Launching a site is a huge undertaking, especially when you’re juggling a million other priorities like managing your business, creating an online course, or building your brand.
Anyone who’s ever tried to build a WordPress website and wrestled with complicated hosting control panels knows how quickly initial excitement can give way to frustration.
And that’s why Rapyd Cloud exists. To shorten the learning curve needed to build a WordPress website.
In this article, we are going to guide you through launching your own WordPress website effortlessly with Rapyd Cloud.
By the end of this article, you’ll know how to build a website with WordPress, and a professional, secure, and visually appealing presence ready to welcome visitors from anywhere in the world.
Step-by-Step Guide to Build a WordPress Website
1. Registering Your Domain
Your domain name is basically your online address. That’s what they put in their browsers to find you.
Key considerations when choosing a domain name:
- Simplicity: Generally shorter names are remembered better.
- Relevance: Your domain should reflect what you do and who you are ideally.
- Extension: .com is most common, though you could use a regional or niche extension if it fits your business.
Here’s how you can register your domain in a few quick steps:
- Choose a Registrar: GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Cloudflare Registrars are good options.
- Search for Availability: Check with the registrar’s search tool if your desired domain is available. Take variations or look for another extension if it is taken.
- Purchase and Complete Registration: Give your details, add domain privacy if you want to keep your personal info hidden in WHOIS databases, and make payment.
Once you are done with purchasing your domain, the next step is to buy your hosting.
2. Signing Up for Rapyd Cloud
After securing your domain name, the next thing you need to build a WordPress website is hosting. Many hosting providers exist, but Rapyd Cloud is one of the easiest to use, and WordPress installation is a breeze.
Why Rapyd Cloud?
- Simple Onboarding: You can start a WordPress site without figuring out complex server settings.
- Powerful Server Infrastructure: LiteSpeed enterprise server for growing your website to its full potential.
- Intelligent Caching: Advanced caching with Redis and Object Cache Pro that speeds up your website.
- Free CDN: Free WordPress CDN to ensure high performance to all visitors, globally.
- Security Features: Built-in support for SSL and automatic backups (with or without plans) keep your site safe.
- Auto-scalable Plans: You don’t have to upgrade your plan just for sudden traffic growth; Rapyd Cloud auto-scaling can deal with it.
- Rapid Support: 24/7 managed WordPress hosting support with an average first response time of just under 46 seconds.
A quick introduction to creating a Rapyd Cloud account:
- Head over to the Rapyd Cloud website.
- Purchase your desired plan.
- Login to the Rapyd Cloud account.
3. Creating a New WordPress Site
You can now create a new website WordPress-ready with a few clicks using your Rapyd Cloud account setup.
To do that, from the Rapyd Cloud dashboard, click sites or hosts.
- Now click on Add Site.
- It should open a modal, where you will be asked to choose the plan that you purchased and want to build your site on. Click Continue after choosing the plan.
N.B: Should all of your existing plans be linked to active sites, or you have no plans, an alternate pop-up will prompt you to buy a new plan.
- After that, you will be asked to provide specific information about your new site, which are the site name & domain, location of your target audience, and the desired PHP version of your website. There’s also a checkbox that you can check if you need WooCommerce on the site.
The site domain name inserted here is only a placeholder to find your website and will not be connected to your website. As for the PHP version, choosing 8+ is highly recommended.
After filling up the details, click on Add Site and wait for some time, as it usually takes a bit of time to create the website at this stage.
4. Connecting Your Custom Domain to Rapyd Cloud
At this point, your site might be accessible now through a default Rapyd Cloud subdomain or an IP address. For the ultimate professional look, though, use the custom domain you registered already. To do that, follow these steps:
- From the Rapyd Cloud dashboard, click on Domains.
A list of associated domains will appear. For your first domain setup, the page will be empty.
- Now click Add domain at the top right. And, on the popup, enter your domain name (example.com) and click on the Add domain button.
If all goes well, you’ll be taken to the domain activation page with instructions for the next step.
You’ll see a management page for that domain when it is added to the system.
- For activation, you update the nameservers through your domain registrar (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap). To do that, go to your registrar account and find the domain’s DNS settings.
Replace the current servers with those provided by Rapyd Cloud and save your changes.
Note that nameserver updates may take 10 minutes to several hours to propagate worldwide.
- Once you are done, return to the Rapyd Cloud dashboard and click Check again on the domain activation page.
If verification is successful, your domain will become Active.
Once active, you can now manage all DNS records directly in Rapyd and use services like the CDN and WAF.
5. Maintaining Site Security
Security is paramount, especially if you collect user data, offer e-commerce functionality, or simply want to appear online as a responsible business entity. With Rapyd Cloud, you don’t have much to worry about security, as we provide features like free SSL, WAF, and malware protection built-in and for free on all sites. For security features, we also partnered with Monarx and PatchStack.
Also Read: A Simple Look at SSL Certificate Errors and How to Fix Them
All of these security measures are then coupled with our first line of defense, the Rapyd CDN, which also helps in preventing DDoS attacks.
However, if you decide to turn off any of our security features (which we don’t suggest you do), install a prominent security plugin like Wordfence or Security to keep your website protected.
6. Designing Your WordPress Website
WordPress has a functional but not flashy default theme. So try a paid theme, or if you don’t have the budget, you can also go for cool freemium themes like Astra, Blocksy, or Neve.
Let’s show you how to design a site using the popular Astra theme.
1. Log in to the Rapyd Cloud dashboard and click on the WP Admin button to access the WordPress admin backend.
Now, from the menu, click on Appearance > Themes
2. You can use default WordPress themes, use a third-party theme from the WordPress.org repository, or even upload a premium theme. For now, we will use the Astra theme from the WordPress.org repository.
To do that, click on Add New Theme.
3. Now search for the theme you want to install. Click on Install and then Activate.
4. You can either design your whole website with a block editor from scratch or just use one of their starter templates to get started. We will use one of their starter templates. For this, we click on the button Let’s Get Started with Starter Templates.
After activating the starter templates extension, you will have to choose between using their AI Web Builder or the Classic Starter Templates. We will go with Classics for now.
After that choose if you want a page builder like Elementor, Beaver, or simply build a Block Editor-based website. We chose the Block Editor here.
Now you will see their complete list of starter templates, just pick one you like and click Continue.
Fill in some details, and click on Submit & Build My Website. It will take some time to build your website. Once built, you can click on View Your Website to check how your website looks.
Your website is now ready!
But you can click on Customize from the toolbar and further customize each aspect of your website.
7. Finalizing and Launching
You’re nearly there.
Now all you need to do is have your homework right before you go live so that everything is primed for prime time.
Make sure all content is proofread and responsive, run a speed test, and check SEO settings before you publish, share, and index your site to search engines and the world.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How long does it take for my website to go live?
DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to spread over the internet. But usually, it is done within 10 minutes or so.
Do I need to buy an SSL certificate separately?
No, the free SSL certificate offered by Rapyd Cloud will be automatically activated.
Also Read: TLS vs SSL: What’s the Difference?
What DNS records do I need to update for my domain?
Usually, you change a record to point to the Rapyd Cloud with our nameservers, which will be shown on the instructions after you add your domain.
Can I migrate an existing WordPress website to Rapyd Cloud?
Absolutely. Rapyd Cloud offers free migrations.
What if my site doesn’t load properly after updating DNS?
- Check Propagation: Check if the DNS records have changed globally using tools like WhatsMyDNS.net.
- Verify Records: Type the IP address or CNAME correctly.
- Wait a Bit: Change can take a while, though, so wait for a bit.
Conclusion
Hope you understand till now that building a WordPress website on Rapyd Cloud’s managed WordPress cloud hosting is an incredibly simple process – even for complete novices in online publishing. From the registration of domain names and DNS records configuration to installing WordPress, every step is simplified so you can focus on what matters most: your website! How you shape your online presence.
If you’ve read this guide, and now it’s time to launch your website.
We wish your new site be more than a digital address. May this be your foundation, your voice, and a way to connect with a global audience.
