Great, you’ve registered a website on wordpress.com. Now what? Whether you’re building a small business website or a personal portfolio, these five steps will get the framework of your new website all set up, leaving it ready and waiting for your great content.

Create a site for your small business, non-profit, portfolio, resume, and more.^[1]

1. Outline your site's content.

Before you start, take a minute to sketch out the important pieces of your site, like the critical information and the pages you want to include.

Check out our best site-prep advice

↑ Table of Contents ↑

2. Create pages.

Add the basic pages you’ve sketched out, inserting any content and images you have. (It’s okay if you don’t have everything!) Be sure to create one page to be your site’s home page, and one blank page to house your blog; you’ll need those in the next step.

Learn how to publish a page

↑ Table of Contents ↑

3. Configure your site to use a static home page.

A new wordpress.com website defaults to a “blog” view. Tweak the site’s settings to create a regular home page instead, using the home page you just made.

Learn how to set up a home page

↑ Table of Contents ↑

 4. Pick a theme you love.

Now that you have the basics in place, choose a theme you love. It may sound backward, but having pieces of your website set up first will make it easier to see whether a theme works for you.

Learn how to browse and activate themes

↑ Table of Contents ↑

 5. Create a menu.

Finally, create a menu of all your new pages so visitors can navigate your site easily.

Learn how to create your menu

There’s lots more you’ll do to tailor your website — you might find these tips helpful — but you’re off to a great start! Continue fleshing out your content, add your logo or branding, connect your site to your social media presence, and more.

[1] Websites featured above: Clutter Savannah, Firefight, Girls’ Globe, City Cyclery, Trina Lambert, Richard Wiseman