Change Your DNS Settings

The first thing we must do is to change our DNS settings to point to HostGator.

Shortly after completing your purchase of the hosting, you should receive an email from HostGator with some instructions on how to get started.   The most important section of the email is where they list your name servers.

Step 1: Make a note of the two name servers given in the email.

Step 2: Go to Name.com and log in to your account. *These instructions assume that you registered your domain with Name.com as was shown in the Buying a Domain tutorial.

Step 3: Click on Account at the top of the page.

Step 4: Click on the domain name for which you are setting up hosting.

Step 5: Click Edit Name Servers under Control Panel on the right side of the page.

Step 6: In the box under “Add Name Server,” type in the first name server (e.g. ns1929.hostgator.com) that HostGator provided you in your email.

Click Add.  Then do the same thing for the second name server.

Step 7: Click (Remove) next to each of the first four default name servers to take them off of the list.

The only name servers that should now be listed are the new ones for your HostGator account.

Welcome to Your New Website

Believe it or not, your website is now live and running.*  In a new window or tab, type in your domain name.  You should see a screen like this one:

This is HostGator’s default page for a newly hosted website.  It’s appearing because we haven’t uploaded any of our files to create our own web pages yet (don’t worry, that’s coming up).

There are a number of good resources for you here, particularly the Getting Starting and Video Tutorials links.

The first item on the screen is the cPanel Login.  The cPanel is basically the control panel for your hosting.  You will use it to perform various actions including creating a database, managing emails, adding other domains, and more.

If you’d like to check it out now, simply click on the cPanel Login link or type in “yourdomain.com/cpanel” in your web browser (replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name).  This is how you will access the cPanel from now on (you may want to bookmark it).

*HostGator says to allow 24-48 hours for the DNS change to propagate worldwide, so don’t be surprised if it’s taking a bit to see your website (or rather, HostGator’s default page).

Check out the next post in the series on how to install WordPress on your site.

Now that you’ve purchased your new domain (either by registering a new one or buying an existing domain), the next step is to buy and set up hosting for the domain.

Website hosting refers to the service of housing your website files on someone else’s servers.  In other words, when you buy hosting, you are purchasing that ability to put your files (that make up your website) on another company’s servers so that people can view your website on the World Wide Web.

In the following two tutorials, we walk you through each step you’ll take to buy and set up your new hosting.  When we’re done, you’ll have a shiny new website up and running.

Our favorite hosting company (by far) is HostGator.  The service is reliable, easy to use, has great customer service, and is priced very nicely.

If you choose to use HostGator, this tutorial will make it a walk in the park.  If you choose to host elsewhere, this will still be a good guide as to the general process of setting up hosting.

Let’s get to it.

Buying Web Hosting

Step 1: Go to HostGator and click on View Web Hosting Plans on the left side of the screen under the “Our Most Popular Hosting Plan” header.

Step 2: Choose the hosting plan that best suits your needs.

We suggest using the “Baby” hosting package, mostly because it allows you to host unlimited domains from one hosting account.  That’s basically the only difference between the Hatchling account and the Baby account that will matter for people.  This means you don’t have to buy more hosting for additional sites that you start.

If you know you’re only going to host one website, you can opt for the Hatchling account (you can always upgrade later).

Step 3: Click Order Now.

Step 4: Click the radio button next to “I will use My Existing Domain and update My Nameservers only.

Type in your domain name and domain extension (e.g. prosperlybeginners.com).

Click Next.

Step 5: Make sure all the information is correct, input a coupon code if you wish, and click Calculate Totals.

Step 6: Click the radio button next to “I am a new customer” and click Continue.

Step 7: Enter your personal and payment information.  Click the Yes radio button certifying that you’ve read the Terms and Conditions (after you’ve read them of course).  Then click Verify My Order.

Then click Process My Order.

Congratulations, you just bought some web hosting.

In the next tutorial I will show you how to set up hosting to get your site up and running.