Getting Started With BetterWP

WordPress has made it much easier for companies to launch and maintain a website. With WordPress, the creation of website content no longer requires knowledge of HTML, CSS, or other web technologies. However, not all WordPress hosts are the same. Many don’t manage the server at all, leaving it up to you to resolve any issues and keep security patches up to date.

BetterWP is a fully managed WordPress hosting solution that offers more features than the competition and at a lower price. Best of all, getting started with BetterWP is easy. Let’s look at the steps.

Initial Steps

These are the first few steps you’ll take after you’ve created a BetterWP account. Their staff will prepare your account for content and connect BetterWP to your chosen domain.

Once you’ve logged into your account, you’ll see a button labeled ‘Setup” in your WP Hosting Manager sidebar menu. It’ll be next to the plan you’ve just logged into. Click it to get started. You’ll be presented with four options:

1. Register a new domain – If you don’t already have a domain registered for your website, you can choose this option to purchase a new domain from NameSilo. 
2. Connect to an existing NameSilo domain – If you previously purchased a domain from NameSilo and would like to use that domain for the WordPress site, choose this option. 
3. Connect to an existing domain from another Registrar – You don’t have to have a domain through NameSilo to connect it to your BetterWP account. Choose this option if your domain is registered somewhere else.

Transfer a domain to NameSilo – Finally, if you’ve previously registered a domain with another registrar but would like to have everything hosted under the NameSilo umbrella, you can transfer your domain using this option.

Let's Build Something

Now that your new site is set up and ready for content, it’s time to build something. In fact, that’s exactly the option you’ll be presented with when you sign into your newly set up BetterWP account. From the dashboard, find the ‘Let’s Build Something’ button in the bottom right corner and click on it to open the dialog. 

Migrating an existing site

Setting up a new site follows the same process as any WordPress installation would, so in this section, we’ll focus on how you can migrate an existing site over to your new and improved WordPress hosting environment.  From the dialog that opened up when you clicked ‘Let’s Build Something’, you’ll see an option to migrate an existing site. Click on that option to continue.

Migrating with a plugin

Using a WordPress plugin is the fastest and easiest way to complete the process, and it’s the option we’ll be describing here. Through the use of the BetterWP WordPress plugin, the migration of your entire site can be entirely automated. All you need to do is install the plugin on the target site and provide some information about your new BetterWP site. The plugin will take care of the rest and complete the transfer for you in just a few moments.

Download and install the plugin on your current installation

The first step is to download and install the plugin on your existing WordPress installation. Once you’ve clicked on the option to migrate an existing site from the ‘Let’s Build Something’ dialog, you’ll be presented with an option to migrate via a plugin. When you click on that option, you’ll be given a link to download the BetterWP migration tool. Download it and save the .zip file somewhere on your computer.

At this time, you’ll also be presented with a token and subdomain to enter into the plugin when the time comes. 

From a new browser tab, go to your existing WordPress site and log in to the WordPress Dashboard. On the menu on the left, you’ll see the option to manage your WordPress plugins. Click on that and select the option to add a plugin. Tell WordPress that you’d like to install the plugin via upload and select the .zip file you downloaded in the previous step when prompted. 

Run the plugin

Once installed and activated, the BetterWP plugin will appear on the left side of your WordPress dashboard, along with any other plugins you’ve installed. Select the plugin to get started. You’ll be presented with a dialog asking you to enter the details that you were presented with on the BetterWP site. Go back to the tab with BetterWP and copy those values so you can paste them into the plugin dialog on the old site. You’ll also need to enter the login information for your BetterWP site so the plugin can access it.

Run migration

Once the details are copied from the BetterWP site to the migration plugin on your existing site, you’re ready to begin the process. From the BetterWP site, submit the details to let BetterWP know that you’ve successfully copied your data to the new site. Next, simply return to the site you’re migrating from and submit the details to the plugin. BetterWP will begin the migration process.

About NameSilo

Once deployment has finished, you’ll be able to access your newly migrated site from the WP dashboard in BetterWP. Once your website is up and running, you may want to purchase similar domains to point to it. Lock in your branding with additional top-level domains or register common misspellings of your brand to make it easier to find you. The NameSilo tools will make it easy for you to get the domains you need to grow your business.