How to Connect a Domain and Install WordPress on Hostinger

Hostinger made a name for themselves in the early 2000s by providing simple, free website hosting. Since then, they’ve grown to become one of the top full-service website hosting services in the world.

One of the most challenging processes in creating a new website is connecting a domain and installing WordPress, but don’t worry – Hostinger offers simple, beginner-friendly tools that make the process easy. I will walk you through the process of connecting your domain and installing WordPress so you can get yourself online as quick as possible.

To learn more about Hostinger’s shared web hosting services, check out our comprehensive review.

Connecting Your Domain

The first step in setting up your website is connecting your domain. If you don’t already own a domain, Hostinger allows you to register for one through their site. If you sign up for the annual Premium or Business plan, you’ll get a free domain.

Since I only registered for a quarterly plan for my hosting, I had to purchase a domain. If you forgot to register for a domain while signing up for service, no problem! Just do what I did.

Start by logging into your Hostinger account and click on ‘Domains’ at the top of the screen. This will take you to the Domain Management page. From there, click on ‘Register Domain’.

Now you should be at the Domain Checker page where you can enter the domain you wish to use. Enter the name, including the suffix (.com, .net, etc) in the text box and click on ‘Check It’.

If your domain is available, you will be given the price for that domain along with the prices for other suffix options. Should you find that your domain name is already in use, just click the back button and try again. If you’re ready to buy the domain, click on ‘Add to Cart’ to be taken to the checkout screen.

Hostinger allows you to register for your own domain at average rates for .com and super low prices for .online and .tech domains.

The checkout process for buying your domain is the same as your website hosting. Just select the method you wish to pay and proceed. If you need a refresher on how to sign up for an account, check out this post on signing up at Hostinger.

The good news is that the process to connect your domain is simple. However, when I signed up for my domain, the site did not activate automatically, and I had to ask support to activate the domain. Note that I signed up for a .tech domain rather than a .com or other standard domain suffix, so that may have been part of the issue.

After speaking with support, my hosting was set up and ready to go. Including the chat with tech support, I spent about 15 minutes setting up my domain.

Setting Up WordPress on Hostinger

Hostinger comes with a one-click WordPress installer that is designed to get you set up with just a few clicks. Note that you must have your domain connected and activated before you will be able to set up WordPress.

To begin the process, log into your Hostinger account and click on ‘Hosting’ at the top of the page. This will list your domains. Click the ‘Manage’ button beside your domain.

Next, scroll down to the ‘Website’ section and click on ‘Auto Installer’.

WordPress will be the first auto-installer listed under the ‘Most Popular’ section. Click on it to start the installation process.

Next, you must select the URL where you want WordPress installed. Your domain should be the default one listed. If it isn’t, click the drop-down box and select your domain. Afterward, click the ‘Next’ button.

Now you will create an administrator username, password, and enter your administrator email.

Next, you will enter the language for your website. It should default to English. If you want to change it, click the drop-down menu. Next, enter the title for your website. You can leave ‘No’ selected for ‘Overwrite’. Click ‘Install’ to begin installing WordPress.

The installation will take just a few moments, and then you should be brought back to the Auto Installer screen with a message stating that installation was successful.

Installation Was Swift, But There Were Problems

The good news is that WordPress installed on my computer quickly, but that was about the only thing that went smoothly. The auto-installer walked me through the process without issues and appeared to install fine, but I immediately started having problems. I kept getting 404 errors when trying to log in to the admin.

I ended up contacting support, and they had to move my hosting to another server and reinstall it themselves. That took about 20 minutes. Afterward, I had to use incognito mode in my browser just to access the admin page. Then the password I created at setup didn’t work. That sometimes happens, so I just requested a reset. The reset confirmation link sent multiple times via email kept failing.

I reached out to support once more, and they guided me on resetting the password through phpMyAdmin by providing a helpful tutorial. Following their instructions, I successfully reset the password. Nevertheless, upon attempting to log in while using incognito mode, I encountered another 404 message.

Support was able to access my site, and their only suggestion was to access it via another network. I hooked up my computer to my mobile hotspot, and I was indeed able to connect to my site. In all, it took nearly two hours to get my WordPress site active. Once I got the site active, everything worked smoothly.

WordPress Installs Smoothly, But You Might Need Support

I will admit that this ended up being the most challenging WordPress install that I’ve ever experienced, and that included the first time I ever setup WordPress by manually uploading it via FTP. The auto-installer tool is an excellent feature if it works. However, it is a good idea to have support on standby should you run into problems.

One thing that stuck out to me was that support had a set of procedures already in place to resolve this problem quickly. That means that this is a common problem, and something you’re likely to run into with your WordPress setup. It is possible it is a “luck of the draw” problem, meaning that only a couple of their servers have this problem.

If you want a hosting company that offers pre-installation of WordPress during signup, meaning you avoid the issues I had with Hostinger, then check out Inmotion Hosting. If you do choose to use Hostinger for your WordPress site, my recommendation is to contact support immediately if you start having trouble accessing WordPress after running their auto-installer.