Here is a little tutorial on how to build your own website. I will use most of the tools, registers and host that I use myself as examples and will give you all the resources you need and explain why I use each.

At the bottom of this post you will find the links you need to sign up for your Domain name and your Hosting account.

Naming your site

First thing you need to do is figure out a name for your website. This can be the hardest thing to do as there are billions of websites out there and most names are already taken.

Follow the link to GoDaddy at the bottom of this page. There you can do a search on the main page to see if your site name is available. If your site is not available in a “dot com” there is always “dot net” and a few other name extensions. You want to try to come up with a name that is available in a “dot com” though. Maybe try your first and last name as a “dot com”, they are usually easy to find. i.e. RobbyMorton.com

Once you figure out what your site name is going to be you will need to register a free account with GoDaddy.com, they will be your domain registrar. Yes, I said registrar not register (maybe I’ll write another article later explaining this). After you register, and before you purchase your domain you will need to sign up for free account at Paypal.com. This is how you will pay for your domain name and hosting (which I will explain later). If you’re not familiar with Paypal, it is an online payment method that protects buyers/sellers from having to transmit their credit card information across the internet more than one time. PayPal also has buyer protection programs that will protect the buyers from fraudulent charges and purchases on the internet.

After you complete the sign up at Paypal and enter your credit card/debit card information, you can return to GoDaddy to purchase your domain.

Setting up your hosting

Setting up your hosting account is fairly simple. I use Host Gator myself so this is what I will be using as my example.

At the bottom of this page you will find a link to host Gator. Follow the link to Host Gator’s website and click on web hosting on the top navigation bar. On this page you will see this hosting plans and prices that they offer. Each plan has different options and 3 different prices. If you are going to just build one site I would recommend the lowest price plan. If you are going to be using this plan for business or going to be building a large site then you may want to consider the business account. Follow the steps to purchase the hosting plan you decide to go with.

After you have purchased your hosting account you will receive an email confirmation with your hosting information, including your control panel log in address and your Name server (DNS).

Changing your DNS settings

Your name server, also known as “DNS”, Domain name server, is very simple to change. Your name server translates your domain name to an IP address to make it easier to access a website. Your website will have 2 name servers. They are usually the same name just one number off.
Example:
NS1.YAHOO.COM
NS2.YAHOO.COM

Ok, now to change your name server. Go back to GoDaddy and sign in to your account. On the top navigation bar hover your mouse over “Domains” so the menu drops down, and select “my domains”. On the next page click on the domain name you wish to change. This page will show the information about your domain. Now you want to click on “name servers”. Select the option “custom name servers (I host my domains elsewhere.)” and enter in your DNS address supplied to you buy your host. You can find your name server in the confirmation email sent to you from your host (hostgator). After you have entered your new name server follow the steps to confirm and that’s it.

These changes will only take a few minutes to change. If it is not right away don’t worry, sometimes it can take up to 48 hours. I use GoDaddy because they usually change them fairly quick. If it’s a weekend or a holiday it may take a little longer.

You can now go to your website and check to see if the changes have taken place. If they have you will see a custom page from your hosting company or you will just see a link to your “CGI bin” on the top left corner. As soon as you see these your changes have been made and your ready.
Now lets build your blog!

Now that you have completed everything above we can start building your blog. This is a very simple and quick process. We will be using WordPress software to build your blog.

Go to your email, and open the email you received from your host (HostGator).

In this email there will be a link to your sites control panel. This link will be a little different looking then a typical link. It will look something like this: http://123.15.123.4/cpanel
Follow this link to your control panel and log in. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and look for “Fantastico De Luxe”. On the left side of the screen there will be all of your scripts that you can choose from. They scripts will automatically be installed on your site with the push of a button.

Select “WordPress” under the blog options. A new window will open up on the right side of the screen. Now you will select “new installation”.

Now enter all the information for your site here. Where it says “Install in directory”, leave this area blank to install on the main page of your site.

After you have entered all the information for your site, double check everything to make sure all your information is correct and then select “Install WordPress” at the bottom of the screen.

Congratulations! You have now successfully created your own blog. You can now go to your website and review the blog. To log in to your blog control panel click on “Log in” under the meta option on your side bar.

Check back with us in the next few weeks and I will be adding a tutorial for how to use wordpress.

I hope you have found this information helpful, and I wish you all the best with your website.