Hostinger Website Setup for Beginners: Real Migration, DNS & SSL Problems (Solved)

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read our full Affiliate Disclosure

I didn’t plan to write this post.

Honestly.

I just wanted to move my website to a better hosting and get back to writing blog posts.

But what started as a “simple migration” turned into a long journey full of confusion, broken pages, DNS errors, SSL delays, and moments where I honestly thought:

“Did I just break my website?”

If you’re a beginner and you’re:

• Thinking about Hostinger
• Already moved your site
• Or stuck with DNS, SSL, or domain errors

This guide is for you.

It is about Hostinger website setup for beginners.

I’m not here to impress you with technical terms.
I’m sharing exactly what happened, what went wrong, what I learned, and how everything finally worked.

If this post saves you even one hour of panic, it did its job.

Is This Guide for You?

Let me be clear who this is written for.

This guide is for you if:

• You are new to affiliate marketing or blogging
• You bought hosting but feel lost after login
• You see messages like “Domain not connected”
• Your site works in one browser but not another
• SSL shows “Installing” forever
• You’re afraid to touch DNS settings

This guide is not for developers.

I’m writing this as someone who:

• Is still learning
• Makes mistakes
• Reads docs, asks support, tests things
• And shares the full journey

If you’re trying to escape the 9–5 by building something online, you’re in the right place.

Why should I use Hostinger?

Before choosing Hostinger, I had the same fears you probably have:

• “Will this be too technical?”
• “What if I mess something up?”
• “What if support doesn’t help?”

I chose Hostinger for simple reasons, not marketing hype:

• Affordable plans for beginners
• Free SSL included
• Easy WordPress setup
• Migration support available
• Clean dashboard without overwhelm

I wasn’t looking for the “best hosting in the world.”

I was looking for:

A hosting that doesn’t make beginners feel stupid.

And honestly, Hostinger fits that mindset well.

Yes, problems happened.
But support, tools, and structure helped me fix them without hiring anyone.

If you’re starting your first site or planning to move, Hostinger is still one of the most beginner-friendly options I’ve used.

(This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to use the same tools I use, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

Hostinger Website Setup for Beginners

How do I build my website on Hostinger

Once I purchased my Hostinger plan, I honestly felt relieved.

The hardest decision was done.

Now it was just:

“Click a few buttons and my site will be live.”

That’s what I thought.

Here’s what actually happened.

Step 1: Creating the Website Inside Hostinger (My First Hidden Mistake)

After logging into Hostinger, I followed the obvious steps:

• Went to Websites
• Clicked Create Website
• Chose WordPress
• Let Hostinger install WordPress automatically

This part was honestly smooth.

No technical headache.
No database setup.
No confusing options.

At this stage:

• WordPress was installed
• Hosting was active
• I could access WP Admin

Everything looked fine.

But there was one important thing missing.

👉 My domain was not connected yet.

The Mistake I Didn’t Realize I Was Making

Here’s the part I didn’t understand at the time.

On my old website, I was using a 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) security plugin inside WordPress.

I installed it earlier for security.
Which is a good thing.

But I didn’t realize something important:

👉 During hosting migration or fresh setup, active 2FA can block access silently.

What happened was:

• Hostinger tried to verify WordPress access
• Migration/setup tools attempted login
• The 2FA plugin expected a second authentication step
• Hostinger couldn’t complete that step

From my side:

• Hosting looked active
• WordPress looked installed
• But setup and migration attempts failed or got stuck

No clear error message.
No warning about 2FA.

Just… nothing worked properly.

As a beginner, this was confusing because:

“I can log in, so why is the setup failing?”

Couple of Hours later I got an Email from Hostinger that shows the actual reason: We’re unable to access your WordPress dashboard due to the Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) currently in place.

What This Caused (Without Me Knowing)

Because of the active 2FA plugin:

• Some migration attempts failed
• Some setup processes stopped halfway
• Hostinger tools couldn’t fully verify WordPress
• I thought hosting or DNS was broken

But the real issue was security blocking automation.

This is something most beginner tutorials never mention.

What I Learned From This Mistake

Here’s the simple beginner rule I learned the hard way:

👉 Before migration or hosting setup, temporarily disable security plugins like 2FA.

Not forever.
Just during setup.

Once everything is stable:

• SSL active
• Domain connected
• HTTPS enforced

Then you turn security back on.

Why I’m Sharing This Honestly

I could have skipped this part and made the journey look perfect.

But beginners need to hear this.

Because if you’re:

• Using a 2FA plugin
• Or heavy security plugins
• And setup or migration keeps failing without clear reason

This might be your hidden blocker too.

Beginner Tip:
If WordPress migration or setup keeps failing without clear errors, temporarily disable 2FA or security plugins before trying again.

This single step can save hours.

Step 2: Realizing My Domain Was Elsewhere

My domain thepassivecircle.com was registered with ExonHost, not Hostinger.

That means:

• Hostinger was hosting the site
• ExonHost was controlling the domain

This setup is very common.
But beginners are rarely warned what comes next.

From this moment onward:

• DNS matters
• Nameservers matter
• Timing matters

And this is where most confusion starts.

Step 3: First Warning Messages Appear

Inside Hostinger, I started seeing messages like:

• Domain is not working
• Domain isn’t connected to your website
• SSL cannot be installed
• Website may not be accessible

At the same time:

• Sometimes my site loaded
• Sometimes it showed a Hostinger parking page
• Sometimes it worked only in incognito

As a beginner, this is terrifying.

You start thinking:

“Did I choose the wrong hosting?”
“Did I break something?”
“Should I cancel everything?”

But here’s the truth.

👉 Nothing was broken yet.

This was just the system waiting for DNS alignment.

Step 4: Hostinger Migration vs Fresh Setup Confusion

Because my site existed before, I also tried Hostinger migration.

This added another layer of confusion.

Some migration attempts:

• Failed
• Got stuck
• Showed partial success

At one point, I even asked myself:

“Should I migrate again?”

The answer (which I learned later) is important:

👉 If your files and database exist, migration already worked.
DNS and SSL problems do not mean migration failed.

This distinction saved me from repeating everything and making things worse.

Step 5: The IP Address Panic

This is where I really started doubting myself.

I saw different IP addresses at different times:

• 91.108.106.17
• 82.198.228.175

I checked:

• Hostinger dashboard
• DNS tools

And results were inconsistent.

At this stage, I even verified DNS using basic network checks to confirm the domain was resolving correctly.
This confirmed the issue was not hosting, it was DNS and SSL propagation.

As a beginner, your brain immediately goes:

“Which one is correct?”
“Did I point DNS to the wrong server?”

Here’s the beginner-friendly truth:

• Temporary IPs can appear during setup
• Migration systems use temporary routing
• Only the IP shown inside Hostinger matters

Eventually, Hostinger clearly showed my final hosting IP:

82.198.228.175

That’s the only one I needed to care about.

Step 6: What I Did NOT Do (Very Important)

At this stage, I’m glad I didn’t panic.

I did not:

• Reinstall WordPress
• Buy another hosting plan
• Delete everything and start over
• Hire an “expert” out of fear

Instead, I slowed down and focused on understanding:

• DNS
• Nameservers
• Propagation time

That decision saved me money and stress.

Key Lesson from This Stage

If you’re here right now in your own journey, remember this:

Hosting setup problems are rarely permanent.
Most issues are timing + configuration, not failure.

This mindset alone can save you hours.

THE REAL PROBLEMS NO ONE WARNS BEGINNERS ABOUT

The Problems No One Warned Me About (DNS, Parking Pages & SSL Panic)

This is the part no tutorial prepares you for.

Every video shows:

• Click here
• Click there
• Done

But in real life, after setup, things break quietly.

No clear error.
No single fix.
Just confusion.

Here’s what actually happened to me.

Problem 1: “Domain is not working” Even Though Hosting Was Active

Hostinger showed my website as:

• Created
• Active
• WordPress installed

But right next to it, I kept seeing:

“Domain isn’t connected to your website”

As a beginner, this message messes with your head.

You think:

• Hosting is wrong
• Domain is wrong
• Maybe both are wrong

But here’s the truth:

👉 Hosting and domain are two different systems
👉 Hosting can be active while domain is still pointing elsewhere

This message does not mean failure.
It means DNS is not aligned yet.

Problem 2: The Hostinger Parking Page (Heart Attack Moment)

This one deserves its own section.

At one point, instead of my website, I saw:

• A Hostinger parking page
• Or a generic “site not found” page

My first thought:

“My site is gone.”

That’s a horrible feeling.

But here’s what that page actually means:

• DNS is pointing somewhere
• But hosting hasn’t fully attached the domain yet
• Or SSL / routing is not finished

👉 Parking page does NOT mean your content is deleted

It just means:

“We’re not done yet.”

Problem 3: Website Works in Incognito, Not in Normal Browser

This one confused me a lot.

• Site works in incognito
• Doesn’t work in normal browser
• Or works on mobile but not desktop

As a beginner, this feels random.

But the reason is simple:

• Browsers cache DNS aggressively
• Incognito ignores cache
• DNS propagation shows different results in different places

👉 This is normal during Hostinger DNS setup

If you see this:

• Do not reinstall anything
• Do not assume failure

Just wait and test again later.

Problem 4: Different IP Addresses Showing Everywhere

This was one of the most confusing moments for me.

I saw:

• One IP inside Hostinger
• Another IP via ping
• Another IP inside ExonHost DNS

As a beginner, you start Googling:

“Which IP is correct?”

Here’s the beginner-safe rule I learned:

👉 Trust only the IP shown inside your hosting provider

In my case:

• Final Hostinger IP: 82.198.228.175

Old IPs:

• Temporary
• From migration
• From parking systems
• From old DNS cache

They do not matter anymore.

Problem 5: SSL Stuck on “Installing” for Hours (or Days)

Why does Hostinger SSL get stuck?

This was the worst part.

Inside Hostinger, SSL showed:

Status: Installing

And it stayed like that.
For hours.
Then a full day.

As a beginner, this feels like:

“Something is wrong and no one is fixing it.”

I even contacted support.

The response was clear:

SSL cannot complete until DNS is clean and fully propagated.

This taught me an important lesson:

👉 SSL problems are almost always DNS problems

Not hosting.
Not WordPress.
Not plugins.

You can easily check DNS Propagation from online.

What I Almost Did (But Didn’t)

During this phase, I almost:

• Migrated again
• Deleted WordPress
• Changed random DNS records
• Installed multiple SSL plugins

If I had done that, I would’ve made things worse.

Instead, I paused.

That pause changed everything.

Key Lesson from This Section

If you’re facing these issues right now, remember this:

Confusion does not mean failure.
It means things are still syncing.

DNS and SSL work on time, not emotion.

The worst thing you can do is rush.

If you’re stuck at this stage right now, this is exactly the setup I’m using.
I didn’t get it right the first time either.

DNS, NAMESERVERS & THE TURNING POINT

The Turning Point: Understanding DNS (Without Technical Headache)

Up to this point, I was doing what most beginners do.

I was reacting.

• Error appears → panic
• Warning message → change something
• SSL stuck → assume failure

But nothing really changed until I understood one simple thing:

Hosting works when one system controls DNS clearly.

That was my turning point.

What I Finally Understood About DNS

Here’s DNS explained in the simplest way possible.

• DNS is like a road sign
• It tells the internet where your website lives
• If signs point to multiple places, visitors get lost

In my case:

• Domain was still controlled by ExonHost
• Hosting was on Hostinger
• DNS records were mixed
• SSL could not verify ownership

Nothing was “broken”.

It was just confusing for the system.

Manual DNS vs Nameservers (Beginner Reality)

At first, I tried:

• Manually editing A records
• Removing old IPs
• Keeping email records safe

This works… but only if you’re confident.

As a beginner, I realized something important:

👉 Nameservers are safer than manual DNS edits

Why?

Because:

• One provider controls everything
• Fewer chances to make mistakes
• SSL works faster
• Less guessing

The Decision That Changed Everything

I stopped editing individual DNS records.

Instead, I did one clean action:

👉 I switched my domain nameservers to Hostinger

I updated them to:

• ns1.dns-parking.com
• ns2.dns-parking.com

That was it.

No more A records.
No more IP guessing.
No more mixed control.

Why This Worked (Beginner Explanation)

Once nameservers were switched:

• Hostinger fully controlled DNS
• Domain ownership became clear
• SSL validation could finally succeed
• Parking page disappeared
• www and non-www aligned

This solved multiple problems at once.

That’s why I call it the turning point.

The Hardest Part: Doing Nothing

After changing nameservers, I wanted to keep fixing things.

But this time, I didn’t.

I did nothing.

I waited.

This was harder than clicking buttons.

But DNS propagation needs time:

• Sometimes 30 minutes
• Sometimes a few hours
• Rarely a full day

And that’s okay.

What I Learned Here (Important)

If you take only one lesson from this post, let it be this:

When DNS is clean, most problems solve themselves.

No plugin.
No re-migration.
No advanced config.

Just clarity.

HOSTINGER SSL FIX, HTTPS REDIRECT & THE “DID I BREAK WORDPRESS?” MOMENT

SSL Finally Turned Active (After All That Waiting)

After switching nameservers and doing nothing for a while, I checked Hostinger again.

And there it was.

SSL Status: Active

No reinstall.
No extra plugin.
No manual certificate upload.

Just… active.

That moment felt like a deep breath after holding it for too long.

What SSL “Active” Actually Means

For beginners, SSL sounds scary. It’s not.

SSL simply means:

• Your site is secure
• URLs start with https
• Browsers show a lock icon 🔒

But one important thing is still missing at this stage.

👉 SSL active does NOT automatically force HTTPS

That’s the next step.

Enabling HTTPS Redirect (One Click, Big Impact)

Right after SSL became active, I asked Hostinger (via Kodee):

“Is my HTTPS redirection on?”

This means:

• HTTP → HTTPS
• www → non-www (or the other way)

I clicked Confirm.

That one click did a lot:

• No duplicate URLs
• Clean SEO signals
• No insecure access
• No confusion for visitors

Everything Looked Perfect… Until WordPress Complained

Just when I thought everything was done, WordPress threw another surprise.

Inside Settings → General, I saw errors like:

• “WordPress address is not valid”
• “Site address is not valid”
• “Email address is not valid”

And some fields were locked.

At that moment, I thought:

“Did I break WordPress now?”

But this is actually very common after SSL changes.

Why WordPress Shows These Errors After SSL

Here’s what’s happening behind the scenes:

• URLs changed from http → https
• Server-level redirect is now active
• WordPress tries to revalidate URLs
• During that moment, it can throw errors

This does NOT mean:

• WordPress is broken
• Database is corrupted
• Site is unsafe

It just needs a calm correction.

How I Fixed the WordPress Errors (Safely)

I did three simple things.

1. Made sure both fields were: https://thepassivecircle.com
2. Temporarily used a valid Gmail address for admin email
3. Saved settings and logged in again

That’s it.

No plugin.
No code edit.
No database access.

Everything worked again.

Final HTTPS Check (Very Important)

After that, I opened incognito mode and tested:

• https://thepassivecircle.com
• https://www.thepassivecircle.com
• https://www.thepassivecircle.com

All of them redirected to:

https://thepassivecircle.com

Blog posts loaded.
Lock icon appeared.
No warning pages.

This is how you know your setup is finally complete.

What This Stage Taught Me

This part taught me something important:

Final problems often appear right before success.

If you’re here:

• Don’t panic
• Don’t undo things
• Don’t rush fixes

Small adjustments are normal at the end.

FINAL CHECKLIST + MY HONEST RECOMMENDATION FOR BEGINNERS

The Final Website Checklist (Before You Move On)

Before I touched anything else on my site, I did one last calm check.

If you’ve followed a similar journey, do this once and then stop touching settings.

Here’s the exact checklist I used.

✅ Final Technical Checks

• Homepage opens with https
• Lock icon 🔒 visible in browser
• Blog posts load with https
• www redirects to non-www
• No hosting parking page
• No mixed content warning
• WordPress dashboard accessible normally

If all of these are true, your setup is stable.

At this point, changing things will only create new problems.

Should You Re-Migrate If Something Failed Earlier?

This question comes up a lot, so let me answer it clearly.

No. Do not migrate again if:

• Your site files are present
• WordPress loads
• Content is visible

Migration failure messages usually relate to:

• Login access
• Temporary redirects
• DNS mismatch during setup

DNS and SSL issues do not mean migration failed.

Repeating migration often creates duplicate problems.

My Honest Experience with Hostinger (No Hype)

Now that everything is working, here’s my honest take.

What I liked

• Clean dashboard
• Beginner-friendly flow
• Free SSL included
• WordPress setup is simple
• Support actually explains things
• AI assistant helps beginners understand errors

What frustrated me

• DNS and SSL take time
• Error messages feel scary for beginners
• Some steps are not explained clearly upfront

But here’s the important part.

👉 None of the problems were permanent
👉 None required hiring an expert
👉 Everything was fixable with patience

That matters a lot for beginners.

Who I Recommend Hostinger For

Based on my experience, Hostinger is a good choice if you:

• Are building your first blog or affiliate site
• Want affordable hosting with essential features
• Don’t want to pay extra for SSL
• Are okay learning a bit along the way
• Prefer simplicity over advanced server control

If you expect:

• Instant setup
• Zero waiting
• No confusion at all

Then no hosting will fully satisfy you.

But if you’re willing to learn and grow, Hostinger is a solid place to start.

My Recommendation (Soft, Honest)

If you’re at the stage where you’re:

• Choosing hosting
• Or planning to move your site
• Or already stuck in DNS or SSL confusion

I’d still recommend starting with Hostinger.

Not because it’s perfect.
But because it lets beginners make mistakes and still recover.

I broke my setup more than once during this migration.
And that’s why I’m comfortable recommending this hosting to beginners.

If you want a beginner-friendly hosting that you can grow with, Hostinger is a practical starting point.

Final Words (From One Beginner to Another)

This journey taught me something important.

You don’t fail at hosting.
You just learn it step by step.

If you’re reading this while:

• Feeling stuck
• Feeling confused
• Feeling scared to touch settings

I’ve been there.

Take a breath.
Slow down.
Fix one thing at a time.

Your website is not as fragile as it feels.

What You Can Do Next

Now that your site is stable, focus on:

• Writing content
• Learning SEO
• Building traffic
• Sharing your journey

That’s exactly what I’m doing.

FAQs About Hosting Migration

Final Note (From Me to You)

If you’re reading these FAQs while feeling stuck:

You’re not failing.
You’re learning.

I made the same mistakes.
More than once.

And my site is still running.

Take it slow.
Fix one thing at a time.

You’re closer than you think.