A new account is a blank server and a set of decisions. These six in this order take under an hour, and every one of them is more work if left until the site is live.

  1. Turn on two-factor — Before anything else exists to protect. It takes two minutes and it is the highest-value setting on the account.
  2. Point the domain — Nameservers or an A record. DNS is the slowest step, so start it first and let it settle while you do the rest.
  3. Create the mailboxes — Before the domain resolves here, so nothing bounces during the change.
  4. Install the site — Upload, or install WordPress from the panel.
  5. Check the certificate — It is issued automatically once DNS points here. Load the site over https and look for the padlock.
  6. Check a backup exists — Not that it is scheduled - that one has run and can be restored.

What people leave until later, and regret

  • The recovery email. Set it to an address at a DIFFERENT domain. If it is at this one, you cannot receive a reset when this one has a problem.
  • The PHP version. Choosing it now is a menu; changing it after a hundred plugins are installed is a test cycle.
  • Where the DNS lives. Registrar or host, either is fine - but knowing which one answers saves an hour on the day something is wrong.
Do not point the domain here until the site is uploaded, unless you want visitors to see an empty directory. Test with the temporary address first.

Before you tell anyone it is live

  • Load it on a phone, on mobile data, not on your own wifi.
  • Send yourself a message through every form.
  • Load a page that does not exist, and check the 404 is yours.
  • Check the site in both http and https - one should redirect to the other.
Write down what you set and where. In six months the question is asked by you, about your own account, and the panel does not remember why.