How to build a Voting Website
This article is more than 2 years old
A voting website can be really helpful in getting valuable insights. They are also critical in knowing the trend or even for the organization of actual organizational elections. Setting up a voting website can be an intimidating task for someone who is not aware of the basics of a website. Therefore, we have decided to make a comprehensive post about how to build a voting website with an easy to follow tutorial.
4 Steps For Voting Website
These are the four steps you need to do.
- Get a nice brandable voting domain name
- Get Hosting for voting website
- Install WordPress on hosting
- Install necessary plugins
Getting Voting Domain Name
It all begins with a name. Yes, you will have to buy a name for your next voting website. The name of the website is actually the URL people search for in the browser and then they are directed to the website.
Without buying a domain name nobody would be able to reach to your website. Think of a good domain name, head over to SiteGround and check if the domain you want to buy is available. If it is available then buy the domain.
Domain names should be brandable. A name that you can confidently talk with people about it. Long cumbersome domain names are usually taken as non-serious for visitors. Although search engines do not discriminate for long URLs but for real people unusually long domain names are a sign that the website can be of non-serious nature.
Begin a voting website, I would suggest you to think of a short professional name that sounds professional. It should be a neutral name with no biasedness in the name. Siteground is a good place to buy the domain name because they are professional and will remind you in time to renew your domain name.
Get Hosting for Voting
After securing your domain name, it is now time to have a storage space where you can build your voting website at. As you are just starting out I would strongly suggest you to get the Startup plan at SiteGround. It is more than enough for anyone who is about to experiment with the voting website.
The space of 10 GB is more than enough for you to build a fully secured voting website. This post focuses on building a robust voting WordPress website therefore, it is recommended for you to buy managed WordPress hosting.
Special shared WordPress hostings are dedicated to the WordPress website only. Hosting companies can optimize the storage space for ideal working conditions for WordPress. Your voting website will work in an environment that is under specialized WordPress technicians.
SiteGround has a massive support team specially for WordPress related websites. In case of any confusion or trouble, you can open a ticket and get a quick response from the support team. Another advantage of keeping the same host and domain registrar is that you will have everything in one place and there will be actually no downtime. As soon as you buy the hosting and domain your website can go live. In case both, are at different places then there can be a delay of 24-48 hours before you can begin offering voting services to your viewers.
Another advantage of using SiteGround is there inbuilt pre-integrated security system. Your future voting website will be in good hands and remain safe from brute hacking attempts from those who try to manipulate poll or voting results.
One-Click WordPress Installation
Although WordPress will be pre-installed on if you buy the managed WordPress hosting at SiteGround but in case you did not do that then you can still install it easily with just a few clicks. If you feel that it is quite techy then you can open a ticket at support and they will install the WordPress at your hosting.
After logging into your WordPress installation you will have a default theme installed. This theme is made by WordPress and is capable of doing all the basic functionalities for a voting website.
Install Necessary Plugins:
The Voting Plugin: This is the backbone plugin in the building process of your voting WordPress website. Head over to the dashboard of your WordPress which is also called the admin area. On the left-hand bar click on Plugins. After the new window opens click on Add New. After the screen loads search for this plugin: Wp Poll Survey and Voting System.
This plugin will allow you to build voting contests, surveys, and polls. You can place them anywhere on the website with quick easy to use shortcode. Shortcodes are outputs produced by a poll created by this plugin. You can copy-paste it anywhere on the website and it will quickly fix generate the poll as you designed in the plugin backend.
Registration Plugin: You should keep an eye on who is voting and do not allow anyone to vote twice. One way of solving this problem is to make voters register with their social media profiles to be able to vote. This may sound like a difficult functionality to set up but with WordPress, it works like a charm.
All you need to do is install this plugin: Nextend Social Login and Register. Anyone who wishes to vote will have to create a profile first on the website and then be eligible to vote. Measures like these will increase the authenticity of your voting polls. Those who lose will not be able to object to the quality of the voting process.
Security Plugin: Although Siteground provides their own security but as second-level security install WordFence plugin on your voting website as well. It will boost the strength of security. You can save your voting website from inevitable hacking attempts.
Final Thoughts
Making all a voting website is a lot easier then you would have thought. One of the most common things that holds progress back is the lack of motivation to take the initiative. Take things, step by step. I would recommend that you do the first two steps in a day and then do the remaining two the next day. Within a span of few days’ time, you will have built a fully functional WordPress voting website.
