WordPress for Dummies: How to Launch WordPress Site for Beginners from Scratch | Step by Step Tutorial (6 Steps)

This is the complete WordPress all-in-one for dummies tutorial on how to launch WordPress site with step by step guide.

Creating a website is easy nowadays with WordPress. With just a small expense, you can build a quality website for your business or personal blog.

By following my WordPress for dummies tutorial, you can create a WordPress website/blog

• In only 6 steps.
• From scratch without writing any code.
• Completed in 3 hours.
• Less than $60/year.
• With all my essential WordPress tips

Don’t let yourself be left behind in this age of information. Let’s move forward and learn about WordPress development.

Step #1: Buy a Domain Name from a Domain Registrar (10 mins) (< $13/yr)

Domain name is the name of your website. It reflects the identity of your personal brand or business.

Choose a unique name, so your website stands out and is easy to remember.

These are some tips that you can look into when choosing a domain name for your website.

• Use the brand name or keyword or personal name
• Use appropriate domain extension (.com)
• Avoid hyphens and numbers
• Make it easy pronounce and spell
• Make it short and memorable
• Get ideas from search engine and domain name generator
• Check domain name availability

For a more complete explanation, you can read it from here to help you in the domain naming.

Domain registrar is the domain names broker on the internet. You need to use its service in order to buy a domain name.

It tells the browser which IP address matches your domain name.

Want a credible domain registrar? I recommend Namecheap over GoDaddy and 1&1.

This is because it has

• Reasonable price at $8.88 first year & $12.88 subsequent year. (for .com extension)
• Free WhoisGuard privacy protection to hide your sensitive data.
• Transparent and easy checkout process.

You will never go wrong with Namecheap. It is the most recommended domain registrar among the developers.

The registration process through Namecheap is easy and it should take less than 10 minutes if you have decided your domain name.

Let’s buy your domain name and proceed to the next step.

Step #2: Purchase Web Hosting from a Reliable Hosting Service Provider (10 mins) (< $50/yr)

Web hosting provides technology to store your website files and make it visible on the Internet.

Choose a reliable web hosting to provide great user experience, so you don’t lose any visitors.

Three main factors buyers should look into when buying web hosting are the

• Speed
• Uptime
• Support

A fast website can improve SEO and provides a great experience to visitors. A great uptime web hosting can ensure your website is always online throughout the whole year to serve your visitors. A great support will give you the immediate customer service at any time whenever you need them.

If you want to learn more about how to choose a web host and web hosting package, please read this Essential Tips When Choosing a Web Hosting.

There are many web hosts in the world.

If you don’t want to waste time and risk money on trying each of them, you can consider these two hosts, A2 Hosting & Siteground.

They are popular and also my favorite web hosts for all my websites & client’s websites.

Each host has its unique features and gives high satisfaction to the customers.

This site is using A2 Hosting which is well-known for its speed hosting. If you are concerning about your page loading speed like me, please read my reviews to learn more about it.

I also have another site doing e-commerce which needs very stable and instant support whenever I need them. That’s why I’m choosing Siteground. You can read my Siteground reviews.

With the A2 Hosting and my WordPress speed tips, I managed to make my website to load in 0.5s.

Imagine if you have a site like this with fast speed, your visitors like it and Google also likes it.

The registration process of hosting is easy, you can benchmark A2 Hosting registration process which is similar for all web hostings.

Do Not Get Poor Hosting

The majority of the WordPress website creation cost comes from web hosting cost. However, it is advisable not to save this kind of money by choosing the poor quality of web hosting. It strongly affects user experience and the website’s identity.

Do not get a free web hosting if you are serious about your business. This is because they are poor in speed, uptime, and support.

Pricing for Great Hosting

Based on my experiences, I found out that the money I spent for A2 Hosting and Siteground worth it, with good product provided compared to other web hostings.

For both A2 Hosting and Siteground, the cost of web hosting can be less than $50/year during the first purchase, but the price will be doubled(A2 Hosting)/tripled(Siteground) during renewal.

For the long term, you can consider buying for 2-3 years service when you placed for your first purchase to get the cheaper price.

**Have great news here, A2 Hosting is now having a promotion, where its web hosting package starts from only $2.96/month compared to the past $3.92/month. Act fast to grab the opportunity before it changes the price back.

Once you have done buying a web hosting, you can move to the next step to install WordPress on your web hosting.

Step #3: Install WordPress for Content Management (10mins)($0)

The next step is about the tool for website creation.

You need a tool named content management system (CMS), specifically WordPress CMS.

WordPress is the easiest and most convenient software for creating a website.

It is so powerful and popular where one-third of all the websites in the world are made with WordPress.

Why is it so popular?

• FREE.
• 100,000 themes and plugins support.
• A huge community of users and developers.
• SEO-friendly.
• Highly customizable.
• Ease of use for everyone, even for “non-techie”.

This installation process is also very easy, and it should take about 10 minutes to complete.

Let’s install the WordPress and use it to build the barebone of the website.

Step #4: Install a Theme for the Website Style (30mins)($0 or < $59/yr)

Theme is the overall look, presentation, and style of your website.

It creates a truly stunning presentation for an engaging and appealing website.

There are many WordPress themes available, and each theme has its own unique characteristics. Some made for lady blog, some made for e-commerce and etc.

There is one multipurpose, my favorite best theme, the WP Astra. What I like the most is the speed and lightweight provided. It can serve for blogging and e-commerce website.

The summary of why is it good?

• SEO-Friendly
• Reliable
• Lightweight
• Fast
• Mobile responsive
• FREE
• Easy to use
• Clean design
• Woocommerce support
• No jQuery
• Page builder compatible

More information about WP Astra can be read from “WP Astra – The Best Theme for Elementor | Configuration Guide 2019“.

The setup should be less than 30 minutes.

Free or Paid Theme

There are themes available free or paid.

The free theme source usually comes from wordpress.org.

There are several paid theme sources such as ThemeForest / StudioPress / MyThemesShop or directly from the brand owner.

The price range for a paid theme is typically less than $59/year.

The paid theme has more advanced features and better support compared to a free theme. But for a small website/project, the free theme is usually enough.

Let’s pick a theme for your website and set up everything.

If you are not sure, you can start from a freemium theme like WP Astra. It provides free theme at first and can upgrade to the paid theme later on if you want its pro features and premium support.

Step #5: Install Plugins to Enhance the Functionality of the Website (30 mins)($0 or more)

Plugins are small pieces of software that enhance the functionality of a website.

It makes it easy to add extra features to a website without requiring the knowledge of how to write code. 

For instance, page builder, SEO, speed optimization, analytics, security, and more.

There are several plugins (free and paid) you can install to empower your website.

Please read “8 Must Have WordPress Plugins That’ll Grow Your Website (2019)” to check out my favorite list of plugins.

This is an ongoing process. Whenever you need a new feature for the website, you can search the plugin availability and install it.

The initial installation of some fundamental plugins such as SEO plugin and cache plugin may take 30 minutes.

Step #6: Build Content Easily by Using Drag and Drop Page Builder Elementor (1.5 hrs)($0 or $49/yr)

Content is an ongoing process and its purpose is to provide a highly engaging experience for visitors. The process is repeated.

The theme installed comes with its own editor for building content.

However, many WordPress beginners found difficulty changing and fully customizing page layouts to fit their preferences from the original theme’s editor.

So, I recommend using a page builder plugin to make the job easier and better.

The page builder like Elementor allows users to do a different level of customization without needing to write a single line of code.

If you want to save more time and make a professional website, the Elementor drag and drop tool is the best for creating professional looking websites with ease.

If you are following my tutorial “Elementor Tutorial for Beginners to Build Website Contents“, you can finish all the fundamental design and complete your website contents within 1.5 hours.

Do not believe about the myth that using page builder will slow down a website, you can do the WordPress speed optimization and speed optimization specifically for Elementor website. I used these methods to make my website loads in only 0.5s.

Now It Is Your Turn!

So you see… This is the complete WordPress for dummies tutorial.

You can easily create your own website in a short time and for a relatively low cost!

Follow these steps to try it out for yourself to start or grow your online presence.

It is an indispensable part of your small business or personal brand to have your own website. And it is amazing to be able to do so without a large investment of time or money.