There are many ways of building websites and none is superior to the other. It all depends on what you’re seeking to achieve, i.e. the kind of website you want to build, and the resources available to you. For the professional website designer, success does not come by seeking to learn every website development method. Rather, it comes by mastering a few methods – usually one or two – with a solid understanding of the basics that undergird the website development process.

In this course, you’ll learn how to build beautiful professional websites using self-hosted WordPress. WordPress comes in two forms – we have the cloud hosted version which is also referred to as WordPress.com and the self-hosted version which can be found at WordPress.org. You can easily create a WordPress.com website by signing up for an account at WordPress.com and creating your site. But I don’t recommend that. It’s like building your house on someone else’s piece of land; you must abide by strict rules, and you are limited in what you can do.

You can’t use custom emails (e.g. “[email protected]”), plugins and premium themes. You can’t place adverts or do affiliate marketing. You can’t do some other wonderful things. You’re really not in control.

The other option is self-hosted WordPress which is the most popular content management system in the world right now, powering over 17 million websites including platforms of big brands and government agencies like U.S Department of State, Samsung, CNN, the official website of Sweden and even Google Ventures, to name a few. With self-hosted WordPress, you’ll register your own domain name (e.g., “yourname.com”) plus hosting account and simply install the WordPress software from the control panel. That gives you the freedom to work at building your online home to your taste and satisfaction.

To set up your website with self-hosted WordPress, you need:

• A domain name
• A web hosting account
• A credit card or PayPal account
• 30 minutes (give or take) for the basic setup (Advanced customisation will take much longer)

The web hosting company I recommend is Dreamhost. For domain name registration I recommend Qservers. Some web hosting companies give you a free domain name when you sign up for their web hosting account. Although that will save you cost it is preferable option to keep your domain registrar different from your web host so that you don’t keep your eggs in one basket, as it were.

I have recorded video tutorials to show you how to register a domain name with Qservers. Watch the video and register your domain name. Then sign up for a web hosting account with Dreamhost using this link.

Once you have done that, send me an email via philip[at]philipamiola.org so I can walk you through the setup process.

Choosing a domain name

When registering a domain name make sure you choose a name that appeals to your audience and easy to grasp. Avoid using hyphens, abbreviations, new words and ambiguous expressions.

As much as possible choose a .com, .org or .net domain name except in cases where other top level domains (e.g. .tv, .biz, .education etc.) or country level domains (e.g. .ng, .co.uk etc.) clearly serve your purpose better. Even then, it's still a good idea to own the .com, .org and .net versions of your domain name so you can better control your online identity.

Setting up your web hosting account

Your web hosting account is the place where your website 'lives' online. It's important that you choose a reputable and reliable company with great customer service. That's why I'm recommending Dreamhost.

Once you have chosen a great web host (I'm hoping you go with Dreamhost) you need to decide on which plan to go for. The shared hosting plans are usually suitable for most people especially beginners. As your business grows you may need to use virtual private server or dedicated server but for a start just go with a standard shared hosting plan, preferably one that allows you to host multiple websites on one account.

Recommendation

Since the goal of this training is to equip you to start a web design business, I advise that you go with the Shared Unlimited plan from Dreamhost. That will help you to host multiple websites and save cost in the long run. However, note that the word "Unlimited" is subject to fair usage policy.

Go ahead and sign up for your web hosting account now. Once you have done that, forward your receipt to me via email so I can guide you through subsequent stages of the process.

Disclosure: Some of the links I shared in this training are "affiliate links". If you purchase a product or service through them, I get an "affiliate commission" that allows me to support you and create more helpful resources.

But this is not why I am recommending them. Many companies have affiliate programs which I have rejected. I only recommend products or services that I use personally and believe will be good for my audience.