How to Start a Website as a New Mama: A Real Step-by-Step Guide (No Tech Experience Needed)
I wrote this post with my son asleep on my chest, one-handed, because that’s genuinely how most of Tails & Tiny Toes has been built. When I got made redundant right before having him, I panicked about money — and then I panicked more when everyone told me “just start a website” like that was a simple sentence. It isn’t, when you’re sleep-deprived and have never touched a domain name in your life. So this is the guide I wish someone had handed me: the exact steps, in order, with nothing assumed. By the end you’ll have your own domain, hosting, and WordPress live — ready to build on whenever you get your next 20 quiet minutes.
Why I Started a Website Instead of Going Back to Corporate
Before my son was born, I was made redundant. I have a background in engineering and data science, and everyone assumed I’d just find another corporate role once maternity leave was up. But the thought of handing my newborn to childcare so I could sit in someone else’s meetings all day didn’t sit right with me. A website felt terrifying at first — I kept thinking I needed to be a “tech person” to start one. I’m not. I just needed the right first steps, in the right order, and about ten focused minutes at a time between feeds.
Step 1: Choosing a Domain Name That Won't Box You In
Your domain name is just your website’s address (mine is tailsandtinytoes.com). A few honest lessons from picking mine:
- Keep it short enough to say out loud without spelling it
- Avoid numbers or hyphens — people mistype them
- Think about where you want to go in 2 years, not just today, so you’re not boxed into a name that’s too narrow
- .com is still the safest default if it’s available
You can register a domain directly through Hostinger when you set up hosting (Step 2), which saves you a step and keeps everything in one dashboard — helpful when you’re managing this between nap times and don’t want five different logins to remember.
Step 2: Picking Hosting That Actually Suits a Beginner (Hostinger)
Hosting is what makes your website actually live on the internet, rather than just existing as files on your laptop. This was the step I overthought the most — there are so many hosting companies, and most of them explain things like you already have a computer science degree.
I went with Hostinger for a few reasons that mattered to me as a genuinely time-poor beginner: it’s affordable, the setup wizard talks you through everything in plain English, and their live chat actually replies fast — which matters at 11pm when your baby’s finally asleep and that’s your only window to work. Right now you can get 20% off your first plan with Hostinger too, which makes it an even easier first step.
Pick their starter or WordPress-specific plan — you don’t need anything fancier than that when you’re just beginning.
Step 3: Installing WordPress Without Touching Any Code
This is the step that sounds the scariest and is honestly the easiest. Hostinger has a one-click WordPress installer built right into their dashboard (called hPanel) — you don’t touch a single line of code.
Here’s roughly what it looks like:
- Log into your Hostinger dashboard after your plan is set up
- Find the “Websites” section and choose “Auto Installer” (or you may be prompted to do this automatically right after checkout)
- Select WordPress from the list of apps
- Fill in your site title, an admin username, and a password — write these down somewhere safe, you’ll need them every time you log in to edit your site
- Click install, and wait a couple of minutes while it sets everything up in the background
That’s it. Once it’s done, you’ll have a WordPress login link — bookmark it, because that’s your new home base for building everything else.
Step 4: Astra + Elementor — The Beginner Setup I Actually Use
Once WordPress is installed, you’ll be tempted to spend three hours picking a theme. Don’t. This is exactly the setup I use on Tails & Tiny Toes, and I chose it specifically because it doesn’t need any code:
- Astra as my theme — it’s lightweight, fast-loading, and the free version is genuinely enough to start with. (Astra Pro adds a library of polished starter templates, but you don’t need that on day one.)
- Elementor as my page builder — this is what lets me drag and drop sections, change colours, and lay out pages visually instead of touching code. The free version covers the basics well; some features like the popup builder and certain widgets are Elementor Pro only, so don’t be surprised if you hit a “upgrade to unlock” prompt here and there.
A few things worth checking before you move past this step:
- Is your theme mobile-friendly? (Most of your readers will be on their phones, often one-handed, just like you writing this)
- Does it load quickly? Slow themes lose readers before they even see your content
- Is it Elementor-compatible? Astra is, which is part of why they pair so well together
What I'd Do Differently (Real Talk)
If I’m honest, I spent too long trying to make everything perfect before I let anyone see it. My advice: get your domain and hosting live, install WordPress, pick Astra and Elementor, and then publish something imperfect. You can fix things forever. You can’t get back the months you spent hiding a website nobody’s seen yet.
Found this useful? Save it to Pinterest so you can come back to it step-by-step when you're actually sitting down to do this — not just reading about it at 1am like I once did.
Want the shorter version — my actual checklist? Pop your email below and I'll send it straight over.
Save the checklist →Ready to start your own? Get 20% off your first Hostinger plan here.
I won’t pretend this is glamorous — most of it happened in ten-minute windows, half-asleep, one hand typing. But every website online started exactly like that: someone deciding to just begin. If you’re weighing up whether Printify or template sales might be a better first income stream once your site’s live, [have a read of my Printify post] or [my honest take on template income] next. I’d genuinely love to know — where are you in this process right now? Tell me in the comments, even if it’s “I haven’t started yet and I’m terrified.”
