1. Get a domain name and hosting
You can get these from the same provider or different providers – there are various popular providers, I’d suggest taking a look at:
https://www.tsohost.com/ – use discount code ’10PERCENT’ for 10% off!
Do some research yourself and see which ones are based in your country – it is not necessary to use a host in your own country, but if your target market is in a particular country, it is helpful to choose a host also in the country as webpages will load faster for those website users. It may also be helpful if you want to use their telephone help line.
If your website is aimed at a particular country then use that domain name ending for example .co.uk or .co.nz, whereas if your website does not have a particular target country then go for .com. When chosing your domain name, keep in mind that it is good to include any key words from your business in the domain name as it will help you be found on google, but it is not essential.
People may have suggested to you that you just set up a free ‘blogger.com’ or ‘wordpress.com’ account – however with these you do not get your own domain name, and you really need your own domain name to be found on google and it also helps your business look professional.
I have used TSO Host for my hosting, and 123reg.co.uk for my domain names for a number of years. I have found the customer service that TSO Host provide to be excellent. When I have had issues with viruses/hacking, or when I have messed my website up myself, they have always responded within 24 hours and sorted the issue out at no extra charge.
2. Change your nameservers
If you buy your domain name and your hosting from different companies then you will also need to point your ‘nameservers’ from your domain name provider to your hosting provider – you should not need to do this if you buy both from the same provider.
You need to login to your domain name provider control panel and change the nameservers to your hosting providers nameservers.
Here are a couple of screenshots from the 123reg control panel where you change your nameservers.
Step 1.
Step 2.
Step 3.
Contact your domain name provider if you can’t see where to do this, or google ‘how to change name servers from 123reg / TSO Host / Godaddy etc.. ‘
3. Log into your hosting provider account and install wordpress
Log into the control panel for your hosting provider and install wordpress. Most major hosting providers will offer ‘one click’ wordpress install. Here are a couple of screen shots from the TSO Host wordpress install:
Step 1.
Step 2.
Once you have installed wordpress on your website you will get a username and password to login. You can access your login page by going to www.yourdomainname.co.nz/wp-login.
The wordpress ‘interface’ you will use to edit your website looks like this:
4. Choose your wordpress ‘theme’ – this is the look/layout of your site
WordPress provides its own free themes, or you can choose to use a paid one. Themes determine the look/layout of your site, you can find one you like and use it ‘as is’ or you can hire a wordpress developer to tweak the theme to your liking, or perhaps even build you a whole new custom theme for your site. For my websites I have paid to use a theme from this website:
StudioPress Themes for WordPress
They have professional looking themes, and great customer support. I would suggest if you decide to buy a theme from Studiopress that you choose a Studiopress theme and not a third party theme as you will receive more customer support if you purchase a Studiopress theme. If you have multiple websites and want to purchase multiple themes, then with Studiopress your second theme works out cheaper as the first time you will purchase the Genesis Framework + Theme, then for your second purchase as you already have the genesis framework, all you are purchasing is the theme.
5. Add ‘plug ins’ to your wordpress site
WordPress has many free (and some paid) plugin’s you can use to make your website do certain things – for example contact forms, social media icons, payment ability.
There are plugins that are useful to everyone (i.e backup, antivirus, caching plugin) and plugins that may be specific to your site (for example you may need a plugin that enables you to take payments online).
Click on ‘plugins’ on the left side of the wordpress dashboard, then click ‘add new’. You can then either browse the popular plugins, or search for a specific one.
6. Edit General WordPress Settings
Click on ‘settings’ on the left of the wordpress dashboard. Work your way through the settings menus e.g general settings, reading settings, and writing settings.
Here you can change the site title, tag line, change default post categories, choose whether the front page displays your latest blog posts or displays a static page.
The settings for any plugins you have installed may also be changed here.
I have been using WordPress for many years and I find it easy to use – I learnt how to use it through trial and error mostly. If there is a specific thing I need to know how to do I can google it and normally I find the answer – I have only had to hire someone once or twice to tweak certain things for me.
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