In this section, I’m going to show you how to setup your blog:
- How to get a domain name
- How to sign up for the best hosting plan (with our discount)
- How to install WordPress in just one click
1,000s of people have used this guide to start a blog, and you can too.
P.S. If you get stuck anywhere, send me an email or tweet at me @WiseStartupBlog and I’ll help get you up and going.
Important: HostGator changes their signup process slightly, but the steps are always the same.
Step 1: Click here to visit HostGator in a new window, and proceed to fill out the sign up page.
Remember: I’ve negotiated a special deal to get your blog setup at a discounted rate, so make sure to use my link when signing up.
Step 2: Choose Your Domain Name
Already have a domain name?
Enter it into the box, and you can move to the next step.
Need a new domain name?
Enter in the name of your website, HostGator is going to help you purchase the domain name along with helping you host it online for everyone to view it. In step 1, I covered ideas for thinking of your domain name.
If your domain name is taken, you will be given a list of suggestions and alternate endings.
To get the best deal, select the 24 month hosting plan.
Once you’ve made your selection, click on “Continue“.
Step 3: Choose Your Hosting Plan
Once you have your domain name all figured out, it’s time to sign up for the actual service itself. I highly recommend either the 24 month or 36 month billing cycle. This will give you enough time to get your site off of the ground, and it also provides you with the largest discount.
Step 4: Enter Your Billing Information
Enter all of your billing information, double checking for accuracy.
Step 5: Add Any Additional Services
This is completely up to you. HostGator offers its users a number of optional services that they can receive at a discounted rate. Such services include protection from hackers, a professional email address, etc.
If you choose to add one of these to your total cost, click so that a small check mark appears next to the one of your choosing. Then scroll on.
Before you move on to submit, make sure that the coupon code has something entered into it so you receive my discount! Simply enter ‘1cent’ if the coupon code is blank.
Step 6: Review, Agree to Terms of Service, and Submit order
This is the time where you look through the information you provided to make sure that everything is correct, you agree to the site’s ToS, and you submit your order. Congratulations! You are now one step closer to running your own blog.
Next Section: Setting Up WordPress on HostGator
Step 5: Check Your Inbox & Setup Login Info
Now that you’ve completed your order on HostGator, they are going to send you a confirmation email.
Look for the subject line: Your HostGator Order Confirmation & Login Info.
This email contains your username and password for HostGator as well as a link to your cPanel.
If you can’t find a link to your cPanel, you can easily access it by going to your site name and adding /cPanel to the end. So, for example, if your site is www.twitterverse.com, your cPanel can be found at www.twitterverse.com/cpanel.
The login details for your cPanel will be the same as they are to log into HostGator.
Once inside cPanel, you will see lots of small icons to choose from.
Under the Services/Software tab, you should see QuickInstall. Click that and it will bring you to the WordPress installer.
Click Install and you will begin your WordPress installation.
At this point, you will be asked to include all necessary information for your blog. Just to help you along, “Protocol” can be left as HTTP and the domain should default to your only domain on the hosting account.
Site Settings is where you will really need to start filling out important information.
Your blog name and description can be changed at any time, but you still want to name them something catchy and interesting.
Once that is taken care of, you have to create a WordPress username and password. This is how you will log in to your blog on a daily basis, so make sure it’s something that you remember. You will also be asked to enter an email address. This is how you are going to receive notifications, so it needs to be an email that you check frequently.
Finally, all that’s left to do is choose the installation language of your choice and click Install.
Step 6: Enter Your Login Credentials
Once your installation is finished, you’re going to want to log in to your WordPress account to get posting.
To get to your WordPress account, all you have to do is go to your WP url and add /wp-admin/ to the end of it.
For instance, to reach my dashboard I visit: https://wisestartupblo.wpengine.com/wp-admin/
Yours would be: yourdomain.com/wp-admin/
This will take you to the login page, which then requires that you enter the WordPress username and password you just created.
Once you are logged in, you can get to posting!