How to Make Your WordPress Website Live in Five Minutes

how to make your WordPress website live, image of computer sitting on top of a desk with a plant.

Written by Casey

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Before you learn how to make your WordPress website live, you’ll need to sign up for a hosting account. And it’s more fun and user-friendly now than ever to create your own site. No coding necessary!

This post explains how to install your WordPress website with the DreamHost hosting service. That is the one I use for all my sites and the one I recommend because it is both affordable and user-friendly. They also offer free help with set-up on occasion. Check out my post about how to set up your account with DreamHost if you still need hosting!

Step 1: Set up Security for your new WordPress site

Once you have set up your hosting account, you’ll want to ensure your site is secure. Log in to DreamHost. From the homepage, you’ll see a navigation bar on the left side of your screen (see below). Click “Websites” then “Secure Certificates” from the dropdown that appears.

 

shows left side bar highlighted on DreamHost panel


Next to your domain, in the right-hand column, click the blue button that says, “Add.”

 

add button circled showing where to click


That will take you to the next page, where you will click the blue “Select this Certificate” button.

 

Select certificate button is circled


You’ll receive a success message, and you can proceed to step 2, where you’ll learn how to install your WordPress website, while your order is being processed.

Step 2: Install – How to Make your WordPress Website Live

Back in your left-side navigation panel, click “WordPress,” then “Install WordPress” from the dropdown menu that appears.

That will take you to the “Install WordPress” page. Make sure your domain is selected, ignore the advanced settings, and click the blue “Install WordPress” button.

 

Screenshot showing "install WordPress" button circled


The next page shows two options: either Liftoff Website Builder with DreamHost or Custom Install. Choose Liftoff Website Builder and click the blue “Confirm Install” button on the right-hand side of your screen.

 

Screenshot showing "confirm install" button circled


You’ll see that the WordPress installation is in progress. Wait until the installation is complete before moving on to step 3.

 

Screenshot showing WordPress installing


Step 3: Set Up Your Site with DreamHost’s AI Builder

Once WordPress has finished installing, click the “Manage” button to the right of your domain.

Toggle over to the “WordPress” section from the top menu. Ensure that both “Page Caching” and “Image Optimization” are enabled. Then click “Manage” on the far right.

 

Manage button circled


This will automatically log you into WordPress and bring you to DreamHost’s AI website builder in a brand new browser tab.

 

Shows first page of DreamHost's AI setup

Screenshot of page asking for website tagline and description


The AI builder will ask you to pick a structure for your site, whether you want a single page or multiple pages. Don’t worry, you will still be able to add pages later if you opt for the single-page structure now.

 

Screenshot of page where you pick structure, either single or multi-page layout.


After you choose your structure, DreamHost will propagate several designs based on your inputs. Click through and see which ones you like! Once you see one that grabs your eye, select it and click “Next.”

 

Screenshot showing multiple thumbnails of designs that DreamHost's AI created based on inputs


In the upper left-hand corner of your WordPress dashboard, toggle over your website tagline. A drop-down that says, “Visit Website” will appear. Click that to view your new website!

 

Screenshot of the WordPress dashboard pointing to "visit site" which is also circled


Now your site is live and ready for you to add your magic touch! Click the “edit page” button to personalize your brand-new site. Stay tuned for my post that will show you step-by-step how to personalize your site using DreamHost’s Liftoff AI drag-and-drop builder.

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