| Optimize it |
| Title and tagline | Your website title and tagline are optional, but they help your customers (and search engines) discover your website. Both live in WordPress under Settings / General. If your theme does not automatically display the tagline, go through Appearance / Customize and check the “Display Site Title and Tagline” box. |
| Contact info and email | Setting up a contact form for email is one way to make sure customers can get in touch with you without directly listing your email address and opening yourself up to spam or phishing attacks. Choose a free plugin (WPForms Lite, Ninja Forms) if you just need basic features, or look at a paid plugin like WPForms pro or Formidable Forms for more options and features. |
| Analytics | This helps you keep track of how your website is doing by the numbers. Things like where your audience is coming from, what they read and what they buy, and when they leave. If you want to stay within Wordpress for analytics, your dashboard homepage has a button for setting up MonsterInsights. Whichever analytics plugin you choose, install it before you launch so you can see your progress. |
| SEO | Search engines can be an excellent traffic source, so you want to make sure your site is optimized for them. The Yoast SEO plugin is the most popular for quickly maximizing your site’s search engine optimization. It will ensure you’re following SEO best practices, like having good keyword density and using meta descriptions. Another great alternative is our very own SEO Tools. This all-in-one SEO toolset offers tips and insights that help you draw in more traffic without having to know a lot about SEO. |
| Email | A professional email helps build customer trust and reinforces your brand. If you want an email that matches your domain (yourname@yourwebsite.com), check out Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. |
| Footer | A website footer sits at the bottom of each of your pages. The most common things in the footer are copyright information, links to your privacy policy (information you’re collecting from email sign-ups, etc.), terms of use, and contact information. You can also add navigation links to your most relevant content. Keep it minimal, or surprise people with a short, custom message about your brand. Some premium themes let you expand the footer to insert a short bio or an opt-in to your email list. |
| Spam blocker | Not only does a spam blocker save you from annoying (albeit sometimes funny) comments and emails, but it also keeps your website clean in terms of SEO. If your website is indexed and found to have spam, you can be dropped in the search rankings. If the amount of spam is severe, your site can even be blacklisted on search engines. Two popular free spam blockers are Akismet and Stop Spammers. It’s a good idea to research different plugins to figure out which works best with your website (and your other plugins). |
| Backup | The easiest way to make sure you’re backing up your website is by automating it through a plugin. Jetpack is now included with Bluehost plans and offers daily backups and basic site security.. |
| Security | You want to think about security not just because of what can happen to your website and data but what can happen to your customers’ data (especially if you have an eCommerce site). An SSL certificate protects data as it moves through your website, and it lets your customers know your site has an added level of security. On top of that, malware scanners like SiteLock proactively scan your site for malware and remove threats. |
| Logo | If you want to build your brand, a logo is a great way to increase awareness and create a visual connection with your customers. You can even use your logo as a favicon (that’s the small image that shows up browser tabs). You can create and design your own using free logo makers, and you can generate one with AI-powered tools or pay to have a logo designed for you. |