How to Login to Your Web Hosting CPanel on WordPress

You have just created your WordPress blog. Congrats! Your blog now exists and you can start posting articles. But how to login to your web hosting dashboard on WordPress?

Do you want to change the layout of your blog? Add more widgets? Or maybe delete some of them? Do you want to add more posts? Comment on posts already published?

All these functions and more can be accessed through your blog’s admin panel. To see it, simply enter your domain name (e.g., myblog.com) into your favorite browser’s address bar. Then hit the enter key.

You should now see a page with your default WordPress login screen on it. As you can see, the login page will only allow you to enter your username or email address. However, you will not be able to login to your WordPress dashboard with this username/email. Instead, you will need to use the password that you created when you set up your blog.

The good news is that you can now login to your WordPress dashboard with your username and password. This means that everything is now ready for you to get to work organizing and designing your blog. All the tools you need are now at your fingertips. So let’s get to work shall we?

Organizing Your Blog’s Files

One of the first things you may want to do is download and install a plugin that will enable you to upload and organize your blog’s files much more efficiently. There are many different plugins available that will help you with this, so it’s up to you to choose which one is the best for your needs. Some of the plugins we recommend are:

• WP-Super-Cache ((free)): This plugin will greatly increase the performance of your blog. It does this by compressing and caching the content that is served to visitors. So instead of having your server fetch the file every time a reader visits your blog, the plugin will store that file locally and serve it to the visitor. This can greatly speed up page load times and reduce server requests. While there are other caching plugins available, we believe that WP-Super-Cache is the best suited for beginners. It is easy to use and has an active support forum that is responsive and helpful.
• WP-CLI (command line interface) ((free)): This is another powerful plugin that can be used to automate some of the tasks that might otherwise be hard to do manually. For instance, you can use the plugin to create backups of your blog from time to time. Or you can use it to import and export all your blog’s content in a variety of formats. (Basically, anything you can do from the WordPress admin panel, you can do using the Command Line Interface.) The advantage of this plugin is that it can be accessed via the command line. This means you can use it directly from your server’s shell or you can install it on a local machine and use it from there. It also means that if you screw up and delete some important files, you can always go back and restore from the backup you made earlier.
• MBTI (My Blogs, iTunes & Inbox) ((free)): This plugin will create one consolidated inbox for your blogs. This means that all of the comments and messages that you receive from readers will be stored in one place. You can then track and reply to these comments easily from your blog’s dashboard. It also integrates with the popular social media platforms (e.g., Twitter, Facebook) so that you can connect your blogs with these platforms seamlessly.
• W3 Total Cache ((free)): The W3 Total Cache plugin takes care of all the caching for you. This means that it will set up a cache for your blog that can be accessed via your site’s URL. If a reader visits your blog and finds that a particular page has not been cached, he will be prompted to visit that page or click a link to the page. Once the page is cached, the link will show up as a shortened URL (e.g., tinyurl.com/kmoz75u) that will lead to the cached version of the page. This can greatly speed up your blog’s performance and make it much more user-friendly. A similar plugin is W3 Total Cache (pro) which also offers an additional security feature where you can set up a Captcha to prevent automated spamming. (We will discuss this further in the “Security” section below.)
• All in One SEO ((free)): This is a popular plugin that can be used to optimize your blog for search engines such as Google. It will scan your blog’s content for keywords and optimize it accordingly. This will make your content much more accessible to potential readers who are searching for content related to your niche.
• Premium WordPress Themes ((free)): As you may have guessed, we love WordPress. This is partly due to the fact that it is one of the most popular CMS (content management systems) available. It is very easy to use and, once installed, provides you with all the tools you need to get to work creating and publishing an online magazine. One of our favorite premium WordPress themes is Business by StudioPress. (Note: We neither endorse nor are affiliated with this theme’s developer.) It is designed to help you create a corporate image for your blog or website. As a result, all of the content including headers, footers, sidebar panels, and templates will be consistent throughout. This means that you will not have to worry about styling individual posts or pages as you would if you were using a free theme. (Also worth mentioning is that this theme provides you with a money-back guarantee if you meet the right conditions.)
• All-in-One WP Security ((free)): This plugin takes care of all the security for you so you can focus on creating content for your blog. (In other words, this plugin makes it easy for you to publish articles while keeping your site secure.) It provides you with the tools to create sub-domains, install SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption, and integrate with the best security plugins available. (We will discuss some common pitfalls in more detail below.)
• Contact Form 7 ((free)): This is another great plugin that can be used to create contact forms for your blog or website. You can either choose to have the form send the email message to you or to a separate email account. Either way, you can use the contact form to collect contact and background information from interested parties. (Note: While this plugin does not offer any advanced features, it is a trusted source and its developers are constantly updating it to make it better.)

Customizing Your Blog’s Appearance

One of the things that make WordPress so flexible is that it gives you the ability to completely customize the appearance of your blog or website. This means that instead of having a boring layout with no flair, you can use a variety of plugins (as listed above) to dramatically change the look and feel of your blog. For example, you can use the Twenty Ten plugin to give your site an elegant and sleek look. Or you can use the Rokola plugin to add a bit of a geeky flair to your blog.

You might also want to try out the Divi plugin, which is a complete content management system (CMS) that offers you all the tools you need to build a professional-looking site. (It’s like having a graphic designer build you a stylish blog or website entirely from scratch.)

Once you have your blog or website set up, it’s time to start marketing it. However, before you do that, you might want to read our in-depth guide to How to Market Your Blog for Free so that you can get started with a clear plan. This guide will tell you how to find the right audience, what to write about, and how to promote your blog or website.