This post is a detailed guide on how to setup a WordPress website on Hostinger with step-by-step instructions. If you are planning to start a blog for affiliate marketing, then this guide will help you set one up easily.
If you are looking for a reliable hosting provider, then you might want to check out Hostinger.
WordPress isn’t difficult to install with their famous 5-minute install. Yet at times it can be difficult with doing it, considering the many different interfaces and hosting dashboards.
Some companies provide you with cPanel access whereas some others provide a custom dashboard if they do not want to spend on making cPanel available for their customers.
Hosting companies have hence simplified this process by providing 1-click install options to their customers. But then again this too has its own problems.
Nevertheless, my objective with this series of posts is to simplify this and provide a step-by-step guide to install a WordPress website with different hosting providers.
Why Do I Recommend Hostinger?
Hostinger is my favorite web host and since the time I have switched over to them about 5-6 months back, I should say that hosting issues are the last thing that I have had to look at.
Their semi-managed WordPress hosting takes care of most issues and the fact that their servers are pretty reliable gives peace of mind from the usual hosting problems.
I have a detailed Hostinger review in here. You can read the review to know why I recommend Hostinger.
Here are a few of the reasons why I absolutely love them –
Simplicity of use
The way most hosting providers arrange their directories is extremely confusing. This becomes overwhelming if you are hosting multiple domains with the same provider on the same server.
Most hosts have the primary directory mapped to the root folder usually called public_html. Then every one of the other domains you add is hosting inside this.
The file manager looks so cluttered with the WordPress files for the primary domain and then a folder each for the addon domains and if you have subdomains, then folders for them too.
This is where Hostinger won my heart.
They have one of the best directory systems.
Every domain lives in a separate directory of its own. So you are not left hunting for the folder where your domain or, the subdomain lives.
This makes things pretty easy to manage.
Clean interface
I spoke about the difficult hosting dashboards a little while back. This can be a big issue when it comes to installing and managing your WordPress installations.
A lot of the hosts use custom dashboards to provide some simplicity but that doesn’t prove to be of much help. One of the cleanest interfaces that I have seen is that of Bluehost, but that too at times feels extremely overwhelming.
Hostinger has one of the cleanest interfaces around and you will simply fall in love with how it is laid out.
All required information is available at your fingertips and managing your server becomes extremely simple.
Easy to Manage
Once you have installed a WordPress blog on Hostinger, managing it is pretty easy directly from your Hostinger Dashboard.
You have access to the plugins that are installed, the themes, and all other required information like backups, database, etc. all laid out in a simple dashboard.
You can even enable and disable plugins from here, add recommended plugins, etc. from here itself.
When it comes to running a WordPress blog, I found that Hostinger provides the best resources and support.
If you are still looking for a hosting provider, I would recommend Hostinger. Check out their plans here.
How to Set up a WordPress Website on Hostinger
With that out of the way, let us get into the process of installing a WordPress website.
I am hoping that you have already registered a domain name for yourself. If you haven’t then you can register one at Godaddy. They are the largest domain name providers and hence for the sake of ease, we are assuming that you have a domain registered with Godaddy.
Let us get straight into the step-by-step guide on how to setup a WordPress website on Hostinger.
Step – 1: Change your nameservers
The first step is to ensure that your domain is mapped to the correct hosting server.
If you bought your domain name from Hostinger itself, then this step is not required because it would already be mapped to your server.
But if you bought it from a different registrar like Godaddy, then you will need to change the nameservers.
The steps to change are pretty much the same.
For this guide, we are assuming that the domain is registered with Godaddy.
The first step is to find your nameservers. On Hostinger, you should be able to find it on the left-hand sidebar panel. Copy these and keep them in a notepad.
Once you have your nameservers, head over to your domain registrar’s page, Godaddy in this case, and find something called “DNS”.
This “DNS” option takes you to a page where you see the DNS setting for your domain name. Here you should be able to see the current nameservers for the domain.
This is what you will need to change to your Hostinger nameservers.
Once you click on “Change”, you are taken to the nameservers page where you can enter the new nameservers. Just ensure that you are entering these correctly.
In Godaddy, there is an additional page where it asks you if, you would like to connect the domain to a website you have already built on Godaddy itself or, enter your own nameservers.
Since we are hosting the domain on our Hostinger servers, you will need to select “Enter my own nameservers”.
Once you are on the nameservers page, just enter both the nameservers in here.
In some hosts, there could be more than 2 nameservers. In such a scenario, you will have to enter all the nameservers. With Hostinger there are 2 nameservers.
Once you have entered your nameservers, do not forget to “SAVE” your changes.
That completes step-1.
But keep in mind that the change takes some time to reflect.
While some registrars could take a little longer and usually they say that it could take any time between 24-48 hrs, the changes usually happen in about 2-3 hours. This process is called domain name propagation.
Once the propagation is complete, we are ready to move into Step-2
Step-2: Add Domain Name
The next step is to add our domain name to our hosting. This step is pretty easy when the nameserver propagation is complete.
Firstly, you need to go to the Hosting panel on your Hostinger server account. There you should be able to find the option to “add a website”.
When you select that option, you are taken to a page where you can enter the name of your domain and a password. This password is critical because it is the password you will be using to connect to your server (only for this domain) using an FTP or, SSH account.
So, ensure that you are saving this password somewhere.
Now that your domain is added to your hosting, there should be a directory for it in your file manager. This is where the entire action is going to happen.
IMPORTANT: When you host a domain with a different hosting provider than the one where you registered your domain from, the entire DNS is moved to the hosting provider, which is where you will have to manage it, from that point forward. While doing this you also need to keep in mind that your emails are configured properly because the MX records too changes when you change your nameservers.
In another of my post, I will show you how to edit and map your MX records or, create an email address.
Now that we are done with the domain part, let us move onto the next step – setup a WordPress website on Hostinger.
Installing WordPress
The best part about WordPress is the simplicity of installing and using it. I still remember the good old days when WordPress used to be a small package and installation barely took 3-4 minutes.
While the CMS has grown with a lot more feature additions, the install process still remains the same and it is still as easy as it used to be.
Here are the steps involved in setting up your WordPress site –
- Create a database and keep the information handy
- Download the WordPress files from wordpress.org
- Upload the files to your server
- Open the install.php file and follow the instructions
- Your WordPress website is installed.
This is the regular installation process. But this too can be a little difficult for people who aren’t well versed with creating a database and uploading files etc.
It is here that the 1-Click install comes in handy.
For the purpose of this tutorial, we will use the 1-Click install.
NOTE: The 1-click installs were as secure as the manual install until a couple of years ago. But as things progressed, the installation process has become very secured and hence it becomes a preferred method of installation unless you otherwise prefer the manual method.
Let us look at how to use the 1-Click Install method to setup a WordPress website on Hostinger.
1- Click Install
The 1-click install used an inbuilt script that gathers all the required information and does the job for you. It helps you skip all of the above steps that I spoke about when you are manually installing WordPress.
Here are the steps involved in installing your WordPress website.
STEP:1 – Selecting the Domain Name for Your Installation
The first step is to go into your Hostinger dashboard and select the domain name that you wish to install WordPress on.
This is only if you have multiple domains on the same hosting account like me. But if you do not have multiple domains then, you can just select the one that you have and proceed with the installation.
STEP:2 – Finding the Auto-installer
The second step in the 1-click install is to find the “Autoinstaller”.
Go to the search box on the top right-hand corner and enter Auto installer. The dashboard widgets filter as you enter the terms and will show you the auto-installer.
Click on the Auto-installer.
Step:3 – Choosing your CMS option
Once you have selected the auto-installer, you will be given a choice of selecting the CMS platform. There are multiple CMS platforms like Jhoomla, Drupal, etc.
But since we are going to use WordPress, you can select that as your CMS.
If you are planning to use your website as a store, then you can choose the 2nd option of Woocommerce + WordPress.
Step:4 – Configure your installation
It is now time to configure your installation. You will have to enter the details for the WordPress website that you are setting up in this step.
The information that you will have to enter is as below –
- Directory name – This is to be left blank unless you want to install your website in a custom directory.
- Administrator Username – This is the username for your WordPress admin dashboard. This is the username that you will be using to login to your wordpress website. Keep in mind that you will not be able to change it later.
- Administrator Password – This is the password used to login to your WordPress website.
- Administrator Email – This is the admin email for your website. In case you forget your password, this is the email that will be used to reset it. This is also the email where you will get alerts and updates about your WordPress installation.
- Website Title – Enter your title of your website here. You can always change this in your WordPress admin dashboard.
- Database Password – The 1-click install, creates a database for you without you having to do anything. But the database will still need a password. Create a strong password and enter it here.
- Install – Finally click the install button and your site will be installed.
The installation process might take about a minute or, so. Once done you are ready to manage your WordPress website.
Step:5 – Manage your WordPress website
Now that your website is installed, it is time to do some housekeeping. The first steps can easily be done from the Hostinger dashboard itself.
Once the website is installed, it should show up as a line item. When you click the 3 dots, you will find an option to “manage”. Selecting it will take you to your WP dashboard inside Hostinger where you will be able to manage some of the basic things in your installation.
The few things that you might want to manage are as below –
- Edit website – This will take you directly to your WordPress admin dashboard where you can edit everything in your website.
- Manage database – This takes you directly to your MySQL database. This is handy in case you want to fiddle around with your database. But be cautious, that if you are not aware of what you are doing, then this could break your website.
- Setup SSL – This will help you install your FREE SSL certificate. SSL certificates have become a critical part of website security and also Google rankings. I will show you how to install it in the next step.
- Install Patchstack – Patchstack is a firewall and security service that can prevent your wordpress website from malicious codes and hackers. Installing this is recommended.
- Plugins – Here you will find a list of recommended plugins that you can install.
Now that we are done with the housekeeping, let us move onto the final step and a critical one.
Step:6 – Install SSL Certificate
Installing an SSL certificate is a critical part of your WordPress setup. It is important from a security perspective and at the same time from an SEO point of view as well.
All Hostinger plans come with a FREE SSL for your website. So you don’t have to spend anything additional for purchasing an SSL certificate.
Installing the certificate is a simple one-click step.
Just click on the “Setup SSL” option which will open a dialog box with the list of domains available. Just select the domain name that you wish to install the certificate on and click “Install SSL” and you are done.
Self-install
The self-installation process is a little more time-consuming but gives you more control over the installation process. A detailed guide on how to do it can be material for another of my post.
The process to setup a WordPress website on Hostinger using the self-install method is the same with pretty much all other hosting providers as well.
But here are the core steps involved in the installation process.
STEP-1 : Download WordPress Files
STEP-2: Unzip the files on your computer and zip it again (reason – otherwise it will create a new directory called WordPress)
STEP-3: Create a Database and save the details
STEP-4: Upload the files to your directory and extract it
STEP-5: Open the installer and enter the details
STEP-6: Enjoy!
Over to You – Your Thoughts
I hope this step-by-step guide on how to setup a WordPress website on Hostinger is informative and helpful to you. If you liked this, then do consider sharing it with your social media circles by using one of the sharing buttons below.
If you have any questions or, need help on anything else, then please comment below and let me know.