How To Start A WordPress Website
the quick guide
#01
Choose A Domain Name
Pick out a domain name for your new site. An example of a domain name is dinosaurstew.com or ilovepizza.com. You can also use a domain name with a different extension, like ilovepizza.org
If you need help selecting yours, check out Choosing The Perfect Domain Name.
You can register the domain name through your hosting company (see step two), or purchase through a different vendor like GoDaddy or Namecheap.
#02
Choose A WEB HOST
It’s like paying rent: in exchange for a monthly (or annual) payment, you get your very own space that you can make your home.
Hosting Recommendations:
- Siteground*: a long-time favorite around here; prices are great the first year but jump up after
- FlyWheel: another option we like
- Kinsta: recommended for “heavy” websites, like ecommerce sites
- Nixihost: a reliable no-nonsense hosting company based in Texas (only recommended for tech-savvy people or if you are working one-on-one with us, as one-click staging environments are not available like on the other hosts)
Which Hosting Plan Is Right For Me?
Just Starting Out?
The most basic plan is usually all you need (you can always upgrade later)!
- At Siteground, look for Managed WordPress hosting – StartUp or GrowBig (we like GrowBig for the staging capabilities, although you may not even need it if you are starting from scratch)
- At Flywheel, look for Managed WordPress hosting – Tiny plan
- At Kinsta, look for the Starter plan
Adding A Shop/Ecommmerce?
WordPress’s premier ecommerce plugin, WooCommerce, demands more resources than simple sites. Be prepared to spend more on web hosting, and you may outgrow your plan quickly depending on the amount of traffic you get and how robust your set up is.
- At Siteground, look for Managed WordPress hosting – GrowBig or GoGeek
- At Kinsta, you can begin with the Starter plan but be prepared to upgrade after launching!
Already Have A Website, Just Changing Hosts?
Consider things like: how much traffic your website gets each month, the bandwidth you require, the storage you require, etc.
If you aren’t sure what web host’s plan fits your needs best, get in touch with them and they can make a recommendation!
#03
Install WordPress
Most web hosts make installing WordPress incredibly easy.
After you purchase your web hosting plan, follow your host’s onboarding process to get this set up.
#04
Design It
If you fancy, choose from one of our WordPress themes. You’ll get detailed documentation and videos to help set up your new look, plus access to a bunch of other helpful resources.
#05
Launch It!
Once you’ve got your website looking just right, you’re ready to launch it!
Time to celebrate!
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