How to rebuild a WordPress website

If you want to rebuild your WordPress website, you’ve come to the right place.

Rebuilding a WordPress site is a technical, detailed, and complex process requiring expertise.

However – the roadmap, complexity, and depth of the process depend on “requirements”.

Here is what you can expect.

Note: The following tutorial helps you quickly understand “how to rebuild a WordPress website.” We’ve gone through technical adventures, suggestions, and a walkthrough in this tutorial. However, if you don’t understand how site backups, content migration, database alteration, and rebuilding a WordPress site work, don’t change anything. In such scenarios, the best thing you must do is “ask for developers’ assistance.”

How to rebuild a WordPress website?

Note: Users who don’t know how to create a WordPress site from scratch need this section, as some users have repeatedly failed to create a site for rebuilding practices.

There are two scenarios.

1. Building a WordPress site from scratch
2. Rebuilding an existing, Live, and established website

Let’s explore the topic in more detail.

Building a WordPress site from scratch

Here is the roadmap for building a WordPress site from scratch.

1. Choose a Niche

A “niche” refers to a site’s main subject, topic, or industry. It depends on your purpose, business goals, or industry. For example, if you prefer to provide information on a topic, the subject, industry, or category you intend to write articles on is “niche”.

Before taking further steps, ensure you decide on your site’s niche. If yes, you’re good to proceed. Remember that changing niches after you’ve built your site is risky for blogs and informational directories. Doing so can cause a loss in search engine rankings, period.

2. Register a Domain Name

A “Domain name” refers to the address of a WordPress website. To build a site, you’ll need to register a domain first.

A simple .com domain costs around $12 per year. Use Instant Domain Search to check if your favorite domain is available.

Once you’ve registered a domain name, you can proceed.

3. Web Hosting

The second essential of building a site is “web hosting”. Web hosting refers to the server space. In simple words, the WordPress files are stored on web hosting.

A basic hosting plan costs around $25 on Namecheap. Other registrars for web hosting include Bluehost, Siteground, and Hostinger.

Note: For companies that provide hosting and domain registration, create your account first. Once you have an account, populate your cart with a domain and a hosting plan. Next, the checkout process will automatically link both assets—simple.

4. WordPress installation

To this line, you should have bought a domain and a web hosting plan. If you visit your site’s URL, the home page shows the hosting’s default page. In this case, a default page helps to confirm – “you’re ready to proceed to WordPress installation”.

WordPress installation is a complex maneuver.

There are two ways to install WordPress on a hosting plan. If you don’t know how to proceed, you must hire a WordPress Support Team.

1. Use the automated installer in web hosting cPanel options
2. Manually install WordPress

Installing WordPress manually is a detailed, complex, and expertise-required process. We prefer to install WordPress via the cPanel automated installer in this resource.

In the hosting cPanel area, locate the Softaculous Apps Installer section. Access and make sure you’ve proceeded with Blog -> WordPress. The automated walkthrough helps you enter the necessary information, create a dashboard login, and finish the setup with point-and-click options. Don’t proceed from scratch if you don’t know how cPanel options work.

Once the setup is completed, you can log into the WordPress dashboard, preview your site, or make changes accordingly. You’re ready to proceed.

Visit this tutorial to learn how to install WordPress manually. For information, see this page on using WordPress auto-installers in cPanel options.

5. Use a Theme or Page Builder

It is time to design your WordPress website.

A “Theme” helps you quickly design a WordPress website. To proceed, upload and install your favorite theme.

You can quickly build your site with free themes. If you’re curious and want more options, consider premium themes instead. Once a theme is installed, proceed to land on the Appearance -> Customize page for more information.

Similarly, a page builder helps users create and build custom layouts. Without WordPress development knowledge, users can quickly create custom pages without learning how to code. Examples of page builders include Divi Builder, Visual Composer, and Elementor.

6. Basic Settings

Once you’ve installed a basic theme, your site is almost ready to finish.

After installing WordPress, admins need to probe basic settings in the WordPress dashboard. Here is what you’ll need to consider.

1. Remove default content, such as sample posts, plugins, and pages.
2. Set a permalink structure
3. Install necessary plugins
4. Create and complete essential pages
5. publish legal pages

Don’t forget to follow this tutorial‘s suggestions for more details.

7. Preview

Now, let’s make sure your new site is accessible online.

Open a browser and enter your site’s domain name, the Uniform Resource Locator (URL). If you see the homepage, your site has been set up correctly. The home page should display a basic layout according to your chosen theme.

Note: By now, you should have learned how to build a WordPress website from scratch. If you have problems, let us know in the comment section, contact us directly, or visit this tutorial for a complete walkthrough.

Rebuilding a WordPress site while the “Old site” is Live

Note: Try procedures on a staging site – the sites you don’t care about. If you’re rebuilding WordPress for the first time, we recommend handing things over to a Support Team. On the other hand, you can break your WordPress site. Period.

Let’s learn how to rebuild an existing WordPress site.

Although rebuilding a site resembles “building a site from scratch”, it is very different.

In this scenario, we learn how to rebuild WordPress while keeping the old one “live”. In this case, you can keep the original site online while the rebuilding process is underway.

Let’s proceed further with detailed steps.

1. Build a Staging environment first

A “staging environment” is a sandbox for testing WordPress workflows. For example, a WordPress site that helps you test various plugins, themes, page builders, new scripts, and premium assets is a staging environment.

To proceed, you’ll need to build a WordPress site from scratch. You’ve two options to proceed further.

1. Use a local server like Wamp, which doesn’t include buying web hosting and domains.
2. Build a new WordPress site online from scratch – costs money ($50 per year)

As stated above, using a “Wamp server” doesn’t cost money. However, setting up a Wamp server requires expertise, dependencies, and software assets. Once you have built one, you can save money using your local computer’s memory. See relevant tutorials online for a walkthrough.

Now, we’ve one option left.

If you’re fluent, build a new WordPress site online from scratch using the abovementioned steps. If you’re not technical enough, it would be better to hire a WordPress expert. For more information on creating a WordPress website, refer to this detailed tutorial.

Once building a staging site has been finished, you’re ready to proceed.

2. Install existing infrastructure

The process of installing existing infrastructure consists of the following routines:

1. Copy everything from the old site. The process of copying consists of taking site backups. Once done, you must restore the backup files on the staging environment. In this case, you’ll need a backup plugin in the WordPress dashboard.
2. Set up your staging site the way the “old” site is live. In this scenario, manual efforts will be needed to build your site like the original.

In the whole process, you’ll need to do the following tasks:

1. Migrate content, including pages and posts
2. Install the same theme on the staging website
3. Install the plugins you’ve installed on the old site
4. Take other steps to ensure your staging site is a clone of the old website.

Note: Generally, you don’t need to take manual steps if you’ve learned how backup plugins work. A plugin like (Up Drafts Plus) will automatically backup and restore “everything” mentioned above.

You can proceed once there is no difference between the staging and the old site. Now, everything we do on the staging site will help us decide whether to accept or reject the new “change” without affecting our “Live” website. Meanwhile, the Live site remains accessible online.

However, you should care about one thing:

Once you’ve made the necessary changes, the staging site should immediately go offline. If you keep it online longer, Google can crawl and index it. If this happens, indexing the staging site on Google can create content duplication problems for the “Live” site. To avoid such problems, it would be good to make a staging site on a local computer.

3. Make changes

Note: Make necessary changes to the staging environment. The changes you make now will be backed up later. Don’t create or copy the asset to the staging environment if you don’t need a specific end goal. For example, you don’t need to copy content if you’re building a staging site for redesigning layouts.

On the staging environment, make sure you’ve made the necessary changes. In this case, consider the following aspects:

1. Migrate pages and posts for later Backup.
2. You can redesign your site from scratch or install and set up a new Theme. You can also use page builders, such as Divi Builder, to create custom page layouts.
3. Install, remove, or handle existing assets, such as plugins and themes.
4. Minor configurative changes require the Developer’s assistance – such as changing the Permalink structure.
5. Run A/B testing to help you accept or reject various workflows, such as checking the speed of a new theme.

You should make the necessary edits, changes, and alterations on the “Live” site. Later, in the next step, we’ll take a full site Backup to restore the existing infrastructure on the “Live” website.

To this line, we’re good to proceed further.

4. Backup everything

To this line, you’ve made the necessary changes on the staging site, which reflect the final version of the “Live” website. Now, it’s time to back up everything.

For beginners, using a Backup plugin is ideal. Plugins like Up Drafts Plus provide a no-code interface for taking site backups.

Here is what you’ll need to do:

1. Install the Up Drafts Plus plugin in the WordPress dashboard.
2. Once installed and activated, a new sub-menu is created in the WordPress dashboard. Locate and click on the “Up Drafts Plus” menu.
3. The “Up Drafts Plus home screen” indicates that site backups are required. To do so, click the Backup Now button.
4. Once the plugin generates backup packages, you can download the files to your local computer. Click on the buttons individually and ensure the backup files are stored safely for later use.

You’ve successfully backed up your WordPress website. Remember that the backup files you’ve taken belong to the staging environment, which ultimately shows the status of the original website.

Next, we must restore the “Live” site with the backup files—all from scratch. However, a “complete site restoration” is not recommended for minor changes, as described in the previous lines.

5. Restore the Backup on the Live website

To restore the backup files on the Live website, here is what you’ll need to do:

1. Install the Up Drafts Plus plugin.
2. Go to the plugin’s Home screen and click Upload backup files.
3. Select the backup files you’ve taken on the staging website and click “Upload”.
4. Once the files are uploaded, you can click the Restore option.
5. The plugin will process and restore the backup files if no errors are found. Meanwhile, the backup setup can ask for several CTAs to proceed further.

Restoring the backup files can cause the previous data to vanish on-site. As you’ve made the staging site perfect, the same environment will be restored on the “Live” website.

At this point, remember one thing:

If you’ve built the staging site with different login information, you must remember the credentials. Otherwise, you may be unable to log into the Live site with old login information.

Also, if the pages contain links, you must edit and replace link targets. For example, if you have created content links on the staging environment, the links may need to be replaced on the “Live” website.

Let’s proceed and learn how to check for basic settings after restoration. Remember, we will now check the settings on the “Live” website.

6. Check Settings

After you’ve restored the backup files, here is a list of things you’ll need to check and approve.

1. Dashboard settings, including permalink structure, pages, posts, comment moderation settings, users, reading settings, and everything you’re concerned about in the dashboard. Make sure, everything you see in dashboard approves standard benchmarks.
2. Check your site’s Robots.TXT file. This file plays a vital role in SEO. It instructs search engines’ bots for various routines. Site admins can use the Robots.TXT file to allow or deny bots from crawling specific areas of a WordPress website. To check if the file meets your standards, check the /robots.txt URL on your site.
3. Check SSL settings, installation, and current status. Using online SSL testing tools, enter your site’s URL and examine the results. The tools will show the status on the next page if something unusual is found. Please note that a green message indicates no issues in SSL installation. So, give Google a try to find SSL checkers online.
4. Look at the installed Plugins and check whether they are correctly activated, enabled, and managed.
5. If you prefer to set two-factor authentication (2FA), check it. In this case, the plugin you use for 2FA is responsible. If you use WordFence for 2FA, configure the system again.
6. Check Google Analytics and Search Console profiles. If the restoration process has lost access to Google profiles, reset and configure again. However, if the Developer has monitored the process, the site restoration process should not affect Google profiles.
7. Most importantly, check “Site URLs” on the Settings page. The site URL fields should hold preferred URLs set automatically while installing WordPress. If not, follow the instructions in the “precautions” section or contact your Support Team. Please note, don’t proceed to change anything if you don’t know how things work.
8. Now, checking your site’s database values for gaps is essential. Keep in mind that the process of checking database values is technical. Don’t proceed if you don’t understand. So, proceed further and install the Better Search Replace plugin. Next, access the plugin’s home screen in the dashboard. From now on, you’ll need to set the plugin to crawl your site’s database for HTTP links and replace HTTP with HTTPs. If you don’t know how to proceed, you can find the plugin’s tutorials online. Again, don’t change anything if you don’t understand what’s happening.
9. Check (Redirects) to see if the site migration hasn’t caused issues. In this scenario, Google can help you list online checkers. The important thing is to check whether or not all the URL versions are correctly redirected to the preferred URL. Simply put, you should confirm that site URL versions redirect to HTTPs. In other words, the site URL versions should redirect to the version in the dashboard “Settings”.
10. After some time, you should check Google SERPs for your site. You should confirm that Google has indexed the site’s preferred URL. Simply put, the desired URL is the URL version all link versions are redirecting to in WordPress. For example, users trying to access WordPress with “www” and HTTP should land on the page at HTTPs, which doesn’t have “www”. So, in this scenario – your site’s preferred URL becomes the one at HTTPs, and the one doesn’t have “www”.

7. Test and Preview

Previewing WordPress can identify if your site’s design has flaws.

Once you preview your WordPress site, here is a list of factors you can identify:

1. Design issues
2. Responsiveness gaps: By default, the WordPress themes are responsive. Page Builders also create responsive designs.
3. Site preview can help you see current changes and figure out necessary changes.
4. Site preview helps admins test WordPress with audit tools. For example, Ahrefs and Semrush can help admins determine whether a WordPress site has technical issues.

Note: You’re good once the site you see is according to what you expected. In other cases, you should consult developers for assistance.

Precautions, Suggestions, and Tips

1. Building a WordPress site from scratch is not identical to “rebuilding an established site”. Both situations involve building a WordPress site but differ in terms of the steps, psychology, and technical expertise required.
2. You can save money if you build a staging environment on a local disc. Conversely, as discussed earlier, buying a domain and the Hosting plan costs money.
3. WordPress installation is a technical routine. If you haven’t gone through it before, you can break WordPress.
4. Automated WordPress installers provide a no-code interface for WordPress installation. If you’re not technical enough to proceed, ask the web hosting support channel for help.
5. The staging site’s domain differs from the “Live” site. In this case, after you’ve made the necessary changes in the staging environment, you’ll need to check site redirects, database values for HTTP entries, and SSL setup after you’ve restored the site backup on the “Live” domain.
6. Installing existing infrastructure on a staging environment depends on “requirements”. For example, if you don’t plan to rebuild the entire site and aim at redesigning it, you don’t need to go through everything. In this case, you can design pages on the staging site and import layouts on the live site. Simply put, installing existing infrastructure should depend on the end goals.
7. Restoring your “Live” site with backups may erase previous data, so you must be cautious. If you need to redesign layouts, restoring your site is unnecessary. As discussed above, importing layouts can help.
8. Up Drafts Plus should be installed on both ends—the staging and Live sites for backups and restoration.
9. After the restoration process, it is essential to check WordPress settings. The list above can help in this case.
10. If you need to change permalink settings, focus on checking the redirects later.

Conclusion

That’s how you can rebuild your WordPress website.

If rebuilding WordPress seems different to you, do not change anything. You should ask for developers’ advice.

We recommend building several staging sites for the workflow—from start to finish. If you don’t have staging sites, rebuilding a “Live” site can crash WordPress. In this scenario, staging sites can help you better save data, avoid errors, and safely rebuild your WordPress website.

Let us know if you need to rebuild your WordPress website, maintain WordPress, improve site page speed, or check your site for potential gaps. We can help.