Would you like know the steps you have to take to create a website
all on your own? Really, there are just five simple steps you need to
follow to design one easily and effortlessly.
What five steps do you need to take to make your own website so that others may see what you have to say or even sell?
Step 1 – Register Your Domain Name
Step 2 – Setup Your Hosting Account
Step 3 – Set The Domain Servers At The Registrar
Step 4 – Installing WordPress In A Few Clicks
Step 5 – Configure WordPress
Yep its pretty simple, just by following these 5 steps we will have your site up and running in no time.
Step 1 – Register Your Domain Name
It doesn’t matter if you’re building a personal or business website,
you need to have a good domain name. For example, if your business name
is Freelance Writer Mom, then it’s best to register your domain name as
freelancewriter.com or freelancewriter.net. If that’s unavailable, then
you could add something to the end of it. Or, if you want, you can add
in your town or state to the end of it such as
freelancewriterArkansas.com or freelancewritermomArkansas.com… or
something like this.
There are heaps of concepts and designs out there. All you’ll need to
do is have a few ideas and then test them at the relevant websites to
see if those domains are available.
Of course, you can always get an unrelated website domain such as www.mywebsiteishere.com or mywebsiteisthebest.com
There are many websites that can help you register a domain name, although one of the best domain registrars to choose is
Godaddy.com
. You can simply register and secure your domain name for under $12 sometimes cheaper depending on the deals they have.
Simply go to
www.GoDaddy.com and you will see a screen that looks like the picture below; enter your desired name into the box and press GO!
If your domain name is available there will be a screen that looks
like this, simply press the ADD button and it will continue onto the
registration process. If you choose a domain that is already taken just
keep trying until you find one that is available.
You will be presented with a bunch of offers throughout the process, I
would recommend to decline them all at this stage as you can come back
at a later stage to add the different things if you like, Godaddy is a
really good domain registrar but I would recommend also to try a
different company for web hosting (you will see why later). Once you
have purchased the domain and everything is processed you should receive
an email with all your relevant info.
Great work, you have now purchased your domain!
Step 2 – Setup Your Hosting Account
Ok now that you’ve got your domain name registered and ready to go,
you’ll need to host it somewhere. To get your website published on the
web, you’re going to need to purchase a web hosting account and then
upload it to the internet. How do you pick from all the different ones
available? It’s actually really easy, there are 2 main rules you should
follow when deciding on the best hosting company to use.
1. Avoid cheap offers from non reputable companies
2. Pick a well established, highly regarded company
We recommend our customers use a well priced and established company called
Hostgator.
They are extremely dependable and provide users all kinds of hosting
plans to choose from. They offer 24/7 support which is good because
they are available anytime of the day to answer your questions or
concerns. Make sure you do a bit of searching around because you are
bound to find a bunch of hosts that offer really low prices. Look
closely at these companies and make sure they are actually worth the
price you pay. The main thing you are looking for is a service that
ensures your website runs smoothly and wont have a lot of down time. If
a hosting company has these problems avoid them at all costs! As I
also use
Hostgator
for my hosting, I can honestly say they are the best company to deal
with and offer the best support to ensure your website runs smoothly all
the time.
How Do You Setup Your Hostgator Account?
Firstly you will need to go to the hostgator website by clicking this link:
www.Hostgator.com.
When you get there click on
“View Web Hosting Plans” and then you will see a screen like this:
We will use the
“Hatchling Plan” to begin with as we only have the one domain to host, so decide how long you want to run for and hit the
“Order Now” button.
As we have already purchased our domain use the box on the right and enter our domain we just purchased and press
“Continue To Step 2″.
Hot Tip – If you sign up for 2 years you will instantly save 35 dollars
We have secured a 25% discount code for all our customers so enter the words
WEBSITECREATION like the picture shows below to secure your immediate discount.
Fill in all the account information and once you are done hit Create
Account and you are ready to roll. You should receive an email with all
relevant information in it, keep this in a safe place as we need the
details in step 3 and for your future reference.
See how easy it is to do, it took you about 10 minutes or so to do these first 2 steps. Well Done!
Step 3 – Set The Name Servers At The Registrar
Next, you’ll need to alter the Domain Name Servers at the domain
register. Once the Hostgator sends you the Account Login Information
email, you’ll find those name server specifics, which usually begin with
“NS1, NS2, NS12, etc. If you can’t find this information, be sure to
talk with them either by email or phone and they’ll provide you with the
information associated with the hosting account.
So go to godaddy.com and log in with your details.
1 – Once logged in, hover over the Domain tab and then click Domain
Management. There, you’ll have a list of domain names that you
registered with the company.
2 – Highlight the Domain name and click on it.
3 – On the next page (see pic), where it says name servers, click the tab that says Set Name Servers
4 – Click the tab that says I have specific nameservers for my domains
5 – In the boxes named
Nameserver 1 and
Nameserver 2
enter the details that were sent to you when you signed up for your
Hostgator account then click ok. (It should be in your email)
That’s it, your are done for now it may take some time to become active, sometimes up to 48 hours but usually its a lot quicker.
If you’re having difficulties changing your Name Servers, get in
touch with Hostagor so they can walk you through the process. Their
support system is fantastic for people wanting some assistance or use
our contact us page and we will be happy to assist you at any stage of
the process.
Step 4 – Installing WordPress
WordPress is a blogging platform that allows you to effortlessly
choose the design and theme for your website. It also allows you to
create pages for it and publish them online with little effort. To get
WordPress installed on your website, you’ll need to go to the cPanel on
the hosting account. Bear in mind that you have to wait until after the
48 hours at the most (it’s usually sooner) of changing your Name Servers
to do this. Once you can, open cPanel through the URL. (Ex.
www.yourdomainnamehere.com/cpanel).
If you have successfully changed the Name Servers, you’ll get a popup
that will ask for a username and password for the cPanel. Refer back to
the account information email you received from hostgator, all your
relevant details should be in that email.
1. Once you can log into the cPanel using the URL, head to the Fantastico De Luxe option by clicking on it.
2. When it opens, find the WordPress option under Blogs.
3. Choose WordPress and then on New Installation.
4. On the next page, choose the domain name you’ll be installing
WordPress on. Be sure you type in your email address, powerful password
and any information that’s requested. Keep in mind that you can change
these later on using the WordPress Admin panel once you’ve installed it.
Now, press “Install WordPress” to see the last page.
5. Now, choose “Finish Installation” so that WordPress will be entirely installed onto the domain.
6. That’s it great work, when you visit your website, you’ll find the default WordPress blog page with a greeting.
If you see that, you know you’ve installed it correctly. It’s not
uncommon for a delay in WordPress showing up; it all depends on the
server configuration of hostagtor. If you still can’t see it, be sure to
clear out your browser cookies and cache but if you have followed these
4 steps correctly you should be all good in 24 hours at the latest. If
you are having any difficulties send us an email anytime and we will
assist you, our aim is to get you up and running as fast as we can with
your own website.
Step 5 – Setup WordPress and Publish Your Website
After you have installed WordPress, you’ll need to do the following things:
– Configure WordPress
– Select Design
– Contribute Content
- Publish
A – When you need to configure WordPress, you’ll need to log into the
admin area by typing in your actual domain name and then after the
.com, type in /wp-admin. After you do this, find the “configure various
settings” button using the Settings option.
B – When you’re ready to choose a design, do the following things:
Appearances, Themes, Install Themes. When you get to the Install Themes
option, you can pick a variety of things for your website. If you need
help, choose “Find Themes”.
Just choose the theme you like best and hit install. Once it’s done,
activate it. If you don’t like it, continue doing this step until you
find one you like. Go to Appearance, Themes and Manage Themes to keep
track of all of them.
C – Once you have your theme, go to “Pages, Add New”. Here, you’ll be
able to give a page its heading and page content. You can alter the
font, colors and whatever else from the toolbar. Once you’re happy with
what you have laid out, hit the PUBLISH button to publish the page. Be
sure you design your other pages in exactly the same way.
D – Once this is done, go to option front page and adjust the radio button choice from “A Static Page” from “Your Latest Posts”.
E – Choose the “Page Name” from the “Front Page” selection. This
tells the program want to show as the homepage. Now, hit the Save
Changes button and voila! Your site is now available for all to see!
Whenever you want to alter your pages, you can do so anytime you
want. Everything about your site is under your control so you can update
it anytime you feel the need to. Keep in mind that WordPress is
extremely popular with thousands of designs, features and plugins. Just
remember to play with it and you’ll learn something new each time you
do.
There are a multitude of things that can be done within the WordPress
admin area and additional help will be available soon. If you have any
problems, be sure to ask. If you have questions regarding what to do
after you’ve done the five steps above, check out the other tutorials
offered. You can also speak with us about any problems or questions you
have regarding the creation and publication of your website.
