WordPress is one of the most popular and simplest ways to start your business website or blog. WordPress powers 43.3% of websites; therefore, one in every four websites you visit may be powered by WordPress. Many websites, including commercial websites, e-commerce websites, blogs, straightforward brochure websites, and even membership sites, can be made with WordPress. So, it’s also a flexible website platform. 

In the competitive digital landscape, your business website is your most valuable digital asset – your 24/7 salesperson, brand ambassador, and often the first impression potential customers have of your business. WordPress powers over 43% of all websites globally, making it the dominant platform for businesses of all sizes across the UK, Ireland, and worldwide.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about building and developing a professional WordPress business website that looks impressive and drives real business growth. From understanding WordPress variations to choosing the right hosting, selecting themes and plugins, to maintaining and growing your digital presence, we’ve covered it all with a focus on practical, actionable insights.

Variations of WordPress

There are two variations of WordPress.

WordPress.org

This is the free, open-source version of WordPress that you install on your web hosting. It offers:

• Complete control over your website
• Access to the full WordPress plugin and theme ecosystem
• Ownership of your data and content
• Ability to customise any aspect of your site
• No restrictions on monetisation

This option is recommended for most UK businesses as it provides maximum flexibility and scalability.

WordPress.com

This is a commercial service built on WordPress.org software:

• Hosting is included in the subscription
• Limited customisation options on lower-tier plans
• Restrictions on plugin installation (premium plans only)
• Less technical management is required
• Potentially higher long-term costs

While WordPress.com is easier to set up, serious business users typically need the flexibility of self-hosted WordPress.org.

“WordPress is particularly powerful for businesses because it combines enterprise-level capabilities with user-friendly management. This enables companies to maintain control of their digital presence while still leveraging sophisticated functionality.” – Ciaran Connolly, Director of ProfileTree

Hosting Your Business Website

If you recall from the Wix and Shopify websites, you must use their respective hosting platforms. As opposed to WordPress, you must also host your WordPress solution when using WordPress.org.

This might sound like a hassle, but many hosting companies are optimised for WordPress websites and are even built expressly to host WordPress websites and other websites. Even though it may seem like more work, locating a hosting company that will meet your and WordPress’s needs is straightforward.

When using self-hosted WordPress, you must set up your server before installing it. Once WordPress is deployed on that host, it will resemble this.

Main Dashboard

Provides you with a general overview of your WordPress website, including its health, any activity, the state of your blog, and other information.

Themes

The basic building blocks of WordPress are themes and plug-ins. Themes are collections of files, including style sheets, JavaScript, code, graphics, and other items. They will essentially decide how your business website will look or be designed.

They regulate how your theme looks, including the colours, fonts, button colours, and hyperlink colours described in your theme files and then used on your business website. Each WordPress website has a single theme that is made up of WordPress.

There is only room for one topic. As a result, you don’t need to install many themes; pick one you like or submit your custom theme. So that’s one advantage of WordPress—you have more freedom to choose whether to utilise one of the free or premium themes included in the WordPress directory.

Most of these themes are free to use; however, some are charged. They are all suited for mobile and search engine optimisation, or you may entirely customise your theme and publish it yourself.

You can change themes, and we recommend experimenting with some themes at first. Look at how they appear on the website and mobile devices, and how simple it is to alter specific elements. 

Subject

If you know your business website’s topic, whether that’s an e-commerce blog, food, or drink, different websites will have varied layouts.

Thus, if you select e-commerce, for instance, you will discover themes geared for e-commerce websites along with functionality.

Plug-ins 

So, in addition to themes, WordPress also has a large selection of plug-ins. You will add plug-ins to your business website to make it more functional.

You can add code to your business website to add functionality or enhance your existing website. WordPress provides a blog area, a post section, and CMS management at its foundation, but that is the minimum of features. The plug-ins are helpful if you wish to increase the functionality.

So, the WooCommerce plug-in is a standard one many people would utilise.

Plug-ins can also be used to create your business website from scratch. There are, therefore, really well-liked plug-ins available that are utilised to develop every single component of your business website. They will create a unique header, a home page, a footer, single product pages, templates, and other things of that nature. That’s an excellent choice, then. You should have complete control over your business website if you want a truly personalised one.

You don’t want to employ a straightforward template but lack the necessary coding expertise. Plug-ins, such as the Elementor plug-in, are a website builder with drag-and-drop capabilities akin to those of Wix but slightly better optimised.

“The right combination of WordPress plugins can transform a basic website into a powerful business tool. The key is selecting plugins that align with your specific business goals rather than adding features for the sake of it.” – Ciaran Connolly, Director of ProfileTree.

WooCommerce Plug-in

Using WooCommerce, an e-commerce plug-in, you can effectively turn your WordPress website into an e-commerce one. You can create products, arrange shipping, and direct customer sales from your website.

That’s just one illustration of how a plug-in can increase the functionality of a website. 

Learn Dash Plug-in

This enables you to offer courses and allows users to finish classes on your business website, another extremely popular plug-in. As a result, your entire website will transform into a learning platform where users may purchase courses, finish them online, and keep track of their progress, among other things. 

SEO Plug-ins 

RankMath is among the additional plug-ins. Rankmath, an SEO plug-in, aims to optimise each page and post on your website for search engine optimisation. In other words, the search engine will optimise all pages and posts.

To do that, you must ensure that every page on your business website has the appropriate amount and kind of information and relevant keywords. Your page should have a title, meta description, and more. 

The plug-in itself is incredibly user-friendly and easy to use. You should go to plug-ins and click Add New when installing and activating plug-ins. If it’s a free plug-in, you can locate it in the WordPress directory. You can search for plug-ins by searching for them or going into Popular Plug-ins, Recommended Plug-ins, or both. 

Plug-ins Disadvantages

Even though plug-ins are excellent for enhancing functionality, they are the most common route for hackers to access your business website. Therefore, having many plug-ins will improve the chance that hackers can access and compromise your site. Consequently, you must ensure that your plug-ins are those you require and that no unnecessary plug-ins exist.

Remove any unnecessary plug-ins as soon as you can. You should choose a plug-in that has been used on several of your websites and a variety of other websites, has received positive reviews, and has received as many updates as possible, whether recently or regularly, because it tends to be safer.

Additionally, you want to ensure that plug-ins are as current as possible. Consequently, plug-ins must be updated roughly once weekly after you install them. When a new version is released, you should update as much as you can because, as mentioned earlier, obsolete plug-ins are another opportunity for hackers to obtain access because they are no longer optimised to defend against the most recent security threats. 

Plug-ins are another popular method of improving a website’s performance, but they also carry the risk of doing so. Consequently, plug-ins grow; they can bloat your business website and use more memory. Storage is required to operate several plug-ins, particularly the numerous page builder plug-ins.

A website can slow down if it doesn’t have the appropriate amount of resources given to it, which isn’t ideal for user experience or SEO. To ensure that your business website operates as smoothly as possible, you should ensure that the right resources are assigned.

Blog Dashboard

You can add new blogs, blog categories, tags, featured photos, etc. The blog’s back end will also expand to accommodate additional blog features, such as adding an SEO plug-in like Rank Math. Wix and Shopify function quite similarly.

Write the blog’s name in the title field, and then type the actual blog material—whatever that may be—in this content box. From there, you may format the content using several formatting options. You can include media and other stuff. 

Media Library

This is where all the stuff you upload to your business website, like images, videos, documents, and PDF files, will be added to the media library. Images can be added directly to a website or blog and automatically added to the media library.

Appearance 

It is essentially a list of all the users who have access to your business website, whether administrators, subscribers, store managers, or other types of users.

Although different jobs will have varying access levels, the admin will effectively have access to everything. WordPress doesn’t limit the number of users who may access your site, but you should ensure that only a few users have admin access or even just one or two to help you monitor things.

But in essence, you can add new users by entering their email and password, after which they will be allowed to access your business website’s back end or any other part. 

Cost

The WordPress program itself is free. Depending on the plug-ins you use, an additional fee may range from as little as $10 or £10 to a considerable amount. It depends on other charges and how complicated the plug-in you’re utilising is.

WordPress.org is self-hosted, so you are responsible for arranging this hosting option. They come with hosting packages that you must use, as seen with Shopify and Wix. Anywhere WordPress gives you the freedom to host your business website anywhere you like.

Hosting Companies

Many hosting companies can support WordPress websites. An important one is Bluehost.

Bluehost

Bluehost is one of the pioneering hosting companies, and it has grown to be a household name in the WordPress hosting industry. In actuality, they are a hosting company that WordPress officially recommends. So you know they are professionals at optimising your business website if you choose to use them for your WordPress hosting.

They offer experienced help around the clock for all of their programs anytime you need it. They also provide live chat, email, and phone support. They provide some of the cheaper costs compared to the majority of hosting providers out there.

However, their domain renewal fees are higher if you want to purchase your name through them. They offer a few plans, each with various features and divided between a twelve-month and a 36-month billing cycle.

But once your payment cycle is over, just as with all other billing cycles, you can choose whether to stick with that particular plan, upgrade to a higher plan, or drop to a lower one. The main distinction between these is that you get varying amounts of storage.

Ten GB of storage is enough if you are starting, perhaps in the early stages. The number of websites you receive with the hosting package is the only variation. Therefore, while you can only host one website with the basic hosting plan, you can host unlimited websites with the other plans. Thus, this might be the best action if you plan to have multiple websites.

Bluehost’s benefits and cons include the fact that most users can afford its pricing plans, especially if they’re starting. There are no additional costs when opening an account; you also get a free domain. 

Your abilities will determine how much or how in-depth support you require. Being able to speak with a live person might be what you need if you’re just getting started with WordPress. When using Bluehost, they have their knowledge base with articles, step-by-step instructions, and video tutorials. So it’s incredibly friendly to know that technical support staff are only a click away when you need their assistance quickly.

WP Engine 

Another excellent hosting plan or host that can assist you. They provide hosting that is incredibly hassle-free and extremely quick, handling pretty much any WordPress website.

You can relax knowing that WP Engine is configured to host your business website as quickly as possible, whether you have an e-commerce website, an introductory brochure or a portfolio website. They provide daily backups, one-click restore points, and several security updates.

Those features are already required to run your WordPress site. Most essential, though, is that because they concentrate solely on WordPress websites, they have many cutting-edge security capabilities that most other hosting companies don’t provide. You know that each of their servers, plans, features, and security technologies has been customised for WordPress.

Like Bluehost, they also provide support, which is composed of a team of skilled WordPress engineers who can assist you with any WordPress-related issues you may be experiencing. Each of their hosting solutions has five levels.

These services offer limitless data transfer but vary regarding required bandwidth, disk space, and traffic volume. Each WordPress Engine package has restrictions on how many visitors your hosting account can receive. Therefore, you can be charged overage pricing for additional visits if your account exceeds certain limits. Their sophisticated security features are one of the primary advantages.

WP Engine offers a specialised support staff. All customers have access to live chat help around the clock, except for the starting plan, which includes phone support. If a problem can’t be fixed immediately, an internal support ticket will be created for you.

Growth and Maintenance

Launching your WordPress business website is just the beginning. Ongoing maintenance and strategic growth are essential for long-term success.

Regular WordPress Maintenance

Protect your investment with these crucial maintenance tasks:

• Core Updates: Apply WordPress updates promptly
• Plugin and Theme Updates: Keep all components current
• Security Monitoring: Regular scans and vulnerability checks
• Performance Monitoring: Track load times and address issues
• Backup Verification: Ensure backups are working correctly

Many UK businesses partner with agencies like ProfileTree for WordPress maintenance services, ensuring their websites remain secure, fast, and up-to-date without diverting internal resources.

Content Marketing Strategy

WordPress excels as a content marketing platform:

• Blog Management: Regular publication of industry insights
• Content Calendar: Strategic planning of topics and keywords
• Multimedia Integration: Video, podcasts, and interactive content
• Social Media Integration: Automated sharing and engagement tools
• Newsletter Connection: Building your email list through content

Scaling Your WordPress Website

As your business grows, your website can evolve:

• Infrastructure Scaling: Upgrading hosting as traffic increases
• Functionality Expansion: Adding features to meet new business needs
• User Experience Refinement: Ongoing optimisation based on analytics
• Conversion Rate Optimisation: Testing and improving key conversion points
• International Expansion: Multi-language and multi-currency capabilities

WordPress Website Analytics and Reporting

Make data-driven decisions with proper analytics:

• Traffic Analysis: Understanding visitor sources and behaviour
• Conversion Tracking: Measuring goal completions
• User Flow Analysis: Identifying navigation patterns and drop-off points
• Search Performance: Tracking keyword rankings and visibility
• Business Impact Metrics: Connecting website metrics to business outcomes

ProfileTree’s WordPress Development Services

At ProfileTree, we specialise in creating WordPress business websites that drive meaningful results. Our approach focuses on:

1. Business-First Strategy: Understanding your goals before discussing technology
2. SEO-Driven Development: Building websites designed to rank and attract qualified traffic
3. Conversion Optimisation: Focusing on lead generation and sales, not just aesthetics
4. Performance Engineering: Creating fast, reliable websites that provide excellent user experiences
5. Scalable Solutions: Developing platforms that grow with your business

Our WordPress specialists combine technical expertise with business acumen to deliver websites that are powerful marketing and sales tools.

Conclusion: Your WordPress Journey Starts Now

The key factors you should consider while designing your business website are your skill set, the assistance you would need, and your financial situation.

While specific programmes can be used for free, hidden fees will always exist. For example, if you use WordPress, you may need to pay for plug-ins or one of the payment plans. You may also need to purchase a domain or a hosting plan. Just two WordPress-managed hosts were mentioned above.

FAQs