Lately there have been a lot of people trying to hire us to
create a website for them, others even ask for quotes and present a
short plan that they have made. The problem is we’re not a company that
will design and develop websites for clients, we’re an internet
publisher focused on writing guides, inspirational articles, reviews,
and the lot.
My friends, it has come to this. Many have asked for help and now I will walk you through it all, even without knowledge of coding you will be able to create a website in just one hour after reading this.
Say you have already grown tired of your Tumblr, Blogger, and WordPress.com blogs and you want to move up the scale. What do you do next? Yes, you read this guide!
Remember, you can start your own blog/website now for as low as $10!
First you need to decide whether to create a self-hosted website or not.
Free websites are hosted under a parent domain. For example, there are a lot of websites, or in this case blogs, out there that are used by people for their private ramblings like sampyourname.wordpress.com or testwebsite.blogger.com. These blogs are totally free, but the irony is you really do not have the freedom of bending it to your will. There are limitations involved. But the good thing here is that they are totally reliable and free, also you won’t need any technical knowledge of HTML and CSS, everything is already designed for you.
If your goal is to keep an online diary for your personal life or craft, just the basic things, then using free website/blog services like WordPress.com and Blogger.com, or even Tumblr.com, is highly suggested. You can keep your files safe, no worrying about down time, and most of all they’re totally free. But since they’re free, your site will always have the service’s name (site.blogger.com) attached to your domain and it doesn’t look very professional.
If your goal is to appear strong and professional, and have more control over most things, then your best option is to host a website yourself. Unlike a free website, a self-hosted website requires some technical knowledge, and that is the point of this whole guide.
When should you self-host a website? As mentioned, when you want to have a professional look and feel to your site. Most likely they will know that you are serious about running that website and updating it, since you’re paying for it. Most self-hosted websites are owned by people who are using it for their business, either to promote their skill and services or to make money with it. Just like 1stwebdesigner.com. This is exactly the reason why I decided to write this guide, because people with WordPress.com and Blogger.com blogs have contacted us about shifting to a .com blog. Admittedly, I only replied to a couple of them briefly pointing them to the correct services and websites to read. But now it is different, to avoid further confusing our first time readers I have written a guide to solve this problem!
If you’re still serious about creating a self-hosted website and spending some money, then continue reading.
Ask yourself, do you need a premium website design?
I won’t delve too much into what a CMS is, since you’ll more than likely end up using WordPress. 1stwebdesigner is using WordPress to manage all of the photos, articles, and plugins used in this website. Without WordPress it would actually be hard to grow it as big as it is now. But this is just my opinion.
You can, however, choose a different CMS depending on your preferences.
Below are three of my recommended web hosts. The process is linear. First you will be prompted to select a domain name of your choosing (the name of your website), then the package type, some add-ons, and finally the checkout process where you will pay.
HostGator – cheap and has a one-click-install for WordPress and other CMS’s. The cheapest plan boasts unlimited bandwidth and unlimited disk space, and hosts one domain. The main take-away for HostGator is that you can actually host your website here for only $0.01 for one month! Provided you have already purchased a domain name which can cost from $8 to $10. Succeeding monthly bills would be around $8. But you can host your website here for one year for only $75.
Use coupon code: “1stwebdesigner” without the “” to get a $9.94 off of your bill!
Currently hosting 1 website here, no problems so far.
WPWebHost – priced just a little higher than HostGator, but the service is absolutely stunning. Their customer support can solve just about anything you can throw at them related to WordPress. One-click-install for WordPress is also available.
Hosting 1 website here too, still happy with it.
ASmallOrange – for as low as $25 a year you can host a website. For $25 you will get 150MB of disk space and 4.5GB monthly bandwidth. Not bad if you’re planning on a text-based website with few images.
Use coupon code: “1stwebdesigner” without the “” to get a 15% discount!
Also happy with ASmallOrange.
After choosing your web host it’s time to wait. Yes, you need to wait for some time, at best your account is activated within 10 minutes, at worst it will be available after 48 hours (but trust me, I haven’t experienced this yet).
After your account has been activated, an email from the service should be sent to you with the account information with all of the login details for FTP, MySQL, cPanel, and some links to your dashboard. For now just focus on the cPanel.
This is what HostGator’s control panel looks like. Do not worry, if you think this is too much to handle and there’s too many icons to click, you only need to worry about one..wait, no, you don’t need to worry at all.
That one icon you need to find? It’s the QuickInstall, just scroll down until you can see this:
After clicking QuickInstall you should see the image below. To the left
is a list of software you can install, but our main goal now is to
install WordPress. It’s the third item to the left. Just click on it and
it will prompt you to continue, simply click on “Continue”.
After this you will receive an email with your login details for your WordPress dashboard. In order to login, go to www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin. You will then be prompted with a login form. Just fill in the form and you’re good to go.
WPWebHost Control Panel
This is how WPWebHost’s control panel looks like.
In order to install WordPress, find Softaculous:
Click on it and a page similar to the screenshot below will load.
Click Blogs and the following will appear. Click on where the red arrow is pointing at.
Then the following page will load, and all you need to do is click the blue button saying “Install”.
Everything onwards is pretty easy to understand. A form will appear, asking for some information. I will no longer post a screenshot of it here because you will not need to change anything. Just change the Admin Account details for your user name and password, and an email address so that the system can send your details.
After this you will receive an email with your login details for your WordPress dashboard. In order to login, go to www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin. You will then be prompted with a login form. Just fill in the form and you’re good to go.
ASmallOrange Control Panel
If you notice, most of the control panels look the same with only minor changes on the software/services available.
Once you can see the image above, scroll down until you find Fantastico De Luxe.
Click Fantastico De Luxe and you’ll be redirected to the page below. Click on WordPress, pointed by the amazing red arrow.
Click on “New Installation”.
Then you will be redirected to this page. Just fill in the user name and
password, an email address and choose the domain you want to install
WordPress to. Don’t forget to read!
After this you will receive an email with your login details for your WordPress dashboard. In order to login, go to www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin. You will then be prompted with a login form. Just fill in the form and you’re good to go.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed WordPress by navigating through your web host’s control panel!
At this point everything is pretty much finished. But you will need to install a theme and some plugins to get your blog rolling!
It is important to note that all the themes that you will be downloading
are zipped/rar-ed files. Just keep them that way. When the page loads,
click on Install Themes and then click on Upload. Happily navigate
through your folders to find the theme you downloaded, select it then
upload it. After activating it, check your website and it should have a
new design.
Congratulations! You have just installed a new theme! Now, what comes next is also crucial to your website’s success: installing plugins.
If you have downloaded a plugin, then you will need to click on Upload
and upload the zipped file. If you want to search for the plugin, simply
input the name on the search bar and search for the plugin. If you will
use the search function, you will be greeted by this:
Simply click “Install Now” and the plugin will be installed. Don’t forget to check the Details to see if the plugin is compatible with your current WordPress version. Talking about that, be sure to always keep your WordPress updated! After installing, just activate the plugin and if settings are available, adjust the settings to your preference.
Congratulations! You have just installed your first plugin! Next and final step would be to add your content!
It’s not a website if it doesn’t have content. Be sure to write valuable information that people can actually use. Never steal content from other websites!
If you are having trouble just write a comment below and I will be glad to help you. :)
My friends, it has come to this. Many have asked for help and now I will walk you through it all, even without knowledge of coding you will be able to create a website in just one hour after reading this.
Say you have already grown tired of your Tumblr, Blogger, and WordPress.com blogs and you want to move up the scale. What do you do next? Yes, you read this guide!
Remember, you can start your own blog/website now for as low as $10!
Things to know:
Before anything else, there are some small details that you will need to think about. Do you want to have a totally free website that has a fixed set of features? You probably want more power and the option tp tweak things, but are you willing to pay for these options?First you need to decide whether to create a self-hosted website or not.
Free websites are hosted under a parent domain. For example, there are a lot of websites, or in this case blogs, out there that are used by people for their private ramblings like sampyourname.wordpress.com or testwebsite.blogger.com. These blogs are totally free, but the irony is you really do not have the freedom of bending it to your will. There are limitations involved. But the good thing here is that they are totally reliable and free, also you won’t need any technical knowledge of HTML and CSS, everything is already designed for you.
If your goal is to keep an online diary for your personal life or craft, just the basic things, then using free website/blog services like WordPress.com and Blogger.com, or even Tumblr.com, is highly suggested. You can keep your files safe, no worrying about down time, and most of all they’re totally free. But since they’re free, your site will always have the service’s name (site.blogger.com) attached to your domain and it doesn’t look very professional.
If your goal is to appear strong and professional, and have more control over most things, then your best option is to host a website yourself. Unlike a free website, a self-hosted website requires some technical knowledge, and that is the point of this whole guide.
When should you self-host a website? As mentioned, when you want to have a professional look and feel to your site. Most likely they will know that you are serious about running that website and updating it, since you’re paying for it. Most self-hosted websites are owned by people who are using it for their business, either to promote their skill and services or to make money with it. Just like 1stwebdesigner.com. This is exactly the reason why I decided to write this guide, because people with WordPress.com and Blogger.com blogs have contacted us about shifting to a .com blog. Admittedly, I only replied to a couple of them briefly pointing them to the correct services and websites to read. But now it is different, to avoid further confusing our first time readers I have written a guide to solve this problem!
If you’re still serious about creating a self-hosted website and spending some money, then continue reading.
Before Purchasing Anything
Before you purchase anything, please be sure that you have already decided on what to do. I know that many of the people that will read this are considering it and are not entirely sure about spending money. I know some students both here in the Philippines and elsewhere who are considering spending money to get a website, some have failed and regretted their decision.Ask yourself, do you need a premium website design?
Choose a Content Management System (CMS)
As the name implies, CMS is software that manages a website’s content. This is actually one of the best inventions of all time. I daresay that 90% of websites in existence today are built over a CMS. Websites like 1stwebdesigner, TheNextWeb, TechCrunch, and a lot more.I won’t delve too much into what a CMS is, since you’ll more than likely end up using WordPress. 1stwebdesigner is using WordPress to manage all of the photos, articles, and plugins used in this website. Without WordPress it would actually be hard to grow it as big as it is now. But this is just my opinion.
You can, however, choose a different CMS depending on your preferences.
Check out:
- 17 Free Content Management Systems For Better Content Handling
- Showcase of Small But Useful Content Management Systems
Choose a Domain Name and Web Host
Technically, you should be looking for a Domain Registrar to register a Domain name of your choosing. Usually domain names and hosting are purchased together, but in case you want to find cheaper solutions you can buy them separately.Suggested Web Hosts
These are web hosting companies that I have firsthand experience with. No matter what you do, do not go to GoDaddy.Below are three of my recommended web hosts. The process is linear. First you will be prompted to select a domain name of your choosing (the name of your website), then the package type, some add-ons, and finally the checkout process where you will pay.
HostGator – cheap and has a one-click-install for WordPress and other CMS’s. The cheapest plan boasts unlimited bandwidth and unlimited disk space, and hosts one domain. The main take-away for HostGator is that you can actually host your website here for only $0.01 for one month! Provided you have already purchased a domain name which can cost from $8 to $10. Succeeding monthly bills would be around $8. But you can host your website here for one year for only $75.
Use coupon code: “1stwebdesigner” without the “” to get a $9.94 off of your bill!
Currently hosting 1 website here, no problems so far.
WPWebHost – priced just a little higher than HostGator, but the service is absolutely stunning. Their customer support can solve just about anything you can throw at them related to WordPress. One-click-install for WordPress is also available.
Hosting 1 website here too, still happy with it.
ASmallOrange – for as low as $25 a year you can host a website. For $25 you will get 150MB of disk space and 4.5GB monthly bandwidth. Not bad if you’re planning on a text-based website with few images.
Use coupon code: “1stwebdesigner” without the “” to get a 15% discount!
Also happy with ASmallOrange.
After choosing your web host it’s time to wait. Yes, you need to wait for some time, at best your account is activated within 10 minutes, at worst it will be available after 48 hours (but trust me, I haven’t experienced this yet).
After your account has been activated, an email from the service should be sent to you with the account information with all of the login details for FTP, MySQL, cPanel, and some links to your dashboard. For now just focus on the cPanel.
Setting Up WordPress
First Step: Login onto your Control Panel
HostGator Control PanelThis is what HostGator’s control panel looks like. Do not worry, if you think this is too much to handle and there’s too many icons to click, you only need to worry about one..wait, no, you don’t need to worry at all.
After this you will receive an email with your login details for your WordPress dashboard. In order to login, go to www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin. You will then be prompted with a login form. Just fill in the form and you’re good to go.
WPWebHost Control Panel
This is how WPWebHost’s control panel looks like.
Then the following page will load, and all you need to do is click the blue button saying “Install”.
Everything onwards is pretty easy to understand. A form will appear, asking for some information. I will no longer post a screenshot of it here because you will not need to change anything. Just change the Admin Account details for your user name and password, and an email address so that the system can send your details.
After this you will receive an email with your login details for your WordPress dashboard. In order to login, go to www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin. You will then be prompted with a login form. Just fill in the form and you’re good to go.
ASmallOrange Control Panel
If you notice, most of the control panels look the same with only minor changes on the software/services available.
After this you will receive an email with your login details for your WordPress dashboard. In order to login, go to www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin. You will then be prompted with a login form. Just fill in the form and you’re good to go.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed WordPress by navigating through your web host’s control panel!
At this point everything is pretty much finished. But you will need to install a theme and some plugins to get your blog rolling!
Second Step: Configuring Themes
Why do you need to install themes? What are themes? Themes are like clothing for your website, each having their own design and features that you can use. There are hundreds of free themes out there that you can use for free, but don’t expect many features from them. Most likely if you are willing to spend more for the best themes you’ll go for premium themes.Choose and download Free Themes here:
- Hot WordPress Themes For Freelancers For Personal Branding
- Graph Paper Press
- WordPress Free Themes Directory
- Fresheezy
For Premium Themes:
- 20 Premium WordPress eCommerce Themes
- 40 Premium Magazine WordPRess Themes
- The World’s Best Corporate WordPress Themes You Can Actually Afford to Buy
- 50+ WordPress Themes for Video BLoggers (contains Free and Preimum themes)
- ElegantThemes
- ThemeForest
Installing Themes
First login to your WordPress dashboard by going to www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin. You will be greeted by this sweetheart, which you should familiarize yourself with because you’ll be seeing it often. Hover on Appearance and click on Themes.Congratulations! You have just installed a new theme! Now, what comes next is also crucial to your website’s success: installing plugins.
Third Step: Setting up Plugins
First let’s talk about the necessary plugins that you need to download and install. Note that this is only based on my preference. You can find your own plugins to install, but I’m just giving you an idea as to what kind of plugins to use. So, let’s begin!Needed Plugins:
- Digg Digg or SharebBar for the social media buttons.
- All in One SEO Pack for SEO purposes. In the most simplest of all explanations, it enhances your visibility on Google.
- Quick Cache to speed up your page loads.
- Google Analycticator to easily install your Google Analytics to your website. Don’t have an account yet? Simply go to Google Analytics and sign up for one! By using this service you will know how many people are visitng your website, from where, and which content is visited by the readers.
- Search 1stwebdesigner for more plugins.
How to Install a Plugin
It’s very easy to install a plugin, either by uploading or searching the WordPress.org plugin directory. First go to the Plugins page by clicking on Plugins.Simply click “Install Now” and the plugin will be installed. Don’t forget to check the Details to see if the plugin is compatible with your current WordPress version. Talking about that, be sure to always keep your WordPress updated! After installing, just activate the plugin and if settings are available, adjust the settings to your preference.
Congratulations! You have just installed your first plugin! Next and final step would be to add your content!
It’s not a website if it doesn’t have content. Be sure to write valuable information that people can actually use. Never steal content from other websites!
What do you think about this guide?
As always, don’t forget to share this with your friends who are in need, instead of telling them to “Google it!” And also share tips and techniques. Did I make an error somewhere? Please feel free to point them out!If you are having trouble just write a comment below and I will be glad to help you. :)
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