In-Depth Guide to Build Your WordPress Website with SiteGround

When it comes to building a professional-looking business website, an intuitive eCommerce store, or a reader-centric blog, WordPress is the most trustworthy consideration for most people. How well your WordPress site will perform depends a lot on its hosting provider. From therein SiteGround comes to foreground- the official wordpress.org (enjoy $25 off) recommended hosting partner. 

Want to build a WordPress website using SiteGround?

This article provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to create a self-hosted WordPress site with SiteGround. It will help you to create your website from scratch even if you are not tech-savvy or do not know to code.

Phase I: Register with SiteGround Hosting

Step 1: Download WordPress

Before you even proceed to register a web hosting account on SiteGround, it is better to download WordPress. It’s easy to download and install on your computer with a single click at wordpress.org. WordPress is an open-source website builder so you can get so many resources free of cost.

• Visit wordpress.org
• Click the ‘Get WordPress’ button at the top right corner of the homepage

Step 2: Choose the Required SiteGround Web Hosting Plan

Selecting the web hosting plan can take some time if you have no prior idea of what is included in the package. When you visit SiteGround, take some time to compare various plans and features. They have a range of inexpensive web hosting plans for WordPress site owners.

• visit siteground.com
• Scroll down the homepage and find ‘Managed WordPress Hosting’
• Click the ‘Get Started’ button
• Once you have reviewed and compared the plan, pricing, and features, click the ‘Get Plan’ tab

If you do not have a domain name yet, you can get it right on SiteGround. Else, you may purchase one at their website.

In the following step, you will be directed to the account registration page where you need to enter personal information and complete the payment process.

On the ‘Review and Complete’ page you need to enter the following details:

• Enter your email address and choose a password in the ‘Account Information’ section
• In the ‘Client Information’ section, fill in the details including your name, address, phone number, company name (if any), and VAT (if applicable).
• Enter your card details to complete the payment process in the ‘Payment Information’ section
• Fill in the details about the chosen web hosting plan, nearest data center*, period** (duration for which you need the hosting plan) under the ‘Hosting Services’ in the ‘Purchase Information’ You may also select extra or add-on services*** (if required)
• Mark the checkbox to accept the ‘Terms of Service’
• Click ‘Pay Now’
• Complete the payment process
• Click the ‘Proceed to Customer Area’ after making the payment

*SiteGround has data centers in multiple locations worldwide. At present, there are data centers in Chicago, London, Amsterdam, and Singapore. You can choose any of them depending on the nearest location where your target audience is based. SiteGround has very high-speed hosting so no matter if your audiences are based in various parts of the globe, they will get the same browsing experience.

**If you have managed to get a special discount, it is worth choosing a longer period. Those who choose to pay for one month will get the discount price for the first month only. You can select a maximum of 36 months to stay with the discount rate. Pay for 12 months or higher upfront to avoid paying the set-up fee.

***You may purchase several add-on services along with a hosting package. This is optional so not recommended if you are on a tight budget.

1. Domain Name: Get a domain name right at SiteGround if you want to avoid working with a domain provider.
2. Domain Privacy: SiteGround offers a domain privacy feature that lets the users protect their personal information without registering with WHOIS. Using these services ensures, your personal details won’t become public at any time (not required for websites owned by a company or a business).

iii. SG Site Scanner: It performs daily scanning to find if someone has hacked or installed malicious code on your website. The services are limited to scanning only. SiteGround will not remove the code to protect against hacking issues.

Now your account is set up and you may login to install and set up your website.

Phase II: Install Your Website at SiteGround

It is superbly easy to install and set up your WordPress website at SiteGround. There are several ways to do this but if you are not a coding ninja, follow the methods stated below to do this quickly.

Method I- If you already have a WordPress website

• Login to your SiteGround account using the email ID and password
• On the pop-up window, click on WordPress from the available options
• Enter the WordPress login details when the new section appears at the bottom of the popup window
• Click ‘Confirm’ to proceed
• On the next page, you can edit the website if you want to change something (skip if you do not need any modifications)
• Add enhancements to your existing website (optional so you can do it later)
• Tick the checkbox to accept the ‘Terms of Service’
• Click the ‘Complete Setup’ button

Method II- If you are building your website from the scratch

Herein is a simple solution to start creating your WordPress website right from your SiteGround account:

Step 1: Login to SiteGround

You must use your email id and password registered with SiteGround to sign in to your web hosting account.

This will take you to the SiteGround dashboard.

Step 2: Open cPanel

On the menu bar of your dashboard,

• Click on ‘My Accounts’
• On the Accounts page, click on the red ‘Go to cPanel’ button on the left side just below the menu bar

Step 3: Visit WordPress

There are several icons on the cPanel Homepage. It can be very confusing for the first time visitor to get along with all of these stuff at once. To begin with, go to your WordPress site.

• Scroll down the cPanel homepage
• Find Autoinstallers
• Click on the WordPress icon
• On the WordPress installer page, click the ‘Install Now’ link at the bottom left corner

Step 4: Add Domain and Website Name

• Locate ‘Choose Protocol’ under ‘Software Setup’
• From the drop-down menu choose ‘https’ protocol if you have an SSL certificate
• Under the ‘Site Settings’, enter the name of your website (may not be the same as the domain name) and website description (a few words on what the website is all about)

Step 5: Create Your WordPress Admin Account

• Enter a unique admin name
• Create your WordPress password
• Create your admin email id

Once you have filled in all the details, click the ‘Install’ button. Upon completing the above steps, you will get a confirmation message on the screen– ‘Congratulations, your software was installed successfully’.

That’s all! Your website is now installed on SiteGround.

Note: The SiteGround login details and WordPress admin login information are different. Keep your Sign-in information handy as you will need them several times.

Phase III: Customize Your WordPress Website

Installation on SiteGround is only the initial step. After installing, your website is live on the internet. However, if your website is new, it is empty without a proper page set up, has the default WordPress theme, etc.

You need to adjust the settings, choose a theme, and so much more to get an intuitive look for your website.

Step 1: Bookmark Your Administrative URL

You will get the admin URL with the congratulation message (as stated at the end of Method II).

Whenever you want to login to your WordPress website, you need to enter this URL in the web browser. The easiest way is to bookmark it for future access.

Step 2: Sign In to WordPress

From the bookmark, choose your admin URL. This will take you to the WordPress Login page. Enter your admin name and password.

Step 3: Choose a Theme

When you install the website, it has the default WordPress theme. It may look too dull and bland.

• Visit ‘WordPress admin dashboard’
• On the left-hand menu, click ‘Appearance’
• Click ‘Themes’
• On the Themes gallery, choose your preferred theme
• Click the ‘Customize’ button to edit your theme

On the theme customization page, you can change the appearance of your site title and tagline. Check the preview on the right-hand side to see how each change impacts the appearance.

Once you are done, click ‘Publish’ to make the theme live on your blog.

Note: If you do not want to choose the basic themes on the Themes page, click ‘Add New’ on the Themes page. You will be directed to the Theme directory (most of them are free) where you can get the hot pick from over thousands of mindboggling themes.

To get a theme from the directory, click ‘Install’. Once you are satisfied with the preview, click ‘Activate’. Your theme will be available on the Themes page where you can go and customize it as stated above.

Don’t worry too much about the theme, you are free to change it any time.

That’s it! You are now almost done.

What Next?

Login to your WordPress admin any time to add new pages, create posts, and much more. WordPress has a seamless interface making things easy for you to get done in minutes.

So what are you waiting for? Get going to add some posts and pictures on your site to see how it appears when live. No worries, you can always customize your site whenever you want.