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First and foremost, take a moment to celebrate! You’ve learned all about the basics of creating a website within WordPress.com. You have a lot to be proud of!
There is still much more available to explore within your site as we’ve really only scratched the surface of what’s possible.
We recommend taking some time to absorb what you’ve learned, and practice with the steps a bit more. The more times you work with the tools, the more comfortable you’ll become with them. Then you can start thinking about what might be the next step for you.
But if you’ve been doing the steps while you’ve been going through this course, you should be well positioned to go ahead and launch your site (if you haven’t already done so). Remember, building a website is a journey, not a destination. Technically, a website is never finished, it simply reaches various stages of completion that you then continue to expand on an iterate. The bare minimum that you need to launch a site to the public is a homepage. If you’ve got that, and you’re happy with the look of it and the information it currently provides, then you’re ready to launch.
To launch your site go to Settings > General↗︎ here you’ll find either a Launch Site button, or a Privacy settings section where you can set the site to be Public. Review the Launch site section of the Site Settings lesson in this course for a refresher.
Below are some additional next steps that you may want to consider exploring further.
If you’re working with a site on the Free plan, you may want to consider upgrading your site to one of our paid hosting plans. There are many benefits that come with a paid plan, and they do vary between the plan levels, so you’ll want to thoroughly investigate the different features offered by each plan. Some of the key highlights that you’ll find within different paid plans include:
- Removal of WordPress.com ads
- The ability to register or connect a custom domain
- Access to our email and live chat support — each paid plan offers a progressive level of priority for support
- Increased storage
- The ability to upload audio or video files
- The ability to install third-party plugins or themes
- And many more!
Be sure to review the Choose a Plan lesson when you’re ready to consider a plan change.
One of the great things about WordPress.com is that it’s a managed hosting service that is built to grow with you. You can upgrade from one plan to the next at any time. Any unused portion of your current plan will be credited toward your new plan. You’ll never have to start over from scratch – the additional features simply get added to what you’ve already built. Learn more about our available plans here.
There are many ways to integrate social media into your site, and we offer support guides on all of these features. Some options include:
- Social Links menu
- Social Icons block
- Post Automatically to Social Media
- Sharing Buttons
- Embed Facebook posts
- Integrate with Instagram
- And many more embedding options
You may also want to consider creating a Link in Bio page within your site, and you can use one of our pre-designed Block Patterns on a new page to get you started with that!
We also have a recorded webinar replay called Supercharge your Social Media↗︎ that may be of interest.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither does your website need to be. In fact, we recommend taking your time to work on your site at regular intervals. By returning to your site frequently, you’ll get more and more comfortable with the tools you’re using, and the changes that take place with the software along the way.
Make a plan of all the different features you’d like to eventually build into your site, and tackle them one at a time. It will be a much more enjoyable and productive experience if you spread it out, rather than trying to cram it all into a day or weekend.
Also plan for doing site revamps. There’s nothing wrong with giving your website a facelift periodically. Whether you do it quarterly, annually, or every few years, it’s refreshing to give it a new look, like redecorating a room in your house.
A website is a journey, not a destination — we repeat this often because it’s true and important to remember. Technology changes on a daily basis. New features are always being released.
Embrace the process. Not only are you achieving something productive and fun, but you’re also expanding your skills and challenging yourself to grow.
With an open mindset and a commitment to taking action, there’s no limit to what you can achieve. Complacency is a killer.
“If we don’t change, we don’t grow.
~ Gail Sheehy
If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”
Depending on your specific areas of interest, and your goals, you may want to consider taking some of our other free courses as well. A common next step at this point is learning how to add a Newsletter feature to your site:
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Newsletters 101
Learn how to create engaging newsletters for your audience, share updates, and explore monetization opportunities, regardless of your tech skills.
Or review our Learning Hub Roadmap for an overview of all of our learning resources.
Learn more about working with the Site Editor through our support guides which cover even more on:
- Using the Site Editor
- Template Editing
- Working with Blocks
- Global Styles
- And more!
Join us for one of our free webinars, or watch the replays of past webinars!
Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/WordPressdotcom↗︎ and periodically check out our Quick Clips: Pro Tips lesson, where we add short video tutorials on various topics to further enhance your site.
Don’t forget to embrace our knowledge base too, as we have a massive library of support guides to help you with every feature of your site.
You’ll also find tons of great articles with tips and tricks for your site through our blogs at:
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