Make a Website Step by Step
If you’ve been thinking about making a website but the idea frightens you, there is something you should know. It can be as easy as "click"!
In this article I am going to show you how to set up your very own website within a few short minutes.
What you need:
- A domain name
- Web hosting
As you may have guessed, the web hosting plays a crucial role in being able to follow this tutorial. We will be using HostGator, one of the best services I have ever used. It is also one of the most user friendly, and their customer care can’t be beat. If you have a question, they have the answer.
Step 1 – Setting Up An Account
Step 1.1 – Choosing Your Hosting
Setting up an account with HostGator is a snap. When you first click on their Sign Up button, you will be taken to the following page.
Fig. 1 Hosting Type
On this page you will be given the option to "Select Your Type of Hosting", you will want to pick "Shared Hosting". This is the lowest priced type of hosting that they offer, it is also the one that is best suited for anyone learning how to make a website. And everything in this article will revolve around this option.
In the event that you want to pick a more expensive plan later on, you can do so by upgrading your already existing account.
Click "Continue".
Step 1.2 – Registering A Domain Name
In this step you will be asked if you are going to "Register New Domain" or if you plan on using your existing domain. Let’s assume that you plan on creating a new domain name at the same time you register for web hosting.
Type the domain name you want to register into the "New Domain" field. At the far right of this field you will see an option to pick the TLD (top-level domain) or extension. Choose either a .com or .net, these will give you a better chance at ranking in the search engines.
Additionally, most people will recognize these two TLDs and place more value on them.
Fig. 1.1 Chosing Domain Name
Once you’ve entered your desired domain name and checked it for the correct spelling, click "Next".
Step 1.3 – Domain Name Options
Fig. 1.2 Chosing Domain Name
As you can see from the above screen shot, you will be presented with additional options if the domain name you have chosen is available. If the domain name is already taken, you will be prompted to choose a new one on this page.
Assuming that the domain name isn’t taken, let’s run through some of the options on this page. As you can see in the image, the .com TLD is checked. This is the one that we selected on in the previous step. You can also select to add the .net and .org TLD.
Also, you have the option to register the domain name for one year. If you drop the box down, you will see that this is the only option. This really isn’t important and it has been my experience that there isn’t any real benefit (savings) in registering your domain name for more than a year at a time.
A month before your domain name is about to expire, most registrars will send you a reminder that it is time to renew.
That concludes this part of the registration process, click "Next" to move on to…
Step 1.4 – Selecting a Hosting Package
Now you will get to pick from the various hosting packages that HostGator offers. These include "Hatchling", "Baby" and "Business". All of the packages come complete with unlimited disk space and bandwidth. They also include a wide range of templates and website creation tools and resouces that we will go into further detail later in this article.
Fig. 1.3 Chosing Hosting Package
The Hatchling package should meet anyone’s needs that is starting out making a website. Since you will likely only have one domain name and host one website on your account, you don’t need the added features of Baby or Business.
If you are using more than one domain name with your account, you will need to pick the Baby package to get started. Baby allows you to link an unlimited number of domain names to your hosting account. Each of these could be used either as their own website or as parked domains that point to your primary domain name.
In the "Domain" field you will see the domain name you’ve entered in step 1.2. Unless you have chosen to buy the corresponding .net and .org versions of the name this will be the only option. What "select primary domain" means is that if you have picked the other two TLDs you can choose which one you want set as your default URL.
I would suggest leaving it set to .com but feel free to use the one that best fits your needs.
Once you have picked the hosting package that fits your needs and have selected the primary domain (if applicable), click "Continue".
Step 1.5 – Choosing Your Billing Cycle
Now that we have gotten done setting up the domain name and picked the hosting package, it is time to choose a billing cycle. As you can see from the screen shot below, you can pay monthly, yearly, every two years, and up to three years in advance. The further in advance you pay, the more money you save.
Fig. 1.4 Billing Cycle & Coupon Code
Take a look at the field labeled "Coupon", do you notice something strange? The coupon code SNOWMAN automatically filled itself in. I didn’t have to do anything. HostGator often runs specials that will further increase your savings. This coupon code for example entitles you to 20% off of you order.
When you go to the HostGator homepage, you will see what specials they are running along with the corresponding code. For example they ran a Black Friday special that allowed you to save 75% off on your order.
HostGator has other coupons that don’t expire. These codes work for various packages, for instance you can order their "Baby" hosting package for just one cent. That means you get one months worth of testing for practically free. Your penny is of course backed by their money back guarantee.
Remember, you have 45 days to evaluate their service, which is backed by a money back guarantee. If you feel that your needs weren’t met, you can cancel your account for a refund.
Click "Calculate Totals" to move to the next step.
Step 1.6 -Reviewing Your Order
On this page you will be able to review all of the choices you’ve made. It also shows you how much your hosting plan will cost, as well as any savings you will receive from coupons.
Fig. 1.5 Order Review
Since you are making a new account, you will want to select the "I am a new customer" radio button.
When you are done reviewing your order click "Continue".
Step 1.7 – Account Setup
Being new customers, we will need to set up our account. This is a straight forward step and requires you to put in various pieces of information like your name and address. Create a user name and password to log into your account. You will also be able to choose which payment methods you want to use.
In the event that you have any comments you would like to make, you can do so on this page. As I said this is a very straight forward step.
When you’re done filling out the form click "Verify My Order" and you will be minutes away from setting up your first website!
Click here to create a HostGator account now!
Step 2 – Making Your Own Website
Step 2.1 – Sign Into Your Hosting Account
Now that you have your HostGator account set up, follow the instructions they send you and log into your HostGator Control Panel. It is here in the cPanel that you will be presented with all of the tools and features your hosting package offers.
Step 2.2 – Installing Your Website!
Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the cPanel interface. At first glance you may feel overwhelmed with all of the options at your disposal. Don’t! All of the different tools are organized into logical groups.
Furthermore, the interface is very customizable. You can move the different groups up and down by clicking on the blue bar and dragging them where you want. Also if you feel that you don’t want to clutter up your cPanel with certain groups, you can collapse them by double clicking the blue bar. Note: This is what I have done with the "Preferences" group in the screen shot below.
The group that you will want to find is called "Software / Services", this will likely further down on the page.
Fig. 2 cPanel >Software / Services > Fantastico De Luxe
Once you’ve found this group (the one I’ve highlighted in red) you will want to click the "Fantastico De Luxe" option (also highlighted in red).
Step 2.3 – Fantastico 1-Click Install
Once you’ve clicked on the "Fantastico De Luxe" icon you will be taken to the "Fantastico" screen. Here you will be able to install many applications and scripts with a single click. The option we will be looking for is "WordPress" (highlighted in red) under the Blogs category.
Fig. 2.1 Fantastico De Luxe Interface
You will notice that the text says that when you run Fantastico, you will use up one of your available MySQL (pronounced My-Sequel) databases. While many web hosting companies limit the amount of MySQl databases you can use, HostGator doesn’t. Even the Hatchling plan has unlimited MySQL databases.
To begin installing WordPress, simply click on "WordPress" in the sidebar menu.
Step 2.4 – WordPress Install Screen
By selecting WordPress from the menu, you will be taken to the WordPress install screen. Here you will be able to read a short description about the application. You will also get an overview of the amount of disk space that is required and which version will be installed.
As of writing this article, the newest version is 2.9, as you can see from the screen shot the version number that will be installed is 2.8.6. Once we have WordPress installed, we will need to upgrade the installation. This is a very simple process. One we will cover in a later tutorial.
Fig. 2.2 Installing WordPress
To install the program you will need to click on "New Installation" (highlighted in red).
Step 2.5 – WordPress Setup
Next you will be taken to a screen that allows you to enter the details for your installation of WordPress.
Fig. 2.3 Setting Up WordPress Admin Account
First you will see the option for selecting the "Installation location", this is where you will be installing WordPress on your server. As you can see, there is a drop down menu that allows you to pick a domain name. Since you only have one domain name associated with your hosting account at the moment, you don’t have to change this.
If at some point you would link another domain name to your account, you would be able to choose it from this drop down menu.
"Install in directory" is another option that you will not need when you create your first website. As the description below the field states, you are able to choose a subdirectory rather than installing in the root directory.
"Admin access data" is a very important step in the installation process. Make sure that you write down your "Administrator-username" and "Password", you will use these when you log into the backend of your website. Choose a username and password that cannot be easily guessed. Keep these handy, you will need them in a coming step.
The "Admin nickname" is the display name that will be shown on your website when you post content. Make sure that you don’t use your "Administrator-username" as your nickname. The reason you don’t want them to be the same is for security reasons.
With modern web applications, you have a lot more functionality than if you were to code a static website. If you put your email address into the "Admin e-mail" field, your website will be able to send you important information. Examples of the types of emails you might receive would be periodic backups, notification of new comments, etc.
The "Site name" is what your website will be called. The name that you pick here will be visible on your website. "Description" is also another field that you will want to fill in. Many templates give you the option to incorporate this into your website. Make sure that your description is helpful to your visitors, however, limit it to only a few words. Don’t spend too much time trying to make these perfect. You will have the option to change these at anytime you want once you’re logged into WordPress.
Once you’re finished click on "Install WordPress".
Step 2.6 – WordPress Set Up Review
As the title of this step suggests, you will be reviewing your WordPress install. Look at the image below, I have marked all of the areas that you will want to check in red.
Fig 2.4 Review Installation Details
The first one is the user for your MySQL database. This will be the name you selected for your hosting account plus the application in abbreviated form. Here you will see it listed as "wrdp1".
Next you will see the domain name and directory that WordPress will be installed to. Since this is the first install on your new hosting account, we chose to leave everything at their defaults. Your root directory was used for the installation and it was associated with your primary domain.
And the last piece of information is the URL you will be able to access your new website at. Again since we are setting up your WordPress website, we want it to be under your primary domain name.
If everything looks right to you, click "Finish installation" and we’re almost done!
Step 2.7 -Finished!
In fact we are done. The last screen shows you some more details about your WordPress installation.
If you ever need to update your database username and password, you will find them in the wp-config.php file. "Account ID" is the user name you chose when you created your account with HostGator.
The second block of information includes the "Username" and "Password" you created in Step 2.5. Make sure that you have these noted down. If you lose or forget these, you will not be able to log into your new website. The next piece of information that is important on this page is the URL you will use when you log into your website. This consists of your domain name plus /wp-admin/, in our example screen shot you can see it as: http://your-domain-name.com/wp-admin/
Fig. 2.5 Log In Information and URL
And the last field that you see on the page is the option to have the above information emailed to you. If you want to make a backup of this, you may enter your email address into the field and click "Send E-mail". Once you’ve received the email, you can save it to your computer. If you use a web based email service I would suggest that you delete the email rather than leaving it in your account.
Now that you have everything set up, you should be able to go to your new domain name and see your brand new website! But this is just the beginning. You will surely want to change it to your liking and begin adding fresh new content to your website. You can do this by going to the login page of your website. Remember, this can always be found under: http://your-domain-name.com/wp-admin/
The login page will look the like the screenshot below. In the event that you ever lose your login information, you will have the option to recover it by clicking on "Lost your password?". You will be prompted to enter your username or email address, and a new password will be emailed to you.
Fig. 2.6 Log Into Your Website
See how easy that was! I bet you never imaged it would be so easy to make your own website.
Click here and take the first step – make your website today!
P.S. Ready to learn what you can do with WordPress? Now is your chance! WordPress is used by a huge number of website on the Internet today.
Click here to take your website to the next level with WordPress!
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