How to Setup Google Cloud Hosting for WordPress
Google Cloud Hosting is a service offered by Google that provides easy, affordable and straightforward web hosting for users who don’t want to sacrifice features or performance in order to save money. The service provides all the essentials including a free domain and 1GB of storage space which can be upgraded to a paid level offering that includes a free domain and up to 50GB of storage space.
Features
The following are some of the features that Cloud Hosting offers:
- Free domain
- One click installer
- Free transfer of expired domains
- Free backups
- Free caching
- Free security scans (scalp)
- Free website speed score (SSS)
- Free analytics
- SSS dashboards
- Free expert support
- SSS Blog
- SSS for merchants
- Pricing
Installation
You’ll find a one-click installer for Google Cloud Hosting that you can use to install WordPress to launch your product or service review site in no time.
The installer will guide you through the process of setting up basic web servers such as MySQL and Apache. You won’t have to worry about configuring any of those servers because all that’s handled automatically by the installer.
Once your web server is set up you can proceed to the next step which is to log into your Google Cloud account and establish the WordPress site. You’ll be presented with a form where you can enter information about your site (such as its name and its Categories).
You can also add custom headers, footers, scripts, and styles to your site.
You’ll then be directed to a page where you can enter a password for the admin account of your site. You can use this account to access your site whenever you want. Make sure that you memorize this password or write it down somewhere safe because you’ll need it to access your site in the future.
After you enter your admin account password you’ll be taken to a new page where you can select a plan from among the Google Cloud Platform options.
You can choose the Basic plan which costs $0.02 per hour with a daily limit of 2GB of storage space and 1GB of bandwidth. You can also opt for the Plus plan which costs $0.04 per hour with a daily limit of 5GB of storage space and 2GB of bandwidth. Finally, you can go for the Choice Plus plan which costs $0.06 per hour with a daily limit of 10GB of storage space and 5GB of bandwidth.
You’ll find more information about Google Cloud Hosting in the Getting Started Guide.
Usage
You can use Google Cloud Hosting to create and run websites and web applications.
To create a new site, navigate to the Google Cloud Hosting dashboard and click on the big blue Create a New Site button located at the top right corner of the screen. This will take you to a dashboard where you can enter the name of your new site and select a domain for it. A green button will then appear to the right of the domain entry field indicating that the site is available and you can use it immediately.
If you don’t have a free domain yet you can purchase one from a good provider such as Bluehost and install WordPress onto it using the Cloud Hosting installer. You can then use the domain to launch your product or service review site.
Pricing
As mentioned above, you can choose between three different plans when you create a new account on Google Cloud Hosting. The following table gives you a price break down for each plan.
As you can see, the price for the Choice Plus plan is the highest at $0.06 per hour but, as mentioned above, it comes with a lot of useful features. The Plus plan is also a good choice for users who want to host multiple sites as it allows for more storage space.
Make sure to read the Google Cloud Hosting FAQ before you start using the service as it answers many questions commonly asked about it.
Conclusion
Google Cloud Hosting is a great choice among web hosts for users who want to get started quickly and don’t need all the features that a normal web host provides.