WEBSITE PLANNING

Website Planning

The Importance of Website Planning

What is Good Planning?

You may find it hard to justify committing large chunks of time to plan your new website but
it will more than justify the cost in the end. For example, problems that could bring your
project to a grinding halt can easily be avoided if they are identified in advance. Planning
also offers the opportunity to figure out exactly what you want your website to do and
exactly how you want it to look. You may have a clear picture of your future site in your
mind, so you must communicate with your team members all four planning steps we
outline below. If you dedicate the time to producing a clear and complete plan of your site,
it will make it easier for your developer to build exactly what you want. Be prepared to
spend considerable time in conversation with your site developer.

1. Marketing Strategy

Attract the visitors you want with the content. Every new project should begin with a
strategy that includes an analysis of the target market. Who is your target market? What
are you cheating on your website to attract them?

2. Function

Once visitors are on the site, help them find what they need. You must also imagine how a
visitor to your site will want to interact with it.

3. Ux Design

Good user experience design engages visitors. A positive user experience is an essential
element of website success. You must conduct research to meet the needs and desires of
your users, from visual design to usability.

4. Technology
Software options for your site and marketing tools. A positive user experience is an
essential element of website success. You must conduct research to meet the needs and
desires of your users, from visual design to usability.

Ø Marketing Strategy

Four Planning Phases If the goal of your website is to attract visitors and convert them into
leads, customers, clients, and advocates, then you need to implement a solid marketing
planning steps to complete as part of your marketing strategy is creating a buyer persona
and identifying what content you will create.

Ø Buyer Personas

The first step to creating buyer personas is to look at your target market and define each
persona. Try to view your business through your buyer persona’s eyes and think about
their goals and behavior. If you build your website with these visitors in mind, you will have
a great chance of attracting and converting them to clients or customers.

Ask yourself these questions when creating buyer personas:

1. Who are they? (demographics, job position, daily activities, personality)
2. What are their needs and how can we address them?
3. What do they value the most?
4. Where do they go for their information?
5. What keywords would they use to search for a company like yours? The creation of
quality personas will lead to a true marketing strategy, more sales, and happier clients.

Ø Content Creation

The second step in your marketing strategy is to develop a plan for creating content for
your buyer personas to enjoy, learn from, and share. This type of content can help you
demonstrate the knowledge you have of your industry, attract new visitors and rank better
in search engines for your targeted keywords. Providing your audience with engaging and
helpful content will bring them back to your website and eventually help increase
conversion rates.

Types of Content:
1. Web content
2. Blog Posts
3. eBooks or White Papers
4. Case Studies 5. Free templates
6. Videos or Webinars
7. Podcasts

Ø Site Functionality

Since you first decided to build a website, you’ve probably spent a lot of time thinking about
what functionality you want your website to have. In other words, what you want your site to
do?

Questions to consider when deciding functionality

1. Who are your buyer personas? (see Marketing Strategy above)
2. What are they looking for?
3. What are the key features you want on your site?
4. What will make your site different from the competition?
5. What are the key components that your site simply could not launch without?

Ø Site Architecture

Site Navigation The first step in this process should be to create a complete sitemap. This
will determine where every piece of content should exist within the structure of the site.
When going through this process with our clients, we typically ask these questions.

The question before creating a sitemap:

1. What information do you want to present to visitors?
2. How do you want your site to be structured?
3. How will your visitors navigate through the site?
4. How are your competitors organizing their site, what do you like/dislike about it?

The next step is to translate this hierarchy into site navigation. Designing navigation
involves many principles, including memory. For example, most people can only
remember a list of seven things, so navigation with more options than this can be
overwhelming. Navigation that is too many levels deep is also hard to manage.

When planning navigation, you’ll want to make sure you are grouping things into logical
categories. Don’t use your company’s internal jargon to label menus and pages. Take the
time to do keyword research to decide what your visitors would look for.

With every element of your site, ask yourself if it will help your visitors accomplish their
goals.

Ø Site Interface Design

The next step in the planning process is to decide how your site should look and feel.
Make sure your site is engaging, easy-to-use and reflects your brand.

Wire Frames
We often begin the design phase of a project by creating detailed, clickable wireframes of
the site based on the decisions already made in the process (the features of the site, their
relative importance, etc.). This provides an opportunity to create a usable, organized
interface, before worrying about visual design elements.

Think of wireframes as the blueprints of a new house, they help you see the layout of the
website as a whole before you begin adding a design. This process requires you to make
decisions regarding the placement of elements on the page, their relative size and
importance, their overall ease of use, and many other factors.

Content should be arranged on the page so that users can easily scan through it. Use
headings and lists to break up topics, including images, and be as concise as possible.
Make sure you plan for a clear conversion path, with obvious calls to action.
Design
Once the basic layout of your website is established, you should start thinking about how
you want it to look and feel for visitors when they first see each page.

Design can be the most time-consuming phase of any web project, as there are millions of
options for every decision that must be made. Therefore, you should be as specific and
detailed as possible when brainstorming ideas. Before you begin creating a design, come
up with a creative brief for the project. In this brief, answer the following questions.

Creative Brief Questions

1. Is there a specific style guide you will need to follow?
2. What message/feeling should visitors receive when they first see your website?
3. How do you want to be viewed online (eco-friendly, safe, edgy, modern, etc.)?
4. What are your buyer personas looking for in a design?

Once you have those questions answered, do research. Pick between three to five
websites that jump out at you and write down what you like and don’t like about the design.
Consider images, colors, functionality, navigation, and font size.

Technology Options
Every web project is unique with its own set of goals, challenges, and ultimate vision.
Therefore, there isn’t a single “one size fits all” solution, which is why you should choose
the technology your web project utilizes with care.

Content Management Systems

A Content Management System (CMS) is an interface built on top of a web application
framework. It allows users to easily edit and add the various type of content to a website.
With a user-friendly CMS at your disposal, there’s no need to wait for your IT person to do
site updates for you. You can make changes when you want to make them.

Though CommonPlaces develops many projects in the popular Drupal CMS, we

recommend using the best CMS for the task at hand, rather than attempting to fit a square
peg in a round hole. Some of the CMSs we work with include Drupal, WordPress,
Magento, and HubSpot. Each platform has its own individual strengths and we make it our
job to ensure that your site is built using the best platform for your business.

Marketing Tools
The pressure to provide detailed and accurate information on visitors, leads and
customers is growing every day. With the change in digital marketing, it is important to
monitor and analyze website visitors to understand their behavior. You must choose the
right tools to help your business, and the marketing team, meet their goals.

Social media management tools, such as Hootsuite allow marketers to schedule and
monitor social media activity. Lead nurturing and lead generation tools, like HubSpot, are
becoming popular since they provide detailed data on visitors and provide the opportunity
nurture contact through content and email campaigns.
Whatever tools you choose to use, make sure they fit your needs and budget. Keep in mind
that adding different products and platforms can become costly. Be realistic when you are
planning and choosing your site’s technology and stay on track with your ultimate goals.

Final Steps
The final step is to bring all of your work together and create one Project Specification
(Spec), which you can hand over to your web developer.

What your Spec should include:

1. Marketing Strategy
2. Detailed descriptions of desired functionality and content types
3. Sitemap
4. Wireframes
5. Site designs
6. CMS software choice
7. A list of modules/extension

Whether you develop these pieces on your own or take advantage of CommonPlaces’
complete planning services, these documents create a clear picture of your future site
which means that development will be faster, and the final result will be much closer to your
initial intentions.

The QA Process
The planning documents that you create values throughout the planning and development
process. However, they will prove themselves invaluable, again at the completion of your
project when the time comes for that critical piece - QA (Quality Assurance).

If you have ever performed quality assurance on a large scale, you know it can be
challenging. It requires patience, concentration, and attention to detail. Fortunately, your
planning documents are there to help.

At this stage, take out the planning documents you created, and use them as a checklist as
you review the finished product.

Ÿ Does it include all of the functionality you specified?

Ÿ Are the pages organized in the correct way?
In the excitement of seeing your new website, it can be easy to overlook these small but
critical details. Your planning specifications should include all of the functionality of your
website, how it is should work and how it should look. Use this as a blueprint as you move
through your QA process.

Remember
Good planning keeps projects on time and on budget. A thorough planning phase also
ensures that you get exactly what you envisioned. One of the greatest challenges for web
developers is translating your wants and needs into a website. You can help your developer
overcome this obstacle by clearly laying out what you want before development begins.
A good developer can always guide you through the planning process to ensure your
project comes in on time and on budget. Give us a call and we’ll get started right away.

While developing a website you can’t forget search engine optimization (SEO).

Implementing SEO tactics on your website will help you rise in the rankings and get found
by potential customers.

a. Introduction to the website.

You know what a web page is. After all, you have landed on one here.
OK, there is a bit more to them than that. What are they really and how do they work?

Let's look at a few terms and describe them.

world wide web (www)

The world wide web is a set of many thousands of computers that are connected to the
internet and serving web pages. These computers are usually controlled by a hosting
company but in some cases can also be a personal server or business server that has web
server software running.

Web server
A web server is an actual computer that is set up to serve web pages to the world through
the internet. This takes a very fast internet connection because of the possibility of
hundreds of people using the server and posted websites at any given time.

Website
A website is a group of web pages that have information in the various pages that contain
similar subject materials. For instance, the website would have a name (subject) such as
GoodFords.com and have several pages related to good Ford vehicles. The website has a
main web page commonly called the Homepage (index.html or default.html). The site's
address will display the homepage and you can click on hyperlinks to go to other pages on
the website.

Webpage
A webpage is a text page written in a form of HTML (hypertext markup language) that
contains text, links or tags that will display graphics, audio, video, downloadable files and
of course other web pages.

A web page is a page containing information on a subject. As in the above example, a page
could be on Ford Mustangs, and another page in the same website, pertaining to Ford
Thunderbirds and on and on.

Hyperlinks
A hyperlink is usually shown as a blue underlined term on a web page that equates to
another web page on the same website or another related website.
HTML and its versions

HTML
Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is the computer programming language that
defines the content, layout, links, and graphics that when converted by a web browser
creates the web page that we see on our screen. HTML has been around for many years
and is quite limited in its original scope. Even after several updates it still could not do the
rather fancy things that we see on web pages today. We used to have to write different
pages in order to show the same page information on different browser platforms since the
browsers interpret the code in different ways. If you would like to see what HTML looks
like, go to your homepage and right click your mouse. Select the show page source (or
similar) and you will see what the pages HTML looks like. It looks confusing but it is really
not.

XHTML
eXtensible HyperText Language (XHTML) is an extension of the latest HTML 4.01 based
on XML (eXtensible Markup Language). This is considered the next version of HTML.
XHTML is designed to ensure that all web pages look and act the same across all
platforms (browsers). XHTML is a cleaner, more strict version of HTML and has many new
capabilities to better manipulate layout and data. This is currently superseding the older
HTML. Some people call this Web2.

Let's cover some things that you will need to create and maintain for your own web
presence.

The purpose of all of the information on these pages is to help you better understand the
steps and intricacies of beginning internet marketing.

We want you to succeed and to be able to create and maintain a constant flow of income
from your business. It is important to have as much information as possible to attain these
goals.

Every successful marketer has a web presence including a business domain name
hosted at a reputable hosting company. As a matter of fact, most marketers have several
domain names for the many different companies that they are actively marketing.

So now you have written down a number of different names for your website and we need
to know if any of them are available. We like to use GoDaddy's domain search since it
gives us a number of alternative names if the one we are looking for is already taken. Click
this link to get to the domain search page then click on the Domains tab. GoDaddy
Search. You do not have to purchase anything yet unless you want to get the name before
anyone else does. We just want to see what is available. Write down all domain names
that you search for. Both available and already taken.

OK, we found a great name that is available and is a good description of our business but
we have not purchased it yet. Now we need a hosting company to host it for us. Our
favorites are HostGator and BlueHost and GoDaddy. All three are great and you should
go to each site to see which one has the best current deals and the information you are
curious about. Look over the hosting sites and choose the one that you feel most
comfortable with. Try their support number and talk to a representative. This is a great test
of their support staff and will certainly be important later when you have questions
concerning your upcoming websites.

All Right! We have decided upon a hosting company and a domain name (website). The
root of the website is the same name as your domain name in most cases. Our example
site is example.com so at the host, we have a folder called example. In this folder, we will
place all of our web pages for the internet marketing campaign we have decided to
market.

Now we need a web page called a home page or landing page. This is the main page of
your domain and the first page a person will find for your site. This page is usually called
index.html or default.html.

How do we make this page? I guess we need to know a bit more first.
At some point, you will need to learn a little HTML. You do not need to be an expert but you
should know how to make a few simple changes to the pages that you will be making.
Page building software will build the basic page for you but you will have to add certain
components in order for the search engines to index your pages correctly. This is not
difficult and becomes easier as you work with it.

There are many HTML tutorial sites out there and one of the best is from the W3C (World
Wide Web Consortium). The W3C is the working group that defines and creates the
standards for the WWW. To learn a bit more on HTML read the W3C tutorial. Other quick
ways to learn are the Dummies books. HTML for Dummies for instance. And there are a
number of free basic HTML training sites on the web. Don't be scared. This is rather fun as
you create your own page. There is certainly a bit of pride as you create one.

Creating a web page

First-take your notepad and draw out your homepage and its topic. You have seen a zillion
pages in your life. You know what you like, so make your drawing clean and neat. Include;
a top area for graphics and headers, side areas for lists and a bottom area for local site
links. Then add additional pages to the drawing covering additional topics. You should end
up with a flowchart type drawing that will cover all of the pages and information that you
want to show to visitors.

Please keep in mind that the pages should be easy to use and not to "busy". We have all
seen pages that were just to difficult to use, to much color or animations, or just plain hard
to navigate. Remember-in order to sell a product you have to look at the page as if you are
a visitor. What do you want to see and interact with if you were visiting this page? When a
person gets to your page you have just a few seconds to grab their attention and hold on to
it. After all, they need to stay awhile in order for your sales pitch to sell them the product
that they were looking for in the first place.
There are several ways to create a web page. If you are very good with HTML/XHTML all
you need is a text editor (notepad) and start coding. This is usually to difficult for a
beginner.

The best way for a beginner to create a web page is to use web page building software.
These programs allow you to pretty much drag and drop components into a default or free
template blank page. They are a little difficult at first but quickly become second nature.
There are hundreds of sites that offer free web page templates. A word of caution here:
Some pages come with terms of use that can hinder your site. You do not want to advertise
another companies site on your free pages unless you are getting paid for it. Or they may
state that they get to put ads on the page if you use it. Either way, this is not what you want.
You want complete control of your sites and your business. So be careful what "free"
resources you use.

Our page building software is a Microsoft product. Primarily because it was free with our
office package. There are many free site and page builders on the net and some are quite
good but we suggest using a purchased product since you have better support and the
product will have many more capabilities and updates than offered by a free product.
Microsoft Expression Web or WYSIWYG web builder are 2 good examples of purchased
products.

The hosting and website company that you decide to go with will also have web page
building software. Sometimes this is an additional cost but they also support the product
as well as have people that will help you with any issues. Keep this in mind when making
your hosting and web site decision.

There are many more products listed on the Products-Reviews page. All of these products
are fully tested and the best of the web. This is no time to sell yourself short. You have to
have the best products and tools in order to create a lasting web presence and products
that will make you a lot of money. We certainly would not suggest them if we did not use
them ourselves. After all, we have been there and know what products work and even
more of the products that don't!

b. Types of Website.
12 Popular Types of Websites You Can Create.

The web is vast. As of now, there are billions of websites online, all competing for some
share of the attention people give to their online browsing each day. When you’re starting a
new website, it can be overwhelming to think about all the other websites out there.

But it’s helpful to remember that within that huge number of websites, you have a lot of
different categories of types of websites trying to accomplish different things. As you
consider how best to build your own website, carefully consider what type of website you
want it to be. When you can narrow down the goals and setup you have in mind, you can
more easily identify the other websites in your category to look to for inspiration.
Here are twelve of the most popular types of websites you’ll see around the web. While
there’s some overlap between the different categories, in general, each type of website
has certain goals to achieve and its own set of best practices. Which one will your website
be?

1. E-commerce Website

An e-commerce website is a website people can directly buy products from. You’ve
probably used a number of e-commerce websites before, most big brands and plenty of
smaller ones have one. Any website that includes a shopping cart and a way for you to
provide credit card information to make a purchase falls into this category.
If you’re setting up a website for your business and plan to sell your products through the
site, then this is the type of website you need to build. There are some specific steps you
have to be sure to include when building an e-commerce website, like investing in e-
commerce software and getting your SSL certificate to ensure your customers can pay
securely. And you’ll want to make sure your web design and copy are all crafted with the
site’s main goal in mind: making sales.

E-commerce websites can be an extension of a business you already have, or become

something you build a new business around.

2. Business Website

A business website is any website that’s devoted to representing a specific business. It

should be branded like the business (the same logo and positioning) and communicate
the types of products and/or services the business offers.
By now, every business out there should have a website. It’s a widespread expectation.
Every potential customer you encounter will just assume that if they Google your business
looking for more information, they’ll find a website. And if they don’t, it makes the business
look less professional or legitimate.

E-commerce websites are business websites, but it’s also possible to have business
websites that don’t sell anything directly, but rather encourage visitors to get in contact for
more information (a lead generation website) or come to a storefront if they’re interested in
becoming customers.

3. Entertainment Website

If you think about your internet browsing habits, you can probably think of a few websites
that you visit purely for entertainment purposes. They could be humor websites like The
Onion, webcomics like xkcd, or just websites with fun or interesting content like Buzzfeed.

Most of these websites do aim to make money like business and e-commerce websites do,
but usually through the advertisements that show up on the page rather than through
selling specific products or services.

If you want to start an entertainment website, you’ve got a lot of options for formats that can
take. You could make funny or informative videos, write entertaining blog posts, draw
comics, or create fun quizzes.
Since there are so many entertainment websites out there, you should anticipate it taking
some time and work to find an audience that connects with you (and even more time and
work to start making money, if that’s your ultimate goal), but if you’ve got ideas for content
to create that you think people will find entertaining, an entertainment website is one of the
best ways to get that content out into the world.
Most of these websites do aim to make money like business and e-commerce websites
do, but usually through the advertisements that show up on the page rather than through
selling specific products or services.

If you want to start an entertainment website, you’ve got a lot of options for formats that can
take. You could make funny or informative videos, write entertaining blog posts, draw
comics, or create fun quizzes.

Since there are so many entertainment websites out there, you should anticipate it taking
some time and work to find an audience that connects with you (and even more time and
work to start making money, if that’s your ultimate goal), but if you’ve got ideas for content
to create that you think people will find entertaining, an entertainment website is one of the
best ways to get that content out into the world.

4. Portfolio Website
Portfolio websites are sites devoted to showing examples of past work. Service providers
who want to show potential clients the quality of the work they provide can use a portfolio
website to collect some of the best samples of past work they’ve done. This type of website
is simpler to build than a business website and more focused on a particular task:
collecting work samples.

This type of website is most common for creative professionals and freelancers that are
hired based on demonstrated skill and can be a more efficient alternative to a business
website that serves a similar focus.
5. Media Website

Media websites collect news stories or other reporting. There’s some overlap here with
entertainment websites, but media websites are more likely to include reported pieces in
addition to or instead of content meant purely for entertainment. This category includes
sites like the Washington Post website, Slate, and Inc.

Media websites generally make money through either advertisement that shows up on
the site, subscription models, or some combination of the two.

Many media websites are the online branch of media properties that often exist in other
forms, like TV channels or print magazines and newspapers, but some are online only.

6. Brochure Website

Brochure websites are a simplified form of business websites. For businesses that know
they need an online presence, but don’t want to invest a lot into it (maybe you’re confident
you’ll continue to get most of your business from other sources), a simple brochure site
that includes just a few pages that lay out the basics of what you do and provide contact
information may be enough for you.
Brochure sites were more common in the earlier days of the internet when businesses
knew they needed a website but also expected not to be dependent on it for success. Now
that the internet is such a big part of how people research and find just about every product
and service they need, most businesses recognize that they need something more
competitive.

If you have a business and know you don’t need your website to be a marketing tool that
brings in new business, you just need something more like an online business card, then a
brochure website may do the trick.

7. Nonprofit Website

In the same way that businesses need websites to be their online presence, nonprofits do
as well. A nonprofit website is the easiest way for many potential donors to make donations
and will be the first place many people look to learn more about a nonprofit and determine if
they want to support it.
If you have or are considering starting a nonprofit, then building a website for your
organization is a crucial step in proving your legitimacy and reaching more people. You
can use it to promote the projects your organization tackles, encourage followers to take
action, and for accepting donations.

Note: To take donations through the website, you’ll have to take some of the same steps
that the owners of e-commerce sites do. In particular, make sure you get an SSL
certificate to make sure all payments are secure and set up a merchant account so that
you can accept credit card payments.

8. Educational Website

The websites of educational institutions and those offering online courses fall into the
category of educational websites. These websites have the primary goal of either
providing educational materials to visitors or providing information on an educational
institution to them.

Some educational websites will have advertisements like entertainment and media
websites do. Some offer subscription models or educational products for purchase. And
some serve as the online presence for an existing institution.
9. Infopreneur Website

Infopreneur websites overlap a bit with business and e-commerce websites, but they
represent a unique type of online business. Infopreneurs create and sell information
products. That could be in the form of courses, tutorials, videos or ebooks.

Whatever form it takes, infopreneurs need their website to do the hard work of building up
a knowledge brand – convincing visitors that they know enough to make their educational
products worth buying – and the work of selling those products.

To sell information products securely, they’ll need some of the same tools of an e-
commerce website, including an SSL certificate and a merchant account. Those with a lot
of knowledge products should also invest in e-commerce software to make it easier for
visitors to select and purchase the ones they’re interested in.

Infopreneurs normally create a mix of valuable free content and premium content they
charge for. The infopreneur’s website serves as the central location for both things – the
free content which serves as a marketing tool to get people onto the site, and the paid
products that account for their profits. Building a good website is therefore crucial for this
type of business model.
10. Personal Website
Not all websites exist to make money in some way or another. Many people find value in
creating personal websites to put their own thoughts out into the world. This category
includes personal blogs, vlogs, and photo diaries people share with the world.

Sometimes these websites can evolve into something that makes money if they become
popular enough and the person who started them wants to make that shift, but they
primarily exist as a way to share your feelings, insights, and art with any friends and
strangers that might be interested.

Building a personal website is easier than most of the other websites on the list since the
goal has lower stakes. You just want to make it look like you want, rather than worrying
about driving sales or making ad money. Some simple templates or an easy-to-use
website builder should be all it takes to get something up that satisfies your desire to
share.

11. Web Portal

Web portals are often websites designed for internal purposes at a business,
organization, or institution. They collect information in different formats from different
sources into one place to make all relevant information accessible to the people who need
to see it. They often involve a login and personalized views for different users that ensure
the information that’s accessible is most useful to their particular needs.

Web portals will generally involve more complicated programming and design than most
of the other websites described on this list, so make the most sense for skilled and
experienced web programmers to consider.

12. Wiki or Community Forum Website

Most people are familiar with wikis through the most famous example of one out there:
Wikipedia. But wikis can be created on pretty much any subject you can imagine. A wiki is
any website where various users are able to collaborate on content and all make their own
tweaks and changes as they see fit. There are wikis for fan communities, for business
resources, and for collecting valuable information sources.
Starting a wiki can be fairly simple, especially if you choose to use an existing software or
wiki site builder rather than trying to create the website from scratch. This option makes the
most sense if you need to organize available information and resources into a central
space that you want others to have access to.

What Type of Website Will Did You create?

Whatever type of website you choose to create, it’s important to think through what you
want from it and make sure you design is based on the particular goals you have in mind.
And one of the first things you’ll need to figure out before your website goes live is where to
host it.

c. Complete knowledge of Domain and Hosting.

Ultimate Guide to Web Hosting, Domain Names & Websites

Most of the people are not aware of what is happening when accessing their Facebook
account or doing a search on Google or just watching a Youtube video. Everything you do
on the internet day by day is actually related to websites and web hosting. In this article, we
will explain the basics of web hosting, the different types that exist, how a website works
and how to build one and how to buy hosting.

What is a Website?

When we are talking about a website, we are actually referring to a collection of files and
folders that are connected and work together to render a web-page. Depending on the
complexity and the functionality of the website, this can be built from one to thousands of
files. A simple website built with HTML can be rendered on your computer, but a complex
site built with PHP or ASP can only be viewed on a web server or with a use of software that
will create the necessary environment on your computer. If you are new to website
building, at the start you may find this complicated, but in fact, it is very easy to create your
own website; keep reading to learn about all the parts that are needed to publish a website
online.

How to Build a Website?

To create a website or a web application, it is required the use of a programming language.

For a very simple and basic website, the most commonly used programming languages
are HTML and CSS. These two languages are used to build a static website. For a
dynamic web-page that uses also database, a more advanced language such as PHP or
ASP is required.

If you are not familiar with these programming languages, it is possible to use software, so-
called website builder, which comes with a user-friendly interface to help you create the
website structure, website design, upload images, text, and even videos to your website.
This software, however, has certain limitations, and can only be used to create simple,
static websites, with limited functionality.

There are however other ways to create a website, for instance, a content management
system (CMS) is one of the trendiest ways these days to build a blog, forum, news portal or
almost any type of website. The most popular content management system is WordPress.
Here you can find out more info about WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, the three leading
CMS software in the world.

Most web hosting providers allow you to install your chosen CMS to your domain name
and start building your website right away.

What is a Domain Name?

The domain name is actually the address that you type into the web browser while trying to
access a certain website. A domain name is composed by 3 parts: the word, the dot, the
extension. For instance, if you want to access Google’s website you will have to type in
google.com in your browser. You could also access Google typing in the IP address of the
website; however, it is much easier to refer to a domain name instead of an IP address.

A domain name can only be registered by one individual or company at a time. So if the
domain name you are looking to buy is already registered, you can either wait until the
current owner leaves it to expire (this most likely will take years or it will never happen), or
you can contact the current owner and acquire that particular name. Do keep in mind that
the domain name market is a very huge business and companies are ready to spend
millions on a good domain name. So probably the best choice is to just keep searching for
a good domain and register the one that is available. There is no limit on how many
domains you can register, however once registered there is a renewal fee every year,
which have to be paid, otherwise, you will lose the ownership.

So how does your computer know which website to render, when you type in a certain
domain name? When you access a domain name from your computer through the web
browser, this initiates a connection to the web server (web hosting server) via the IP
address that is published in the DNS (Domain Name Servers – these keep all the
information about domains such as IP addresses). The DNS information can be edited by
the domain owner and can update the IP address where the browser should connect. So if
you change your hosting provider (the IP address will also change), and you can easily
update the information.
Where to search for available domain names and how to buy them? The process is easy,
most hosting providers will also offer domain name registration, but if you want to keep
your domain names separate from your hosting company, you can check out GoDaddy
and NameCheap for a very quick domain name check and cheap prices.

What is Web Hosting?

A web hosting server is a high-endserviceter, which is specially built and optimized for
storing websites and web applications. These servers are located in a data center, which
is actually a building where hundreds of servers are physically stored. The building will
provide the necessary protection against fire, unauthorized access of the servers, it is
equipped with power generators that will prevent power outages, and it is also connected
to a high-speed internet through one or more bandwidth providers.

What are you actually getting when buying web hosting? When you are buying a shared
hosting account, you will get access to a part of the server, where you can upload and
store your website’s files and database. Beside this, you will also get support from the
hosting company whose service you bought. Please keep in mind that some companies
do not own their data-center, but they are renting some servers and reselling hosting
accounts to their own customers. This is a very common practice; however, it is proven to
fail very often. To keep your website safe, always go with a company that has its own
datacenter.

What Are the Different Hosting Types?

You can get overwhelmed very fast when you start looking for a hosting plan. It is obvious
that there are hundreds of hosting companies offering different hosting plans at different
prices. Instead of comparing the features of the different plans you should rather focus on
figuring out what hosting plan you need. In the following, I will present you the five different
hosting types and for what are the used for:
Ÿ Shared hosting
Ÿ VPS hosting
Ÿ Dedicated Hosting
Ÿ Cloud Hosting
Ÿ Managed Hosting

Shared hosting:
It is the most basic hosting type that used by most of the customers. This type of hosting is
very affordable, offers all the basic features that are needed to set up a simple website and
can support hundreds of unique visitors a day. However, it has some limitations to it,
such as a limited number of websites you can add, limited email accounts, limitations on
usage and bandwidth and it is less secure. A shared hosting account is created by splitting
up a web server in hundreds or thousands of small accounts which are sharing the server’s
resources, bandwidth, and storage

VPS Hosting:
it is a virtual private server is similar to a shared account, but with lots of extra features. In
case of a VPS, a web server is partitioned in only a couple of accounts, where these
accounts are sharing the same server, but have their own allocated resources. Each VPS
account can have different software and can be configured independently from the other
accounts hosted on the same server.
Dedicated hosting:
in the case when purchasing a dedicated hosting account, we are actually talking about
renting the whole web server with all the resources, bandwidth and storage. The cost of a
dedicated server can start from $120 per month and this excludes the setup and other
software licensing fees. Although the cost of a dedicated server is very expensive, it gives
its users to fully customize and optimize the server for its own needs. It also provides the
highest security, performance, and flexibility.

Cloud hosting:
It is kind of “new” type of hosting, which has become very popular in the last few years. In
the case when we are uploading our website or files into the cloud, we actually clustering
those files to different servers located all over the world. We can then access those files
from anywhere by connecting to our cloud hosting account. This type of hosting is mostly
used to store non-sensitive information.

Managed hosting:
It is often chosen by webmasters who don’t have the time or the technical knowledge for
system or server administration. In case of managed web hosting, besides renting the
server, you will also get support from the hosting provider, and they will also take care
about software upgrades as well the security of the web server. Most web hosting
accounts, which come with pre-installed software such as cPanel are managed, so you
don’t have to especially look for this type of service when searching for a hosting plan.

How to Choose the Right Hosting Plan?

At this point probably you are already overwhelmed with all the information you have read
above. You may think that choosing a hosting plan is a difficulty, but in fact, it is very easy if
you know what you are looking for. Here are some very easy questions to answer, which
will guide you to the right hosting plan:
When I need shared hosting?
In most of the cases, if you are building a simple personal or commercial website, a simple
blog or small e-commerce site, you will only need a shared account. Shared hosting is
able to support a low to medium traffic website and can also provide you with a great
security, however, the stability of a shared plan is not as good, and it can happen that your
website slows down time to time. For the start, I think a shared account is enough for every
beginner.

When I need a VPS?

When your website’s traffic exceeds a certain number of daily visits, probably you will
need to upgrade to VPS hosting. If you are running an e-commerce site, and your
business relies entirely on this website, probably you should consider choosing VPS from
the start and avoid shared hosting. For an online community website, such as a forum it is
also recommended to use a VPS account.

When I need a dedicated server?

If you are a small to medium-sized business, employing a couple of people and running a
busy website, probably you don’t need a dedicated server yet, but if you are planning to
invest in website traffic and expect to get a lot of page loads in the following period,
probably a VPS will not stand and you will need to upgrade to a dedicated server. This
hosting type is also used by websites or web applications that require high server
resource, have high bandwidth usage and need a high security (for credit card processing
and client information storage).

Do I need cloud hosting?

If your website has a worldwide audience, and you want to provide a user experience for
those customers who are using your website outside from the country the server is
located, probably you should consider using a cloud hosting service. Uploading your
website to the cloud, you basically cluster the files over a network of servers, all over the
world, and when a user accesses your site, will connect to the nearest server to its
location. So this way, your site will run much faster for foreign users as well. Do consider
that cloud hosting is not for storing sensitive information, so probably you don’t want to
store your customer’s personal data in the cloud.

Do I need managed hosting?

As I mentioned above, when you purchase a hosting account that already has some sort
of control panel or operating system installed, it is a managed hosting. So if you are
purchasing a shared or VPS account with cPanel, you are buying managed hosting. Do
you need it? In my opinion, it is easier and faster to work with managed hosting account
and you get the extra support that you may need.

Ready to Start Your Own Website?

If you are ready to start with your first website, here is a quick and easy way to choose a
domain, sign up for a hosting account and publish your website in just a couple of clicks:
Ÿ Visit BlueHost.com and get a special discount through our link
Ÿ Choose a hosting package and a free domain name
Ÿ Provide your billing and payment information and purchase the hosting plan
Ÿ Wait for the confirmation email and sign-in to your hosting account
Ÿ Login to BlueHost’s control panel and install WordPress on your website (How to make
a WordPress website)
Ÿ Login to your WordPress site and customize it as you like
Ÿ Write and publish content, and start promoting your website
As you can see, it is very simple to make your own website and have a professional email
address. The above-mentioned tutorial will give you more details on how to build a website
using BlueHost and WordPress. Bluehost is a great hosting provider to get started with
quickly, however, if you are looking for a more advanced and feature full hosting plan, you
should take a look to our hosting reviews section.

d. Purchasing of Domain and Hosting.

22 Essential Tips for Choosing the Best Possible Domain Name for a Website (2018)

Choosing the best possible domain name for your website is absolutely critical. Your
domain name is something that deserves hours, if not days, of thought, and it’s no
exaggeration to say that, in some circumstances, making the wrong choice can break a
business. In short: Choosing a domain name is something every website owner needs to
ensure they get right — ideally before they do anything else, and ESPECIALLY if the
website will be serving a commercial purpose.

We’re no strangers to domain names here at WinningWP. In fact, we’ve been talking
domains quite a bit these past few months, which just goes to show how pressing an issue
they are for would-be website owners.
So far, we’ve talked about what a domain name is and what the difference is between a
domain name and web hosting, and a website. And we’ve also listed the nine best website
domain name registrars in 2018 — ie where to go to actually register and buy a domain
name.

However, we haven’t yet gone into any depth on things to consider when choosing your
ideal domain name — in other words, how to actually go about choosing! Let’s change that
today. Here are 20-plus essential tips for choosing and registering a domain name (in no
particular order).

1. Always Go for the .com

Let me say this again: Wherever possible, always go for a .com domain. Exhibit A: This
site.

Technically speaking, the .com is just one of many domain name extensions (TLDs) that
are available (more on TLDs and other components of a domain name here). Some of the
other popular options include, .net, .org, .co, .edu, .biz, or even things such as .shop, or
.blog.

And while all those fancy TLDs are tempting, getting the classic .com is nearly always the
right thing to do. Two reasons:

Ÿ People are more familiar with .com domains than with anything else; they will default to
typing ‘.com’ into the browser address bar, and are unlikely to remember your extension
if it’s too weird. Everyone will always assume a website is a .com.
Ÿ The .com TLD is used by ~47% of all websites, data says. Can they all be wrong?
What all of this means is that if your perfect .com is taken, then perhaps you should either
forget about that name entirely or try contacting the current owner to see if they’re willing to
sell the domain to you. Warning! This could be expensive. (We’ll talk about this in No. 13.)

2. Sometimes Don’t Go for the .com

Sorry. I know I’m making things confusing, but please bear with me.
There are some exceptions to the .com rule:

Chiefly, if your website is meant to cater to a local audience, consider going for a local TLD.
For example, building a blog for the German market? How about getting a .de address?

Doing this will give your users that little bit of additional awareness and boost your
trustworthiness by making it clear you’re in their country (via the local TLD).

But even with that, you shouldn’t limit yourself to just that local domain name. You may still
want to expand your brand in the future, and, if that happens, you don’t want to find out that
someone has already taken your .com.

So, at the end of the day, even if you want to cater to a local market, you can still benefit in
the long run by getting the .com version as well. And, in the meantime, you can link the
.com to your local domain, so, no matter which addresses someone visits, they still end up
on the same website.

3. Consider Experimenting with Non-Traditional TLDs

As mentioned in No. 1, these days you can get yourself a multitude of different TLDs that
weren’t available just a couple of years ago.

For example, you can get domain extensions such as: .shop, .club, .store, .blog, .design,
.xyz, and so on. Also, you can experiment with some of the TLDs that were originally
intended to be local TLDs, but, because of their unique appearance, can be used for
various other purposes as well. These are domain extensions such as .is, .io, .fm, .it, .ly,
.cc and others.
Just to give you an example of the latter, if it makes sense for your brand and intended
name, you can try making it seem as though the whole domain, including the TLD, is one
complete expression. You can achieve that by choosing your TLD creatively. For example,
Microsoft Translator is available under translate.it — that’s the whole domain name and
quite a creative use of the Italian TLD, .it.

However, the thing with these TLDs is that not every domain registrar offers them.
Currently, GoDaddy gives you access to the largest catalog.

Nevertheless, if you’re after some specific TLD, it’s still smart to shop around with other
registrars, too. Here’s our other resource, where we talk about the top registrars in the
market, plus some of the TLDs they offer.

4. Consider Buying the Other Main TLDs as Well

Having your main domain name extension secured — be it a .com or a local TLD — is only
step one. Step two is getting all of the other popular TLDs and then set them to redirect to
your main TLD.

Ÿ For example, if your desired address is SeeMeBloggin.com, also consider getting the
likes of:
Ÿ SeeMeBlogg.in
Ÿ SeeMeBloggin.co
Ÿ SeeMeBloggin.net
Ÿ SeeMeBloggin.org
Ÿ SeeMeBloggin.co.uk, etc.

While this will contribute to your overall domain name bill at the end of the year, you’re also
preventing possible trouble further down the line. Mainly, you wouldn’t want to end up
competing with another site with the same domain name but ending in a different TLD.

Some other things you don’t want:

Ÿ People creating imposter sites — sites that look like yours but aren’t (meant to trick
people).
Ÿ People registering some of those missing TLDs and then trying to sell them back to you
at a much higher rate.
Ÿ Genuine visitors mixing up your TLD and not being able to access your website.

5. Choose a Brandable Name

We all know that branding is crucial to long-term success, but what exactly makes a
domain name brandable? There are many factors that come into play here, but the most
important ones are as follows:

Ÿ A brandable name has no specific meaning (eg ‘Google’ is not a word, ‘YouTube isn’t
one either)
Ÿ It’s unique — your competition doesn’t use anything similar.
Ÿ It’s easy to memorize — not too wordy, no complex vowel combinations.
Ÿ It’s easy to pronounce and dictate over the phone.
Ÿ It sounds trustworthy — some names can be a little shady by definition, for instance,
WinTheLotteryToday.com may be too bold, but Lotterio.com sounds way better.

To make the brainstorming process easier, you can experiment with some combinations of
actual words and random suffixes, as I did with the Lotterio.com example above. The main
goal here is to create a potential for the domain name to build brand value over time.

In other words, as much as possible, try making sure the name has a good ring to it. It
should be fun to say out loud, and not difficult to memorize immediately. Think about the
likes of Uber: It’s short and snappy, and there’s no confusion as to how to spell it — even
when mentioned in passing in a conversation.

6. Keep It Short, Simple, and Predictable

So, we already talked about brand-ability (if that’s a word), but there are also some other,
more general, characteristics of a quality domain name. The big four being:

Ÿ short — preferably with fewer than 15(-ish) characters, excluding the TLD
Ÿ simple — no hyphens, no underscores, no complicated words as part of the domain, or
any other punctuation
Ÿ just words — avoid using numbers unless absolutely necessary (for example, if it’s part
of your brand name, such as 9gag.com)
Ÿ predictable — no weird spellings (for example, if your name is Myke and you want to
make it part of your domain — such as MykeBlogs.com — every single time people will
mistype it as MikeBlogs.com.

Also, you can:

7. Buy the Common Misspellings of Your Domain

This, however, can grow your annual domain bill even further, so it’s your call.
In general, you’re going to be pretty safe if you just focus on a couple of the most likely
misspellings of the domain.

Looking at my earlier example, Lotterio.com could be misspelled as Loterio.com – single

‘T‘.
Once you have those, redirect them back to your main domain name.

8. Use a Thesaurus for Domain Name Ideas

Okay, so no matter what I say about picking a domain name that’s brandable, simple, has a
good ring to it, is easy to memorize, and so on and so forth, the fact of the matter is that
coming up with a truly good name is hard.
Sometimes, you’ll easily go through tens of different terms before you settle on that perfect
one, while other times nothing will seem good enough. In that case, Thesaurus.com can
be the secret weapon in your arsenal.

The site will help you find synonyms and also provide quick definitions to help you not to
make a silly mistake by building your domain name around a word with a meaning you’ve
misunderstood.

Note: As I mentioned above, it’s not advisable to just go with a standard, dictionary word as
your domain name, even if it comes from a thesaurus. Always add some modifiers to it, or
turn it into something original by changing a few letters here and there.

9. Help Yourself to Some Domain Name Generators

This is another kind of helper that you can use if you’re finding it hard to come up with a
cool domain name, and thus, by extension, your business name as well.

These tools are very simple to use, but also surprisingly helpful. All they need is one
keyword from you — a seed keyword (or a seed key-phrase) — and, in return, they give
you tens or even hundreds of suggestions, full of valid and available domain names that
you can register right away.

The best such tools include:

Ÿ LeanDomainSearch, created by the guys at Automattic (also known for
WordPress.com). For example, this is what you get when looking up ‘coffee’:

Ÿ Business name generator by Shopify works similarly to the above, and also helps you
build a Shopify store with the domain name of your choice.
Ÿ Nameboy is a bit more old-school — especially in its design — but it’s still useful. This
one needs more specific input and does a better job once you have a general direction
you want to follow with your name.

10. Choose a Domain Name You Can Actually Legally Own

Infringing on a trademark can mean a really bad day. And, while I realize hardly anyone
registers a domain name with the intent to infringe on anything, those things do happen
every once in a while.

Therefore, as a rule of thumb, whenever you have a nice domain name idea and you’re
just about to register it, simply google the name and look through all of the first and
second-page results. What you’re looking for are businesses that already use this name
and (seemingly) operate in a similar market or niche.

If you find anything, you likely need to pick another domain name.

11. Don’t Sweat It Too Much If Your Perfect Domain Name Is Taken
If the domain name you really desire is already taken, this is not the end of the world.
Sometimes, you can actually still get your hands on it.

Here’s what you can do:

Ÿ If the domain name is not in use (there’s no website or the domain is ‘parked’ —
features only ads), then there’s a very good chance the owner only bought it to sell it
later on. You’ll likely find some contact information on that parked website. If there’s no
info, use who.is and get the owner’s email.
Ÿ If there’s a website on the domain, you can still try your luck and contact the owner
asking if they’re willing to sell the domain off. Low chance of success here, but still worth
a try.
Ÿ If the domain is completely empty and there’s no contact info to be found, try looking
through known domain-flipping marketplaces, such as GoDaddy’s marketplace
(auction based), Sedo, SnapNames, or Flippa.

Buying an existing domain name is a different process from buying a new one, so it
requires some additional caution. We talk about that in No. 13.

One more note, domains you buy from someone’s hands cost MONEY (emphasis mine).
Sometimes good money! A safe estimate here would be a minimum of $250, but more like
$1,000 or more.

If you can’t afford that, don’t worry too much either… Which brings me to:
12. Don’t Sweat It Too Much If Your Perfect Domain Name Is Taken and
Can’t Be Obtained
Okay, so as much as domain names do matter, and having the right one can mean the
world to you, if you can’t get your hands on what you want (it’s unavailable or the price is too
high), don’t sweat it too much.

First of all, something that’s more important than anything else — even than the domain
name itself — is to actually get the idea behind your website or business right. If you
dedicate yourself to executing that idea and do it deliberately, the lack of that ‘perfect
domain name’ won’t hold you back.

Secondly, domain names can be changed later on. Even if you don’t have the right domain
today, you can always get it later, and then just redirect your website to it.

For example, that is what Sumo — a suite of online marketing tools — did not that long ago.
The domain name they started with was sumome.com, but then, after a while, when they
got enough funding, they bought the domain they really wanted — sumo.com. In their
case, that domain switch was kind of expensive. Their new sumo.com domain actually
cost $1.5 million. But don’t worry, yours doesn’t have to be this expensive. Sumo has
actually turned out to be the 83rd most expensive domain name ever.

13. Be Careful When Buying Existing Domain Names

As I mentioned a couple of points above, buying an existing domain name is a bit different
from buying a new one. First of all, since it’s not new, this means it already has a history.
And you can never be entirely sure what that history is.

Ÿ On the bright side, the domain’s history may give you a boost in Google since you’re not
starting from scratch — Google already knows the domain.
Ÿ But, on the flip side, if the domain has featured any kind of ‘non-kosher’ stuff (porn,
gambling, spam content, email spam distribution), then it may be banned from Google
entirely.

Buying your domain from a marketplace such as Flippa gives you some safety since every
domain is validated at least in the most basic way. However, to make things a bit safer, you
should also perform checks of your own.

First, do a manual check by going to Google and searching for:

site:YOURDOMAIN.com

This will tell you whether Google has any pages indexed from that domain. Finding
anything is a good sign. It means the domain isn’t banned. Not finding anything doesn’t
have to be a deal-breaker, though.
Ÿ If the domain is blank — no website — then there’s nothing for Google to find in the first
place.
Ÿ However, if there is a website but Google can’t see it (via the site:YOURDOMAIN.com
phrase), this is a red flag.

Yo u c a n a l s o d o c h e c k s v i a t o o l s s u c h a s b a n n e d c h e c k . c o m a n d
ismywebsitepenalized.com. But also keep in mind that these things are not foolproof.

Consider them helpers.

But we can still do more:

14. Check the Domain History via Wayback Machine

Note: This one is worth checking even if you’re getting (what you think is) a new domain
name. In some cases, the domain name you’re trying to register may have been registered
in the past but then abandoned by the owner. It’s still good to have a look at what was on it.

There are a couple of ways in which you can look up a domain name’s history. One of the
more popular ones, and one that’s also within anyone’s reach (read: Not too technical),
involves Wayback Machine.

This is one of the first tools of its kind. Quite simply, it lets you enter a time machine, so to
speak, and have a look at how any website used to look to the past.

When I say ‘any website’, it’s not actually any website. But you can expect to find most
websites that had any noticeable traffic at any point in time. In our case, doing a check via
Wayback Machine allows us to see whether the domain we’re interested in has ever been
used for anything significant, and, if so, whether it was all ‘kosher’ or not.

For example, if you look up this site, you’ll get records dating back to 2013:

It’s safe to assume that this site didn’t exist before then (which is true). When you click on
any of the records, you get a snapshot of the site back then. Quite handy, isn’t it?
If you’re buying an existing domain name, it would be a good idea to go to Wayback
Machine and browse through every month of the domain’s history, just to make sure there
wasn’t anything shady going on at any point.

15. Check the Domain History via who.is

Right after Wayback Machine, who.is is your other go-to tool for getting to know the history
of a given domain name. This one is very useful for at least two reasons:

Ÿ First, you can see the current domain info — stuff like who the owner is (provided they
don’t have ID protection — more on that later) — who the registrar is, and so on. There’s
no point in me listing everything here — just go to who.is, input your favorite website
and see what’s up.
Ÿ Second, who.is gives you access to a ‘whois history report’. This is a paid service — $10
— but the price tag is rather small in relation to what you get in return, which is all the
whois data associated with a given domain name from the very beginning. This means
that you can see what the domain’s history is when it was registered, and how many
times it potentially changed hands.

In the end, if you’re considering getting an existing domain, which can be quite pricey,
spending an additional $10 doesn’t seem that brutal. Plus, it can save you headaches later
on.

16. Register Your Corresponding Social Media Handles

Social media is key these days — whether we like it or not.

The average web-connected human spends one hour on Facebook every day, and, in
total, Facebook gets 2 billion visits a month. That’s BILLION.

What I’m trying to say is: People are much more likely to check what’s going on with your
brand on Facebook than by actually visiting your website. This is just one of the reasons
why you absolutely have to have your professional profiles set up on the most popular
social media sites.

Whenever possible, get the same handles as your domain name. If these are taken, be
creative and use some suffixes or prefixes. Some options: now, daily, HQ, get, app. For
example, my fictional Lotterio.com brand could go by LotterioHQ on Twitter.
17. Pick a Trustworthy Domain Registrar

The domain registrar is a company that registers a domain name on your behalf, and then
gives you full access to that domain name.

The key with registrars is to only use respectable and trustworthy companies. You really
don’t want to run into any domain problems further down the line — when your website’s
brand is already established and losing the domain would mean trouble.

The registrars we always recommend are:

Ÿ Namecheap and GoDaddy (compared here)
Ÿ SiteGround — our top recommended hosting company that also sells domain names.

18. Shop around to Find the Best Price

Even though all domain registrars offer the same product — they register a domain name
on your behalf — the pricing can sometimes be very different. For that reason, it’s always a
good idea to shop around with different registrars and compare the prices of the domain
name you want to get.

Just to give you an example, if you’re after a .co domain extension — a fairly popular
choice these days — you’ll find out that the same domain will cost you:

Ÿ $11.99 at GoDaddy
Ÿ $6.88 at Namecheap
Ÿ $32.50 at ENOM, and so on.
Now, I’m not saying that Namecheap is always the cheapest because it’s not. The price
always depends on the specific TLD you want to get, so always go to multiple registrars
and see what’s up.

Also, just a general note: Always keep your login credentials to the registrar’s user panel
very secure. If anyone gets access to that panel, they’ll be able to transfer your domain to
their account (read: Steal it).
Which brings me to:

19. Lock the Domain So It Can’t Be Stolen

Even though it may seem odd at first, domain hijacking actually happens more often than
you’d imagine.

Not going into the boring technical details, your domain can be stolen via several means.
Most commonly, this involves either hacking your password or convincing you to give out
your password via a phishing attack, plus some other fun things.

Basically, if someone gains access to your registrar’s user account, they can do whatever
they wish with your domains.
Some domain registrars offer a feature in which they keep your domain in Registrar-lock
status, which prevents unauthorized attempts at domain transfers. In this state, your
registration information and DNS configuration cannot be changed until you unlock your
domain name.
Luckily, enabling this option is often very easy and only requires you to select a specific
box in your registrar’s user panel. Here’s what it looks like at SiteGround:

20. Always Register Your Domain Name Yourself

It’s a good idea to not let anyone else (such as an agency) register a domain name for you.
Even though it’s slightly less hassle that way (since someone else does all the work), it can
lead to trouble later on.

If someone else registers the domain, you’re giving them a hold over you and your
website. If you ever want to move away from their services, you can encounter trouble in
terms of them not being too eager to transfer the domain over to you and give you full
control of it.

Just to name a few bad things that can happen: They may take an awfully long time to
complete the transfer, they may try to extort some fees from you to do that, or they may
decline completely (based on some fine print in your initial agreement).

Plus, perhaps most importantly, if the agency/person goes bankrupt or loses access to the
domain registrar for whatever reason, you could lose your domain name entirely.

Long story short, always register your domains on your own. It’s not that difficult anyway.
Here’s our step-by-step guide.

21. Consider Enabling Domain ID Protection

In simple terms, domain ID protection masks your personal contact information from
anyone performing a whois lookup on your domain name.

By default, and under ICANN rules (the organization that regulates domain names), all
domain names must have publicly viewable contact information assigned to them — the
same information you had to provide during registration. This includes your name,
address, phone number, and email address.

Let me say this again, by default, all of this is visible to anyone who puts your domain name
through a tool such as the aforementioned who.is.
This is not perfect. First, anyone can see this info, which means your personal details are
exposed. You’re basically sacrificing part of your privacy for nothing in exchange.
So, the way to solve this is to set domain ID protection with your domain registrar (all
domain registrars offer this). This is usually a paid feature, though. The price tag can be
around $1 a month. Here’s how to do this with Namecheap:

Once under domain ID protection, the whois details of your domain get replaced with your
registrar’s information.

22. Set Your Domain to Auto-Renew

Generally, when you register your new domain name, you get to choose the registration
period — the time span during which the registrar keeps the domain active on your behalf.
Most commonly, everyone registers their domain names for either 12 or 24 months.

After that initial period, your domain name needs to be renewed (for another X months).
Otherwise, it becomes inactive. And then, after a short while, if you miss your window, the
domain goes back to the pool of available domains, which means anyone will be able to
register it.

What usually happens — in case someone doesn’t make it in time with renewing their
domain — is that the domain gets snatched by a domain broker or someone similar.
Basically, aged domains are valuable in the domain market, plus there’s a higher chance
that the person who originally failed to renew the domain will want to buy it back at some
point.

Ÿ Always go for the .com

Ÿ Experiment with local TLDs if it makes sense
Ÿ Consider experimenting with non-traditional TLDs (.design, .club, .ly, .it, and others)
Ÿ Consider buying the other main TLDs
Ÿ Choose a brandable name (unique, easy to memorize, easy to pronounce, sounds
trustworthy)
Ÿ Keep it short, simple, and predictable
Ÿ Buy the common misspellings of your domain name
Ÿ Use a thesaurus for domain name ideas
Ÿ Help yourself to some domain name generators
Ÿ Choose a domain name you can legally own
Ÿ Don’t sweat it if your perfect domain name is taken — contact the owner to try to get it
Ÿ Don’t sweat it if your perfect domain name is taken and can’t be obtained
Ÿ Be careful when buying existing domain names
Ÿ Check the domain history via Wayback Machine
Ÿ Check the domain history via who.is
Ÿ Register your corresponding social media handles
Ÿ Pick a trustworthy domain registrar
Ÿ Shop around to find the best price
Ÿ Lock the domain so it can’t be stolen
Ÿ Always register your domain name by yourself
Ÿ Consider enabling domain ID protection
Ÿ Set your domain to auto-renew

How to Choose the Right Web Hosting?

How do we decide if a web host is good? Do bandwidth and disk storage features still
matter these days? Which type of hosting service should you go with? Let me help you
discover the answers to these questions and more. I’ll guide you along the way with a
complete walkthrough accompanied by a specially designed 16-point checklist to ensure
all you know exactly how to choose the right web hosting.

The Process: How to Select A Web Hosting Provider?

There are so many factors involved in this that it could overwhelm most people, but let’s
focus on these key items.

Ÿ Know your hosting needs

Ÿ Server reliability and uptime guarantees
Ÿ Hosting upgrade options
Ÿ Numbers of the addon domain
Ÿ Signup prices vs renewal prices
Ÿ Refund policy and free trial period
Ÿ Essential hosting features
Ÿ e-commerce features and support
Ÿ Control panel
Ÿ Account limitation
Ÿ Environmental Friendliness
Ÿ Email hosting (email@yourdomain.com)
Ÿ Subscription period
Ÿ Site backup
Ÿ Live chat/telephone support
Ÿ Server responsiveness
FTC Disclosure
WHSR receive referral fees from some of the companies mentioned in this article. It takes
lots of effort and money to create useful content like this – your support is highly
appreciated.

1. Know Your Hosting Needs

You can never get the right web host without knowing what you need. So before you go any
further – put everything aside (including this guide you are reading) and think about what
you really need.

Ÿ What kind of website are you building?

Ÿ Do you want something common (a WordPress blog, perhaps)?
Ÿ Do you need Windows applications?
Ÿ Do you need support for a specific script (e.g. PHP)?
Ÿ Does your website need special software?
Ÿ How big (or small) can your web traffic volume go?

These are some of the basic questions you need to answer for yourself.

Picture in your mind what you want your website to be now, then build on that idea until
you’re roughly 12 months ahead of that. Don’t just consider what you want to offer, but also
what may want or need.

If you are totally new…

For newbies, the no-brainer rule is to always start small with a good shared hosting
account.

A shared hosting account is cheap, easy to maintain, and sufficient for most new sites. It
also lets you focus on building your site without having to worry about other server-side
tasks such as database maintenance and server security.

Remember, you always have the option to scale up and upgrade to VPS or dedicated
hosting at a later stage when your site grows bigger.

Useful Tip: Read my other articles to learn the three ways to build a website and estimate
the cost of your website.

2. Server Reliability / Uptime Scores

Nothing is more important than having a 24×7 operating web host, after all, your visitors
may come to your site from time zones all over the world. You need a web host which is
stable, both in terms of their servers as well as network connections. 99.95% is
considered a norm these days, even for shared hosting accounts; anything below 99% is
unacceptable. Premium accounts often boast of 99.99% or better uptimes.

There are a number of different ways to obtain web host uptime information. The simplest
way to do so is by reading our hosting reviews – where we publish uptime records from
time to time (see samples below).

Alternatively, you can simply track your web host with server monitoring tools – many of
these tools are available either for free or at the very least offer a trial period. They are
efficient and very easy to use.

Uptime samples published at WHSR

SiteGround uptime record (Jan 2014)

iPage uptime record (Jan 2014)

BlueHost uptime record (Aug 2014)

SiteGround uptime record (Jan 2018)

3. Server Upgrading Options

Shared web hosts are pretty powerful these days.

Through rough guesstimation, a shared hosting account should be sufficient to support a

properly optimized WordPress blog with 30,000 to 40,000 monthly unique visitors.
Database connections usually work your server harder and the more people you have
connecting to your website at the same time, the more it will suffer performance-wise.

On a shared hosting account, things should be fine as long as you manage to limit your
concurrent database connections below 20 (this is why I said it’s always best to start with a
shared hosting if you are new).

* Click to enlarge image.

Shared Hosting: Cheaper, easy to maintain; limited server cotntrol and power.
Cloud Hosting: Extremely flexible and cost-efficient; steeper learning curve to start.

Dedicated Hosting: Great server power and full server control; require the highest cost
and skills.

However…
If you expect your website to grow really big over the next two or three years then you
should consider picking up a web host with room to grow. By grow, I mean that it is able to
offer you better plans. This could be upgraded from shared hosting to a virtual private
(VPS) or dedicated a server for greater processing power, memory capacity, disk storage,
and perhaps even enhanced security features.

Useful Tip: Recommended hosts that offer all three hosting options (Shared/ VPS /
Dedicated): A2 Hosting, InMotion Hosting, InterServer, and SiteGround.
4. Multiple Addon Domains

Domain names are cheap – so cheap in fact that it is often hard to resist not owning more
than one.

I personally own more than 50 domain names in my GoDaddy and NameCheap accounts
– and I’m not alone. According to this Web Hosting Talk’s survey – 80% of the voters own
more than 5 domains and more than 20% of the voters own more than 50!

To accommodate these extra domains, we need extra hosting space. This is why it is
important to have a web hosting account that allows adding multiple domains.

Look for a web host with more than 50 addon domain

Generally speaking, most budget-friendly shared hosting companies allow at least 25

addon domains* in one account nowadays but you can never be sure. Some years ago I
was careless and signed up on a web host that allows only one domain. Unfortunately, I
was holding more than 10 parked domains at that time. Do not repeat my mistake – check
the domain capacity before you make a purchase.

Useful Tip: Addon Domain = separated website with a different domain that you can host
on the web host; Parked Domain = additional domain you “park” for domain forwarding or
email hosting.

5. Signup vs Renewal Price

Hosting deals, especially for shared hosting, are usually cheapest during signup. Be
aware though that these often come with a much higher renewal price, so be careful
before clicking ‘buy’ on that plan that is offering you a sign-up the price at 80% discount!

This is an industry norm.

Unless you are willing to hop between two or three web hosts every two years, there is no
way to avoid pricey renewal costs.

In our host review, we deduct a point for hosts that jack up their price more than 50% on
renewal. But generally, I am okay with companies that renew at below 100% price jump –
meaning, if you signup a host at $5/mo, the renewal fees shouldn’t go beyond $10/mo.

To avoid any unpleasant surprises, check the ToS and make sure you are okay with the
renewal rates before signup.

Useful Tip: One quick way to do this is to click on the hosting company’s ToS link (usually
at the bottom of homepage), press Ctrl + F, and search for keyword “renewal” or “renew”.

Compare: Signup vs Renewal price

Note that usually hosting companies that slash their price at signup are the ones that jack
up renewal price the most.

Web Host Sign Up Renewal Difference Action

$3.92/mo $7.99/mo +100% Visit Online

€4.95/mo €4.95/mo No Change Visit Online

$9.95/mo $9.95/mo No Change Visit Online

$8.95/mo $13.95/mo +56% Visit Online

$3.36/mo $7.99/mo +110% Visit Online

$3.99/mo $7.99/mo +100% Visit Online

$5.00/mo $5.00/mo No Change Visit Online

$1.99/mo $7.99/mo +300% Visit Online

$69/mo $69/mo No Change Visit Online

$42/mo $42/mo No Change Visit Online

$29/mo $29/mo No Change Visit Online

* Note: HostPapa and InMotion Hosting prices are based on WHSR’s exclusive deals. All
prices are checked accurately in August 2018.

6. Refund Policy & Free Trial Period

Ÿ Should you choose to cancel your hosting plan within the trial period, does the
company provide a full money-back guarantee?
Ÿ What is the hosting company’s refund policy after the trial period has ended?
Ÿ Are there any cancellation charges or extra fees?
These are some basic questions you should get the answers to before signing up.

It’s important to know how your hosting provider handles customer refunds so that you
don’t lose too much money if things go wrong.

There are some hosting companies that charge absurdly high cancellation fees when
users cancel their accounts during trial periods. Our advice? Avoid these hosting
providers at all cost! On the other hand, some hosting companies provide anytime money-
back guarantees where you can ask for a pro-rated refund after your trial period is over
(good eh?).
References

Web Host Trial Review

Anytime Read Review

30 Days Read Review

30 Days Read Review

45 Days Read Review

45 Days Read Review

7 Days Read Review

30 Days Read Review

30 Days Read Review

90 Days Read Review

30 Days Read Review

30 Days Read Review

30Days Read Review

30 Days Read Review

60 Days Read Review

* Note: Free trial length is checked accurately on August 2018.

7. Essential Features in a Web Host

Sure, some things like file management and site stats are almost always there, but also
keep an eye on ftp / sftp, one-click installer, and DNS management. Also, there should be a
file manager – make sure you can edit the .htaccess file from there.

One-click Installer
One-click installers come in various flavors, such as Softalucous or Simple Script.

SiteGround cPanel dashboard is customized so it’s easy to auto-install popular apps like
WordPress, PrestaShop, and Joomla.

Either way, the aim of the one-click installer is to make your life a heck of a lot easier. These
are sort of installation wizards that help you install things like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal,
or a host of other web applications. All you’ll need to do is fill in some names and perhaps
specify a directory or so along the way.

FTP / SFTP Access

FTP / SFTP access is invaluable for moving large amounts of files safely. Some hosts try to
get away with just the file manager, but that is usually quite limited.

* Click to enlarge.
SSH access at InMotion Hosting.

.htaccess File Access

The .htaccess file is also extremely powerful and can help you make site-wide
administrative changes. It controls almost everything from redirects up to password
authentication and management and will be vital at some point in your future endeavors.

Unless you are signing up on a specialty web host like WP Engine and Presidium (these
focus on WordPress hosting mainly), these basic features are a must-have. You SHOULD
NOT settle with hosting providers that do not supply them.

Ignore Disk Space and Data Transfer Capacity (for now)

Disk space and data transfers are hardly a meaningful comparison factor for shoppers –
especially if you are new – these days.

If you check, almost all shared hosting providers are offering “unlimited” storage and data
transfer. While the term “unlimited” is nothing but a marketing gimmick; web hosting users
often get more than enough capacity in terms of storage and data transfer bandwidth. (In
most cases, it is RAM and processing power that limits the usage of an unlimited hosting
account.)

If you think about it, disk storage and bandwidth hardly matter to average website owners
these days. Images can be stored at Imgur or Flickr, files and documents on Google Doc,
videos on YouTube and Vimeo, and large data files on any of a huge number of cloud
storage sites existing today.

So don’t overly worry about your hosting storage or bandwidth for the time being.
8. e-Commerce Features

Ÿ Are you running an e-commerce website?

Ÿ Are you using any specific shopping cart software?
Ÿ Do you need to process business transactions on your website?
Ÿ Do you need special technical support (ie. PrestaShop guide, or so on)?

If yes, then it is important for you to pick a web host with sufficient e-commerce features
support. SSL certification, dedicated IP, and one-click shopping cart software installation
are some of the essential features/supports you will need.

Read Azreen’s article 5 best web hosting for small businesses.

9. An Easy-to-use Hosting Control Panel

A user-friendly control panel with extensive functionality is very important since it’s the
brain of your hosting account.

It doesn’t matter if it’s cPanel or Plesk or even a third-party control panel (like what
GoDaddy offers), as long as it is user-friendly and comes with all the necessary functions.
Without an adequate control panel, you will be left at the mercy of the hosting tech support
staff – even if all you need is some basic service.

I once had an account with IX Web Hosting, and although it’s not a bad host – multiple
dedicated IPs at a very reasonable price, plus great tech support – I had to cancel my
account because its custom control panel was very user-unfriendly.

Control panel used in different web hosts

Web Host cPanel vDeck Others

1&1 – –

BlueHost – –

CoolHandle – –

FatCow – –

GreenGeeks – –

iPage – –

InMotion – –

IXWebHosting – –

JustHost – –
SiteGround – –

10. Account Suspension: What are the limitations?

Here’s a money tip that most hosting review sites will not tell you: Hosting companies will
pull the plug and suspend your account if you are using too much CPU power (yes,
unlimited hosting is limited) or violating the rules.

So before you sign up on a web host, it is important that you read the rules.

Because the power of their shared servers is often not something they like to publicize,
crouched in ornate language, you will be told somewhere in the terms and conditions that
your account may be suspended or terminated for over-utilization of resources – they just
usually won’t tell you how much.

It’s also fairly certain that almost ALL web hosts will not tolerate the hosting of any illegal
files and/or services. So if you intend to run a website allowing people to download pirated
files, you’re probably out of luck for the most part.

Knowing your account limits help you understand two things –

Ÿ How generous (or stingy) your shortlisted web hosts are – Should you go with this one
or another host with looser restrictions?
Ÿ How transparent your hosting company is – Can you trust the words coming out from
your hosting company? Honest hosting companies normally have very clear guidelines
on account limitations and their terms of service.

Example: iPage TOS

For examples, here’s what written in iPage’s TOS – note the underlined sentences.

User agrees that User shall not use excessive amounts of CPU processing on any of
iPage’s servers. Any violation of this policy may result in corrective action by iPage,
including assessment of additional charges, disconnection or discontinuance of any and
all Services, or termination of this Agreement, […]

11. Environmental Friendliness

Having an eco-friendly website host a the primary concern for some webmasters.

According to scientific studies, a web server on average produces more than 630 kg of
CO2 (which is a lot!) and consumes 1,000 KWh of energy annually. A green web host on
the other hand theoretically produces zero CO2. There is indeed a huge difference
between a green web host and a non-eco-friendly web host.

If you care about the environment and wish to reduce the carbon footprint attributed to your
company or yourself, pick a web host that runs on renewable energy (or at least, a web
host that offsets its energy consumption via green certificates).

Useful Tip: Many hosting companies employ the “green marketing strategy” a few years
before but that seems to fade off nowadays. Based on my observation, Greengeeks is one
of the few that are actively going green (check GreenGeeks’ EPA Green Power Partner list
here).

GreenGeeks was started in 2008. Their latest report submitted to EPA was on July 2016
(source).

12. Email@YourDomain.com

If you wish to host email accounts together with your website, then you should look at the
email features before signup. Most hosting companies will come with the ability to host
your own email (something like email@yourdomain.com) but hey, it’s always better to
check and be sure of it, yeah?

In case email features are not provided, no big deal. There are a number of ways you can
own an email account at your own domain. G Suite, for example, is a service offered by
Google that will let you own your own emails, hosted on their servers. It starts from as low
as $5 per user per month.

Useful Tip: Learn how to host your own email and find the best email hosting here.
13. Subscription Period

Do not be surprised if you discover some web hosts force their customers to take up
unreasonably long contracts. Lunarpages, for example, changed their pricing structure in
June 2009 and lured customers to take up a 5-year hosting contract in order to enjoy the
$4.95/mo deal. Lunarpages no longer offers such a deal now the case can still serve as an
example.

Should you commit to long-term hosting contracts? Our answer is no – Never signup with
a web host for any period of more than two years running, unless they offer clear anytime
money back guarantees.

Useful Tip: Hosting companies usually give better offers when users go for longer
subscription periods. The discounts are great, but I strongly recommend users not to
prepay for more than 2 years. Technology develops rapidly and you might find your needs
vastly different in a short space of time.

14. Site Backup

Computers crash, equipment fails, these are the facts of life even as death and taxes are.
Your site will also be vulnerable to these factors, or perhaps a hacker got into your
WordPress blog and replaced your index.php file. Maybe your entire database got nuked.

If your web host does site backups regularly then there is nothing to worry about when
these incidents happen. Your hosting provider should be able to restore your full site in no
time at all (or at least, a big chunk of it).

On backups, here are a few key questions to ask your web host:

Ÿ Does your web host provide full backups regularly?

Ÿ Can site backup be done manually via the control panel?
Ÿ Can you create auto backups of your site easily via cron jobs or other programs?
Ÿ Can you restore your backup files by yourself easily so you don’t have to wait for
support staff to do it for you during a period of disaster recovery?

Useful Tip: Web hosts with great backup facilities at no additional costs – A2 Hosting (for
Swift plans and above), Web Host Face (for Face Extra plans and above), TMD Hosting,
and SiteGround.

15. Live Chat or Telephone Support

Personally, I prefer live chat over phone and web hosting companies with comprehensive
documentation (so I can just read and solve the problems myself).

But that’s just me. You might prefer email or telephone support instead.

Ultimately, we want someone who can throw us a life preserver instantly once we press
that S.O.S. button.

Reference
I tried 28 hosting companies’ live chat support in 2017 – SiteGround, InMotion Hosting,
Web Host Face, WP Engine, and Go Get Space stood out as the winner in this test.

Screenshots of my live chat record at WebHostFace. My chat requests were answered

within seconds, and my questions were answered professionally. The overall experience
with the web host support staff was excellent. Read my detail WebHostFace review.

Pro-active live chat support at WP Engine. Read my detail WP Engine review.

SiteGround – awesome chat support system and very helpful support staff. Excellent
experience overall. Read detail SiteGround review.

16. Server Responsiveness

We don’t mean if your hosting company responds to you quickly or not! Responsiveness is
a measure of the time it takes from when someone hits enter on your domain name until
the server acknowledges that request.

Often known as Time To First Byte (TTFB), your server response speed is more than for
self-gratification at having the fastest loading website. It’s been documented that the
longer a user waits for a website to load, the more likely they will leave the site before it
even finishes loading.

Your website speed also affects how Google and other search engines rank you in search
results.

This is seldom something that a web hosting company will tell you. One common guideline
is often price. Top-of-the-line equipment and infrastructure do not come cheap. If your host
can afford to charge you $2 per month for hosting, things are getting a little fishy.
Reference
BlueHost recent speed test – test site returned the first byte in 488ms. Read detail
BlueHost review.

Useful Tip: Use a tool such as Byte Check, Bitcatcha, and Webpage Test to test site
speeds for yourself.

Wrapping Up: One Man’s Meat Is Another Man’s Poison

I am not 100% sure if the idiom is right for the title but I think you get what I mean.
The thing is – there is never a fixed solution to one’s web hosting needs.

I wouldn’t recommend a free web host if you are starting out a huge e-commerce website. I
definitely wouldn’t recommend expensive managed WordPress hosting if all you need is
an easy-to-manage web host to run a small hobby blog.

Different websites have different needs.

When you are choosing a web hosting provider, remember that what you want is to pick up
the web host that suits your needs.

It’s not about finding the best web host in the world; rather, it’s about finding the RIGHT
web host for YOU.
And there, you have it – my web host shopping guide. I hope it eases your host-choosing
process a little. Once you got your hosting ready, it’s time to create and put your website
online!

e. Cpanel set up.

Getting Started with cPanel

If you're new to hosting or cPanel, this article will help you get started.

1. Set Up Your Hosting

To set up your hosting, go to gateway.godaddy.com, and then log in to your GoDaddy
account. From there, click Set Up under your account and follow the instructions.

2. Upload Your Files

The easiest way to do this is to use cPanel's built-in File Manager. To access it, in the Files
section, click File Manager.

Once you've opened it, make sure you Upload the site's files to the public_html directory.

3. Preview Your Site

To make sure everything's working properly, you can preview your site by going to
http://[your hosting account's IP]/~[your cPanel username]/

You can find your hosting account's IP on the cPanel tab; it's labeled Shared IP Address.

4. Set up Email
Now that you have your site situated, you can go to the Email tab, and then set up email
accounts. After you set them up, you can check them by using one of the options from the
More menu next to the address.

f. WordPress Installation on Cpanel.

How to Install WordPress – Complete WordPress Installation Tutorial

WordPress is known as the most popular blogging platform and content management
system. New users are often surprised when we tell them that WordPress is also well
known for its ease of installation. All best WordPress web hosting companies allow you to
install WordPress within few clicks. In most circumstances, installing WordPress is a
simple process that takes less than five minutes to complete. In this WordPress
installation tutorial, our goal is to offer a comprehensive WordPress installation tutorial for
beginners and advanced users alike. We will show you how to install WordPress using
Fantastico, Softaculous, and SimpleScripts for beginners. We will explain how to install
WordPress manually for our intermediate users. Lastly for our beginner developer and
designers, we will show you how to install WordPress on a local computer (Windows, Mac,
and Linux).
Things You Need Before Installing WordPress

Before you install WordPress, first you will need a domain name and a good web hosting
company that knows WordPress.

We highly recommend that you use BlueHost because they will give you a free domain and
50% off their hosting plan (special for WPBeginner users). Bluehost is also an officially
recommended hosting provider of WordPress.

Since this is a very long and detailed tutorial, please use the navigation below to get to the
appropriate section.

Ÿ How to Install WordPress Using MOJO Marketplace

Ÿ How to Install WordPress using Softaculous
Ÿ How to Install WordPress using QuickInstall
Ÿ How to Install WordPress using Fantastico
Ÿ How to Install WordPress using FTP
Ÿ How to Install WordPress in your Computer
Ÿ How to Install WordPress in your Language
Ÿ How to Install a WordPress Multisite Network
Ÿ Things to do After Installing WordPress

How to Install WordPress using MOJO Marketplace

MOJO Marketplace provides a simple WordPress installer tool. Several hosting
companies use this to provide a 1-click WordPress install experience. This installer is
integrated into their cPanel dashboard.
For this tutorial, we will be showing you the BlueHost cPanel. Simply login to your hosting
account and then on your cPanel dashboard scroll down to the website section.

Click on Install WordPress icon or 1-click Install. They will both take you to the MOJO
Marketplace where you will see an overview about WordPress with a Install button. You
need to click on the install button to continue.

MOJO Marketplace will now ask you where you want to install WordPress. Simply select
your domain name from the dropdown menu and click on the check domain button.
The installer will now check that everything is in order and will show the final step. You can
check the box next to Show Advanced Options to expand it.

You will notice that MOJO Marketplace has already given your site a title ‘My Site’. It will be
using your email address as the username and entered a random strong password. You
can change all these settings. You also need to check the terms and conditions checkbox.
Once you are done, you can click on the Install Now button.
Your installation will begin, and you will be able to see a progress bar. It will take only a few
minutes. You need to wait on this page for it to finish.

Once the installation is finished, you will see a success message with a view credentials
button.

You have successfully installed WordPress. Click on the View Credentials button to go to
MOJO Marketplace dashboard and scroll down to the notification center.

There you will see the status of your WordPress install with a link to view credentials.
This will display the installation status and success notice. You will also find links to your
site and WordPress admin area along with the username and password you will need to
login.

How to Install WordPress using Softaculous

Softaculous is a popular auto-installer script. It allows you to easily install popular web
applications like WordPress with just a few clicks. Hosting companies like SiteGround and
InMotion Hosting use Softaculous in their control panel.

Simply login to your cPanel account and look for Softaculous icon or WordPress installer
icon. You will find them under Auto Installers section.
Clicking on any of these icons will launch Softaculous auto-installer for WordPress. First
you will see an overview of WordPress. You need to click on the Install tab to continue.

Softaculous will now ask you where you want to install WordPress. You need to choose
http:// or http://www. as protocol.
If your site has SSL and HTTPS, then you can select https:// or https://www. as protocol.
After that, you need to choose the domain name where you want to install WordPress.
Most users want to install WordPress in their domain’s root directory, like example.com. In
that case, you need to make sure that the ‘In Directory’ field is blank.

Scroll down a little, and you will see the site settings section.

Under this section, first you need to provide a title and description for your WordPress site.
Don’t worry you can easily change them from your WordPress admin area after
installation. Next, you need to choose an admin username, password, and email address.
Softaculous will automatically fill in the username and password fields for you. It will use a
non-dictionary word for username and a strong password.

You can change them if you want so that they are easy to remember for you. However, we
strongly urge you to always use a strong password. See our guide on the best way to
manage passwords for WordPress beginners to learn how you can manage strong
passwords easily.

Make sure that you enter correct email address in the admin email field. This is where
WordPress will send notifications and password reset link if you ever forgot your
password.
Softaculous will run the installer using the settings you provided. You will see a progress
bar with installation status. It will take a couple of minutes, do not close the window until the
progress bar reaches 100% otherwise this may affect your WordPress installation.
You will see a success message after the installation is finished. It will also show you a link
to your website and another link to your WordPress admin area.

How to Install WordPress using QuickInstall

QuickInstall is another popular auto-installer used by many hosting companies like

HostGator and others. We will be using HostGator’s cPanel dashboard in the screenshots
here, but it wouldn’t be much different if you are using some other host that has
QuickInstall.

First you need to login to your hosting account’s cPanel dashboard. Scroll down to the
Software and Services section and then click on the QuickInstall icon.
This will take you to the 1-Click Installers page on QuickInstall. You will see that it offers
installations for most popular web applications including WordPress. You need to click on
WordPress to launch the WordPress installer.

This will take you to the WordPress installer where you will see an overview of the
software. Simply click on the ‘Install WordPress’ button to continue.

This will bring you to setup your WordPress install settings.

First you need to choose the domain name. If you want to install WordPress in a sub-
directory like example.com/blog then you need to enter blog in the install path field. Leave
it blank if you want to install WordPress in the root directory, like example.com.
You need to provide a title for your site, this could be anything and you can always change
it later. Next, you need to provide a username, password, and email address for the admin
account. You will also need to enter first and last name for the admin user.

Once you are satisfied with the settings, click on Install WordPress button to begin the
installation.

QuickInstall will now install WordPress for you. You will see a progress bar and later
success message when it is done.

Click on the drop down icon next to view credentials button in the success message. A fly
down menu will appear with login credentials and a link to the admin area of your newly
installed WordPress site.

How to Install WordPress using Fantastico

Fantastico is a common auto-installer script used by some WordPress hosting providers.

It is similar to the other installer scripts in the list, and offers an easy way to quickly install
Wordpress.

First you need to login to your cPanel dashboard. Scroll down to software and services
section, and there you will find the Fantastico icon.

Clicking on Fantastico icon will launch the auto-installer script.

Some hosting providers are still using an older version of Fantastico. In this tutorial we will
be showing you screenshots from Fantastico F3 version. If Fantastico on your host looks
different, then don’t worry. Basic installation steps are the same, and you should be able to
easily follow them.

On the main Fantastico screen you will see a list of web applications on your left. You need
to click on Blogs, and there you will find WordPress listed among many other applications.
Clicking on WordPress will show you an overview of the application with a Install button.
Simply click on the ‘Click here to install WordPress’ button to continue.
Fantastico auto-installer for WordPress will now ask you to fill in your installation settings.
First you need to choose the domain where you want to install WordPress.

If you want to install WordPress in a sub-directory then you can enter the sub-directory
name in the field below. Otherwise, make sure that this field is empty.

Under Administrator Details section, you need to provide admin user account information.
Enter a username, password, and email address for your WordPress admin account.

Click on the Submit button to continue.

Fantastico will now install WordPress for you. You will be able to see the installation
progress. Once it has finished installing WordPress you will see a success message.

How to Install WordPress using FTP

Manually installing WordPress is also known as the famous 5 minute install. However,
manual installation has a few added steps, and you will need an FTP client for that. Take a
look at our beginner’s guide on how to use FTP to upload WordPress files.
If you want to install WordPress on your root domain name (like example.com), then you
need to upload WordPress files to your website’s root directory. Usually this directory is
called /public_html/.

On the other hand, If you want to install WordPress in a subfolder (like example.com/blog),
then upload it in a folder /public_html/blog/.

Once you are done uploading WordPress, go to your hosting control panel to create a
database. We are using cPanel web hosting, so our screenshots will be of cPanel. In your
cPanel, find the icon like this:

You will see a field to create a new database. Enter your database name, and click “Create
Database”.
Now that you have created your database, MySQL still needs a username. This username
will have access to perform actions on the database.

On the MySQL Databases page in your cPanel account, scroll down to MySQL Users
section. Simply provide a username and password for your new user and click on the
‘Create a user’ button.

This new user still does not have access to the database you created earlier. For that you
will need to add the user to the database and give them permissions to perform all actions.
On the same MySQL Databases page in your cPanel account, scroll down to ‘Add User to
a Database’ section. Select the database user you created from the dropdown menu next
to user, then select database, and click on the add button.

You will be now asked for the privileges you want to allow this user. Select all privileges and
click on the Make changes button.

Your MySQL database and user are now ready, and it is time to run the WordPress install.
Simply go to to the URL where you uploaded WordPress. If it is in the main domain, then
enter your domain name in the browser window, like yoursite.com or www.yoursite.com.

You will see the language selection page. You can choose a language here so that rest of
the installation is displayed in your own language. You can also use English for now and
then later change the language.
Click on the continue button to proceed.
You will now see some installation instructions. Basically WordPress will now tell you that it
will need your database name, password, and mysql host information.

Click on the ‘Let’s go’ button to continue.

WordPress will now show you a form. You need to enter the name of the database you
created earlier.

Fill in the information and then click on submit button. WordPress will now connect to your
database and will show you a success message.

Click on ‘Run the Install’ button to continue.

WordPress will now create tables in your database and then send you to the next step of
the installation.

Now you need to provide some information for WordPress to setup your site. This includes
site title, username, password, and admin email address.
If you do not want your website to be visible to search engines, then you can check the box
next to search engine visibility. Later when you are ready you can change this from
WordPress settings. If you are unsure about what to do, then simply leave it unchecked.

Click on the Install WordPress button to continue. WordPress will setup your website and
finish the installation.

You will see a success message showing your username. You can now click on the Log in
button to sign in to your WordPress site.
How to Install WordPress in your Language
Just like Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android, you can use WordPress in your own
language.

WordPress is available in many languages including English, Spanish, French, Arabic,

Korean, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese (Han), Portuguese,
and many others.

You can choose a language during the WordPress installation or change it by visiting
Settings » General page in WordPress admin area.
You can even have your WordPress site in multiple languages.
We have written a tutorial on how to install WordPress in other languages.

How to Install a WordPress Multisite Network

WordPress comes with multisite functionality built-in. The multisite network allows you to
create multiple WordPress sites using the same WordPress install. It can automatically
create new sites on sub-domains or in sub-folders.

This makes sense for businesses, non-profits, governments with sub-sites for different
locations or regions. Many educational institutes also use WordPress multisite network to
allow students to create their own blogs.

The setup for a multisite is a bit complex, but we have created a complete step-by-step
tutorial on how to install and setup WordPress multisite network.

Things to do After Installing WordPress

Now that you have successfully installed WordPress, here are a few things to get started
with your new WordPress site.

Choosing a Theme

The visual appearance of your WordPress powered website is controlled by Themes.

There are thousands of WordPress themes available for you to choose from. With so
many choices, it can become a little confusing for beginners. This is why we have put
together a guide on selecting the perfect theme for WordPress.

We regularly publish lists of WordPress themes that we like in our Showcase section.

Installing and Using WordPress Plugins

The real power of WordPress comes from the massive collection of plugins. These plugins
allow you to extend your WordPress site by adding new functionalities and features.

There are more than 40,000 free plugins available in the WordPress plugin directory
alone. More plugins are available from third party websites as paid plugins.

If you are wondering which plugins to install, then take a look at our WordPress plugins
section. You may also want to check out the plugins we are using on this site by looking at
our WP Beginner’s blueprint.

We have a beginner’s step by step guide on how to install WordPress plugins.

Start Learning WordPress

WordPress is the most easy to use CMS in the market. Millions of people from all over the
world use it every day. However, from time to time you may need a little help.
WPBeginner is the largest WordPress resource site in the world. We are helping
WordPress beginners with our easy to understand WordPress tutorials, beginner’s
guides, articles, and videos since 2009.