hosting

Setting up your website using GreenGeeks

Having a website is one of the most important things in today’s virtual world. With the developments that has taken place in the dynamics of today’s world, creating your website has become far easier than it was before the new century started. A person who doesn’t even have the slightest knowledge about developing code like PHP or HTML can easily construct their own website. Although, knowing these languages will help you develop your website further in the future, but even without them, you can easily develop a simple website with spectacular results. This article will elaborate on the step by step process that you need to implement in order to build a great website using our favorite hosting company, GreenGeeks.

Picking the platform to build your website on

The times have changed when you needed to be technically sound and have ample developer’s knowledge in order to create a website. These days, you can create a website without having to enter even one code line. Different platforms are available which does this job for you, therefore it is very important to choose the right platform to build your website. The simplest of websites can be created with the help of this brilliant platform known as WordPress. While creating a website you also need to consider that the platform you have chosen provides you options of creating smartphone compatible websites. Since most of the internet users of the world are on mobile, creating a smartphone compatible website is a must in order to guarantee maximum success of your venture. The level of code knowledge that you have is also important while choosing a platform, since some are perfect for beginners, while others demand advanced knowledge of coding. The support system provided by the platform is another thing that you need to consider. Some platforms have brilliant assistance, while others not so much.

The types of platforms available

There are a number of different platforms that are available for website creation, and some of them have been named below. They include:

• WordPress
• Joomla
• Drupal
• CubeCart
• Pretashop

If you are using GreenGeeks, a number of different platforms are available with the Softaculous installer, that can load various types of website builders with simple clicks of a mouse.

Using WordPress

WordPress is probably the most versatile software that allows you to build your website. You can probably achieve anything on WordPress even if you have beginner’s knowledge, or are a pro coder. WordPress has interesting features like adjusting itself automatically depending on the resolution of the visitor. A lot of free themes makes customization easy. It is optimized for smartphones and several plugins help you develop the website of your dreams. Being hugely popular, WordPress forums and assistance is also easy to come by, and the most exciting aspect of this app is that it is completely free to use.

Decide your domain name and provider for web hosting services

The next step involves selecting the domain name for your website and it should be unique and indicative of the content that you are going to post. You also need to take care that your domain name is short, does not have hard spellings, and has the right extension in order to eliminate chances of confusion and provide convenience of use from anywhere around the world.

Choosing your web hosting plan

The correct web hosting plan will enable you to use your funds wisely and also maintain your blog without suffering a loss. A simple plan to host blogs, to higher plans that are suited for big corporate firms are available in the market. Depending on your needs you should choose the correct choice. GreenGeeks is probably the best site that is available in this category, owing to their huge variety of plans.

Why use GreenGeeks?

Have you ever considered your effect on the nature for just using the internet? It might seem like a distant thought, but in reality, a huge amount of energy is used to keep the internet up and running, all around the world. The amount of energy that is consumed as a result of this is only next to the level consumed by the industry of aviation. The amount of greenhouse gases as a result of this is enormous. However, webhosting services like GreenGeeks are kind of saviors in this department. For every unit of energy that is consumed by GreenGeeks for their webhosting services, they purchase 3 times the same amount of credits in wind energy. As a result, GreenGeeks is 300% powered by green energy, leaving a carbon footprint that is negative. Therefore, it is an eco-friendly choice to use GreenGeeks, not to mention the huge ease of use and varied options that this web hosting service provides. You can get your web hosting services from GreenGeeks by simply clicking on the hyperlink.

Install WordPress and Configure it

Once your domain name and web hosting service has been properly set up, the next part is installing WordPress and configuring it. You can either install WordPress automatically or use the manual method. The automatic method is the easiest and is highly recommended. When using GreenGeeks, this process is done with the use of Softaculous, which completes the process by doing databases of its own and providing you with the access and passwords to the admin accounts. You can access Softaculous using the dashboard of cPanel in GreenGeeks.

Installing a theme on WordPress

The next part of the process involves you selecting the theme for your website. Consideration of your preferences, niche of your website and whether you want paid or free themes must be done before installing it. You need to be careful while selecting these as it is this very facet that decides the overall look of your website. Installing a theme can be easily done through the admin panel with the help of a few mouse clicks. In case you do not like the theme, you can change it instantly to get a better result.

Some important plugins for WordPress

Plugins are important aspects of websites as they provide it with functionality. For example, installing a FAQ section on your website will give it a professional touch. Some of the most popular plugins on WordPress and ones your website will definitely benefit from include:

• TinyMCE
• YoastSEO
• Wordfence Security
• Jetpack
• Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress

Proper addition of content on your website

After having installed WordPress and configuring it, the next part involves providing the proper content for your website. Your visitors need to have solid information to read when they visit your website. Three important parts of a website’s content includes posts, pages and menus. It is important how these three functions and how to write each.

• Pages- Pages include the content of your website that does not change over time. These hold the static information of your website and examples include ‘Contact’ page or ‘About Us’ page. Pages usually feature on the navigation bar of websites.

• Posts- Posts are the reason that people visit your website. These are content that you update on a daily basis in order to generate traffic for your website. You need to create informative, interesting and SEO optimized posts to keep your website faring well.

• Menu- The menu is the part of your website which makes it interactive and helps the users be able to make use of the different features and content of your website. It also helps them navigate your website. In WordPress, you can use simple drag and drop methods to move different items of the menu around in your website and place them at your desired location. It is important to remember that the navigation menu should be clean and easy to operate. Confusing navigation menus, often avert visitors.

Extras

There are some extras that you need to take care of in order to ensure highest profitability of your website. Some of these extras include:

• Adjusting the settings- The settings area in your WordPress contains useful tools which can be utilized to better your website. Things like time zone, handling of comments, format of dates, themes etc. are handled by these settings tools, and can help you achieve the desired results to make your website perfect. You should go through every single tool available in the settings and tweak them according to your needs. They are all user-friendly and easy to understand. If you find a tool too confusing to use, you can always come back to it at a later date.

• Making money from your website- The next step that you need to achieve is to find out ways to make money from your website. WordPress allows you to achieve this with ease. You can always use methods like affiliate links and AdSense to monetize your website and pull visitors. The more traffic you experience the greater money you make. Another brilliant way to start making money from your website is by turning your website into an online commerce store. Plugins like Woo Commerce, available on WordPress are perfect for this.

• Marketing your website- The next step is marketing your website. Digital marketing has evolved brilliantly in today’s world with options like social media marketing and email marketing. Your content can only bring as many people. The real way to bring visitors to your website is through marketing and you need to take care of this important requirement.

Setting up cPanel using Softaculous

What is Softaculous?

Softaculous is an installer that functions automatically and is used to install different scripts and control panels like Direct Admin and cPanel. It is a very fast installer and is capable of reaching its goal in just a single step. A number of different applications is available with Softaculous which include forums, content management systems and blogs. You can also avail the brilliant anytime backup installation feature present in Softaculous for easy and instant backup. It is also easy to uninstall the applications that you have installed with Softaculous. It is important to have this tool properly set up in order to enable you to build your website efficiently.

What is cPanel?

cPanel is a control panel that operates on Linux based platform and is used for accounts in web hosting services. It is a control panel that allows you to efficiently manage all of the services in a single place. Using cPanel is a must in today’s developed world and almost every web developer makes use of this tool. This tool is intuitive and fairly easy to make use of. With the help of cPanel, you would be able to manage your web hosting account very efficiently. Different uses of cPanel include creation of new email addresses and FTP users, monitor different resources, installing software and creating sub domains.

Installing cPanel using Softaculous

Before you start installing cPanel with the use of Softaculous, you need to make sure that your server has the requisite features. These include:

• WHM/cPanel needs to be already installed.
• ionCube Loader needs to be enabled.

In order for WHM/cPanel to work, you need to install CentOS as the operating system of your VPS. After the VPS is set and ready, and WHM/cPanel has been enabled, the next step involves enabling the ionCube Loader. In order to do so, you need to log into your WHM in the root mode and go to the option Server Configuration>Tweak Settings>PHP. Over here you will see a box beside the option ionCube as cPanel PHP. All you need to do is check on that button and click on the button that displays save. After this step, you can proceed towards installing the Softaculous installer on the VPS that you are using. However, you need to log in to the VPS that you are using via the SSH and then proceed towards executing the commands mentioned below, one after the other. They include:

• wget -N https://files.softaculous.com/install.sh
• chmod 755 install.sh
• ./install.sh

Post this the installation will start and once that is done, Softaculous will get enabled and you can start using it on your WHM. You also need to log inside your WHM and proceed to the location Plugins>Softaculous- Instant Installs. You will be able to see that the Softaculous has been enabled and cPanel clients of yours can start using it. All they need to do is log inside their accounts in cPanel and start using this wonderful installer to start installing the application that they want. Softaculous is available in both premium and trial versions and you would need to pay in order to use the premium version. Otherwise the trial will expire after a limited period and you can no longer use the features of this brilliant auto installer. Using the premium version is most recommended in order to avail maximum benefits.

With the help of the information on this article, you would be able to build the perfect website for yourself and take on the virtual world with a strong and optimized website.

You can also check out “green” webhosting services here.