How to Install WordPress: Complete Beginner’s Guide (5 Methods)

Setting up WordPress for the first time can feel a bit overwhelming, but I promise – it’s easier than it seems. There are a few different ways to install it, and which one you choose depends on things like your hosting provider, technical comfort level, and how much control you want over the process.

In this guide (updated for 2025), I’ll walk you through each method step by step, so by the end, you’ll have WordPress up and running without any confusion. Let’s get started!

Choose a host that comes with WordPress pre-installed

If you’ve already chosen a different host, don’t stress! Most hosting providers still make WordPress installation simple. I’ll walk you through that next:

Different methods to install WordPress

How to install WordPress on cPanel – using an autoinstaller

cPanel is the hosting management dashboard that most web hosts give their customers. When you sign up for hosting, your host should provide you with login details for cPanel. And for most hosts, the cPanel interface looks something like below. The style of your interface might look a bit different, but the basic layout will be the same:

In your cPanel interface, your host should give you access to one or more autoinstallers. Through the use of these autoinstallers, we are able to answer how to install WordPress on cPanel – because as the “auto(matic)” in their name implies, they make it relatively easy.

Autoinstallers basically automate the full WordPress install process that I’ll outline in the next section. So instead of needing to do everything manually, you just input some basic information, click a button, and the autoinstaller installs WordPress for you.

There are a few different autoinstallers you might encounter, but the most popular one of them all is called Softaculous.

In some situations, your host might also offer a proprietary WordPress installer tool, which is another way to install WordPress on cPanel.

While there might be a few minor interface differences, all of the autoinstallers more or less function the same. I’ll show you an example so you can see how to get WordPress working on cPanel using Softaculous, but the exact interface for your specific autoinstaller might look a tiny bit different.

Getting started!

To get started, find the link to the WordPress autoinstaller in cPanel and give it a click:

On the next screen, you should see an Install Now link (no matter which autoinstaller you’re using). Just give that another click:

Next, you’ll need to enter details for your WordPress install. Again, this interface should generally look the same no matter which autoinstaller you’re using.

First, fill in the protocol and domain name where you want to install WordPress:

For Protocol, if you’re using an SSL certificate, you should choose HTTPS. Otherwise, you should choose HTTP. Unless you purposefully installed an SSL Certificate, the default is HTTP.

Almost there!

To the right of the Installation URL, you’ll notice it will ask you what directory you want to install WordPress in. For 99% of situations, you should leave this field blank. Leaving it empty means WordPress will be installed at your main domain. That is, if your domain is YOURDOMAIN.com, then WordPress will be installed at YOURDOMAIN.com rather than something like YOURDOMAIN.com/mywpsite.

A bit further down, you need to enter your Site Settings. These are just the default values for your site’s name and description. You can always change them later from the WordPress interface:

Do not enable WordPress multisite unless you’re specifically trying to create a multisite network.

You’ll also need to create login credentials for your WordPress account. You’ll use this username/password combination to log into your WordPress dashboard after installation, so make sure that you remember it:

Depending on the specific autoinstaller that you’re using, you might see a few other options as well. You can safely ignore these. That is, it’s fine to leave anything I didn’t cover as the defaults.

Once you’ve filled out everything, make sure to click Install at the bottom of the screen. It might take a minute or so to run. Then, you should get a confirmation, and that’s it. You did it. That’s how you install WordPress using an autoinstaller. You can now log into your brand new WordPress site by going to YOURDOMAIN.com/wp-admin.

If you can’t find the WordPress login page, check out our guide to finding the WordPress login URL.

How to install WordPress manually

Personally, I don’t really see a need to use this manual process anymore because of how simple and widespread the autoinstallers above are. Virtually every single web host will offer some type of tool that lets you install WordPress from your hosting dashboard.

But if you want to learn how to install WordPress manually, keep on reading. If you’re a beginner, just use the autoinstaller process I outlined above.

In the past, to run the famous WordPress 5-minute install, you needed an FTP program to upload files. FileZilla was (and is) a popular choice. However, these days you can also access your file manager directly through cPanel. Either way works fine, but if you’re not sure what FTP is or how to use it, then you should probably stick to the WordPress autoinstaller method. Otherwise, if you still want to continue with the manual installation, then take a quick intermission to check out our FTP tutorial so you have a better understanding of what it is and how it works.

Start by downloading the latest version of WordPress from wordpress.org:

Then unzip the file and upload it to the public_html (or similar) directory of your website. To access the directory, you need to go into your File Manager (FTP), which you can find in cPanel:

If for some reason you can’t see the File Manager option and you’re not sure how to log into FTP, ask your host for your FTP account information. Once inside, locate the public_html directory and upload the file there:

While that’s going on, open up another instance of cPanel in a new tab and find the MySQL Databases option:

You should see an option to Create a New Database. Enter a name for your database and click Create Database:

The name can be whatever you want – just make sure that you remember it. You’ll need it later on.

You’re halfway there!

Next, you need to actually create a user for your database. So on that same page, scroll down to MySQL Users and create a new user:

Once you’ve created the user, make sure to give it access to the database you created:

On the next page, also make sure to give that username All Privileges:

Now, assuming the FTP transfer has finished, you can go to your domain name to complete the installation process. When you visit your domain, you should see the WordPress installation wizard. First, you need to choose your language:

Then, make sure you have the details for your database name, user, and password handy. Enter them when prompted:

If all goes well, you should be able to run the WordPress install:

Give your WordPress site a title and enter the information necessary to create your admin account:

Then click Install WordPress.

And that’s it! You just learned how to install WordPress manually in just five minutes. You can now log in with the account details that you entered during the install process.

How to install WordPress on GoDaddy

GoDaddy is one of those companies that likes to change its user panels quite a lot, plus it can also display different sections based on the country you’re in, the products you’ve bought from them, etc. So taking all this into consideration, I’ll try to show you the most straightforward path to a working WordPress website.

To being, log in to your GoDaddy user panel by going here (this is GoDaddy’s unified login platform). Next, either:

• navigate the dashboard by clicking on your user image in the top right → My Products → Manage All under where it says “Managed WordPress”, or
• click this link right here, which will take you straight to the right section.

From there, click on Create WP Site:

GoDaddy is going to ask whether you want to create a new site or import an existing one. You’ll probably want to go with creating a new one:

Next, pick if you’re building the site for yourself (most likely):

Then, keeping up with the latest trends, GoDaddy will ask if you want to build your site with AI or start with a blank template. Let’s go with blank template:

Finally, GoDaddy will let you choose the server location for your site. It’s a good idea to pick a location that’s the closest to your audience’s geographical location.

At this stage, GoDaddy will continue preparing your site in the background. This can take a couple of minutes.

When all is done, you’ll be taken straight to the WordPress admin panel, which is nice, but let’s take one step back and go to the main GoDaddy panel:

What we haven’t done yet is added a domain name. Let’s do that now.

Click on Add Domain to get started:

If your GoDaddy plan has come with a free domain, and you’ve registered it beforehand, you’ll get to pick that domain now, if not, click on Use a different domain:

The rest of the process is all on GoDaddy’s side. It can take another couple of minutes to get the domain hooked up.

That’s it, you’ve just installed WordPress on GoDaddy! 🎊

How to install WordPress on Hostinger

Once you’re done with the basic signup process at Hostinger, log in to your user panel.

From there, click on Websites → Websites list, and then on Add website:

Pick “WordPress” from the options available:

You’re going to be taken to Hostinger’s onboarding wizard:

You’re probably building the site for yourself so click on the first option and then on Next.

Hostinger will let you set some basic access details for your new site. Pick your desired admin email/password, and continue:

In the next step, Hostinger will show you a catalog of starter designs to choose from. It’s a rather large selection, with some of the most popular WordPress themes integrated there. Pick a look that fits your brand, and click on Use this website:

Next, look through Hostinger’s range of recommended plugins and pick whatever makes sense for your new site. For example, getting a contact form plugin like WPForms might be a good idea. However, picking plugins at this stage is not mandatory and you can safely just click on Deselect all, too. Either way, when you’re done, click on Install WordPress:

Now in this last step, this is where you get to pick a domain name for your new site (a) or use a temporary domain (b). Just a reminder that most Hostinger plans come with a free domain name for the first year. So pick (a) or (b) and then click on Next when you’re ready:

At this stage, your site is going to continue being set up in the background. When the process is done, you’re going to see the site on the list in Websites → Websites list:

To log in and start working on your site, simply click on that WordPress Admin link that’s visible above.

That’s it, you’ve just installed WordPress on Hostinger! 🍾

How to install WordPress locally – on your own computer

If you want to create a sandbox where you can learn more about WordPress, you can install WordPress on your own computer. You’ll have a fully functioning WordPress install that you can play around with, it just won’t be accessible to anyone else – it won’t be visible publicly on the web.

That is, it will only be available on your own computer. This is also known as a “localhost”.

There’s a couple of good ways to install WordPress locally depending on the operating system that your machine runs. Here are two very popular solutions:

• How to install WordPress on Mac with a tool called Local
• How to install WordPress on Windows using XAMPP

The above are detailed step-by-step guides that will walk you through the process.

Install WordPress today and create your site 🚀

If you just want the easiest route, many hosting providers handle the setup for you. But if you prefer more control, the manual and local installation methods give you flexibility.

No matter which approach you take, once WordPress is installed, you’re ready to start building your site. Now, it’s time to bring your ideas to life!

As always, don’t hesitate to ask if you’re having any trouble installing WordPress. We’re happy to help.