Do you want to know what it takes to create your first website? I have created several WordPress and Static websites by doing it myself. The way I learned how to create a WordPress site myself was by reading a blog post like this, watching video training, and making a few mistakes along the way. So, I am confident you can do it if I can.
In this post, I will summarize the four steps to creating a website using WordPress. We are going to use the self-hosted version of WordPress. The self-hosted version is a website that you will host at a hosting company and install WordPress on the hosting site. We will discuss a hosted website in another post.
Step 1: Find and Register a Domain Name
A domain name is an address to your website. This is how others will find your website on the world wide web. It is like your home address in that if you give someone your home address and enter the address into a GPS system or locate it on a paper map they can find your home. If someone enters your domain name into the search bar of Google they will be able to find your website.
You can obtain a domain name by registering your domain name at a registrar like GoDaddy or Namecheap. You can also register your domain name through the same company that you purchase your hosting.
Selecting the actual name for your domain name should either represent your business or could be your name (i.e… chuckclicks.com). When you register your domain name it is set up for a minimum of an annual renewal cost of between $10-15 a year. Some hosting companies will offer a free domain for the first year with your hosting purchase.
Step 2: Purchase Hosting
Hosting is the home of your website. This is like your home computer in the fact that you have files and applications on your computer that you can access any time you need them. Hosting is the same concept, you have several WordPress files, images, written content, and functions on the hosting server (bigger PC) that make your website available to you and others on the web. There are many options when selecting hosting, I have used GoDaddy, Host Gator, and Blue Host and have found that they provide a good service.
Step 3: Connect Domain Name to Hosting
If you registered your domain name and purchased your hosting at different companies, you must connect the domain and host together. This is done by adding the hosting company name server address to the domain name you purchased at the registrar company, Custom DNS for your new domain.
Step 4: Install WordPress
There are two normal ways you can install WordPress, Hosting company automated script or manual install. In this section, we will discuss the automated scripts to install WordPress provided by the Hosting company.
Most hosting companies provide automated scripts, that only require a click of a button and the WordPress dashboard and database environment are created in less than five minutes.
Conclusion
In this post, I summarized the four steps required to build a WordPress website. I hope this post gave you enough information that you will consider creating your own website as I have done. Like I have told my students to go mess something up, that is the way you learn.
P.S.
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