Introduction to Building a WordPress Website

Building a new WordPress project can be both exciting and overwhelming. With countless plugins available, it’s essential to have a clear plan in place to ensure the project stays on track. In this article, we’ll explore the steps to plan a WordPress website, define goals, and choose the right plugins.

Why Planning is Crucial

Planning a WordPress site reduces the risk of the project spiraling out of control in terms of time and cost. Spending a few hours creating a simple checklist can help you and your client stay on the same page. This process eliminates potential scope creep and provides a list of tasks that can be easily transferred into a project management tool, speeding up development time.

Defining Your Website Goals

To start planning your WordPress website, you need to define its goals. Ask yourself two key questions:

1. Where will your visitors come from?
2. What do you want them to do when they’re on your website?
   For a brochure site, you likely want visitors to come from search engines and contact you. This means you’ll need plugins like Yoast SEO or Gravity Forms. You may also have other goals, such as growing a newsletter or creating an ecommerce store, which will help define your tech stack.

Planning the Layout

Once you’ve defined your goals, think about the layout and any custom work you’ll need to do. Consider templates rather than individual pages. For example, if you’re building a website for a solicitor, you can use a similar template for different services, cutting down on build time. You may also want to use custom post types and taxonomies for certain pages, such as a "Meet the Team" page or testimonials.

Essential Templates

For a typical brochure site with a blog and a "Meet the Team" section, you’ll need the following templates:

1. Home Page Template
2. About Page Template
3. Contact Us Page Template
4. News Post Template (Single)
5. News Post Template (Archive)
6. Team Member Template (Single)
7. Team Member Template (Archive)
8. Catch All Template
   The "Catch All" template is useful for pages that don’t require much design, such as Terms & Conditions or Privacy Policy pages.

Choosing the Right Plugins

When it comes to plugins, it’s essential to keep functionality separate from your theme. Any custom functionality you want to retain when redesigning should be in a plugin, rather than a theme. This might mean splitting functionality into multiple plugins. For example, you could have one plugin for custom invoicing, another for voucher management, and a "helper" plugin for minor performance improvements and custom post types.

Don’t Forget the Ancillaries

A well-built WordPress theme and plugins are just the beginning. Your website needs content, and you need to define who is responsible for creating it. You should also consider imagery, content migration, training, and access levels. Ideally, you want as few administrators as possible, so it’s a good idea to make everyone authors or editors and see who complains about lacking access.

Refining Your Process

The more you create plans and pitches for WordPress websites, the more refined your toolset and planning process become. You’ll develop a core group of plugins and themes that you use regularly, with minimal variance between projects. This will make WordPress site planning far more efficient.

Conclusion

Planning a WordPress website is a crucial step in ensuring the project’s success. By defining your goals, planning the layout, choosing the right plugins, and considering the ancillaries, you can create a website that meets your needs and stays on track. Remember to keep your functionality separate from your theme, and don’t be afraid to refine your process as you gain more experience. With the right plan in place, you can build a successful WordPress website that achieves your goals.