Probably the most thrilling second of your new WordPress challenge is true at first. You’ve gotten an concept that sooner or later, you hope will quickly be shared with the world. Nevertheless it may also be overwhelming.
WordPress has numerous plugins that do just about every little thing below the solar. In actual fact, the WordPress ecosystem has doubled when it comes to plugin submissions in 2025.
So, which of them do you have to use?
On this publish, I’ll discuss by way of how I plan to construct a WordPress web site.
Why You Ought to Plan A WordPress Website
To plan a WordPress web site actually is a must-do course of that reduces the danger of the challenge spiralling in time and price.
Spending an hour or two following a easy guidelines, just like the one I’ve detailed under, places you and the shopper on the identical web page when constructing the web site.
Again and again, I’ve seen initiatives that’ve undefined components that have to be factored in, which eliminates potential scope creep.
It’ll additionally provide you with an inventory of duties, so in addition to avoiding scope creep, you possibly can simply switch the weather of your plan into your challenge administration device as duties and milestones. That can pace up improvement time.
Outline Your WordPress Web site Objectives
The very first thing you must do is outline the objectives of the web site. The best method to start this course of is to ask your self the next two questions:
- The place are your guests almost certainly to return from?
- What do you want them to do while you’re on the web site?
Assuming that the location is a brochure web site, then greater than doubtless, you’d need your guests to return from search engines like google, and also you need them to contact you.
That method, you’ll want a plugin like Yoast search engine optimization or Gravity Types.
You could have different objectives, like rising a publication or an ecommerce retailer. Or it’s possible you’ll get site visitors from a social media platform that your weblog must combine with.
Every of those must be outlined, as this can assist outline your tech stack.
Objectives Outlined? Nice. Now, Plan The Format
When you’ve outlined your objectives, you’ll want to take into consideration the format and what customized work you have to to do.
When constructing your web site, I want to think about templates, reasonably than pages.
You don’t want a template for each weblog publish, for instance. In case you are constructing a web site for a solicitor, for instance, all companies it affords (e.g., Conveyancing/Wills & Probate) may run off an identical template, slicing construct time.
This isn’t essentially true when you’re utilizing a web page builder, as generally web page builders deal with every particular person web page individually.
You would additionally have a look at customized publish sorts and taxonomies for sure pages.
For instance, you probably have a “Meet the Workforce” web page, then each particular person might be their very own publish. This makes upkeep quite a bit simpler, because it permits a brand new staff member to be simply built-in with out an excessive amount of hassle.
Testimonials work effectively as a customized publish kind as you possibly can create a “financial institution” of them to make use of all through the location.
When you’ve obtained the construction of the location and what you’re utilizing to construct it, that needs to be the templates.
Typically, for a brochure web site with a weblog and a “Meet the Workforce” part, you’ll have the next templates:
- Dwelling Web page Template.
- About Web page Template.
- Contact Us Web page Template.
- Information Publish Template (Single).
- Information Publish Template (Archive).
- Workforce Member Template (Single).
- Workforce Member Template (Archive).
- Catch All Template.
The “Catch All” template I discover helpful because it’s used for pages which might be current however don’t want a lot design, one thing like a Phrases & Circumstances or your Privateness Coverage pages.
I have a tendency to start out with these first, as you possibly can construct a header/footer simply sufficient right here.
Lastly, it’s possible you’ll need to take into account whether or not you’ve got a number of languages or you probably have completely different regional places of work. A big web site could also be higher suited to a multisite, reasonably than a person WordPress set up.
As soon as performed, you must have a WordPress theme and a WordPress plugin able to construct.
My basic thought is that any WordPress performance you want to retain when redesigning needs to be in a plugin, reasonably than a theme.
Issues like definitions of customized publish sorts or search engine optimization adjustments you make programmatically are perfect for a customized plugin.
Relying on the complexity of the challenge, it may imply that you simply break up performance into quite a lot of plugins.
For instance, I’ve an ecommerce web site the place their customized invoicing is in a single plugin, and the voucher administration is in one other plugin. There may be additionally the “helper” plugin that has minor efficiency enhancements and a customized publish kind.
Don’t Neglect The Ancillaries!
After all, a well-built WordPress theme, with a variety of customized and supporting plugins, is just the start. Your web site wants content material.
In case you are a advertising and marketing company, it’s possible you’ll be answerable for the creation of the content material, however what about imagery? It’s a good suggestion to outline within the WordPress web site planning issues like who’s answerable for the content material.
In case you are utilizing the content material of the previous web site, it’s a good suggestion to outline who handles the migration, or on the very least remember if it’s transferable – not all content material programs are!
Different issues to outline in your WordPress web site plan are coaching, who could have entry to the location, and what degree. Ideally, you need as few directors as doable.
In case you are pushing a brand new design to an present web site, there’s an method of creating everyone however your self authors or editors, and see who complains about missing entry. That works remarkably effectively!
The First Step Comes With Expertise
In actuality, the extra you create plans and pitches for WordPress web sites, the extra refined your toolset and your planning course of turn out to be.
I already know the instruments I’ll be utilizing for the subsequent 10, perhaps 20 websites, with usually little or no variance amongst them. What works for a solicitor’s web site will most likely work for a cleansing agency.
I’ve a core group of about 5 to 10 plugins and two to a few themes that I take advantage of, after which I add additional plugins as wanted.
These plugins are private to me, however over time, you’ll construct your individual listing of plugins. Doing so will make WordPress web site planning much more environment friendly.
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