BUILD YOUR OWN WEBSITE FOR FREE We appreciate you taking the time to go through our step by step guide to make a website of your own. We have tried to make this website a simple step by step process, so you can complete it in your own time and at your own pace. But if you are still having problems getting through it please don’t hesitate contacting us as we are here to help you and we will ensure you get your website up and running in no time. In this tutorial today there are 3 simple steps we will be running through, now they are all very basic, but I will point out that the first step is the most important as this is the process of choosing your domain name and hosting your website. Choosing the right host will enable you to have a website that operates efficiently with very little, if any downtime. Some of the things we look for in a host are: • Do they offer A Grade service? • What is their downtime record? • Do they offer 24/7 phone and internet support? Throughout your guide today we will recommend Hostgator for your domain purchase and also the hosting of your website. We have saved you the time and effort and have done the research for you, these guys answer all those questions above correctly. And after years of trying out a range of different companies for ourselves we can honestly say Hostgator is the best hosting provider in the industry. Are you ready to Begin? Fantastic then let’s get going!!
1 – Choose Your Domain and Host Your Website Ok so the first thing we need to do is head over to Hostgator to go through the domain purchase and hosting procedure.
Click Here To Go To Hostgator.com Hostgator are one of the most respected hosting providers on the internet today, and when we purchase our domain and hosting through them they make the process so much simpler. Now Click On “View
Web Hosting Plans”
Because today we are just starting off and buying our first website, we recommend choosing the “Hatchling Plan”. It is one of their smaller and cheaper plans, but if we need additional products we can always add to it later.
Hot Tip!! – If you register for 2 years today you will save 35 dollars off your hosting instantly. It’s an absolute fantastic deal that you will only find here. Now you should see the Hostgator Order Wizard Page
So the first thing to do is enter your domain you wish to purchase into the search bar like is shown and Hostgator will tell you whether or not that domain is available to purchase. Sometimes, the ones you want are taken, so you need to keep trying until you find something you are happy with and that is available. Then just pick your package type and billing cycle, here you will receive the best deal if you sign up for 3 years, but from our experience anything over 12 months is a pretty good deal from Hostgator, so please feel free to choose something you are happy with. Now complete all of the billing information and then lastly you will need to enter in your coupon code to received additional discounts. All our customers are given an additional 25% discount if they use our coupon code so please be sure to use it is a fantastic offer. In the coupon code box enter the code “WEBSITESPECIALIST� to secure your discount straight away.
Once you are happy and you have entered in all of your details just press the Create Account button and then you are done, you have just purchased your first domain and your hosting for your website. You will receive some information from Hostgator in your email with your login details and passwords etc, so make sure you put these in a safe place because you will need them in the future and for the next step. Simple, Hey!! In the last 10-15 minutes you have bought your domain and setup your hosting. Great Work. Now onto Step 2, but before we do you may need to wait before we can continue, Hostgator will need to finalise the hosting setup from their end, before you can continue. You may also need to confirm your details with them, but they will contact you via email if they need anything.
2 – WordPress Installation WordPress is the simplest form of website platforms available at no cost. It is used by people of all skill levels, from experienced web developers, to beginners. Over the years WordPress has become the best content management system for all websites and blogs. It is customizable, user friendly and is a very effective tool for making your own website.
WordPress has a variety of free themes available to help make your website look very professional. There is no reason as a beginner there will be any need to hire a designer or developer when these free themes are very effective. It is also very search engine friendly and you have the ability to install different plugins to help make your website more visible in the search results. Hostgator already has the worpress installer, so all you need to do is find it and click install and then you are done. So the first thing we need to do is go to your control panel also named cPanel. Type in your url like this: www.yourdomainnamehere.com/cpanel Now Hostgator would have sent you an email with your login details for your control panel, so locate that email and enter your details in. Once you are logged in the screen should look like this:
Now if you scroll to the bottom of the page you will find the Software/Services category, in there you need to locate and click “Fantastico Deluxe” tab to install WordPress.
No as you can see from the picture below you need to click on the “Wordpress” tab and then the “New Installation” tab. They will ask you to enter a password and username before installation so enter your details you want them to be and make sure you remember them.
So lastly, click on “Install WordPress” and you will be done. WordPress will now be installed on your website. The them showing will be the default WordPress theme if you were to visit your site, but we can change that when we begin to explore your wordpress dashboard in step 3.
3 – Setting Up WordPress After you have completed step 2, you will now have WordPress installed on your website, so that means we can login to your dashboard. The login address for your dashboard will be the domain you have chosen from Step 1 followed by /wp-admin Example: www.thedomainyoujustbought.com/wp-admin Use your login details from Step 2 and you will se your WordPress dashboard which is similar to the picture below. Try and become accustomed with your dashboard because it will become a major part in the creation of your website.
For this step we are just going to focus on the main tabs which will become the initial part of your overall website creation process. Once you master these initial tabs the rest will come easy. They Are:
1. Posts – Since this is a WordPress website you may be updating your pages quite often. You can generate new posts from inside this tab. You can choose a range of options from when you want them to be published, whether or not you want comments left on the page and even the publisher’s name.
2. Pages – You use this section to add new pages to your website. There are various options you can look at from having a different theme for the page, changing the page order and changing colors and outlay.
3. Appearance – The appearance of your website is sometimes the best part of all to modify. This section will allow you to customize your website including the sidebar widgets, the overall appearance and pretty much the whole way your website appears to your visitors can be modified from this tab.
4. Media – The media tab allows you the option to manage all the pictures, infographics and videos that you want to have on your website. Adding and removing videos on your site can be easily removed and added.
5. Plugins – When used the right way plugins can be very useful on your website. For people with limited website experience plugins can make difficult tasks quite simple. For example, adding a contact form or increasing the blog’s visibility, performance, style and look can easily be changed by the use of the right plugin.
6. Settings – In this section, you will be able to setup the website’s name, front page display, description, privacy and date format. So that is it for Now!! You are pretty much complete. If you have followed the 3 steps above your website should be up and running and ready for you to start adding some pages and posts to. You just need to add content like video’s, pics and content. If you are still having any problems, you might want to consider just running through the steps again and see where you might have made an error. Don’t worry, I still make the simplest of mistakes when building and designing my website. Before you know it you will have your website up and running and even have some visitors. Good Luck!!
Please use the contact form above if you are having any problems at all getting your website up and running. We are here to help and it is our goal to have your website up and running as soon as possible, so you can begin to attract visitors and create great content.