and customize. It will make your website look more professional and useful for your audience with the right information.

These are the basic WordPress setting changes that you can make into your new website:

#1. Give your Website a Name & Tagline

You can start with setting up a website logo and a tagline on your website to make your brand identity. It will help you to develop your unique online brand with your website brand name and tagline.

There are multiple tools available to create your website logo with a few clicks, like Canva, which you can use to make a logo. A good-looking brand logo is also useful to develop your professional and business brand.

#2. Use a Favicon for your Website

Favicon is a smaller version of your website logo that helps your audience to identify your website on web browsers. It appears in the browser tab with your website name & tagline and is also known as a site icon.

You do not get a favicon with the default WordPress website, which makes your website look unprofessional. However, it is simple to create and set up a favicon for your WordPress website with tools like Canva.

#3. Set up Your Home Page & Blog Post Page

The default setting of WordPress will show all the posts of your website on the homepage of your website. The reason for this website format is the setting named “Your homepage display” which is set on – Your latest posts.

You can check the option named Reading under Settings to change this website format and change to – A static page. It will make your homepage & blog post page separate from each other and you can customize your homepage.

#4. Remove the Default Pages & Posts

There are some default pages and posts that you get with a new website when you install WordPress. You can remove these default pages and posts to customize your website as per your business and work.

It is simple to remove the pages & posts from your website and add new pages and posts. You can check the dashboard options – Posts to create new blog posts and Pages to add new web pages to your website.

#5. Install a WordPress Caching Plugin

Caching means storing the copies of files in a cache or temporary storage to access the same information later. It helps your website visitors to easily reach your website and makes your website loading speed faster.

You can install useful WordPress caching plugins like WP Rocket, for the caching of your website. The caching process is simple, you just need to install the WordPress plugin and set up the basic setting.

#6. Remove Unused Themes & Plugins

The speed of your website is a crucial factor that influences the user experience of your website. It is always useful to keep working on website & content optimization to boost your WordPress website speed.

Unused WordPress Themes and Plugins make your website slower because of the more files for loading. You can remove all the pre-installed themes and plugins that you do not want to use in your WordPress website.

Choose & Install the right WordPress Theme:

The right WordPress Theme is very important to develop a beautiful and successful website for your business. It makes your website look professional with a good layout and design that improves your user experience.

You can check the different themes for your website and choose the best one with all the features. Some of the factors that you should keep in your mind are SEO-Friendly, Mobile Responsive, and Easy-to-Customize options.

Get the Right WordPress Theme

There are multiple WordPress Themes available that you can explore and find the best option for your business. You get different features and benefits with different WordPress Themes that make your design work easier.

Check the best WordPress Themes for a new WordPress website with different features and options:

WordPress Theme	Key Feature for You	Options Available	Get the WP Theme
Astra Theme	Advanced Website Builder	Free + Paid	Download Now!
Elegant Themes	Advanced Visual Builder	Paid	Download Now!
Thrive Themes	Conversion Focused Theme	Paid	Download Now!
GeneratePress	100% Website PageSpeed	Paid	Download Now!
StudioPress	Powerful Site Creation Tools	Paid	Download Now!
Themify	Responsive WordPress Theme	Paid	Download Now!
Superb Themes	Unlimited Premium Updates	Paid	Download Now!

These were the best WordPress Themes that you can explore to get the right theme for your website. You can see the features of all the themes and pick the right one to customize and develop your website.

Install & Customize the WordPress Theme

It’s time to install the WordPress Theme into your website and to customize your website as per your business. You can customize the details like fonts and colors as per your branding after installing the theme.

We are using Astra Theme as an example to show you – how to install a WordPress theme and customize your WordPress website. Astra offers great WordPress Themes which are SEO-Optimized, Mobile Responsive, and Multiple Layouts.

You can go to Astra Theme to get the best WordPress Theme and download it to your computer. The next step is to upload and install the theme into your WordPress website with a few clicks.

You can follow these steps to upload and install your WordPress Theme to your new website:

Go to the option named – “Appearance”
Click on – “Themes”
You can see the option – Add Themes [Upload Theme]
Click on – “Upload Theme”
You can upload your downloaded theme
Click on – “Install”
Installed Theme will show you options – Activate and Customize
Click on – “Activate”

Your website with Astra Theme is ready to use and customize according to your requirements. With the default options, you get WordPress Editor (Classic Editor) to customize your website, which is not simple to use.

You need a simple WordPress Plugin named Elementor to easily customize your website with the drag and drop option. It will help you to design your website with predesigned layouts and website pages that you can use.

You can use the best combination of a WordPress Theme & Plugin to develop your website with Astra Theme and Elementor.

Create a Perfect WordPress Website with Astra WordPress Theme + Elementor Pro.

Explore the useful WordPress Plugins:

WordPress Plugins are the most useful feature for a WordPress website because it enables you to customize your website. You can add many types of features to your website and easily edit with the WP plugins.

There are more than 55,000+ Plugins in the WordPress Plugin Directory that you can explore to find useful plugins. It makes your work easier by adding great features to your website with a one-click installation.

Plugins help you to create any type of website like Blog, eCommerce, Online Business, or Membership website. You just need to find the right WordPress plugin and install it to add new features to your website.

These are some of the most useful WordPress Plugins that you will need to develop and grow your website:

WordPress Plugin	Plugin’s Function	Options Available	Get the WP Plugin
Elementor	Website Builder	Free + Paid	Install Now!
WP Rocket	Website Caching	Free + Paid	Install Now!
WPForms	Contact Form	Free + Paid	Install Now!
AIOSEO	WordPress SEO	Free + Paid	Install Now!
ShortPixel	Image Optimization	Free + Paid	Install Now!
MonsterInsights	Website Analytics	Free + Paid	Install Now!
UpdraftPlus	Website Backup	Free + Paid	Install Now!
Sucuri Security	Website Security	Free + Paid	Install Now!
Revive Social	WP Social Media	Free + Paid	Install Now!
Pretty Link	Link Customization	Free + Paid	Install Now!
Optinmonster	Email Forms	Paid	Install Now!
PushEngage	Push Notification	Free + Paid	Install Now!
AdSanity	Ads Management	Paid	Install Now!
Schema Pro	Schema Markup	Free + Paid	Install Now!
Link Whisper	Internal Linking	Free + Paid	Install Now!
Envato Elements	Website Elements	Free + Paid	Install Now!

You can use these WordPress Plugins to set up the basic layout and structure of your new website. It will convert your new WordPress website into a professional-looking website with all the important features.

The look of your site is very important to attract more website visitors because a better look catches the attention. You can use the right Sales Funnel to get more customers with the traffic of your website.

It is important to find the right WordPress plugins for your website based on your business requirements. The right WP plugins will always help you to improve the performance of your WordPress website.

Related Article – How to Install a WordPress Plugin in your Website

The Basic Webpage for a New WordPress Website:

The next step after installing the WordPress Theme and Plugins is to set up the basic website pages. It will make your website look better and more professional to your audience. Check the following pages for your new website:

About us Page

About us Page is the most important page for your website because it tells your website visitors about your business. You can build your brand trust by providing all the necessary information about yourself on your about page.

Contact us Page

Contact us Page is useful to inform your audience about the contact details of your website. So, they can easily connect with you. You can use WPForms to quickly add a contact form page on your website with a few clicks.

Privacy Policy Page

Privacy Policy Page informs your audience about the data you collect on your website and how you & other third parties may use this data. It helps you to develop your brand trust by providing all the useful information to your visitors.

Disclaimer Page

If you are making money with your website, Disclaimer Page is important for you to inform your audience about the same. You can simply share the details – how you monetize your website with Google AdSense and Affiliate Marketing.

Term & Conditions Page

Term & Conditions Page shares the details of your term and condition if a person purchases from your website. It is an important page for your website if you are selling your products and services.

Related Article – 11 Essential Website Pages for a New WordPress Website

What is Next?

As you have completely set up your new website with the right WordPress Themes and WP Plugins. Also, your website has all the essential website pages like – About us, Privacy Policy, and Disclosure.

You are ready to move on to the next step which is WordPress SEO, to get organic traffic on your website. It will offer the following benefits to you:

Free Website Traffic
Improves your Brand Trust
Attract your Target Audience
Low Cost of Marketing
Useful for Long Term Strategy

WordPress SEO will also help you to set up the basic SEO-related settings to make your website SEO-friendly. Thus, it is a useful concept for beginners to improve their website traffic with SEO.

Final Words:

These were the step that you need to follow to develop and customize your new WordPress website. It will help you to change the default WordPress settings and to customize your website as per your needs.

You can also check more useful resources for WordPress Websites:

You can easily customize and develop your website as per your needs with the right WordPress Themes and Plugins. So, choose the right WordPress Theme like Astra Theme and customize your WordPress website with Elementor.