Godaddy WordPress Hosting: How to Install and Set Up a New WordPress Site

Many websites these days are built using a Content Management System (CMS), most notably WordPress. In this article, you’ll learn about Godaddy’s WordPress hosting plans and how to install and set up a new WordPress site on its platform.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) available today. It was started by a group of programmers in 2006 and is currently owned by the American company WordPress Inc. (also known as ‘WordPress Foundation’ and ‘WordPress LLC’).

WordPress was originally designed as a simple web-based publishing platform but now offers many features and functions that allow any business or individual to create an incredible website.

With WordPress, you don’t need to be a programmer to make modifications to your site. Thanks to the CMS’s easy to use drag-and-drop interface, anyone can update the content on their own site without needing professional help.

Why should you use WordPress?

WordPress is an extremely powerful tool for building websites and online stores. Here are just a few reasons why WordPress is a great choice for your next website or online store project.

• Extremely Popular — Over 75 million people use WordPress every year and it’s the second most popular CMS after Drupal. The popularity of WordPress makes it ideal for use on websites where a large audience is anticipated.
• Free — WordPress is completely free to use, as it is hosted on a commercial web server, however, you can choose to pay a small fee (typically around $5 per month) for additional features.
• Cross-Platform — WordPress can be accessed from any device, due to its mobile-first design, making it suitable for use on any type of mobile or web-based project. In addition, WordPress apps are available for all major mobile operating systems including iOS, Android, and Windows.
• Multilingual — WordPress is completely translation-ready and as a result can be accessed by millions of users around the world.
• Secure — WordPress is hosted on a commercial web server which undergoes daily security scans and is regularly monitored by experts to ensure that your websites are always protected.
• Fully Managed — With most web hosting companies, you need to set up automatic backups and security patches yourself which can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. WordPress comes with fully managed packages which include backups, security patches, and more.

WordPress is widely used for many reasons but mainly because it is extremely user-friendly and offers incredible functionality out of the box. For these reasons, WordPress is often used as the building block for new websites and online stores.

What are the different WordPress hosting plans from Godaddy?

As a web host, Godaddy offers a variety of WordPress hosting plans which range from basic to enterprise-level solutions. Here’s a quick overview of what each plan includes:

Basic

The basic plan from Godaddy is the cheapest and most basic of the hosting solutions offered by the company. It is suitable for personal or small business websites, blogs, and mobile apps that don’t require a lot of storage space or heavy traffic. Godaddy’s basic plan starts at just $2.95 per month and comes with the following features:

• Basic Plus — This plan includes all the features of the basic plan with the addition of one-click WordPress installs, free backups, free domain privacy, and free SEO tweaks. You can choose this plan if you’re looking for a simple and robust hosting solution for a personal or small business website.
• Plus — This plan from Godaddy has all the features of the basic plan with the addition of free domain privacy, free backups, and free custom CSS.
• Choice Plus — This plan includes all the features of the plus plan with the addition of free domain privacy, free backups, and free dedicated IP addresses.
• Choice Plus GOLD — This plan is exactly the same as the Choice Plus plan except that it also offers free gold status emails, free parking, and free backups.

Pro

The Pro plan from Godaddy is suitable for websites or blogs that require a lot of storage space, heavy traffic, or both. It is the preferred choice for websites looking for a robust, enterprise-level solution and comes with all the features of the basic plan with the addition of free backups, free domain privacy, and free dedicated IP addresses.

You’ll also need to pay an additional $5 per month for this plan. Not many free alternatives exist for this level of service so if you’re looking for a dedicated IP address, this is the way to go.

Choice

The Choice plan from Godaddy provides website owners with a free domain, free backups, and free dedicated IP addresses along with an unlimited amount of storage space and bandwidth. It is suitable for personal or small business websites, blogs, and mobile apps. The Choice plan is $5.45 per month and includes all the features of the basic plan with the addition of free domain privacy, free backups, and free custom CSS.

If you’re looking to launch a business website, the Choice plan is the perfect solution as it allows you to get up and running quickly while not having to worry about costly upgrades or unexpected charges. The only downside is that the plan is not very reliable as it lacks some important features such as free DDNS (Domain Domain Name System) and free SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificates.

Enterprise

The enterprise plan from Godaddy is suitable for websites or blogs that require a lot of storage space, heavy traffic, or both. It is the granddaddy of all the hosting plans offered by the company and includes all the features of the basic and Pro plans with the addition of free backups, free domain privacy, free dedicated IP addresses, and free SSL certificates.

This is the level of service that you need if you’re looking to launch a large business website, selling your own products online, or if you’re looking to set up an eCommerce store. If you have a high traffic volume, the enterprise plan is the way to go.

Xtra Large

Godaddy’s Xtra Large plan is suitable for websites or blogs that require a lot of storage space, heavy traffic, or both. It is the ultimate plan from the company and includes all the features of the basic, Pro, and Enterprise plans with the addition of free backups, free domain privacy, free dedicated IP addresses, and free SSL certificates. This is the level of service that you need if you’re looking to launch a large business website, selling your own products online, or if you’re looking to set up an eCommerce store. If you have a high traffic volume, this plan is the way to go.

Note:

All the hosting plans mentioned above come with one year of free domain privacy. After that, you’ll need to purchase a single domain privacy plan (typically around $12.95 per year) to continue shielding your personal or business website from prying eyes.

How to install and setup a new WordPress site

WordPress is extremely easy to use and with just a few clicks, you can have a fully functional website up and running. In this section, you’ll learn the steps to install and configure WordPress so you can begin using the CMS to create your new site.

Step 1: Determine what type of website you’ll create.

Before you begin installing WordPress, you need to decide what type of website you’ll create. This is a decision that you need to make after carefully considering your audience, the type of content you’ll publish, and your desired results. If you’re still deciding which type of website you’ll create, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Do I want to create a traditional website with links to other sites or do I want to create a blog-style website with posts appearing in alphabetical order?
• Will my articles be more of a concise description of an event or an in-depth analysis of a topic?
• Do I want my website to be for a specific country or global audience?
• Am I looking to attract a lot of visitors or am I more focused on creating an engaging blog for my own audience?