How to Quickly and Easily Build a Website with HostGator Green Hosting

Building a website is not as hard and time consuming as you think especially if you host the website with an affordable, reliable and green web hosting such as HostGator.

Thanks to the cPanel and Fantastico features if you host your websites with HostGator, installing a script for your new website can be done in less than 5 minutes.

cPanel is a powerful Linux-based web hosting control panel with graphical interface. You can control almost everything on a single dashboard with ease, with minimal technical knowledge needed.

Fantastico is a script library that automates web applications installation, most involving a one-click installation. Fantastico includes CMS scripts, such as WordPress and Joomla, eCommerce scripts, such as OSCommerce and CubeCart, and many more.

In fact, building a website with HostGator is only involving these 5 straightforward steps:

1. Buy a domain name
2. open a HostGator web hosting account
3. Login to your HostGator web account via cPanel
4. Choose the script you want to install with Fantastico
5. Change your domain name servers

That’s it! If you do the above steps correctly, setting up a website from purchasing a domain name to get your site up and running will only take you 30 minutes or so.

Step 1 – Buy a domain name

You can buy a domain name from several trusted domain name registrars, but my choice has always been NameCheap. They are ICANN accredited domain registrar, offering free PositiveSSL and WHOISguard (mask your domain name registration detail) and having simple domain management interface.

Step 2 – Open a web hosting account

NameCheap does offers web hosting, but I prefer HostGator as it is proven to be reliable so far (I host this site, along with my other sites with HostGator.)

I genuinely recommend HostGator, as they probably have the best 24/7 live online support of all web hosting providers. Moreover, given the fact that HostGator is 130% wind-powered web hosting makes me even more ‘attached’ with them.

Step 3 – Login to your HostGator web account via cPanel

Now you can login to your HostGator web hosting account using the all-powerful cPanel. You can find the login details in your welcome email after registering with HostGator. The login URL is something like this:

http://55.55.555.5/cpanel

Please enter your username and password. You will then see a screen like this:

HostGator - cPanel - X Theme

The above is the most common one – Here is a newer cPanel theme:

HostGator - cPanel - X3 Theme

All in all, all cPanel dashboard looks similar with the same functions and tools. From the cPanel dashboard, you can do almost anything you want to your web hosting account and your website – you can set up email accounts, access mySQL databases, changing your passwords, etc.

Step 4 – Choose the script you want to install with Fantastico

Next – find Fantastico De Luxe icon somewhere on the cPanel dashboard. With loads of functions and tools in cPanel, looking for Fantastico De Luxe is a bit hassle.

You actually can look for it in two simple ways:

• If the cPanel theme allows you to, look for the ‘Find’ function, enter “fantastico” and you will be directed to the right location.
• If you use Mozilla Firefox, use ‘Edit > Find’ from top navigation bar – Just enter “fantastico” and voila!

HostGator - cPanel - Fantastico

Clicking on the icon will lead you to a list of scripts that can be installed automatically by a single click (and probably a few short details to enter.)

HostGator - cPanel - Fantastico - WordPress

All you need to do is click on the script you want to install and just follow through with the process.

Step 5 – Change your domain name servers

Finally, this is the final step of website setup – changing your domain name servers in your domain management account to ‘point’ to HostGator. You have to do this as domain name servers (DNS) tell the domain name where to send site visitor to – You would want for the domain name to ‘point’ to your provided HostGator name servers.

Upon opening a web hosting account, you will be presented with a set of details. Browse the details to find the HostGator name servers (they are usually come in a set of 2 name servers) – something that looks like these:

ns1.hostgator.com
ns2.hostgator.com

Next, you need to go to your domain name account to change the default into the above details. If you use NameCheap, this is where you change your domain name servers:

Namecheap DNS setup

That’s all. Please note that changing domain name servers (DNS) won’t instantly point your domain name to your HostGator name servers. It could take up to 3 days for the DNS to propagate – be patient.

You’re done setting up all the basic needs for your website to run. Your next steps would be: Adding content, web and layout design, etc.