How to Make a WordPress Website in 2026 (With and Without AI)

Here is how to make a WordPress website in 2026: get a domain and hosting that meet WordPress’s requirements, install WordPress, change a handful of settings, choose a block theme, add only the plugins you need, then build your pages and test before launch. AI can now speed up most of these steps, but it does not remove the need to check its work.

The short answer

• Self-hosted WordPress from WordPress.org gives you full control. WordPress.com is a hosted service that runs the same software with fewer moving parts.
• WordPress recommends PHP 8.3 or later, MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.11 or later, and HTTPS. Ask the host for a supported, security-patched release compatible with your actual WordPress version and extensions. A version meeting an old minimum is not a security assurance.
• Change your permalinks, time zone, site title, home page and search engine visibility before you publish anything.
• WordPress 7.0 added an AI Client and a Connectors screen to core, so AI is now part of WordPress itself, not just a plugin.
• Moving from WordPress.com to self-hosted WordPress is an export and an import, a check that everything really arrived, and redirects so you keep your traffic.

What do you need before you make a WordPress website?

Before you make a WordPress website you need three things: a domain name, hosting that meets WordPress’s technical requirements, and a decision between self-hosted WordPress.org and hosted WordPress.com. You also need a clear idea of what the site must do, such as generate leads, sell products or publish articles, because that decides everything else.

WordPress is the default choice for a reason. It powers 39.6% of all websites and 58.4% of sites with a known CMS, according to W3Techs data dated 19 October 2026. I have written more on why to build a website in WordPress if you are still comparing platforms.

• Domain. Short, easy to say, easy to type. Register it in your business’s name, not your developer’s.
• Hosting. Use WordPress’s current requirements as a starting point, then confirm the supported database/runtime combination for the release you will deploy. Ask how security patches, backups and restores are handled. Compare the service your site needs rather than assuming price alone predicts speed.
• WordPress.org or WordPress.com. Self-hosted WordPress.org means you run the software on your own hosting and can install anything. WordPress.com handles hosting for you, and plugin installs need a paid plan.

How do you make a WordPress website step by step?

Making a WordPress website takes eight steps: set up hosting and your domain, install WordPress, change the core settings, choose a theme, add essential plugins, create your key pages, set up navigation, and test everything before launch. Most hosts install WordPress for you, so the real work is in the decisions, not the installation.

1. Set up hosting and point your domain to it. Turn on HTTPS from day one.
2. Install WordPress. Use your host’s installer, or download it from WordPress.org. Use a strong, unique admin password and a username that is not “admin”.
3. Change the core settings. The next section lists the ones that matter first.
4. Choose a theme. A maintained block theme lets you edit headers, footers and templates in the Site Editor. My shortlist of WordPress blog themes was checked for updates and accessibility in October 2026.
5. Add only essential plugins. The directory lists more than 70,000 free plugins (WordPress.org plugin API, October 2026), which is exactly why restraint matters. Start with SEO, forms, backups and security. Read how many WordPress plugins is too many before adding more.
6. Create your key pages. Home, about, services or products, contact and privacy policy. Write for the person who has one question and thirty seconds.
7. Set up navigation. In a block theme, edit the Navigation block in the Site Editor. In a classic theme, use Appearance, then Menus.
8. Test before launch. Check forms, mobile layout, speed and broken links. My website pre-launch checklist covers the rest.

Which WordPress settings should you change first?

The WordPress settings to change first are the permalink structure, search engine visibility, site title and tagline, time zone, home page display, and new user registration. These settings live under the Settings menu in the WordPress dashboard. Getting them right before you publish avoids broken links, wrong dates and a site Google cannot see.

Setting	Where to find it	What I set it to	Why it matters
Permalinks	Settings, Permalinks	Post name on a new site. On a migration, keep the existing structure	Clean, readable URLs. Changing them later breaks links.
Search engine visibility	Settings, Reading	Unticked on the live site, ticked on staging	A ticked box asks search engines not to index the site.
Your homepage displays	Settings, Reading	A static page for business sites	Your home page shows your offer, not your latest post.
Site Title and Tagline	Settings, General	Brand name and a plain one-line description	Used by themes, feeds and browser tabs.
Timezone, date and time format	Settings, General	Your city, for example Sydney	Scheduled posts publish at the right time.
Administration Email Address	Settings, General	A shared inbox you will keep	Security and update notices go here.
Membership and New User Default Role	Settings, General	Registration off, role Subscriber	Stops strangers creating accounts with too much access.
Comments	Settings, Discussion	Off for business sites, or moderated	Avoids spam and unmanaged content.
Privacy policy page	Settings, Privacy	Your real privacy policy	Expected by most form and analytics tools, and required by law for many businesses.

Writing and Media settings can usually stay at their defaults. If your theme specifies image sizes, it will tell you what to set.

Can you build a WordPress website with AI?

Yes, you can build a WordPress website with AI in 2026, in three different ways: an AI site builder that generates a starter site, AI features inside WordPress itself, and AI coding assistants that write and change the site for you. Each one speeds up the first draft. None of them replaces checking the result.

• AI site builders. WordPress.com offers an AI website builder that drafts a site from a description. Good for a fast start on a simple site.
• AI inside WordPress. WordPress 7.0 introduced the AI Client and Settings, Connectors foundations. A compatible feature, provider setup and permissions are still needed before a site can perform an AI task. Review what leaves the site, whose credentials pay for it and who approves generated output.
• AI coding assistants. Tools such as Claude Code can write themes, plugins and content, and operate a site through WP-CLI.

The third approach is how my team at WP Creative works now. We build in Claude Code with real guardrails and a set project structure: every change is made on a local copy first, tracked in Git and reviewed before it reaches a live site. I test new agents and AI workflows this way every day, on our own WPO platform and internal tools first, then in client work. The AI is fast. The process is what keeps it safe.

AI makes the first draft of a simple website quick and cheap. The finishing work, which is the content, the conversion path, accessibility and security, is still where the value is, and it still needs a person who knows what good looks like.

How do you move from WordPress.com to self-hosted WordPress?

Moving from WordPress.com to self-hosted WordPress.org means exporting your content as an XML file, installing WordPress on your own hosting, importing that file with the WordPress Importer, and redirecting your old address. The export carries posts, pages and comments, but not your theme, plugins or design customisations, so plan to rebuild those.

1. Prepare. Keep a backup and export of the original site, agree what must move and identify any private content. Do not make a private site public merely to copy images. Use a controlled export or an authorised transfer route for material that cannot be exposed.
2. Export. In the WordPress.com dashboard, go to Tools, then Export, choose all content and download the file. WordPress.com’s export guide explains that the file holds your posts, pages, comments, categories and tags, plus links to your media rather than the media files themselves.
3. Install WordPress on the new host behind authentication or the host’s private staging controls. Imported comments and other records may contain personal data. A noindex setting or robots.txt request does not make that data private. Limit access and remove unnecessary copies after the move.
4. Import. In the new site, go to Tools, then Import, and install the WordPress Importer. Upload the file, assign authors and tick the option to download attachments.
5. Keep the old site live until images copy, then check them. Your new site fetches media from the old one. Matching post and media counts is a first check, not proof. Open a sample of posts, including your oldest and most visited, and confirm images load from the new site rather than the old address, links work, and embeds and galleries survived.
6. Match your permalinks. WordPress.com uses a date-based structure such as /2014/10/21/sample-post/. Use the same structure on the new site, or set up redirects for every changed URL.
7. Redirect. If leaving a .wordpress.com address, check WordPress.com’s Site Redirect option and supported path structure. With your own domain, pointing DNS to the new host does not translate changed paths: preserve those URLs or configure the appropriate permanent redirects on the destination.

Redirects are the step people rush, because a platform move gets treated as a design job. My team once moved a health-sector training business off a hosted website builder and onto WordPress. The new design was the easy part. The work we treated as critical was the URL map: every old page, course and blog post matched to its new address with a permanent redirect before launch. Every old URL that lands nowhere is traffic and trust thrown away, on any platform. If you’d rather not do it yourself, this is the core of my team’s website migration work.

Should you build a WordPress website yourself or hire someone?

Building a WordPress website yourself makes sense for a personal site, a blog or a simple brochure site where the main cost is your time. Hiring a developer or agency makes sense when the website must generate leads or sales, connect to a CRM or other systems, or meet accessibility, security and performance standards your business depends on.

At WP Creative we build custom themes and plugins and work with Gutenberg, ACF and Elementor, so we see a lot of sites people started themselves. The common pattern is not a bad first build. It is a site that grew without a plan: extra plugins, a second page builder, settings nobody remembers changing. If you build it yourself, keep a simple log of what you install and why. Future you will thank you.

Keep a handover sheet from day one: domain registrant, host, admin owners, plugin purpose and renewal, backup location, tested restore date and form destination. That gives the next person a way to change the site safely rather than infer its setup from a plugin list.

What to do next

1. Write one sentence on what the website must achieve, and keep it in front of you.
2. Choose WordPress.org or WordPress.com, then check your hosting against WordPress’s requirements.
3. Install WordPress and change the settings in the table above before adding content.
4. Pick a maintained block theme and no more than a handful of essential plugins.
5. If you use AI, work on a staging copy and review every change before it goes live.
6. If the site needs to win business and you want help planning it, book a free call with me and my team.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to make a WordPress website?

A simple WordPress website with a ready-made theme and a few pages can be set up in a day or two. Most of the time goes into writing content and making decisions, not installing software. A custom business website with integrations, custom design and testing usually takes weeks to months, depending on scope.

Is WordPress free?

The WordPress software is free and open source. Running a website still has costs: a domain name, hosting, and often premium themes or plugins with annual licences. Hosting is usually the biggest running cost. Developer time, if you hire help, is typically the biggest one-off cost.

What is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?

WordPress.org is where you download the free WordPress software to run on your own hosting, with full control over themes, plugins and code. WordPress.com is a hosted service built on the same software, where the company manages hosting and updates. On WordPress.com, installing plugins requires a paid plan.

Can AI build a whole WordPress website for me?

AI can draft the structure, design and much of the content of a WordPress website, and AI coding assistants can write custom themes and plugins. It still makes mistakes and does not know your business. Treat AI output as a first draft, test it on a staging copy, and have someone check accessibility, security and the conversion path before launch.

Will I lose my content moving from WordPress.com?

You should not lose posts, pages or comments, because the export file carries them. Images copy across from your old site during import, so keep the old site public until they have, then spot-check real posts rather than relying on the media count alone. Your theme, plugins and design customisations do not transfer and need setting up again on the new site.