Header tags are one of the most fundamental elements of a well-structured blog post. They guide readers through your content, improve accessibility, and help search engines understand your content's structure. But using headings properly requires … Read on blog or Reader WordPress.com News Read on blog or Reader How to Use Header Tags for SEO and Accessibility By Katie Koteen on February 5, 2025 Header tags are one of the most fundamental elements of a well-structured blog post. They guide readers through your content, improve accessibility, and help search engines understand your content's structure. But using headings properly requires more than just adding a few bold titles to your text. In this post, we'll walk you through how to use header tags effectively and why it matters for your WordPress site. What are header tags and how do they impact SEO? A heading is a title or subtitle that introduces a section of content on a website post or page. In HTML, headings are defined by tags ranging from <h1> to <h6>, with <h1> being the most important and <h6> the least.  These tags indicate the hierarchy of your content, helping both readers and search engine robots understand how your ideas are organized.  For example: H1: The post or page title H2: Main sections (this section of this very blog post uses an H2 header tag!) H3: Subsections under H2 H4: Additional details under H3 Properly formatted headings dramatically improve the readability and scannability of your site as well, as they break up large sections of text. How many H1s should you have? One. A blog post should have exactly one <h1> tag, which serves as the main title of the page. Using multiple <h1> tags can confuse search engines about what the post or page is actually about and negatively impact your SEO.  A good H1 should: Be clear and descriptive, reflecting the search intent. Contain your primary keyword. Be unique to each post or page on your site. For example, say you're writing a post about a skillet flatbread recipe. A good H1 (using the guidelines above) might be "Easy Skillet Flatbread Recipe." "The Recipe I Make Every Week" is an example of an H1 that isn't clear or descriptive and doesn't contain our primary keyword ("skillet flatbread recipe"). How to avoid keyword stuffing in headings A big benefit of using headings properly is to maximize the SEO potential of your post. While it's tempting to load your headings with keywords (aka "keyword stuffing") to start ranking for a particular keyword, this can do more harm than good.  Keyword stuffing is a spammy tactic that can make your content sound unnatural and lead to poor-quality content that will rank poorly in search results. Instead, focus on writing headings that clearly describe the content of the section using natural language. Incorporate keywords sparingly and only when they fit organically. For example, instead of a heading that says, "Best Dog Beds: Top Dog Beds for Large Dogs That Nap," a better, more readable heading might be, "The Best Dog Beds for Large Breeds." This will ensure your headings are reader-friendly while still supporting your SEO goals. It's a win-win!  If you're worried your post might be keyword-stuffed, run it through this helpful SEO checker from SEM Rush. It will magically calculate the keyword density for the body, headlines, and meta description of your post.  How header tags impact accessibility Headings play an important role in making your content accessible to all users, including those who rely on screen readers. Screen readers use headings to navigate content, allowing users to jump directly to the sections they're interested in. When writing headings for accessibility, consider the following tips: Use headings to create a structure: Ensure your headings reflect the hierarchy of the post. For example, use H2s for main sections and H3s for subsections. Avoid skipping levels: Don't jump from an H2 to an H5. This can confuse screen readers and make your content harder to navigate. In the next section, we'll talk more about how to properly nest headings.  Keep headings descriptive: Avoid vague headings like "Conclusion" or "Details." Instead, use headings that clearly describe the content, such as "Final thoughts on garden compost" or "Tips on how to make your own compost." You can learn more about the proper use of heading for accessibility on a WordPress site in this post, Improve Your Site's Accessibility.  Tools for testing heading accessibility  Here are a few tools you can use as part of your publishing workflow to ensure your content is accessible: Chrome Accessibility Report: The Chrome accessibility report is an easy-to-use resource built right into your Google Chrome browser when you want to quickly test a single page on your site.  Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker: This freemium WordPress plugin from Equalize Digital goes beyond just headings to ensure your site is accessible to a wide range of visitors.  WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool: A free tool you can use to scan any page on your site for accessibility issues. When you're looking to improve headings, check for the 'structural elements' part of the report.  How to properly nest your header tags Proper nesting of headings is essential for maintaining a logical flow in your content. Think back to your school days and treat your headings as an outline: H1: The main topic of your post or page H2: Sections that support the main topic H3: Subsections provide details or examples and are nested under an H2. H4, H5, and H6: Additional layers of detail as needed. Here's an example of correct header tag nesting: <h1>A beginner's guide to beekeeping</h1>   <h2>Why keep bees</h2>     <h3>Environmental benefits</h3>     <h3>Personal rewards</h3>   <h2>Getting started with beekeeping</h2>     <h3>Basic equipment</h3>     <h3>Choosing a location</h3>     <h3>City regulations and permitting</h3> Once in a while, you may be tempted to incorrectly nest your headings as a way to apply a particular style. Try to avoid this. Incorrect nesting can disrupt the flow and confuse both readers and search engines. You can always adjust your site CSS to change the styles of your headings site-wide. How many headings are too many? The number of header tags you use depends on the length and complexity of your blog post. A good rule of thumb is to include a heading for every 300–500 words. This helps break up your content into bite-sized pieces, making it easier for readers to follow along. If you have a 1,000-word blog post it might include: 1 <h1> tag as the title. 3-5 <h2> tags for major sections. A handful of <h3> tags for subsections, as needed. Don't overdo it, though. Too many headings can make your content look cluttered and overwhelming. Additional tips for using headings effectively When you're asking yourself if and when you should add headings throughout your post or page content, follow these simple guidelines: Keep headings short: Aim for headings that are concise and to the point. While Google doesn't have a limit on characters, keep it focused on the search query. Avoid overloading with styles: Headings should stand out visually, but don't rely on excessive styling like all caps or bold text. Let the hierarchy and natural formatting do the work for you. Test your headings: Preview your posts and pages to make sure your headings create a logical structure. Check how they appear on different devices, especially mobile. Think about search intent: Use headings to address common questions your audience might have. This not only improves readability but also increases the likelihood of ranking in search engine results. Use headings to break up dense content: Long paragraphs can be exhausting to readers. Use headings to segment your content into manageable sections. How to edit header tags on your WordPress posts and pages There are multiple ways you can add header tags to your content with WordPress. Let's look at a couple different methods. Add a title This first one requires no extra work on your end! Woo hoo!  By adding a title to your post or page, you're automatically adding the one and only <h1> tag you need. WordPress takes care of this for you. Use the Heading block You'll need to insert all other headings manually. Remember that header tags should be nested naturally. You'll use the Heading block to add all H2s, H3s, H4s, H5s, and H6s to your posts and pages. To add the Heading block, click the + Block Inserter icon and search for "heading." Click it to add the block to the post or page. You can also type /heading on a new line in the editor and press enter to quickly add a Heading block. You can also use markdown syntax by typing hashtags (#) in front of your heading text like this: ## Why I love this recipe That will magically turn into an H2 heading because you used two hashtags! Use the appropriate number of hashtags to correspond to the header you're wanting to use. Be sure to explore our Heading block support article for even more information about the ways you can customize your post or page headings. A final word on using header tags effectively Headings are more than just decorative elements—they're a tool for organizing your content, improving accessibility, and enhancing SEO. Keep in mind that the goal is simply to make your content as easy to navigate as possible.  Whether your readers are skimming for key points or diving deep into the details, properly used headings will guide them every step of the way.  Comment Like You can also reply to this email to leave a comment.

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Read on blog or Reader WordPress.com News Read on blog or Reader How to Make a Website: The Complete, No‑Code Beginner's Guide By Nick Schäferhoff on January 29, 2025 It looks like you're here because you want to learn how to create a website, and maybe you find the task ahead a bit scary, overwhelming, and unsettling. That's understandable. Making a website can seem like a big undertaking, especially if you've been told that you need special skills for it, like knowing how to write code. We are here to tell you that that's not true. You can have your own, professional-looking website without any programming skills. In fact, all you need is to know how to use your computer mouse and write on your keyboard. Sound hard to believe? Seeing is believing, so in this article, we go over the process of creating your own website using WordPress. We'll break it down into small, easy steps, so you can follow along even as a beginner.  After reading this article, you'll know how to: Determine your website goals Choose the type of website you will build Pick your hosting provider and website builder platform What types of hosting providers exist? Meet WordPress—The heart of your new website Select a domain name How to pick a domain for your website Why consider a WordPress.com domain? Pick your WordPress.com theme What kinds of themes exist? How to install and apply themes Determine the branding and colors you'll use on your site Give your website a voice Establish a basic color scheme Put together the visual elements for your site Choose which pages your website needs Create your website content Learn how to create pages in WordPress Outline your page content Add written material Include images and other visuals Consider using videos Set up your homepage Add your pages to a menu Customize your header and footer Add functionality with plugins How to install and activate plugins Popular plugin options Optimize your site for search engines Write title tags for each page Add meta descriptions Use a search-friendly URL structure Include relevant keywords Set up analytics Google Search Console Google Analytics Jetpack Stats Test, publish, and promote your website Maintain your website Frequently Asked Quetions Do I need to learn how to code? How long should it take to build my website? How much should I pay for a website? Why is WordPress.com the best choice for my hosting/website builder? Create your website with WordPress today Let's make a website, shall we? Determine your website goals Knowing what you want to achieve with your site keeps you focused and helps you make the right choices as you're setting up your site.  What motivated you to want to create a site? What do you want to achieve by creating a site? Some common website goals are: Attracting customers to your brick-and-mortar business Selling products with an online store Sharing your thoughts with a blog or magazine-style publication Building a portfolio for creative work Generating new subscribers for a newsletter If you are unsure what the purpose of your site is, doing some competitor analysis is often helpful. You can learn a lot from analyzing other websites in your industry, market, or niche, such as: The types of pages they include Which calls to action they show on their website Content types they publish Images or design elements they feature If you discover anything interesting or noteworthy, document it so you can borrow inspiration later on. Choose the type of website you will build Very different types of websites. There are many different types of websites and they all come with their own goals, requirements, and differences. Some common kinds of websites include: Business websites: These sites provide information about a company and its services or products. Sites of this kind usually have an objective such as selling goods or services, lead generation, or newsletter signups. Personal websites: A personal website lets you establish a profile for potential employers, build your personal brand, consolidate your web presence, or find clients. It comes in many different varieties, from static brochure sites over portfolios to one-page websites. Blogs: Starting a blog is an excellent way to attract more users to your website (hey, you are here, aren't you?), show off your expertise, and help your audience. You can also start one to simply practice writing or pursue a hobby. Plus, it can be standalone or part of another type of website (like wordpress.com/blog is the blog for WordPress.com, our WordPress hosting company). Online stores: The goal of an online store is selling products, goods, or services. This, too, can take many different forms. For example, a shop selling digital products is usually very different from one that deals in real-life merchandise. That's because you normally don't need as many product images for digital wares, they typically don't come in many variations, and they don't require shipping—all factors that simplify the experience of digital-only online stores. Newsletter websites: The purpose of a newsletter site is mainly to collect subscribers for an email newsletter. You can grow your email list through popups or subscription forms. Podcast sites: Another example of a type of site you can build is a podcast website. It can serve as home to your podcast episodes as well as provide additional information around them and you. You can even collect payments for exclusive content and earn money. Naturally, it's also possible to combine several website types. For example, you can sell products on your personal blog and send your latest posts via a newsletter. In fact, most websites use a hybrid approach like that. The important thing is to clarify this for yourself so that you work towards the right direction. Pick your hosting provider and website builder platform A hosting provider rents out server space where you can place your website files so that others can see your site. A website builder is the software that powers your site. Both influence its management and the end result. What types of hosting providers exist? There are different kinds of hosting, but the most common forms are: Shared hosting: With shared hosting, your website is on the same server as many others, and they all have to share the same resources (hence the name). VPS hosting: This acronym stands for "Virtual Private Server." VPS hosting still places your website on the same machine as other sites but everyone gets their own dedicated resources they can't exceed. Dedicated server: You may choose to rent and manage your own server solely for your website. Managed hosting: Like the name suggests, managed hosting providers take many of the day-to-day tasks of keeping a website running off your hands. WordPress.com is a managed hosting provider. While shared hosting is probably the most common type, the divided server resources can become a speed bottleneck if one or more websites on the shared server start hogging all the processing power. Therefore, it is usually only sufficient for simple sites with little traffic. VPS and dedicated hosting don't have this problem; however, they come with additional responsibility. That's because you only rent the server space; everything else related to site management is up to you. In particular, that means security, speed optimization, backups, infrastructure decisions, and other, similar tasks. Managed hosting offers the most hands-off approach. For example, when you create a website hosted on WordPress.com, besides making sure your site is fast, secure, and backed up, we also keep it updated, offer top-notch support, and provide an optimized environment. This arrangement eliminates a lot of busywork for website owners like you. As a result, it allows you to fully focus on the parts of running a website that have the biggest impact on its success and reaching your goals. Examples include content creation, marketing, outreach, and product development. Get managed WordPress hosting Meet WordPress—The heart of your new website As mentioned, in this tutorial we'll show you how to set up your website using WordPress. It's an open source content management system (CMS) and website builder, which means you can use it to create and manage websites and web content. In the past, you would have to hand-code HTML and CSS files and upload them to servers to build your site. With WordPress, you can set up a website, change settings, create content, and do everything else from an easy-to-use interface instead. That's why it is our website builder of choice here at WordPress.com. Whatever hosting plan you choose (including our free plan), WordPress is automatically included in your account and set up for you. You always land directly on the platform's user interface—no need to install anything by hand. WordPress is both powerful and beginner-friendly (as you will see), which is why we, along with more than 43% of all websites on the internet, prefer it. Plus, WordPress is open source, meaning software built and maintained by volunteers and paid contributors who support it for the good of all. Ready to sign up with WordPress.com? Start your website journey here. Select a domain name A domain name is the address you type into your browser to access a website. Google.com is a domain name as are wordpress.com and wikipedia.org. At WordPress.com, we offer many domain extensions for purchase, including .com, .blog, and .org. In addition, with our free hosting plan, you can have a website running on a free subdomain like example.wordpress.com. While sufficient for getting your feet wet in the website-building game, subdomains like this are not suitable for any professional purposes. It's like using a Gmail address for your business email; it isn't as professional or polished as a custom email address is. Thus, if your website is meant to be more than a hobby, you need your own domain name, especially for a business. Purchase a domain How to pick a domain for your website Your domain name should be relevant to your site or brand. For example, if you're building a company site, you may simply want a domain using the company name. It's where people will naturally assume they can find you. However, a domain name can also be topical, like gluten-free-gutenberg.com for a food blog with gluten free recipes. What's most important is that your address is easy to remember and distinct. While you are at it, it's also worth checking if the respective social media handles are available to ensure brand consistency. As for domain endings, due to how common and memorable they are, you can usually go with the .com extension unless you have a good reason not to. One example would be if you operate in a specific area or country. Then, a local domain ending like .de for Germany or .co.uk for the United Kingdom may make the most sense for your intended audience. Specific extensions for certain industries and types of business, like .org, .app, or .ai, also exist. For more information, check our article on how to choose a domain name. A second important step is to make sure your desired domain is even available. For that, input it into a domain search tool. It will tell you if you are able to purchase the domain, how much it costs, and alternative ideas if your initial idea is already taken. Why consider a WordPress.com domain? If you are looking for a domain, here a few good reasons to register it through WordPress.com: Affordable pricing: Standard domain endings are just $12 to $14 per year with hundreds of other options and frequent deals on chosen domains. Most importantly, if you decide to host your website with WordPress.com, you actually get a free domain included for the first year. Reliability: We've been in the domain business for over ten years. Our domains come with free privacy protection, SSL certificates, and a fast and secure DNS infrastructure. Great customer support: You can reach our domain experts via email and live chat for advice on everything from transferring domains to managing multiple at once. Finally, having your website and domain hosted with the same provider offers you simplicity. You can manage your domain and site from one dashboard and don't have to deal with connecting your domain to your hosting account manually. Pick your WordPress.com theme WordPress uses "themes" to control the design of your website. They include colors, fonts, layouts, and more—all of the elements that shape the look and feel of a website. You can change themes at will and, as a result, modify your website's look in literal seconds. Another benefit is that WordPress themes allow you to affect the appearance of your website without code. You can customize almost any aspect of your theme through an interface without needing to use  HTML or CSS. Same website, same content, but different themes. What kinds of themes exist? The good thing about using WordPress as your website builder is that it has themes for pretty much any purpose. No matter what kind of website you want to create, there is likely a suitable theme already out there, complete with specific design elements for the type of site they are created for. Explore themes For example, here at WordPress.com, you can find themes for the following website categories: Blog: These are perfect if you are planning to start blogging. They contain page templates that allow you to easily display and showcase your content. We also have themes for topical categories like travel & lifestyle. Portfolio: Are you an artist, photographer, or painter? Then, portfolio themes are the perfect tools to show off your work. They are focused on drawing attention to photos, illustrations, and other creative works. Business: Our business themes aim to help you set up your business site in the easiest way possible. You can also choose from different industries like restaurant websites, real estate, health & wellness, and more. Store: If you are going the e-commerce route, these themes will give you a leg up in creating your store, offering your products, and attracting customers. It's important to note that there are free and premium WordPress themes and that you can find them in a variety of places, including directories on WordPress.org and here on WordPress.com. Note that you need to have a WordPress.com site with a Business plan or above to install third-party themes. How to install and apply themes Changing your theme and website design is very easy. You will find the option under Appearance > Themes in the WordPress user interface. You can filter the list of themes by category at the top or search for specific keywords or theme names. If you see something you like, click on it for additional information. Try out the style variations and read the theme description. Click Preview & Customize to try out your site in the new design with the option to customize and activate it. Alternatively, activate your theme from its own page via the Activate this design button. Some themes will automatically change your homepage content, so you have to confirm that you understand that. When you do and look at your site afterward, you can see it in its new look. Determine the branding and colors you'll use on your site Next, it's time to set guidelines for the content that will populate your pages. Give your website a voice Your website content should sound like an extension of yourself or your company.  To achieve that, it helps to establish a basic voice for it. You can do this quickly by following a simple "We are [BLANK], but not [BLANK]" exercise. Here are some examples: We are lighthearted, but not goofy. We are funny, but not offensive. We are helpful, but not bossy. Of course, if you run your website alone, you can also do this exercise with "I" and "am." This exercise will help your website sound the way you want it to. Establish a basic color scheme If your company already has a visual identity, the website you create should match it. It should be immediately identifiable as your business or brand.  Did you recognize the Google color scheme right away? Without an established color scheme, you have to create one from scratch. Don't have a graphic design background? No worries, there are only a few things you need to understand here: Select colors that look good together and convey the emotional sentiment you want visitors to feel. A good starting point is the guide to color psychology from CoSchedule. Document the hex color codes for your chosen color palette. Color-hex.com makes it easy to find codes that you can copy and paste into website and image design tools (such as WordPress.com). Another option is Coolors, which both helps you create color schemes and gives you the accompanying color codes. Once you've grasped the basics, you can use what you've learned about color psychology and hex codes to establish color schemes for other parts of your business. Put together the visual elements for your site Common examples of visual elements websites use: Hero spots and banner images: These will go at the top of your website pages. Photography: This includes product images, photos of your business, and staff headshots. Designed images: Think charts, graphs, and infographics.  It's a good idea to figure out any graphics your site may require before you start building. Some assets you might already have on hand, and others you may need to create. If your website will need photos (such as images of your business, a portrait of yourself, or maybe a quick snap of your dog), then gather them together now. You can also find more generic images on stock photo sites like Unsplash, Pixabay, Pexels, or Openverse. Just be sure that the image you want to use is copyright-free if you're getting it from another source. Should you need designed images (logos, charts, graphs, and so forth), basic design services like Canva, Stencil, or Snappa can help. They make image design easy, especially for featured images, graphs and charts, infographics, etc. Other options include Infogram, Piktochart, and Venngage. Choose which pages your website needs Here are some examples of basic pages that most websites need: Home Page: The page that visitors land on when they enter your domain into a browser. It can have all types of content, including a blog feed or links to other important pages on your site. Anyone who lands on the homepage should immediately get a good understanding of what your site is about. About Page: Visitors are usually keen to learn more about the company or people behind sites they like. Consequently, the About page is often one of the most frequented pages on a website, so make sure it's impactful and clearly communicates who you are. Contact page: This page is often the next step for visitors after the about page. Your contact page should clearly list all the ways visitors can get in touch or even come with a contact form. Product and services page: Naturally, if you offer any services or products to purchase on your site, you need pages where visitors can take advantage of that. Blog: Unless your homepage itself is a blog, you are going to need a separate page to show off your writing. The blog page usually lists articles in chronologically-descending order and also has extra information such as the most popular content and categories. When building a site on WordPress, your blog (like wordpress.com/blog) will be a Page but the individual articles that make up your blog are called Posts.  Legal pages: These days, pretty much all websites need at least a privacy policy. You might also need a Terms & Conditions page and meet other legal requirements. Consider this list to be a simple starting point. As before, the details depend on the type of website you want to make. Great ways to determine which pages you'll need are building a simple sitemap and planning your site structure. A simple spreadsheet or diagram is often enough for that. Create your website content When it comes to creating content, the two main questions are the "how" and "what." You can either write your page content in a separate document and copy it over to your site or create the content right inside WordPress. Learn how to create pages in WordPress To make a new page in WordPress, go to Pages > Add New Page in the dashboard. WordPress.com will automatically propose pre-defined layouts for different kinds of pages that you can choose from. However, it's also possible to start with a blank canvas by clicking the Blank page button. Either way, once you make your selection, you end up in the WordPress block editor. To start creating your page, enter a title at the top and add your content (like text and photos) below. Page content is created in the form of Blocks, which can be anything from paragraphs and headings to layout elements like columns and even forms and widgets. Paragraphs are the most simple; they appear as you write and insert line breaks. You can see every other available block when you click the big plus button in the upper left corner or in the editor itself. Click on any of the block names to add them to the page. Then format and configure them through the settings bar and options in the sidebar. You can also add more blocks by typing a slash forward ("/") and searching for the name of a block. When you publish (by clicking the Publish button in the top-right) or preview (by clicking the computer icon in the top-right) a page, the blocks you added appear as they would for readers of your website. Check out our documentation for more tips and tricks on building pages on your WordPress site. Outline your page content Before you start writing, determine what information you want to include on your pages. You can do this by drafting simple outlines right inside the WordPress editor. Each outline should have: A header or page title. Subheadings for each page (you can create these using the heading block). A description of the information each section should include. Keep it clear and simple. You'll have time to refine and polish your website copy later on. Add written material Unless you have a photography website or similar, your main content is likely going to be words. There are three areas to particularly pay attention to: Titles Body copy Calls to action Your title matters because it not only appears on your own website but also in search engines. It's one of the main elements people use to decide whether or not to click on a link or check out a page. It has to be both informative and alluring, which can be a difficult balance to strike if you haven't taken the time to plan out your content. As you might have guessed, body copy appears in the body of the page and contains the main information of each page. This can be a list of your services, your about page, or a blog post. Here are a few basic writing guidelines that aid in readability: Keep sentences under 25 words. Use no more than three sentences per paragraph. Remember your unique voice. Write enough copy to cover the needs of each page. Finally, some pages on your website will have a call to action, which gives your readers an obvious next step. A product page tries to sell, a blog post might encourage readers to comment or join an email list, and a contact page invites visitors to write you a message. Clearly tell visitors what you would like them to do. You can do it in the form of a heading, button, or simple text. Your pages can also have more than one CTA, the important thing is that they are present and clear. We have even more tips if you really want to make sure that your calls to action are as effective as possible. If you're struggling to come up with your written content, you can get assistance from the Jetpack AI Assistant on WordPress.com sites. It can craft content for you, propose headlines, check spelling and grammar, adjust the tone, translate content, and more. Check it out! (See, that was a call to action.) Include images and other visuals Visual elements help clarify or emphasize points you are making in your writing. They also break up the monotony of large text blocks and generally make online content more pleasant to consume. If you've been following along, you should already have your visuals ready. The most common way to add them to content in WordPress is the WordPress image block. However, you have other options depending on the look you're after, such as gallery, slideshow, or cover. You can also include images from the aforementioned Pexels and Openverse right inside the WordPress.com editor. While you create your website pages, click on the block inserter again and then go to the Media tab. Search images by keyword and click them to add them to the editor, complete with the correct attribution. Consider using videos Videos are undeniably one of the most popular forms of online content. With WordPress, you can easily embed in your website content. For example, when you copy and paste a YouTube video URL into the editor, WordPress automatically embeds the video where you put the link using the YouTube block. Automatic embeds like this exist for many other services, including for social media posts. The WordPress editor also has a number of blocks that allow the use of video, such as a moving background in certain blocks. Finally, you have the option to post animated GIFs (or short videos in image form) as either uploaded images or embedded from somewhere else. Set up your homepage To make one of your newly created pages your homepage, go to Settings > Reading in the WordPress.com admin dashboard. At the top, you'll see two drop-down menus that allow you to define which page serves as your homepage and which one displays your blog posts. Select your desired (published) page under Your homepage displays and save the settings. That's it, your homepage is now live! Add your pages to a menu Besides your homepage, you want visitors to be able to access the rest of your most important pages. The most common way to do so is with a navigation menu. You can create and modify one under Appearance > Editor in the Site Editor. The screen you land on looks similar to the block editor used for pages; however, instead of a single page, you can make changes to the entire site layout. The block that is responsible for navigation menus is itself called Navigation, and you usually already find it in the top section of your theme. Use the Document Overview (it's a black button with three horizontal lines in the top toolbar) to find it. Here, you can easily add or subtract menu items, change their order, or modify the entire look of the navigation across all of the pages on your site. All of that happens with the help of the settings bar and menu in the sidebar. Customize your header and footer While here, you might as well make changes to your header and footer (if necessary). They are the top and bottom elements of your website, respectively. You've probably already encountered the header element while working on your navigation menu. Besides the menu, it usually contains things like the logo or a search field. Its main functionality is branding and helping people get around your site. The footer is meant to invite people to stick around longer and explore more options when they reach the end of a page. For that, it commonly includes elements like the copyright notice, extra menus, or your business address. Your WordPress theme likely already has a header and footer. However, you can try out different options by simply clicking on either element. When you do, additional design options show up in the sidebar. Click on any of them to insert the block into the editor. You can also customize them like any other page element. Add layout elements like columns and rows, fill them with menus, social icons, or text. You can also change background and font colors, sizes, and more in the sidebar menu. Check out our post on how to customize your header for more ideas. Add functionality with plugins WordPress plugins are programs that you can install on your website to add specific features and functionality. They are part of what makes WordPress so customizable; instead of filling the platform with loads of functionality not everyone needs, you can add site features according to your individual requirements. You can think of them like apps on your phone. Not everyone needs the same banking app that you do, but you can download it to your phone to add that necessary functionality for you. Plugins can add small tweaks, like the ability to change usernames, or big features, like online store capabilities or entire page builders. Additionally, there are literally tens of thousands of plugins available. Created by individual developers as well as companies, you can find many of them in the plugin repositories on WordPress.com and WordPress.org, but also third-party stores and  on websites of individual developers. Like themes, there are free and paid plugins. On WordPress.com, you need a site on a Business plan or higher to be able to install plugins. However, all websites on WordPress.com come with two important plugins by default: Jetpack: Jetpack has features for many important parts of website management like speed, security, and growth. Akismet: Our anti-spam plugin. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to sort the spam comments your site receives from the real deal. Learn more about what WordPress plugins are and how they work. How to install and activate plugins Go to the Plugins menu. Use the search bar to look for what you need by name or keyword, or go through the categories. When you see something you are interested in, click on it to learn more and then on Install and activate (or Purchase and activate if it's a paid plugin) to add it to your site. The plugin will automatically download and become active on your site so you can start using it. You can manage all the plugins on your site as well as deactivate and delete them under Plugins > Installed Plugins. Popular plugin options If you don't know which plugins you should install while you create your website, here are a few popular examples: Yoast: The most popular WordPress SEO plugin. It allows you to add important information for search engines, such as SEO titles and descriptions. It also has an analysis module where it tells you what you need to do to optimize your pages and much more. Crowdsignal Forms: This is a plugin that comes pre-installed on WordPress.com sites to help you create contact forms where visitors can get in touch with you. Alternatively, consider using the Form block. ShortPixel Adaptive Images: Images can be an obstacle to website speed because of their size and longer download time. This plugin helps by converting your visuals to file types with a smaller footprint, compressing them, adding lazy loading, and much more. MonsterInsights: Easily connect Google Analytics to your website (more on that below) and display website data in your WordPress dashboard. Alternatively, you can enable Google Analytics tracking on WordPress.com without installing a plugin on eligible plans. For more input and ideas, read our article on must-have plugin recommendations. Optimize your site for search engines In order to attract visitors from search engines, you need to make sure your site is configured in a way that search providers will be able to understand its topic correctly. With your site running on WordPress, it is automatically search engine-friendly. The CMS is configured in a way by default that makes you content readable and well-structured. Yet, there are still a few things that you can and should do to give your site the last bit of SEO polish. Write title tags for each page It's possible to customize your page titles just for search engines so they are short enough to not be cut off in search results but descriptive enough to entice new visitors to your site. On WordPress.com, you have the ability to do so via the Jetpack plugin. Go to Jetpack > Settings > Traffic and find the Search engine optimization panel. Here, you can define default title structures for different types of content as well as preview and customize your front page's appearance in search results and social media. You can also enable an option to do the same for individual posts and pages. SEO plugins, like the aforementioned Yoast SEO, also add this and other abilities to your website. For example, both Jetpack and Yoast will automatically create a sitemap for you. Add meta descriptions A meta description is another piece of information that appears in search results. It's the text that you see below the links and URL. You can configure this with the aforementioned tools, and in general, meta descriptions should be no longer than 160 characters. If no meta description is set, Google will either use the beginning of the post/page or a random passage that it deems relevant. In fact, it will often do the latter, even if you have included a meta description. However, writing a custom description allows you to control its content for those cases when it does show up.  Use a search-friendly URL structure The URL is another element that search engines look at when figuring out the topic and ranking of your website. You can configure different link structures for your site in WordPress under Settings > Permalinks. The most important part is that you show the post name at the end of the URL (also known as the slug). That way, you can include your topic and keywords there. Luckily, WordPress is automatically configured to do so. You also have the option to display categories in the URL structure. This makes sense if you're creating a website with an online shop, where grouping products is imperative. However, it can also be a good idea for content-based sites. It helps further clarify broad topics. Finally, you have the possibility to include a date in the URL so that people can see when a particular post was first published. This makes the most sense for websites where the date is important to the article context, like news websites. It's important to note that unless you have a completely new site, you shouldn't change your URL structure randomly! It can make you lose search traffic by breaking the links already indexed by Google. This kind of thing needs careful consideration and planning to not ruin your hard work. Include relevant keywords Keywords are terms your target audience might use when searching for content like yours. For example, a reader may look up "gluten free pasta salad" to find a new recipe. If you want your pasta salad recipe to rank for that search term, you'll need to make sure that term (otherwise known as a keyword) appears within your content.  It's important to put keywords in the title, URL, and meta description. Besides that, you should also include them in your written text, the file names of your images, and their alt text. You can configure the last part in the editor sidebar when you click on any image block. The information here is used by search spiders and screen readers of people who are visually impaired to figure out the content of an image without being able to see it. Therefore, it is very important for accessibility, not just SEO. It should be a description of what the image is about. If you are unsure about your use of keywords, many SEO plugins let you enter the keyword you are targeting into the analysis module and give you a checklist if you have used it enough and in the right places.  Generally, you don't want to overdo keyword usage in your posts or pages, as that can be rather unpleasant to read as a site visitor. Instead, be mindful of the term you're trying to rank for and use it and variations of it throughout your content in a natural way. Set up analytics Web analytics allow you to track website metrics so that you know if you are achieving your goals. They also help you figure out what's working on your site, if there are technical problems, and which content is popular. Three common tools for this are Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Jetpack Stats. Google Search Console Search Console is what Google calls its webmaster tools. It's free to use, and you can connect your site to it to find out how your content is performing in search results. It tells you what search queries your content is ranking for, the number of impressions, clicks, and your click-through rate. This information helps you determine your best-performing pages, find related keywords, and see the countries your content is most popular in. You can also find out what queries individual pages rank for and take action if the performance starts to decrease. Besides that, Search Console tells you if there are technical problems on your website, and you can find out your indexing status, page experience, Core Web Vitals, and more. This helps you make sure your search performance is not hurt by a technical glitch. You can also submit a sitemap to help Google discover your content. Google Analytics Google Analytics is another free Google tool that you can connect to your site. Instead of ranking in search, it reports on traffic from all sources and helps you better understand how visitors interact with your site once they're there. The tool shows how many people are on your site, where they come from (both the medium and locality), what content they look at, how they move through your site, where they drop off, how long they stick around, and a lot more. It also lets you track conversions for custom events and shopping activity. This tool helps website owners understand what pages and content are most popular and how you can improve the experience on your site in order to move visitors towards desired calls to action and pages. Jetpack Stats Jetpack Stats is present by default on any website you create on WordPress.com, and you find it in the Stats menu. The analytics tells you the number of visitors, page views, likes, and comments. You can filter it by different timeframes, see your most popular posts and pages, who refers visitors to you, where they come from in the world, search terms, most clicked links, and a lot more. Depending on your WordPress.com plan, you may also see the Insights tab that gives you a yearly overview of how much you posted, your visitors per day, the most popular posts, and more. Finally, there is also information about your WordPress.com subscribers. Test, publish, and promote your website Once you have finished all of the above, the final step is to publish your site. But there's one that comes before it: testing. Go through every part of your website and make sure it's the way you want it to be. Test all functionality, proofread content, check your pages on different devices, and run them through a speed tool like the WordPress.com Speed Test. Once satisfied, publishing your site usually means switching it from private to public in Settings > General. Make sure to disable the setting that discourages search engines from indexing your site. After that, it's publicly available and ready to welcome visitors. However, you have to take an active role in bringing them to your site. Here's how: SEO: We have already covered how to optimize content to rank well in search. To let search engines know that your site exists, make sure to submit your sitemap to webmaster tools like Google Search Console. That way, they can index your pages and show them in search results. Social: Use social media to promote your website and potential blog posts. Write updates, use appropriate hashtags, and interact with others in your industry. Email: Starting an email newsletter is an effective way to build a loyal following. You can email them about new content and other news. Jetpack, which comes with every WordPress.com website, has a number of useful features for this. For example, under Tools > Marketing you can connect to your social accounts and have the plugin automatically post new site content to them. Likewise, under Settings > Newsletter (or Jetpack > Settings > Newsletter on eligible plans), you can add email newsletter functionality to your site and configure where sign-up boxes appear. Plus, you can use the Subscribe block to add more options manually. Once set up, you have the ability to automatically send new posts to anyone who signs up to your newsletter. Maintain your website Running a website means playing the long game, and it takes consistent effort to make it successful. Two of the most important matters to keep in mind are backups and content updates. Without a backup solution in place for your website, you could lose everything you worked so hard to create. In addition, if you let your content go stale, it can lead to loss of search rankings and a bad user experience. If your site is hosted at WordPress.com, the first part is taken care of for you. All sites on Business plans and above are automatically backed up at least once a day and give you the ability to restore them to any previous point in time. That's the beautiful part about managed hosting; it leaves you time and space for non-admin work. Time that you should invest in keeping your content updated. At least once a month, make sure to look over your most important pages to see if the information is still current, especially crucial information like your business hours or address. Besides that, if you are running a blog, you should also regularly update your articles. Google Search Console and other SEO tools can tell you if your rankings start worsening. If you see rankings start to go down, that's definitely a cue that your content might need an update. Frequently Asked Quetions Finally, let's go over some FAQs about creating a website. Do I need to learn how to code? No, absolutely not. WordPress is set up as a beginner-friendly, no-code solution. Thanks to its powerful block editor, you can make almost any change you want through its visual interface. If you do know how to code, you do have the ability to use it on your site. However, it is never a requirement. How long should it take to build my website? There is no cut-and-dry answer to this. It will depend on the type of website you'd like to build, your level of expertise, how much time you are able to commit to it, and more. Generally speaking, you can start a basic website with WordPress.com in a weekend. As you have seen above, it's enough to simply slap on a design, create pages and content, and put it out there. If you need something more elaborate, it will, of course, take longer. How much should I pay for a website? Just like time invested, website costs are variable and depend on your needs. Two of the most basic costs are your domain and your hosting plan. These are easy to figure out. However, there are other costs involved with building and running a website, such as from buying premium themes, plugins, or tools. Yet, as mentioned, a lot of that is optional, and you can forgo some of the bells and whistles to make the process more affordable. It's important to note that with a WordPress.com plan, you get a lot of value for your money. They include many features you often would have to pay a separate service or plugin for, especially when it comes to website speed and security. Why is WordPress.com the best choice for my hosting/website builder? Here's what you benefit from by choosing WordPress.com as the home for your website: Customer support: Access to 24/7 expert support, ensuring you get help whenever you need it. Security: Automatic updates, daily backups, and built-in security measures protect your site from malware and hacking attempts. Built-in Jetpack features: Essential tools like site stats, social sharing, downtime monitoring, and basic SEO are built-in, improving your site's performance and reach. Speed: WordPress.com's global Content Delivery Network (CDN) and optimized infrastructure ensure fast load times for visitors worldwide. No limits on traffic: We handle any amount of traffic without you needing to worry about bandwidth limits, extra costs, or a decrease in site performance. Open source-driven: Because WordPress.com is hosting made for the open source WordPress software, you have the flexibility and freedom to customize your site (unlike other proprietary solutions). Themes and plugins (on the Business plan and above): Unlock thousands of premium themes and plugins for advanced customization and added functionality to match your unique needs. Create your website with WordPress today Lack of development and technical skills shouldn't keep you from setting up your own website. Even as a beginner, you can follow the steps above to create your presence on the internet. While it might be a bit outside of your comfort zone, it's absolutely doable. All it takes is a willingness to try, learn, and persevere. With that, you too can create a website for yourself. Know what you want to achieve, then set out to do it one step at a time. We'd be honored to be along for the ride. Sign up to WordPress.com today and take advantage of the convenience of WordPress-optimized managed hosting, powerful tools, and expert support. Whether you're starting a personal blog, launching a business site, or opening an online store, everything you need is within reach. Let's build your dream site Comment Like You can also reply to this email to leave a comment.

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