Install WordPress (from zero)

This guide takes you from nothing at all to a working WordPress website you can log into. You will need about 30–60 minutes and a payment card for hosting. No technical experience is required.

If you are not yet sure what WordPress is, read What are WordPress and WooCommerce? first.

Step 1 — Choose a domain name

Your domain is your shop's address on the internet, for example mystore.com. Tips for choosing one:

  • Keep it short and easy to spell.
  • Prefer a .com if it is available, or a local extension your customers trust (.co.uk, .de, .bg, …).
  • Avoid hyphens and numbers where you can — they are easy to mishear.

You can buy a domain from a dedicated registrar, but the simplest path for a beginner is to buy it together with your hosting in the next step, so everything is managed in one place.

Step 2 — Buy web hosting

Hosting is the always-on computer that stores your website and serves it to visitors. For a WooCommerce store, look for a host that advertises "WordPress hosting" or "WooCommerce hosting" and meets these minimums:

  • PHP 8.1 or newer (our plugins are tested on PHP 8.2+).
  • MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.4+ (this is the database WordPress stores everything in).
  • At least 1 GB of memory and SSD storage.
  • Free SSL certificate (this gives you the padlock and https:// — essential for taking payments).

Most beginner-friendly hosts offer a one-click WordPress installer, which is what makes the next step easy. During signup you will usually be offered a free domain for the first year — register the name you chose in Step 1 here.

Tip: "Managed WordPress hosting" costs a little more but handles backups, security and updates for you. For a first store it is money well spent.

Step 3 — Install WordPress

There are two ways. Almost everyone should use the first.

Option A — One-click install (recommended)

  1. Log into your hosting account's control panel (often called cPanel, Plesk, or a custom dashboard).
  2. Find the "Install WordPress" or "WordPress" button — often under a section called Softaculous, Apps, or Website.
  3. Choose the domain you want to install onto.
  4. Set your site title, an admin username (avoid "admin" — pick something unique), and a strong password. Write these down somewhere safe.
  5. Enter your email address and click Install.

After a minute or two you will get a link to your new site and to its admin area.

Option B — Manual install

Only needed if your host has no installer. In short: download WordPress from wordpress.org, upload it to your hosting via an FTP program, create a database in your control panel, then visit your domain and follow the on-screen setup wizard. If you reach this point and feel stuck, your host's support team will usually do it for you for free — just ask them to "install WordPress".

Step 4 — Log into your dashboard

Open a browser and go to:

https://yourdomain.com/wp-admin

Enter the username and password you set during installation. You are now in the WordPress dashboard — the control centre for your entire site. Bookmark this page.

A quick tour of the menu on the left:

  • Posts — blog articles (optional for a shop).
  • Pages — fixed pages like About or Contact.
  • Appearance — your theme and design.
  • Plugins — where you add features (including Rotozoom plugins).
  • Settings — site title, timezone, permalinks and more.

Step 5 — A few first-time settings

Before moving on, set these so your store starts on the right foot:

  1. Settings → General — confirm your Site Title, Timezone and Site Language.
  2. Settings → Permalinks — choose "Post name". This makes your web addresses clean (yourstore.com/product/blue-lamp instead of ?p=123) which is better for customers and for search engines.
  3. Confirm HTTPS — your site address should begin with https:// and show a padlock. If it does not, find the SSL option in your hosting panel and enable it, or contact support.

You are ready for the next step

You now have a live WordPress website with a working admin area. It is not a shop yet — that comes next.

Next: Install and set up WooCommerce

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What are WordPress & WooCommerce?
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Install WooCommerce