How to Install WordPress? Complete Step-by-step Guide

If learning how to install WordPress for the first time feels a little daunting or confusing for you, the following step-by-step guide should help to reassure you of that. And it’s one of the most straightforward tasks you’ll need to complete when setting up your new website.

Sure, there is the option to download the software, configure an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client and install the whole thing manually, but if I’m being honest with you, that’s needlessly complicated and time-consuming, especially when you can install WordPress in under a minute using a process called one-click installation.

Below, I’ll talk you through each quick and easy step of that process, explaining what you need to do in clear, simple terms so that you can get your new website up and running in no time.

How to Install WordPress via One-Click Installation?

In fairness, the term “one-click installation” is a little misleading because, as you’ll see in the following tutorial, there are multiple steps and, thus, numerous clicks involved in the process.

So, where does the term come from?

In essence, when we’re talking about “one-click,” we’re talking about clicking on one icon in your web hosting dashboard, which automatically launches the installation process. It helps do away with the hassle of downloading the core WordPress files, configuring an FTP client instead of the long way round.

Though there are multiple steps involved, each one is as straightforward as you could hope for. So, even if you’ve never used WordPress before and aren’t too confident in your technical abilities, you’ll have no problem getting your new site up and running in minutes.

Here’s how it’s done:

1. Locate the WordPress Installation Icon in Your Dashboard

The location of the WordPress installation button varies from host to host.

If your hosting provider runs on the ever-popular cPanel interface, you’ll find it listed as “WordPress Toolkit” under domains.

Click that, and if you’re installing WordPress for the first time on your server (as I’m assuming you are for the sake of this guide), you’ll see the “install WordPress” button.

Click that button, and you’re on your way.

If you don’t have cPanel, you’ll likely find the icon located under a menu called something like “Websites and Applications” or “Websites and Shops.”

If you’re still having trouble, your hosting provider’s documentation should help you find it.

Regardless of where you find the WordPress installation icon, click “start now,” “install WordPress,” or whatever term your hosting company uses to get the proverbial ball rolling, and let’s get into it.

2. Name Your Website

Once you’ve started the process, you’ll first be asked to give your website a title such as “Joe’s Blog,” “Tech News Daily,” or something to that effect.

If you’re struggling to develop a title, I recommend reading my guide to blog name ideas first then coming back to this stage when you’re ready.

When you’ve got your name ready, click “Create Website” to move on to the next stage.

3. Create Your Credentials

You’ll be asked to set up an account on the next screen by adding username and password credentials.

As easy it is to remember, this is not the place to be creating basic usernames like “Admin” and easy-to-guess passwords like your date of birth or, heaven forbid, “password.”

WordPress websites with obvious user credentials like these are a haven for hackers. Some security plugins can provide a great degree of protection for your site. It’s still better to take a proactive approach by using a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters for both your username and password.

Having come up with secure, hacker-proof credentials, be sure to accept your host’s Terms & Conditions and select “continue.”

4. Choose Between Managed and Self-Managed WordPress Hosting

If you’ve chosen a top WordPress web hosting company that offers managed hosting, this might be the place where they’ll invite you to choose between taking the managed option or going it alone.

Keep in mind that if you chose managed WordPress at this stage, then unless you’ve already paid for that service in advance, your hosting provider will likely redirect you to a new screen to upgrade your account before you continue.

This approach may not be a bad idea if you prefer that somebody else take care of the chore of updating: your theme, plugins, and core WordPress files, and like the idea that your hosting company is always working in the background to ensure that your site is performing at its best.

As I said, though, this typically costs extra, so if you don’t mind getting your hands a little dirty and want to keep your costs down, you can go with the self-managed approach. That’s why I’m going to continue using it for the sake of this tutorial.

5. Assign a Domain Name to Your Website

Moving on, you’ll next be asked to assign a domain name to your new WordPress installation. The setup wizard will offer a drop-down featuring any and all domains linked to your account, and all you have to do is choose one that isn’t currently being used, then select “Assign Domain.”

6. Install WordPress

Having taken care of those few simple details, all you need to do now is sit back, relax, and wait for your host to automatically install WordPress on your hosting server.

The whole process generally takes no more than a minute or two, and you’ll know it’s ready because you’ll be presented with a screen that tells you so. That screen may also present you with a few key details about installation, including:

It may also present you with a few options for editing the back-end technical details of your website and deleting it altogether if you’re not happy with it.

7. Log in to WordPress

The post-installation screen will often include a link you can click on to go to the WordPress login screen, which is typically called something like “Edit Your Website” or “Go to WordPress.”

However, you don’t need to go scrambling around your hosting dashboard looking for this link every time you want to work on your site.

Instead, all you need to do is type “/wp-admin” at the end of your URL in your web browser (yourblogname.com/wp-admin, for example).

This will bring up the WordPress login screen where you can enter the credentials you created earlier and use them to access your main WordPress dashboard.

Going forward, you can use this method to access your site every time you want to log in.

8. Add a Theme and Plugins

By the time you reach this stage, you’ve successfully installed WordPress and are pretty much good to go.

Yes, it really is that straightforward, but there are still a few additional things you’ll want to do to turn your basic installation into a fully working site.

The first is to add a WordPress theme which you can do by going to Appearance – Themes from your WordPress dashboard menu.

Here, you can choose one of the pre-installed themes that come with your new site, choose a different one from the WordPress Theme Directory or upload a premium theme that you’ve purchased from a marketplace site such as ThemeForest.

If you’re struggling to find the perfect theme, you may find my guide to WordPress blogging themes helpful, and if you’re struggling to upload a theme, I’ve written this How to Install a WordPress Theme tutorial just for you.

Finally, you’ll also want to install some essential, must-have WordPress plugins to improve things like site performance, security, and search engine optimization.

Again, this is as easy as selecting the appropriate option from your dashboard menu (in this case, Plugins – Add New) and then uploading the file the same way you’d upload an attachment to an email or a picture to Facebook. Still, if you’re finding this difficult, I put together this How to Install a WordPress Plugin tutorial to help you.

And that’s all there is to it.

By the time you hit this stage, you’ll have successfully installed a fully working WordPress website that’s ready for you to customize, populate with your content, and use to achieve whatever goals you had in mind when you decided to launch your new project.

How to Install WordPress?: A Final Piece of Advice

As long as you follow the steps outlined in this guide, you’ll have no problem learning how to install WordPress in a matter of moments.

However, as I mentioned right at the beginning, the actual installation is the easiest part of the whole process for starting your new site.

As a suggestion, once you’ve got your installation setup, you first spend a couple of minutes familiarizing yourself with the dashboard. And check all the different options at your disposal before getting to work on building your site.

Further, I’d also recommend that you follow some of the other tutorials that I have linked to throughout this blog, such as installing a WordPress theme and installing a WordPress plugin. Also, there is one link on how to install an SSL certificate on WordPress to help you ensure that even the parts of setting up a WordPress site that still seems complicated to you are every bit as easy to manage as this one was.