Do you want to know how to install WordPress on Cloudways? Whether you’re starting a blog, a personal website, or an e-commerce store, you need to make sure that your website runs smoothly and is easily accessible to your visitors.
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems and Cloudways makes it easy to manage and host your website through the cloud at an affordable price.
In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of setting up a domain name and installing WordPress on Cloudways.
We’ll also discuss the benefits of using Cloudways and how it can help you create an amazing WordPress website. So, let’s get started!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links.
Table of Contents
Why did I Choose Cloudways to host my WordPress website?
Certainly, Cloudways is a popular and powerful managed cloud hosting platform that offers a variety of features that can be particularly beneficial for hosting WordPress sites.
Here are some reasons why you might choose Cloudways:
Performance
Cloudways uses advanced caching technologies like Varnish, Memcached, and Redis for improving server performance. They also offer a built-in CDN (Content Delivery Network) for even faster content delivery.
Scalability
You can easily scale your server resources up easily for better performance with just a few clicks based on your needs. This makes it a good choice if you expect your website traffic to grow over time.
Security
Cloudways provides robust security measures including regular security patching, firewalls, and free SSL certificates. They also provide automated backups daily for data safety.
Choice of Different Cloud Providers
Cloudways allows you to choose to provision a cloud server from several top-tier cloud providers like DigitalOcean, Linode, AWS, Google Cloud, and Vultr. Furthermore, it also gives you flexibility in terms of pricing and server locations.
24/7 Responsive Support
Cloudways also provides 24/7 customer support and an extensive knowledge base, so you can get help when you need it. My personal experience is pretty good and smooth with the Cloudways support team and they are responsive.
Managed WordPress Hosting
Cloudways offers a managed hosting solution for WordPress, which means Cloudways handle the technical aspects of hosting including PHP, and MySQL database so you can focus on growing and running your website.
They also provide a 1-click WordPress installation feature which I will cover in this article today.
Staging Environment
Cloudways provides a staging environment where you can safely test changes and updates without affecting your live website. This is useful if would like to test and make some major changes to your production WordPress website.
Pay As You Go Pricing
Unlike traditional hosting companies, Cloudways operates on a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which means you only pay for the resources you use. This can be more cost-effective than traditional hosting models.
Easy Migration From Other Hosting Providers
Cloudways offers tools to make it easy for your WordPress website migration, which is a great feature if you’re moving from another hosting provider.
Before choosing any hosting provider, it’s important to assess your specific needs and compare different options. While Cloudways offers many advantages, it might not be the best fit for everyone. For instance, if you prefer a hosting solution with email hosting included, or if you’re on a tight budget, you might need to look elsewhere.
If you are interested and would like to find out more, click on this banner here below:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links.
Setting Up A New WordPress Site on Cloudways
Before you get started with Cloudways, you have to sign up for a Cloudways account. If you are a new Cloudways, I will split it into a few different sections from deploying the new server to setting up the domain name to install SSL certification.
Deploy New Cloud Server on Cloudways
In the Cloudways Dashboard, you can click on Server which can be found under the top menu.
Click on the Add Server button (refer to screenshot below)
Under the Application & Server Details, there is a dropdown menu for you to select the application to be deployed to the server.
For installation of WordPress sites, there are 3 different types and usually, they will use the latest version of WordPress.
Recommended By Cloudways with WordPress Version x.xx –
Breeze is a free WordPress cache plugin developed by Cloudways that offers various features such as a file-level cache system, database cleanup, and minification, and supports Varnish. If you’re not planning to run an e-commerce website and performance is your top priority, this option might be the best for you.
Multisite WordPress Installation
It is a feature that allows you to create a network of WordPress sites, all within a single WordPress installation. This is useful if you’re planning to manage multiple websites (such as for a business with multiple branches, or an educational institution with different departments) and want to streamline the management process. You can find out more about installing WordPress multisite – at https://www.cloudways.com/en/wordpress-multisite-hosting.php
Clean WordPress Installation
A “clean” WordPress installation on Cloudways (or any hosting provider, for that matter) refers to installing a fresh, new instance of WordPress without any pre-installed WordPress plugins, themes, or configurations. This is also known as a “vanilla” WordPress installation.
Hence, this is usually my favorite option because it saves me the trouble of deactivating all installed plugins which not required.
WordPress with WooCommerce Integration –
This is a pre-configured, fully functional WordPress installation with the WooCommerce plugin already installed. WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce platform built for WordPress, which allows you to turn your WordPress site into an online store. This installation type is suitable for those planning to run an e-commerce website.
In this example, the version of WordPress is 6.1.1 and I will select clean installation which I have more control who want full control over their WordPress setup from the very beginning, without having to deal with removing or adjusting any pre-installed components.
Next, you have to configure and enter the following:
Server Type – There are different hosting options available for your website to be run on Digital Ocean, Vultr, AWS, and Google Cloud.
Server Size: The GB is referring to the CPU, memory limit, and storage for the server. So the sizing depends on how big and how much traffic
Location: You can choose a server location after you have selected your cloud provider.
Name of your managed App: Give A name of your application
Name of server: It will be useful if you can give the name of this server to make it easier for you to understand especially if you managing more than 1 server.
And after you have configured all these, you will able to see the estimated monthly cost per month at the bottom. Click on the launch button once you are done.
The entire setup and installation process will take approx less than 10 mins for the new server to be up.
Setup Your Domain Name for your new WordPress site
Once the server is up and running, you will need to configure the domain name, so that when you type your domain name it will actually point to your newly provisioned server in Cloudways.
To configure this, you can go to Application Management, select Domain Management, and click on Add Domain button.
Enter your domain name (eg talesbites.com in my example below) and click on Add Domain button again
Next, select your domain name using the checkbox, click on the 3 dots icon, and click Make Primary
Click on the Set As Primary button
After you have set your domain name as the primary, go back to Access Details under Application Management. You will see the Application URL will update as yourdomainname.com.
Next, note down your public IP address which can be also found under Access Details. We will need this to add DNS records in your domain registrar in the next section.
Under the Access Details section, you are also able to see the username and password for the server, SSH/FTP access, and WordPress admin details as well.
In this case, my domain name is registered with Porkbun and also for DNS management as well. Therefore, you will also need to access your domain registrar like GoDaddy, Namecheap etc to manage your DNS.
I will add an A record for my domain name’s DNS. There will be 2 A records in total and will be used for your root domain (example.com) and another one with www (www.example.com). You can refer to
After you have added new DNS records for your domain name, you will need to wait up to 24 hours for the DNS to fully propagate. It usually can be shorter.
This is what you will see after it has been fully propagated, you should be able to see your domain to cloudways server should be connected.
You will also notice the site or even the WordPress admin page is showing is not secured and I will be going to run through to install the SSL cert on the new server in the next section.
Install SSL cert on your new server
You can install the free SSL cert which is using Let’s Encrpyt already available on the Cloudways platform or Cloudways also allows you to install your SSL custom certificate. There will be options for you to choose in the dropdown menu.
You can go SSL management under Application Management (refer to the screenshot below)
In this case, I am using Let’s Encrypt instead of custom SSL. And you will need to simply enter the Email Address and Domain Name. And it will check on the Apply Wildcard too as it will apply to all sub-domains under this domain name including www.
Next, I will need to add a new CNAME record for my domain again in PorkBun to do the verification. Once you have added the CNAME record, click on the VERIFY DNS button.
This is an example how it looks like when I add a new CNAME record to verifying DNS to get the SSL cert.
After the SSL cert is verified, you will see a popup message on top of the Cloudways platform. Click on the Install SSL certification button to complete the process. It will takes about less than 5 mins to complete the installation.
Lastly, go back to your URL again and it should be showing not secured anymore with https.
Wrapping Up
I hope this article has helped you understand the benefits of running your website on Cloudways.
If you have any questions or want more information on specific topics, please let me know in the comments. I hope you enjoy using Cloudways as much as I’ve enjoyed writing this article.