If you are planning to start a blog with SiteGround hosting, then you are in the right place. Yes, I will help you to set up a blog from scratch on SiteGround hosting with complete step by step guide.
This blog is hosted on SiteGround GoGeek plan and it’s more than 1.5 years I am using SiteGround hosting for a few of my blogs. So, I am the right person to help you to start a WordPress blog with SiteGround from scratch.
Why You Must Start A Blog With SiteGround In 2020?
Choosing the right web hosting service as a beginner is always difficult. Without any doubt, as a beginner, we mostly hesitate to spend money after a good hosting company. I always recommend people to choose Bluehost as the cheap hosting company, in case you are not ready to invest after a quality hosting like SiteGround. Both are doing good and in the list of WordPress recommended hosting list.
You can follow the detailed tutorial about How To Start A Blog With Bluehost, in case you are interested to choose Bluehost.
Personally, I have used both the hosting companies and that’s why I can easily tell which hosting is good and which hosting has fewer features. Of course, pricing is a big factor. Anyway, in this detailed guide about Starting A Blog on SiteGround from scratch, let me share why I opted for the SiteGround WordPress Hosting plan.
Before heading into this detailed tutorial on how to start a blog with SiteGround WordPress hosting plan, let me share some amazing facts about SiteGround Hosting.
Siteground Hosting Benefits:
- #3 in the list of Top WordPress Recommended Hosting
- Lots of Premium WordPress Features
- Awesome Customer Support
- It is a non-EIG hosting company. You can see here all the EIG hosting company list.
- Free Backup, Free Website Transfer, FREE SSL certificates, etc
- 99.9% uptime guaranteed
- Fast-Loading SSD servers with Server Side Advanced Cache system
- Received much positive feedback from customers [check proofs below]
Website speed & security is my top priority and if you also believe so, then you must start a blog on SiteGround hosting. They are the #1 WordPress hosting is many Facebook Polls. Check out my detailed review of SiteGround hosting.
How To Start A WordPress Blog With Siteground 2020 [Step By Step Guide]
So, I am sure you found enough evidence to trust in SiteGround Hosting. You must invest after the quality of a web hosting company. Creating a blog with SiteGround is very easy for even non-technical people as well. As the interface is very simple and the steps are also very clear.
Let’s start this SiteGround Tutorial to create a website from scratch.
Step #1: Select The Best SiteGround Plan
First of all Click This Link To Activate 70% Discount and choose the best to finish this how to start a blog guide. SiteGround offers 3 different web hosting plans. Here are the details of SiteGround pricing in 2020.
- StartUp (
$11.95$3.95/mo): Good for 1 website, 10GB of storage, no bandwidth limitations, 24-hour support, & their in-house caching system. - GrowBig (
$19.95$5.95/mo): Host unlimited websites, 20GB of space, unlimited bandwidth, priority support & an advanced caching system. RECOMMENDED - GoGeek (
$34.95$11.95/mo): Same as the previous plans, advanced backup solution, Git repository & a staging area.
I have shared 2 detailed guides on this topic so that you can easily pick up the right SiteGround plan before creating a website with SiteGround.
Not only that, I have shared individual SiteGround plan reviews also, so that you can easily compare their features and find out which SiteGround plan is best.
Step #2: Choose a Domain Name
As soon as you are done with step #1, now it’s time to proceed further. Click on the GET PLAN button and proceed further. On the next screen, you have to choose a domain name.
As I already have a website, I opted for the 2nd option, as I already bought a domain from GoDaddy/NameCheap. If you want to buy a domain with SiteGround, you can choose the first option and in that case, you have to pay the domain registration charges of $15.95/year.
If you have any doubt whether SiteGround is good for Indian traffic or not, then let me tell you that SiteGround is the best web hosting in India as well. Check this SiteGround India guide.
Step #3: Choose The SiteGround Hosting Duration
Now, this is the tricky part as you have to be smart enough to save more. Most of the people think to go for 1 year only, but I would recommend you to buy SiteGround for 3 years.
Otherwise, you have to pay the full renewal charges of $19.95/mo from next year onward. Yes, SiteGround renewal is quite expensive and it is a good move to buy at least 3 years’ duration. This will help you to host your website on a premium host like SiteGround and grow your blog traffic in the next 3 years.
You will get 4 options to choose from. Considering the GrowBig plan, your final bill will be as follows
- 1 Month Trial: Total $30.90 Excl. VAT (Paid website transfer)
- 12 months: Total bill $71.40 Excl. VAT (Free Website Migration)
- 24 months: Total bill $142.80 Excl. VAT (Free Website Migration)
- 36 months: Total bill $214.20 Excl. VAT (Free Website Migration)
Note: I am not saying this to earn more commission. See, whether you buy for 1 year or 3 years, I will get a fixed commission only. I am saying all these to help you save huge money as I have been through similar experiences in the last 10 years of my blogging career and that’s why I want to help you to go with the best path.
Step #4: Choose SiteGround Data Center
These are the 4 data-centers from Siteground (Where Are SiteGround Servers Located?) Choose the one as per your expected website traffic country.
I opted for the USA data center as I want to attract US traffic as well. If your website traffic is mostly from India, then you can choose the Singapore data center as well.
- Chicago, USA
- London, UK
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Singapore
But don’t worry about that too much, as your website speed can be improved better with the help of Cloudflare FREE CDN and WP Rocket Plugin. You can check the below video where I have tested my website SPEED after moving to the SiteGround GoGeek plan. You can easily find that the speed has improved drastically.
Step #5: Provide Account Details & Payment Information
Anyway, after all, necessary information you have to proceed further to pay the amount. SiteGround offers only one payment option, Credit Card/Debit Card.
Step #6: Complete The Payment
Finally agree with their terms & condition and click on the pay now button. On successful completion of your transaction, you will get an email from SiteGround. This will take some time to set up your hosting account with SiteGround.
Congratulations, you have invested for a better blogging career in 2020!
Step #7: Point my domain to SiteGround
After you complete the transaction and payment, you will get an email like below. Where you will find all the necessary details about the DNS server, cPanel access, etc. You can follow a short tutorial about How To Point GoDaddy Domain to SiteGround.
SiteGround Nameservers
ns1.us203.siteground.us
ns2.us203.siteground.us
Here is how it will look like in your GoDaddy account.
You have to change nameserver and then save. It will take some time to update the DNS records before you go for WordPress installation on your blog (next step of this start a blog guide).
Step #7: How To Install WordPress & Set Up The Blog
As soon as you are done with your SiteGround hosting purchase & domain set up, you can move further to install WordPress on SiteGround Hosting. This is another crucial step in this how to start a blog in 2020 guides.
Let’s follow the step by step guide here.
Step #1: Log in to your SiteGround Admin area. You will find the Login ID & Password on your email address. The initial screen will look like below.
Step #2: Click on the websites tab and you will find a New Website button on the right side. As I said, SiteGround created a dummy account for us to add new SiteGround cPanel Dashboard screenshots. In your case, you will find the Domain name that you have attached while buying SiteGround Hosting.
Step #3: On click, you will see a screen like below. Click on the new domain if you want to buy a domain from SiteGround. If you have any existing domain then you can use that also. Just you have to update your domain DNS with the SiteGround nameserver details [Already mentioned this step before]. There is another option for a Temporary Domain, check that to try SiteGround hosting.
Step #4: Anyway, let’s proceed with the Domain name and on the next screen, it will ask you to “Start New Website” or “Migrate Website“. If you are switching web hosting plans, then SiteGround Free Site Transfer is amazing. You just have to provide your website login details to them and they will do the complete migration.
If you are not happy with your hosting plan, then this is the time to switch to SiteGround. And you don’t have to worry about your website as SiteGround will help you to move your website without any downtime.
Step #5: Now click on Migrate Website -> Select.
You will find 2 options: WordPress Automigration & Professional Migration. Well, if you are confident enough to do that you can go for the first option. But still, I would say, it is good to take the professional Migration option as they will take care of the entire headache.
Step #6: As soon as you select the 2nd option, a form will open to provide access to your website.
Here don’t provide your access. Rather create a different user and provide that access. Don’t worry as they are very professional and they will not harm your website. Better you ask them and get such queries clarified.
Step #7: Well, if you are adding a new website, then follow the below steps. Click on the Start New Website and choose WordPress from the below 4 options. You can install WordPress on your domain without worrying about much.
Step #8: Next, it will ask you to provide your email id & password. Provide the details you want to access your website. And then press the continue button. Do this step carefully, as you are creating your website credentials to be used to login to your website after completing the WordPress installation process.
You will get a screen like below. No need to add SG Site Scanner right now. Just click the Finish button.
Step #9: You will find a screen like below. That means your website is getting ready and WordPress is getting installed on the domain that you have added on SiteGround.
Generally, you should get a success message on the screen. But I didn’t get that. Maybe you will also not get the same. In that case, you may get a similar screen as below on the successful installation of WordPress on your blog.
Step #10: After a few minutes check your email. You will get an email from SiteGround like below.
Open the email and read the details carefully. You can see that the new SiteGround Name Server details that you have to add on your domain settings. Otherwise, your website will not work. I have not updated that for this dummy website they created for us.
Here is how you can change your DNS or name server of your Domain on a GoDaddy. I have already mentioned the steps, Click Here.
Step #11: Finally you are done with the WordPress installation and ready to access your website. Just type (https://www.yourwebsitename.com/wp-admin/) in your browser like below to login to your WordPress dashboard with the user ID & Password you have opted while installing WordPress.
So, finally, you are done with your website set up. But this just half-way done as now you have to do all the necessary things to make your website complete for readers. Make sure to finish reading this how to start a blog in the 2020 guide till the end, so that you can’t miss anything.
Things To Do After Installing WordPress On SiteGround
So, you are done with installing WordPress on SiteGround hosting. This is a detailed guide on this topic and you can exactly follow the screenshots to set up a blog with Siteground.
So, what’s next after this? Let me help you to finish the remaining things to build your WordPress website. Besides that, you can also read this detailed guide where I have covered almost 15+ essential settings to do after installing WordPress. Here are few of the necessary points I want to mention.
- Install a fast loading WordPress theme.
- Install All necessary Plugins
- Change the Permalink structure
- Delete default posts & comments
Create Necessary pages on Your Blog
Every blog must have few necessary pages so that readers can easily connect with the author of that blog. As soon as you are done with installing WordPress on SiteGround hosting, you must create those pages.
- About Us
- Contact Us (You can use WPForms Free Plugin)
- Privacy policy
- Terms & Conditions
- Disclaimer (Must for Affiliate Marketers)
Install Recommended WordPress Plugins
There are 45000+ WordPress plugins which give you more flexibility on WordPress. But that doesn’t mean that you are going to install as many plugins as you want. More plugins will impact your website speed. So, install only the necessary plugins. I have created a list of necessary plugins that you can read. Besides that, here are a few of the plugins that you may need to run your blog.
Page Builder Plugin: If you want to create a custom page then you have to use a page builder plugin like Thrive Architect or Elementor Pro or Thrive Themes Builder. Here is a list of drag & drop page builder plugins for WordPress. For my website, I use Authority Pro theme & Gutenberg Blocks to design my home page.
WordPress SEO Plugin: You must install a good SEO plugin. I am using Rank Math SEO plugin which is far better than Yoast SEO FREE version. You can install any one of them. But I would like to recommend you to install Rank Math only.
Cache Plugin: If you want to increase your website speed, then you must install a cache plugin. You can install any FREE cache Plugin like WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache or Swift Performance. But I always recommend going for WP Rocket (Paid Plugin), as this is the best cache plugin for WordPress.
Email List Building Plugin: I am using Thrive Leads plugin to create beautiful email sign up forms, Exit Intent popup (if you try to close this post, you can see that) which is very essential for bloggers. It’s quite cheap and you must invest in this plugin. Check out Thrive Leads price now.
Backup Plugin: You must install a back up plugin. You can install Updraft PLUS free version and take regular backups. I am taking backup with the help of my hosting plan. Yes, SiteGround offers FREE Backup with their plans which is simply amazing.
Security Plugin: You must install a security plugin also. I am using Wordfence FREE version on this blog. If you want to invest, then you can check out Sucuri plugin also.
Social Media Sharing Plugin: Install a good social media sharing plugin that has many sharing options on different platforms. Most of the free plugins only provide 3-4 sharing options. I am using the Social Snap plugin (Paid version) which offers 30+ platforms to share a post.
Write Content & Promote Your blog
After all the previous steps, you are done with the basic set up of your WordPress blog on SiteGround. The next part is to write content and start sharing your thoughts through your blog. Based on your blog niche, you must follow the steps to find out what to write on your blog.
- Make sure you focus only on a broad category, rather than writing on everything around you.
- Find out some competitors in your niche and analyze what kind of content works best for them.
- Pick the keywords based on good search volume and low competition. So that you can get good ranking with time and get organic traffic.
- Analyse the top 10 posts on your keyword, that you are going to write and then prepare a content structure first.
- The best way to write any content is by preparing a detailed content structure. This way you can figure out the entire story of the topic and explain step by step.
There are a lot of things to do while writing your first blog post and after publishing your blog post. You can learn about them in detail by reading the below guides.
FAQs: Things To Know Before Starting A Blog With SiteGround
Is SiteGround site scanner worth it?
As a beginner, you can skip this feature while buying SiteGround hosting.
How do I install WordPress on SiteGround?
Installing WordPress on SiteGround hosting is very easy. They do offer a lot of site tools with which one can easily install WordPress on any domain name.
How many websites can be hosted on SiteGround?
Besides SiteGround StartUp plan, all SiteGround plans come with unlimited website hosting feature. Only StartUp plan comes with a limitation of 1 website only.
Is WordPress free with SiteGround?
WordPress is always a free software to install. You have to pay for SiteGround hosting and after that you can install WordPress on any number of domains as per the SiteGround plan you purchase.
How To Start A Blog On Siteground In 2020 (Conclusion)
I am sure this guide about how to start a blog with SiteGround (step by step with pictures) will help you to set up your first blog easily. I am running multiple blogs on WordPress for the last many years and I never looked back.
You will also start enjoying using WordPress gradually. Make sure to read more, learn more and gradually implement. Blogging takes time to understand, implement and get good results. Keep a track of my blog for more such knowledgeable topics and tutorials. Also, join my Facebook group to engage with more bloggers.
