Congratulations, you‘ve just finished installing WordPress! While the default WordPress installation is functional out-of-the-box, there are a number of essential configuration steps you‘ll want to complete before officially launching your new website.
Properly configuring your WordPress settings from the beginning will give you a solid foundation to build upon as you add content and grow your site. It will also help keep your site secure, optimized for search engines, and ensure a good experience for your visitors.
While the specific settings you need to configure will vary somewhat based on the purpose of your site, the following checklist covers the top 10 most important things virtually every WordPress site owner should do immediately after the initial installation:
- Update Your Site Title, Tagline and Timezone
The first thing you‘ll want to do is visit the Settings > General page and update the Site Title and Tagline to reflect your brand. The site title typically includes the name of your website or business. The tagline is an optional short phrase that summarizes what your site is about.
You‘ll also want to verify that the timezone is set correctly for your location. Having the correct timezone is important for scheduling posts, WordPress cron jobs, and other time-based site activities.
- Choose a Permalink Structure
By default, WordPress uses web URLs which have question marks and lots of numbers. This isn‘t great for search engine optimization or for people being able to remember your web address.
To change this, go to Settings > Permalinks and select the "Post name" option. This will make your URLs more readable and include your page or post title which is better for SEO. Be sure to click "Save Changes" after making your selection.
- Delete Unused Themes and Plugins
For security reasons, it‘s best to delete any unused themes or plugins from your WordPress installation. The only theme that should be installed is the one you are actually using.
If you want to try out different themes, it‘s best to do so on a staging site, not your live production site. Having extra unused themes installed poses an unnecessary security risk.
The same goes for plugins. Many WordPress installations come pre-installed with plugins you may not need, like Akismet, Hello Dolly, or others. If you‘re not planning to use a plugin, delete it.
- Install Essential Plugins
There are a handful of plugins that virtually every WordPress site can benefit from. While you want to be judicious about installing plugins, the following are recommended for most sites:
- Security plugin like Sucuri or Wordfence
- Backup plugin like UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy
- Caching plugin like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache
- SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or All in One SEO
You‘ll want to carefully configure the settings for each plugin to fit the needs of your particular site. But installing these essential plugins from the beginning will start your site off with a good foundation.
- Set Up a Contact Form
Every website needs a way for visitors to contact the site owner. The easiest way to add a contact form to your WordPress site is by using a plugin like WPForms or Contact Form 7.
Configure the form settings, including the email address you want the form submissions to be sent to. Then create a new page with a simple title like "Contact" or "Contact Us" and add the form to that page using the plugin‘s shortcode or block.
- Customize Your Theme
One of the great things about WordPress is that there are thousands of pre-made themes you can use for your site‘s design. Once you‘ve selected a theme, you‘ll want to customize it to match your brand.
Most themes allow you to upload a custom logo, change the colors and fonts, and select different layouts for your homepage and inner pages. Refer to your theme‘s documentation or support resources for help with configuring the available customization options.
- Set Up Your Navigation Menus
Navigation menus provide a way for visitors to easily access the most important pages on your site. Depending on your theme, you may have one menu in the header and another in the footer. Some themes also support additional menus in the sidebar or other locations.
To create a new menu, go to Appearance > Menus and click the "create a new menu" link. Give your menu a name, select the pages you want to include, and choose the display location. You can drag and drop the menu items to put them in the order you want. Then click the "Save Menu" button.
- Optimize Your Media Settings
By default, WordPress creates multiple sizes of every image you upload to your media library. This allows the appropriately sized image to be displayed based on where it‘s being used – as a thumbnail, in a blog post, etc.
However, WordPress also supports very large image sizes that most sites won‘t ever need. Generating these extra large image sizes takes up a lot of server space and resources.
To optimize your media settings, go to Settings > Media and update the default image sizes to reflect the maximum dimensions your theme actually uses. You can also uncheck the option to "Organize my uploads into month- and year-based folders" unless you prefer that organizational system.
- Schedule Automatic Updates
One of the most important things you can do to keep your WordPress site secure is to always run the latest version of WordPress core, plugins and themes. Developers regularly release updates that fix bugs, add new features, and patch security vulnerabilities.
You can make sure your site is always running the latest versions by enabling automatic updates. Go to the Updates page to configure the settings to install updates automatically for the WordPress core. For select plugins and themes, you can configure auto-updates from the Plugins or Themes page.
As an extra precaution, it‘s a good idea to also have automatic backups scheduled (see essential plugin recommendations above) so you can quickly restore your site if an update causes any issues.
- Create Key Pages and Connect Webmaster Tools
Finally, there are a few key pages that every website should have:
- About page – Tell people what your site is about, who is behind it, and why it exists. Include any relevant photos, credentials or social proof.
- Contact page – Make it easy for people to get in touch with you by including a contact form and any other relevant contact information.
- Privacy Policy – If you collect any personal information from visitors, you are legally required in most places to have a privacy policy disclosing this.
- Terms and Conditions – Include your website terms of service, refund policies, disclaimers and any other legal notices.
You‘ll also want to create a Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools account and connect your site. These tools provide valuable insights about your site‘s visibility in search engines.
By completing these 10 steps after installing WordPress, your new website will be well-optimized and ready to attract visitors. These tasks provide a solid base to build upon as you add more content and features to your site over time.
While there are many other settings that can be configured within WordPress, this list covers the most essential setup steps that apply to the majority of sites. Take the time to properly configure your site from the beginning and it will pay dividends in terms of security, performance and search engine optimization.
