This Website is 100% FREE, easy to follow, and will teach you to Build Your Own Blog!
In this tutorial you will learn how to:
- Search for, and find your new URL or domain name.
- Open a Godaddy.com Domain & Hosting Account
- Setup Your Hosting Account
- Install the WordPress Blogging Software
- Search for, and find your WordPress themes or layout.
- Upload your WordPress Theme to your Hosting Server via FTP.
- Manage your WordPress Design & Settings
- Start Blogging!
Let’s Begin:
The first step to a successful Website or Blog is the title. Since we want to be search engine friendly, we will find a URL or Domain Name that matches our Website Title. For this example… I’ll be searching for a name that contains my interests. “Hilton Head Island” (where I live), and “Bike Company,” (what my website is about). Let’s search Godaddy.com to see what we can find.
Click this image to start your search…
We can see that since my search is very specific, I found exactly what I was looking for: “hiltonheadbikecompany.com.” Now, we have the option to keep searching, or we can purchase this domain name. If for example, our name was already purchased by someone, we would need to try a different search. Domain Names are very valuable, and people will buy many to secure their interests. Let’s add this to our shopping cart!
Next, to provide storage for our website, and a place to “host” our donain name, we’ll need to purchase a Hosting Plan. This is essentially a virtual appartment for our digital files. After we added the Domain Name to our Shopping Cart, click on Hosting Plans to find this page. I will reccomend the Deluxe Package, as this will provide more storage space, email accounts, and a higher rate of speed. A 12 month time period is also the best way to go. Let’s add this to our cart.
Since we’re buying a hosting plan, our domain name is discounted. Very nice! Click that blue link to choose our Domain for less money.
Check your domain, and proceed to checkout!
Here we can review our shopping cart. We can see our hosting plan is an inexpensive price, and our URL is discounted. We can also decide to purchase our Domain Name for years at a time. 1 year is fine, as we can set this to auto-renew before it expires.
Congratulations! You are 1/3 of the way done! Once you have created your godaddy.com account, purchased your Hosting Plan and Domain, you will receive a conformation email with your account details. Print or save this for your records.
Next, log into your Godaddy.com account, and click on the “Hosting” button on the left hand menu bar. On the following screen, you will see a gray box that looks like this. Click “Setup Account” to begin.
Here we’ll choose the domain that we want to be hosted. NOTE: I already own a domain hiltonheadcycling.com. For this example, I’ll choose to host this name for our hosting account. However you will choose the domain you just purchased. Once setup, this box will appear, and confirm your hosting is complete.
Once finished, you will see your domain name in the hosting box. Click “Manage Account.”
Next we will see several options at the top. Click on “Your Applications.”
A new window will open, this is called the Godaddy Hosting Connection. This is where we can search for programs and applications to make website & blog building much easier. Click on “Blogs,” scroll down, then click “WordPress.”
WordPress is simply a blogging software. It is a platform witch will allow us to design, edit, and write to our website very easily. It is one of the most reliable, and user friendly systems available – FREE TOO! Click “Install Now.”
To complete the WordPress Intall, follow the directions below. Add a database name & password.
This next step is important. This is asking which directory/folder we want WordPress installed. I prefer to have the root directory be my website name, so leave this next box blank. If we left it at /wordpress, or any other name, people would have to search: www.yourdomainname.com/wordpress. Otherwise, if we leave it black, your website would be www.yourdomainname.com. Much nicer!
Next create your WordPress Username and Password. This is how we will log into our website. Add a Blog Title too. This can be anything, but for Google & Yahoo search reasons, I would keep this the same as our domain name. Click finish to install.
In a few minuets our brand new WordPress Website will be automatically installed on our Domain Name! Success! Here is what it looks like. Not too shabby, but I think we can make it look better.
The wonderful things about WordPress are the FREE themes available. Talented web designers, create wordpress templates and share them for no charge on popular websites. Here is a website I find is very useful. It’s called www.wpthemesfree.com. I can always find a theme here I like. A few notes about this site. Themes are organized by color, number of sidebars, and style. Try searching by color to start. Imagine how you want your website to look, and look for something similar. Websites should be functional, attractive, and organized well. Click this link to search for your new theme.
Since my website is about cycling on Hilton Head Island, I have found an appropriate theme. It has a nice blue, tropical feel, and even shows two bikers next to a palm tree. Next, try testing the theme. Click the “test” link to view full screen. This will show you how the finished theme will look. If you are satisfied, click “download.”
Once downloaded, you will have a .zip or “compressed” file on your desktop or downloads folder. You will need to double click this file to un-zip or un-compress it. You will then have a folder with the theme’s name.
The next step is to upload these files to your hosting server. We do this by FTP or File Transfer Protocol. This simply means taking files from our computer, and storing them on the internet. There are several ways to do this. Either we can use a software program such as FireFTP, (a FTP program made for Firefox,) or we can work directly through Godaddy.com. For this lession, we’ll use Godaddy. Log back into your Godaddy.com account. Click on Hosting, then click Manage Account. When the next window opens, click on Content. A drop down menu will appear, and click on “FTP Client.”
This next screen will show you two different windows. The left, are files on your computer. The box on the right, shows files on your server. Our objective is to take the new theme we downloaded, and upload it onto our server. The theme folder needs to be placed in the folder called “wp-content.” Double click on “wp-content” on the right hand side to open this folder.
Within this folder, you’ll see more files. Double click on “themes.”
Now we can see our theme “holiday-in-blue” on the left,” and the files within the “themes” folder on the right. Click on “holiday-in-blue” on the left, then click on the right arrow in the middle. This will transfer the files from your computer onto the server. We can now see that file being placed in the right hand window.
Once we have uploaded all the files, we will then need to activate these settings by logging into our website. WordPress creates a “backdoor,” where you can control every aspect of your website from any internet connection. This will be the main access to your blog. Type: www.yourdomainname.com/wp-login.php. For our specific example its: http://www.cyclehiltonhead.com/wp-login.php. Then fill in your Username & Password that you created at installation. Click “log In.”
Wonderful! Welcome to your Dashboard. You are now able to manage everything on your website! You will see links for Posts, Links, Pages, Apperence, Tools, Plugins, Settings, and more. These will be your way to add content, images, and anything else you desire. Let’s click on “Appearance” to change our theme.
You’ll notice on this page you have a few options. Your current theme, and two more available themes. As you upload more and more files to your server, you will have more options to change from. WordPress comes standard with these two, and we can see your newest right below. Simply click on the theme of your choice to change. One click will totally re-design your websites. It’s amazing!
As I clicked on “HolidayInBlue,” my website has been completely remodeled. Click “View Site” at the top of the dashboard to see your new design.
Congratulations! You have just successfully bought, installed, modified, and created your very own website! You now have 100% ownership, and control over all content visible to the world. By learning to maintain this yourself, you will save valuable time, money, and soon develop a rich knowledge of web design. Use the “Helpful Links” tab provided on the right sidebar to learn more about WordPress. Happy Blogging!!
