How to Make a Social Media Website (Beginner’s Guide)

Creating a social media website lets you provide a platform for users to share news, updates, and opinions on various topics. It can build a sense of community among users with shared interests and boost engagement with discussions and forums.

Whether you are looking to create a niche community or a full-fledged social platform, setting up a social media site is more accessible than ever with the right tools and guidance.

In fact, WPBeginner has helped countless website owners unlock the power of social media. We’ve collected the best social sharing plugins, written tutorials on how to add powerful social features to your site, and even sell our own premium social plugins.

Now, we’re taking things one step further and showing you how to create your own social media website. Our clear instructions are designed to be user-friendly, even if you are new to WordPress.

We’ll cover everything from selecting the right platform and tools to setting up essential features like user profiles, activity streams, and privacy settings. Let’s dive in!

Before You Start: Create a Social Media Website Checklist

The really cool thing about creating a social media site with WordPress, is that it’s an incredibly flexible and versatile platform. You’re essentially working with a blank canvas, capable of creating almost any type of social platform imaginable. That said, you should start by carefully planning the features and concepts that you want your social platform to have.

For example, you might make a media-sharing website like Instagram or a professional business site like Glassdoor. You could also create an informational forum site like Quora or a social network site like Facebook.

Once you have come up with an idea, you should go through the following checklist to create a foolproof plan for your website:

• Target Audience: Identify your target audience based on age group, location, and behavior.
• Trends and Preferences: Study user trends for your chosen niche and try to find features that your target audience will find useful.
• Research Legal Aspects: Ensure your platform complies with data privacy, intellectual property, and other relevant laws. This might mean talking to a lawyer.
• Hire a Developer: Once you have done your research, you could just hire a developer to build a social media website for you. We recommend going with WPBeginner Pro Services or Seahawk Media Services to get an SEO-ready website in no time.

However, if you don’t want to hire a developer, then you can also build a social media website by yourself without any coding required.

Having said that, let’s take a look at how to easily make a social media website, step by step:

Step 1: Choose a Website Builder

First things first, you need to choose the right platform. While there are lots of website builders out there, WordPress stands out as a powerful and flexible option for crafting robust social platforms.

It’s also open-source so it’s completely free to use. Premium website builders also often include features geared towards business websites and eCommerce stores, which you may not need for your social media site. Why pay for features you don’t immediately need?

And if you do wind up needing those features, then WordPress lets you install add-ons called plugins. These are pieces of software that add extra functionality to your social media site.

We’re talking over 59,000 free plugins in the WordPress.org library alone! That includes plenty of plugins that add social features to WordPress, including user profiles, activity feeds, messaging systems, and community forums.

But it isn’t just about saving money. According to our research statistics, WordPress is one of the most popular website platforms on the planet, powering nearly 43% of all websites. You’re getting the very best for your social site.

However, keep in mind that there are two types of WordPress.

WordPress.com is a blog hosting platform, while WordPress.org is an open-source, self-hosted software. For more detailed information, you can see our comparison between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

To create a social media website, we recommend opting for WordPress.org because it lets you install all those awesome social plugins, and gives you complete control over your website.

For a deeper dive into why we consistently recommend WordPress, please see our complete WordPress review.

Now that you have chosen a website builder, it’s time to start building your website.

Step 2: Choose a Domain Name and Hosting for Your Social Media Website

To create a WordPress site, you will first need to purchase a domain name and a hosting plan.

A domain name will be your social media platform’s name on the internet. It is what customers will type in their browsers to visit your website, like www.socialmediawebsite.com or www.sociallysavvy.com.

Similarly, web hosting is where your website lives online. To find the perfect web hosting for your social media site, you can see our complete list of the best WordPress hosting services.

You will now notice that even though WordPress is free, this is where your costs will start adding up. A domain name will cost you about $14.99/year while hosting costs start from $7.99/month.

This can be a bit expensive if you have a small budget or are just starting.

Thankfully, Bluehost is offering a HUGE discount to WPBeginner readers along with a free domain name and an SSL certificate. They are one of the largest companies in the world and an official WordPress-recommended hosting partner.

To get a discount, you can just click on the following button:

This will direct you to the Bluehost website, where you must click the ‘Get Started Now’ button.

Once you do that, you will be taken to the pricing page, where you can select a hosting plan according to your social media website’s requirements.

We recommend picking the ‘Basic’ or ‘Choice Plus’ plan, as they have everything you need to create a successful social media site. After choosing a plan, go ahead and click ‘Continue.’

You will now be taken to a new page, where you must choose a domain name for your social media platform.

We recommend selecting a name that is related to your niche and is easy to spell, pronounce, and remember. However, if you are still confused and do not have a name for your social media platform yet, then you can also try WPBeginner’s Free Business Name Generator to come up with a great name.

After typing in the name, just click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.

This will take you to the next step, where you must provide your account information, phone number, business email address, name, and country. Once you do that, you will also see optional extras that you can buy.

We generally don’t recommend buying these extras straight away, as you can always add them later if your social site needs them.

Next, type in your payment information to purchase the hosting plan.

After a few moments, you’ll get an email with instructions on how to log in to your web hosting control panel. This is the dashboard where you can manage your social media site, including setting up email notifications and asking for WordPress support.

Now, it’s time for you to install WordPress.

Step 3: Create a New WordPress Website

When you sign up with Bluehost using our link, Bluehost will install WordPress on your domain name automatically. Give it a few minutes to load, and then click the ‘Edit site’ button, which will take you to set up your new website.

At this point, a window will appear asking if you want to migrate a WordPress site or start a new setup.

Since we’re creating a new social media site, click the ‘Start Setup’ button.

The setup wizard will now ask for some basic information, such as the type of website, blog, or online marketplace you’re building.

Choose the category that best fits your new site and then click ‘Continue Setup.’

Once you’ve gone through the entire Bluehost WordPress setup wizard, click on ‘Complete Setup.’

Bluehost will now take you to the WordPress admin area.

You can also log in to the WordPress dashboard by heading to yoursite.com/wp-admin/ directly in your web browser.

Step 4: Select a Theme for Your Social Media Website

WordPress themes are professionally designed templates that change how your new site looks and acts.

By default, each WordPress site comes with a basic theme. If you visit your new site, then you’ll see something like this:

To get more visitors and users, it is a good idea to replace the default theme with one that matches your social media website’s niche. For example, you can install any of the popular WordPress themes and customize them according to your liking.

You can also use themes that are specifically designed for social media websites. For ideas, you can see our list of the best WordPress BuddyPress themes.

BuddyPress is a super popular plugin that is used to make social media networks and websites. In fact, we will show you how to use it later on in this tutorial.

If you need help installing your chosen theme, then you can see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress theme.

Upon activation, visit the Appearance » Customize page from the WordPress admin sidebar to edit the theme according to your liking.

Keep in mind that if you are using a block theme, then you must visit the Appearance » Editor page from the WordPress dashboard to open the full site editor.

Here, you can drag and drop the blocks from the left column to customize your website. Once you are done, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.

Step 5: Set Up Your Social Media Website With BuddyPress

By default, WordPress does not have a built-in functionality to create a social media website. This is why we recommend using BuddyPress.

It is a popular and free WordPress plugin that can transform your site into a social network in just a few minutes.

First, you need to install and activate the BuddyPress plugin. For detailed instructions, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the Settings » BuddyPress page from your WordPress dashboard. This will open the components page, which will show all the BuddyPress features that are activated by default.

Here, you can choose the features that you want to add to your social media website. Want your users to follow each other, just like on Instagram? Then, find and check the box labeled ‘Friend Connections’

For Facebook-like private messaging, select ‘Private Messaging.’ And to allow user-created groups, both public and private, choose ‘User Groups.’

Once you have chosen the components to add to your social media website, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Settings’ button to store your changes.

Next, switch to the ‘URLs’ tab. Here, you can configure the slugs and titles for the pages that will be created with BuddyPress.

For example, if you want to call the members of your site ‘users’, then you can add that slug next to the ‘Directory Slug’ option after expanding the ‘Members’ tab.

Keep in mind that you won’t be able to edit the permalinks created by BuddyPress. Once you are done, click the ‘Save Settings’ button.

Now switch to the ‘Options’ tab, where you can start by choosing if you want to show the toolbar to logged-in users or not.

To make your social media activity visible to all visitors, set your community visibility to ‘Anyone.’

You can then also select if you want to allow users to delete their accounts, upload profile photos, or cover images. Going further, you can allow users to invite other people to join your community.

To store your changes, go ahead and click the ‘Save Settings’ button.

Now BuddyPress will automatically create a Members and Activity Streams page on your website.

This is how the Activity page looked on our demo website.

Users will now be able to create their profiles, add cover images, send friend requests, and upload profile photos on your social media website.

Here’s how the profile page looks on our demo website.

You can also manage different users registering on your site by visiting the Activity menu tab from the WordPress dashboard.

Here, you can keep a log of all the activities being performed by users. You can also edit the action, delete it, or mark it as spam from here.

You can manage new signups by visiting the Users » Manage Signups tab from the admin sidebar.

Once you are there, you can activate an account, send an email for verification, or delete it according to your liking.

If you want, you can also add different profile fields for users, add member types, create groups, and manage email notifications right from your WordPress dashboard.

For more detailed instructions on these features, see our tutorial on how to turn your WordPress site into a social network.

Step 6: Use bbPress to Create a Forum (Optional)

It is also a good idea to add a forum to your social media website.

This will allow users to start conversation threads and share their thoughts on different topics with each other. This can be great for boosting engagement and motivating other users to sign up on your website.

You can easily create a forum with bbPress because it is the best WordPress forum plugin on the market. Plus, the plugin is completely free, making it a great choice.

After activating the plugin, simply visit the Forums » Add New page from the WordPress dashboard and give your forum a name.

Then, add a brief description and choose the visibility: ‘public’ for everyone, ‘private’ for select users, or ‘registered users only.’

Once you are done, just click the ‘Publish’ button to make your forum live.

With bbPress, you can also moderate the forum, add a ranking system, create categories, and organize different forums as needed.

For detailed instructions, please see our tutorial on how to add a forum in WordPress.

Step 7: Create a Navigation Menu and Homepage

Now that you have set up your social media website and created pages for it, it is important to add these links to the navigation menu. This will allow users to easily find all the pages they need on your social site.

To do this, visit the Appearance » Menus page from the WordPress dashboard and expand the ‘BuddyPress Member’ tab in the left column.

From here, check the options for all the pages that you want to add to the navigation menu and click the ‘Add to menu’ button.

After that, click the ‘Save Menu’ button to store your settings.

If you are using a block theme, then visit the Appearance » Editor page instead. This will open the full site editor, where you must choose the ‘Navigation’ tab.

You’ll now see all the navigation menu items in the sidebar on the left.

Here, simply click the ‘Edit’ button.

The full site editor will now open, displaying navigation menu settings in the block panel.

From here, click the ‘+’ button and select the ‘Custom Link’ block.

You’ll see a custom link appear in your navigation menu, and the block panel on the right will open.

Here, simply type ‘BuddyPress’ into the search box to see all the pages created by the plugin. Then, choose the pages you want to add to your website’s menu.

Finally, click the ‘Save’ button at the top to store your settings. For more details, see our tutorial on how to add a navigation menu in WordPress.

Step 8: Create a Custom Home Page

WordPress has two two default content types called posts and pages.

You’ll typically use posts to create articles and blogs. The problem is that your homepage will show these posts in reverse chronological order, so the newest content appears at the top of the list unless you re-order your posts in WordPress.

While this works well for sharing updates or announcements on a typical website, it might not be the ideal format for a dynamic social media platform where user-generated content and interactions take center stage.

To make a stronger first impression, we recommend creating a custom homepage that introduces your social media platform to potential new users.

For a step-by-step guide, see our tutorial on how to create a custom home page in WordPress.

Once you have finished designing the page, you can set it as your social media site’s homepage by visiting the Settings » Reading page from your WordPress dashboard.

Here, select the ‘A static page’ option in the ‘Your homepage displays’ section. Next, open the ‘Homepage’ dropdown and choose the page you want to use.

After that, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

Step 9: Add a Contact Form

Pretty much every website needs a contact form, and your social media site is no exception. Users might need to report issues, or have questions and feedback for you. Companies or organizations interested in collaborating or advertising on your platform might also prefer to use a contact form.

The best way to create this important form is by using WPForms, as it’s the best WordPress contact form plugin on the market.

We use WPForms to power all our forms across WPBeginner, including our contact form, so we’re confident it has everything your new social media site needs. To learn more about this popular contact form plugin, check out our detailed WPForms review. 

To get started, you will need to install and activate the WPForms plugin. For details, see our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can use the ‘Simple Contact Form’ template and then add it to any page or post using the WPForms block. For detailed information, you can check out our tutorial on how to create a contact form in WordPress.

Apart from a contact form, you can also add a business phone service to your social media platform to improve the customer experience. This way, users can easily reach out to you for time-sensitive issues or if they want to report an inappropriate incident on your platform immediately.

You can easily add a business phone service using Nextiva, which is the best phone service for small businesses. It is easy to use, offers an easy setup, has a lot of features, and has reasonable pricing, making it a great choice.

Additionally, you can also use the platform for online faxing, live chat, online surveys, CRM, call analytics, and more.

For detailed instructions, see our tutorial on how to set up an auto-attendant phone system for your website. You may also want to check out our complete Nextiva review.

Step 10: Use All in One SEO to Improve Site Rankings

Now that you have created a social media website, it is important to improve its search engine rankings. If people search for social media platforms related to your niche, good SEO can help your site appear in the results. SEO can also help you target users interested in specific topics or communities within your platform.

Even if users don’t click on the search result, seeing your platform’s name can increase brand recognition, which is essential for a new social site.

All that said, we recommend using All in One SEO as it’s the best SEO plugin on the market. It comes with an amazing and beginner-friendly setup wizard to help you choose the best SEO settings for your social media site.

AIOSEO also integrates with other social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, and optimizes your content for social media sharing. In this way, you can get new users and more traffic from established social media giants.

We use AIOSEO to optimize every single page and post across WPBeginner, and it’s had a huge impact on our search engine rankings. To help you decide whether it’s the right plugin for you, we’ve written a detailed AIOSEO review sharing our experience with the plugin.

Ready to get started with AIOSEO? Then see our complete WordPress SEO guide for step-by-step instructions.

Bonus Tools to Improve Your Social Media Site

Here are some bonus tools that you can use on your social media website to boost conversions, get more visitors, and make money from your site:

• MonsterInsights: It is the best analytics solution on the market that will help you see where your visitors are coming from and optimize your social media strategy based on real data.
• PrettyLinks: A great way to make money on your social media website is to display ads and affiliate links. PrettyLinks is an amazing affiliate marketing tool that lets you create and cloak affiliate links on your site.
• RafflePress: It is the best giveaway plugin on the market that can help you host giveaways and contests on your social media site.
• OptinMonster: It is the best lead generation tool that can help you create popups, sliders, and banners to get more signups and members.

We hope this article helped you learn how to create a social media website in WordPress. You may also want to see our beginner’s guide on how to install and setup WordPress multisite network an intranet for small businesses with WordPress and our top picks for the best plugins to convert a WordPress site into a mobile app.

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