Hosting WordPress

One place you can get it, really easy, really simple, and really free is at WordPress.com and you get a site with a URL or domain that looks something like this: https://evodynamic.wordpress.com/ You can upgrade to a paid plan and use your own domain name like yourname.com like we described above but I don't recommend that.

We recommend WP Engine for all your WordPress Hosting. It is the best host out there and the features are awesome. You can run over there right now and get set up right now with them: [WPEngine|affiliate] Here are the features we love:

1. Really simple nightly backups stored for 30 days and a restore process anyone can do.
2. A practice copy of your website where you can experiment and learn to do things right before putting them on your REAL website.
3. Their user support is through the roof awesome.

But don't do that. EvoDynamic, serving you with White Glove Ninja, wants to come alongside you.
Wherever you are in your tech journey and form a long-standing relationship with you, become your Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and give you the guidance and expertise every organization needs when they are too small or don't have their technology team. It makes my heart ache to hear about how tech companies have helped people out and then, after payday, left them in the dust without guidance and extraordinary fees.

Previously we talked about why you should or shouldn't use WordPress. If you missed that you can check it out again here: Time to Dump WordPress?  Since you're still here, you must be ready to go. Today we're going to talk about Domains and Hosting. A kickstart to install and launch WordPress.

WordPress Basics

Today is about launching WordPress. First, WordPress is free and as I said in my past post it built by people all around the world. People call it "open source" which means anybody can see all the code written to make WordPress work. They all contribute and improve it. With strength in numbers over some developer sitting in his basement, we get the synergy of "Better Together" (one of our core values) to create stronger and safer software. The tool itself is hosted here: https://wordpress.org/ but you don't need to go there to get it. It is available through just about any hosting company.

Domains

First, you want to register a domain name. What is a domain name? That is the address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) you use to go to a website. Our domain name is whitegloveninja.com We recommend getting domains registered with https://domains.google.com/m/registrar because they don't tease you with introductory teaser prices and then raise the price for your renewal. Google Domains registrations include domain privacy so you don't get spammed to death by every hosting and design company in the world after you purchase it. Finally, we trust Google.

Once you have a domain, you're ready to install and setup WordPress.

EvoDynamic Ninjas want to serve you with hosting your WordPress site on WP Engine so that you get the three benefits above plus an ongoing relationship with us, a real human relationship. With EvoDynamic and the Ninja Freedom WP service, you enjoy:

1. A relationship with a team of WordPress and software experts who will answer your questions and give you guidance
2. The Divi Theme from ElegantThemes.com (we'll talk about themes tomorrow)
3. Nightly updates of your plugins (we'll cover that in this sequence as well)
4. Weekly updates of WordPress and its themes (Tomorrow's topic)
5. Free backup restoration when needed
6. Free refreshing of your practice site from your REAL site

You get all these for only $127!
But if you decide now to become our partner, you only pay $100/mo! That saves you a whopping $27!
(You got to move fast cause slots are limited!).

If you're needing more help, our White Glove Ninja WP service might be a good choice for you. We'll install plugins, post content, images, create a logo, create graphics, basically serve you with hands-off WordPress.

You just tell us what you want and we'll get it done. The White Glove WP service includes 25 hours of our time to get your site just right.

If you're looking for a cheap entry, for the same price as WP Engine alone $40/mo, we'll set you up in our WP Engine cloud and add in the Divi Theme. (This is really a good choice to start with)

You can see all of these options (except our basic hosting) and their details on our products page. The special pricing is only available for a limited time.

If you're working on a small hobby or family site you can just get some entry-level hosting like [SiteGround|affiliate] and be off to the races.

Installing WordPress

If you chose either of the above options, WordPress is already installed for you

If no, head into your hosting account and look for something like:

Right near the top should be WordPress. Clicking on that will open up a wizard and get your site all set up with a database and full install. Stay tuned, in our YouTube and training posts we'll have a "real live manual" installation of WordPress in the future.

With it all installed you should check that you can access the "backend" then you'll be ready for our next installment (pun intended) of WordPress themes.