WordPress has been around since 2003 and is currently one of the most popular platforms for creating blogs and ecommerce websites. One of the main reasons why it has continued to gain popularity is its ease of use and intuitive interface. Another major reason why WordPress has become such as “darling” for developers is its clean and simple code which makes it very easy for search engines to read and index a site’s content. If you are planning to start a simple website using WordPress then here are a few steps to guide you in the right direction.

How to Build a WP Website

Get a Domain Name

One of the very first things you have to do when you decide to put up a website is to get a domain name. This is how web users will be able to access your site. Owning your own domain name makes you look profession rather than having it as a subdomain of another site.

Get a hosting package

For hosting you could either decide to go with Linux shared hosting, VPS hosting or a Dedicated Server hosting plan. As a beginner it is recommended that you go with a Linux shared hosting plan since it is cheap, simple and uncomplicated. You can upgrade to a VPS or Dedicated hosting plan as your website traffic increases.

Redirecting your Nameservers

If you have purchased your domain and hosting from different vendors than you will probably need to redirect the nameservers of your domain to those provided by the hosting vendor. It will typically take between 12-24 hours for your nameservers to propagate after the change. You can ask your hosting provider to guide you through this step if you are unsure about which steps to take.

Create a database

At this point you will need to login to your hosting cPanel to create a database and a database user. Ensure that the user you create has all the read and write privileges, since this will be the main database administrator. One you are done you should note down the database name, your username and the password you used. These will be used later when configuring your WordPress installation.

Upload your WordPress files

You can get the latest copy of WordPress from WordPress.org. Using your File Manager or an FTP client, upload the WordPress zipped file to your default hosting root file. You will then need to unzip it once the upload process has been completed.

Install WordPress

You will now need to go to your browser and visit the domain you picked. The installation process will automatically begin after you select the language you would like to use. Enter your credentials You will then be asked to enter the details you noted down earlier in the appropriate boxes. This will be the database name, your username and the password. Everything else can be left as is.

WordPress username and password

To log into your WordPress site to make further changes you will need a username and password. You will be asked for this details at the final step. A copy of the details used will be sent to your email.

Creating your first WP post

To create your first post, you can go to your dashboard, select post and add a new post. To change the template of your default installation you can select appearance then themes.