How to start a WordPress website
Creating your first website can be very daunting. You have no idea how to start or where to start. In this guide, I will help you with the process of starting your own website with WordPress.
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Start choosing the Domain name
What is a domain? A domain is your blog address or your website address. It’s like your home address in real life.
When you want to start a website, you have to think of your domain name first. The name is important because it reflects who you are and also your website. Sometimes the perfect name that you want is already taken, so you have to brainstorm again and think of a new one. You have to check that you can get the domain name that you want before you decide to purchase it. Make sure the domain is not related to other people’s business names.
Purchase a Hosting
What is web hosting? Web hosting is a service to host all your files for your blog.
There’re a lot of companies out there to host your website. We recommend Dreamhost to purchase your domain and hosting. Their service is excellent! They will help you with your problem immediately. I’ve been using their service since I started my business.
Go to Dreamhost and pick a plan that is suitable for your need (You can upgrade your service later if you need to upgrade). You can use WordPress Basic or DreamPress it’s up to your need. Both already have WordPress up and running, you just need to upload the theme :)
If you don’t have a domain yet, choose “Register a new domain“, don’t forget to change how you want to pay the service, monthly, yearly, or 3 years. You will be redirected to a new tab, and choose the domain name that you want.If you already own a domain before (or if you want to transfer your existing content to the new one) you can choose “I already own a domain”. I can help you to migrate the old content to the new hosting with additional service.
Login to your WordPress
If you have successfully purchased, Dreamhost will email you the login detail. You can log in to your self-hosted WordPress by going to http://www.yourdomainname.com/wp-admin/ or you can also log in from your Dreamhost dashboard. I recommend go to the WP-admin :)
Install a theme & Launch!
Now that you have self-hosted WordPress, you can use any themes that you want.
After you purchase and finish the payment, you can download the theme from your account and download the file. You will receive a zip file which you need to unzip first before uploading it to your WordPress.
After you unzip it, you will get the themes to zip files and tutorial pdf file. Open the tutorial pdf file to continue the installation.
Go to Appearance > Themes > Add New > Upload theme and then Activate it.
If you need help with installing, go to our support page or contact us.