Now that you’ve selected a great domain name and verified that it’s available, it’s time to purchase and register your domain name. Since you’ll also need to sign up for web hosting at some point, let’s just kill two birds with one stone.
In this step, we’re going to sign up for a new hosting account with HostGator, one of the absolute best web providers I’ve use in the past 10 years! During the signup process, you’ll be given the opportunity to register your domain name which will save you the added step of registering a domain name with a 3rd party registrar.
Hostgator has several hosting plans Hatchling, Baby en Business. If you really only want just 1 domain then the Hatchling plan is enough ( $ 4.95 /P/M) but once you started your first website with WordPress, the second one isn’t far away… That is why my advice it to opt for the Baby Plan so you can move ahead.
The Business Plan is targeted to companies that are really into creating large websites in the USA (800- numbers etc) and is really overkill for “normal” usage. You can consider this plan if you want to start a large web-shop focused on the American market.
HostGator is one of the largest US based hosting providers just like Bluehost.
After you placed your order you will receive two emails, one with your account details and one in which they ask you to call them.
Attention! You really need to call HostGator to get your account activated! Don’t worry, you can call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
And Yes, you will talk to a real person that will activate your account if your payment is verified.
Its also a good test to see how responsive they are, and that was impressive (even from The Netherlands).
Step Three: Install WordPress as Content Management System
