WordPress is a software built using PHP programming language. So, just like any PHP-based software, it must be installed on a web server.
You can use your own web server that you have on your personal computer or you can rent a web server from a web hosting company like Kinsta.
Be it a local or a publicly accessible web server, once the WordPress is successfully installed, the process for creating the website is the same.
If you’re just trying to learn WordPress with no intention of launching a website, don’t spend a penny on a domain name or a web hosting service yet.
And it doesn’t take much time for the local set up nor it is tough like it used to be. You can achieve it in two easy steps:
Read this article about how to install WordPress locally and then jump to the “Accessing WordPress Admin Dashboard” module.
But stay here if you want to use a web hosting service instead.
If you want to launch your website and expecting to have a good launch, you have two options.
We can’t put cheap in the same place as quality performance, and quality customer service because quality comes at a price just like any expert professional’s service charges.
Cheap Hosting services like Hostinger or Hostgator are affordable and you can get started with as little as $40 for the first year.
If you’re still testing the waters with the idea of your website or if you want to have a website just for the sake of having it, cheap hosting services like Hostgator are the best choice.
Please remember to not expect high website uptime or expert customer service from cheap hosting services because they don’t spend money on quality customer service representatives or server hardware.
Having said that, cheap hosting services are only cheap for the first year. If you notice the pricing in the above screenshot, it says regular pricing is $16.49 per month.
This regular pricing comes into play during the second renewal term and $16.49 per month is not a worthy price for the kind of performance or customer service they provide.
For example, I once tried hosting a site on Hostigner, a company similar to Hostgator. The site was performant for the first month but I started facing huge performance issues in the second month.
If you don’t want to go through the same nightmare with cheap hosting, this is where the quality yet affordable hosting comes in.
Quality hosting services come at least $25 per month.
Simply put, difference between low-quality vs quality hosting services is:
Quality hosting services like Rocket.net, Kinsta, etc. will give you peace of mind by keeping your website up and reliable with high-quality customer service.
Also, it doesn’t mean that these quality hosting services do not mess up, they do. But at least they rectify their problem in a good way and quickly.
So, if you’re serious about your website, I would recommend spending money on quality hosting services.
Remember: Use local installation for learning, cheap hosting for testing your ideas, and quality hosting when you’re serious about your website.
In the next lesson, I will show you how to set up your WordPress website on Rocket.net hosting service.
