How to Create a WordPress Website (Step-by-Step Guide)

May 6, 2025

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Creating your own WordPress website may sound intimidating, but with the right tools and guidance, it’s easier than ever. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through how to build a WordPress website using Hostinger — one of the most affordable and beginner-friendly hosting providers available today.

🚀 Ready to Launch Your Website?

Get 75% off web hosting, a free domain, and 1-click WordPress install. It’s beginner-friendly and trusted by millions! 👉 Get Hosting Now

What You Need to Build a Website

Before we get started, it’s important to understand the two essential components you need to build a website:

  1. A domain name – This is your website’s address, such as www.example.com.
  2. A hosting provider – This is where your website’s files and data will live online.

There are many popular providers out there, such as GoDaddy, Bluehost, SiteGround, and Namecheap. However, for this tutorial, we’ll be using Hostinger because of its excellent balance of price, performance, and features — especially when you choose their 4-year plan.

Why Hostinger?

Here are some of the key benefits of using Hostinger:

  • Extremely affordable (especially with long-term plans)
  • Free domain name included
  • Free SSL certificate for a secure connection
  • Free business email address
  • One-click WordPress installation
  • Beginner-friendly control panel (hPanel)

📸 [Insert screenshot of Hostinger’s plans here]

For this guide, we’ll use the free domain that comes with Hostinger and walk through setting up everything from email to a coming soon page using WordPress.

Step 1: Choose a Hosting Plan on Hostinger

To get started, head over to Hostinger’s pricing page and choose a hosting plan. For this tutorial, we’re focusing on Web Hosting.

Hostinger offers three main plans under Web Hosting:

💎 Premium Web Hosting – $2.99/month (for 48 months)

This is a great entry-level option for most users. It includes:

  • Up to 25 websites
  • 25 GB SSD storage
  • Free SSL certificate (HTTPS for your site)
  • Free domain name
  • 25 business emails (1 per website)
  • Weekly backups
  • Unlimited bandwidth

🚀 Business Web Hosting – $3.99/month (for 48 months)

We recommend this plan if you’re serious about building a faster and more professional website. It includes everything in the Premium plan plus:

  • Up to 50 websites
  • 50 GB NVMe storage
  • Daily and on-demand backups
  • Free CDN (Content Delivery Network)
  • Advanced WordPress acceleration (great for speed and SEO)

☁️ Cloud Startup Hosting – $7.99/month (for 48 months)

Ideal for large or high-traffic websites, but it’s more advanced and expensive — not necessary for beginners.

🧠 Tip: Hosting providers usually offer the biggest discounts (up to 75%) on long-term plans. While it may say $2.99/month, after your term ends, the renewal price jumps to the regular rate (e.g., $7.99 or $11.99/month). That’s why we recommend going for the 4-year plan if you plan to build a long-term project — you’ll save the most money this way.

📌 For this guide, we’ll go with the Business Plan because:

  • It allows up to 50 websites (great if you want to expand later)
  • You get free CDN, which improves site loading speed and helps with SEO
  • You get daily backups, which is great for security
  • It includes all the essential features and more

⚠️ Note: Each plan includes free email accounts, but only one email per website. Additional emails may cost extra.

Why You Should Choose a Long-Term Hosting Plan

Hostinger often offers up to 75% discounts on their initial hosting plans — which is a huge saving, especially if you’re just getting started. However, it’s important to understand how pricing works in the long run.

For example, while the Premium Web Hosting plan may appear as $2.99/month, this rate only applies if you choose the 48-month (4-year) subscription. Once that period ends, the plan renews at the regular price (e.g. $7.99 or $11.99/month depending on the plan). This pricing structure is common across most hosting providers.

💡 That’s why choosing a long-term plan is the smartest option if you’re planning to build a website you’ll keep for years. You’ll lock in the biggest discount and save a significant amount of money over time.

A Closer Look at the Premium Plan

The Premium Web Hosting plan is a great starting point and comes with everything most beginners need:

  • Host up to 25 websites
  • Free SSL certificate (adds the secure https:// to your site)
  • Free domain name included
  • 25 email accounts (1 for each website)
  • Weekly backups
  • Unlimited bandwidth

📬 If you need more than one email per website, you may need to upgrade or purchase extra mailboxes.

Why We Recommend the Business Plan

While the Premium plan is excellent, we recommend going with the Business Web Hosting plan for a few key reasons:

  • Host up to 50 websites
  • Daily backups included
  • Comes with Free CDN (Content Delivery Network), which helps improve site speed and performance — crucial for both SEO and user experience
  • More storage (50GB NVMe)
  • Enhanced WordPress acceleration features

Every second counts when it comes to website speed. You don’t want visitors waiting for your site to load — especially on mobile.

So if you’re planning to launch a professional website (or multiple websites), the Business Plan gives you much more value while still being very affordable at $3.99/month for 4 years.

Step 2: Sign Up and Set Up Your Hosting with Hostinger

Once you’ve decided which plan fits your needs (we recommend the Business Web Hosting), it’s time to sign up.

👉 Go to Hostinger’s pricing page and click on the “Choose Plan” button under your preferred package.

🔒 You’ll then be asked to create an account and select your payment method (credit card, PayPal, Google Pay, etc.).

Step 3: Choose Your Free Domain Name

After signing up, Hostinger will ask you to claim your free domain name. This is the web address your visitors will type in to find your website (e.g., www.mywebsite.com).

📝 Tips for choosing a domain:

  • Keep it short and easy to remember
  • Use keywords related to your business or niche
  • Avoid numbers or hyphens
  • Prefer .com if available (or .net, .org, or a relevant country TLD)

Once you find an available domain, click Continue and Hostinger will automatically connect it to your hosting account.

Step 4: Install WordPress (1 Click)

Hostinger makes it super easy to install WordPress — no tech skills required.

  1. Go to your Hostinger hPanel
  2. Click on “Auto Installer”
  3. Choose WordPress
  4. Fill in your site name, admin username & password
  5. Click Install

That’s it! In just a few minutes, your WordPress website will be live 🎉

Get 75% off web hosting, a free domain, and 1-click WordPress install. It’s beginner-friendly and trusted by millions! 👉 Get Hosting Now

Step 5: Create a Professional Email Address

One of the perks of Hostinger’s hosting plans is that they come with free business email accounts — for example: info@yourdomain.com.

Having a branded email address not only looks more professional but also builds trust with your audience.

Here’s how to set it up:

  1. Go to your Hostinger hPanel
  2. Navigate to the Emails section and click on Email Accounts
  3. Select your domain (e.g., yourdomain.com)
  4. Click Create a new email account
  5. Choose a username (e.g., info, hello, contact) and a strong password
  6. Click Create

🎉 That’s it! Your professional email address is ready.

Step 6: (Optional) Set Up Your Email on Browser or Mobile

After creating your email, Hostinger offers you an optional step to configure your email for easy access.

You’ll see the screen below:

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Here, you can choose how you’d like to access your email:

  • Browser: Use Hostinger’s webmail platform
  • Recommended apps: Follow the guides to set it up in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.

🔧 If you’re not sure what to choose, we recommend using the Browser for now — it’s simple and doesn’t require additional setup.

Step 8: Activate Maintenance Mode with a Plugin

Before we dive into setting up a “Coming Soon” or “Maintenance” page, let’s quickly talk about WordPress plugins.

🧩 What Are WordPress Plugins?

Plugins are like apps for your WordPress site. They’re created by developers to add extra functionality — whether that’s SEO tools, contact forms, security features, or even complete design builders.

⚠️ Since plugins are created by third-party developers, it’s important to only install plugins you trust — check the ratings, reviews, number of active installations, and how recently the plugin was updated.

🛠️ Using the “Maintenance” Plugin by WebFactory Ltd

There are many great Coming Soon and Maintenance mode plugins out there, but for this tutorial, we’ll use the popular and simple plugin called:

🔧 “Maintenance”
by WebFactory Ltd

Here’s how to install and activate it:

  1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New
  2. Search for: Maintenance
  3. Look for the one by WebFactory Ltd – the icon has a construction sign
  4. Click Install Now, then Activate

Once activated:

  1. You’ll see a new tab called Maintenance in your admin menu
  2. Click it, go to the Settings tab
  3. Customize your message (e.g., “Website under construction. We’ll be live soon!”)
  4. You can also add your logo, background image, and styling
  5. Scroll down and click Save changes
  6. Toggle “Activate Maintenance Mode” to ON

🎉 Now only logged-in users (like you) can see the site. Visitors will see the maintenance message while you work privately on your content and design.

💡 Tip: You can always switch to a more advanced Coming Soon plugin later, like SeedProd or CMP, especially if you want to collect emails or integrate social media.

Step 9: Choose the Right WordPress Theme for Your Website

🎉 Congratulations for making it this far!
You now have:

  • Your own hosting plan
  • A domain name
  • WordPress installed and live (in Maintenance Mode)
  • A professional email address ready to go

Now it’s time for the fun part — designing your website.

🎨 What Are WordPress Themes?

A WordPress theme controls how your website looks: layout, fonts, colors, navigation, and even animation styles. Think of it as the “skin” of your site — the overall design that visitors see and interact with.

WordPress comes with a few free default themes, and you can also find thousands of free options in the WordPress theme directory. However…

🧠 If you’re planning to take your website seriously — especially for business, blogging, or eCommerce — we recommend investing in a premium theme.

💰 Free vs. Premium Themes

You don’t have to buy a theme — WordPress works perfectly with free themes. But here’s why premium themes are worth it:

  • More polished and professional designs
  • Built-in templates (home, about, shop, contact)
  • Advanced customization options
  • Often bundled with premium plugins
  • Better support and regular updates
  • Optimized for SEO and performance

Most premium themes cost between $30 – $80 (one-time payment) and come with demo content, so you can import the full design with one click and start customizing from there.

🔧 What Are Page Builders?

Most modern themes work with page builders — visual editors that let you drag and drop content without needing to code.

Perfect for beginners, page builders allow you to:

  • Add text, images, videos, buttons, forms, and more
  • Control spacing, layout, and responsiveness
  • Create beautiful pages in minutes

Some popular page builders include:

  • Elementor (free + Pro version – great for beginners)
  • WPBakery Page Builder
  • Beaver Builder
  • Divi Builder

✅ Tip: Look for themes that are compatible with Elementor — it’s one of the easiest and most powerful builders out there.

🛍️ Where to Find the Best Themes

We recommend browsing ThemeForest — one of the most trusted and popular marketplaces for premium WordPress themes.

You’ll find themes for every type of site:

  • Business & agency websites
  • Personal blogs or portfolios
  • eCommerce stores (WooCommerce)
  • Restaurants, salons, photographers, gyms, and more
  • SaaS, landing pages, tech startups

🔍 Tips for Choosing a Great Theme on ThemeForest

When browsing for themes:

✅ Use the Live Preview to test how the theme looks in action
✅ Read the reviews and comments — see how the developer interacts with users
✅ Check the last update date — a recently updated theme means it’s maintained
✅ Look for WooCommerce support if you’re planning an online store
✅ Make sure it’s SEO-optimized and mobile-friendly
✅ Confirm it works with a page builder like Elementor

🛒 Bonus: Themes for Online Stores

If your goal is to build an eCommerce website, ThemeForest has ready-made themes built for:

  • Fashion & clothing brands
  • Handmade or digital products
  • Electronics, home decor, or jewelry

They come with:

  • Product and shop pages
  • Cart and checkout templates
  • Wishlist and filters
  • Fast loading and mobile optimization

📌 Tip: The live demo is usually very close to what your site will look like after importing the demo content.

Step 10: Install Your WordPress Theme and Start Building

Now that you’ve selected your theme — whether free or premium — it’s time to install it and start customizing your site.

🆓 Installing a Free Theme

To install a free theme from the WordPress repository:

  1. Go to your WordPress Dashboard
  2. Navigate to Appearance > Themes
  3. Click Add New
  4. Use the search bar to browse or search for a theme (e.g., “Astra”, “OceanWP”, “Hello Elementor”)
  5. Click Install, then Activate

That’s it! Your new design is live. You can start customizing it under Appearance > Customize.

💼 Installing a Purchased Theme (e.g. from ThemeForest)

If you’ve bought a premium theme, here’s how to install it:

  1. Download the theme .zip file from your ThemeForest account
  2. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Themes > Add New > Upload Theme
  3. Upload the .zip file and click Install Now
  4. Once uploaded, click Activate

📁 Tip: The downloaded ZIP from ThemeForest usually contains extra files — make sure to upload only the theme ZIP file (often named like themename.zip).

📖 Theme Documentation

Almost every premium theme includes a documentation folder inside the download. This usually includes:

  • Installation instructions
  • How to import demo content
  • Theme features explained step-by-step
  • How to customize layout, colors, fonts, etc.
  • A list of required plugins

Some themes even offer video tutorials and one-click demo imports to make the setup incredibly easy.

🔌 Required Plugins (e.g., WooCommerce for Online Stores)

Many themes come with or recommend specific plugins to unlock full functionality.

For example, if you’re building an online store, you’ll likely be asked to install WooCommerce.

🛒 What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is the most popular WordPress plugin for creating eCommerce websites. It’s completely free and allows you to:

  • Add and manage products
  • Accept online payments (via Stripe, PayPal, etc.)
  • Handle shipping, taxes, and inventory
  • Customize the shopping cart and checkout pages

It works seamlessly with most modern themes and supports extensions for everything from bookings to subscriptions.

✅ If your theme supports WooCommerce, the setup will guide you through installing it during demo import or theme setup.

🎯 You’re Ready to Build!

Now that your theme is active and your plugins are installed, you can start customizing:

  • Change your logo, colors, and fonts
  • Add new pages (Home, About, Contact)
  • Customize your menu and footer
  • Add products (if you’re using WooCommerce)

From here, it’s all about adding content and making your vision come to life.

🎉 Final Thoughts — You Did It!

Bravo for making it this far! 🙌
You now have everything you need to launch your own WordPress website using Hostinger:

✅ You’ve secured a domain name
✅ You’ve chosen reliable hosting
✅ WordPress is installed and running
✅ Maintenance mode is active
✅ A professional email is set up
✅ You’ve selected (and maybe installed) a powerful theme
✅ You’re one step away from launching your dream website

That’s an incredible achievement — especially if it’s your first time building a website!

💬 What If I’m Struggling with Design or Customization?

If at any point you feel overwhelmed editing or designing your site — don’t worry. You haven’t wasted your time. You’ve already done the hardest (and most technical) part: setting everything up correctly.

💡 And the best part?
You’ve already saved money by not hiring a developer for the initial setup.

If needed, you can hire a freelancer from trusted platforms like:

Let them handle the final design touches while you focus on your content, your brand, and what matters most.

🚀 You’re Ready to Launch

Whether you’re building a personal blog, a business site, or a full eCommerce store — you now have the foundation to create something amazing.

Stay focused, keep learning, and don’t be afraid to experiment. Your site will evolve over time — just like any great project.

Thanks for following along, and happy building! 🙌

Get 75% off web hosting, a free domain, and 1-click WordPress install. It’s beginner-friendly and trusted by millions! 👉 Get Hosting Now