-- STEP ONE --
Select a best website platform
What is the website platform ?
Most people still think creating a site from damage is difficult or takes a whole lot of coding and design skills - but that's no more true!
In 2017, content management systems (CMS) like WordPress have made creating a site accessible to everyone.
To place simply, a content management system (or website building system) is a user-friendly system for building websites and handling your own online content, rather than utilizing a couple of loose HTML webpages.
Nearly half the web sites on the net square measure running on the WordPress website platform
Why WordPress is better than others?
- It’s entirely FREE, with various layouts to decide on from
WordPress doesn’t price a dime to transfer or install, and there’s a large community United Nations agency have designed lovely themes and templates, creating it simple to urge going quick.
- It’s extraordinarily beginner-friendly
- Small or massive site? Doesn’t matter…
- It’s mobile friendly
- There’s a large support community
But for beginners, I strongly suggest sticking to WordPress.
It’s the easiest platform I’ve ever worked with, but it’s flexible enough to suit everyone from small business owners, and freelancers to creative artists and bloggers.
In Step 2, I’ll walk you through the process of choosing a domain name and finding a space to host your site.
In Step 3, I’ll show you everything you need to know to install and customize a WordPress website. Don’t worry – I’ll walk you through the process, with lots of images as a reference.
I like to see the finished websites people build, and when I answer questions, I usually get to see the results.
-- STEP TWO --
Choose a Domain Name and Web Hosting
To get a new website online, you’re going to need two things:
- A domain name (a web address like yoursitename.com)
- Hosting (a service that stores your website files and shows them to visitors)
The WordPress platform itself is free, but a domain name and hosting will cost you around $3 – $5 a month (less than a coffee, so it won’t break the bank).
Owning your own domain name looks far more professional than having your site on someone else’s domain (like yourbusiness.com), and it’s super affordable, too.
Plus, having your own hosting will also make sure your website loads quickly and won’t go down for hours at a time (pretty important for everyone who visits your pages.)
Where do I get a domain name and hosting?
I’ve mostly used www.Bluehost.com as a web hosting and domain registrar for myself and for my clients.
Their website hosting costs lest than a movie ticket ($3.49/mo) and they throw in a FREE domain name (a nice perk to have).
Of course you can try other web hosting providers and even try to host your site by yourself, but it’s very complicated process and often wouldn’t be capable of serving your website visitors. So save yourself some money to get a proper web host.
When you get a domain name, you’ll also get a personal email account(s): you@YourSite.com – way more professional than a generic Gmail or Yahoo address.
What kind of domain name should I pick?
As an easy starting point:
- If you’re making a website for your business, your domain name should match your company name. For example: YourCompanyName.com
- If you’re planning to set up a website for yourself, then YourName.com can be a great option.
For this site (WebsiteSetup), I chose WebsiteSetup.org
Domain names usually end with .com, .org or .net, but in recent months, a huge amount of domain extensions (the end part of the web address, like .com) have come out, ranging from .agency to .pizza.
My best advice? Avoid the weird extensions and go with .com, .net or .org unless they perfectly describe what you have to offer – and even then, see if you can find a more common name.
While .com, .org and .net are commonly used and easily remembered, the domain extension craze hasn’t really gone mainstream yet – so people may not find you if you use a really different domain extension.
THINGS TO DO BEFORE NEXT STEP:
Do some quick brainstorming to come up with a unique domain name that reflects your future website, business or blog.
Register a domain name and get web hosting. For both, I recommend Bluehost.com, but you can pick any other web host as long it’s reliable and offer “one-click-WordPress” install.
-- STEP THREE --
Setting Up Your WordPress Website
Once you’ve bought your domain name and set up your hosting, you’re well on your way!
Now it’s time to get your website up and running. The first thing you’ll need to do is install WordPress to your domain.
Installing WordPress
There are two possible ways to install WordPress, one MUCH easier than the other.
01, To Create a Website with WordPress (or Joomla and Drupal), using One Click Installation:
Almost every reliable and well-established hosting company has integrated 1-click-installation for WordPress, which makes getting going a snap.
If you signed up with Bluehost or any other similar hosting company, you should find your “1-click-installation” in your account control panel.
Here are the steps you should follow (should be similar/same on all the major web hosting companies):
- 1. Log in to your hosting account (Bluehost).
- 2. Go to your Control Panel or “cPanel”.
- 3. Look for the “WordPress” icon.
- 4. Choose the domain where you want to install your website.
- 5. Click the “Install Now” button and you should get access to your NEW WordPress website.
02, Manual install (if needed)
If for some odd reason (some hosting companies don’t provide one-click-install for WordPress) you don’t have the possibility to install WordPress automatically, look this manual guide below:
1) Download WordPress from here: http://wordpress.org/download
1) Download WordPress from here: http://wordpress.org/download
2) Create a new folder on your desktop and unzip WordPress in it
3) Look for a file named wp-config-sample.php and rename it to: wp-config.php
4) Now open the wp-config.php (with notepad for example) and fill the following lines:
define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘database_name_here’); – Database name (if you don’t know it, ask this from your hosting support)
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘username_here’); – Your hosting username – contact your hosting for that.
define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘password_here’); – Your hosting password – contact your hosting for that.
After you have filled the gaps, save the file.
define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘database_name_here’); – Database name (if you don’t know it, ask this from your hosting support)
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘username_here’); – Your hosting username – contact your hosting for that.
define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘password_here’); – Your hosting password – contact your hosting for that.
5) Now log into your hosting ftp (download FileZilla for that). The FTP address is usually ftp.yourdomain.com, username and password are the same that you used to register to your host.
6) If there is any file named “index” – delete it. After that upload all the files from your WordPress folder to your FTP server. I believe you can use “drag n drop” function in FileZilla.
7) Once you have completed the previous steps, go the URL: yourdomain.com/wp-admin/install.php
This is the page you should see:
P.S. – if you plan to sell items on your site, Bluehost will ask you if you want to install WooCommerce during WordPress installation. I recommend taking this step, if necessary.
Once you’ve signed up with Bluehost and installed WordPress, you’re ready to actually start building your web pages.
Choosing a Theme/Template for your site
Once you have successfully installed WordPress to your domain, you’ll have a chance to choose a theme.
Here’s what that process will look like through Bluehost or another hosting site:
You don’t want to look like everyone else, do you?
That’s why you need a theme – a design template that tells WordPress how your website should look.
And you can change it at any time by customizing your site:
Here’s where it gets fun: There are thousands of awesome, professionally designed themes you can choose from and customize for a site that’s all your own.
Here’s how to find a theme you like:
01. Log into your WordPress dashboard
If you’re not sure how, type in: http://yoursite.com/wp-admin (replace “yoursite” with your domain).
In Bluehost, just go to the “My Sites” area and click “Manage Site” when hovering over your website icon.
Then, just click “Manage” under the Themes section.
This is what the WordPress dashboard looks like:
Everything is easily labelled.
If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, don’t sweat it – I’m going to show you where to go next.
Regardless of whether you’re accessing themes directly in WordPress or using a hosting site like Bluehost.
02. Access FREE themes
Once you’re in the dashboard, you’ve got access to over 1500 free themes! Just look along the side bar for “Appearance”, then click “Themes”.
If you want something more professional or elegant than what you find here, you can head over to ThemeForest.net where there’s a HUGE library of themes to pick from at varying costs.
But before you do that, I really suggest you at least try spending some time browsing the free themes. Many of them are actually really professional and well made; so don’t write them off.
As you can see above, installing a new theme for your website is very easy.
You can search for specific keywords and/or use filters to find themes that suit your style. Finding the perfect theme can take a while, but it’s worth it.
You should also look for themes that are “responsive”, as this means they will look good on any mobile device.
Just punch it in as one of your keywords, and you’ll be all set!
03. Install your new theme
Once you have found a theme you like, installing it is as simple as clicking “Install” followed by “Activate”.
You can preview each theme, too, so you don’t have to commit to one until you’re sure it fits your style.
IMPORTANT: Changing themes won’t delete your previous posts, pages and content. You can change themes as often as you want without having to worry about lose what you’ve created.
To preview a theme, just click on “Live Preview” to the right of the “Activate” button.
Then, you’ll be able to see exactly how your site will appear with that particular theme installed.
Congratulations !
You’re ready to launch your website
If you’ve followed the steps in this guide, you should now have a fully-functional WordPress website! Congratulations – that wasn’t so hard, was it?
If you’re using Bluehost and you’re ready to launch your site, just click the “launch” button to cause your web page go live. Don’t worry – you can always edit and customize your site later once you’ve done this.
02. Access FREE themes
Once you’re in the dashboard, you’ve got access to over 1500 free themes! Just look along the side bar for “Appearance”, then click “Themes”.
If you want something more professional or elegant than what you find here, you can head over to ThemeForest.net where there’s a HUGE library of themes to pick from at varying costs.
But before you do that, I really suggest you at least try spending some time browsing the free themes. Many of them are actually really professional and well made; so don’t write them off.
As you can see above, installing a new theme for your website is very easy.
You can search for specific keywords and/or use filters to find themes that suit your style. Finding the perfect theme can take a while, but it’s worth it.
You should also look for themes that are “responsive”, as this means they will look good on any mobile device.
Just punch it in as one of your keywords, and you’ll be all set!
03. Install your new theme
Once you have found a theme you like, installing it is as simple as clicking “Install” followed by “Activate”.
You can preview each theme, too, so you don’t have to commit to one until you’re sure it fits your style.
IMPORTANT: Changing themes won’t delete your previous posts, pages and content. You can change themes as often as you want without having to worry about lose what you’ve created.
To preview a theme, just click on “Live Preview” to the right of the “Activate” button.
Then, you’ll be able to see exactly how your site will appear with that particular theme installed.
Congratulations !
You’re ready to launch your website
If you’ve followed the steps in this guide, you should now have a fully-functional WordPress website! Congratulations – that wasn’t so hard, was it?
If you’re using Bluehost and you’re ready to launch your site, just click the “launch” button to cause your web page go live. Don’t worry – you can always edit and customize your site later once you’ve done this.
