0) What you’ll need (5 minutes)

• A payment method (card/PayPal).
• A brand or niche idea (even a working title is fine).
• 60–90 focused minutes.

1) Buy your domain (Hostinger or any registrar)

You do not have to buy your domain from the same company that hosts your website. Domains and hosting are separate services.

Popular options

• Hostinger — often bundles a free domain with hosting promos.
• Bluehost — also sells domains and WordPress hosting.
• Namecheap — great registrar; cheap renewals; solid support.

I am using the process of buying a domain and setting up hosting on Hostinger as an example, however, the process is similar on bluehost which has similar packages as well as namecheap.

How to buy on Hostinger

1. Go to Hostinger → Domains.
2. Search for your name/brand (aim for a .com if available; if not, consider your country TLD or strong alternates).
3. Add to cart and purchase.

If you buy elsewhere (e.g., Namecheap/Bluehost)

• That’s perfectly fine. We’ll point your domain to Hostinger later via nameservers or DNS A records.

Quick naming tips

• Short, easy to spell, niche-relevant.
• Avoid hyphens/numbers where possible.
• Check social handle availability if brand building matters.

2) Choose WordPress hosting 

You have several good beginner options:

• Hostinger Managed WordPress (my go-to for starters): quick installer, free SSL, low prices, and you can host multiple sites under one plan. Upgrade only when traffic grows.
• Cloudways: excellent performance/scale, pay-as-you-go cloud (more advanced UI).
• Namecheap EasyWP: easy WordPress—but typically one site per plan (you often end up buying a new plan for each site).
• Bluehost WordPress Hosting: also beginner-friendly.

What I recommend for most beginners:
Pick a Hostinger WordPress plan that supports multiple sites. You’ll thank yourself later when you spin up site #2 or #3 without buying another hosting plan.

Buy the plan

1. Choose a WordPress plan on Hostinger.
2. Complete checkout (you can claim a free domain if included—skip Step 1 above if you do this now).

3) Link your domain to Hostinger

After purchase, you’ll land in hPanel (Hostinger’s dashboard).

If you bought the domain at Hostinger

• It may already be linked. Confirm under (Go to Hostinger website, login, and go to my accounts) Websites → “Manage” → Domain section.

If your domain is at Namecheap/Bluehost (or anywhere else)
You have two common ways to point it to Hostinger:

A) Nameserver method (simplest for beginners)

1. In Hostinger hPanel, find your Nameservers for the hosting plan (e.g., ns1…, ns2…).
2. Log in to your domain registrar (Namecheap/Bluehost).
3. Go to your domain’s DNS panel → Change nameservers → Paste the two (or more) Hostinger nameservers → Save.
4. Wait for DNS propagation (usually 15 min–4 hours; can be up to 24–48 hours).

B) A-record method (advanced)

1. In Hostinger, find your hosting server IP.
2. At your registrar, keep the default nameservers and edit A records to point @ (root) and www to that IP.
3. Save and wait for propagation.
   Tip: While DNS propagates, you can keep customizing the site via Hostinger’s temporary domain, then switch once live.

4) Add your website in hPanel & install WordPress (1-click)

1. In hPanel → Websites → Create or Add Website.
2. Select WordPress installation.
3. Enter your site title, admin email/username, and a strong password.
4. Choose your data center region (closest to your main audience).
5. Click Install.
6. Enable Free SSL for the domain (in hPanel → SSL), then Force HTTPS (Security/SSL area or via your cache plugin) so all traffic loads securely.
   If you used Namecheap EasyWP or Bluehost instead, they offer similar one-click WordPress flows. Cloudways also has a WordPress installer (a bit more advanced).

5) One-click login to WordPress Admin

• From the main website  → My account  → hPanel → Websites → website list → WP Admin or “Admin Panel”.
• You’ll land in yourdomain.com/wp-admin.

Immediate settings to fix in WordPress

• Settings → Permalinks → choose Post name.
• Settings → General → set Site Title & Tagline; set your timezone (e.g., Africa/Johannesburg if that’s you).
• Settings → Reading → uncheck “Discourage search engines…” once you’re ready to go live.

6) Pick and install a theme (free or premium)

You can use a free, lightweight theme or buy a niche-specific premium theme (which is what I often do for speed).

How I choose

• I Google search things like “review affiliate themes WordPress” or “casino review WordPress theme” to find designs that fit my niche.
• Or I browse Appearance → Themes → Add New and filter by “Popular” and “Block Themes.”
• You can check out themes from https://www.vwthemes.com/collections/premium-wordpress-themes and https://bdthemes.com/themes/ to see if there is a theme there to your liking.

Install options

• Free theme: Appearance → Themes → Add New → Install → Activate.
• Premium theme: Download the .zip from the vendor → Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme → Install → Activate.

Child theme (optional but smart)

• If your premium theme provides a child theme, install/activate it so customizations survive theme updates.

7) Import demo data & starter templates

Most premium themes (and many free ones) include a demo importer.

1. Go to the theme’s panel (often under Appearance).
2. Choose a starter site/demo closest to your niche.
3. Click Import (include demo content, menus, widgets, and settings).
4. When done, you’ll have a complete layout to edit instead of a blank canvas.
   Always read the theme’s setup docs. Most reputable themes include a “Getting Started” page with clear steps.

8) Customize your design & structure

Core areas to update first

• Site Identity: Logo, site title, favicon.
• Menus: Create Primary (top) and Footer menus.
• Homepage: Replace hero headline, images, calls-to-action, and any demo blocks with your own.
• Footer: Add links to About, Contact, Privacy, Terms, Affiliate Disclosure.

Page building

• If your theme uses the WordPress Block Editor, edit pages directly.
• If it ships with a builder (e.g., Elementor), follow theme instructions to edit templates.
• Keep it clean & fast. Don’t overload with animations or heavy widgets.

9) Essential plugins (keep it lean)

Install only what you need. Too many plugins = slower site + conflicts.

My typical starter stack

• Caching/Performance:
  • If Hostinger uses LiteSpeed servers on your plan, install LiteSpeed Cache (free) and enable page cache + image lazy-load.
  • Otherwise, WP Fastest Cache or Cache Enabler.
• SEO: Rank Math or Yoast SEO (choose one).
• Security: Wordfence or All-in-One Security (AIOS); enable basic firewall/login protection.
• Image optimization: Smush or ShortPixel (set lossy compression and resize large uploads).
• Backup: UpdraftPlus (connect to Google Drive/Dropbox).
• Link cloaking/management (for affiliates): Pretty Links or ThirstyAffiliates.
• Contact forms: Fluent Forms or WPForms Lite.
• Activate automatic updates for minor/patch releases and schedule weekly backups at a minimum.

 

Your affiliate review site options

 

10) Legal & compliance pages (do this early)

Create and link (footer):

• Privacy Policy
  
• Terms of Use
  
• Affiliate Disclosure (mandatory for affiliate sites)
• Contact and About

11) Keyword, niche & competitor research (your growth engine)

After the initial design, the real work begins: content.

A. Validate your niche

• List 3–5 sub-topics you can cover deeply (e.g., “VPN reviews,” “sports betting bonuses,” “protein powders,” etc.).
• Ensure there are buyer-intent topics (vs. only informational).

B. Find keywords (free & paid methods)

• Google Autocomplete & People Also Ask: quick intent ideas.
• Competitor harvesting:
  • Search your main keyword → open top 5 competitors → scan their nav, categories, and recent posts for topic ideas.
  • View their /sitemap.xml (often reveals their entire content inventory).
• “Best X for Y” formulas:
  • best + [product] + for [audience/use case]
  • [brand] + alternatives
  • [product] + vs + [product]
• Topic expanders: AnswerThePublic / AlsoAsked (free tiers) or paid tools (Ahrefs, Semrush, LowFruits, Keywords Everywhere).

C. Prioritize

• Low-competition, clear intent, monetizable topics first.
• Look for SERPs with weaker sites or forums ranking—signals opportunity.

D. Map site structure

• Create categories (2–6 maximum to start).
• Draft a content silo: pillar pages + supporting posts that interlink.

12) Writing & publishing your first 10–20 posts

Each post should:

• Target one primary keyword + a few closely related subtopics.
• Have a clear search intent (informational, commercial, transactional).
• Use a simple structure:
  • Compelling H1 that matches intent.
  • Short intro that promises the answer.
  • Clear H2/H3 outline (use a table of contents).
  • Real value: comparisons, pros/cons, steps, screenshots (if possible).
  • Internal links to related posts and your money pages (reviews, best-of lists).
  • External links to authoritative sources when useful.
• On-page SEO basics:
  • Put the primary keyword in: Title (naturally), H1, first 100 words, one H2, URL slug, meta description (write it—don’t rely on auto).
  • Optimize images (filenames + alt text describing the image).
  • Use short, readable URLs (e.g., /best-budget-vpn/).

Publishing cadence

• Consistency beats bursts. Aim for 2–4 posts/week early on.
• As new posts publish, most themes auto-pull blog cards onto your homepage.

13) Internal linking & navigation

• Link new posts to older related posts (and vice versa).
• Add breadcrumbs (often in theme or SEO plugin).
• Keep your Primary Menu lean; use Footer for secondary navigation.

14) Speed & performance checklist

• Caching: Enable page cache + browser cache in your caching plugin.
• Images: Compress on upload; serve WebP if available.
• Lazy-load images and iframes.
• CDN: Consider Cloudflare for global speed and extra security.
• Minify CSS/JS cautiously (test for conflicts).
• Avoid heavy page builders if you can achieve the layout with blocks.

15) Security & reliability

• Turn on free SSL and force HTTPS (Hostinger + your cache plugin can do this).
• Change the default login URL (security plugin option).
• Limit login attempts, enable 2FA for admin.
• Keep themes/plugins updated.
• Off-site backups weekly (database daily if you publish frequently) most wordpress hosting services offer this.

16) Analytics & webmaster tools (do this before scaling content)

• Google Analytics 4: install via your SEO plugin or a GA4 plugin. (google sitekit plugin)
• Google Search Console: submit your sitemap and check index coverage.
• Bing Webmaster Tools: submit your sitemap there too.
• Track affiliate links with Pretty Links/ThirstyAffiliates, and add UTMs where useful.

17) Monetization prep (affiliate-ready)

• Create a Resources page linking to your top partners.
• Use a link cloaker/manager to centralize affiliate URLs (thirsty affiliates or pretty links plugin)
• Add comparison tables on commercial posts (many themes or table plugins support this).
• Add clear CTAs (“Try X Free,” “Claim Bonus,” “See Best Offer”).

18) Optional: Migrating an existing site to Hostinger

• Hostinger provides migration tools/services. In hPanel, look for Migrate Website.
• Alternatively: back up at the old host → move files and database → update DNS to Hostinger → issue SSL → test.

19) Troubleshooting quick wins

• SSL not working: Re-issue in hPanel, then force HTTPS. Check mixed-content warnings (your cache plugin can fix).
• DNS not pointing: Double-check nameservers/A-records; wait for propagation.
• White screen: Temporarily disable plugins via SFTP or hPanel File Manager (rename /plugins folder).
• Upload limits: Increase PHP limits in hPanel → PHP settings.
• Theme demo failed: Increase memory limit (256M+), retry importer, or import parts (widgets/Customizer/content) separately.

20) Launch checklist (print this)

• ☐ Domain points correctly; SSL active; HTTPS forced.
• ☐ Permalinks set to Post name.
• ☐ Timezone, site title, and tagline set.
• ☐ Privacy, Terms, Affiliate Disclosure, About, Contact published.
• ☐ Theme customized; demo content replaced on key pages.
• ☐ Caching + image optimization enabled.
• ☐ GA4 + Search Console + Bing connected; sitemap submitted.
• ☐ At least 5–10 solid posts published and interlinked.
• ☐ Backups configured; security plugin active; admin 2FA enabled.

21) Grow the site (the rhythm I like)

• Weeks 1–4: Publish 10–20 posts targeting low-competition topics.
• Weeks 5–8: Add 5–10 money pages (“best X,” “X vs Y,” “review”).
• Monthly: Audit internal links, update top posts, add new clusters.
• Quarterly: Check speed scores, prune useless plugins, refresh older content.
• When traffic rises: Upgrade Hostinger plan tier (RAM/CPU) as needed.

Why I prefer Hostinger for beginners

• Frequently includes a free domain with hosting promos.
• Managed WordPress with one-click install and free SSL.
• You can bundle multiple sites under one plan (cost-effective vs buying a new plan for each site like some EasyWP setups).
• Upgrade only when traffic grows—easy scaling.

Get Hostinger WordPress Hosting

 

That said, Cloudways, Namecheap EasyWP, and Bluehost are all fine for starting out. Most major hosts now offer WordPress-specific plans that are “good enough” for beginners.

Bluehost is actually quite closely matched with hostinger in terms of pricing and what you get, and both give you a free domain.

Pro tips from experience

• Pick a theme and stick with it—don’t redesign every week.
• Focus 80% of your time on publishing and internal linking.
• Write for search intent first, monetization second.
• Keep your plugin stack lean to protect speed.
• Document your process so you can outsource later (editing, uploading, image prep).

Your affiliate review site options

Affiliate Disclaimer: I use affiliate links in my content, should you sign up for a service I recommend through my link I will recieve a commission. This does not cost you more, it just rewards me for introducing a new client to the service provider.