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How to Set Up WordPress in a cPanel Hosting Environment

May 17, 2023 By WP Helpline Off

This tutorial will teach you how to install WordPress in a cPanel hosting environment. We will assume that you already have some basic website building knowledge such as using HTML, CSS and keywords. If you’re looking for a simpler explanation, you can check out our simple setup instructions. You can skip to the steps section to get started.

Find the Right Hosting For You

The first step is to find a good hosting provider for your needs. You don’t want to go with a free host because they may limit the quality of the product or the amount of traffic you can have. One of the best WordPress hosting providers is WP Engine because they offer a money-back guarantee if you meet the criteria (which you hopefully will).

Choosing a reliable, high-quality host is essential to having a successful WordPress site. If you’re looking for a free option, you can’t go wrong with Hepsia Hosting, but keep in mind that it’s not advisable to use a free host for a business website.

Install WordPress to the Root Directory

The next step is to install WordPress to the root directory of your website. Make sure to install it to the default folder (this is usually the /var/www/html directory)

Afterwards, you need to activate it by going to yourwebsite.com/wp-admin and logging in with the credentials you provided during the installation process. From there, you can access the WordPress dashboard.

If you followed our previous step correctly, you should now see the WordPress dashboard with the welcome message from above. If you don’t see it, don’t worry — you can still access the backend of your site through yourwebsite.com/wp-admin.

Create a Database For WordPress

WordPress needs a database to function correctly, so you need to create one for it first. If you’re using a cPanel host, this is very easy to do; just click on the SQL Shell tab on yourwebsite.com/cpanel and enter the following statement:

  • CREATE DATABASE blog;
  • GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON blog.* TO ‘wordpress_username’@’%’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘password’;

The preceding command will create a new database named blog, give the database the owner wordpress_username, and ask the database administrator to password protect it. You don’t need to enter a password for the wordpress_username account when creating the database, but you will need to provide a password for the admin account. You can change the database name and owner at any time by clicking on the Databases tab and changing them in the corresponding field.

Install WordPress Plugins

WordPress comes with a variety of built-in plugins that can help you make your site more functional or attractive. You can install these plugins by going to yourwebsite.com/wp-admin and searching for them in the search bar. Once you find them, click on the Install Now button to install them. You can do this for each plugin you find until the end.

Some of the plugins you install may require an upgrade to the WordPress software, so be sure to check the compatibility before doing so. Otherwise, you may end up breaking your site when trying to use a plugin that requires an incompatible version of WordPress.

Configure WordPress For Best Performance

Now that you have WordPress installed and activated, it’s time to configure it for best performance. If you’re looking for a free alternative to a premium host, you can use the following suggestions to get the most out of this software:

  • Install WordPress on a dedicated server.
  • Reduce the number of plugins you have installed (the more plugins you have, the lower the performance of your site)
  • Configure your DNS settings to point your domain to the server IP address (this will make your site faster)
  • Change the theme, plugins, and layout of your site (this will make a difference)
  • Avoid using archived or static content (it’s better to use server-side caching)

You can also use specific plugins to further optimize your WordPress site. For example, you can use Akismet to reduce comments by spam, and you can use WP-Optimizer to reduce page load times. Just remember that installing and using these plugins can (in some cases) damage your site’s performance.

Secure Your WordPress Site

The last step is to secure your WordPress site. This means making your website more difficult for hackers to hack. You can do this by taking certain security measures such as changing your passwords, using strong security encryption (such as https:// instead of http:// for your domain), and installing a security plugin. These security measures will help protect your site from attacks by hacking groups or malicious individuals.

Hacking groups want to break into websites so they can steal personal information or sell it on the black market. They use automated software to scan the websites they target for vulnerabilities, and the better your site’s security, the less likely they will be to hack you.

Choosing a dedicated hosting plan for your website can be a costly choice (it can be more than $100 a month), but it is the best option if you want to keep your site secure. A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is also a good choice as long as you make sure to purchase one from reputable providers that offer a 1-click installer for WordPress.

If you’re looking for a free option, the best you can do is to use a free hosting provider that offers a secure (https://) connection. Take our word for it, free hosts are usually less safe than paid ones because they may not offer the same level of security.

If you want to keep your site secure and don’t want to pay for a dedicated hosting plan, then you can use the free WordPress.com service to get started. Just make sure to install a proven security plugin like WordFence or Hello Ninja to protect your site from any potential attacks. 

With these steps you should be able to get WordPress successfully installed in a cPanel hosting environment. Just remember: always read the documentation that comes with the products you purchase, and make sure you follow the instructions carefully. Make sure that you never use a free service to host your business website, and always choose a paid service that offers a good support option if you run into any problems.

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