How To Set Up A Website, Beginning To End

A common question on the internet are mainly about; how to set up a website, how to register a domain name, how to bring or create content on your site, and how to host your site to the web. So here it is; your complete guide to quickly setting up a web site with minimal cost and effort.

Getting Started

The first step to setting up your website is finding and then registering a domain name.

When it comes to domain names, you’ll want a name that is easy to remember, easy to spell, doesn’t include hyphens or numbers, and ends with a .com.

And while it may seem like all the good .com names have already been registered, the truth is they haven’t. And every day thousands of domain names expire and are added back into the available domains pool.

To find these great domains, start by using a free domain name finding service like http://www.nameboy.com/. With these services, you enter the keywords you want, and all available domains are shown.

Domain names at Godaddy for $2.95 each. http://www.godaddy.com/domains/search-danica.aspx?isc=goft3001ea

When you register at Godaddy, do NOT sign up for hosting or any of the extras they offer. Just get the domain name.

Hosting

After you get your domain name, you’ll want to set up a web hosting account if you don’t already have one.

For most projects, I host with Hostgator, using their ‘Baby’ plan.

This plan costs $7.95 a month, and allows you to host an unlimited number of domains on that single account. So whether you host just one domain name or hundreds, the cost is just $7.95 a month.

To sign up, visit Hostgator and choose the ‘baby’ plan. FYI - if you want a dedicated IP number, choose the ‘business’ plan.

Adding your domain name to HostGator

When you sign up for a HostGator hosting account, you will receive two Hostgator name servers for your account. The name servers will look something like:

ns955.hostgator.com
ns956.hostgator.com

These two name servers are used to tell your domain name register where your domains are hosted.

Adding additional domain names to your HostGator Account

After you change the domain name servers for your domain name, you can add the domain to HostGator hosting (this won’t be necessary with your first domain name, but will be for additional domain names added to the hosting account).

Creating the Web Site

After you register your domain name and set up a web hosting account, the next step is to create a web site.

There are many ways to create a web site, but the easiest is to use WordPress. With WordPress, you can quickly set up a web site, install a free design theme to match the look you want, and be up and running in just a few minutes.

As you can see, installing WordPress is easy. After you install, you’ll want to add a few free plugins - things like a contact form, google ads, social media.

If you want to avoid looking for and installing plugins, you can just create a clone of my own stock WordPress Ad Supported site.

Customizing your Site

After you create your WordPress site, one of the first things you’ll probably want to do is try out a few custom design themes.

To do that, just go to your WordPress dashboard, choose ‘appearance’, then click the ‘themes’ link, then ‘install themes’.

To find themes, check out these links:http://www.premiumwptheme.net/best-free-wordpress-themes
http://www.noupe.com/wordpress/50-great-free-wordpress-themes-from-2011.html
http://freewpthemes.co/
http://www.artfans.info/37-the-best-and-coolest-free-wordpress-themes-2011/

For more info go to Bill Myers Online.