Well, it's super easy.
Having a blog, you can easily express yourself and share your knowledge with the world, make an unlimited amount of money, market your business, and many more things you can do.
To create a WordPress site or blog, you need to register a domain and purchase a web hosting plan.
There are many web hosting companies available that you can choose from. As you are creating your first website, I personally recommend HostGator hosting.
Hostgator one of the best web hosting providers that are now powering over millions of websites. Their hosting plans are super affordable and beginner-friendly.
Here are a couple of reasons why you should start a blog with HostGator:
- HostGator's hosting plans are affordable (as low as $2.75/ month)
- HostGator offers a FREE domain registration
- HostGator offers one-click WordPress installs
- HostGator offers FREE SSL certificate
- HostGator offers unlimited storage and bandwidth
- HostGator offers 45 days money-back guarantee
- HostGator offers 24x7x365 customer support through live chat, and phone call
Ready to create a WordPress blog on HostGator? Let's Go.
1. Choose a Hosting Plan
The first thing you need to choose a hosting plan based on your needs.
The good thing about HostGator is that it offers a variety of types of hosting, such as shared hosting, managed WordPress hosting, cloud hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting.
As you are just getting started, I recommend you to use shared hosting.
HostGator's shared hosting plan starts from $2.75/ month which is affordable enough to start a WordPress blog.HostGator also offers free WordPress site migration. So, if you are using xyz hosting and want to move your site to HostGator, then you can use the WordPress/ cPanel website transfer option.
Once done, Hostgator will automatically move your WordPress site from the old host to them.
First, go to which will give you a 60% discount. You can also enter the promo code HostGator's website. I have added a coupon in this link WPMYWEB60 while filling up the payment details.
Click here to go to ==> www.hostgator.com <== website.HostGator offers 3 different shared hosting plans, Hatchling, Baby, and Business.
Hatchling Plan: Basically, this plan allows you to host one website.
Baby Plan: With the baby plan, you can host an unlimited number of websites
Business Plan: With the Business plan, you can host an unlimited number of websites. Plus, this plan includes some extra features like a free upgrade to positive SSL, free dedicated IP, free SEO tools.
If you want to host only one website right now, then go with the Hatchling Plan. Although, you can upgrade your current plan at any time.
Click on the Buy Now button to get started.
After that, you will be redirected to the domain registration page.
2. Register a Domain
A domain name is your website's address on the internet. This is what people type on their web browser to access a website. For example, "Google.com".
Usually, a domain costs around $10-$14 per year.
Luckily, HostGator offers a FREE domain registration with their hosting plan. I will show you how to register a free domain with HostGator.
Before you register a domain name, you should know how to choose an SEO-friendly domain name for your website.
Choosing the right domain name for your business or website is very important. Because a domain name represents your business online and it is the first thing that people notice when accessing your website.
If you choose the wrong domain name, you may not grow your business well.
How to choose an SEO-friendly domain name for your new website
a) Use the right domain extension (I recommend .com, .net, .org)
A domain extension is the last part of the domain name, the letters that come after the dot (.) sign. For example, in the domain name "Google.com", ".com" is the extension.
Domain extension highlights a website's purpose. For example, the .com is specially used for commercial businesses, the .org domain is used for non-profit organizations.
There are hundreds of domain extensions available. In them, .com, .net, .org, .edu, .info are the most popular and has a large number of users.
I suggest you go with the .com extension.
Read, .Com vs .Net - which domain extension you should choose.
b) Shorter names are easy to remember
Try to keep your domain name as short as possible. The ideal domain length is 5-14 characters.
Shorter names are easier to remember and also memorable.
c) Avoid hyphens and numbers in your domain name
Never add any hyphens or numbers in your domain name. Domain name with hyphen or number doesn't look legit and most of the time spammers use it.
d) Don't repeat any letter
When choosing a domain for your website, you should not repeat any letter. For example, in this domain, "petttshoop.com" which contains one or more repeated letters, isn't good to use.
These types of domain names often confuse people.
Read, .Org vs .Com - which domain extension you should choose
Let's register a domain.
Step 1, Choose a domain
From this page, you need to register your domain name. At first, enter your domain name and it will automatically check if the domain is available to register.
In case the domain you entered is already taken, try a new name.
If you already own a domain, you can still use it. Click on the I Already Own This Domain tab and enter your domain.
Step 2, Add domain privacy
Once you enter your domain name, it will show you the Domain Privacy Protection option. By default, it's checked.
I highly recommend you to add Domain Privacy Protection.
However, it will cost you an extra $14.95, but it will save you from spammers.
Domain privacy basically hides all your contact information from domain lookup tools.
If you don't have domain privacy activated, spammers will collect your name, phone number, email address and spam you all the time.
3. Complete the HostGator order form
Next, you need to complete the HostGator order form.
Step 1, Choose a Hosting Plan
From this section, you need to choose the Billing Cycle. You can choose your hosting's billing cycle for 12 months or more.
I recommend you to choose 36 months package for the maximum discount.
Then enter a username and set a security PIN for your account.
Now scroll below to fill up your billing info.
Step 2, Enter Your Billing Info
Here, you need to enter your billing information, such as Email address, your name, phone number, etc.
On the right side, enter your payment info. You can pay using both Credit Card and PayPal.
Step 3, Add Additional Services
You will be asked to add additional services such as SSL certificate, SiteLock Essentials, SiteBackup, HostGator SEO tools, but it's totally optional.
I recommend turning them off.Step 4, Checkout Now
Now check the "Terms of Service" box and click on the Checkout Now button.
Step 5, Check Your Email for cPanel Login Details
Once the payment is done, you will receive HostGator's cPanel login details on your email.
Click on the Your Control Panel URL and then enter your username and password for logging into HostGator's cPanel.
In the next step, I will show you how to install WordPress on HostGator.
4. Install WordPress
Once you logged in, you will see many options.
Step 1, Go to WordPress Installer
At the top under popular links, you will see a WordPress Installer option. Click on it.
Step 2, Select Domain for Installation
First, click on the drop-down menu and select your domain. Leave the directory field blank and click on Next to start installing WordPress.
Step 3, Install Settings
Before installing WordPress, you need to complete the setup process. Enter your blog title, admin user name, your name, and your email.
Once done, click on the Install button to start the process.
Step 4, Save Your Login Details
It will take a minute or so to complete the WordPress installation.
Once done, you will see your admin login details: username and password.
I highly recommend you save the username and password in a notepad file.Now, you have successfully installed WordPress on WordPress. In the next step, I will help you to set up your website.
5. Setting Up Your WordPress Site
Once you install WordPress on HostGator, it's time to set up your WordPress blog.
First, log in to your WordPress admin panel.
If you don't know your admin login URL, simply add wp-admin at the last of your website's name. For example, yoursite.com/wp-admin
Then enter your admin username and password to access your WordPress dashboard.
Step 1, Uninstall and delete the default plugins
The first thing after installing WordPress is to uninstall and delete the default plugins.
To delete a plugin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and scroll below to see your installed plugins.
Then click on the Deactivate button and then delete the plugin. Similarly, deactivate and delete the other plugins too.
Step 2, Delete Sample Post and Page
After that, you need to delete the sample post and page.
You can see the sample post " Hello World " from your WordPress site's homepage. If you don't delete the sample post, it will appear on your website which doesn't look good.
So, let's delete the sample post as well as pages now.
From your WordPress dashboard, go to Posts > All Posts, and Trash the post.
Once you trashed the post, go to Trash and click on Delete Permanently.
Similar way, you can delete sample pages by going Pages> All Pages.
However, it's not finished yet. There are several things you need to do after installing WordPress.
Read, Most important things to do after installing WordPress (Highly Recommended)
6. Set up an SSL
By default, you already have an SSL certificate installed and your website can be accessed using both HTTP and HTTPS protocol.
However, if you open your site on the Google Chrome browser, you may see " your connection to this is not secure" message. This is because Google advises webmasters to run websites over the HTTPS only.
Forcing your site to redirect to HTTPS is very simple.
Step 1, For that, you need to log in to your hosting cPanel.
Step 3, Find and edit the .htaccess file
However, sometimes the .htaccess file is hidden by default. In this case, go to the settings and check the option that says "Show Hidden Files".
Step 4, At the end of the .htaccess file, add the piece of code.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
Now, from your WordPress dashboard, go to Step 6, Settings > General
Step 8, Click on the Save Changes at the bottom. Once done, you will be automatically logged out.
That's it. Now your website will open only with HTTPS.
Read, 3 Different ways you can redirect HTTP to HTTPS in WordPress
7. Install WordPress Plugins
Next, you need to install some useful plugins for extending your site's functionality.
To install a plugin, go to Plugins > Add New and there will see several plugins.
The problem is there are over 50,000 WordPress plugins available to use and it's hard to choose. The good news is that I have listed the most common WordPress plugins below that you need to install.
Read,8. Install a WordPress Theme
Once the plugin installation process is done, you need to install a theme.
By default, you already have 2 or 3 themes installed. But they look very simple and of course, you may want to change it.
To install a theme, go to Appearance > Themes > Add New and there you can find over 50,000 free themes. You can install any theme you want.
Read,9. Publish Your First Post
Once you install WordPress on HostGator, it's time to publish your first post.
To publish your post, go to Posts > Add New.
First, write your post title as well as post description.
Once done, select a category, add tags, and hit on the Publish button at the right top corner.
Now, go back to your website's homepage and check your first post.
Congratulation! You have just launched a WordPress site on HostGator. 😀
Frequently Asked Questions (How to Start a WordPress Blog with HostGator)
Conclusion
In this article, I have shared how to start a WordPress blog with HostGator. It takes around 7-10 minutes to install WordPress on HostGator.
Once installed, you need to install a few useful plugins and install a theme. Then, you can start blogging.
If you are having a problem or stuck on any step, do let me know in the comment section.
