Getting started

This guide walks you through purchasing a domain name and a web hosting package, then completing the essential setup so your website and email are live, secure and fast.

Overview
Step 1: Purchase a domain name
Step 2: Choose and buy your web hosting package
Step 3: Access the hosting control panel
Step 4: Point your domain to purely.website
Step 5: Add your domain and install WordPress
Step 6: Secure your site with HTTPS
Step 7: Set up email and authentication
Step 8: Enable performance tools and staging
Step 9: Backups and updates
Optional: Connect Cloudflare
Launch checklist
Useful links

Overview

The overall process is fairly simple, buy a domain, buy hosting, point your domain at the hosting platform, add the domain in the control panel, install WordPress or your chosen application, then secure and optimise. Everything below references built in features of purely.website hosting packages.

Step 1: Purchase a domain name

Go to the purely.website using the domain search box, and search for your preferred name.
Add your chosen domain to basket and complete checkout.
After purchase, you can manage the domain in your my.purely.website account.

Step 2: Choose and buy your web hosting package

Pick a plan that matches your expected traffic and features. Entry plans suit small and personal sites. Business plans add performance, security options and broader email capacity. All plans include core platform features such as the WordPress auto installer, free SSL, DNS management and backups.

Visit the hosting packages page and review packages.
Select your plan, click Buy and complete checkout.

Step 3: Access the hosting control panel

Check your email to set a password for the cp.purely.website control panel.
Sign in with your newly created cp.purely.website credentials.
Familiarise yourself with Websites, Domains, Emails, Databases and Backups menus.

Step 4: Point your domain to purely.website

These need to be set to point your domain name to the hosting package.

Hosting accounts nameservers:

ns1.purely.website
ns2.purely.website
ns3.purely.website

In my.purely.website, click domains, click on your newly purchased domain, click Nameservers and set to cp.purely.website – (purely.website Web Hosting).
Allow DNS to propagate. This can take a short while globally.

Step 5: Add your domain and install WordPress

Once nameservers are updated to point to the hosting account, add the site in the control panel.

In Websites, click Add Website on your chosen package.
EITHER choose Start from scratch and enter the domain, OR choose Install an app and select WordPress or WordPress + WooCommerce.
For WordPress, set the installation path and admin credentials, then confirm to install.

Manual installs only: Create a database first in the Databases menu then use those credentials during your application install. The database host is localhost.

Step 6: Secure your site with HTTPS

The cp.purely.website control panel issues free SSL certificates automatically for domains on the platform. Once your domain resolves to the hosting, a certificate is requested and installed without manual work. You can verify or refresh the SSL under Advanced, Security for the site in the hosting control panel.

Step 7: Set up email and authentication

Create mailboxes in Emails, Add Account for your domain.
Enable DKIM in Domains, Email authentication.
Setup your preferred email client.

Step 8: Optional performance tools and staging

Redis object cache for WordPress: enable Redis under Advanced, Developer tools, then install and activate the Redis Object Cache plugin and click Enable Object Cache.
Brotli or gzip compression: keep compression enabled to reduce transfer sizes.
Staging: use the built‑in staging functionality to clone your site for safe updates and changes, then push back to live when tested.

Step 9: Backups and updates

Daily platform backups: view and restore website files, databases and mailboxes from recent daily restore points in Backups.
In app backups: if you use the UpdraftPlus plugin, set a modest schedule and send backups to remote storage such as Google Drive. Avoid storing large archives on your hosting storage long term.
Auto updates: in the control panel WordPress options, set core updates to at least minor versions. You can raise to always update if you prefer.

Optional: Connect Cloudflare

If you use Cloudflare, add an API token with Zone:Zone:Edit permission in Integrations , Cloudflare, then assign it to the domain under Domains for automatic DNS syncing.