How to Build Your WordPress Website
Congrats! You’ve made the decision to build a website. Below is an overview of how to start a website using WordPress. I’ve also included a section on how to upload my very own pre-designed theme if you purchased my holistic business course which includes templates to get you started. Just to give a quick summary overview, the website content management system we are going to be using is called WordPress. The main plugin we will be adding for which you will need to purchase your license for, is called Elementor. This gives WordPress the added functionality to design your website visually, without needing to know code. The template pages I have pre-designed and will provide are based off this plugin. In addition to installing WordPress, we will first run through the initial steps of purchasing your domain name and connecting that to a hosting provider.
So, are you ready to get your site up and running? Although this may seem like a daunting task, I’m here to help you along the way so you can tackle some of the technical challenges that may arise as you embark on this journey. The most difficult hurdle to overcome is actually just figuring out what direction to go in. I’ll narrow down your best options so you don’t have to do all of the research like I did. Ok, let’s dive in!
1. Purchase & Register Your Domain
All websites have to have a registered web address like www.yoursite.com. It doesn’t really matter where you buy a domain from, but it might make sense to try to keep both your hosting and domain under the same account in order for step 3 to be less complicated.
In any case, I’ve always used GoDaddy for registering my domain names and have had good experiences with them. You can look up and reserve your domain name here: https://www.godaddy.com/
The most important web address you should try to reserve is the one ending in .com since that is most commonly used. You can also get other ones like .org but it isn’t necessary.
Besides GoDaddy, you might prefer to buy your domain from where you choose your hosting plan in step 2. Since we are going to be using Elementor Pro, including their Hello theme, you might wish to use Elementor’s domain partner when registering your website. So, in addition to GoDaddy, Elementor now offers the option to purchase your domain using Elementor’s third-party service named Hover: https://my.elementor.com/business/domains/
This might be the easiest option, especially if you are just starting out from scratch and would like to also use Elementor’s cloud hosting (I’ll explain next) for seamless integration. Either way, there are instructions per Elementor for connecting your web host and domain for the majority of the domain providers out there.
2. Get Hosting
You’ve registered your website domain and now you need a hosting provider, which has a monthly (or annual) fee. Elementor offers its own hosting plan. This is the easiest solution for your website needs since you have to purchase Elementor Pro (plugin for WordPress) anyways. Alternatively, you can use another host provider such as Siteground (see below) and purchase the Elementor Pro license separately.
Elementor All-in-One Hosting and Pro Subscription/License:
Elementor’s hosting is cloud-based and is an affordable solution for smaller businesses. Either the Basic (currently $9.99/month) or Business (currently $19.99/month) plans are good for most website needs, depending on your level of traffic and storage requirements.
Features & Benefits to Elementor’s Hosting:
- Support: All in one solution for managed WordPress hosting, Elementor Pro builder, the Hello theme, and premium customer support (Elementor Pro license included in monthly/annual hosting fee).
- Price: Either the Basic (currently $9.99/month) or Business (currently $19.99/month) plans are good for most website needs, depending on your level of traffic and storage requirements.
- Backups: Depending on your plan, you get 14 to 30-day backups, which is a necessity with your website hosting plan.
- Dashboard & Database Access: for advanced users, Elementor cloud enables you to access your database (website files). For beginners, this step is not necessary. Here is Elementor’s pricing: https://elementor.com/pricing/
If deciding to go with Elementor’s all-in-one platform (highly recommended), head on over to https://elementor.com -> Then click on ‘Get Started’ (upper right)
-> Then click ‘Skip and Start with a Blank Website’ -> ‘Buy Now’
-> Then Create Account and Enter Payment Details. We will go into installing WordPress and other editing features in subsequent steps.
Siteground Hosting:
Another Hosting provider I recommend is Siteground, which has wonderful customer service. Their features and affordability make them an ideal hosting platform for most online businesses who prefer to not use a cloud-based host. But unless you are an advanced user with unique web hosting requirements, there shouldn’t be any drawbacks to using a cloud-based host, which many companies offer now. Some features of Siteground include:
- Support: Siteground has gone above and beyond for us in the past. They have a great ticket system and live chat launches instantly. Other than Elementor and Siteground, I’ve found other companies to be difficult to work with. You could ask Siteground’s support to install WordPress for you and they would do so as a complimentary service – eliminating some of the upcoming steps in this tutorial.
- Price: If you choose Siteground, get the middle plan called, ‘GrowBig.’ It is only a few dollars extra and you can take advantage of some of the speed increases not offered in their Starter plan. There are no real benefits for you to get the GoGeek plan unless you plan on hosting a lot of WordPress sites there.
- Backups: You want your site to be backed up daily. Siteground will backup your website files, database, and emails every day for 30 days, usually around 5am. If you want to revert to last week or yesterday, it is very easy to do in cPanel. If you’re not techy at all, support will revert your website for you.
- Dashboard & Database Access: Cpanel is a graphic interface that makes doing hosting tasks easy for the 99% of us that aren’t nerdy enough to use things like SSH keys. I’ll be explaining a couple steps below using cPanel. Two important tools your hosting provider must have are the Let’s Encrypt SSL and Softaculous’ WordPress Installer. Both of these make things easier. Here is Siteground’s pricing: https://www.siteground.com/wordpress-hosting.htm?recommend=GrowBig#view-growbig
3. Point Domain at Hosting
You bought the domain and the hosting. Now they need to be connected. Think of your hosting company as an address where the files are parked. Your domain needs to point at those files or else nothing happens. This is changing the DNS or changing the Nameservers. Your Nameserver of your host starts with something like NS1.domain.com and NS2.domain.com. First, you need to find out what your nameservers are by logging into your hosing company (Siteground or Elementor Hosting). They’re listed in the admin area of your hosting.
If you bought the domain where your hosting was purchased then usually you don’t need to do anything below. If you bought your domain from Elementor’s third party partner Hover, then follow these instructions to connect your domain and host:
https://elementor.com/help/purchase-a-custom-domain-name-for-your-site/
If you bought your domain from GoDaddy, then you need to login to GoDaddy or your domain provider and input those nameservers in your domain’s DNS settings. There should be at least 2. At GoDaddy, this is found under something called ‘Manage DNS’. Replace the default or old Nameservers with the ones from your hosting company (see photo below). If you need additional support, feel free to call up support and they’ll do it for you.
4. Activate SSL
One great thing about both Elementor Hosting and Siteground (including some other hosting companies, like WP Engine) is they include an SSL which can be activated FREE. (If using Elementor Hosting, you do not have to do this additional step). If you are using another host, you’ll have to install an expensive SSL manually or have their support do it.
For Siteground, you’ll be installing the FREE SSL from Let’s Encrypt. Go to Let’s Encrypt and enable your site to be https:// which will make the site secure and have the green lock. Google rewards sites that have SSL / https and you’ll need this if you ever monetize anything with a shop or membership. If you start installing the WordPress with http:// then you’ll have to do this step at a later point which will be more of a headache for you. Below are visual steps to installing Let’s Encrypt SSL in Cpanel:
5. Install WordPress
If Using Elementor Hosting:
You may have already done this step if purchasing Elementor Hosting. If not, then log into your https://my.elementor.com/ dashboard. From there, Elementor gives you the option to install WordPress easily. When signing up for Elementor Hosting, you will actually be prompted to either ‘Create a New Website’ or ‘Migrate my Website’ (for existing website owners). Follow the prompts to ‘Create a WordPress Account’ and add the email and password you’d like to use for your administrative privileges. When asked to add a theme or plugins, skip this section now since we will be doing this from the WordPress dashboard. Next, you’ll be asked to Buy a Domain or Use an Existing Domain. If you don’t already have a domain (step 1), you can use Elementor’s partner to purchase a domain from here. Elementor initially sets up a name under their elementor name, but you can set up your custom domain from their dashboard.
For additional support, Elementor offers their own tutorials which are super helpful:
https://elementor.com/help/get-started-with-elementor/introducing-elementor/
As a side note, when adding additional websites to your subscription, simply click on + Create a hosted website and follow instructions.
If Using Siteground Hosting:
Installing Worpdress manually would be another post in itself. You can install WordPress in a few minutes using Softaculous’ WordPress Installer tool. Most hosting companies offer this tool. Make your WordPress password extremely difficult to figure out with a ‘Strong’ designation. Make sure your user name isn’t admin, test, or the name / domain name of your site. Those are a hacker’s first guesses. Wait a couple of minutes… you’re done.
6. Install WordPress Theme
Whether you’ve used Elementor Hosting or Siteground, the next step is to install Elementor’s ‘Hello’ theme. WordPress out of the box is kind of boring. A theme is the overall style of the front-end that offers customization features in the admin. WordPress automatically comes with their own ‘Twenty Twenty-Four’ Theme which we will deactivate. Although there are thousands of WordPress themes to choose from, for the purposes of this course and my pre-designed templates, we are going to go with Elementor’s very own ‘Hello’ Theme. This theme is designed to work best with the Elementor plugin which enables you to design your website without needing to know code. This plugin is what gives you access to editing the front-end of the website visually. The ‘Hello Theme’ is free, but you will need to purchase your own license in order to use the Elementor Pro plugin.
Install ‘Hello Elementor’ Theme:
In your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance -> Themes -> Add New Theme (search for ‘Hello Elementor’) -> Download -> Activate
Install ‘Hello Elementor Child’ Theme:
Next, we want to install a child theme so that any customization we make to the theme will be non-destructive to the original theme files. This step is optional but is considered best practice in web design. There is a WordPress plugin you can download which will convert the Hello Theme into a child theme. It is called: ‘Child Theme Configurator.’
Navigate to Plugins -> Add New -> Search for ‘Child Theme Configurator’ and follow instructions to convert the Hello Theme into your child theme. You will then ‘Activate’ the child theme once is has been configured.
7. Get Plugins
When installing your WordPress theme, the developer will often recommend or require plugins—the majority of which are free. Plugins are addons that do an additional function not native to WordPress. Usually, the required plugins come packaged with the theme. In this case, you will need to purchase your Elementor Pro license separately if you chose to go with a different host other than Elementor. Moreover, if you plan on doing a shopping cart, make sure that you also add WooCommerce to your plugins.
In your WordPress dashboard go to Plugins -> Add New -> search for Elementor and Elementor Pro (add separately). For Elementor, locate the Elementor Website Builder -> Click Install Now -> Activate. For Elementor Pro, you’ll want to go to their website to purchase your own license key which you’ll be prompted to enter in your WordPress dashboard. Make sure to ‘Activate’ all plugins downloaded.
Required Plugins:
Child Theme Configurator
Elementor
Elementor Pro
WooCommerce
Highly Recommended:
ConvertKit (newsletter)
WP-Optimize (optimize images for web so they’re not too big)
All in One WP Security (security plugin)
Optional (for added visual editing):
Essential Addons for Elementor
Essential Addons for Elementor Pro
Advanced Custom Fields
Other Practical Utility Plugins:
Contact Forms: Contact Form 7
Optimize your site for Google: Yoast SEO
Be efficient and duplicate pages and posts: Duplicate Post
Image compression: Compress Jpeg and PNG Images
8. Update WordPress Settings
Now that you’ve installed WordPress, your Hello Theme, and plugins, you’ll want to update your WordPress settings.
Go to Settings -> General -> Edit Site Title, Tagline, Admin Email
9. Import Your Template
Nearly last but not least, you will want to upload the pre-designed templates I’ve created for you. These come in the form of an xml file. (Then in a separate tutorial, I will show you how to edit everything in your template, including fonts, colors, header, footer, and so forth).
To import a new template, go to your WordPress Dashboard -> Elementor -> Tools -> Import/Export Kit -> Import a Template Kit
Upload the provided XML templates. The template pages are labeled ‘The Wanderess,’ ‘The Empoweress,’ ‘The Manifestress,’ and ‘The Connectress.’ You can later edit the page name(s) or create a duplicate (for non-destructive editing) which you will set as your Home page.
Assign yourself (admin user name you’ve already set) as the Import Author.
10. Update WordPress Home & Posts Pages
Now that you’ve uploaded your home page, it’s time to update your page defaults.
Update Settings -> Reading -> Your Homepage Displays -> Select Static Page
- Homepage: Home (select from your uploaded pages/templates)
- Posts: leave blank (your blog/journal page will be edited using Elementor)
Also update your preferences for comments under ‘Discussion’ and your permalink structure under Settings -> Permalinks and click on ‘Post name’
FOR ADDITIONAL SUPPORT:
For additional support, Elementor offers their own tutorials which are super helpful:
https://elementor.com/help/get-started-with-elementor/introducing-elementor/
Contact me anytime for additional help:
