There are several ways to install WordPress on GoDaddy, from uploading WordPress files to your hosting account via FTP to using WordPress one-click installs. In this article, you’ll learn practical steps to install WordPress on GoDaddy. I’ll also uncover security best practices to keep your website from malicious attacks. Let’s get started.
To learn more about using WordPress with GoDaddy, check out our expert GoDaddy WordPress Hosting review.
- Before you install WordPress, you need to register your domain with GoDaddy. Then, choose a hosting plan, create a database, and set up your FTP credentials
- GoDaddy offers competitive hosting plans that cater to different budgets and sizes
- Install WordPress from the official website to avoid putting your domain at a security risk
- Adopt stringent security measures, such as enabling two-factor authentication, downloading a firewall, limiting login attempts, and backup website data to protect your site
- GoDaddy combines excellent hosting features for safe and reliable web hosting
Pre-Installation Steps
Below are a few pre-installation steps for WordPress on GoDaddy;
1. Registering a Domain Name
Domain names are one of the most important aspects of your website (almost as important as your logo and brand name!) Choosing a lengthy domain name makes it difficult for your customers to remember, and making future changes may affect your rankings or business. The right domain name should be memorable, easy to spell, and should easily reflect your brand mission.
How to Register a Domain Name on GoDaddy
- Go to the official website and type the domain name you want to register in the search bar. Click the ‘Search Domain’ button:
- If it’s available, select it and click the ‘Make it yours’ button. You can add other extensions as displayed on your screen:
- On the next page, select your domain’s privacy plan and email address. Choose any as you see fit and click ‘Continue to Cart’
- You’ll be redirected to the payment page, and you can choose the duration you intend to pay for. Then click the ‘I’m Ready to Pay’ button:
- Next, you’ll see a sign-in page. If you have an account with GoDaddy, simply log in with your details. Else, click ‘Create Account’:
- Once you’re logged in, you’ll see the Checkout page to add your billing information:
- Review your order and then click ‘Complete Purchase.’ That’s it! You already have an online identity for your brand.
2. Choosing a Hosting Plan
GoDaddy offers a wide range of hosting plans: Shared, WordPress, VPS, and Dedicated Server hosting. The shared hosting is the most affordable, with features tailored for small and medium-sized business owners. The WordPress, VPS, and Dedicated hosting plans are fully managed, with highly customizable features for high-performance applications and websites.
How to choose the right web hosting plan for your needs
- What kind of website are you building? Is it a small blog or an e-commerce site? How much traffic are you expecting? The kind of website you plan to develop determines the type of plan to choose. If you’re building an eCommerce website, for instance, you’ll need a plan with sufficient bandwidth and storage
- Choose a web host with a server location close to your target audience. This is because the closer your audience is to your web host server, the faster your website performance
- Consider your budget. Hosting plans vary in price, and you should opt for the plan that fits your budget. Shared hosting plans are the most affordable and beginner friendly. Consider higher plans like the VPS or Dedicated hosting plans if running a resource-intensive project. The best part is that GoDaddy plans are easily scalable, so you can change plans without affecting business operations
- Lastly, examine the features. Does the hosting plan have sufficient bandwidth to withstand the expected traffic? With the number of cyberattacks ravaging the internet daily, it’s only advisable to opt for a plan with automatic backups and robust security features
3. Creating a Database
A WordPress database uses the MySQL management system to store user information, posts, themes, login credentials, and plugins. The database makes organizing, storing, and retrieving data from the website easier.
To create a database on Godaddy:
- Log Into your GoDaddy cPanel account
- Check for the ‘Databases’ section and click ‘MySQL Databases’
- Then, you’ll see a page to create a database. Add the name of the new database as required:
- Once you get the success notification, go back to the previous tab and scroll down to the ‘MySQL Users >> Add New User’ section. Follow the prompts to create your account’:
- Then, once you get a congratulatory message, click ‘Go back’ as shown on the congratulatory page to add the new user you created to the database. You’ll be redirected to another ‘Manage User Privileges’ page. Click all recommended changes and save:
4. Setting Up FTP Credentials
FTP (or File Transfer Protocol) transfers files between computers on a TCP/IP network. Mostly, it is used by website owners to transfer files between their PC and web server.
How to set up FTP credentials on GoDaddy
- Log in to your GoDaddy account and navigate to the ‘My Products’ page
- Locate the web hosting account you want to set up FTP credentials for and click the ‘Manage’ button
- You’ll be directed to the Hosting Dashboard. Click on the ‘FTP Manager’ icon in the ‘Settings’ section
- Then, click the ‘Add FTP Account’ and complete the required fields. Lastly, click ‘Create FTP account.’
How to Install WordPress on Godaddy
1. Downloading WordPress
- Visit the official WordPress website. Click on ‘Get WordPress’
- To install it manually, click on the latest version shown on your screen:
- Once the download is complete, locate the file on your computer and unzip it. Then, upload the WordPress files on your web server and install it on your website
2. Uploading WordPress to GoDaddy
There are two main ways provided to upload files on GoDaddy:
- Via FTP
- Via GoDaddy File Manager
How to upload files to GoDaddy via FTP
To connect and upload any type of file on your website via FTP, you’ll need a third-party FTP app like FileZilla.
- Download and install the app on your computer (FileZilla)
- Generate your FTP credentials from the FTP accounts section in your GoDaddy cPanel (If you’ve not created an FTP account, check the ‘Setting up FTP credentials’ section of this guide)
- Open the FileZilla app and log in with your FTP credentials
- Locate and click ‘Quickconnect’ to connect to the server
- You’ll see an ‘Unknown host key’ message on your screen. Verify the domain name and click ‘OK’:
- Once your FTP connects to your site, drag and upload the WordPress files you extracted to your website to the public_html folder:
How to upload files to GoDaddy via GoDaddy File Manager
- Login to your GoDaddy account and locate the product page
- Then, click ‘Web Hosting >> Manage’
- You’ll be directed to the Account Dashboard page. Click on the three-dotted icon on the top right corner and select ‘File Manager’:
- Find the public_html folder and select ‘Upload’
- Then, choose the WordPress file you want to upload and click ‘Open’ or simply drag and drop the file into the folder to upload
3. Configuring WordPress
Voila! You’ve successfully installed WordPress on your web server. Now it’s time to configure some settings to make your website more appealing:
- Login to your WordPress site and navigate to ‘Settings >> General’
- Then, you’ll be directed to a new page to set your site title and tagline. This will be displayed on your homepage, so you may want to hire a copywriter to craft a compelling copy for you
- In the ‘General’ section, change other vitals like the date and time format to your time zone. You can also add user profiles (create a username and password for your account) in this section
- Next, go to the ‘Posts’ section on your WordPress dashboard and delete sample posts and pages used as placeholder content.
- To enhance your site appearance and overall ambiance, install themes and plugins from GoDaddy WordPress’s rich theme collection
- Go to the ‘Plugin’ section on your dashboard and click ‘Add New’ to install a plugin
- To install a theme, go to your WP dashboard’s ‘Appearance’ section of your WP dashboard and click ‘Themes’
4. Completing the Installation Process
Once you’re done configuring WordPress, you can log in as a user for the first time. Here’s how:
- Type your website domain into your search engine’s search bar and add “/wp-admin.” For example, hostadvice.com/wp-admin
- You’ll be directed to a login page to input your username and password created in the previous steps
- Follow the prompts and click ‘Login’ to access your WordPress dashboard
Did you know? Over 20+ million individuals and businesses worldwide rely on GoDaddy for their hosting needs. However, if you’re searching for alternatives that might better suit your requirements or budget, be sure to explore our list of the best web hosting providers.
Security Measures
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS). As a result, it attracts several malicious attacks from hackers, putting website owners’ and their customer’s data at risk. Here are some best practices to keep your website Secure:
Ensuring Website Security
A compromised website can lead to loss of traffic and leads and even damage your brand’s reputation. The most common WordPress vulnerabilities are Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), phishing attacks, cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection (SQLi), and others. To ensure your website is secure from these attacks, opt for web hosts with reliable security features. Also, use security plugins such as to add an extra layer of security to your site.
Backing Up Website Data
Data loss, sometimes, can be unexpected. Human errors, hardware failure, power surges, nature, theft, etc., are potential causes of data loss. This can result in legal issues, financial loss, or damage to your brand reputation.
“The general rule of thumb is to backup any information that can’t be replaced or lost,” Danny Pehar, SEO Web Safe 101, shares with Forbes. “…Backup solutions are not one-size-fits-all. Therefore, consider which solutions and storage options might be feasible for your business in terms of cost, IT infrastructure, storage space, security, and other relevant factors.”
How to Backup WordPress Site
Some WordPress hosting providers include free automatic daily or weekly backups in their hosting packages. However, if your hosting provider doesn’t have this option, you can download and install WordPress backup plugins or use the manual method. Here’s how.
Using the manual Backup method:
This method involves copying the WordPress files and database to a secure location. There are three ways to do this – via cPanel, SSH, and FTP. To back up your site via cPanel, follow these steps:
- Go to your web host cPanel and locate the file manager
- Once opened, find the public_html folder and click ‘Open’
- Then, right-click your website folder. You’ll see a drop-down option. Click ‘Compress’
- Choose the Zip Archive compression type and then click ‘Compress Files’
- Once the compression is complete, click the ‘Zip file’ and ‘Download’ on the top menu bar
- Then, move your file to a secure drive
How to Backup Using Plugins
- Install any of the backup plugins and activate it on the plugins page:
- Locate ‘Settings’ on your WordPress dashboard and click the backup plugin you activated:
- You’ll be directed to a new page. Click ‘Backup Now’
- Choose the right folder or software to save your backup:
- Follow the prompts and then click ‘Save Changes’
Protecting Website From Hackers
According to records, at least 30,000 websites are hacked daily. Simultaneously, the rate of cybercrime keeps heightening each day and is projected to cost the global economy $6 trillion annually. In addition to this, hackers are discovering new ways daily to launch attacks on websites. This is disadvantageous, both for small and large business enterprises.
If a hacker gains access to a website, they can disrupt its functionality and use it to launch attacks on other websites, resulting in a loss of revenue. Also, vital customer data like card details in the wrong hands can incur lawsuits from the victims affected. In essence, ensuring your WordPress site is always well-secured is expedient to prevent such occurrences.
How to Protect Your WordPress Site
- Choose a secure web host that offers secure web hosting features like SSL certificates, HTTPS protocols, CDN, SSH access, firewall, and server-side scanning
- Use reputable WordPress security plugins to double the security layer of your website
- Stay abreast of recent cybersecurity measures and updates by joining popular WordPress communities
- Install updated versions of WordPress, themes, and plugins. Always keep an eye on recent updates, as using older versions may cause compatibility issues
- Use strong passwords that are very hard to guess. Using simple passwords puts your site at a higher risk of being hacked. Third-party password manager apps like LastPass can help to store strong passwords securely
- Enable two-factor authentication for extra security. In this case, administrators will have to provide another factor, for instance, a code generated by a two-factor authentication app, in addition to their password to log in. This reduces the possibility of getting hacked
- Limit login attempts to know when there are suspicious attempts on your site
Benefits of Using WordPress on GoDaddy
GoDaddy is one of the leading web hosting providers in the World. They pride themselves on having the best WordPress features and have garnered 4.7-star reviews out of 5 on TrustPilot. Here are some of the benefits of using WordPress on GoDaddy:
1. User-Friendly Interface
GoDaddy has an intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes navigating and managing your website easy. You can access rich performance analytics on the main dashboard that gives a holistic overview of your website. Vital metrics such as website traffic, social views, site health, page views, and more are displayed on the dashboard. You can even customize these analytics and make changes as you see fit.
In addition, GoDaddy offers a simple drag-and-drop builder feature for creating custom web pages. This feature is beneficial for users who don’t have a lot of coding experience or small business owners with a sizable budget. You can spice things up by adding videos, images, tiles, slideshows, and buttons on each page.
2. One-Click Install
Thanks to the one-click WordPress install, users don’t need to experience the monotonous and complex method of installing WordPress manually. With GoDaddy WordPress one-click install, you don’t need to download files as the installation process is almost instant. This automated process makes it easy to mitigate, copy or clone your website.
3. Reliable Hosting
Web hosting is the foundation of any website and also determines its performance. A quality web hosting provider should have a 99.9% Uptime guarantee, meaning your website will be down for less than nine hours all through the year.
Godaddy boasts 99.9% uptime, with a 250ms average response time. This is excellent as your website will be up most of the time, except during maintenance.
4. Expert Support
The best web hosting provider provides quality customer support that’s always accessible to answer customer complaints. They should also have knowledgeable and experienced technicians for faster resolution of problems.
GoDaddy provides 24/7/365 support to all users and non-users via email, phone, and guides. The only downside is that they don’t have a live chat support option.
5. Scalable
Another vital perk for any hosting provider is scalable hosting plans that can accommodate increasing website traffic and storage requirements. Also, ensure the provider offers flexible programs that allow you to customize your plans. This includes the storage capacity, bandwidth, or other features you choose.
GoDaddy offers scalable WordPress plans that enable users to change plans as demand increases. They have a three-tier pricing plan, ranging from beginner-friendly features to more resource-intensive ones.
6. Optimized Performance
Performance is one of the foundational blocks of any web hosting platform. It’s recommended to use a server with a minimum of 2 CPU cores, 4GB RAM, and SSD storage space. As WordPress can, sometimes, generate random content, your provider should offer proper caching and CDN integrations for optimized performance.
GoDaddy uses NVMe SSD storage, which runs on the Ceph storage clusters for faster and more efficient web performance. They also offer a global content delivery network to over 200 locations, increasing page load times for visitors in farther locations.
7. Secure
A good hosting provider should offer security features out-of-the-box that mitigates security attacks and guarantees the protection of your website. SSL/TLS encryption, firewall protection, automatic backups and malware scans, and DDoS attack protection are standard security features to look out for.
GoDaddy offers these features in all its plans, backed with automated WordPress and plugin updates to guarantee the integrity of your data. They also provide some of the best website builders with in-built security features.
Affordable Pricing
There are hundreds of web hosts with varying features and pricing plans. Ensure you look through each program and the features offered before making a decision.
GoDaddy offers managed WordPress hosting for beginners and expert developers. The lowest plan starts at $8.99/mo, and it’s perfect for personal websites/projects or small business owners expecting minimal traffic. The highest plan at $11.99 comprises more functionalities that cater to server-intensive projects. Developers and designers looking for more technical features can choose any GoDaddy WordPress multi-site plan.
Besides offering hosting and domain services, GoDaddy also provides a website builder designed for smooth and easy website creation. Additionally, explore our list of the best website builders to discover which providers have been most favored by our users.
Top WordPress Website Builders: Alternatives to GoDaddy
| Provider | User Rating | Best For | Expert & User Reviews | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4.6 | AI Tools | Hostinger Review | Visit Hostinger |
 | 4.5 | Design | Squarespace Review | Visit Squarespace |
 | 4.0 | Pricing | IONOS Review | Visit IONOS |
Conclusion
Now that you’ve fully installed WordPress on GoDaddy, explore the customization options available to make your site aesthetically pleasing. Focus on creating high-quality content and optimizing your site for humans and search engines. If you encounter any issues during the installation or configuration process, contact the GoDaddy support team for instant help.
Next Steps: What Now?
- Use HostAdvice’s hosting discovery tool to discover the perfect hosting plan for you
- Go further to tailor your options using HostAdvice’s hosting advisor
- Start creating content on your site. Follow the best SEO (Search Engine Optimization) practices to keep your content optimized for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Customize your site using WordPress’s in-built customization options
- Install the suitable WordPress plugins on your site to increase functionality
- Choose the right WordPress theme that appropriately communicates your brand
Further Reading – Useful Resources
- What is a WordPress theme
- Top types of websites you can build with WordPress
- Best WordPress hosting providers with reliable hosting features
