How To Start A WordPress Blog With Hostgator
Ready to learn how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator so you can start making money online?
Whether you want to start a blog to make money or as a hobby, this step-by-step guide on how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator will be perfect for you.
Starting a blog on Hostgator is now easier than ever, In fact, in as little as 20 minutes you will have your blog up and running.
How To Start A Blog With Hostgator Introductory
When I started my blog, I wasn’t sure if I could do it or not. I faced the same fears that everyone debating blogging has. But I’m sure glad I took the jump.
Blogging has changed my life. I’m able to create my own schedule and work when I want. After 11 months of starting my blog, I was able to become a full-time blogger, and I could have never achieved financial success as I have today without taking the jump.
One of the great benefits of starting a blog with Hostgator is they provide competitive pricing when it comes to hosting. In fact, you can get hosting for as low as $2.75 a month. That’s less than a Starbucks specialty coffee!
Below, I have included an exclusive Hostgator discount that the wonderful folks over at Hostgator have provided for my blogging community. The promo code is cupid60. I’ll go over how to add the promo code later in this how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator tutorial.
Why Hostgator Is A Good Choice For Hosting Your Blog
Not only is Hostgator one of the top web hosting providers today but they power millions of domains worldwide. Hostgator has a 45-day money-back guarantee so if you aren’t pleased with their service you can get your money back without any trouble.
As mentioned earlier hosting for as low as $2.75 a month is fantastic. Hostgator has a one-click install for WordPress making it just a few clicks of a button to get your blog up and running on Hostgator.
On the technical side of things, Hostgator has a 99.9% uptime guarantee so you can be rest assured that your site won’t go down or disappear temporarily.
Hostgator is the hosting provider that I use on this very site, and I love Hostgator. I highly recommend you choose Hostgator for your blog as they are a great host.
Let’s get started in starting your blog with Hostgator!
Video Tutorial: How To Start A WordPress Blog With Hostgator
How To Start A WordPress Blog With Hostgator
The first step is to visit Hostgator’s site by clicking here. You will now be on the Hostgator home page. Click the orange get started now button to continue to the next step in our how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator guide.
You will be on a Hostgator pricing page that showcases three different Hostgator plans you can choose from. You’ll see the hatchling plan, baby plan, and the business plan.
The hatchling plan is a good plan if you are only going to have one site and looking for the most basic plan. You can always scale up if you need too.
The baby plan is Hostgator’s most popular plan as it allows you to have unlimited sites.
The business plan allows you to have unlimited sites along with some add-on features such as a free upgrade to a positive SSL certificate, free dedicated IP, free SEO tools, and free VOIP phone service.
Once you select your Hostgator plan, you’ll be ready to choose a domain name for your blog. Just type in ideas or the blog name you would like to have and Hostgator will tell you if it’s available or not.
You will see over to the right you can select the domain extension you want for your blog name like .com, .net, .org, etc.ย I recommend you go with a .com if you can as this is the most popular domain extension out there.
If the domain name that you want for your blog is unavailable Hostgator will let you know so you can choose a different domain name.
Try adding a hyphen somewhere in the domain name, trying a different domain extension, or adding another word like the to your blog name.
If you have already purchased your domain name from a domain registrar other than Hostgator select the, I already own this domain tab and type in your domain.
Related: how to buy a domain name from Namecheap.
If you do or end up getting your domain name from another provider you’ll have to change your Hostgator nameservers to point to Hostgator.
Here’s a helpful post going over how to find Hostgator nameservers.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to point Namecheap domain to Hostgator.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to point Godaddy domain to Hostgator.
If you are getting your domain name with Hostgator, scroll down until you see the domain privacy protection section. You can select or unselect this option.
I recommend you keep this selected, so you aren’t bombarded with telemarketing calls and spam emails. I’ve seen this stuff flood in before by not selecting the domain privacy protection.
Instead of having your personal information out on the web, Hostgator will show their information like seen below.
If you have your own domain name from another domain registrar, you will need to point your nameservers to Hostgator. If you need any help with pointing your nameservers to your Hostgator account just let me know and I will help you.
Next, in our how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator guide is to choose a Hostgator hosting plan. If the plan showing is not the one you want to go with click on package type and select the hosting plan you want to go with.
Next, choose the billing cycle that you want for your Hostgator web hosting purchase. The awesome folks at Hostgator have given me an exclusive 60% off Hostgator hosting promo code for the WP Cupid Blog community.
By using this guide, you will get a discount on your hosting purchase and cheaper than what is listed below.
Use promo code cupid60. Scroll down a bit till you see section 5 labeled enter a coupon code. You will see a default coupon code already there. This coupon code will give you the maximum Hostgator hosting discount if you are purchasing hosting for 24 or 36 months.
If you plan on buying your Hostgator hosting for one month, three months, six months, or 12 months the promo code cupid60 will give you the highest discount. Just place cupid60 in the place of the coupon code that is there.
Let me show you the difference, so it’s easy for you to compare the Hostgator pricing difference. Here’s the pricing with the default coupon code.
Here’s the pricing with the exclusive cupid60 promo code.
After you choose the promo code, you want to use to get the greatest Hostgator discount scroll back up a bit and pick out a username and security pin.
The username will be used when you are logging into Hostgator, and the security pin is helpful when contacting Hostgator’s customer service.
Next, in this how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator guide you want to input your billing information and how you would like to pay. You can use your card or pay via Paypal.
Next, you want to select or un-select any additional services that you would like to have.
You will see Sitelock Monitoring. Sitelock Monitoring protects your site from hackers. There are a bunch of excellent free WordPress plugins that work great for security that work the same as this feature.
You will see a Professional email from Google. This is unnecessary as your Hostgator account comes with free email accounts. I’d keep this selected only if you want to use your email from Google.
Site Backup is the next addon you will see. Site Backup backups your website daily in case something happens like a bug taking down your site. You can quickly restore your backup to the most recent backup before this took place with a click of a button.
This is an excellent add-on as you never know when something might happen. There are a bunch of free WordPress backup plugins that work the same and are completely free.
Next, in our how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator guide you will be back at the enter a coupon code section that we previously went to. At this time the appropriate coupon code that you want to use should be entered in already.
Review everything and make sure it looks good. Scroll down a bit and select that you have read and agreed to Hostgator’s Terms of Service, etc. Click the checkout now button.
You’ll now be directed to a payment completed confirmation page. Hostgator will at this time be setting up your account which should only take a few seconds to minutes.
Hostgator will also be emailing you your receipt of purchase and your Hostgator CPanel login details. Once you get the email, click on the link to go to the Hostgator CPanel to continue logging into your Hostgator CPanel.
Next, in our how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator guide we need to install and set up WordPress with your Hostgator account. When you log into your Hostgator CPanel, you will see the dashboard looks like this.
The menu on the left-hand side you will see website essentials. Click this, and then click on Site Builder and CMS. It’ll bring up the page that you see here. You want to select WordPress to continue installing WordPress on Hostgator.
Once you select WordPress, you want to choose your domain name. Select the domain name you would like to use to install WordPress. Leave the directory field blank. Click the next button.
Now you want to enter your blog title, admin username, first and last name, and a password you want to use for logging into WordPress.
Click the automatically create a new database and click that you agree to the terms and conditions. Click the install now button.
You’ll now be directed to a complete installation page that will show your WordPress login credentials.
Next, in our how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator guide you want to login to WordPress so you can begin in creating and making your blog.
The easiest way to login to your WordPress site is to go into the top address bar. Type in your domain name with /wp-admin. For example, testsite.com/wp-admin.
You’ll now be directed to a WordPress login page. Enter your WordPress login credentials to log in to WordPress.
Once logged in this is where you will be taken to. This is the WordPress dashboard.
Next, in our how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator guide let’s get to know WordPress.
You will see tabs on the far left-hand side. You can add new posts, pages, add new menus, read comments, and customize and design your blog site.
Find Appearance in the left-side menu. Hover over it, and you will see Themes. Click on Themes to go to the WordPress themes page.
You’ll see a bunch of free WordPress themes you can choose from.
Take some time and browse through them and when you find one you like, click the theme and click install.
Click Activate to activate the WordPress theme you chose.
A great place to get premium WordPress themes that looks like a design agency designed them is Themeforest.
Premium themes can be helpful if you would rather buy a WordPress theme that is professionally designed and you can easily add your content in where needed.
One of the most popular blogging themes out there is the Divi theme by Elegant Themes. This theme has been purchased by over 500,000 people around the world. It comes with a drag and drop builder making customizations easy.
Other popular blogging premium themes are the X theme, Avada theme, Be theme, and the Enfold themeย which is the theme that I use on this blog.
If you end up downloading a Premium theme from a Premium theme provider like Themeforest, you can add the Premium theme by clicking the add new button and uploading your Theme to WordPress.
To view your blog site from the WordPress dashboard hover over your blog title at the top and click view site to view what your blog site currently looks like.
How To Design A WordPress Blog On Hostgator
Next, in our how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator guide I want to go over how to design a WordPress blog on Hostgator.
Once you pick out a WordPress theme that you want to go with you will now be ready to start customizing, designing, and building your blog site with the WordPress theme you picked out.
Find the Appearance tab and hover over it and you will see Customize. Click Customize.
You can now begin in customizing your WordPress blog with Hostgator.
Another great feature that you will use to build your blog is plugins. Find plugins in the left side menu and click on add new.
You can now start searching for plugins that you want to add to your site. Almost anything that you want to be added to your site can be found in the form of a plugin.
One of the best plugins that can make starting your WordPress blog on Hostgator easier is the plugin called Elementor. Elementor page builder is a drag and drop editor for WordPress.
Elementor is the #1 WordPress page builder today, and over 500,000 users use it all around the world. This plugin can save you a ton of time and lots of headaches figuring out how to make specific customizations. This plugin has a free version and a paid version.
To download this plugin go to the plugins tab found in the left side menu. Hover over add new. Type in the search bar Elementor Page Builder on the plugins page. Click the install now button and click activate to activate the plugin.
Lastly, in our how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator guide I want to go over a bunch of resources that you might find helpful in your blog starting journey.
One of my favorite tools that bloggers use for creating blog graphics, social media graphics, and their logos is Canva.
Canva has pre-made professional templates for almost anything out there. The great thing about Canva is it is entirely free!
Another great resource that is popular is the freelancing platform Fiverr. You can get any task done for just $5. This is a great place to turn to if you need a logo created and can’t quite get it right on your own.
This is the end of our how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator guide.
Want to have more than one domain and site with your Hostgator account? Check out our guide on how to add addon domain in Hostgator.
Here’s a post on how to change your primary domain in Hostgator.
Check out a related post on how to sign up with Hostgator.
Be sure to click here if you haven’t already gotten your Hostgator discount. Be sure to use promo code cupid60 to get up to 60% off.
Related: how to start a WordPress blog on Bluehost.
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed and found this step-by-step guide on how to start a WordPress blog with Hostgator helpful.
Let us know in the comments below if you were successful! We would love to hear from you.
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