So you’ve decided to host your website the green way? Good choice! You can easily set up green web hosting as you would with a regular hosting provider. All you need to do are three simple steps: choose a plan, choose your domain name, and fill in your details; it’s that easy!
Not to worry though, even if you haven’t got the hang of it and just starting out not knowing what the heck is hosting and setting up, this post will help you step by step on how to set up your new website using green web hosting.
For our demo, we are going to be using GreenGeeks as our online web hosting provider, as not only is it economical, but also is pretty great when it comes to extra features. To know more about GreenGeeks, check out my post on what is green web hosting?
Ready? Let’s get started!
Step 1: Choosing a plan
If you want to start a new WordPress website, you will be given three different plans, starting at $9.95 a month; seems a lot right? No worries, I’ve added a button below with which you can have a special yearly discount and get it for as low as $2.95 a month!
You will be able to see a page like the one below, click on the See Our Plans button
Once you’re on the plans page, you will see discounted prices for each of the plans:
The Lite package already had all the tools I needed. If you’re a content creator, a photographer, a small business owner, or even a consultant, the Lite package will have more than enough tools to get you started. If you want to, however, run multiple websites or require a dedicated IP for your business, you can also check out other plans.
Click on the Get Started button under the Lite package section:
Step 2: Selecting your domain name
Next, you will be given the option to either create your own domain name or to enter one you might already own. The domain name is the URL of your website on the internet. Don’t worry if you don’t have a domain, you can create one and it’s free for the first year! Once you’ve selected your domain name, click Next
Step 3: Fill in your information
You’re already on step 3, woohoo! Here you would need to fill in all the required information such as your name, address, email, etc:
The panel on the right is showing your total cost and any discounts that may be applicable. On the current settings, you’re getting 3 years of hosting at just over $100, which is A LOT of savings!
Scroll down to the package information section, you will see the package you have selected. If you want to change the package type, click on the dropdown and you will see all the packages you can opt for; monthly, 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years
Every time you select a package, the green savings banner above will update showing you how much you have saved from the package. Choose one that is best suited for you (I would personally use the 3-year plan). Just don’t choose the monthly plan, it’s too expensive and you would even have to pay for the domain and set up costs, it’s just not worth it.
You also have the option to select a particular server location for your website. If you’re operating your business from or near US or Canada, choose the US or Canada server for faster load times. Otherwise, Europe works fine for all other locations.
Important Tip: While scrolling down, be sure to have the WHOIS privacy option checked. It does about $10 extra to the cost but keeps your website’s personal information private.
Finally, scroll down to the payment section and enter your card details. Once you have entered your payment details, click Create Account to proceed.
You’ll then receive a confirmation email for your order
The GreenGeeks team is now on their way to set up your account, and in a few hours, you should receive an email containing the account information.
You can now login to your account and set up your new website by going to my.greengeeks.com/login
Congratulations! You have successfully set up green web hosting for your business! You can now say with confidence that you and your business are supporting the cause for a greener future.
There’s no easier way to kick off your new eco-friendly website than by using WordPress. It is by far the most popular application for building and managing websites on any hosting platform. Thankfully, setting up WordPress on a green web hosting platform such as GreenGeeks is simple and easy as one, two three!
First, we need to go to the cPanel from our dashboard
Scroll down to the Softalicious App Installer at the bottom and click on the WordPress icon in the app installer
Once the next window opens, click Install Now
You will now see a window open, in the Software Setup section, leave the version to whatever it is shown by default. In the Installation URL section, choose protocol “http://www” from the dropdown (If you want to have an “https://www” protocol, you can select that too, but before that, you will need to install an SSL certificate. You can get it for free by following the instructions here)
In the Site Settings, give your website a name (the name of your blog, business etc.) and add a short description of what your website is about. Leave the “Multisite” option unchecked
Next is the Admin Account section. This section will be used to add the login credentials for your WordPress dashboard. Enter your desired username and password. The admin email is important for resetting your password or important notifications, so be sure to fill that in too.
Leave the Select Plugins section unchecked for now, you can add those later in your WordPress dashboard.
Leave the Advanced Options section as well, and move to the Select Theme section. You can select any theme from here or leave it as is, you can always change themes from the dashboard later on.
Finally, click on the install button at the bottom to start the installation of your WordPress instance, this might take several minutes.
Once installed, enter <YOUR-WEBSITE-URL>/wp-admin in your browser. You will be greeted by an admin login page.
Enter your credentials and you’ll be able to open your dashboard, where you can now customize your website.
Congratulations! You have just set up WordPress on your new green web hosting service. Time to take your blog or business to the next level while saving the environment at the same time!