A friend sought my advice on migrating his business website from one service (one that retains control of the site) to a platform where he retains control.
In this article, I’ll share my recommendations to him. If you find yourself in a similar situation, these recommendations could very well apply to you, too.
1. Register a placeholder domain name.
Although you don’t technically need a domain name when you purchase web hosting, it’s best to have one. And you don’t want to use the domain for your existing business website, because that would take your existing website off-line while you’re developing the new one.
The actual domain name doesn’t matter. You can register a dot.com for about $20 for a year with either GoDaddy or NameCheap (or your own favorite domain registrar). After you’ve built out your new site, you can change the domain name to that of your business site — and then not renew the placeholder domain.
While you could use SiteGround to register your new placeholder domain, I do not recommend using one service for both domain and web hosting. (For those of you old enough to get the reference, that would be like buying a TV/VCR combo: no bueno.)
2. Obtain and set up web hosting at SiteGround (recommended).
This YouTube video does a very good job of describing the steps:
Use SiteGround. Choose the GrowBig plan for 12 months, using the nearest data center to where most of your traffic comes from.
Don’t buy any extra services.
It will cost about $100 for the first 1-year period; about $360/year in subsequent years.
Reference the dummy placeholder domain you registered in step one
By the way, here are my many reasons for recommending SiteGround.
3. Install WordPress.
Click on Websites, Add New Website, Start New Website (Insall a new application), and click the Select button.
Choose WordPress. Set up your WordPress login by entering your email address and password.
No need to add any premium extras.
Click the Finish button, and you’re new website will be set up in about 2 minutes.
Click Manage Site in the Got to Site Tools box. This will take you to Site Tools.
4. Install SSL.
Security > SSL Manager.
Install Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate (free)
Security > HTTPS Enforce. Click the HTTPS Enforce button to the right of the domain in question.
5. Invite me to be a collaborator (optional).
If you think you might want me to assist you or even just look at things on your website, you can invite me to be a collaborator on your hosting account.
Details are here, including screencast.
Next Steps: Developing Your New Website.
There’s lots more to do, of course, and this article addresses only the setup of SiteGround hosting account and the initial setup of WordPress.
You’ll have many other decisions to make and tasks to complete. One such decision/task is selecting a theme. Let me say a few words (and direct you to an article) about themes.
When you initially install WordPress, the newest WordPress/automatic theme will be activated. You may want a different theme.
But beware: themes may not be what you think they are. Read this article for some details.
If you want a recommendation regarding what theme to use, it would be GeneratePress. But this is a topic for another article and a nice chat.
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