Convert a WordPress Blog to a Website: Beginner’s Guide in 7 Steps 2022

If you started your online journey with a personal blog but now think it’s time to approach things from a business perspective, then moving from WordPress blog to website is a natural step along the way.

Of course, there’s always the option of creating a website from scratch, but why go for the more time-consuming alternative? You already have your own virtual space, it just needs new furniture, so to speak.

In this post, you’ll learn how to turn your WordPress blog into a real website, complete with a static homepage, custom domain name, essential pages, social media integrations, and more.

Let’s dive in!

Why make a website out of your WordPress blog?

Before we get to the how-to part, let’s answer one of the most relevant questions in the world: why?

Why should you make a website out of your WordPress blog? We give you a few good reasons:

💼 You change the designation from personal to professional. If your blog is now seen as a place to share your thoughts and opinions, a professional website will promote you as an expert in your field.

🔊 It’s good Starting point to advertise yourself and your services, regardless of your expertise. Be it design, content writing, development, music, art or whatever you are good at.

👔 You make yourself available to potential customers. A real website lets you showcase your work and background so a client looking for someone like you on a project knows they can hire you.

🧐 You won’t lose your current readers and SEO. When you turn your existing blog into a website, you’re getting started with a reader base, no matter how small. It’s easier to build from there than from zero traffic.

💰 You can monetize your content, to sell digital or physical products and basically start your own business.

How to convert your WordPress blog into a website

Now we’re getting practical. Following the next few steps should be enough to be able to call yourself a site owner after the makeover is complete.

Here is what we will do:

find web hosting

If you are a WordPress.com user, choose one of these two options:

1. Update on WordPress.com business plan. This plan is the best choice because you can add custom themes and plugins to your website. In the other plans, you are dependent on their default customization and are not allowed to customize the website to your liking.

The downside here is that this plan is quite expensive – $25 per month billed annually or $30 per month billed monthly. In that case, you should try the self-hosted alternative 👇

2. Go to WordPress.org (self-hosted WordPress) if you don’t already host your blog on that platform. This option is more cost-effective and, once installed, gives you full control over what you can add to your website. The trick here is that you need to find a good web host as they will not provide you with one.

We recommend Bluehost as a cheap and reliable solution to start with – $2.75 per month. However, if you want to research more about hosting, you can start with the reviews and ratings from thousands of providers WordPress user.

Switch to a custom domain

During the transition to a new host or plan, you can switch to a new domain name, which is what you should do to have a custom web address.

This is an example of how Bluehost handles the domain name during the setup process:

You can either keep your current blog domain or find a brand new one. The advantage of the paid WordPress service is that you can have a professional domain format. So instead www.myblog.wordpress.com You can consider a friendlier format such as www.myblog.com.

The domain you choose does not have to end with .com. The extension can be local, international or custom.

If you don’t want to keep your existing domain, you can consult some of the best domain name tools that can generate ideas of all kinds for you based on your inputs.

After deciding on a web host and domain name, you need to migrate your blog content based on these three scenarios. The tutorial shows you how to move your content without fear of losing something important to you. See which scenario applies to you and follow the steps.

Find a theme you like

The WordPress ecosystem is full of themes for all purposes, tastes, budgets and so on.

Neve, our top theme, is just an example of a multipurpose WordPress theme (both free and premium) that offers all the customization options to create a professional website in a short time.

You can also find themes in the two most popular WordPress repositories:

That WordPress.org repository has over 8000 free themes

If you are willing to pay for a theme,theme forest is the most popular marketplace for premium themes and plugins.

Or in curated posts like these:

Create a custom home page

After finding the theme that suits your intentions, you need to create a custom home page. It’s a new, necessary side that most personal blogs don’t have. Professional websites must have a home page, so make it a priority to design something that clearly describes what your website is about.

Here is an example:

To set up a static homepage like this, you can follow this tutorial.

For example, if you use a theme like Neve that has many homepages, you can create a homepage directly on a pre-made template and get inspiration from there.

If you are building a homepage from scratch, you can start with the native WordPress block editor. Or, if you want even more flexibility, consider a drag-and-drop visual page builder plugin like Elementor.

As you create your design, don’t forget to present excerpts from the most relevant sections (e.g. if you offer web design services, preview your best projects) with clear call-to-action buttons.

Add new pages

After you’ve outlined the homepage, you should add a few useful pages that every website should have – Around and Contact Pages.

If you already have these pages on your blog, revisit them and rewrite the content to align with your new goals. Make it sound more factual if that’s the direction you want to go. Present your professional background, your experience and link to the other pages (eg portfolio or yours Services).

Including a simple contact form on the Contact Page will make it easy for people to get in touch with you.

portfolio. Here you can showcase the best projects you’ve worked on so far, that you’re proud of and that you could recommend to clients. Having an example of your work style on your website will attract people who like your work.

A Services / Hire Me Page should not be missing from your website if you want to get hired. It’s a way of letting people know you’re available to collaborate, which opens the door to more opportunities. Here you can enter information on hourly rates, working hours and working conditions.

Online shop. This is obviously a page you need if you’re looking to sell anything, be it digital or physical. To create an online store, it is not enough just to add a new page. You also need to install the WooCommerce plugin and make some changes.

If you want to learn more about starting an online store with WordPress, check out this tutorial that will teach you all the basics (from setup to payment gateways, shipping and advanced WooCommerce functionality).

If your site is writing based (magazine, news, reviews, tutorials, storytelling) you can add a page about advertising. Here you can specify how users can advertise their products or services on your website. For example, if you write paid reviews, you can share the price and terms of such a deal. You can also add details about affiliate programs and partnerships.

Other examples of useful pages are:

• podcast/video – if you are into podcasting and/or vlogging.
• pricing – where you can describe and compare your plans if you offer memberships or digital products.
• events – for consultations, workshops, live streaming, courses etc.

Keep blog functionality

Even if your goal was to own a website instead of a blog, you should never get rid of the latter. Keep the blog as a separate page as it will bring you many benefits and help your website to grow in terms of SEO and exposure to potential customers.

A blog in a business context has many advantages:

• It gives your business a voice. You can use the blog to share things about your career endeavors, news, things you’ve tested, advice for people who want the same job as you, and so on. The blog builds a community around your website, so use it for practical reasons.
• It will get you higher in the search engines. The blog is a perfect way to keep your website updated with fresh content that is optimized for SEO and relevant to new readers. Because every post you publish opens the door to new visitors.
• It is a Method to promote yourself and your services. You can use your expert content to include calls to action (e.g. a download link to your eBook, a recent podcast, paid products, affiliate links). In other words, a blog will always be a gateway for promotion and monetization. How to monetize a blog and use it as a tool for professional purposes.

Put simply:

Blog Content → SEO → Traffic → Conversions and Customers → Brand → Community → Business Growth

But don’t overlook it the importance of developing an efficient blog content strategy because you will need it in the long run. We’ve written more about creating a blog strategy that will double your chances of succeeding with your business. So, check out the post to learn the five steps required to implement a blogging strategy that works.

Make your website social media friendly

Last but not least, integrating your website with your social media accounts will get you more followers and get your work known. Likewise, adding social media feeds to a website gives it a fresh vibe and increases engagement.

If you’re not sure how to integrate with social media, here are some ideas for each popular social network:

You can either link your website to your Business Pages (if you have created separate social media Business Pages) or to your personal accounts.

If you’re looking to create a Facebook business page for your website in the future, you might find what you’re looking for this tutorial useful. It shows every single step that gives you a slick Facebook business page.

But after the site is online, your work is not done yet. Actually, it’s just the beginning. You still need to grow the site every day, attract followers, and give people reasons to engage with your content. How does it work? By going through these six tips that will teach you how to get people to like, share and comment on your facebook posts.

Takeaways from switching from WordPress blog to website

But if you are at a stage in your career where you need to initiate a serious business plan, then undoubtedly having a website is an essential step in marking it as solved. If you already have a blog, that’s even better, just build on it.

To recap, here’s what you need to do to start calling your blog a website from now on:

1. Find (better) web hosting
2. Switch to a custom domain
3. Get a theme that fits your career goal
4. Design a custom home page
5. Add new pages (About us, contact, portfolio, advertising, services, shopEtc.)
6. Keep the original blog page and create a content strategy
7. Add a social media proof

* This post contains affiliate links, which means that we earn a commission if you click on any of the product links and then purchase the product. Don’t worry, you’ll still pay the standard amount, so you won’t incur any costs.