Taking the first step towards building a better website starts with installing WordPress. If you have already built a website using another platform like Wix or Squarespace, there will be a few differences that you will have to navigate.
WordPress is an open source content management system (CMS) that is totally free to use. Because of the super dedicated community of developers and coders behind WordPress, the average person can easily start their own website in less than five minutes.
Five Minute WordPress Installation
WordPress is known for its five-minute installation process. Below are the steps, provided by WordPress.org, on how to install WordPress:
1. Download and unzip the WordPress package if you haven’t already. 2. Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as a MySQL (or MariaDB) user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it. 3. (Optional) Find and rename wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php, then edit the file (see Editing wp-config.php) and add your database information.
4. Upload the WordPress files to the desired location on your web server: * If you want to integrate WordPress into the root of your domain (e.g. http://example.com/), move or upload all contents of the unzipped WordPress directory (excluding the WordPress directory itself) into the root directory of your web server.
* If you want to have your WordPress installation in its own subdirectory on your website (e.g. http://example.com/blog/), create the blog directory on your server and upload the contents of the unzipped WordPress package to the directory via FTP.
* Note: If your FTP client has an option to convert file names to lower case, make sure it’s disabled.
5. Run the WordPress installation script by accessing the URL in a web browser. This should be the URL where you uploaded the WordPress files. * If you installed WordPress in the root directory, you should visit: http://example.com/
* If you installed WordPress in its own subdirectory called blog, for example, you should visit: http://example.com/blog/
If you need additional help, consider hiring a website developer to build the site and coach you on how to use WordPress.
Moving Your Website From Website Builders To WordPress
If you are currently using a website builder like Wix or Squarespace and are ready to move to WordPress, the transition is relatively simply. Before you get started it is important to note that you can only transfer websites from Wix that have a custom domain. If you are using a wixsite subdomain than you can not redirect users to your new WordPress website.
1. Create a WordPress website – before you start any transfer you will need to first create a new website on WordPress. This means signing up for hosting and setting up the control panel (CP).
2. Import your blog posts through RSS – Because websites like Wix are closed source, it is very difficult to migrate data off the website. Fortunatly, you can use an RSS feed to help automate the process of getting your blog posts from Wix to WordPress. If you are still new to website design we recommend using a professional to help you with the transfer.
3. Import your pages – The easiest way to get your content off a Wix website is to copy the content from Wix by highlighting and selecting copy, then pasting it on a new page on your WordPress website.
4. Redirect traffic – if you are not familiar with coding and HTML than it is best to hire a professional for this part. For the HTML file you need to create the script for redirect, contact Wix customer service and they will provide you will plain text for you to fill in. Again, this is very advanced stuff and is better left to a specialist.
Once you have completed the four steps above you are ready to customize your WordPress website and start driving traffic. Be sure to check out the plugins available on WordPress. These will help you optimize the visitors experience on your website.
Where To Start
If you are reading this an just launched a website builder website like Wix or Squarespace, the time to swtich to WordPress is now. Most likely you will reach a point with Wix that you just are not getting the customization options that you want. Having built up a ton of content on your Wix site will make it much harder to transfer.
Take the time now while you are still in the growing stages to make the switch to WordPress. This will make you like much easier down the road and save you from having to deal with the very complex transfer process.
To sign up for hosting and purchase a domain name, we recommend starting at NameCheap.com. These guys are who we trust with our hosting and offer top notch WordPress hosting plans that grow as your website grows. You can save 80% off when you use this link.
Please comment below with questions or insights on installing WordPress and we hope to see you again soon. Happy blogging!