Custom WordPress Header Guide
May 25. 2020
Do you want to leave a good first impression on your website visitors? Well, that’s kind of a superfluous question because it goes without saying that you will want to stand out from the crowd and win your visitors’ trust. But the question is how does one achieve such an intricate task? Well, that’s something that needs to be done constantly and through a couple of very important steps, but it all begins once you add a custom header to WordPress. Think about it – the header is the very first thing any website visitor will notice. So doesn’t it deserve some extra attention and effort from you? If we have you convinced, then just sit back and try to remember the process of adding a custom header to your website. Our professional WordPress team is happy to give you a breakdown of the process.
First things first – why is it important to add a custom header to WordPress?
When talking about the face of your website, we are really talking about the header. After all, it’s among the first things your website visitors will see so it’s definitely something that will draw their attention. Studies show that you have only about 10 to 20 seconds to capture your visitor’s attention – that’s how long they usually stay on a website. But if you use a custom header that’s designed with your target audience in mind, 10 to 20 seconds are all that you need.
Did you know that you don’t have to have just one header on your website? You can have a header per page which means that you can customize all of your pages. From your homepage to contact us page, you certainly have a lot of ground to cover – if you wish to do so and have enough time, of course. But if you put someone in charge of WordPress website maintenance, you will certainly have all this extra time that you can spend on customization of your website. And this is a good place for you to start.
Completing the process in two easy steps
The great thing about WordPress and default WordPress themes is that they allow you to easily add a custom header to your website. All that you need to do is go through a two-step process. That’s right – only two steps separate you from an enticing website that your visitors will love. You don’t have to guess what those steps are – we are more than happy to reveal them.
1. The first thing you need to do is to source and edit your image
Before you can add a custom header, you need to have an enticing image. The image should be simple, minimalistic, and clean – at least that’s our suggestion. It goes without saying that you can choose what you think suits your website best. The good thing is that there are many websites where you can find free images that you can use for your site. Once you spot the perfect image, you are left with the editing part.
Another great news is that there are many image editing tools available online. For example, you have GIMP – a free image editing software. These tools can do wonders when it comes to customization and editing and you can pretty much bring your vision to life.
2. Now you just have to upload the custom header
The editing part was the real and only hard work you had to do. Now you just have to log into your WordPress Dashboard and navigate to Appearance > Header. Once you see the Header Media opened, you need to access Header Image and click on Add New Image. Now you can select the image you edited a few moments ago and you can even crop it to your liking. Believe it or not, you are done. That’s how easy it was to add a custom header to WordPress.
What else can you do in order to customize the header in WordPress?
Once you upload the custom header image, you can continue with editing and customization. Hey, that’s precisely why even the most successful companies have built their websites with WordPress – because it allows you great freedom when it comes to customization. You might be left wondering what else could possibly be done when it comes to customizing the header of your website. Well, as it turns out, a lot.
For starters, you can add a text area to your header. Then, you can add social icons that will help you with branding your website across different platforms. Next, you can add a widget to the header and even reposition the logo to your liking. And wait until you hear that even adding a video isn’t out of the question. But there’s just one trick with almost all of these customization options – they require some meddling with code.
Any time you have to make any changes to code, we suggest you either approach this task with extreme focus and precision or leave it to professionals. Preferably, you would have a developer make the necessary adjustments, but you can do it on your own if you feel up to it.
Don’t waste a minute – add a custom header as soon as today
You just saw how easy it is to add a custom header to WordPress and you learned why that is an important move. So what reasons do you have to wait around and let someone else’s website outshine yours? Instead, sit down, pick an image, edit it to your liking, and finish off with advanced customization options. By doing this, you will change the face of your business – for the better.