Quick answer
- Right after installing WordPress, set your site title, tagline, time zone and language in Settings → General.
- Set permalinks to Post name and decide how comments should work.
- Delete sample content and unused themes and plugins, and install essentials: SEO, backups, security and caching.
- Check that “Discourage search engines” is off when you’re ready to launch.
A few minutes of setup after installing WordPress saves problems later. Here’s our checklist of the settings that matter.
Settings → General
- Site title and tagline.
- WordPress Address and Site Address using https.
- Administration email.
- Time zone, date format and language.
Settings → Reading
- Choose a static homepage or latest posts.
- Posts per page.
- Make sure “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is unchecked at launch.
Settings → Discussion
- Decide whether to allow comments.
- Turn on manual approval for first-time commenters.
- Set up comment moderation rules.
Settings → Media
Default image sizes are fine for most sites, but check they suit your theme.
Settings → Permalinks
Choose Post name. See our permalinks guide.
Clean up
- Delete the sample post, page and comment.
- Delete unused themes (keep one default theme as a backup).
- Delete unused plugins.
Install essential plugins
- SEO plugin.
- Backups.
- Security.
- Caching (if your host doesn’t provide it).
- Contact form.
- Spam protection.
Security basics
See our WordPress security guide.
- Use a strong admin password and two-factor authentication.
- Don’t use “admin” as your username.
- Keep everything updated.
Connect Google tools
Add your site to Google Search Console and install Google Analytics.
FAQs
Set your site title, time zone and permalinks.
Post name.
Delete unused ones, but keep one default theme as a fallback.
Check that u0022Discourage search enginesu0022 is unchecked.
SEO, backups, security and a contact form.
It’s up to you. If you do, use moderation and spam protection.
