Installing WordPress takes about ten minutes and exactly zero lines of code. On a modern host you click one button, the host does the technical part, and the only confusing moment is a wait that makes you think you’ve broken the entire internet. (You haven’t. Promise.)
I spent WAY too long panicking about doing this wrong. I just wanted to be a writer, I shouldn’t have to deal with all the technical stuff. Every time I clicked I thought I was going to accidentally delete everything.
Here’s the good news, fourteen years and several abandoned blogs later: the thing that terrified me back then is now the easiest part of starting a blog. Let me walk you through it so it’s easy for you too.
The five-minute version
| What you’re doing | Where | Roughly how long |
|---|---|---|
| Install WordPress | Your host’s dashboard (“build with WordPress”) | 2 minutes |
| Save your login | Into a password manager | 1 minute |
| Wait for your domain to connect (DNS) | Nowhere. You just wait. | Minutes to a few hours |
| Set your permalinks | Settings → Permalinks → Post name | 1 minute |
| Delete the Hello World post | Posts → All Posts | 30 seconds |
| Connect Google tracking | Plugins → Site Kit | 5 minutes |
Everything below is just those six things, explained so you can’t get lost.
How do you actually install WordPress?
You don’t install WordPress manually. Your host does it for you. On Hostinger (the host I’m using for my live build) you choose “build with WordPress” during setup, and it installs the whole thing in a couple of minutes while you sit there feeling like a hacker.
Once you’ve bought your hosting and domain (that was [Article 13: hosting]), you’ll land in the Hostinger dashboard, where an assistant called Kodee asks you a few questions.
- Choose build with WordPress, not the AI website builder. We want a clean, fast WordPress site we can grow into an empire, not a locked-in template.
- Answer the questions it asks.
- If it sends you round in a loop asking you to “personalise,” click skip personalisation. It’s a circle. Get off the roundabout.
That’s it. WordPress is installing.
Be warned: Hostinger, and I suspect a tonne of other hosts, have sunk a LOT of money into AI website builders, and boy do they want you to use them.
What login details do you need to save, and where?
You need your WordPress admin username and password, and you need to save them in a password manager the second you see them. Not in a notebook. Not in your head. A password manager.
When WordPress installs, it gives you (or asks you to set) an admin username and password. This is how you log in to run your site forever, so losing it is a special kind of pain that involves a lot of “reset password” emails and quiet swearing.
For the love of God, get yourself a password manager. Take it from someone who could have done with one in 2012 and didn’t take the plunge until TWENTY TWENTY THREE.
WordPress is fine but when you have four Pinterest accounts you will REGRET not saving your passwords.
Why isn’t my website showing up yet?
Because your domain is still being connected to your new site, and that wiring (called DNS) can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Nothing is broken. You’ll often see a “temporary URL” or a site that looks blank in the meantime, and every single beginner assumes they’ve done something catastrophic. They haven’t.
Here’s the way I think about it. Imagine you’ve bought a prefab house and a plot of land. You’ve paid for both. But the house is still on the back of the lorry, driving to the plot. DNS is that drive. Once the house arrives on the land, everything shows up exactly where it should.
So what do you do while you wait? Nothing. That’s the hard part for control freaks (hello, it’s me). Make a coffee.
This is the part that always used to have me feeling like Mrs Bennet (you know, Lizzie’s mum) and running to faint on the sofa. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, consider calling it a day here.
If it’s been more than a few hours and there’s still nothing, then we troubleshoot. But 95% of the time, it’s just the lorry still driving.
What are the first two settings to change in WordPress?
Before you do anything else, change two settings: set your permalinks to “Post name,” and delete the Hello World sample post. Two minutes total, and they save you grief later.
Set your permalinks to Post name
Go to Settings → Permalinks, select Post name, and save.
This makes your post URLs clean: yourdomain.com/how-to-repot-a-pothos instead of yourdomain.com/?p=123. Cleaner for readers, clearer for Google.
One rule matters more than it looks: never change a slug (the URL) once a post is live, unless you have a very good reason. Rewrite the title and the H1 as often as you like for clicks. The URL stays put. Changing it breaks links and confuses Google.
PROMISE ME YOU’LL NEVER CHANGE YOUR PERMALINKS.
Delete the Hello World post
Go to Posts → All Posts, hover over “Hello World,” and click Trash. WordPress ships with this sample post, and you don’t want it sitting there making your shiny new site look unfinished.
How do you connect Google Analytics and Search Console?
The easiest way for a beginner is the Site Kit plugin, which links Google Analytics and Search Console to your site in a few clicks. Do it now, while you’re already neck-deep in boring admin, so your site is tracking from its very first day.
Why now? Because the data only counts from the day you connect it. Set it up today and in six weeks you’ll have real numbers to learn from. Skip it and you’ll spend those six weeks blind, then wish you hadn’t.
In your Hostinger dashboard (or in WordPress under Plugins), find Site Kit by Google, install and activate it, and follow the prompts to connect.
Never touched Google Analytics or Search Console before? Don’t panic, you don’t set them up separately. When you connect Site Kit, sign in with a normal Google account (the same kind you use for Gmail) and the wizard walks you through creating both, one screen at a time. No Google account yet? Make a free one first, then come back. That’s the whole job.
We cover the rest of your plugins in [Article 16: which plugins you need]. Site Kit is the only one we touch today, because tracking belongs on from day one.
How long does it take to install WordPress?
The WordPress install itself takes a couple of minutes. The only thing that adds real time is the DNS wait, which is out of your hands. Everything else in this guide is a five-minute job.
Not to brag, but I got my entire website blog-post-ready in five hours: plugins, a bit of light branding, privacy page, opt-in, Kit set up to deliver said lead magnet. A bit of planning and a free morning is all you need.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to install WordPress myself?
No. On a host like Hostinger you click “build with WordPress” and it installs automatically. There’s no manual download and no code.
Is WordPress free?
The WordPress software is free. What you pay for is your hosting and your domain (both covered in [Article 13: hosting]).
Why does my new site show a “temporary URL” or not load?
Your domain is still connecting to your site (DNS propagation). It can take from a few minutes to a few hours. It’s normal and it sorts itself out.
Can I change my post URL (slug) later?
You shouldn’t, unless you have a strong reason. Changing a live slug breaks links and confuses Google. Change the title freely; leave the URL alone.
Why is there no padlock, or why does it say “not secure”?
That’s your SSL certificate still setting up (it’s what gives you the padlock and the “s” in “https”). I had a brief panic about this myself, then found out Hostinger adds it automatically in the background. Give it a little time and the padlock turns up on its own. Nothing for you to do.
How long until my blog is actually live?
The install is minutes. Allow up to a few hours for DNS, then you’re live.
You’ve got a live website. Now what?
The plot now has a house on it. WordPress is installed, your settings are sorted, and Google is watching the door. The hard part is behind you, and most of it was just waiting.
Next up: making it look like yours without falling down a six-week design rabbit hole. In [Article 15: best theme for beginners] I’ll tell you exactly which theme to pick and why, so you don’t have to think about it.