Have you started your own business during lock-down?

Maybe you just want to start blogging but don’t know where to start.

Sure Host is here to answer the question: How to build a WordPress website for beginners?

 

Register A Domain

The first thing you need to do if you intend to make a website is; have a web address, known as a domain.

If you have a company, this will likely be your company name. 

We have used surehost.co.uk because we aim to provide assured levels of hosting for people building their first website, we are also based in the UK.

The co.uk part of the address is known as a TLD (top level domain), .com or .org are also examples of a popular TLDs.

Bloggers or freelancers may prefer to use their own name as their website address, this is a great way to build your personal brand when you are self employed.

How Do I Register A Domain?

Registering a domain is actually more simple and less expensive than you may think. 

You could use a company such as ourselves where you can pick up a domain name.

The Cost Of A Domain

A domain name can often be less than £10.00 per year.

There are literally hundreds of TLDs to choose from and some are at premium prices, especially those that are niche.

It is important to note, you cannot buy domain names that are already registered and what comes before the TLD (.co.uk .com etc) doesn’t affect the price. 

Don’t delay if you have a name in mind.

Apprentice finalist Kathryn Burn forgot to register hers before meeting Mike Soutar, Mike made a point by registering her name before her.

Luckily for Kathryn, Mike gifted her all the various domains he had registered.

The biggest cost associated with a domain, is the cost of not having one at all!

Select A Web Host

The next item on your list is to select a web host. 

This can be quite overwhelming if you don’t know where to look. 

Types Of Web Hosting

First up, you need to choose which type of web hosting you need. 

In the same way that not everyone needs a big car with 7 seats, not everyone needs a dedicated server with unlimited resources. 

We recommend using a quality shared hosting package if you have a personal site or anticipate low volumes of traffic. 

This will help to keep costs down. 

For a business site, you should look to use a cloud hosting solution.  The major advantage here is that you can scale up your resources as your site attracts more visitors. 

Cloud hosting is superior in terms of speed than shared hosting. 

Generally this costs a bit more, but offers the best value in our opinion.

Also consider our WordPress Cloud Hosting this is hosting that has been specifically optimised for using WordPress. 

This offering usually uses a cloud based infrastructure, which results in great speed and security.

You may also see VPS and Dedicated Servers advertised. 

We only recommend considering those as options when you become more established with high traffic.

Keep in mind that more technical knowledge is needed too, especially if you don’t select a managed package. 

Sure Host is built on a cloud hosting infrastructure, as such suits most needs. 

If you are unsure, get in touch. 

Hosting Costs

A basic shared hosting package could cost as little as a £2-£3 per month, this would usually include a small amount of storage space on a shared server for 1 website.

Quality cloud hosting will cost a bit more, between £5 – £15 per month would usually give you great resources for more than 1 website, with the option to upgrade on the fly if required. 

Sure Host offers cloud hosting at less than shared hosting prices.  Select your perfect package today.

Important Things To Note

If you are based in Europe, then be sure to select a web host that offers a server based in Europe. 

GDPR compliance is much easier as; data stored gets stored in an EU approved country. 

There are “third countries” such as the UK that are also considered acceptable by the EU to store data.  Please consult gdpr.eu for more information.

Install WordPress

You have selected your shiny new hosting package and received your login credentials, so what next?

Well, you need to login to your control panel. 

cPanel and Plesk are two of the most popular control panels. 

In this article we are going to talk about cPanel. 

We will talk more in depth in another post about all the different features of cPanel, in this case the first thing we want to do is install WordPress.

You will see a search bar at the top once logged in to cPanel.

Here you need to search for WordPress.

Once this is entered, you will see something along the lines of “WordPress manager by Softaculous” click here and it should reveal a screen like this:

Click install as highlighted above and you will be given some further options:

You will be given various options, be sure to remove any text from the “in directory” field if you wish for your WordPress website to load on your root. 

In the example above: https://test.webhero.uk would display your installation. 

If you entered the text “wordpress” in to this field, your website installation would show at https://test.webhero.uk/wordpress 

Scrolling down on the installation page:

Here you need to fill in your admin name and password. 

Under no circumstances should your admin username be “admin“.

This is the first option hackers use when they attempt to gain access to your site. 

Please make it something obscure and secure!  Same goes for your password.

Be sure to also include an email address which you can always gain access to, as forgotten password links will be send to this address. 

You can change this address at any time when you have logged in to WordPress. 

We would recommend something like a gmail account, but you can of course use one that you host too.

In our example you can select to include loginizer and the classic editor, there is no harm in including both at this stage.  Likewise, it is by no means a requirement. 

For the next section, we recommend leaving everything as it is. 

As you learn more about WordPress you can conduct your fine tuning:

So all you need to do is scroll down a bit further, enter your email address that you’d like the details of your installation sent and hit install! 

If you’ve done everything correctly, you’ll get a screen like this:

To install a theme, you need to click on “Appearance” on the left hand menu bar. 

Next click “Themes”, then “Add New” and search for “Hello Elementor“. 

Install the theme and then activate the theme.  

Every time you add a theme or plugin in WordPress, you will need to activate it.

Next up, we recommend that you install Elementor, Elementor is a plugin. 

To install a plugin, click on “Plugins” on the left hand menu and then “Add New”, then search for “Elementor“. 

Install and then activate as you did with the Hello theme.

Once installed and active, you will have a new option on the left hand menu labelled Elementor. 

You can edit posts or add/edit new pages by using Elementor too.

The last step to get something live on the internet (besides the default content).

Head on back to the Appearance menu on the left hand menu bar and select Customise. 

Here you will now see an option “Home Page Settings”, this is an important step. 

We recommend changing the option to “A Static Page” and then adding a page that will become your homepage. 

Give the page a title and then click add.

Design Your Perfect Website

Congratulations, you just went live with your new website! 

There is a long way to go, you need to design your site and add great content. 

Elementor provides great tutorial videos to help you along the way.

Check out the video below and be sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel for all the latest additions, tips and tricks.

We hope you found some value here.

There will be many updates to come on just about everything to do with creating websites for beginners.