There are many ways to prepare yourself in case of a zombie apocalypse. It might sound silly to prepare for something that may never happen, but if it does happen a lot of people would regret not being prepared. This is what I would do if ever there was a zombie apocalypse.
1) Watch the news
Watching the news or television in the morning or at the end of the day could better your chances at knowing what's going on in the world. If you don't watch the news or the TV, keep an eye on what's going on outside. If there are people running around and cars speeding past then it may be time to take action.
2)Time to take action
If you knew for sure there were zombies running about grab a weapon and alert anyone else in the house. Make sure your weapon is sturdy and long enough so that they can't bite you. Hopefully you have a gun in the house that you know how to load and use.
3)Protect your body
A long and tough pair of work gloves will protect your hands and some of your arms. If you're using a gun you probably shouldn't wear gloves unless you cut the fingers off them. As long as some of your body is guarded it will better your chances. Good running tennis shoes are great and tough pants might stop their bite some. If they do break your skin through tough work pants the saliva may not soak through the tough material which could prevent infection.
4)Know where to secure a fort
If I had to secure a fort in the zombie apocalypse I would build it in a field so that you can see all around for miles. Being taken off guard is something no one would want. The best way to see how many zombies there would be in any area is to go to Google maps, click satellite view, and type in "hardware store." Zoom out on the country and you'll see how many hardware stores there are. Where there are hardware stores, there are people. Don't build anywhere near these red dots on the map. I would find a single hardware store in a small town for my supplies, instead of running into a Home Depot or a Lowes in the middle of a screaming mob of people and zombies. Though, popular stores like those would carry more supplies. Also, the internet won't be up for long so having a place picked out now is better. What I have done is picked out a place of low population, isn't near any other towns, it has a hardware store, and an airfield.
5)People with you
If you have a good amount of people tracking along you should find time to do body checks. There is a greater risk of someone in your group being infected than you might think. But, having a lot of people along isn't necessarily a bad thing. More people means you'll have more help building a new living space and securing it. It also means you have a better chance of surviving in a group. If a zombie had to pick you out of a group of ten the chances are much better than being grabbed out of a group of three.
6)Wait for help?
Waiting for the government can be a fatal move. You need to eliminate the zombies in your surrounding area. Don't let the horde grow to a great number. See one, kill it. See ten, kill ten. Everyt ime a new one arrives have your best shot be a sniper on the roof or behind the fence. Always have guards around your perimeter. If you have lumber available, a guard tower would be better. (If you chose a bomb shelter to hide out in with a lot of food, you can just wait it out down there without ever having to kill a zombie. Zombies "might" die of starvation, but then again we don't really know.)
7)Best ways to kill a zombie
Of course you can strike it or shoot it in the head which damages the brain. But mainly there are far too many to kill and only so many bullets to go around. Guns should be kept for back up, and axes/bats/spears/swords/etc. should be your back up's back up. The best way to kill zombies is like in Dawn of the Dead where they used propane tanks. If they would have used those tanks before hand they would have been able to go get more supplies and rescue more town people. Anything can be used for bombs these days. Aerosol cans- hairspray cans, spraypaint cans, deodorant cans, and the like- can explode under extreme heat or pressure. There are also fireworks which would be an awesome way to kill a crowd of zombies.
8)Better your chances for survival
Don't sit around playing basketball or golfing- let alone messing with the zombies. I repeat- kill, kill, kill. It's be or be killed in a zombie apocalypse. It's a war every day until you're sure there are no more. The best way is to just stay put in your locked down fort, kill all that come around it for a set amount of time, when the time is right expand your fort's diameter, making it more and more secure, getting more and more of the city back, more and more of the world back, always keeping guard for stray zombies that were locked in closets or stores. Security cameras all around the perimeter will alert you to danger, so these would be helpful also.
Eventually you'll get houses back, and other stores with canned foods that stay good forever, more weapons and supplies, more survivors. As long as you keep checking your group with small medical checks- making sure there's no one inside that's infected- then the world will gradually come back into our control. Never stop killing them and always have someone watch your back.