What is a self hosted WordPress website – a simple guide
Self Hosted WordPress website is the ultimate setup a blogger can acquire. It gives speed, flexibility in design, unlimited control over features and functionality and a status symbol to announce that your journey as a blogger has finally begun. A self hosted WordPress website requires a series of simple and complex steps to be completed. You will need the following
- Hosting service provider
- Domain name
- Hosting package
- Addons like SSL, etc
All these can be purchased as a single package from a hosting service provider. These components are well integrated. Here is what you will generally go through.
- Selection of domain name with the suitable package.
- Creation of account with hosting provider and payment process.
- Installation of WordPress though a single install software.
- Housekeeping.
Hosting service provider
Service providers give you a combination of tools so that you can start with a website. There are various types of hosting. Primary are Linux hosting, Windows hosting, cloud hosting and dedicated WordPress hosting. WordPress hosting is a bit expensive but worth the extra bucks. Hosting account provides with Cpanel access with total and easy access to hosting account. You can create subdomain, SSL certificates, Mail addresses, File manager, edit php files and so on. Sometimes you get a choice of location of servers. US servers are the least expensive. Most important we get a single click WordPress install like Softaculous. Popular hosting providers are Siteground, Bluehost, Hostgator, Godaddy, Hostinger and a few hundred more. Once you have shortlisted you service provider, you move on to the next step.
Domain Name
This is the most trickiest part of the whole thing. A .com domain name is the ultimate prize. But all the common name and combos are gone. A .in name may or may not be desirable as you might find, traffic going to your .com counterpart. Select and shortlist number of options before finalizing getting the one of your choice. As part of the freebie, try to get the hosting package which gives a free domain name, even if it is for a year.
Domain name should be catchy, simple to pronounce and remember, should reflect the nature of your blog and preferably should not have a spelling mistake. There are a ton of extensions available now, but remember, .com is a top level domain name.
Hosting package
All vendors give a 50% discount over the entire package when buying for the first time. Check the freebies carefully. GoDaddy still does not give a free SSL certificate. Check for the best deal with freebies like SSL, Business mail and domain name. Also go for the maximum duration say three or five years. You get the 50% discount either way. So go for the best package. Take help of a technical expert if required because this is going to be the deal of a lifetime. Package integration is a breeze with most of the top hosting providers. But the very reason why I always recommend top hosting providers is that their technology integration and programming is top notch. The tier two hosting providers have integration issues which leads to headache for all th ethree years you take the package. Once the domain and rest all are set, you can go to install the website.
Single click WordPress website install
Automatic installers usually take care of the technical aspects of WordPress installation. You should keep details like email address, blog name and description handy. A few clicks and your WordPress website is ready. It might take anything between a few minutes to an hour for your newly created website address to propagate through the DNS servers. After that you can login to the admin account.
Post WordPress install
- Secure your account with a strong password.
- Anything can go wrong, so choose the best option for a backup and take regular backups of your blog.
- To not overdo with plugins because they are a security risk and also slow down the website.
- Choose a theme which meets your requirement.
- Get the basic pages ready and apply for adsense as soon as possible.
