5 Steps to Setting Up a Website in 15 Minutes Starting From Scratch

Do you have a traditional brick and mortar business and looking for an online presence? But you have no idea how to setup a website? Or, would you like to make extra money online but don't have a clue how? Relax. It's not that difficult. Just 5 quick, easy steps and wahla, your business is online.

Step 1 - You have to purchase a domain name. Now this step is probably the most important. Your domain name is your website address. For example, www.myname.com, or www.mybusinessname.com, or www.teachmetosetupawebsite.com. You get the picture. In addition to the .com website addressess, their are also the .net, .info, .guru, etc. names available. However, the most recognized are the .com address names. The most notable domain name website currently is GoDaddy.com. You can Google website names and find plenty places to buy your domain name. You can purchase a domain name for 1 year anywhere from $5 to $15. Just avoid the upsells and get your domain name.

Step 2 - Setup Your CPanel or Hosting Account For your Domain Name. This step is probably the most intimidating for newbies. Don't let it frighten you. Once again it is relatively easy. Its just the name CPANEL that sounds complex. I personally use GVO for all my domain names and hosting because CPanel is included for each domain name purchased. With CPanel you will simply create an account that includes your domain name within. When you provide your current email address, your username and password for logging into CPanel will be emailed to you for future reference.

Step 3 - Changing Your NameServers. When you purchase your domain name, the nameservers simply point to your website server. Its kinda like telling the phone company where your home address is. The email you received in step 2 above will contain your domain name and current nameservers. If your hosting account is separate from where you purchased your domain name, (I use GVO because its all in one place), you simply change the nameserver address.

Step 4 - Install Wordpress Using Softaculous or Manually. Inside your CPanel account, in order to get your website online, you must install wordpress. Softaculous is an automatic Wordpress installer for your domain name. You simply find the Softaculous icon within CPanel and click install wordpress. Make sure you leave the in directory block blank so wordpress will be installed on your root directory, or your actual domain name. Most of the time, that in directory block in CPanel will contain letters such as wp in that block. You must clear those because if you don't then wordpress will be installed on www.yourdomainname.com/wp. You don't want that. For the more advanced you can also install wordpress manually. A manual install is a little more involved but not that difficult as well.

Step 5 - Preliminary Wordpress settings. When you install wordpress in step 4 above, you will also be given a username and password to login into your website. Your login url to control your website will look something like this, www.mydomainname.com/wp-admin. To control your website settings you login into your admin and get started.

If you complete these 5 steps you will have your website up and running. If this is your first time doing this it may take a little longer. Once you have done it a few times, you can actually complete these steps in 3-5 minutes.