Step 4: Replace the examples

Your site came with a few example entries. They are on your live website now, so this is the step that matters most.

The rule for every one of them: make your own entry first, then move the example to the Trash.

Why not just type over it

Because of the address. The example service lives at yoursite.com/services/example-service, and typing your own name into it does not move it. You would be handing customers a link with the word example in it.

A new entry gets a clean address built from the name you type.

The checklist

1. Services

Two example services are published. Open Services.

• Click Add New and write up one real job you do.
• Give it a Short summary, an Image and a Price from if you have one.
• Click Save. Then click Publish now, and Publish now again in the box that opens.
• Repeat until every job you want work for is listed.
• Move both EXAMPLE services to the Trash.

Three or four services read better than ten. Put the money-makers first with Sort order.

2. Testimonials

One example quote is published. Open Testimonials.

• Add the real quotes you have, one entry each.
• A first name and a last initial is plenty in Customer name.
• Move the EXAMPLE quote to the Trash.

To ask a customer for a review, see Testimonials.

No real reviews yet? Move the example one to the Trash and come back when you have one. An empty section is better than a fake one.

3. Service Area

The list of towns in your footer. It holds two example rows. Open Service Area.

• Type your own towns over the example rows.
• Add a row for each town you cover.
• Click Publish changes, then Publish changes again in the box that opens.

This is a list, not a set of pages, so typing over a row is fine here.

4. Town pages

One example town page is published, and it has an address of its own. Open Service Area Pages.

• Add a page for a town worth a real push, if you want one.
• Move the EXAMPLE town page to the Trash.

Most businesses need one or two of these, and some need none. Moving the example one to the Trash and stopping there is a fine answer.

5. Food menus

Skip this unless Menus (Food) is in your menu.

Your site starts with one example menu and one example section. The section is a draft, so nobody can see it yet. Open Menus (Food) and Menu Sections (Food).

• Rename the menu, or add your own and trash the example.
• Add a section for each part of your menu, with your dishes in it.
• Type prices the way you want them read, such as $4.50.
• Move anything named EXAMPLE to the Trash.

6. Add-on content

Skip this unless one of these screens is in your menu.

• Commerce holds three EXAMPLE products on its Products tab. All three are drafts, so nobody can see them. Add your own, then move all three to the trash. See Products and plans.
• Projects holds one EXAMPLE project, and it is published. Add a real job first, then move the example to the Trash. See Projects.
• Posts holds one EXAMPLE post, and it is published too. Write your own first, then move the example to the Trash. See Posts.
• Categories may hold one EXAMPLE category, and Tags two example tags, EXAMPLE and Replace me. They come with Posts and Projects. Rename them for your own work, or delete them. See Categories and Tags.

7. Team

Your site comes with a Team page, and Team is in your top menu and often in your footer. The page starts with nobody on it. Until you add someone, it tells visitors that no team members are published yet.

• Add the people you want to show. Go to Plugins, then Team. It sits in the Content Tools group. See Team.
• Or, if you work alone, take Team out of your menus. See Menus.

What done looks like

Open each of those lists and look down the All tab. Not one row starts with EXAMPLE.

Then click View Site and read your Services page. It should read like your business and nobody else’s.

Next: Step 5: Read every page.