Getting Started with WordPress
If you’re looking to create a website, there’s a good chance you’ve heard about WordPress. As of 2023, WordPress powers over 60% of all websites, from personal blogs to major news outlets. With numbers like that, it’s no wonder WordPress has become the go-to platform for launching a site.
I still remember my first attempt at setting up a WordPress site a few years back for my humble baking blog. Armed with determination and an internet connection, I was convinced I could figure it out on my own. Let’s just say it didn’t go smoothly – between struggling with domain registration and fumbling through web hosting options, it took me almost a week to get a basic site up, riddled with issues I couldn’t diagnose.
After that rocky start, I eventually got the help I needed from some WordPress-savvy friends, but I wish I had known then what I know now. Whether you’re building your first site or overhauling your online presence, setting up a WordPress site is easier when you understand the essential steps. In this beginner’s guide, I’ll walk you through the key foundations for launching and configuring your WordPress site without all the frustration I endured!
We’ll start from the ground up by covering how to:
- Choose and register a custom domain name
- Find a reliable web hosting service
- Install WordPress and log in
- Personalize your site with themes and plugins
By the end of this guide, you’ll have the fundamentals in place to build and manage a site you can be proud of. So let’s dive in to the first critical task – picking and registering your ideal domain name.
Choosing and Registering a Domain Name
The first step when setting up your WordPress website is choosing and registering a domain name. Your domain name is your website’s address on the internet – for example, wpbeginner.com or bluehost.com. When visitors type your domain name into their browser, it takes them to your site.
Choosing a good domain name is important because it’s often the first impression your site makes. You want a name that is short, easy to remember and spell, and describes what your site is about. The best domain names clearly convey a site’s purpose at a glance. For instance, if you run a blog all about WordPress, WPBeginnerBlog.com would be very fitting.
Technical Recommendations
When it comes to the technical side, there are a few key recommendations to follow:
Use .com if available. The .com top-level domain is the most recognizable, especially for commercial sites and blogs. Other options like .net or .org work too, but .com sites tend to rank better in search engines.
Keep it short. Shorter domain names are easier to remember. Aim for less than 15 characters if possible.
Check for typos. Make sure your domain doesn’t have common misspellings. These issues could cost you visitors.
Search social media handles. Try adding your potential name on platforms like Twitter and Facebook to see if usernames are available that match.
Use a domain search tool. Websites like GoDaddy allow you to enter keywords and instantly check domain availability across all extensions. This saves you time instead of manually searching each different TLD.
Registering Your Domain Name
Once you’ve brainstormed some ideas, the next step is to actually register your domain. When registering, you’ll choose 1-10 years of ownership. Longer registrations can save money compared to renewing yearly.
Popular domain registrars include:
- GoDaddy – One of the world’s largest registrars, known for affordability. Also provides hosting.
- Namecheap – Reliable registrar with competitive bulk registration pricing.
- Bluehost – Top web host that includes a free domain with all shared hosting plans.
Domain registration typically costs $12-15 per year. However, many web hosting companies offer free domains when signing up for web hosting. For example, Bluehost provides a free domain registration for one year with all of their shared WordPress hosting plans. This can save you money, especially if bundled with web hosting services you already need.
So in summary, invest effort into picking the right domain name, use .com if it aligns with your site’s purpose, keep it short and memorable, and double check for typos or trademark conflicts. Using a domain search tool can streamline the process of finding available names. And finally, consider registering your domain through your hosting provider to score a free domain registration along with web hosting essentials to power your WordPress site.
With your ideal domain name registered, you’ve completed the first step towards creating your WordPress website! The domain acts as your address on the web, directing visitors to your content. Next we’ll discuss how to find reliable web hosting for your WordPress site.
Finding a Reliable Web Host
When embarking on creating your very own WordPress website, one of the most important decisions you’ll need to make is choosing a reliable web host. The web host is the company that will actually host all the files for your WordPress site on their servers. Having a trustworthy and capable web host is critical – after all, it’s your web host keeping your site up and running 24/7.
With over 30% of all websites using Bluehost for hosting, it’s a clear front runner in the web hosting space. Bluehost offers optimized WordPress hosting plans to allow your site to handle high volumes of traffic without slowing down. Their servers utilize SSD drives for faster page loads compared to traditional hard drives. Bluehost also includes a free domain name registration for the first year. This saves you around $15 and makes getting started with your custom domain name simple and affordable.
Inmotion Hosting and SiteGround are two other reputable options to consider. Both offer managed WordPress hosting services tailored specifically for WordPress users. Prices start around $5-$6 per month if signing up for multiple years. The advantage of using an established, WordPress-focused web host like Bluehost, Inmotion, or SiteGround is that they already have the optimized server configuration and infrastructure to support a WordPress site out of the box. Their teams are also well-versed in WordPress should you ever need help troubleshooting.
When reviewing hosts, look for these key features that facilitate an optimal WordPress experience:
- Optimized WP infrastructure – Server configuration, caching, PHP versions tailored for WordPress
- SSD storage – Solid state drives for faster page load speeds
- Free domain – Domain name registration included
- Managed WP options – Hosting plans focused on supporting WordPress users
- Knowledgeable support – Experienced team that can help with WordPress
- Money-back guarantee – Test out the host risk-free
Doing a bit of research upfront is worth it to find a web host that checks these boxes. The right web hosting partner will save you headaches down the road.
While the initial upfront cost of paid WordPress web hosting may give some beginners pause, the tiny expense is well worth it. Reliable hosting gives your site the best opportunity to grow an audience and thrive over the long-term.
Installing WordPress: Getting Your Site Up and Running
Using One-Click Installers
The easiest way to get WordPress set up is by using your hosting provider’s one-click WordPress installer like Softaculous or Fantastico. These installers handle all the heavy lifting for you automatically. All you need to do is select WordPress from the list of applications and enter a few details like your site name and admin credentials. Within minutes, WordPress will be downloaded, configured, and installed without you having to touch a single line of code.
For example, Bluehost’s proprietary auto-installer is called Mojo. After signing up for web hosting, you can simply log into your account, navigate to the Mojo Installer, select WordPress from the list, and click “Install.” Bluehost will then configure your database, create all the necessary WordPress files and folders, and even install helpful plugins to get your site security tightened up. The entire process takes around 5 minutes, if not less.
Most web hosts have fantastic tutorials and step-by-step instructions for using their WordPress auto-installer. Be sure to follow your provider’s specific guidance for the smoothest installation experience.
Installing WordPress Manually
While auto-installers make setup simple, some users may prefer to install WordPress manually for fuller control and customization. Manual installation isn’t overly complex, but does require using an FTP client to access your hosting account and configure WordPress database settings yourself.
If going the manual route, begin by downloading the latest WordPress software from WordPress.org. Next, connect to your hosting account with an FTP program like FileZilla to upload the WordPress files to your server. You’ll then need to create a new database and user account within your hosting panel, and configure your WordPress wp-config.php file to connect with those credentials.
After connecting WordPress to the database, run the installation script by accessing your primary WordPress URL and entering some site details like the title and admin user information. WordPress will build the necessary database tables needed to run your site. And that’s it—your manually-installed WordPress site is ready to go!
While manual installation gives you more direct control, using your hosting provider’s auto-installer is vastly simpler for those without technical expertise. Either installation method results in the same outcome—a fully-functioning WordPress site ready to be customized however you desire.
Configuring Your New WordPress Site
Once you have WordPress installed, the fun part begins – configuring your site! This involves customizing the design, setting up your pages and menus, installing plugins and integrating with social media. Over 50% of new WordPress users activate a theme as the very first step to quickly change the look and feel of their site. With over 8,000 free and premium themes to choose from, you’re bound to find one that aligns with your brand.
I recommend checking out popular multipurpose themes like Astra, GeneratePress and OceanWP to get started. These come with a lot of customization options for colors, fonts, layouts and more, while still optimizing your site for speed and SEO best practices. Most themes nowadays are responsive as well, meaning they adapt for optimal viewing on all devices.
After activating a theme, I suggest creating your key pages and setting up the site navigation menu. These crucial pages often include:
- Homepage
- About
- Services/Products
- Contact
- Blog
You can easily add new pages by going to Pages > Add New in your WordPress dashboard. Craft compelling page titles and content to introduce site visitors to who you are and what you offer.
Then go to Appearance > Menus to add those pages to your primary site-wide navigation menu. This menu usually appears on all pages to help visitors easily move around your site. Structuring a clear IA right off the bat achieves good UX and improves SEO.
Next, extend your WordPress site’s functionality by installing some must-have plugins. Over 55,000 free and premium WordPress plugins are available, offering practically any feature you can imagine. Useful plugins to start with include:
- WPForms – add contact forms, surveys and more
- Yoast SEO – optimize content for search engines
- Google Analytics – integrate Google Analytics tracking
- Smush – compress images for faster load times
- UpdraftPlus – back up your WordPress site
Finally, connect your social media profiles like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to allow visitors to easily follow you on social from your site. Display your latest posts through Facebook’s Social Plugins or Instagram’s Feed Plugin.
With these key steps – choosing a theme, structuring your pages and menus, installing helpful plugins and connecting social media, you’ll be well on your way towards building an effective WordPress site tailored to your brand and goals.
Stay tuned for more tips in the next section on taking your fully set up WordPress site live!
Wrapping Up Your WordPress Site Setup
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations – you now have a fully functioning WordPress site! While the initial setup may have seemed daunting, hopefully this guide has shown that getting your WordPress site up and running is very manageable by breaking it down into a few key steps.
Let’s recap what we’ve covered:
- Choosing a domain name and web host to house your site
- Installing WordPress via Fantastico or manually
- Configuring those basic settings to customize your site to your liking
By following this simple process, you can have your very own WordPress site ready to fill up with content in under an hour – not bad!
Of course I can’t cover every minute detail, but this guide hits the main points you need to get started. As you use WordPress more, you’ll pick up tips and tricks along the way – half the fun is learning by doing! The WordPress community also has a wealth of resources for anything you could possibly want to tweak, update, or troubleshoot.
Now that you’re set up with the platform used by over 60% of all websites, I hope you feel empowered to share your own unique content, perspectives and creativity. We all have something valuable to say – and you’ve taken a big step by setting up this WordPress site to broadcast it to the world!
So don’t overthink it, just start creating and see where your site takes you. Stay curious, keep learning, and enjoy the journey! Here’s to many great posts to come. Cheers!
If it runs on WordPress, I can upgrade it with a dash of imagination! As a wizardly developer, I started wielding code precision from a young age purely fascinated by tech’s boundless potential. My speciality? Injecting innovation into problem-solving – seeing clunky puzzles as opportunities to pioneer platforms to new heights. I handle everything from streamlining workflows to integrating apps with finesse so functionality feels effortless on the user end.