![\"The](\"https:\/\/contentgarden.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/wp-dkblue-orange-1024x768.png\")
<\/p>\nbetter-click-to-tweet domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/dh_qedcu9/contentgarden.org/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114themify domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/dh_qedcu9/contentgarden.org/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114<\/p>\n
This is the first post in a three-part series called the Complete Guide to Launching a WordPress Site that will tell you everything you need to know to set up, launch, and maintain a great-looking and high-performing WordPress website.<\/p>\n
So, you’ve taken our advice<\/a>\u00a0and decided launching a WordPress site for your business’s website is the way to go. Great idea! Now you need to be guided through the process of launching a WordPress site. With their famous five-minute installation<\/a>, WordPress websites are relatively easy to launch… if you know what you’re doing by the time you get to that point.<\/p>\n If you’ve never launched your own website before, you may find the sheer number of options for hosting, themes, and other options very overwhelming.<\/p>\n To help you get ready to launch your first WordPress website, below we tell you everything you need to know before\u00a0<\/em>you launch your new website.<\/p>\n The first step in launching a WordPress site is choosing a hosting provider. Sure, you could just create a WordPress.com<\/a>\u00a0address for your business. And, if all you want to do is host a blog, that might be your best bet. But, if you want to access all the features of WordPress, including e-commerce, unlimited themes, and other premium features, you’re going to want to host your own site.<\/p>\n To choose a hosting provider for your new website, you want to think about the following factors:<\/p>\n Based on this criteria, and our 8+ years experience with WordPress, we recommend the following providers for hosting WordPress websites:<\/p>\n There are typically three types of hosting you can purchase from a provider: shared, virtual private server (or VPS) and managed hosting.\u00a0When first launching a WordPress site, it’s important to take a moment to consider these different options.<\/p>\n Here’s a breakdown of the options to help you choose:<\/p>\n Once you’ve chosen a hosting provider, domain registration should be a breeze. Any hosting provider worth their snuff allows you to register a custom domain (i.e. https:\/\/contentgarden.org) for the cost of the domain, which is typically $10-20 per year. So, once you purchase hosting, you should be able to register a custom domain for your new website right from the same interface.<\/p>\n Once you’ve registered a domain for your new website and chosen a hosting plan, if you’ve taken our advice and chosen a hosting provider with one-click installation available, you should be able to install WordPress with a few clicks. If you’re not sure where the “one-click installation” button is in your new hosting panel, be sure to email customer service. This is a good test of how responsive they are. Remember: you typically have 30 days from the time you purchase a hosting plan to change your mind and receive a full refund.<\/p>\n So, you’ve now installed WordPress on your new domain (i.e. https:\/\/contentgarden.org). You have now gone through the process of launching a WordPress site. Give yourself a pat on the back. After logging in and creating a password, the first thing we recommend you do is install a hand-dandy plug-in called Password Protected<\/a>. PP allows you to password protect your new site so that no one sees it until you’re ready for launch. The advantage is that you can try some different configurations of your site without worrying that a prospective customer is going to find your site before it’s absolutely ready.<\/p>\n To install PP, log in to the WordPress dashboard<\/a>, which can always be found at https:\/\/yourdomain.com\/wp-admin, hover over “Plugins” on the left-hand sidebar and click on “Add New.” Search for “Password Protected,” install it, and activate it.<\/p>\n Once you’ve done this, hover over “Settings,” click on “Password Protected,” and set a password you can easily remember. Now, if anyone finds your new website, they will simply see a screen with the WordPress logo that prompts them to enter a password:<\/p>\n The next step before officially launching a WordPress site is choosing a theme, which will govern the overall look and feel of your site. We have our favorites<\/a>, but the truth is there are literally thousands of themes to choose from. We recommend browsing through available themes in the WordPress theme directory<\/a>\u00a0and installing several different choices so you have options as you develop your site.<\/p>\n This is the time during the process of launching a WordPress site to think about hiring someone who can help you brand your website. One thing WordPress can’t do is provide you with a high-quality custom logo, color scheme, and other features that will make your website distinctive. You certainly don’t want your site to look like everyone else’s WordPress website, which is what simply choosing a theme and launching your website will get you.<\/p>\n If you’re a stalwart do-it-yourselfer, however, you might skip this option and see what you can come up with on your own. WordPress is an open source (read: free) technology after all. How hard could launching a WordPress site on your own be, right?<\/p>\n At minimum, you’re going to want the following for your new website:<\/p>\n You’ve got your WordPress website all set up now and ready to launch, but before you launch there are a couple other things you want to consider, including SEO and creating a plan for how you will maintain your new website. Check out our next post<\/a> to see what you should know about launching your new site before you remove that password protection.<\/p>\n This is the first post in a three-part series called the Complete Guide to Launching a WordPress Site that will tell you everything you need to know to set up, launch, and maintain a great-looking and high-performing WordPress website. So, you’ve taken our advice\u00a0and decided launching a WordPress site for your business’s website is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"[New Blog Post] Complete Guide to Launching a WordPress Site: Part 1 (Setup)","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21,14,33,57,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogging","category-digital-marketing","category-small-business","category-web-design","category-wordpress","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5lzBX-1eX","builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.contentgarden.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.contentgarden.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.contentgarden.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.contentgarden.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.contentgarden.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4771"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.contentgarden.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7500,"href":"https:\/\/www.contentgarden.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4771\/revisions\/7500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.contentgarden.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.contentgarden.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.contentgarden.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Step 1 of Launching a WordPress Site: Hosting<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
Step 2 of Launching a WordPress Site: Choosing Between Shared, VPS, and Managed Hosting<\/h3>\n
\n
Step 3 of Launching a WordPress Site: Domain Registration<\/h3>\n
Step 4 of Launching a WordPress Site:\u00a0One-Click Installation<\/h3>\n
Step 5 of Launching a WordPress Site: Password Protected<\/h3>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/contentgarden.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/screenshot-1.png\")
<\/p>\nStep 6 of Launching a WordPress Site: Choosing a Theme<\/h3>\n
Step 7 of Launching a WordPress Site: (Optional): Hire a Designer<\/h3>\n
\n
Next Week:\u00a0Prelaunch<\/h3>\n
Need More Help With WordPress?<\/h3>\nGet a Free 30-Minute Consultation<\/a>\n\n
\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"