How to Set Up a WordPress Website on Google Cloud Platform
Cloud computing is a big deal these days. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google all offer cloud-based solutions that make it easier for businesses of all sizes to operate efficiently.
As a designer or developer, you can use cloud computing to launch your own website or blog in no time at all. In fact, you can use several services offered by Google to quickly launch a professional-looking website.
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to set up a WordPress website on Google Cloud Platform so you can launch your own blog or website in no time at all.
Why WordPress?
WordPress is the world’s #1 content management system (CMS) and powering millions of websites around the world. It’s easy to use and many businesses choose it simply because it’s already available for download. Plus, with WordPress, you don’t need to worry about hosting or maintenance because the platform takes care of all of that for you.
Choosing WordPress means you’re opting for a proven, battle-tested solution that’s already been around for years. Not only that, but with over 26 million downloads and an ever-growing community, it’s also one of the most popular free tools available for download.
What You’ll Need
To get started, you’ll need a Google account, a WordPress account, and access to the Google Cloud Platform. You can use your Google account to log in to the Cloud Platform.
You don’t need a lot of storage, at least initially. The smallest eligible project type on the Google Cloud Platform is 100 GB and you’ll need at least that much storage to launch a WordPress website. This will also be the size file allocation for your website. Don’t worry, you can upgrade later if you need more space.
Your WordPress website will be located at www.yourdomain.com because that’s the default WordPress domain. For example, if you use Squarespace to launch your website, it will be located at www.yourdomain.com/squarespace. You can always choose a different domain name if you want. Just make sure you use the same name as your Google account.
Set Up Your WordPress Account
The first step in setting up your WordPress website is to log in to your WordPress account. You can do this by going to Dashboard in your WordPress admin area and clicking on the login button. Once logged in, you’ll see a screen similar to the one in the image below. If you haven’t set up a WordPress account yet, you’ll see a screen that asks you to Create a new account. Simply click on the link below and you’ll be taken to the WordPress login page where you can enter your email address and create a password.
Create a New Post
Now that you’ve logged into your WordPress account, you can create a new post. On the right side of the screen, you’ll see a rounded area with three dots. Click this area to see a dropdown menu. From there, you can choose Blog post, Audio podcast, or Photo gallery. (if you choose photo gallery, you’ll also need to decide how you want to display your photos).
Once you’ve made your selection, click the Create new post button. A new post will appear somewhere on your blog’s front page. Make sure you keep this page open in a separate tab or window so you can easily keep track of your blog content as you go along. You can click the post title to edit it or hit the Edit button to go into the post’s content.
Install WordPress To Your Google Cloud Platform
After creating a new post, you’ll want to download WordPress to your Google Cloud Platform. To do this, click the Download button at the top of the post. This will take you to a screen where you can choose Install locally or Create an environment from scratch. For now, choose Install locally and then click the Install button. WordPress will extract itself to your computer and now you can launch it by clicking on the Start button in the installation wizard.
After launching WordPress, you can log in using the account you created earlier. From there, you can click Dashboard on the left side of the screen to access your site’s backend area.
This screen will allow you to manage all of the pieces that make up your WordPress site. You can click on the Site name to change it if you want, the Tag line for the page’s heading, the Description for the page’s content, and the Template to change the website’s overall look. As you make changes, you’ll see them reflected on the front end immediately.
Now that your WordPress installation is complete, it’s time to take advantage of the platform’s other helpful features. These will make designing and maintaining your website a much easier process.
Set Up Your Google Cloud Platform
Now that you’ve got WordPress up and running on your Google Cloud Platform, it’s time to set up your Google Cloud Platform account. You can do this by clicking on the Cloud Platform tab in your WordPress admin area. From there, you can choose a service, create a new project, or go to My Projects to see all of your projects. (if you get stuck, you can click on Support to get help from a live operator)
For this tutorial, you’ll create a new project called wordpress. If you already have a Google Cloud Platform account, you can go to My Projects and click on the + icon to create a new project.
Once you’ve created a new project, you can choose +more options at the top of the page to see additional projects and services available to you. From there, you can choose Storage to start a new GCP storage bucket or Logging to start a new logging bucket.
You’ll need at least 1 GB of space for this tutorial so click on the Storage button to see the Google Cloud Platform storage options. To create a new logging bucket, click on the Logging button and enter a name for your bucket. You can always choose a different name if you want.
Once your storage and logging buckets are set up, it’s time to take advantage of the Google Cloud Platform’s other features. You can click on the Versioning button to launch the database’s upgrade screen where you can choose the latest available version of MongoDB (enterprise customers can get the latest available version of MongoDB along with other advanced features through a cloud-based subscription).
You can also choose Find Performance Counters to search for certain performance metrics such as number of requests per day, the average response time, and more. This feature is great for identifying problems areas on your site before they get too big. (more information can be found in the help documentation or by searching for MongoDB Atlas).
Back To WordPress
You’ll now be back at your WordPress dashboard where you can click on the Site name to change it if you want, the Tag line for the page’s heading, the Description for the page’s content, and the Template to change the website’s overall look. As you make changes, you’ll see them reflected on the front end immediately.
WordPress is a powerful tool and as you’ve seen, it’s quite easy to use. If you need an easy way to quickly create a professional-looking website for your business, brand, or project, then WordPress is the answer. Not only that, but you can use several services from Google to make the entire process easier. From installing WordPress to logging into your Google Cloud Platform account, to managing your content once it’s live, these services can all be used to create a powerful tool for your everyday needs.