Are you looking to make a website? Starting a website can be a terrifying thought specially when you’re not techy. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Having helped over 130,000+ people make a website with WordPress, we have decided to create the most comprehensive step by step guide on how to a make a website without learning how to code.
This guide is useful for users of all ages and skill levels. However, if you need help, then you can contact our expert team to help you setup your website for free.
→ Click Here to Get Your Free WordPress Website Setup! ←
If you want to do it by yourself, then please continue to follow our step by step guide on how to make a website.
Here is an overview from start to finish of all the steps we’ll walk you through in this guide.
- How to find and register a domain name for free
- Choosing the best web hosting
- How to install WordPress
- Installing a template to change your site’s design
- Creating pages in WordPress
- Customizing WordPress with addons and extensions
- Resources to learn WordPress and get support
- Taking it further, building websites with more features
Before we start creating a website, let’s cover some of the most commonly asked questions that we get.
What do I need to build a website?
You’ll need the following three things to start your WordPress site.
- A domain name – this is the name of your website such as google.com
- WordPress hosting – this is where your website files are stored.
- 45 minutes of your undivided attention.
How much does a WordPress website cost?
The answer to this question really depends on what kind of website you are trying to build. We have written a 2000 word guide explaining how much does it really cost to build a website.
A typical business website can cost as low as $100 per year and can go as high as $30,000 per year.
We recommend all our users to start small and then add more features to your website as your business grows. This way you will save money and minimize potential losses and avoiding overspending.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to build a website for less than $100.
We will also show you how to take it further by adding more features to it in the future.
Which is the best website platform?
There are many website builders available that will help you setup a website. We recommend using self-hosted WordPress as your website platform.
WordPress is the most popular website platform in the world. It powers nearly 28% of all websites on the internet.
WordPress is free and comes with thousands of website designs and extensions. It is extremely flexible and works with almost every third-party tool and service available to website owners.
We use WordPress to build all our websites including this one, WPBeginner.
How to make the most of this create a website tutorial?
This is a step by step tutorial on how to make a website. We have divided it into different steps, and we’ll walk you through everything from start to finish. Just follow along the instructions, and you’ll have a very professional looking website in the end.
We will also point you in the right direction to take your website to the next level based on your needs.
Have fun creating your website.
Remember, if you need help, you can contact us and we will setup your website for free.
Let’s get started.
How to Create a Website Video Tutorial
If you don’t like the video or need more instructions, then continue reading.
Step 1. Setup
One of the most common mistakes that beginners make is choosing the wrong website platform. Thankfully, you are here so you will not be making that mistake.
For most users, a self-hosted WordPress.org site is the perfect solution. It comes with thousands of designs and addons which allow you to create any kind of website you can think of. For more on this topic, please see our guide on why you should use WordPress.
WordPress is free for anyone to download and use to build any kind of website without any restrictions.
If WordPress is free, then where is the cost coming from?
WordPress is free because you’ll have to arrange your own domain name and hosting, which costs money. For more on this topic, see our article why is WordPress free?.
A domain name is your website’s address on the internet. This is what your users will type in their browsers to reach your site (For example, wpbeginner.com or google.com).
Next, you’ll need website hosting. All websites on the internet need hosting. This will be your website’s home on the internet.
A domain name typically costs $14.99/year and hosting costs start from $7.99/month.
This is A LOT for most people who are just starting out.
Thankfully, Bluehost, has agreed to offer our users a free domain name and over 60% off on web hosting.
→ Click here to Claim this Exclusive Bluehost offer ←
Bluehost is one of the largest hosting companies in the world. They are also an official WordPress recommended hosting partner.
They are working with WordPress since 2005, and are committed to give back to the community. That’s why they have promised us that if you cannot set up your website by following this tutorial, then our expert team will complete the process for you without any cost. They will compensate us, so you don’t have to. Feel free to contact us for free website setup help.
Note: At WPBeginner, we believe in transparency. If you purchase hosting using our referral link, then we will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. In fact, you will get discount on hosting + a free domain name. We would get this commission for recommending any WordPress hosting company, but we only recommend products that we personally use and believe will add value to our readers.
Let’s go ahead and purchase domain name and hosting.
First, you’ll need to go to the Bluehost website in a new browser window and click on the green ‘Get Started Now’ button.
This will bring you to a pricing page where you will need to choose a pricing plan for your website. Basic and plus plans are the most popular choices among our users.
You’ll need to click on select to choose the plan that you like and continue to the next step.
On the next screen, you’ll be asked to select a new domain name.
Ideally you should stick to a .com domain name. Make sure that it is related to your business, easy to pronounce and spell, and easy to remember.
Need help choosing a domain name for your website? See these tips and tools on how to choose the best domain name.
After choosing your domain name, click on the next button to continue.
Now you’ll be asked to provide your account information such as name, address, email, etc.
On this screen, you will also see optional extras that you can purchase. We generally don’t recommend purchasing these extras. You can always add them later on, if you decide that you need them.
Next, you will add your payment information to finish the purchase.
After completing your purchase, you’ll receive an email with details on how to login to your web hosting control panel (cPanel).
This is your hosting dashboard where you manage everything like getting support, setting up emails, etc. Most importantly, this is where you’ll install WordPress.
Step 2. Install WordPress
You will find tons of icons to do different things on your hosting account dashboard (cPanel). You’ll never need to use 95% of them, so you can safely ignore them.
Scroll down to the website section in cPanel and then click on the WordPress icon.
You will now see Bluehost Marketplace Quick Install screen for WordPress. Click on the ‘Get Started’ button to continue.
On the next screen, you will be asked to select the domain name where you want to install WordPress. Choose your domain from the dropdown field and then click Next.
Now you’ll need to enter your website name, admin username, and a password for your website. Don’t worry, you can change them later in WordPress settings if you need to.
You’ll also need to check all the checkboxes on the screen and then click on the ‘Install’ button to continue.
Quick Install will now start installing WordPress on your website. Meanwhile, it will show you some website templates that you can install on your site.
You don’t need to do that right now because we’ll show you how to find and install free WordPress template on your website later in this guide.
Once the installation is over, you’ll see a success message in the top header.
Now you need to click on the ‘Installation Complete’ link, and it will take you to the screen with your WordPress login URL and password.
Congratulations! You have created your first WordPress website.
You can now head over to the WordPress login page. Your login URL will look like this:
http://www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin
You can login to your WordPress site using the admin username and password you entered earlier.
Wasn’t that easy?
Now let’s move on to the next step and choose a design for your website.
Step 3. Select Your Theme
The visual appearance of your WordPress site is controlled by a WordPress theme.
WordPress themes are professionally designed templates that you can install on your website to change its appearance.
By default, each WordPress site comes with a basic theme. If you visit your website, then it will look something like this:
This is not very appealing for most users.
But don’t worry, there are thousands of free and paid WordPress themes that you can install on your site.
You can change your theme from the WordPress admin dashboard. Visit Appearance » Themes page and then click on the ‘Add New’ button.
On the next screen, you will able to search from 4,492 free WordPress themes that are available in the official WordPress.org themes directory. You can sort them by popular, latest, featured, as well as other feature filters (i.e industry, layout, etc).
Need help choosing a theme? Check out our list of these awesome free WordPress business themes.
You may also want to take a look at our guide on how to select the perfect WordPress theme for your website.
For the sake of this guide, we’ll be using Bento. It is a popular multi-purpose free WordPress theme with flexible design options for all kind of websites.
If you know the name of the free theme you want to install, then you can look for it by entering its name in the search field.
WordPress will show you the theme in search results. You will need to take your mouse over to the theme and then click on the Install button.
Once you have installed your theme, you can customize it by clicking on the Customize link under the Appearance menu.
This will launch the theme customizer where you will be able to change your theme settings with live preview of your website.
You don’t need to finalize all theme settings right away. You will be able to customize it much better once you have some content on your website.
Let’s see how to add content to your WordPress site.
Step 4. Add Content to Your Site
WordPress comes with two default content types called posts and pages. Posts are part of a blog and appear in reverse-chronological order (newer items displayed first).
On the other hand, pages are meant to be static “one-off” type content such as your about page, contact page, privacy policy, etc.
By default, WordPress shows your blog posts on the front page of your website. You can change that, and make WordPress show any page as the front-page of your website (we’ll show you how to do that later in this guide).
You can create a separate page for your blog or news section. In fact, you can create a website without any blog section at all.
Having said that, let’s add some content to your website.
You’ll start by adding a few pages to your WordPress site. Don’t worry if you don’t have enough content for these pages at the moment. You can always edit and update them.
Head over to Pages » Add New page in WordPress admin area. This will bring you to the page editor screen, which looks like this:
First you need to provide a title for your page, let’s call this page ‘Home’.
After that you can add content in the text editor below. You can add text, links, images, embed videos, audio, etc.
After adding content to your page, you can click on the publish button to make it live on your website.
You can repeat the process by adding more pages for different sections of your website. For example, an about page, contact us, and a blog page to display blog posts.
Now let’s add a few blog posts as well.
Head over to Posts » Add New in your WordPress admin area.
You will see a screen much like you saw earlier when adding pages.
You can add a post title and then add content in the visual post editor. You’ll also notice some extra options like post formats, categories and tags.
You can click on the save button to store your post as a draft or click on the publish button to make it visible on your site.
For more detailed instructions on how to utilize all these options on post and page edit screens, please see our guide on how to add a new post in WordPress.
Step 5. Customizing and Tweaking Your Website
Now that you have created some content on your website, you will be able to customize and put it all in a nice presentable shape on your website.
Let’s start by setting up a static front Page.
Setting up a Static Front Page
You need to visit the Settings » Reading page in your WordPress admin area. Under the ‘Front page displays’ option click on the static front page and then select ‘Pages’ you created earlier for your home and blog pages.
Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom of the page to store your changes.
WordPress will now use the page titled ‘Home’ as your site’s front page and ‘Blog’ page to display your blog posts.
Change Site Title and Tagline
During the installation you get to choose your site’s title. WordPress automatically adds a tag line to your site title that says ‘Just another WordPress site’.
You can change both your site’s title and tagline at any time by visiting Settings » General page.
Your site title will be the name of your website like WPBeginner. The tag line is usually a single line that describes your website. You can also leave the tag line field blank if you want.
Don’t forget to click on the save changes button to store your settings.
Set up Comments Settings
WordPress comes with a built-in comment system allowing your users to leave comments on your posts. This is great for user engagement, but it is targeted by spammers as well.
To deal with this, you’ll need to enable comment moderation on your website.
Visit Settings » Discussions page and scroll down to ‘Before a comment appears’ section. Check the box next to ‘Comment must be manually approved’ option.
Don’t forget to click on the save changes button to store your settings.
Create Navigation Menus
Navigation menus allow your users to browse different pages or sections on your website. WordPress comes with a powerful navigation menu system, and your WordPress theme utilizes this system to display menus.
Let’s add a navigation menu to your website.
First, you need to visit Appearance » Menus page. Enter a name for your navigation menu and click on the create menu button.
WordPress will now create your navigation menu. But it will be empty at the moment.
Next, you need to select the pages you want to display in your menu and then click on add to menu button.
You will notice your selected pages filling the empty area of your navigation menu. You can move them up and down to rearrange their position in the menu.
Now you need to select a display location. These locations are defined by your WordPress theme. Usually, most WordPress themes have a primary menu that appears on top.
Finally, click on the save menu button to store your navigation menu.
You can now visit your website to see the menu in action.
For more detailed instructions see our beginner’s guide on how to add navigation menu in WordPress.
Step 6. Installing Plugins
WordPress Plugins are like apps for your WordPress site. They allow you to add features to your WordPress site. Think contact form, photo galleries, etc.
There are currently more than 49,000 free plugins available for WordPress. There are also paid plugins sold by third-party websites and developers.
With this many plugins, how do you find which plugins to install? We got you covered there as well, see our guide on how to choose the best WordPress plugin.
Here is our list of essential plugins that you should install on your site right away. All of them are free.
Features
- WPForms Lite – Allows you to add a contact form to your WordPress site.
- Envira Gallery Lite – Add beautiful image galleries to your WordPress site
- MonsterInsights – Connect your website with Google Analytics and see how visitors find and use your website, so you can keep them coming back.
Website Optimization
- Yoast SEO – Improve your WordPress SEO and get more traffic from Google
- WP Super Cache – Improves your website speed by serving cached pages
Security
- Updraft Plus – Create automatic scheduled backups of your website
- Sucuri – Website security audit and malware scanner
Need help installing plugins? See our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
For more plugin recommendations check out our list of 24 must have WordPress plugins for business websites.
Step 7. Mastering WordPress
WordPress is easy to use yet extremely powerful. From time to time, you may find yourself looking for some quick answers.
The good news is that there is plenty of free WordPress help available. See our guide on how to properly ask for WordPress support and get it.
WPBeginner itself is the largest WordPress resource site on the internet. You will find the following resources on WPBeginner (all of them are completely free).
- WPBeginner Blog – This is where we publish our WordPress tutorials, how tos, and step by step guides.
- WPBeginner Videos – These step by step videos will help you learn WordPress FAST.
- WPBeginner on YouTube – Need more video instructions? Subscribe to our YouTube channel with more than 52,000 subscribers and 7 Million+ views.
- WPBeginner Dictionary – The best place for beginners to start and familiarize themselves with the WordPress lingo.
- WPBeginner Blueprint – Check out plugins, tools, and services we use on WPBeginner.
- WPBeginner Deals – Exclusive discounts on WordPress products and services for WPBeginner users.
Here are few of our guides that you should bookmark right away. It will save you lots of time and money in the future.
- 25 Most common WordPress errors and how to fix them
- Beginner’s guide to troubleshooting WordPress errors
- How to fix common image issues in WordPress
- The ultimate WordPress security guide (step by step)
- Ultimate WordPress seo guide for beginners (step by step)
Many of our users use Google to find answers on WPBeginner. Simply type keywords for what you are looking for and add wpbeginner.com at the end.
Can’t find an answer? Send your question directly using our contact form and we will try our best to answer.
Step 7. Taking it Further
So far we have shown you how to make a website, add a theme, and install essential plugins.
Want to take it even further?
Using WordPress you can create powerful niche websites capable of doing a lot more.
- Add an eCommerce store
- Start your own podcast
- Create a membership Website
- Create a web directory
- Create a coupons website
- Build a reviews website
- Create multilingual websites
- Create a Job Board website
- Create a question and answers website
- Create a wiki knowledgebase website
For more examples, check out our list of 19 types of websites you can create with WordPress
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Having helped thousands of people start a website, we have answered quite a lot of questions. Below are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about creating a website.
Is WordPress the only way to create a website?
No, there are a lot of other website builders out there. We believe that WordPress is the best and easiest platform to build a website.
How do I make money from my website?
After helping users create a website, this is by far the most commonly asked question. There are a lot of ways to make money online from your website.
We have a list of 25 ways to make money online using WordPress. These aren’t get rich quick schemes. If you’re looking for a way to get rich quick by making money online, then sorry to break the bad news, there’s no such way.
How do I start a website where I can sell products?
You can easily add an online store to your WordPress website. We have created a list of the best eCommerce plugins for WordPress. You can also follow our step by step guide on how to start an online store.
Do I need to know HTML / CSS to create and customize my website?
No you don’t need to know HTML / CSS to build a website with WordPress. You can use one of the many drag & drop WordPress page builder plugins to easily customize your websites.
How can I start a website for free?
Some website builders may offer free options, but we don’t recommend using those. Often they will insert their branding and advertisement on your website which doesn’t look professional.
It’s better to purchase your own domain name and hosting, so you have full ownership of your website. See what is the difference between domain name and web hosting.
Can I start a website like eBay?
Yes, you can easily create a website like eBay using an auction plugin for WordPress. We have a step by step guide on how to build an online auction website using WordPress that you can follow.
Can I get a free domain for my website?
Yes, some web hosting companies offer a free domain if you choose to start a website with them. Bluehost is an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider, and they’re offering WPBeginner users free domain + 60% off hosting if you choose to build your website using their service.
Can I create a website like Facebook?
Yes, you can absolutely use WordPress to turn your website into a social network. We have a step by step guide on how to make a website like Facebook using WordPress.
Can I start a website with a discussion board / forum?
Absolutely. You can use one of these forum plugins in WordPress to build a website with discussion board features.
We hope this guide helped you learn how to make a website without hiring a developer or overspending money. You may also want to see our list of 19 actionable tips to drive traffic to your new WordPress site.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Hi, I have previously built a website an I was updating a few photos. I decided to change the theme. Once I did that I found that I could not log back in. I am also having problems even bringing the website up. Not sure what I have done.
Please guide me as to how to fix this !
To start you would want to check for any error messages, we have a troubleshooting guide you can follow here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/beginners-guide-to-troubleshooting-wordpress-errors-step-by-step/
Please aside, is there any recommended plugins to use for CSS
If you are not comfortable with CSS then there is CSS Hero who we have reviewed here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/css-hero-review-wordpress-design-customization-made-easy/
Thanks for the information. However, how do insert my logo to my website?
It would depend on where you want to add the logo and your specific theme
Can I start my web page as a normal page in Bluehost and then acquire the e-commerce package?
You could if you wanted to
Hi, I already have the domain and hosting, but now i want to create a new website. Do you have the guideline how to create a new website and upload the file?
It would depend on your host, some will create a folder for the new site in which case you could follow this guide and install the WordPress files in the folder for the site.
Whow, thanks for this tutorial. Being a complete newbie I managed to set up a rump-website with half a dozen pages in just one afternoon. Great stuff!
You’re welcome, glad our guide could help
it is possible to build the website for a news channel ?
Yes, you certainly can build a site for a news channel if you wanted
What would I need for a searchable flashcard setup?
For that, you could create a custom post type and style it like a flashcard: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-create-custom-post-types-in-wordpress/
Hi there,
I learned on your site that you can build blog for people with conditions are taking hosting and domain name through your own links recommandation
However, I don t find the post again
Thank you for your help
The page you are talking about can be found here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/free-wordpress-blog-setup/
Thanks WP Beginner team. This is the most easiest and practical way of building a website I have ever come across! The other links given in this article is helpful to expand it as well.
Glad our guide was helpful
Should I be concerned when I pop over to WPress and it says
not secure box1234.temp.domains
Once you set up your site on your domain name you will be able to add SSL to the domain and that should remove your not secure warning
I want to start online auto parts store, where can I get plugins for car parts, and is it free or I have to pay?
For starting a store, you would want to take a look at our guide here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-start-an-online-store/
Hey, I have some problems with WordPress, for example, I want to create a contact form and I follow your instructions, but it looks different… the ‘add form’ button is just not there.
Also, my menu doesn’t work when I click on ‘Blog’ I want to see my last posts but there is just an empty page. I’m really frustrated and about to give up blogging because I’m really not good with technology.
Please help me, thank you.
For the form, have you installed the WPForms plugin? For your blog page, you would want to go under Settings>Reading to set your posts page to be your blog page.
If I have my own web design (designed by web designer) with all separate like (logo, footer design, web page design, theme etc.) and I want to apply these assets to my web site rather than in-built templates then is that possible? if yes will you please help me how to do that?
While possible, you would likely need to have a custom theme created for you by a designer to get it to look how you are wanting.
The article is really helpful and am planning to implement the new things I learnt. I wish to ask though, what do you do if you want the template for pages other than the Homepage to be different? I am using Uptown Style theme, and the Header image (rectangular area) occurs on all pages, and there appears to be no way of removing it. Could I possibly get help with that?
You would want to reach out to the support of your theme for customizing the design or use a page builder plugin for that kind of customization
Hi guys, just wanted to say, this article and the rest of them are all top top notch and really helpful. I will be hopefully starting soon on creating a website as per the step by step guide you have provided but just wanted to ask, if i want to link a contact form to a @hotmail.co.uk email account, is that possible?
Barring anything strange you should be able to without any issues.
Hey!
This is a really helpful thing you posted here, so thank you for that. If I may though, I would like to say that for better user experience it would be great to improve the language in this article a little bit. Of course, the crucial point of the article is to transmit ideas and share knowledge, but the language is an important part of that. I guess even Grammarly could help with it
Anyway, thanks a lot!
Thank you for your recommendation, we’ll certainly keep an eye on our use of language
You all are the best! Thank you soo much.
What I really wanted to know is what to do after downloading my theme and customizing it; like how to design all of my created pages, where’s the spot for this photo, where the best area for this link or is there a plugin that gives you suggestions on building /designing my pages because to me the theme was not enough. I told myself the website must look decent and be complete before I post anything.
Anyhow, I am thankful for this post; it was thorough and just what I needed as a newbie to everything about blogging and setting up a website.
Max
As the design is a personal preference decision, we don’t have a recommended plugin that offers suggestions for how to design a site at the moment.
I already have a working website but want to revise it using WordPress. Is there a way to create a new WordPress based website with the same domain name as my current site but not publish it on the web until I am ready to switch?
For that, you would want to create a staging site. We have a tutorial on how to do that here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-create-staging-environment-for-a-wordpress-site/
Hi, I’ve set up an account with Blue Host and am busy creating my website but a lot of useful looking plug-ins say “Untested with your version of WordPress”. Will they become tested in the future?
It would depend on the author, you may want to take a look at our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/opinion/should-you-install-plugins-not-tested-with-your-wordpress-version/
I want to create a dating site, can I do that?
You can do that. Unless I hear otherwise we have not tested plugins and themes specifically for that at the moment.
I built a webiste and two days after the Service, Testimonial, and Projects sections just cleared off on its own. I had to restart from the scratch (uninstalling and reinstalling wordpress, redownloading the theme, plugin etc). Right now, i’ve completed redesigning the website.
How do I ensure the above unfortunate incidence doesn’t repeat itself please? is there a plugin i need to ensure i dont lose my works anylonger?
It is hard to say, you may want to check with your hosting provider to ensure there weren’t any errors that happened on their end. For the time being, you could create a backup of your content using one of the plugins in: https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/7-best-wordpress-backup-plugins-compared-pros-and-cons/
I want to build a site where someone can find people and book their time. How could I do this?
You would want to use a booking plugin, we list a few options in our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/5-best-wordpress-appointment-and-booking-plugins/
Hi, Your article very helps us to make a website.. thank for these tutorials…
You’re welcome, glad our content could help
Is it possible to have a page with a list of files, both word and pdf.
Be able to click to one of the list of files and it open to be read?
Already have the website built, would like to add.
For creating something like that, you would want to take a look at the plugin we recommend in our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-embed-pdf-spreadsheet-and-others-in-wordpress-blog-posts/
I already have a wix website. Is there a way for me to copy that website onto a WordPress website? I want to change from Wix to WordPress, but I want to keep the appearance of the Wix site.
There isn’t a simple method to transfer the exact look to your Wix site has but you can use a page builder to replicate the look and for transferring your content we have our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-properly-switch-from-wix-to-wordpress-step-by-step/
How we show updated date in google search i am many time update my post but it show last published date instead of Updated date please help me.
Google may have your site cached, you likely would need to wait for Google to recrawl your site for it to update in Google’s search results.
Hello,
I have a question. If I start my website with hosting it on blueprint, is that giving me the access to install plug-ins directly? Or should I additionally pay for the business plan on WordPress?
While you are talking about plug-ins you didn’t mention that the extended plan is needed.
Thank you!.
If you install WordPress on a hosting provider such as BlueHost or similar, you won’t need to purchase a WordPress plan to use plugins. You only need to purchase a plan like that if you’re on WordPress.com: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/
I have done something aweful to my theme and want to restart from the beginning, is it possible to delete a theme and re-install it ? I could not find the option. Please Help !!
You would want to activate a new theme, then when you click to view your theme details, in the bottom right should be the option to delete the theme. After you delete it you should be able to reinstall the theme.
Hi
Can I convert my blog from blooger to WordPress?
thank you very much
To transfer your site from Blogger to WordPress you would want to take a look at our guide here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-switch-from-blogger-to-wordpress-without-losing-google-rankings/
At the risk of asking a dumb question, at what point does an in-process website go live? That is, is it possible to build the entire website in some kind of background preview mode without going live until you are done? If it helps, I’ve already chosen Bluehost as my host and am leaning toward WordPress’ “Author” theme.
Thank you,
Nick
By default, it would be considered live as soon as the site is created but you can set up a coming soon page or a maintenance page to allow you to take as long as you like to set up the site.
maintenance mode: https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-put-your-wordpress-site-in-maintenance-mode/
coming soon: https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-create-beautiful-coming-soon-pages-in-wordpress-with-seedprod/
Is there any way to turn an already existing page to become a post with the new WP format?
You should be able to use the post type switcher plugin from our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-convert-post-types/
1. What happens after I installed wordpress for both my domains on my hosting site? I can’t seem to be able to switch sites on my wordpress dashboard.
When I tried accessing my other domain, it says Forbidden – you don’t have permission to access/ on this server. Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
2. How do I tell if I am using wordpress.org or wordpress.com?
Thank you!
For the error you are running into, you would want to take a look at: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-fix-the-403-forbidden-error-in-wordpress/
If you purchased hosting on a site other than WordPress.com then your site should be a WordPress.org site.
hey ~ thank you so much for the tutorial but I am stuck on how to make my colors the same throughout the entire site.
My site is mainly a blog ( background white sand) and the rest will be the tropical colors of the Caribbean Sea. BUT I cannot figure that part out ,,, also will be an ecommerce store for my imports of NATURAL products.. so both blog and ecommerce.
HELP ! ( please and thank you ; )
You would want to first reach out to the support for your specific theme for customization questions. You could also take a look at the tool CSS Hero for another option: https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/css-hero-review-wordpress-design-customization-made-easy/
Hey, this was excellent and just what I needed.
Glad our article could help
Hello there, I have really read some of the articles of this site and it really seems like the content of this website is genuine. keep up the good work.
Thank you
Hello, I have followed your instructions step by step and still can’t get my website together. The instructions that you give are more for a blogging website. I want a selling website and I can’t seem to make your instructions jive to what I need. Can someone please help me?
If you mean you want to make a store, you would want to take a look at our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-start-an-online-store/
While blogs and websites with WordPress are functionally similar, the main difference is how you set up your content. You would want to take a look at our article here for a more in-depth explanation: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/what-is-a-blog-and-how-is-it-different-from-a-website-explained/
I have made a website for my photography. I published it last week. Unfortunately, at the bottom of each page (below a ‘search’ panel) there appears:
Meta
Log in
I do not want any of this but don’t know how to clear it off.
Also, at the top of my screen it still gives the address as the temporary address
For the meta and login, you would want to check under Appearance>Widgets for what widgets you have set for your site. If you reach out to your hosting provider they can help you update your site’s address to the proper address.
Hi, I’ve been trying all week to set up a WP website and failing miserably. I keep losing plugins, can’t insert pics where I’d like, and keep losing themes which means I lose my menu set up etc. I’ve tried following your instructions but I’m about to give up and try something else. I’m hating WP right now, I thought it was supposed to make my life easier…
Normally you shouldn’t lose a theme or plugin once it has been installed, you may want to check with your hosting provider to ensure there is not a security feature of their’s that is causing the issue.
I have made this website but i dont know how to submit it in google so that i can get traffic from google.
To have your site be indexed by search engines, you would want to take a look at our SEO guide here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wordpress-seo/
I employed help to set up my blog because I didn’t understand the “backside” of the whole equation. My designer set up a nice WordPress site, and assisted me in getting a few blog posts up and running. She is a fan of strictly using Classic (Not Guttenberg).
She said that “my site doesn’t run well with Gutenberg, and too many things weren’t working when I left it on Gutenberg. She also said that my Post Carousel won’t work from Gutenberg, and many of my other plugins that she has installed.
I tried to make a post using Classic, and it came out fine, but your training said that Classic was going away in 2020, and Gutenberg is the “new” thing that we all need to learn. If she keeps me in Classic, am I going to be in trouble next year?
The plugins that your designer uses likely have not been updated to work with Gutenberg and many themes and plugins are working to properly integrate with Gutenberg. If you reach out to the support for the themes and plugins you are using that have issues with Gutenberg they can likely let you know if they are working to improve Gutenberg compatibility.
I would like to set up an e-commerce website not a blog, can that be done
You can, our article on how to do so can be found here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-start-an-online-store/
I have an existing page that I am trying to update a photo. I have loaded the new photo to the library. I go to the page where I want to replace, it shows its saved, but when I go to the page, the old picture is there. Can anyone help me?
Have you cleared your site’s caching? https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-clear-your-cache-in-wordpress/
Is it possible to design the site now using wordpress.org and get the hosting and domain later? or at least the hosting later? I think it will take a lot of time to design.
You can install WordPress locally using: https://www.wpbeginner.com/how-to-install-wordpress/#installlocal
and set up the site on your computer. Once it is set up you could then purchase hosting and move your local site to your host by following the steps in our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-move-wordpress-from-local-server-to-live-site/
I already have a website I created in Dreamweaver many years ago. The domain was registered with Networks. It is up for renewal and I no longer want to use Networks. It is hosted on a local server that has been delinquent several times on renewing SSL certificates.
I want to create a new website in WordPress using my existing domain name. I am looking for a new host as well. How do I create a new website now without breaking the link to the existing site until the new site is ready to publish? I have a separate blog on WordPress that I will link to on the new website. I don’t know how to start since I want to use the existing domain name. I could use some guidance, please.
thank you
If you’re changing hosting providers, you would want to take a look at step 4 in our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-move-wordpress-to-a-new-host-or-server-with-no-downtime/
for how to change your hosts file so you can edit a site with the same domain
Hi, Can we use Free Domain Like: .tk, .ga etc and Free hosting, as Some sites provide Completely Free hosting with Unlimited Bandwith, Memory etc. Is free domain and hosting Will affect SEO.
Please Completely Guide me.
Thanks,
Waiting for your reply
For our opinion on that, you would want to take a look at our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/showcase/best-free-website-hosting-compared/
I used to use the free version of WP.com now I just started using WP.org and it is awesome. Way better. Thanks for all the answers and lessons. Your pics help and you explain in detail. I just have one question that I can not figure out. Some of the themes have writing on the background image. I can change the image, no problem, The writing is some generic stuff “Loren dollar ipsum, etc.” How do I change that writing? Thanks again
That would vary from theme to theme but you can normally replace that placeholder text under Appearance>Customize or if the theme added a theme options area in your admin it can be there.
Nice post, I have been thinking to create my own blogging site and I have decided to go for Bluehost hosting but looking at the Basic Plan which cost $2.75 do I need to buy other plans as well like domain privacy, site lock, and other things. The thing is it would cost more and I would be out of budget paying for every month.
Those are options and you are not required to purchase them should you not want to.
Hello. I’m trying to build a site, and I’m used to working with the pages as they appear in your screen shots. The pages I’m working on seem much updated from what you’ve posted and less intuitive. Is this an issue with browser or what am I missing? Thank you for your help.
You’re likely using the new block editor, you can find how to use that editor in our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-use-the-new-wordpress-block-editor/
Well, it was a nice tutorial. but what if someone already bought his domain in another server and hosting from another server?
how to link a domain with hosting? can you guid me about that?
actually I have been bloging on bloggers platform. so I really can’t buy that bluehost package as I already have a domain.
thanks.
To point your domain to the new host you would want to modify your nameservers: https://www.wpbeginner.com/glossary/dns/
If you already have a domain there is an option when signing up to let BlueHost know you’ve already purchased a domain.