A STEP BY STEP GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS
Have you been thinking about building a blog, but you're not sure where to begin, how to host a website, what it means to choose a domain, or how to design a website? You're tired of working hard for someone else's business and wishing you were out there traveling and making money like you see other people doing! Let me help you take that first step, make a commitment to begin NOW!
You came to the right place to get started! You don't need to know anything about web design to begin - I promise. I didn't know the first thing about any of this before I started and I spent so much time reading overwhelming articles with way too much information - that I was getting discouraged by the end of reading it. So I am writing the below steps as simple and straight forward as possible for you to understand the first basic steps you need to take to get started now!
There are three main steps you should consider when creating a blog and learning how to host a website: you have to choose a web host, a domain name, and an application to create and manage your website with.
You came to the right place to get started! You don't need to know anything about web design to begin - I promise. I didn't know the first thing about any of this before I started and I spent so much time reading overwhelming articles with way too much information - that I was getting discouraged by the end of reading it. So I am writing the below steps as simple and straight forward as possible for you to understand the first basic steps you need to take to get started now!
There are three main steps you should consider when creating a blog and learning how to host a website: you have to choose a web host, a domain name, and an application to create and manage your website with.
Receive 60% off your blog StartUp cost for a limited time by clicking above!
STEP 1: CHOOSE YOUR WEB HOSTING
SiteGround has three plans that you can sign up for to host your website! They're offering 60% off the normal StartUp rate right now - which is amazing!! I'm going to break down and guide you through each step to make this process even easier!
- CHOOSE A PLAN
- The StartUp plan is perfect if you are starting now and only plan on having one website. (My recommendation if this is your first website!)
- The GrowBig plan is a great value for money offer, including the option for multiple websites and the SuperCacher that greatly improves a WordPress website speed. (Don't worry if that sentence confuses you!)
- The GoGeek plan is perfect for people with e-commerce and larger sites, or more geeky development needs like staging and GIT integration. (Most likely not for you.)
Once you have clicked here - it will open a new screen and take you to the SiteGround web hosting page (pictured below). This is where you choose your blog name and get your new site live!
- Click the “Get Started” button under StartUp. This is the cheapest SiteGround plan and it’s perfect for beginners. Only $3.95 per month for a limited time offer!
- Start up plans include: free domain registration. I will explain domains in step 3.
STEP 2: COMPLETE YOUR ORDER
Unlike many other hosting providers out there the advertised discount applies to any of the initial periods chosen during the signup process. This is a great savings because you are able to get the low price for a 12 -36 month period instead of just one month!
- Enter in all of the blank fields on the "Complete Your Order" page. (Shown Below)
- Sign up for at least 12 months so you get the monthly discount, free domain registration, set up fee waived, and free help from SiteGround along the way!
- Make sure you tick the box next to " I confirm that I have read and agree to the SiteGround Terms of Service."
- Click the "PAY NOW" button.
Once your order is processed (should take no more than 30 seconds) you will be taken to "Set Up Your New Startup Hosting Account (pictured below). Two emails will also be sent to you - first will be the sales receipt and second will be your order confirmation.
STEP 3: CHOOSE YOUR DOMAIN NAME
The domain name is the name of your blog, website, company, and brand! It is also the web address a visitor types into the address bar of a web browser (Google, Yahoo, Etc.) in order to get to the website. It is the wording that goes between "www." and the ".com."
Choose one of the 3 options:
Choose one of the 3 options:
- I already have a domain - you will choose this if you have previously bought a domain or you currently have a blog/website that is live and you want to move it to WordPress now.
- Register a new domain - you will choose this if you are completely new to all of this or you know what a domain is, but you haven't registered one yet.
- Decide later - you will choose this if you would like to complete other steps in setting up your website first and come back after you have had time to think about what your new domain name will be!
There are over 50 million domain names that have been registered worldwide and thousands of new ones are added each day. You will need to be creative to find a domain name that is not in use already. For example something like www.travel.com will already be taken - but try adding a word with travel that is unique and you might have more luck! Take your time and don't get discouraged.
When you choose your domain name, make sure it is relevant to the content you will have on your blog. For example mine is "Unfolding Road" because my main focus is to share with you how I am unfolding my road through traveling and coaching others on how to earn money as well! We are all constantly creating and choosing how we live our lives and to me Unfolding Road explains that journey.
When you choose your domain name, make sure it is relevant to the content you will have on your blog. For example mine is "Unfolding Road" because my main focus is to share with you how I am unfolding my road through traveling and coaching others on how to earn money as well! We are all constantly creating and choosing how we live our lives and to me Unfolding Road explains that journey.
- Type in the blog name that you decided on in between the field www. and .com and click confirm.
You are going to have 1 of 2 things happen to you.
- The domain name you chose is available and you can move onto the next step as shown above.
- The domain name you chose is already in use by someone else and you need to choose a different name as shown below.
Once you have decided on your new domain name that is available you will move onto "Set Up Your Website."
STEP 4: SET UP YOUR WEBSITE - Install WordPress
Onto the fun stuff! Now you know how to host a website and you have paid for at least 1 year of hosting at the discounted rate and you have chosen your domain name! Now you need a way to create your website! This is what WordPress is for and in a non nerdy way it would be explained as one of the easiest and more powerful blogging and website content management systems available.
WordPress allows you to build a website without knowing any crazy coding and confusing computer talk. This is how you will make your blog posts, add photos, and anything else you have planned for your new website! Oh and the best part - it's completely free!
There are other website platforms available that will look enticing because of their easy to use templates and compelling advertisements. (ie: Weebly, Squarespace, Wix, WebsiteBuilder, Jimdo, Sitey, and more.) But I promise you, if you are serious about making this happen and investing your time in the most efficient way - CHOOSE WORDPRESS! I'm going to say it again - CHOSE WORDPRESS! I am not being paid to say this, I am saying this because I first chose Weebly and it worked great, but once you start making some movement and gaining traffic - you will realize that Weebly and the others don't move with you like WordPress does. They have rules that don't allow you to format the pages the way you want and some of the best SEO (search engine optimization) plugins aren't available, and you start to realize that you are going to have to rebuild your entire website! This is what I did, when I was first learning and why I am writing this very detailed article. I want to help you start the best way possible and let you learn from my mistakes, instead of making them yourselves.
I would only recommend Weebly or some of the other platforms if you are only planning on building out a blog/website for yourself and/or other close friends. A website that you aren't building a business on and that you don't want to drive traffic to later on. Maybe you just want to build a page for your wedding, a creative space to write down your thoughts, or an area to showcase your photography! Only then would I recommend anything other than WordPress.
WordPress is an open platform with so much freedom to grow and definitely the most popular and user friendly software for bloggers!
Now let's install WordPress with the steps below!
WordPress allows you to build a website without knowing any crazy coding and confusing computer talk. This is how you will make your blog posts, add photos, and anything else you have planned for your new website! Oh and the best part - it's completely free!
There are other website platforms available that will look enticing because of their easy to use templates and compelling advertisements. (ie: Weebly, Squarespace, Wix, WebsiteBuilder, Jimdo, Sitey, and more.) But I promise you, if you are serious about making this happen and investing your time in the most efficient way - CHOOSE WORDPRESS! I'm going to say it again - CHOSE WORDPRESS! I am not being paid to say this, I am saying this because I first chose Weebly and it worked great, but once you start making some movement and gaining traffic - you will realize that Weebly and the others don't move with you like WordPress does. They have rules that don't allow you to format the pages the way you want and some of the best SEO (search engine optimization) plugins aren't available, and you start to realize that you are going to have to rebuild your entire website! This is what I did, when I was first learning and why I am writing this very detailed article. I want to help you start the best way possible and let you learn from my mistakes, instead of making them yourselves.
I would only recommend Weebly or some of the other platforms if you are only planning on building out a blog/website for yourself and/or other close friends. A website that you aren't building a business on and that you don't want to drive traffic to later on. Maybe you just want to build a page for your wedding, a creative space to write down your thoughts, or an area to showcase your photography! Only then would I recommend anything other than WordPress.
WordPress is an open platform with so much freedom to grow and definitely the most popular and user friendly software for bloggers!
Now let's install WordPress with the steps below!
HOW TO HOST A WEBSITE
You should already be logged in - but if you are having any issues go to the home page and enter your username and password where the box shows above.
- Choose "Start a new website"
- Then click the WordPress box
- Leave the "other software" box alone and leave it as shown above.
Now are are choosing your login details for your WordPress account. (This is different from your SiteGround details.)
- Fill in the 4 boxes with your information
- Click the confirm button
Next you'll be asked to "Enhance Your Account."
- Leave these unchecked for now - you can always come back later and sign up for them if needed.
- Click the Confirm button
- Now the Complete Setup Button at the bottom of the page should be available to click
- Click Complete Setup
You will now be brought a new page! This is the User Area where you are going to install WordPress. Click the “My Accounts” tab as shown below. Here you will see a red button click that says “Go To cPanel”.
- Click "Go to cPanel (red button)
The screen that now comes up is the backend of your website where you will control your blog! To install WordPress:
- Scroll down and look for the "AUTOINSTALLERS” heading
- Now look for the button that says “Softaculous” and click it
A new screen will appear once you click "Softaculous" with the different Top Script softwares that are available to install.
- You are going to hover over the WordPress icon and click "install"
You're almost finished with the installation!! The final page (shown below) is theWordPress Software Setup screen.
- Fill in all of the boxes to complete the setup of your new account
- Use the examples & directions below to help guide you through filling the boxes in correctly
- Once the boxes are all filled in, click "install"
Once you hit install you will receive a message saying "Congratulations, the software was installed successfully!"
You did it! You now have your very own website and a space to design and create all of your visions on!
You did it! You now have your very own website and a space to design and create all of your visions on!
Receive 60% off your blog StartUp cost for a limited time by clicking above!
Need more information after your website is set up?
To help you start using your hosting account and Customer Area right away, check out SiteGrounds step-by-step Getting Started Guide!
To help you start using your hosting account and Customer Area right away, check out SiteGrounds step-by-step Getting Started Guide!
STEP 5: WORDPRESS THEMES
Alright, so you signed up for everything above and now you "have" your website.... but wait... now what? Don't worry, I'm going to walk you through a VERY crucial decision! These are the exact steps I have taken and the products that I have narrowed down to after reviewing the very saturated market. I will always only promote what I am using and believe in.
This next step is the creative part - choosing the style you want your readers to see. Now you need to sign into your WordPress account that you just created.
This next step is the creative part - choosing the style you want your readers to see. Now you need to sign into your WordPress account that you just created.
- Open a new browser and type in the domain you chose in the above steps.
- Example: www.nameyouchose.com/admin. So mine would be "www.unfoldingroad.com/admin."
The WordPress login page will appear as pictured below.
- Type in the username and password that you chose in the sign up process in step 4.
You will then be brought to your WordPress Dashboard. This is where you are going to manage everything that goes into your new website - it will take a little getting used to - but once you start playing around everything will start to make sense.
The first important step you need to take is choosing a theme!
The first important step you need to take is choosing a theme!
- Hover over "appearance" tab on the left
- Click "theme"
- On the theme page the comes up, now click the "add new theme" box
Now you have a lot of themes to choose from here.... but before you go any further I can't stress enough the importance of choosing the right theme and it is much more than just appearance. So once again you are faced with another decision to make with a thousand options - because there are many WordPress theme companies out there and there are the ones that WordPress has for you already.. But I'm going to make it simple for you!
I use and highly recommend www.ElegantThemes.com! These design templates make a very complicated task easy! You can literally just input their themes into your WordPress account and fully customize them in real time. No more back end designing and then guessing what it will look like once you publish your site.
Elegant Theme's WordPress themes are powered by the Divi Builder - an insanely fast and incredibly intuitive front end editor with hundreds of customization options, all of which are available with live previews. It will change the way you build websites forever. Also "Extra" focuses specifically on tailoring its style to fit the needs of bloggers and online publications and integrates with WooCommerce which is the most powerful eCommerce plugin for WordPress and so many other game changing plugins.
Forget about learning coding and all of that confusing computer talk and reward yourself with making this purchase and save yourself so much time!
Elegant Theme's WordPress themes are powered by the Divi Builder - an insanely fast and incredibly intuitive front end editor with hundreds of customization options, all of which are available with live previews. It will change the way you build websites forever. Also "Extra" focuses specifically on tailoring its style to fit the needs of bloggers and online publications and integrates with WooCommerce which is the most powerful eCommerce plugin for WordPress and so many other game changing plugins.
Forget about learning coding and all of that confusing computer talk and reward yourself with making this purchase and save yourself so much time!
Another huge perk is that Elegant Themes has the best support system, with their live chat feature at anytime if you get confused, something goes wrong, or you have question - they are there to help you night and day! Free support? Count me in!
You want to take your time and make the right decisions in the beginning when it comes to the power of your design - because this is one of the most important factors that will determine the successfulness of your site. Check out their awesome tutorial videos explaining everything in a fun and understandable way! Watch Tutorials Here!
You want to take your time and make the right decisions in the beginning when it comes to the power of your design - because this is one of the most important factors that will determine the successfulness of your site. Check out their awesome tutorial videos explaining everything in a fun and understandable way! Watch Tutorials Here!
Any affiliate links on Unfolding Road won't cost readers extra & in return help to keep building the website! All articles are written by me and always reflect my personal opinions and suggestions - thank you!
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