As someone who often focuses on the design side of client based interactions and not necessarily the coding angle, it can be pretty daunting being tasked with a site for a client and not have the first clue how to create one. For a fairly modicum investment you can not only create a site with zero code, but also host a large quantity of billboard style sites.
Hosting
This step only has to be troublesome once. When you have an account setup the rest falls into place quite easily. Hosting for a laymen like me is like owning land on the internet. This land we own can be used to build a home(website) which can then be rented out to a tenant (client). There are many different Hosting options, but I prefer hostgator as the support and plan options are both affordable and simple to understand. For $3.50 a month x 36 months you can select the Baby plan; it allows for unlimited website installs, wordpress installation, free SSL, and Cpanel Support. Once you have a domain name, then you can link it to your hosting plan.
Domains
A domain name is both the easiest part and the most important task. It has to be unique without being too convoluted. As an example a client by the name of Specter and Associates may have become accustomed to referring to themselves as such and will request their domain to be specterandassociates.com. While it is possible to get a domain by this name often times the simplest form is best for customer recognition. This is the difficult dance you have to play as your client’s “marketer”: not so simple where its unrecognizable and not so complex that it deters the attention limited phone user from not even attempting to type it all out. Once you have an eye on the name such as specter.com, head over to hostgator and purchase the domain there for simplicity (the selection there is much more limited vs going through namecheap, but the backend is much easier to link the hosting if you stay within the hostgator family).
Once you purchase the right domain for your situation (if you bought it through hostgator) proceed to login to your host account, then click on the domain tab. Here you need to make sure the name servers point towards your hosting account. Luckily, hostgator makes this as simple as a button rather than typing in the address yourself.
You may or may not need to do this final step. I would only add the subdomain if you run into problems in the wordpress installer.
The final step with domains is creating a subdomain. Go to the CPanel. There you search for “subdomain” and simply add it into your list.
Wordpress Installation
In previous years this step was much simpler and straight forward. I have noticed the new GUI for the installation leads to complications but this implementation method is new, and I’m sure with time they’ll iron out the kinks. In the meantime, go to wordpress installer.
Then click install
Ive found that is best to keep this part simple. The less this installer has to do the better. I don't particularly add plugins or themes until I'm inside the site. So just create a name and user with a strong password. DO NOT SELECT HTTPS — for some reason this creates a conflict with the domains on some occasions; HTTPS can be setup within wordpress itself.
Now to login go to your browser and type : “your-domain.com/wp-admin”
Login using the credentials you just created. And now you’ve reached the wordpress backend.
Themes and Plugins
When you go to plugins you’ll see a myriad of different plugins that come installed from the get go. When I start a site I like to just delete all of those plugins and start from scratch. To do this select all, deactivate, select all, delete.
Since we are in a time crunch and need a site immediately lets go to plugins > add new > then search for ASTRA.
Click install then activate. That’ll redirect you to your plugins page. Here, on the astra plugin select “see library”
Once inside, It’ll ask you to select from a page builder. I prefer Elementor, but you may prefer another, its personal preference here. Since our project is on a budget, lets select free from the drop down of templates.
Now you can go through the list and find a site that fits your situation. It can be a simple informational webpage or even an E-commerce site. Once you select it, I like to import the entire site. If there’s a page I don't need ill just delete it later.
Then I will select “delete previous site” just to make sure there are no conflicts.
And there you go, a complete site up and running on a domain you’ve selected.
These sites look like BMWs but deep down they have Honda engines. Its not a bad thing, it just becomes difficult to manage the more complex the site gets when using free plugins. For the most part, this is enough for a small business looking to get their name out there. There are endless customizable options from backgrounds to logos.
As a bonus, to get the HTTPS on your url and help forcing emails through I like to install these two plugins:
For more customizable options and ways to push wordpress to its limits WPCrafter is a great source for anything wordpress